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[0:00] Andrew: We've got a mission to find the best song that's ever been on Glee.

[0:09] Andrew: There's no rhyme or reason to it, so don't get mad at me.

[0:18] Andrew: Glacket by Glacket, we'll rank everyone to see which song will move closer to spot number one.

[0:26] Andrew: Gleek of the Week, Gleek, Gleek, Gleek of the Week. It's Gleek, Gleek of the Week.

[0:36] Andrew: We're back with another Glacket episode. This is episode two of round three and I am joined by, alphabetically first,

[0:51] Conor: The vocals are giving. They're actually really perfect vocals from everybody included.

[1:01] Matt: I would be very surprised if the third person sings, but here we go. It's me, Matt.

[1:11] Conor: Oh my god! Cynthia Who? Why is that surprising that I would sing?

[1:19] Andrew: That bit went completely over my head, audio medium, and Andrew was staring at me for a good four seconds being like, continue.

[1:27] Conor: I think that the four seconds suspense was building and people were like, who is it actually going to be?

[1:33] Conor: Could it be Robert Ulrich again? Robert singing reveal?

[1:41] Andrew: All right, so here we are. We're getting back into the groove of things. I was just explaining to you that the month that I took off from Glacketing,

[1:51] Andrew: it takes a few weeks to reacclimate myself into talking at length, ad nauseum about the hip-hop show Glee.

[2:01] Andrew: And so here we are. How are you both feeling? This is crazy. You know, like, round three? What does that even mean?

[2:09] Conor: What does that actually mean? Round two is like such a hump to get over.

[2:17] Conor: It's like round two, I get it. I get the concept of we finished round one and now we're in round two. But what do you mean round three?

[2:23] Andrew: Because that does lead to like four and five. Right, there are numbers that come after these.

[2:29] Matt: That's insane. Wait, Matt, for your own project on the diary room, are you calling it a project or are you calling it a podcast?

[2:37] Matt: Because I lead with project.

[2:39] Conor: I like both.

[2:39] Matt: Project does feel more accurate though, because it does feel like a very long project.

[2:45] Andrew: Yeah. With your project slash podcast, how long until you reach a future round?

[2:53] Matt: It will probably be early 2026.

[2:57] Andrew: Okay.

[2:59] Matt: So we are, as of like the time that we're recording this, tomorrow we're dropping the last episode of the first half of the round of round one.

[3:07] Matt: So having a little bit of a milestone there where we're going to have a little party in the patron group and discuss everything that's happened so far.

[3:15] Matt: So trying, you know, same thing around here. We want to keep the party going as long as possible and just celebrate the little milestones along the way.

[3:23] Matt: But these projects are, you know, when you see the numbers getting up there, you're just like, what the hell is going on around here?

[3:29] Conor: Yeah. What are the obstacles that you're recently finding? Are you finding any obstacles within diary room or like any hiccups?

[3:41] Matt: I don't know. Things are going maybe a little too smooth sailing right now, which could be a problem.

[3:45] Matt: But, you know, in the same way that I'm sure you probably noticed throughout the back half of like, say, round one or even round two,

[3:53] Matt: like when you know what is left to be pulled, like, you know, what songs you still have like that.

[3:58] Matt: And we still have a bunch of because for those who don't know where I'm doing the same concept stole from Andrew with permission in the world of Big Brother with the North American versions.

[4:09] Matt: And so we have a lot of players that haven't come up yet that are like the big names.

[4:13] Matt: And as you get deeper and deeper, you're like, well, they have to come eventually.

[4:17] Matt: And what if it's like, you know, I feel pretty unpretty versus faithfully.

[4:21] Conor: I forget what it was up against faithfully.

[4:25] Matt: Yeah. Faithfully. I said unfaithfully.

[4:25] Conor: Or even I feel pretty unpretty is that has a mean streak because it's also against boy's mind in round two.

[4:31] Conor: So either you could take your pick with that. So it's scary.

[4:35] Matt: Yeah, that's the that's so exciting, though, Matt.

[4:38] Andrew: As we record literally as we speak, seven minutes ago, the new series of Celebrity Big Brother has just begun.

[4:45] Matt: It did. See, I still missing it for this recording, but that's OK.

[4:49] Conor: Jojo Siwa is entering the house.

[4:53] Matt: I'm so excited. I'm so grateful that you're here with with with that in mind that Jojo.

[4:59] Conor: I mean, she is. Listen, we just I feel like she's going to be on Gemma Collins level.

[5:04] Conor: Ask how's my legendary Gemma and Tiffany Pollard legends.

[5:08] Conor: I just feel like she's going to give us something. It will be chaotic.

[5:11] Andrew: And that would be insane if she was on that level of those people.

[5:14] Andrew: I mean, I'm aware of I'm aware of these these two as it pertains to the Big Brother franchise.

[5:20] Andrew: So that's how much they're permeating culture. So, yeah, exactly.

[5:25] Conor: So, yeah, she's gone and she's in there with Mickey Rooney, which is like a very and then just these bizarre like British soap actors.

[5:34] Conor: It's just a very eclectic bunch. It's trouble waiting to happen, I think.

[5:39] Conor: I feel like I heard that New York is going to be there at some point throughout the season.

[5:42] Conor: I think she's doing something special. She's doing some special reporting, I think.

[5:46] Matt: Yes. Oh, yeah. Trouble. Oh no.

[5:50] Andrew: All right. Enough about other TV shows. Back to the project at hand.

[5:56] Andrew: I say that as I wear merchandise of a completely separate.

[6:01] Conor: I don't care. I don't get the reference.

[6:04] Matt: Matt is Matt is trying to plug the glitch, which I really do appreciate.

[6:09] Conor: But I do have to say that blue is really lovely as well.

[6:13] Matt: It's really nice on you. I it was it was an immediate match of.

[6:17] Conor: Yeah. I mean, if you can't tell, I like the color blue.

[6:20] Matt: Oh, as do I. Shout out to blue.

[6:23] Andrew: I am wearing, to answer your question, Connor, I am wearing a Dharma Initiative sweater that my friend Amy got me yesterday.

[6:31] Andrew: She gifted that to me.

[6:35] Conor: A what? A Dharma Initiative.

[6:39] Andrew: Oh, it from the hit ABC show.

[6:42] Conor: Lost ABC. ABC show. ABC show.

[6:45] Andrew: ABC. So, yeah.

[6:45] Andrew: So. But I think that we're actually all here to talk about a completely separate entity, maybe related to Matt's merch.

[6:55] Andrew: Glee. How are we feeling about the hit Fox show Glee just today?

[7:00] Conor: A really random question. But how do you feel about it right now?

[7:02] Conor: This feeling about the hit Fox show Glee just to take great questions.

[7:06] Conor: So I am watching along with Kevin and Jenna.

[7:09] Conor: So I've just finished season six episode one.

[7:13] Conor: I really enjoyed it and was expecting them to start with the recaps today.

[7:18] Conor: But then obviously I forgot that your very good self was going to be on the season five.

[7:24] Andrew: It was my episode and you were like, fuck this.

[7:27] Conor: I want this guy is everywhere.

[7:31] Conor: I just absolutely loved having like I can almost guarantee that Kevin McHale calling you a psycho numerous times was just not on your twenty twenty five.

[7:41] Andrew: Bingo card.

[7:46] Conor: I mean, no, it was justified after the things he said to them.

[7:49] Andrew: Oh, yeah.

[7:49] Conor: Justified after the things that you said.

[7:51] Andrew: Yeah. You said the word titty to Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale.

[7:54] Conor: I said, you know what? Deserve like expression.

[7:57] Andrew: Can I just I have a note about this.

[7:59] Andrew: How many episodes of Gleek of the Week has there been roughly?

[8:03] Conor: This is one hundred and seventy.

[8:06] Andrew: OK, well, a hundred and seventy episodes there.

[8:09] Conor: Like if you want to include the bonus and Glee Project, I don't even know what that number is.

[8:12] Andrew: But OK. Right.

[8:14] Andrew: OK, so let's just say one hundred and seventy episodes.

[8:17] Conor: I have been on maybe twenty of those episodes, maybe.

[8:21] Conor: Yeah. Out of all of those one hundred and seventy episodes, I'm just going to lay my stall out real quick.

[8:28] Conor: Out of those entire one hundred and seventy episodes.

[8:31] Conor: OK, I cannot think of one other time when a guest has said, I really like X song and people have quite literally laughed in my face.

[8:43] Conor: And the song that I brought up months a year ago plus that I really liked was Glitter in the Air.

[8:52] Conor: And now I feel so justified because as of late, Kevin and Jenna have been talking about how gorgeous that song is.

[9:00] Conor: And it's the only time on Gleek of the Week podcast where I was like, where someone was like, I really like that song.

[9:06] Conor: And the reaction was literally.

[9:09] Andrew: Wait, when did when it was me, I would assume.

[9:14] Conor: I think it was. I think it was Ian.

[9:17] Conor: But I kept I kept bringing it up and I kept bringing it up repeatedly in weeks after.

[9:23] Conor: And everyone was like, Connor, like, who are you?

[9:26] Conor: Glitter in the Air is so gorgeous.

[9:28] Conor: The context in which it sits in is absolutely woeful.

[9:32] Conor: But the vocal performance is brilliant.

[9:35] Matt: The vocal performance is brilliant.

[9:38] Conor: The OK, let's get the three of us together because I want to be.

[9:44] Matt: I was sorry. I was just I wait.

[9:47] Conor: No, no, I'm helping.

[9:48] Matt: I'm helping. I'm helping.

[9:49] Conor: I cut off to help.

[9:50] Conor: No, I do love the universe where Connor is talking about Glitter in the Air and giving it was singing its praises.

[9:56] Conor: And then Matt's like, actually, I have a Patreon idea.

[9:59] Matt: Just not even related at all.

[10:01] Conor: It's completely related.

[10:03] Matt: OK, I know.

[10:04] Conor: I know it is.

[10:05] Conor: Yes. OK.

[10:06] Conor: The three of us get together.

[10:08] Conor: Yeah, I mean, unless you want to make it a regular episode.

[10:11] Conor: And we watch Glitter in the Air over and over and over again until all.

[10:16] Conor: Well, I guess just the two of us completely sign off.

[10:19] Matt: What's the is it is it do people really do people like people like it's awful.

[10:25] Conor: I just don't see the vision.

[10:26] Conor: People are like, it's awful.

[10:28] Conor: It's not awful, guys.

[10:29] Matt: OK, fair enough.

[10:30] Conor: You don't like it, but it's not awful.

[10:31] Matt: Do you not like the song itself?

[10:33] Conor: What is it?

[10:34] Conor: I actually don't know what I don't like about it, which I think to your credit.

[10:39] Matt: Yeah, the MP3 is gorgeous.

[10:42] Conor: I swear.

[10:43] Conor: I swear that Leah sang it.

[10:45] Matt: Did Leah sing it on LMD?

[10:47] Conor: So she loves this damn song.

[10:49] Conor: She's obsessed.

[10:51] Conor: So I've seen her live a number of a number of times.

[10:55] Conor: And she like I think she's like sang Glitter in the Air like every single time.

[11:01] Conor: Yeah, I feel like she has to always talking about like, oh, like it was the end of a season.

[11:07] Conor: And Ryan said, like, this is the context in which a rollo was sung.

[11:12] Conor: Pick your rollo, whatever you want, whatever rollo you want to rollo.

[11:16] Conor: And she was like, I recently went to the Grammy Awards and Pink was was doing the thing.

[11:22] Conor: Acrobats in the Air.

[11:24] Conor: And and she felt really inspired by it.

[11:27] Conor: And so she that was the rollo that she chose.

[11:31] Andrew: I don't know.

[11:32] Andrew: OK, well, to come back to the question that you asked 17 minutes ago, how are we feeling about Glee today?

[11:38] Conor: That's my overwhelming thoughts.

[11:40] Conor: I don't we somehow landed here Glitter in the Air.

[11:42] Andrew: But you brought us here.

[11:43] Conor: Don't do that.

[11:44] Conor: You are the one.

[11:46] Andrew: I one of my many talents and I can I can I can bring us back.

[11:50] Conor: But I've been surprisingly enjoying the end of season five a lot.

[11:55] Conor: And I enjoy the last couple of episodes of season five more than I enjoy the mid section of season four.

[12:04] Conor: I which I feel like was a hot take at one point.

[12:09] Conor: But now I think that people are coming around slowly to see the vision.

[12:12] Matt: I will say I watched a number of season five episodes while I was creating the set list for the season five tour.

[12:20] Matt: One of which was City of Angels, an episode that I had fond memories of.

[12:27] Matt: But upon rewatch, I was like kind of confused by like the Disney channel location of City of Angels.

[12:38] Conor: I think that like the set list is beautiful.

[12:40] Conor: And I think that that was kind of blinding me a little bit.

[12:43] Conor: But just like the episode itself, it just like fear feels like weirdly bright.

[12:48] Matt: I understand that season five just like stylistically is overly bright.

[12:52] Matt: But like why is City of Angels?

[12:55] Conor: It was like weirdly.

[12:58] Conor: There was like shots of like Burt and Carol that I was like, this feels I don't even know the words.

[13:03] Matt: Is season five the first season that they filmed on digital?

[13:08] Conor: Yeah, yeah.

[13:09] Matt: Matt, do you have thoughts on anything that we're saying?

[13:12] Matt: Like the aesthetics of season five.

[13:14] Matt: That's really where we're at at the moment.

[13:16] Matt: Well, I mean, I was thinking through when you said the City of Angels Disneyfication.

[13:21] Matt: I was like, I was thinking in terms of storyline.

[13:24] Matt: And I was like, oh, I think I'm with you.

[13:25] Matt: I don't know if that's exactly where you were saying.

[13:27] Matt: Because that episode is like very almost like a full arc of like what it could be a decom.

[13:32] Matt: Of like they travel to LA and all of the different characters.

[13:37] Matt: Like all the new kids that are having their side plots of like Marley and her doubts within herself.

[13:43] Matt: And then the alumni Mercedes comes in.

[13:45] Andrew: Helps her feel better. And then like, what's going to happen with Ryder and Jake? It's just like, it's giving like, you know, some semblance of a decom, but...

[13:50] Conor: But I can't even know that's what you're going for.

[13:54] Matt: How much I love the, like, the Finn tribute that it felt, it does feel like so much more like a, I don't know, an accurate...

[14:03] Andrew: It's a great sell list. Like a nice tribute to not only Corey, but also the character Finn.

[14:10] Conor: Oh yeah, true. Love that.

[14:12] Matt: I cry every time.

[14:13] Conor: Yeah.

[14:14] Andrew: Every time. Do you know what the most beautifully, most gorgeous shot musical number on the show is, in my opinion?

[14:19] Conor: Glitter in the Air.

[14:22] Andrew: What season?

[14:23] Conor: From the entire series.

[14:25] Andrew: What season?

[14:26] Conor: Five.

[14:28] Andrew: Glitter in the Air. Beautifully shot.

[14:30] Matt: It's that second, that second.

[14:32] Conor: Pompeii.

[14:33] Andrew: Yesterday.

[14:35] Conor: Oh, yesterday is very beautifully shot. We don't, it's like they put their entire Glussy into that performance just for some reason.

[14:43] Matt: Maybe it was because it was obviously Corey had died and it had, like, Lea had to have a staple message to the fans kind of thing.

[14:49] Conor: But the entire thing is so beautiful. This, when she's at the side of the stage, when she hears the producer and the director talking about her and stuff, and you can kind of see her there, that shot of her sitting there alone.

[15:02] Andrew: And then obviously she visits all of the places that, like, oh my God, so gorgeous.

[15:06] Conor: It's stunning.

[15:07] Matt: Yeah, love it. Beautiful.

[15:08] Conor: The iconic costume that she's in, that Rachel fit. We're not talking about it enough.

[15:11] Andrew: We're talking about the purple, the purple coat.

[15:17] Conor: The purple trench coat.

[15:18] Matt: I love a trench coat.

[15:20] Conor: I love a trench coat. She said, oh, I hear that season five is going to be, like, weirdly bright, so I'm going to wear this purple fucking coat.

[15:27] Andrew: She set the tone.

[15:28] Conor: She set the, she really did set the tone with that purple coat.

[15:31] Matt: And now that I've—

[15:32] Conor: You know, she actually got it in season three.

[15:34] Matt: She got it.

[15:35] Conor: She was like, I'm going to wait until—

[15:36] Andrew: Purple jacket.

[15:37] Conor: Yeah.

[15:38] Matt: So wait, is Kevin and Jenna's—

[15:39] Conor: It was a sale.

[15:40] Matt: Is Kevin and Jenna's next episode coming as of recording this Monday?

[15:44] Conor: Is that going to be a recap of season six, episode one?

[15:47] Matt: I doubt it. I think they usually try to do, like, one or two or three bonus episodes.

[15:51] Conor: Actually, I do know whose episode is coming out a week from today. And it's a—

[15:54] Matt: So it's not an episode recap.

[15:56] Conor: It's not a recap episode.

[15:57] Matt: So.

[15:58] Conor: Yeah.

[15:59] Andrew: Okay. We're going to have to wait.

[16:00] Conor: Yeah, because there is, yeah, I mean, there's 13 episodes left, so.

[16:05] Matt: Connor watched the episode three weeks too early.

[16:08] Conor: Connor's like, oh god, I need to hear what they think about Loser like me. I need to watch Homecoming.

[16:14] Matt: I need to know what happens next.

[16:15] Conor: Homecoming is one of my favorite episodes.

[16:18] Matt: If they have negative thoughts on Homecoming or the episode after that, I will cry.

[16:24] Andrew: Matt, let's be real. They're always, quote, pleasantly surprised.

[16:28] Conor: Let's be real. Like, let's go.

[16:30] Matt: Which is like, okay, that is like kind of funny, but also like very, like, heartwarming.

[16:34] Conor: Like, if we can get like, kind of like serious for a second. Like, that is also very nice to hear.

[16:40] Matt: That like, they're re-approaching the series and they're pleasantly surprised.

[16:45] Conor: I think that they have these lenses on that it's like all terrible. But it's actually, it's validating to hear that they actually like it.

[16:51] Matt: Of course.

[16:52] Conor: Yeah, of course it is. And they genuinely mean it. And it's a lovely thing.

[16:56] Andrew: I just can't believe we're coming towards the end. Like, it's bizarre.

[17:00] Conor: I will say, I am very, the top of resume moment for me was breaking the news to Jenna Auschwitz that the Let It Go that is sung in season six was indeed the Let It Go from the hit movie Frozen.

[17:18] Matt: Ooh, nothing will ever match that moment.

[17:19] Conor: You know, and it totally tracks why they would not know that. Like, there's so many things that come up that's like, oh, I didn't know that we did that. You know, they can't all be on every day of set all the time. And both of them were in and out throughout, you know, filming season six and whatnot. But like, the fact that Rachel, or Rachel, that Leah could go sing a cover of Let It Go, do that on stage, probably knocked it out in a day.

[17:40] Andrew: Yeah.

[17:40] Conor: And nobody found out about it besides us is not surprising.

[17:45] Matt: Yeah. Crazy.

[17:47] Conor: But I'm excited by the prospect of doing an entire series tour, which is scary and exciting. Just to, you know, reverse the question on you, Andrew, how are you feeling about Glee now?

[18:00] Andrew: Thank you so much for asking.

[18:02] Conor: You're welcome.

[18:03] Andrew: A lot of the Gliatus was spent really obsessing about current TV. And so, like, the hit, hit HBO, or I guess, are we calling it Max, hit HBO show White Lotus, and hit Apple TV show Severance. And yeah, they're wildly different than the hit Fox show Glee.

[18:31] Conor: White Lotus is the closest I'll get to you watching more Survivor.

[18:34] Andrew: Right. Exactly. Well, but like, there's also, there's a Glee, there's three Glee tie ins with White Lotus. There's three shared actors. Does anybody, do either of you watch it?

[18:47] Matt: No.

[18:47] Conor: I just did a podcast about it before we got here.

[18:50] Matt: Unfortunately, I don't.

[18:51] Andrew: Do you know what it is? It's one of those, do you know when a cultural moment comes that you just completely miss? And you miss, wait, how do you continue to miss White Lotus?

[18:56] Conor: It's not too late.

[18:59] Andrew: It is not too late. No, I know, I know there's only three seasons, and there's like short, I know, but like, I've just missed it.

[19:05] Conor: It's just kind of passed me by.

[19:07] Andrew: There's three tie ins? There's three, one of them is, so there's two that are kind of there, that are like, okay, you put some thought into it. It's like, yeah. But then there's the third one that it's like, I'd be very surprised if you knew.

[19:21] Matt: Well, I would have no idea.

[19:23] Andrew: Okay. So we got the two Glee guest stars. We got Jennifer Coolidge and Molly Shannon.

[19:28] Conor: Oh, okay. I thought you were just rambling in this current season.

[19:32] Andrew: Oh, no, no, no. I was like, wait, Patrick Schwarzenegger? The Jennifer Coolidge one, I deserve to be kicked off the call for not putting that one together in two seconds.

[19:39] Conor: All right. Anyway.

[19:40] Andrew: Actually, I'll have my producer, Leah Mischel, remove you from this call right now.

[19:44] Conor: Yeah.

[19:45] Andrew: Thank you. And then the third one is an actress that I, ooh, are there any Jolene Purdy heads out there? Because Jolene Purdy, one episode of White Lotus, the pilot episode where she is an employee of the hotel and she gives birth in the first episode and then is never seen again. And she also plays a skank in Glee at the beginning of season three.

[20:13] Conor: Oh, I know her.

[20:14] Matt: Oh, she's an icon. She's shown up in WandaVision.

[20:18] Conor: I think she's going to be in the next live-action Lilo & Stitch, I believe.

[20:23] Andrew: She's shown up. Did she have any?

[20:25] Conor: What was her line in the skank of it all?

[20:29] Andrew: No, it wasn't cat poop.

[20:32] Conor: No, it wasn't cat poop because that was Raven Goodwin from Good Luck Charlie.

[20:36] Matt: Yeah.

[20:37] Conor: Hers was...

[20:39] Andrew: She's not...

[20:41] Conor: Okay, Sheila is Raven Goodwin.

[20:43] Matt: The mack is...

[20:44] Andrew: Yeah, Sheila, the mack.

[20:47] Conor: And Ronnie is who...

[20:50] Matt: Is Ronnie not the really thin girl?

[20:52] Conor: No, the mack is the really thin girl.

[20:55] Andrew: Let's see. What does Ronnie say?

[20:59] Conor: Let's see. Glee skanks.

[21:01] Andrew: Oh, it's such a good bit. Here's... Okay, here's the reveal of what Ronnie says.

[21:06] Conor: Skanks.

[21:07] Andrew: I'm Sheila.

[21:08] Conor: I'm Ronnie. They call me the mack because I like to make out with the truckers at the rest stop.

[21:12] Andrew: It's kind of a double meaning thing.

[21:14] Conor: I won't say cat poop.

[21:16] Andrew: Ronnie doesn't get one.

[21:17] Conor: Oh, Ronnie doesn't get one.

[21:20] Andrew: Ronnie.

[21:20] Conor: Okay, let's...

[21:21] Andrew: Okay, writing exercise. What's Ronnie's?

[21:23] Conor: Well, hey, hey, touchy PT. What's Ronnie's? What does Ronnie say?

[21:28] Andrew: Here we are at the Glee discourse in 2025. What would Ronnie say?

[21:34] Conor: Actually, that's a really good question for glisteners. Um, I want you to do the work, actually. What would Ronnie say?

[21:40] Andrew: Maybe you should give them a...

[21:46] Conor: Maybe you should give the best answer a prize.

[21:48] Andrew: Um, what would the prize be?

[21:50] Conor: Andrew's like, no. You get to watch Glitter in the Air with us over and over and over and over again.

[21:55] Andrew: Exactly. On a Zoom call.

[21:57] Conor: Yeah, that's a good prize. Um, okay, so...

[22:01] Matt: I hate the way that people are still dragging Glitter in the Air. Like, I got to show you.

[22:03] Conor: We're right back to it.

[22:05] Andrew: I want to join you.

[22:07] Conor: Call me sugar. It just needs to be a project.

[22:11] Matt: Three things that I would like to talk to you about.

[22:13] Andrew: Or I guess we've already...

[22:16] Conor: Wait, can I answer the question really quick?

[22:17] Andrew: Oh, about how you're feeling with Glee?

[22:20] Conor: Yeah.

[22:21] Andrew: Yes.

[22:22] Conor: The way that we didn't even know.

[22:24] Andrew: No, no, nobody asked me.

[22:27] Conor: I did ask you, but then we never...

[22:28] Andrew: You did ask, but Connor went first and then I was waiting.

[22:32] Conor: I actually didn't have an answer at the time. I do now.

[22:34] Andrew: Okay.

[22:36] Conor: For some reason, as you guys were talking, I looked over at the corner of my computer screen. You know, they put the date down there. I was looking at the date and I was like, oh, wow, it's April 2025. I think I started my Glee podcast five years ago.

[22:50] Andrew: And then I went back and looked. The first episode of The Choir Room Podcast, no longer making active episodes, April 14th, 2020. We are coming up a week from...

[23:00] Conor: Wow.

[23:01] Andrew: Wow. Does it feel longer or does it feel like...

[23:07] Conor: I mean, anytime that you think of that time in our lives, the year 2020, it could feel like a thousand years ago.

[23:14] Andrew: It feels like yesterday.

[23:17] Conor: So it more feels like a thousand years ago, I would say at this point, but pretty crazy number.

[23:24] Matt: I will say though, you wasted no time in the pandemic.

[23:28] Andrew: No.

[23:28] Conor: You were like, oh, yeah, I got to do something.

[23:30] Andrew: To your credit. That's very impressive.

[23:33] Conor: Yeah, I have. I don't know if I'd find it like the second, but afterwards when we were done with like the whole, all six seasons before we started, like everything else we were going to do after that for the next year, I made a calendar that like color coded every day of the year 2020 and what podcast we recorded that day or what season it was. And there were more colored spaces than not, as far as like we recorded a podcast about Glee that day. It was at least two thirds, if not more of the calendar year that we woke up, recorded a Glee podcast. I edited a Glee podcast. We did it again the next day. I, of course, watched a Glee episode. Crazy, crazy story.

[24:17] Conor: Yeah. Wild. And it does segue into the Gloice Mail that I have to share. I'm so excited about this because I've never been on an episode where this has been a bit. It's directly, it's, I, okay. It's like more so format, but we will all respond.

[24:28] Andrew: Sure.

[24:38] Conor: So this isn't related to anything that happened recently, but I have been holding onto this feeling for a long time. And I just wanted to voice it to someone, even if it doesn't make it, you know, on the pod. Uh, but I am Pretending's number one fan. I think that song is good. And it has been, uh, devastating to hear the takedowns of that song, especially by Matt, um, who proudly killed it.

[25:14] Andrew: If memory serves.

[25:16] Conor: Proudly. Yeah. I think it's, I don't know. I think it's good. It's very emotionally charged. I think the kiss at the end is really like funny, like awkward. And I don't know. I kind of get excited when I'm watching, um, New York and it's like, oh, you know, they're about to kiss, uh, you know, I don't know. I think it's good. I like the idea that Finn wrote it, you know, in universe. It makes me, I don't know. I'm a Finn girl. So it makes me happy to think like, oh, look at that. He can write a song. I don't know. I like it. The harmonies are good. And you guys are just a little bit mean to it. And I've never heard anybody speak up for it. And I understand, you know, we all have our own tastes, but I thought, dang, not one person seems to be upset after something, uh, went home.

One time I actually, so I was listening, I found week of the week through the choir room podcast, you know, the first episode that they guested on. And what else did we do? I was following them on Twitter and I think they had just got to the New York episode. And again, like the, the pretending slander, especially for Matt. Oh my gosh. And I responded to one of their tweets and I said, wait, guys, pretending is good. What do you mean? And I think Matt responded something like, are you serious? Like even then years, years and years ago, I was pretending only fan and Matt was crushing my dream. But anyway, you know, love the pod, love the work you're doing. Love the choir. Obviously I just wanted to, uh, say my piece. Okay. Bye.

[27:00] Andrew: I so appreciate that just in general, uh, that, that probably felt so good to get off your chest, right? Like just to be able to, to let that out, it starts now.

[27:13] Conor: Yes. I swear. I feel like when that decision was made to send pretending home, uh, it was only, uh, I don't know, months ago, last, sometime last year. I remember the conversation. I remember feeling like pretending is hitting for me now more than it ever has before.

[27:30] Andrew: And the uphill battle that I was facing, and probably still would continue to face today, is that similar to if Conor jumped into the White Lotus today, it's like you weren't there at the beginning, so it might not hit the same. Andrew watched Lost from the beginning. I watched it later. So it doesn't hit the same. If you were in on pretending from day one, you're going to love pretending all the way through. So it growing on me may just not be doing enough to overtake some other songs that I have a better connection to, but we're getting there. I do understand with all that said, that none of what I just said can bring pretending back if I did vote against it. I'm sorry. I did not get this listener's name. They may have chosen to become, you know, choose to be Glanonymous as a choice because, you know... They may as well just have used like a voice distortion, like, I just want to say... Am I a bad person?

[28:27] Matt: No, that's why I brought you on this episode, Matt, because I was like, actually, you're a really bad person. You're cyberbullying Gleeks.

[28:34] Matt: Yeah, and I'm in on it, actually. But I will say, Matt, you're nothing if not consistent.

[28:40] Conor: That's true. Yes.

[28:44] Andrew: Seriously? On Twitter, please. We can find out who left the voicemail by just going through your tweets. I do have to find the tweet.

[28:53] Matt: All right.

[28:55] Andrew: Yeah, that's how I feel about Glitter in the Air. So, listener, I'm here with you. Sometimes you get bullied for liking a Glee song, and apparently bullying's okay in some situations. I was thinking about Glitter in the Air the entire time that I was listening to this voicemail.

[29:10] Conor: Were you?

[29:10] Andrew: Well, not earlier. Not only until we had this Glitter in the Air conversation was I thinking about the Glitter in the Air tie-in, because I do think, maybe you'll agree, maybe you won't, Glitter in the Air and Pretending are identical twins.

[29:29] Matt: No, they're not.

[29:30] Conor: Fraternal?

[29:31] Matt: Fraternal, maybe.

[29:31] Conor: Fraternal.

[29:32] Andrew: But I still don't even think so.

[29:34] Matt: Well, I don't think so, just because I hate pretending.

[29:37] Andrew: So this person might have deleted their account. I don't know exactly. I can't find that one. But I a tweet that I tweeted out from in 2021, November of 2021. And you know the picture. I'll just show you guys, but it's like the phone that has a really long scroll. And it's like, what are you defending like this? So I said, what Glee cover are you defending like this? And somebody, I do believe that this is somebody who would use he, him pronouns, just to say this is not the same person, I don't believe, said, not a cover, but pretending is a bop. So that's the only pretending search that I'm getting. But if that helps, other people agree.

[30:20] Conor: They've deleted the tweet. It was such a traumatic event for them.

[30:24] Andrew: I'm sorry that this entire thing even happened. And I'm sorry if I added fuel to the fire, sweet, sweet Glistener, when you listen to this. I don't intend for any harm against...

[30:39] Matt: How can I make it up?

[30:39] Andrew: How can we make it up? Do you want to join a Zoom call and watch Glitter in the Air with us?

[30:45] Matt: Yeah.

[30:45] Andrew: On repeat? Or would that be—

[30:48] Matt: We might have to watch pretending on repeat.

[30:50] Andrew: You know, kind of a chore or what is the word that I'm looking for? Something bad.

[30:56] Matt: Not to Kevin and Jenna, it wouldn't be. Me, Kevin and Jenna could do it happily.

[31:00] Andrew: Punishment?

[31:01] Matt: Yeah, a punishment. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I was like, there is a word.

[31:04] Andrew: I was surprised to see Glitter in the Air in your season five set list, to be quite honest.

[31:10] Matt: Let's let it be clear. And I think maybe the writings were on the wall, why Glitter in the Air was included in my season five set list, simply because of the Vanessa Langey's inclusion. And also I needed to put a Rolo in there. And I knew that they liked Glitter in the Air and I knew how this game works and I needed to get on their good side. So.

[31:31] Andrew: I have not been able to do that.

[31:33] Matt: Get on their good side?

[31:35] Andrew: Yeah.

[31:36] Matt: You're on their bad side, Matt.

[31:39] Andrew: Yeah, my dark side.

[31:42] Conor: Any further thoughts about Glitter in the Air or pretending or anything?

[31:46] Andrew: Wait, what are the three questions you have to ask us? Was that one of them?

[31:50] Matt: So that was that. OK, so my first I wrote down these notes, just your thoughts, question mark.

[31:56] Conor: Wait, Andrew, where'd you get your pen?

[31:58] Andrew: I got it when I... voted? Where did I get this?

[32:03] Conor: I love American democracy, it's so beautiful.

[32:07] Andrew: Audio Medium, this is a pen with a human head on the top, a real human head.

[32:13] Matt: A real human head! It's a really heavy pen.

[32:18] Conor: Blue yarn for hair.

[32:20] Andrew: Blue yarn for hair, a human head. Whoever sacrificed their head for this pen, I commend you.

[32:28] Matt: I'll post the picture.

[32:29] Andrew: The next pen is going to be my head and it's going to be a pen made by the listener that sent in that voicemail.

[32:35] Conor: Right, exactly. And you're going to have blue yarn for hair.

[32:38] Andrew: OK, so I wrote down three notes, your thoughts, question mark. That's a very broad question, but I think...

[32:44] Matt: My thoughts.

[32:45] Andrew: I think that we kind of covered it.

[32:47] Conor: Where do I begin?

[32:49] Andrew: We covered the voicemail. And I have a very important question. This is actually important. I'm not being facetious about... We need to actually have a conversation about this. And I don't think that we're going to settle it right now in this conversation. Because I'm curious what the patrons think. Because I think I might be throwing it to the patrons for a vote. But I just want to start the conversation right now.

[33:11] Andrew: OK, voting for songs to come back in the course of round three. So 180 songs are in round three famously. And if you divide 180 in two, which we will be doing over the course of round three, you will get 90. 90 is not divisible by four, but you know what is? 92. So that's option number one. Two songs come back over the course of round three.

[33:41] Conor: OK.

[33:42] Andrew: Option number two is six songs come back over the course of round three. Meaning we have 96 in round four. And then this is an option. I'm not sure how I feel about it. 10 songs come back in round three. Meaning there is a clean 100 songs in round four.

[34:09] Matt: Isn't 96 good for bracket numbers? Like you go 96, 48, 24, 12, 6, 3?

[34:20] Andrew: Is that? Was that math? I couldn't follow that.

[34:24] Matt: 96, cut in half is 48, cut in half is 24, cut in half is 12, then 6, but then 3.

[34:32] Andrew: So that's a problem.

[34:33] Matt: 3, we'll get there when we get there.

[34:36] Andrew: See, I like the idea of first episode of round four, 100 songs left. Like it's so round. It's so beautiful. However, the other side of me, I'm just like, oh, let's just go ham for ham here and just make it two to come back. Like, you know, when we're not talking about for the majority of round two, that there has to be some kind of stake in round three. Like, remember famously, it's going to get scary. It's going to get scary. It's going to get scary. It's going to get scary. Are the gleeks there emotionally yet? Like, I mean, I don't know.

[35:13] Matt: I think I've said this too many times at this point. Like I'm putting my whole body on the scale, not just my finger on the scale here to like, have like, vote, vote songs back in. Whether it's six or 10, I would be satisfied with either. I do like the concept. Not two. You want to have them like nice and consistently. Like, let's like, you know, and I get the idea that like, let it be brutal. Let it be a bloodbath. But there will be bloodbath.

[35:40] Andrew: Yeah, we're going to get there. And at a certain point, if we have to stop voting songs back in, that's fine. But I mean, the votes are fun. I love that the votes are very, very fun.

[35:51] Conor: I will agree. The thing that I did not like, particularly in round two, was the feeling when we went into certain competitions and it's like, oh, yeah, this is terrible. And I'm throwing up everywhere. However, I know that both songs are going to be in round three, because we have a vote coming up. But you see, will that feeling be gone? Because there's going to be more go-to songs gone just by proxy with being in round three, you know?

[36:17] Matt: That's what I think.

[36:18] Conor: Sure. Yeah, that's a good point. Because I think you could have, you know, within the same span of like one vote happening, you could lose like three heavy hitters because we're that deep into the competition. So and then when, OK, so if we are voting songs back, do you like the idea of it happening? If I like divvy it up either, you know, however many episodes, I forget how many. I think there are 45.

[36:47] Andrew: 45 in round three.

[36:49] Conor: And if I divide that by six and seeing like how many, like every seven episodes it was in round two to only have those, you know, choosings of songs to have one voted back in, or would it be better to have at the end to have everything available and then have the top six come back?

[37:12] Matt: No, I like voting frequently throughout.

[37:15] Conor: Yeah, same.

[37:17] Matt: I don't want to be like nervous for the next like eight months that like the song that I like, people that are going to be mad at us because we sent home their favorite song today are going to be mad at us all the way until November when they could just stop being mad at us instead in like a month.

[37:34] Andrew: It's true. It's really talking about me and not Connor, because Connor usually makes better decisions.

[37:39] Matt: Thank you so much.

[37:39] Andrew: And another plug for Elijah's voting glacket. It's so insane. Because I did look when, you know, this gloss mail came in about pretending where, you know, I wanted to see how it was in Matt, you were there and Amman was there and Amman was the only person that voted for pretending. And thanks to Elijah, I have that stat ready and available.

[38:10] Matt: Yeah, that is such an—

[38:11] Andrew: What was it against?

[38:13] Matt: It was against next to me.

[38:15] Andrew: Yeah, not a great competition for the books, but yeah.

[38:19] Matt: No, not a good look for me. I remember, I remember, I fully remember feeling like both songs were take it or leave it. And I streamed next to me more in my life. But now I feel bad. Can we get some new songs?

[38:37] Conor: Right.

[38:39] Andrew: So anyway, I'll throw back to the voting discourse. Back to the voting discourse. I'll throw that question to the patrons, probably by the time that you listen to this, that poll will be available where you can vote on either two songs come back, six songs come back, or 10 songs come back over the course of this very round round three. I feel like week of the week is the only place right now where we're getting votes right, you know, in this country.

[39:06] Matt: Getting political on Maine.

[39:08] Andrew: I love that. Let's let's get more votes, right?

[39:12] Conor: Let's get more votes, right?

[39:13] Andrew: Yeah. It's so amazing, Elijah, that we have this like super impressive. Amelia, Elijah, really, my king and queen. Honest to God.

[39:23] Matt: Yeah, really? Like, this just makes me looking at this, this I love shit like this. Like, I love a good spreadsheet. Like, I love organization. I love like stationary, you know, like, it makes me horny. Like, it's so good. Like, I just love looking at this color coded kind of thing. And even seeing how like the competitions in the episode compared to the Instagram poll.

[39:46] Andrew: Well, are we ready to potentially glack it?

[39:49] Conor: I am like I'm so yeah, I'm so ready.

[39:52] Matt: It's gonna be such a mindfuck for me now that there's four songs, but I'm kind of in love with that. I will say that like I edited the last episode in record time. Yeah, I was listening to last week's episode on the bus and I was like, I looked down at my phone and I was like, there's 40 minutes left and they've pulled two songs. And the songs haven't started yet. I completely forgot about it.

[40:17] Andrew: Yeah, I was like, oh, they pulled Crush in this episode. Two great choices though made last week. I'm, you know, Total Eclipse had to go through as did maybe this time. Like, is there any argument to be made? Otherwise, I don't know. Episode proper comes out tomorrow as the time that we're recording this. I'll see if any, you know, folks are mad about the bills, bills, bills, time warp. I have to say as well, maybe this time really ate it up. Like she went from round, she essentially went from round two to round four because she was pulled towards the very end of round two with Andrew and Jacob and I. Jacob, yeah. And then literally the first episode around three, she was like, I'm actually I'm going to linger here for just one second.

And then I'm going to leave. Like, I'm like, she is on her own path, you know, so well done to her. And good for her. I really want the best for her as she continues. I think that she really has a lot of juice, but it is scary to hear from.

[41:15] Conor: People like Jenny Gorlick, where it's like, oh, the opinion is so scary.

[41:20] Matt: Yeah, Jenny. Yeah, Jenny.

[41:25] Conor: I appreciated the vote for Time Warp. I would have likely done the same if I could tell that everybody else was not voting for it, just to throw some love. But I also want to just jump on the thank you all for the words you had for Total Eclipse of the Heart, because when a song gets pulled, it's just like, I love this song a lot. I don't know what they're all gonna say. I don't know if it's gonna go through. And then as you get to listen for the next 10 minutes of conversation, and it's all good things, and the vote goes the right way. Incredible.

[41:57] Conor: Between these two songs that are confirmed, the only two songs that we have confirmed in round four, Total Eclipse of the Heart and Maybe This Time, I do feel, this is maybe so rude to say after your beautiful words in favor of Total Eclipse of the Heart. I think Total Eclipse of the Heart, that was the last round it went through. I think round four is going to be its final round.

[42:16] Matt: I wouldn't be so sure.

[42:18] Conor: Really?

[42:19] Matt: I wouldn't be so sure.

[42:20] Conor: You're acting like we're in round five or six.

[42:23] Matt: I can see where you're coming from, but I think there is a possibility that it has, my headcanon is, is that it could be a round five contender.

[42:32] Conor: Yeah, I mean, as of this round, 183, you said? So if we're getting to the top 100 or 96, you're saying you can't make it into the top 50?

[42:44] Matt: Yeah.

[42:44] Conor: They can make it.

[42:45] Matt: All right.

[42:46] Conor: And it's going to.

[42:46] Matt: I guess we'll see.

[42:47] Conor: You got through with that one.

[42:51] Matt: I've been gagged. Okay, so are we ready for full song number one?

[42:57] Conor: Oh, I miss the big crunch cup.

[42:57] Matt: There it is.

[42:58] Conor: We see again, we meet again.

[43:01] Matt: I miss you guys too.

[43:03] Conor: Oh my gosh, voice reveal.

[43:05] Matt: The cups auction on eBay is going to be crazy.

[43:15] Conor: No, no, I'm keeping this forever.

[43:18] Matt: I will cry into it when it's over and I'll drink it.

[43:21] Conor: I'll drink my tears.

[43:22] Matt: And then that'll get auctioned on eBay for crazy amounts of money.

[43:27] Conor: Do we say manifestations?

[43:29] Matt: Do we say anything?

[43:31] Conor: Season six.

[43:32] Matt: Oh, I actually do have a manifestation.

[43:34] Conor: I don't want to be negative.

[43:38] Matt: There was a period in round two where a lot of the Rolos were just not safe.

[43:43] Conor: Rolos were being killed left, right and center.

[43:46] Matt: Really scary area for Rolos.

[43:48] Conor: Yeah.

[43:49] Matt: And now, do you know what I'm hoping to see? I'm hoping to see a scary era for Blolos.

[43:55] Conor: I think we're, oh, I think I was thinking the same thing.

[43:57] Matt: I don't want to get.

[43:58] Conor: I think we're in a scary, we're already in it.

[43:59] Matt: Everyone knows me as a blame hater and I don't want to be doing it.

[44:02] Conor: I don't want to bring negative energy to the chat.

[44:05] Matt: But like, you know, it's time to just trim down just a little bit.

[44:08] Conor: Just a little bit.

[44:09] Matt: Oh, I completely agree.

[44:11] Conor: And I really hope that the Blaine fans don't take issue with this.

[44:17] Matt: Well, the Blaine fans hate me for a fact.

[44:19] Conor: We can trim the fat a little bit.

[44:21] Matt: We can.

[44:21] Conor: Yeah.

[44:22] Matt: There is, Bills, Bills, Bills was a great, you know, a calculation of like.

[44:27] Conor: Yeah.

[44:28] Matt: So let's keep that momentum going a little bit, you know.

[44:31] Conor: All right.

[44:32] Matt: That was fun.

[44:33] Conor: Let's keep it going.

[44:34] Matt: I fucking love this.

[44:36] Conor: Let's do it.

[44:36] Matt: Um, okay.

[44:39] Conor: Oh, oh no.

[44:41] Matt: Connor, you were here for this, this song last round.

[44:44] Conor: Oh gosh.

[44:45] Matt: I don't believe that was in, I think this was in Patrick's episode.

[44:50] Conor: It's kind of crazy.

[44:52] Matt: Let's see.

[44:53] Conor: Okay.

[44:54] Matt: Do you recall any of the winners from that episode?

[44:56] Conor: No idea.

[44:58] Matt: Well, you're going to know what it is in three, two, one.

[45:01] Conor: Boop.

[45:03] Matt: You know what it is?

[45:05] Conor: Oh, okay.

[45:07] Matt: Eva's live in concert.

[45:09] ♪ Musical number: "My Favorite Things" — performed by the Glee Cast ♪

[47:26] Conor: I think we need to start with Matt.

[47:27] Matt: Yes, please.

[47:29] Conor: Oh, we need to. We need to, because we've heard these other two gay men talk about my favorite things.

[47:35] Matt: Right, the other two gay men, who?

[47:38] Conor: Who? I wonder who.

[47:39] Matt: My first episode of this podcast, I had a Christmas episode. So I love that the first round, first episode of round three, I also get a Christmas song, Christmas episode. That's kind of cute.

[47:49] Conor: In the beautiful Christmas holiday month of April.

[47:52] Matt: Yeah, it snowed today, I gotta tell you.

[47:56] Conor: I watched it snow today, April 7th.

[48:01] Matt: Can we rank the four of them in terms of what they bring to this number?

[48:05] Conor: Rachel's number one.

[48:06] Matt: A beautiful assignment, thank you.

[48:09] Conor: Rachel is number one, and Blaine is number four.

[48:13] Matt: That's all I know.

[48:13] Conor: You are so correct.

[48:15] Matt: That is all I knew coming into the question.

[48:17] Conor: Matt, did you do an impression of Blaine while we were watching?

[48:21] Matt: Doorbells!

[48:23] Conor: Right, there's something very uncanny about him.

[48:25] Matt: The way Darren sings, snowflakes stay on my nose. Like, it's such a weird-

[48:31] Conor: It's like he's bringing himself down an octave or something.

[48:37] Matt: It's like he doesn't know whether he wants to talk or sing.

[48:39] Conor: It's like, commit to one.

[48:41] Matt: Sorry.

[48:41] Conor: Doorbells!

[48:42] Matt: You know what we're committing to?

[48:43] Conor: Snowflakes!

[48:44] Matt: The Blaine hate in round three.

[48:45] Conor: Listen, bitch, I can't prepare.

[48:46] Matt: We're like, Bill, Bill, Bill's out. And you know what, Blaine, you're the least favorite thing here.

[48:52] Conor: Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles.

[48:56] Matt: And he's like, even his body language, he's so far away from everybody else in that part where he's singing about doorbells. I don't know.

[49:01] Conor: Everybody else is just clearly above him.

[49:04] Matt: We all know that Darren is a star, so I don't know. Everyone has their off days.

[49:10] Conor: I don't know, it just doesn't-

[49:12] Matt: It's just not-

[49:13] Conor: I don't know.

[49:14] Matt: I think it's bad directing.

[49:16] Conor: Can I have a theory of why possibly Darren Criss was not good in this number?

[49:22] Matt: Why?

[49:22] Conor: Because he is culturally queer and not actually queer. And that is where the difference lies.

[49:29] Matt: Because Amber Riley and Lea Michele, say what you will about them. They're girls that get it.

[49:36] Conor: Say what you will about them.

[49:38] Matt: Say what you will about those girls.

[49:41] Conor: But those are girls that get it.

[49:46] Matt: We as gay men feel safe around-

[49:50] Conor: It is bizarre to me.

[49:51] Matt: It is bizarre to me that we live in a universe in which there are some Glee fans that exist.

[49:56] Conor: And we've talked about this countless times.

[49:58] Matt: End of sentence.

[50:00] Conor: There are some Glee fans that exist that genuinely never found Lea on the show absolutely hilarious.

[50:07] Matt: It is mind-boggling to me.

[50:09] Conor: No, that was me for a while.

[50:11] Matt: I had to be one of the people on this podcast to be like, you guys need to go get an MRI to check if everything's okay up there.

[50:17] Conor: Because what is wrong with you?

[50:19] Matt: She is objectively hilarious in this show.

[50:24] Conor: And I will say, as someone that has lived that experience and is here to tell the tale from the other side, that the gateway for me wasn't even the HitFox show Glee.

[50:35] Matt: It was the HitFox show Scream Queens.

[50:37] Conor: Scream Queens.

[50:38] Matt: Where Lea Michele is on a very funny show.

[50:44] Conor: Maybe top two funniest performances in that show.

[50:48] Matt: I really didn't appreciate either the low-key drag of Lea Michele's performance in the article that Variety wrote about the 100 best performances in the 21st century.

[51:02] Conor: I just thought it was completely unnecessary.

[51:03] Matt: And I'm just going to say it.

[51:05] Conor: Oh, okay.

[51:07] Matt: Variety heads.

[51:08] Conor: Okay, what did they say?

[51:10] Matt: Talk amongst yourselves and I will pull it up.

[51:14] Conor: Wait, can we finish the assignment?

[51:15] Matt: Oh, go ahead.

[51:17] Conor: I mean, so we're down to Mercedes and Kurt in the two and three spots.

[51:21] Matt: I feel like it's Mercedes two, Kurt three.

[51:23] Conor: I was going to say, I agree.

[51:25] Matt: But it's close.

[51:26] Conor: Kurt's like a solid two and a half.

[51:30] Matt: I would actually swap Mercedes and Kurt.

[51:32] Conor: I actually think when I look at the entire package of that segment, I think that Kurt clinches it for me.

[51:39] Matt: But then again, I think he was given more to do.

[51:41] Conor: Mercedes attaches herself to Rachel, who is number one in this.

[51:46] Matt: So by process of staying close to the main character here in that, she does really well, where Kurt's brought down by Blaine and the doorbells.

[52:00] Conor: And I even think that vocally, this is Lea's song.

[52:04] Matt: I think that it's just more most suited to her voice.

[52:08] Conor: Like.

[52:10] Matt: Well, you brought it up last in last round, Connor, when we talked about this song, that there is a Rolo version of this song.

[52:17] Conor: She said, the Dove commercial.

[52:18] Matt: Let me just leave it to me.

[52:21] Conor: I'll do the entire track this time around.

[52:23] Matt: Exactly.

[52:23] Conor: And she did.

[52:24] Matt: Before her HelloFresh brand campaign went tits up and before her collaboration with Tylenol, she had a brand collaboration with Dove and she ate it up in that commercial.

[52:38] Conor: Why do I feel like it's not even? OK, this is how deep I am in the fandom, but it's not even Tylenol. It's children's Tylenol.

[52:46] Matt: I think it's more specific than that.

[52:47] Conor: Oh, is there such a thing as children's Tylenol or is it just regular Tylenol that you give to a child?

[52:54] Matt: That's a great question.

[52:55] Conor: When Lea Michele inevitably comes onto this podcast.

[52:58] Matt: Is it like coloured differently?

[52:59] Conor: Ask her Tylenol questions.

[53:00] Matt: Yeah, I don't know.

[53:02] Conor: It's very interesting.

[53:03] Matt: But yeah, I think vocally, she eats this up.

[53:06] Conor: And I said this in the last round, I think this is my I know it's the unpopular opinion, but this is my favourite Christmas episode.

[53:13] Matt: I love this.

[53:15] Conor: And I think Matthew Morrison, you know, Matthew, there's people out there dragging you left, right and centre for literally breathing air. I just want to say congratulations, because I think you did a great job of directing this. You did a much better job of directing this episode than Chris Colfer did at writing his.

[53:33] Matt: OK, stop.

[53:35] Conor: Oh, whoa.

[53:36] Matt: Whoa.

[53:37] Conor: That was crazy.

[53:37] Matt: Oh, sorry.

[53:40] Conor: That literally was a drive by.

[53:42] Matt: Literally, something possessed me there.

[53:44] Conor: That was so crazy.

[53:44] Matt: No, literally.

[53:44] Conor: Wait, do you stand with the demon and what the demon said?

[53:47] Matt: Yeah.

[53:51] Conor: Yeah, actually, I do.

[53:53] Matt: Yeah.

[53:54] Conor: But so I don't disagree that, you know, the rest of the episode, Matthew Morrison did a great job. But like, he didn't give Blaine any notes.

[54:02] Matt: OK.

[54:03] Conor: Not here.

[54:04] Matt: Maybe that was like Adam Anders.

[54:08] Conor: In the studio.

[54:09] Matt: Yeah.

[54:09] Conor: That they were about to go on holiday vacation and they were like, it's OK.

[54:13] Matt: Wait.

[54:15] Conor: Well, yeah, there's something missing.

[55:01] Conor: Talking over anybody, which I would never do ever, intentionally. Look, Darren Criss is always going to be an incredibly handsome man. And that's all I was going to say, is that whenever his performances may not be a 10 out of 10, maybe it's an 8 out of 10, I will still appreciate Darren Criss on my show. Yeah, and he put his entire glossy into Extraordinary Merry Christmas. So, you know, maybe he was just kind of taking a breather for this.

[55:29] Matt: I thought you were going to say he put his entire glossy to extraordinary measures. And I was like, wow, you are really running with it.

[55:37] Conor: I mean, that too, that too. I love the way, up until around five months ago, I called it glossy until you promptly, and rightly, corrected me and was like, no, Conor, it's not glossy. It's glossy. And you know what? We're all here for gross.

[55:57] Matt: Yeah, we're all here for gross. Glossy.

[56:03] Conor: It's like when it's like when it changes from Glinda to simply Glinda.

[56:12] Matt: I will no longer be referred to as glossy. That's one for the carousel.

[56:22] Conor: Oh, that's so perfect. Everybody, I have an announcement.

[56:28] Matt: Okay, so we have four. Is there further glossy discourse to be had?

[56:37] Conor: I think that was a great question that Matt posed. However, so about ranking the four.

[56:46] Matt: Hardly there is. That's hardly a controversial take, is it?

[56:50] Conor: Which part? With the ranking.

[56:57] Matt: People may say we're being too hard on Blaine.

[57:01] Conor: But that's what round three is all about, baby. But it's only because Rachel's definitely just shining too bright here. And, you know, bright, too bright, as in, it's black and white. It can only get so bright around here.

[57:12] Matt: I will say, I actually genuinely really love this. And I don't know, I can't remember what you guys thought, but I think you like it. You think it's like, okay, I actually really think it's a lovely cover and a lovely moment. I really enjoyed this segment. This could be a tough competition for me, honestly. What did it beat? What last time?

[57:38] Conor: Great question. Great question alert. Maybe last time. And the time before, if you really want to get into details.

[57:46] Matt: My Favorite Things won against Pure Imagination.

[57:50] Conor: Which I stand by. I stand by totally. I totally stand by that.

[57:55] Matt: And then in round one, it won against Little Girls, which I don't stand by.

[58:03] Conor: Which I did. I have the Elijah vote here. I voted for Little Girls.

[58:07] Matt: I think I might vote against both of those matchups, but only for... So for Little Girls, I would just say, we're not going to get much Sue Sylvester around the conversation of Gleek of the Week. Let's keep her in as long as we can. So that's what I would say there. And then, wait, what was this? What was the...

[58:23] Conor: Pure Imagination.

[58:24] Matt: Yeah.

[58:25] Conor: Yeah, I think I just have a more of a personal connection to that one. So I might have voted against it, but I'm more than willing to vote for it here, depending.

[58:32] Matt: Take a breath.

[58:33] Conor: My Favorite Things is...

[58:36] Matt: Count to three.

[58:36] Conor: Count to three. What was the joke when we pulled that last time? There was something...

[58:42] Matt: It's because I was accused of talking over Jenna.

[58:46] Conor: Oh my God, that's right. Someone got mad at you, right?

[58:50] Matt: Someone got mad, like, literally so genuinely mad at me, being like, I can't believe Connor was talking over Jenna's little opening monologue. I'm sorry whoever said that. I mean, no disrespect. It exists on Apple Music and Spotify. You can listen to it without Connor elsewhere. I think it's funny.

[59:08] Conor: We need to actually roll the tape and find out what it was that I was saying. It's probably something completely innocuous.

[59:16] Matt: I will say that, okay, My Favorite Things is one of those songs that, while the Hitbox Show was airing, this was not a song that did anything on the scale for me. It didn't measure up at all. But through the process of glacketing and watching it now three times, I like it. It's good. It's almost like, and I probably said this last round, that it's like Broadway Baby's little gay brother. Not gay enough, but it's getting gayer a little bit.

[59:54] Conor: I mean, if it was Quinn instead of Mercedes, this is the gayest cover of Glee.

[59:59] Matt: It could be, yeah.

[1:00:00] Conor: Rachel, Quinn, Kurt, and Blaine.

[1:00:02] Matt: Oh, that's gay.

[1:00:04] Conor: That's gay.

[1:00:05] Matt: So, interesting. Also, I wanted to bring up that there are four songs, four Christmas songs left in the glacket, including this one. So, My Favorite Things, Christmas Wrapping, and then from the season prior, Last Christmas and Baby It's Cold Outside.

[1:00:24] Conor: Baby It's Cold Outside.

[1:00:27] Matt: So, this is, I think, the weakest link and I think we can all agree.

[1:00:31] Conor: Can we?

[1:00:32] Matt: Goodbye.

[1:00:33] Conor: Yeah, I think so.

[1:00:34] Matt: Yeah.

[1:00:35] Conor: It is for me.

[1:00:36] Matt: So.

[1:00:37] Conor: Yeah.

[1:00:38] Matt: It is.

[1:00:39] Conor: Any?

[1:00:39] Matt: The weakest link, just like Blaine in the song.

[1:00:43] Conor: Just like Blaine, always, boo.

[1:00:45] Matt: And that's funny because we're also talking about, you know, out of a group of four, that this is the fourth and best and symmetry.

[1:00:52] Conor: All right, well.

[1:00:53] Matt: Do we have any final words about My Favorite Things before we see what it's up against?

[1:00:58] Conor: One of my favorites.

[1:01:00] Matt: Quinn would have sounded really good in there.

[1:01:02] Conor: Quinn?

[1:01:04] Matt: Sorry, we talked at the same time. We're going to get in trouble again, Connor.

[1:01:06] Conor: Quinn? No, did you say Quinn?

[1:01:08] Matt: I said Quinn. Quinn would have sounded great in the song.

[1:01:11] Conor: Surely, you couldn't have said Quinn.

[1:01:13] Matt: I think she would have sounded fine.

[1:01:16] Conor: I think so, too.

[1:01:18] Matt: Like, fine, you know?

[1:01:21] Conor: Like a lot of people.

[1:01:21] Matt: I would have loved to hear it.

[1:01:23] Conor: Is there a particular-

[1:01:24] Matt: Just like Chris Colfer's writing.

[1:01:26] Conor: Yeah, but you hate Connor.

[1:01:27] Matt: Listen, do you know what? I don't even hate it. I actually, I think I enjoyed that episode when I watched it in my most recent rewatch.

[1:01:38] Conor: I think I would have loved to have seen Chris kind of explore more.

[1:01:43] Matt: And it just kind of read like fan fiction to me.

[1:01:47] Conor: Are we going to go there?

[1:01:48] Matt: I think that the scene for me in Old Dogs, New Tricks, it's been a while since I've watched it. But the scene that really felt so out of it, and I remember feeling this watching it live, was when Kurt goes to visit June Squibb's daughter at work. And I'm like, what am I, what am I watching?

[1:02:11] Conor: Right? It doesn't feel, it doesn't feel like the show somehow.

[1:02:15] Matt: It's like, it's like a good story. But as a Glee episode, you're like a little bit, what's going on here? Why are we here?

[1:02:24] Conor: Yeah.

[1:02:24] Matt: What led up to this?

[1:02:26] Conor: Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend.

[1:02:28] Matt: Yeah.

[1:02:28] Conor: That's what all of us ask when we hop on a Glee podcast every so often.

[1:02:34] Matt: All my choices have led me here.

[1:02:37] Conor: Okay, My Favorite Thing, right? This is, this is actually crazy. It's just like, yeah, the choices.

[1:02:43] Matt: It's 5pm on a Monday.

[1:02:47] Conor: And My Favorite Thing is going up against another Glee song. Where did I go wrong in my life? That this is where I am?

[1:02:54] Matt: Or where did I go right?

[1:02:56] Conor: Oh, here we go.

[1:02:58] Matt: You are here every single time this song is played.

[1:03:02] Conor: No fucking way!

[1:03:04] Matt: Yes.

[1:03:05] Conor: It's Be Okay?

[1:03:06] Matt: It's not Be Okay.

[1:03:08] Conor: Oh.

[1:03:08] Matt: You know the other one.

[1:03:11] Conor: I do?

[1:03:12] Matt: Yes.

[1:03:12] Conor: Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. This is actually insane.

[1:03:16] Matt: I only think about Be Okay in terms of that.

[1:03:20] Conor: Every time it's come up.

[1:03:21] Matt: Every single time.

[1:03:22] Conor: So I'm talking, you're...

[1:03:23] Matt: Don't Stop Believin'?

[1:03:24] Conor: It is Don't Stop Believin'.

[1:03:25] Matt: I got Don't Stop Believin' twice?

[1:03:26] Conor: Oh my gosh.

[1:03:27] Matt: You got Don't Stop Believin' in the last, in round two as well.

[1:03:31] Conor: I don't remember the round two one.

[1:03:33] Matt: Um, three times now.

[1:03:34] Conor: Hey!

[1:03:51] ♪ Musical number: "Don't Stop Believin'" — performed by Glee Cast ♪

[1:06:46] Conor: What a crazy little addition there. It's giving Kelsey from High School Musical, a gay icon that we don't talk about enough.

[1:06:56] Matt: Jesus, something I was really struck by watching this performance is, I don't know if this is Captain Obvious, Connor. How old this is and how old it looks. There is truly no difference from 2009 to 2001 at this stage in terms of watching something on screen.

[1:07:14] Conor: Oh, spooky.

[1:07:16] Matt: It looks like it's from 1999.

[1:07:18] Conor: Yeah.

[1:07:20] Matt: Which is bizarre.

[1:07:22] Conor: Just keep going backwards.

[1:07:24] Matt: It looks like it's from 1982.

[1:07:26] Conor: I often think to myself sometimes, what would the show...

[1:07:30] Matt: When I was listening to your episode today of the Season 5 Dream Tour with Kevin and Jenna, I was often thinking, oh my god, if anyone out there subscribes to the idea of the multiverse and the unlimited amount of parallel universes, there is a parallel universe where this tour is happening right now.

[1:07:48] Conor: There's also a parallel universe that exists in which, what would Glee have been like if it just stayed the same way it was, the way it was in the pilot?

[1:07:56] Matt: So interesting to me, because I often think about that and I often think about what would Glee have been like if Corey had never passed away?

[1:08:06] Conor: So interesting.

[1:08:08] Matt: Because now that we're getting through to Season... we've got through Season 5 of them, that's what you really missed. And the discourse about like, oh my god, we're giving each... we're all giving each... we're giving everyone grace because of what happened with Corey and stuff like that. I've been singing from that hymn sheet for years, like guys, people need to stop being so rough on Season 5 and consider the outside influences that was going on. Just watching this performance of Don't Stop Believin', I'm like, what would the show have been like? Should it have continued that way, like tonally, and should it have remained that small and that compact?

[1:08:45] Conor: And, like, that tightly written with, like, a smaller cast and with, like, if eventually we had got more of Tina and we'd got more of Aariti and if it didn't become such a big thing. It's just an interesting thought experiment to me. And that's not me coming from a place of, like, oh, my God, I hated what it became, because obviously I don't, because I'm sitting here in 2025. But it's just, like, a very interesting thing to think about. Do you know what I mean?

[1:09:11] Matt: No, I know what you mean. I have so many thoughts in response. First of all, I have a question for you, because I feel bad for not actually knowing the answer to this, Conor. Is there any other show that you like as much or close to as much as The Hitbox Show?

[1:09:27] Conor: No, no. Because even if there is, even if there's shows that I know just as much about or whatever, or that I can talk about ad nauseum just as much as I can, what Glee has is the emotionality tied to it. I brought that up in Kevin and Jenna's podcast when I was on it. I was like, there's not been a singular piece of media that has come along since. That has, the thing about Glee was Glee met me at a point in my life when I needed it. And there's been other pieces of media that have come into my life, but they've not met me at where I'm at. Do you know what I mean?

[1:10:06] Andrew: Totally. Like, you're talking about impressionable age. You're talking about when you needed it most. Yes.

[1:10:12] Conor: The frontal cortex was not developed yet. I was a gay teenager who loved musicals. Of course. It's like, oh, this is great for me. All jokes aside, yeah, no, this is actually a perfect show and really a great medicine, almost, for what I do right now. But what I will say about what you're saying about the quality of the show as it continues, because I'm thinking about series that I really like, particularly the ABC show Lost, as it continues on, that like, yeah, similarly with Glee, it was like this like breakout hit that like a lot of people were talking about.

[1:10:55] Matt: But as the series continued, the creative folks behind the series needed to balance so many different things, just like on Glee, where it's like, oh, we have this vision, but we also need to like do these things. And there's so many different ingredients that need to be included. And it's like, yeah, it just it can't. That structure, you know, they talk a lot about, you know, the amount of time that they even spent working on the pilot and that shows in the pilot. It's such a perfect pilot, the Glee pilot, you know. And so, you know, they're not going to have the time or energy to, you know, devote that to every single episode.

[1:11:37] Conor: Exactly. And I think that that's also why 2009 is one of my favourite episodes. I think that towards the end of it, obviously, when they have the Don't Stop Believin' flashback, that's powerful for such a myriad of reasons, obviously the Corian Finn of it all, but also like the reflective aspect of like, oh, my God, look where we are five years later. But look at this thing where we look where we first started out. It kind of reminds me Don't Stop Believin' is kind of reminiscent to me of like Defying Gravity in the sense that those two songs are so overplayed. But I remember like two or three years ago before like all the wicked hype about the movie was happening, I was walking somewhere and I remember Defying Gravity original Broadway cast just start playing and I had not listened to the song in literal years.

And I was like, oh, my God, yes, this song is overplayed to a behemoth level. But also this is like this song is amazing. Like it is such a brilliant anthem. It is so spectacular. And I feel like Don't Stop Believin' falls into that camp.

[1:12:34] Matt: It has been so oversaturated that we almost don't even think of it. It's like it's like it's one of our limbs. It's like the way I'm holding up my hand right now. It's like you don't even think about it. So it's like you can't really have any emotional, visceral reaction to it. But then every now and then I will come across that on my YouTube recommended page and I watch it or when it's like the 15th anniversary since Gleared and I will watch it and I'm like, oh, my God, this actually makes me bawl.

[1:13:03] Andrew: Um, Matt, I'm really curious what you have to say. I do have one final thing before I let you speak. In the last episode, Jenny, like talked about like, OK, about potential winners of the Glocken. She brought up Jenny, not a Gleek through and through. This is not any disrespect, of course, to her. You know, she has more important things to do than Gleek as much as we do. But she threw out Don't Stop Believin' as one of the possible winners of the Glocken and which Allison and I were like, oh, I don't actually think so. But I think now that we're having this conversation about Don't Stop Believin', it's like, OK, Don't Stop Believin' is definitely I love this comparison that like a limb. So Jenny is seeing Glee as this as, you know, this person almost.

And it's like Don't Stop Believin' is just is so much percentage of it when you think about the show. So, yeah, I feel like Don't Stop. OK, let me let me see if I can make this make any sense. Don't Stop Believin' is like fully the heart of Glee, right? So if you're looking at it like a person, how many different ways can you like cosmetically make yourself, you know, enhanced or just like beautiful in life, you know, whatever you want to do to, you know, make your face this or that or, you know, you know what I'm saying. But like the heart is always there, right? Like it's always like it's the vital part of that person being alive. And that I think I think somewhat makes sense of what we're saying here of just like this song obviously is the heart of Glee.

And while there certainly could be a time where a song comes along that, you know. Oh, yeah, Don't Stop Believin' it is the heart, but like, oh, but this beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful girl that also means so much to at least two out of three people on any given show could overpower things and and send Don't Stop Believin' home. But I don't know it's going to be a little while before that happens.

[1:15:10] Matt: I think so. But I'm like curious, like inevitably, and we will obviously find this out like what who is going to be the girl that takes down Don't Stop Believin'? Because I don't think I think maybe maybe I'm speaking too soon. I think Don't Stop Believin' is going to live another day right now. I would be surprised if its competitor took it down.

[1:15:29] Conor: Well, yeah, the day it'll die will be the day that I'm not here for.

[1:15:35] Andrew: Oh, you can't protect it.

[1:15:37] Conor: Yeah, I can only do so much. It's gone off to college. Don't Stop Believin'. And you're like, oh, I think I hope it makes good choices.

[1:15:41] Matt: Yeah, yeah.

[1:15:48] Conor: So Don't Stop Believin'. I will say, maybe I shut this out every single time I see it on the glacket. But I am obsessed with the shot from the back of the stage. And you see their backs, the New Directions members, and it's a completely empty auditorium.

[1:16:03] Matt: Oh, get a little email, just talking about it.

[1:16:10] Conor: I just think it's really beautiful. And I think that that is the thesis of the show.

[1:16:14] Andrew: To me, yeah, because the audience is in the rafters.

[1:16:18] Conor: Right, right, right. Yeah. I wish there was some kind of like technology that like, like a time machine that you could just go back in time and are like, I wish I was like, I wish I'd set a camera up or somehow there was a camera set up on me watching this for the very first time when I was that age. Like, I was probably like, I probably couldn't move. Like, like, I would just love to have known what my reaction was at that time. You know, it's it's such a, this is such a...

[1:16:47] Matt: Don't Stop Believin' as well, just outside of the context of Glee. Don't Stop Believin', the Glee cast cover, is such a pivotal stamp. Like, it's such a, it's such a stamp for a certain era.

[1:17:00] Conor: For such a, it's so representative of such a bygone time. If you're looking at, you know, people's music libraries, whether it be on like a mobile device, or I don't know, even like physical media that still exists in people's homes, I would be very surprised if the Glee version is not in more people's homes and devices than any other version.

[1:17:21] Matt: And also like, yeah, we're relatively the same age, the three of us. And like, also, this is kind of the time that we got iTunes. And so it's like, yeah, it was, that's right at the beginning. I can think of like, only like a handful of songs that I got before Glee took over and held up a lot of space, you know, so.

[1:17:46] Conor: I would be so interested in conducting like a thought experiment. So like the people who listen to this podcast, and who are still listening to this podcast, however many episodes in are obviously Gleeks for the win. But it's like, how many people who are so invested in the show regularly stream Don't Stop Believin'?

[1:18:02] Matt: Oh, yeah, never. Right? Never.

[1:18:04] Conor: No.

[1:18:06] Matt: No.

[1:18:06] Conor: No.

[1:18:07] Matt: Never.

[1:18:08] Conor: The last time I probably did was to bring it back to a previous conversation. The should I play this at my wedding conversation?

[1:18:18] Matt: Yeah.

[1:18:19] Conor: Just because it's like, okay, when I'm looking for the sentimental songs, I mean, I'll tell you, I did come down on the side of no, unless it was going to be an oops, all Gleeks wedding or something. But that's not going to be the case. So it's not going to mean a lot to most people there, even if they're like, oh, yeah, this is...

[1:18:34] Matt: Surely just by just by the nature of being a Gleek, surely there are some people out there who stream it.

[1:18:41] Conor: There have to be, but like, that's a really good point.

[1:18:43] Matt: If it comes up on a road trip, you don't need to skip it. Like it's that kind of thing. But also, you might skip it.

[1:18:49] Conor: I was at a wedding last month, and the song that they had a string set. Am I saying that correctly? A string set?

[1:19:02] Matt: Sure.

[1:19:03] Conor: Set up as they were walking down the aisle. And the song that the strings played was Faithfully. And I needed to have a conversation after and be like, wait, is that a song that non Gleeks know? And that was like an honest to God question. Because like Faithfully, I don't... For some reason, I thought that that was just kind of a...

[1:19:26] Matt: No, it is. I mean, it's like probably the song that maybe, I don't know, your older person in your life, mom, dad, someone was playing in the house when you were growing up. And maybe it means something to them. And maybe then in turn, it means something to you. But it is crazy to think about these songs existing outside of Gleek.

[1:19:45] Conor: Oh, I was weeping. Not because of any emotional attachment to the couple, no shade.

[1:19:51] Matt: Do you also watch Journey to Regionals often?

[1:19:55] Conor: Just Faithfully. Ooh, that's... But I think it's so interesting that Faithfully, I'm having so much more of an emotional reaction, even just thinking about Faithfully, that I am watching Don't Stop Believing.

[1:20:08] Matt: Yeah.

[1:20:09] Conor: Yeah. Don't Stop Believing, as I was saying earlier, is such a perfect encapsulation of the time, like that era, like the Obama presidency time. Like, you know, like, oh, it's a reset. Literally four days ago in the UK, there was an article from the Guardian newspaper. And I've just pulled it up there. The headline is, How did this ever get made? Gen Z is falling in love and hate with Glee. And they've got, like, this whole bit about Don't Stop Believing. A decade after the finale, new fans are flocking to Glee, causing its songs to shoot up the charts. The internet's ablaze with TikTok dance homages, Reddit threads and tons of hate watchers. The year is 2009 and Glee has hit like a cultural earthquake.

Every week, millions of people around the world tune in to watch a group of American high school misfits belt out musical theatre and pop hits, turning show choir into mainstream entertainment. The cast's cover of Journey's Don't Stop Believing becomes an anthem. Spending 37 weeks in the UK charts, catapulting its young stars to overnight fame. Like, it is so, I know it sounds so obvious because the three of us are like three of the biggest culprits, but still talking about the show. But it's so fucking crazy that people are still talking about the show.

[1:21:30] Matt: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. When will this ever, when will this cultural moment ever die? Like, I don't think it will.

[1:21:35] Conor: Never. Never. I really don't think it will. I think we're much closer to, genuinely, to like some sort of reboot than we are.

[1:21:40] Matt: Thank you, Matt. Thank you, Matt. I've been saying this for years.

[1:21:43] Conor: Anything not happening.

[1:21:44] Matt: Yeah.

[1:21:44] Conor: And I've been met with rolled eyes. Thank you so much for speaking my truth.

[1:21:49] Andrew: I'm afraid to say it out loud, personally.

[1:21:51] Conor: What? Say it out loud.

[1:21:53] Andrew: I don't know if we're close, because then I think, I don't know. I don't know if we are. Imagine the day that we all wake up and we turn on our phones and we just see like a news or like, we're going to shit ourselves. Like, imagine like the group chat.

[1:22:06] Conor: We're going live.

[1:22:07] Andrew: People on this, guys, drop everything. Like, people on this podcast, the group chats will be lit ablaze.

[1:22:30] Andrew: But think of the entire cottage industry that is a result of Glee.

[1:22:35] Conor: Every single musical TV show that exists today is because of Glee. That is a fact.

[1:22:40] Matt: Schmigadoon is because of Glee. Everything that has come after Glee is as a result of Glee.

[1:22:46] Conor: Glee, I could literally write my university college dissertation slash thesis on this.

[1:22:52] Andrew: Do it.

[1:22:52] Conor: Glee is responsible for the rise of movie musicals as well. One billion percent.

[1:22:58] Matt: Um, I don't...

[1:23:01] Conor: No, I'm sorry. Glee came along in 2009 and finished in 2015. If you look at the numbers of movie musicals since it ended...

[1:23:08] Matt: Yeah, oh, you're talking about the sheer number. Okay, because I'm thinking about Chicago won Best Picture just a few years before.

[1:23:14] Conor: Sure, but there was... well, 2002.

[1:23:18] Matt: Sure.

[1:23:19] Conor: Like, there was a quiet... there was kind of a quiet period. Do you know what I mean?

[1:23:22] Matt: Sure.

[1:23:23] Conor: Um, it's like Adam Anders talks about, like, you know, when he was... when you were interviewing him, he was like, everyone for a period was like, we need to make it sound like Glee.

[1:23:29] Matt: We need to make it sound like Glee. We need to make it sound like Glee.

[1:23:35] Conor: Um, High School Musical, The Musical, The Series probably would have happened if Glee wasn't a thing, but I bet you it was a much easier sell.

[1:23:41] Matt: I don't think so. I know. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[1:23:44] Conor: Well, I don't know. Because of Glee.

[1:23:45] Matt: Also, I think that's a really chicken or the egg question because Glee was also, in a way, a product of High School Musical, The Original.

[1:23:55] Conor: Yeah.

[1:23:55] Matt: In a way.

[1:23:56] Conor: In a way. And so then the series was also influenced by Glee. And so it's just this never-ending cycle.

[1:24:04] Matt: Yeah. I mean, it's a good concept. Let's keep doing it.

[1:24:07] Conor: Yeah.

[1:24:08] Andrew: But anyway.

[1:24:08] Conor: You know, it also is a really good concept that we should continue doing is...

[1:24:12] Matt: Voting.

[1:24:13] Conor: Voting. Voting between... just voting.

[1:24:16] Andrew: We didn't do that yet.

[1:24:17] Matt: What?

[1:24:18] Conor: We didn't do that yet.

[1:24:19] Matt: We didn't do that?

[1:24:21] Andrew: Anybody want to throw out that first vote?

[1:24:23] Conor: Don't Stop Believin'.

[1:24:25] Andrew: Okay. Matt?

[1:24:29] Matt: Controversially...

[1:24:31] Conor: No.

[1:24:31] Matt: I am going to be very brave and do something that not a lot of people would do.

[1:24:40] Matt: But I'm going to vote for Don't Stop Believin'.

[1:24:42] Conor: Yeah. And as will I. And I think that my favorite things...

[1:24:48] Matt: She did.

[1:24:48] Conor: You did a great run.

[1:24:50] Matt: She had a good life.

[1:24:52] Conor: Really good run.

[1:24:53] Matt: Girl, you shouldn't have made it this far. And you kind of did.

[1:24:55] Conor: You kind of ate that. So congratulations.

[1:25:00] Matt: I could list off all the songs that should still be here from round one.

[1:25:05] Conor: And you're still here in round three.

[1:25:07] Andrew: Yeah.

[1:25:08] Andrew: Good stuff. Andrew, did you think that every episode of the round was going to be under two hours?

[1:25:13] Andrew: Um, I do need to be out the door in an hour and officially an hour from now.

[1:25:20] Conor: So we, we gotta, you know, pick up the pace a little bit.

[1:25:24] Andrew: Um, no shade, no shade.

[1:25:26] Conor: Uh, we only have one more competition left.

[1:25:30] Andrew: Are you ready?

[1:25:31] Matt: Sure, let's go.

[1:25:32] Andrew: Okay.

[1:25:34] Conor: I like it.

[1:25:35] Conor: All three competitions so far in round three have been kind of like, okay.

[1:25:41] Matt: Okay.

[1:25:41] Conor: Oh yeah. 100% okay in my books.

[1:25:45] Matt: I haven't like felt the need to throw up once.

[1:25:48] Conor: No. But you see, those are the famous last words now.

[1:25:52] Matt: And here we go.

[1:25:58] Conor: Oh, and actually here we go. This is actually insane.

[1:26:00] Andrew: You're gonna throw up already? We only have the first song.

[1:26:07] Conor: It's only the first song, but I'm, it's scary that this is the first song considered.

[1:26:11] Andrew: Oh, this is another Glee staple.

[1:26:12] Conor: Okay.

[1:26:18] Conor: Um, my heart rate just went up.

[1:26:21] Andrew: Oh, you know what this is?

[1:26:23] Conor: Ooh, it's okay.

[1:26:27] Andrew: Here we go.

[1:26:57] ♪ Musical number: "Valerie" — performed by Naya Rivera ♪

[1:28:24] Conor: I feel like the limb analogy that you presented, Connor, with Don't Stop Believing.

[1:28:30] Matt: Is so apt with Valerie as well.

[1:28:34] Conor: What is the limb?

[1:28:36] Matt: It's just like, this is part of it.

[1:28:38] Conor: Not to say that we don't pay her respect.

[1:28:40] Matt: Which I don't think that we kind of do for Valerie as much.

[1:28:44] Conor: But you don't think that we pay her respect?

[1:28:46] Matt: I don't think that we do as often as we should.

[1:28:50] Conor: I think it's almost as much of a given as Don't Stop Believing.

[1:28:52] Matt: That it's just like, we all have the respect.

[1:28:54] Conor: It's just, it doesn't get said as much.

[1:28:56] Matt: We know.

[1:28:58] Conor: Yeah. It's so interesting because I never stream her.

[1:29:00] Matt: Never?

[1:29:02] Conor: Never.

[1:29:04] Matt: But see, that's the same thing as Don't Stop Believing for me.

[1:29:06] Conor: It's like, it is perfection that exists.

[1:29:11] Matt: And every once in a while.

[1:29:13] Conor: But it's also like, it hits so much better on the MP4.

[1:29:15] Matt: Like if I'm watching the episode.

[1:29:17] Conor: And in the emotions of the episode.

[1:29:19] Matt: I disagree.

[1:29:21] Conor: Wow.

[1:29:23] Matt: Not to say that the MP4 doesn't hit.

[1:29:25] Conor: MP3 still is its own beast.

[1:29:27] Matt: For me.

[1:29:29] Conor: It's its own beast.

[1:29:31] Matt: I didn't say it wasn't.

[1:29:33] Conor: I just said it hits so much better watching it.

[1:29:35] Matt: Oh.

[1:29:37] Conor: I'm just like, they're operating both at 100%.

[1:29:39] Matt: You can't really go beyond that.

[1:29:41] Andrew: Okay.

[1:29:43] Conor: Let me just say.

[1:29:45] Conor: I love that Glee producers.

[1:29:47] Conor: Casting.

[1:29:49] Conor: Accidentally hired.

[1:29:51] Conor: Way too many talented people.

[1:29:53] Conor: And got a great show because of it.

[1:29:55] Matt: The fact that the show was created on the premise.

[1:29:57] Conor: Or the character of Rachel Berry.

[1:29:59] Matt: She's the star of the show.

[1:30:01] Conor: And let's get a lead male.

[1:30:03] Conor: Who's just as good.

[1:30:05] Conor: Or can hang with her vocally.

[1:30:08] Conor: Whatever you want to say.

[1:30:10] Conor: About how the cast came together.

[1:30:12] Conor: And then just along the way.

[1:30:14] Conor: This is of course the number.

[1:30:16] Conor: Where it's like.

[1:30:18] Conor: Naya Rivera is here.

[1:30:20] Conor: And she's really fucking good.

[1:30:22] Conor: And also Harry Shum Jr.

[1:30:24] Conor: And Heather Morris.

[1:30:26] Conor: Who can dance the house down.

[1:30:28] Conor: Any given day of the week.

[1:30:30] Conor: And twice on Sundays.

[1:30:32] Conor: Let's highlight them.

[1:30:34] Conor: And it's like.

[1:30:37] Conor: The Santana number.

[1:30:39] Matt: By many people's accounts.

[1:30:41] Conor: It's just.

[1:30:43] Conor: Maybe we don't give it its flowers often enough.

[1:30:45] Matt: It's just because again.

[1:30:47] Conor: I feel like I'm saying the most obvious things.

[1:30:49] Conor: That could be said about the song.

[1:30:51] Matt: Because we all know.

[1:30:53] Conor: Is this your favorite song?

[1:30:55] Matt: See that's a.

[1:30:57] Matt: It's always a tough question.

[1:30:59] Conor: In the sense of.

[1:31:01] Conor: I think it is the number one.

[1:31:03] Conor: But my personal preference.

[1:31:05] Conor: My personal favorite.

[1:31:07] Conor: Might be a different answer.

[1:31:09] Conor: Just based on how often I interact with others.

[1:31:11] Matt: But this is the one.

[1:31:13] Conor: If the question is.

[1:31:15] Conor: If you have to get rid of every other Santolo.

[1:31:17] Conor: And leave one.

[1:31:19] Conor: Yeah I leave this one.

[1:31:21] Matt: Hmm.

[1:31:23] Conor: Because it's the one.

[1:31:25] Conor: It's her one.

[1:31:27] Conor: It's her big one.

[1:31:29] Matt: Yeah.

[1:31:31] Conor: I think I would agree.

[1:31:34] Conor: Since like.

[1:31:36] Conor: I feel like pandemic.

[1:31:38] Conor: Starting in 2020.

[1:31:40] Conor: There has been such a rally.

[1:31:42] Matt: Not to say that there wasn't before.

[1:31:44] Conor: For Nutbush City Limits.

[1:31:46] Matt: Yeah.

[1:31:48] Conor: And people really love that.

[1:31:50] Conor: I think that.

[1:31:52] Conor: I've said it before in a prior episode.

[1:31:54] Conor: That's maybe the people's Santolo.

[1:31:56] Conor: That it's like.

[1:31:58] Conor: This is kind of the one that they really get behind.

[1:32:00] Matt: Nutbush.

[1:32:03] Conor: But also Nutbush isn't like the people's.

[1:32:05] Conor: That's like the Gleeks.

[1:32:07] Conor: Anyone that's listening to this podcast.

[1:32:09] Conor: Would have Nutbush on their list.

[1:32:11] Matt: I think if you ask any of your friends in life.

[1:32:13] Conor: That watch Glee.

[1:32:15] Conor: They didn't get to season 4.

[1:32:17] Matt: They don't even know.

[1:32:19] Conor: That's a good call.

[1:32:21] Conor: I fucking love.

[1:32:23] Conor: If I can't have you.

[1:32:25] Conor: Love.

[1:32:27] Conor: And she never.

[1:32:29] Conor: Ever.

[1:32:31] Conor: Gets talked about.

[1:32:33] Conor: And I'm not doing this to be.

[1:32:35] Conor: Not like other girls.

[1:32:37] Conor: But I just think it's so great.

[1:32:39] Conor: I was on an episode.

[1:32:41] Conor: When that song was pulled.

[1:32:43] Conor: And I literally started crying.

[1:32:45] Matt: Yes.

[1:32:47] Conor: Wait.

[1:32:49] Matt: I feel bad because you're about to start crying.

[1:32:51] Conor: But I have a legal note.

[1:32:53] Matt: No I'm not.

[1:32:55] Conor: Like okay.

[1:32:57] Conor: And it's okay if you do start crying.

[1:33:00] Conor: My legal note is of course.

[1:33:02] Conor: That you did vote for Let's Have a Kiki.

[1:33:04] Conor: Over If I can't have you.

[1:33:06] Matt: Yeah of course.

[1:33:08] Conor: But I had to do that.

[1:33:10] Matt: You know you had to do it to him.

[1:33:12] Conor: Now this is going to be weaponized.

[1:33:14] Matt: Elijah.

[1:33:16] Conor: It's like oh so that's your favorite.

[1:33:18] Conor: Well actually.

[1:33:20] Conor: But I do love.

[1:33:22] Conor: Like Valerie.

[1:33:24] Conor: I don't know what it is about Valerie.

[1:33:26] Conor: I don't dislike it at all of course.

[1:33:29] Conor: I would be so curious.

[1:33:31] Conor: To see what Valerie would look like.

[1:33:33] Conor: I guess we do have Valerie.

[1:33:35] Conor: Outside of a competition.

[1:33:37] Conor: In season 5.

[1:33:39] Matt: Oh yeah which I don't rate at all.

[1:33:41] Conor: So maybe I take that back actually.

[1:33:43] Conor: I don't like the season 5 version at all.

[1:33:45] Conor: Um.

[1:33:47] Conor: But like.

[1:33:49] Conor: I think that this is.

[1:33:51] Conor: Obviously people love this.

[1:33:53] Conor: Because it's a real Naya has arrived moment.

[1:33:55] Conor: She obviously had you know.

[1:33:57] Conor: The lead up to this.

[1:33:59] Conor: Which was really coming into her own.

[1:34:01] Conor: But this is really.

[1:34:03] Matt: Or is it?

[1:34:05] Conor: This is the arrival of Santana.

[1:34:07] Conor: Kind of.

[1:34:09] Conor: This is it.

[1:34:11] Conor: Step aside Rachel.

[1:34:13] Conor: There's other people in town.

[1:34:15] Matt: But like in such a big way.

[1:34:17] Conor: I mean.

[1:34:19] Conor: Do either of you happen to know off the top of your heads.

[1:34:21] Conor: The most successful Glee charted songs.

[1:34:23] Matt: Because I have to imagine this is top 10.

[1:34:26] Conor: I know that Don't Stop Believing is up there.

[1:34:28] Conor: I know that Forget You is up there.

[1:34:30] Conor: I know that Teenage Dream.

[1:34:32] Conor: Season 2 version.

[1:34:34] Matt: Um.

[1:34:36] Conor: Yeah.

[1:34:38] Conor: Valerie I would assume right?

[1:34:40] Matt: Surely.

[1:34:42] Andrew: Are you looking it up Matt?

[1:34:44] Matt: Working on it.

[1:34:46] Andrew: Yeah.

[1:34:48] Matt: Give me a nice little chart here.

[1:34:50] Conor: Famously the Defying Gravity Glee version.

[1:34:52] Conor: Charted higher than.

[1:34:54] Conor: The movie version.

[1:34:56] Matt: Fucking iconic.

[1:34:58] Conor: I would be totally not surprised.

[1:35:00] Conor: If Valerie is up there.

[1:35:02] Conor: Because it was on volume 4 right?

[1:35:04] Matt: As well.

[1:35:06] Conor: My baby volume.

[1:35:08] Conor: Volume 4.

[1:35:10] Conor: And I do have a funny story.

[1:35:12] Conor: I'm positive I've shared before.

[1:35:14] Conor: But it hits every time.

[1:35:16] Conor: I remember in high school.

[1:35:18] Conor: We were.

[1:35:20] Conor: I'm saying that it hits every time.

[1:35:23] Matt: Oh brother this story again.

[1:35:25] Conor: Um.

[1:35:27] Conor: But my family and I were driving home.

[1:35:29] Conor: From a track meet.

[1:35:31] Conor: That ended very very late.

[1:35:33] Conor: And of course Glee the music volume 4.

[1:35:35] Conor: Was the CD of choice that evening.

[1:35:37] Conor: And I remember my mom.

[1:35:39] Conor: Was in control of skipping.

[1:35:41] Conor: The songs.

[1:35:43] Conor: And I remember.

[1:35:45] Conor: She listened to like the first.

[1:35:47] Conor: Few seconds of each song.

[1:35:49] Conor: On volume 4.

[1:35:52] Conor: She listened to every single one.

[1:35:54] Conor: Until she got to Valerie.

[1:35:56] Conor: Heard that through.

[1:35:58] Conor: Did the same exercise.

[1:36:00] Conor: After Valerie was done.

[1:36:02] Conor: And she was like.

[1:36:04] Conor: Listening to the beginning.

[1:36:06] Conor: Of every song over again.

[1:36:08] Conor: Until she got back to Valerie.

[1:36:10] Conor: And she was like.

[1:36:12] Conor: Oh here it is.

[1:36:14] Conor: And I don't even think.

[1:36:16] Conor: That she was like consciously.

[1:36:18] Conor: Like seeking Valerie.

[1:36:15] Andrew: So I've just seen that "Valerie" is the third most streamed Glee song.

[1:36:23] Matt: That would make more sense than what I'm looking at, because I'm looking at like that it peaked at 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and only lasted there for a week, which just doesn't feel like an accurate representation of what I remember that.

[1:36:38] Andrew: So this is a Reddit thread, was curious, so I looked up the most streamed Glee songs. And so number one is obviously "Don't Stop Believin'" at 113 million streams, followed by "It's Somewhere Only We Know" at 91 million, followed by "Valerie" at 80 million. And then obviously you've got two Christmas songs, "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Jingle Bell Rock," followed by number six, the sixth most streamed Glee song is "If I Die Young." "If I Die Young" had its day in the sun in 2020.

[1:37:16] Matt: I don't think that was it.

[1:37:18] Andrew: You don't think so, Matt?

[1:37:20] Matt: No, because I feel like I've had my moment with that song here before. I didn't come up.

[1:37:26] Andrew: Oh, I love it.

[1:37:26] Matt: But just talking through it. Yeah. But just from when it came out and the years later, I was just like, that was my sad girl car song.

[1:37:35] Andrew: Well, okay. So are you suggesting that people watch "The Quarterback" and the song that they streamed from that episode was "If I Die Young," instead of "Make You Feel My Love"?

[1:37:47] Matt: Yes.

[1:37:47] Andrew: No.

[1:37:49] Matt: I'm not. I'm not.

[1:37:50] Andrew: Yes.

[1:37:51] Matt: It was definitely "Make You Feel My Love."

[1:37:54] Andrew: Yeah.

[1:37:56] Matt: I mean, I love "If I Die Young," but like...

[1:37:58] Andrew: Can only speak to my experience, first and foremost?

[1:38:01] Matt: No, sure. Yes.

[1:38:02] Matt: The normies were definitely streaming "Make You Feel My Love." "Make You Feel My Love" or whatever.

[1:38:08] Andrew: Yeah.

[1:38:08] Matt: Of course, that was everywhere.

[1:38:10] Andrew: Yeah, I would agree. I do think we can disagree, Matt, but I think that it was 2020.

[1:38:17] Matt: We have to disagree.

[1:38:18] Andrew: We do have to disagree here. That "If I Die Young," unfortunately, had its day in the sun due to very tragic circumstances.

[1:38:27] Matt: So "Valerie"...

[1:38:28] Andrew: I mean, I'm sure it got a bump at that point.

[1:38:32] Matt: I don't know. I don't know. "Valerie," by almost every metric, is the most popular Santolo.

[1:38:38] Andrew: Yeah, that's...

[1:38:40] Matt: Who are we? Because I know that the Gleeks are going to be like, how dare you not talk about this song? Let's shout them out. What other ones are we missing?

[1:38:47] Andrew: We're missing mine, of course.

[1:38:48] Matt: Mine.

[1:38:49] Andrew: But I think this is a really bizarre thing to say, I realize. But I think I obviously love Santana. I think Santana is one of those characters that I enjoy. And I can't even think of anyone else. I enjoy her in duets and group numbers more than I do her solos, which I realize is a strange thing to say.

[1:39:08] Matt: But I think because a lot of her solos are just songs that I genuinely wouldn't, generally wouldn't listen to, like the song.

[1:39:19] Andrew: I also think that, to your point, Conor, she has undeniable chemistry.

[1:39:24] Conor: With everyone.

[1:39:25] Andrew: With so much of the cast.

[1:39:27] Conor: Exactly.

[1:39:27] Andrew: Like, I fucking love... "Me Against the Music" is one of my favorite Grease songs of all time. I love "Doo-Wop." Like, there's so many...

[1:39:35] Conor: "Smooth Criminal."

[1:39:35] Andrew: Yeah. I love her ad-libs in various group numbers, where she's not even a heavy feature. Obviously, she completely shone in some of her solos as well. Of course, they're all iconic. But I think she's one of those characters that I actually prefer her duets and group numbers. Does that make sense?

[1:39:49] Matt: No, I mean, yeah. It's all good.

[1:39:53] Andrew: Yeah. And I think I've just kind of come to the realization there, as I've spoken through it, in 2025.

[1:40:02] Conor: Um, when it comes to like, "Valerie," though, because I am like, this could be the first very spooky competition of round three.

[1:40:11] Andrew: Yeah.

[1:40:12] Conor: And I'm terrified.

[1:40:14] Andrew: Um, do we like the practice of...

[1:40:18] Conor: No, I almost like, I'm saying it and I'm like, actually, do I want to say this one?

[1:40:22] Andrew: Yeah.

[1:40:22] Conor: If you're going to... For me, there's a lot that could, personally, that could give "Valerie" the boot, if that's what you're going to ask.

[1:40:28] Andrew: There's a lot, you think?

[1:40:31] Conor: There is a lot, yeah.

[1:40:33] Andrew: Okay.

[1:40:34] Conor: And we're not going to name them by names, but...

[1:40:37] Andrew: Well, I don't know.

[1:40:39] Conor: Is that the minority opinion?

[1:40:42] Andrew: That is a crazy thing to say, I think.

[1:40:44] Conor: That there's a lot...

[1:40:45] Andrew: It's an interesting thing to say.

[1:40:47] Conor: There's a lot.

[1:40:47] Andrew: Yeah.

[1:40:48] Conor: I mean, there's like, wait, there's 180 songs in round three. So there's like four of them. So we're like, I would say probably 60 of them could beat her.

[1:40:59] Andrew: So there's a one in three chance of a song being pulled now that I'm like, I would honestly vote for the other song over, no?

[1:41:07] Conor: Okay.

[1:41:08] Andrew: Like, mathematically, that makes sense. I appreciate you sharing your journey with us.

[1:41:12] Conor: Yeah.

[1:41:14] Andrew: Are we ready to find out what song that is?

[1:41:16] Conor: Let's do it.

[1:41:16] Matt: Yeah.

[1:41:16] Andrew: It's very different from mine.

[1:41:19] Conor: I don't like that you just said mine.

[1:41:21] Andrew: I'm just gonna put that out there.

[1:41:24] Conor: That didn't sit right with my spirit.

[1:41:28] Andrew: Oh, see, this is sick. See, this is actually the first competition that is going to make everybody throw up.

[1:41:33] Conor: Okay.

[1:41:34] Andrew: I'm so ready for this.

[1:41:36] Matt: I think...

[1:41:37] Andrew: Oh, wow.

[1:41:39] Matt: Are you being sarcastic?

[1:41:41] Andrew: No, I'm not.

[1:41:42] Matt: I'm not.

[1:41:43] Andrew: It takes me a second to actually deal with the consequences of what...

[1:41:50] Conor: I'm really thinking hard about what could...

[1:41:54] Andrew: Do you want to take some...

[1:41:56] Conor: I'm sure that you can get it before I share my screen.

[1:42:00] Andrew: Stab in the dark.

[1:42:02] Conor: I feel pretty unpretty.

[1:42:03] Andrew: This is very close to that.

[1:42:07] Conor: Is it a duet?

[1:42:09] Andrew: I don't think it's technically a duet.

[1:42:10] Conor: It's a group number.

[1:42:11] Andrew: We're talking about a...

[1:42:13] Conor: Paradise?

[1:42:14] Andrew: Very close to paradise in terms of...

[1:42:17] Conor: Is it a competition number?

[1:42:19] Andrew: It's not a competition number.

[1:42:22] Conor: We are young.

[1:42:23] Andrew: No.

[1:42:24] Conor: Around that era.

[1:42:27] Andrew: Forget you?

[1:42:28] Conor: No, no, no.

[1:42:29] Andrew: Around that era of...

[1:42:30] Conor: I'm talking season three.

[1:42:32] Andrew: Oh, yeah.

[1:42:32] Conor: Sorry.

[1:42:36] Andrew: My love is your love?

[1:42:37] Conor: No.

[1:42:38] Andrew: You're going the wrong direction, I think.

[1:42:42] Conor: Oh, this is hard.

[1:42:43] Andrew: It's not a competition.

[1:42:44] Conor: It's around that era.

[1:42:46] Andrew: It's not technically a duet.

[1:42:48] Conor: It's a group number.

[1:42:49] Andrew: Don't think too hard about that.

[1:42:51] Conor: Okay.

[1:42:52] Andrew: Is it from the episode "Born This Way"?

[1:42:53] Conor: No.

[1:42:54] Andrew: Okay.

[1:42:56] Conor: Is it...

[1:42:58] Andrew: It's technically, you said, a group number?

[1:42:59] Conor: It's technically a group number, but it should be a duet. There are other voices.

[1:43:05] Andrew: I think there's one other voice on it.

[1:43:08] Conor: Is it a tribute episode?

[1:43:10] Andrew: No.

[1:43:11] Conor: Wait, what season again?

[1:43:12] Andrew: What season again?

[1:43:13] Conor: Season three.

[1:43:14] Andrew: It's gotta be three.

[1:43:15] Conor: Yeah.

[1:43:16] Andrew: Okay, so it's not from...

[1:43:19] Conor: Is it from "Asian F"?

[1:43:21] Andrew: No, it's... But I'll tell you...

[1:43:23] Conor: I feel like we're in the back half of the season, right?

[1:43:25] Andrew: No, I'm telling you right now that it's between "Asian F" and "We Are Young."

[1:43:31] Conor: "Rumor Has It."

[1:43:32] Andrew: Oh, is it "Special Education"?

[1:43:33] Conor: "Someone Like You."

[1:43:33] Andrew: Oh, my gosh.

[1:43:35] Conor: Yeah.

[1:43:36] Andrew: See, I told you.

[1:43:37] Matt: Andrew!

[1:43:38] Andrew: Yeah.

[1:43:39] Matt: How do you think I feel?

[1:43:40] Andrew: This is the finale of the podcast.

[1:44:40] ♪ Musical number: "Rumour Has It / Someone Like You" — performed by Glee Cast ♪

[1:46:03] Andrew: Okay, are we approaching this by coming in strong or what's the like are we are we do we want to drag it out?

[1:46:11] Conor: I just need to say I am sick to my stomach and Connor was dancing.

[1:46:16] Matt: Yeah, what the heck was that about?

[1:46:18] Conor: I mean, why not?

[1:46:20] Andrew: Um, and why not? There's no competition here guys at all.

[1:46:25] Matt: Oh, wait, you're not voting. Sorry to ruin the theatrical arc.

[1:46:31] Andrew: Or do you want me to drag it out more?

[1:46:34] Conor: I think it's kind of fun and interesting that you're coming in hot with your vote.

[1:46:38] Andrew: I mean if that is your truth and you can't hide it while you discuss it then that's your... I was literally taking notes during the song on my laptop. I forgot my trusted pen and notebook for this episode for the first time ever and I feel bad about that, but I've got my laptop right in front of me. First off, let me just say "Valerie," she's that girl. "Valerie" is the cool aunt that comes over at Christmas, gets the party started, she brings over the wine. "Rumor Has It / Someone Like You," the emotional essence of this TV show, the emotional chaos TM in this musical performance is amazing, the emotional complexity, the arrangement is masterful, the mash-up genius, Adele's two biggest ballads at that time arguably twisted into this fierce vocal battle, iconic character-driven drama, vocals that slay, icon status, let's be real, "Valerie" is a fan favorite, but "Rumor Has It / Someone Like You" is a Glee defining moment.

Everyone remembers where they were. People who had stopped watching Glee at this point were coming up to me being like this slaps. "Rumor Has It / Someone Like You" is the heartache that you just can't forget. I could almost guarantee that should anyone involved in the making of the hip-hop show Glee be sitting here right now be faced with this competition, I think they know which way they're gonna vote. I will say that the question that Andrew posed was towards the start of this episode about bringing songs back is becoming considerably more difficult now that we presented with this competition. However, I will finish up by saying I know which way I'm going to vote and I have no regrets about it. Thank you, Conor Burke TM. You will be voting for "My Favorite Things."

[1:48:34] Conor: Right in balance for "My Favorite Things," exactly.

[1:48:37] Matt: Yeah, America at its finest loved everything that you said. Thank you so much. Um, my voice is starting to go.

[1:48:43] Conor: Go ahead.

[1:48:45] Matt: New number one.

[1:48:45] Andrew: Sickest competition that's happened. Is it?

[1:48:48] Matt: I one of the other ones. Okay, so I...

[1:48:51] Andrew: Interesting conversation topic, Matt, because I feel like...

[1:48:57] Matt: My voice is really going. Um, I feel like...

[1:49:04] Andrew: We can't vote. What is she? Oh, I can't vote. Oh, no.

[1:49:06] Matt: I feel like the...

[1:49:08] Matt: Okay. So when we're thinking about like really screaming, crying, throwing up competitions like the first one to do it, I feel the most famous one. We already mentioned earlier "Faithfully" versus "I Will Always Love You." That was the 9/11 of crackhead like you were literally screaming.

[1:49:11] Andrew: We can't.

[1:49:23] Andrew: Yeah, I cried.

[1:49:27] Matt: And so like that was like round one. But like when we're talking about like round three, like it's going to be like every episode, every other episode that it's going to be at this cal is that a crazy thing to say that like we are going to get competitions like this rather consistently so it's like it does take away the grandness of scary competitions.

[1:49:41] Andrew: Yeah, but we don't know yet.

[1:49:45] Matt: We don't know. I think that we do. I think that we... I mean, there are a lot of songs left. I literally... I well exactly that's exactly what I said before this was pulled.

[1:50:00] Conor Burke: I said, there's a lot of songs that could knock "Valerie" off the perch for me. I was like, there's probably 60 of them. I was met with confusion when I made that statement. And now... Well, because 60 is a high number. I agree that there's songs that can knock "Valerie" off. But for me, it's probably in the... When I say 60, I mean roughly a third for me.

[1:50:27] Matt: No, and I get that. But I wouldn't say that I'm at the same. I would say that I was at maybe a tenth, a twelfth of the songs left could knock "Valerie" out. And far be it for me to pretend like this isn't one of them that could, and possibly will, but possibly won't, possibly will. But way more songs were on the other side of this for me.

[1:50:51] Conor Burke: It also goes to show that my running thesis from around 13 months ago, when I started appearing on this podcast regularly, was... I think I made the statement. I was like, I think ultimately, what it will come down to is that the winner of the Glockett will probably, probably be a group number. And I think this exact conversation and this exact competition is the perfect encapsulation of the argument that I made at that time.

[1:51:21] Matt: Yeah.

[1:51:22] Conor Burke: Wouldn't it be so crazy if the amount of people that listen to this podcast and have said, because this is something that I've experienced on my version of this podcast, we all know who the answer is going to be anyway.

[1:51:35] Matt: Wait, I'm just curious, outside perspective, who is the person for...

[1:51:39] Conor Burke: For "Big Brother"?

[1:51:40] Matt: Yeah.

[1:51:41] Conor Burke: Well, there's two. Would the names mean anything to you?

[1:51:45] Matt: I'm curious what the names are, just to have it out there.

[1:51:48] Conor Burke: Dan Giesling and Will Kirby, Dr. Will Kirby, are the generally perceived two best "Big Brother" players of all time. And there's definitely arguments to get, that conversation's not going to be so straightforward, if you ask me, when we get down to that. Whatever.

[1:52:06] Matt: And I think even more so here is going to be less straightforward, even if just you pull the masses and this song, the mashup is going to rank extremely high.

[1:52:21] Conor Burke: The thought I was having was, well, what if we just took it out now? And then the field is wide open and anything could win because that number one contender is no longer in the competition.

[1:52:32] Matt: Yeah.

[1:52:32] Conor Burke: Wouldn't that be crazy?

[1:52:32] Matt: And I think that kind of happened in the last round, if I'm understanding what you're saying correctly, that like "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" being removed for a second by...

[1:52:44] Conor Burke: "Survivor, I Will Survive."

[1:52:46] Matt: Yeah. So my question is, is we've already talked about the numerous and genuine long list of merits that "Valerie" has as a musical number. Absolutely iconic. We love it. What is it, though, that "Valerie" trumps "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You" over?

[1:53:04] Conor Burke: I think, OK, the silence is deafening. Hey, quickly, how does it trump "Rumour Has It" quickly? I will say this is not an answer to your question right now. I'm avoiding that question, but I will say because I need to get this out there when you were talking about like "Valerie" being the fun and that brings over the wine. Love this analogy that I'm going to run with that. And I'm going to say that "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You" is that same ant, but maybe you're a little bit wine drunk and you're opening up to each other and you're opening up wounds and you're talking about what really hurts. And that's what "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You" is to me where it's like, oh, we see each other as human beings.

"Rumour Has It" one conversation that you never forget for the rest of your life. And when you look back on your whole life as a whole, it's like that conversation. Oh, just yeah. Always will go back to and you'll never forget. And it's like "Valerie" is like, oh, my God, this is kind of like I'm a big proponent of like and I don't even know if people can argue with this. I don't know. But like it's that when you think of like people in your life, it's it's the feeling that you associate with them. And so, like, yeah, you can associate the feeling of like happiness and excitedness of like. Fun and bringing over the wine, you know, and like that's great, but like you will never forget that memory of like, hey, we are at another level of connection now. Is this are we way too deep into this analogy?

[1:54:42] Matt: No, I think that I think that I think that no, we're not like "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You" is a person who is open and open and open and "Someone Like You" is exact is that is a pinnacle number. It is what the makers of this show wanted the show to be. And they very rarely got there from after a certain point, it is a it is a musical performance that comes along at a certain point in the series for a certain character. It drives the plot forward. It's emotionally driven. The arrangement is miraculous. Yeah, it is obviously a mashup, which is "Glee" is well known for it. It hits every single point like I'm truly failing to think about where this song like flops.

[1:55:28] Conor Burke: I read it is the perfect definition of within like a musical theater canon as well about what a song in a musical TV show should do. I mean, it doesn't if you're looking for the place where it flops. It doesn't. I think but I think that's also the challenge of what we're about to get into for the next couple of rounds of a lot of them for a lot of people don't flop like "Valerie" doesn't flop for me either. But yeah, well, yeah, that's a huh. That's a good question to throw back at you, Connor is like, where does "Valerie" flop?

[1:56:06] Conor Burke: "Valerie" doesn't necessarily flop for me. "Valerie" is a great song. It's an inconsequential song. It's great to see Naya do her thing. It is great to see Heather and Harry do their thing. It's amazing. It's very reminiscent for me of that year of my life. I love it. It's a competition number. It could have been any other song. The genius of this song was that it was of "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You" is that it just seemed like every it just seems like it was alchemy. Everything came together for this moment on the show. It transcended me as well culturally. Like this was I believe this was the first song in a while that also charted. I believe it even I believe it charted in Ireland even like over this side of the world. Like it was a moment that people were like they were kind of starting to forget about the show and then they were like, oh, wait a second. Wait a minute. Actually consider this.

[1:57:04] Matt: Yeah, I just it's tough. And that's why I think I think it's why ultimately I do think even though I love the practice of voting songs back in, I think it's fun. I also and I think it's great for the podcast engagement and stuff like that. I also think it's kind of like, no, actually, there should be some some stakes now that it's kind of like. So we're saying two songs come back instead of 10. I understand the arguments for the other for the other scenarios, like 10. I get it. But I do love that, though.

[1:57:31] Conor Burke: Oh, I agree. The devil on my shoulder is like, oh, like Connor, because I would be curious to see if either song loses, would either song have the juice to be either two of those songs voted back in if you're following?

[1:57:49] Matt: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Like the drama of that. It's so much like with 10, I feel like that's a shoe in either one of these songs. Who's to say? But yeah, let's be right. If it was 10, I would say there's like an 85 percent chance the following would be a shoe in 90 percent. Come on, let's go.

[1:58:01] Conor Burke: See, whereas whereas me, I'm not saying what song is losing this competition, but you're actually being very outward about how it's going to go. I've not even if you agree with me about everything that I've said, I've not heard a rhetorical argument to. To kind of like, you know, negate what I'm saying.

[1:58:35] Matt: OK, I can't think of any argument that would be made to go with following "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You." And that's why I said I was like, well, I come in strong with this or will for the theatrics and the drama of it, will I lead you down a garden path? I was like, I have to come in strong with this. I'm trying to think of other guests that I've been on the podcast with, Iain and Lina and Abby and Claudia. I'm like, what arguments could they possibly make? Could they have made an argument for "Valerie" over "Someone Like You"?

[1:59:08] Conor Burke: This is just the beginning of the end of the discourse of this competition, that this is going to be a competition that people will continue to bring up.

[1:59:14] Matt: To bring up for the next 17 years. Yeah. And this is my first taste of it, I think, because I'm coming in so strong. I'm holding no punches.

[1:59:24] Conor Burke: Can I say something about the song that new new new lore about "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You"? Connor just said, yeah, I can share. And then he walked away from his computer.

[1:59:36] Matt: I'm doing a Jacob. I'm doing a Jacob.

[1:59:38] Conor Burke: Oh, it's like a Jacob. Jacob when he walked away during our recording with him. New lore. I think that I think I need to attribute this to Abby, the brilliant mind of Abby, frequent guest of this podcast. I believe that she was the one who tweeted that. I hope that you'll agree with me that this is maybe the intention or maybe like you can live in the universe where this is true. So the look where Mercedes looks at Santana, where there's that long gap, pause, Mercedes looks at Santana, Santana looks back at Mercedes. I believe it was Abby that said Santana was actually supposed to sing that next part. But Mercedes looked at Santana and Santana signified, I'm not emotionally able to sing this next part. You're going to need to take it for me. And I love that.

[2:00:28] Matt: I love that. And that was definitely Abby. I mean, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know that that was Abby canonically, because I literally don't know. But that was definitely Abby, because she's like that, you know, she's she's galaxy brand. And I love that. Brilliant. Yeah.

[2:00:45] Conor Burke: And I just wanted to flag that another pro for this song, that dancing on point, we have we have Santana in the middle singing. I'm thinking of one section in particular, Santana in the middle singing into the left of her is Dancing with the Stars winner, Amber Riley into the right of her is is Dancing with the Stars loser, Heather Morris.

[2:01:06] Matt: You know, it's funny, look behind my head.

[2:01:10] Conor Burke: What's behind that? And what's that?

[2:01:12] Matt: Oh, right next to each other. You're in the stars. Signs. Perfect. It all comes back to those two shows. That's all that matters. That's the only two shows.

[2:01:24] Conor Burke: When are you going to make when is the executive decision going to be made about voting songs back in? When is this?

[2:01:30] Matt: Well, I want to. OK, so this recording is happening on April 7th. But I want to put out a vote before people even listen to this conversation as to not be swayed by this matchup by this matchup.

[2:01:50] Conor Burke: Yeah, that's a great that's so fair. That's so fair. You're totally right, because people would just go bananas. They'll be like, oh, 10. Yeah, actually, we need back.

[2:01:56] Matt: Exactly. Where are you falling emotionally at the moment with it?

[2:02:03] Conor Burke: Um, I think this is like, I'm a product of my own of my own devices. I like I in 2021, I created a premise where I I knew that there would be days like this. And I'm like, yeah, it happened. Do you know what I mean?

[2:02:27] Matt: After this recording, you're just going to be sitting in a dark room for 15 hours.

[2:02:31] Conor Burke: I'm actually going to a movie after this. So that's a dark room, a dark room.

[2:02:40] Matt: I mean, is it obvious how I'm voting?

[2:02:47] Conor Burke: Yeah, you've made it very clear.

[2:02:52] Matt: Um, do you want to do you want to just say it for the record?

[2:02:56] Conor Burke: I'll be voting for "Valerie" now for "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You," and for all of the reasons I've outlined. Thank you so much. I'm signing off on that.

[2:03:04] Matt: Conor Burke to you. Matt, I'm really unsure where you're going to go. Actually, I think you're going to go.

[2:03:12] Conor Burke: No, I think I know where I'm just going to go. But I think I know where Matt's going to go too.

[2:03:18] Matt: I think Conor knows all, actually. Actually, I know how everything's going.

[2:03:22] Conor Burke: Excuse me, I've proven time and again on this podcast that I kind of do know all. Madame Webb, remember that bit? I've not been proven wrong yet.

[2:03:31] Matt: I think I know where both of us are going to go.

[2:03:33] Conor Burke: OK, say it then.

[2:03:35] Matt: Should we say it on three?

[2:03:36] Conor Burke: Yeah. Wait, Matt, are you agreeing to doing this?

[2:03:41] Matt: Yeah.

[2:03:41] Conor Burke: OK.

[2:03:42] Matt: OK, wait, after one?

[2:03:45] Andrew McGuire: Okay, right. Are you ready? 3, 2, 1, say it. Okay, are you ready? Okay.

[2:03:51] Conor Burke: Rumor has it, someone like you. Yeah. Yeah. No, it was never really in doubt, unfortunately, although it was fun to watch Conor sweat through thinking that there was a world that we were going to vote against it.

[2:04:04] Matt: Oh, not one single bit of sweat here.

[2:04:09] Andrew McGuire: Okay, you need to chill.

[2:04:15] Conor Burke: What are you talking about? I'm the calmest guy around.

[2:04:20] Andrew McGuire: Look, so it's just like, I don't know, how am I... I just can't enthusiastically endorse the obvious winner of this matchup when it means saying goodbye to such a beloved pretty girl in Valerie. This is not Valerie's time to go.

[2:04:33] Matt: No, it's not. Sick, twisted, awful, horrid. But so is life.

[2:04:46] Conor Burke: And so is the Glackett, more importantly.

[2:04:48] Andrew McGuire: Oh my goodness. You both have a very cynical look on this project that's supposed to bring joy to many people.

[2:04:54] Conor Burke: Sorry, but my thing is, I'm like, here's the thing. There are rightly going to be people who come on this podcast from this point who are so saddened at the demise of Valerie. That's fair enough. But I'm kind of over this whole thing about like, oh, you made the wrong decision voting Valerie out. But it's like, okay, I will hear that opinion if you come with the receipts. Because otherwise, all I'm going to be hearing is, you made the wrong decision for voting Valerie out. And Andrew's like, wait, why do you think that? And they're like, because it's so good. And we're beyond that.

[2:05:37] Matt: You're being so mean.

[2:05:42] Conor Burke: No, I want to hear the receipts, though. I want to hear the receipts. Why?

[2:05:46] Andrew McGuire: I think Conor is like, auditioning to be a Disney villain.

[2:05:48] Matt: Guys, I'm- Is the vibe I'm getting from this episode.

[2:05:50] Conor Burke: I'm off my meds. I apologize.

[2:05:53] Andrew McGuire: You little babies come on here and you're like, where's my song? Where's my song?

[2:06:00] Matt: Wow, wow, wow, you bitches.

[2:06:04] Andrew McGuire: Right. Okay. Everyone listening to this, I'll be the angel. I'm just never going to be asked. I'm never going to be asked on this podcast again.

[2:06:07] Conor Burke: You're done. Cut off.

[2:06:09] Matt: It's a week of the week because I'm following you on Instagram.

[2:06:13] Andrew McGuire: But it is funny, Andrew. I truly have taken the complete opposite stance as far as like, if you're done, you're done with the bracket, as far as the diary room is concerned. Because there's two aspects to it. One is that it would be nice to have it go as long as possible. And to have it go long, you have to have more entries. Granted, at the end of the day, one or two extra episodes isn't really going to make or break things by having six extra people in for whatever the case is. But I just genuinely, as I've said 100 times, and maybe this will be the last time, I just enjoy the process of having a vote take place. And if Valerie is going out here, it is. And then if another crazy heavy hitter goes out next week and the week after, and we have a handful of heavy hitters going at it in a vote, okay, well, they can't all come back in. And even if Valerie does come back in from this vote next time, it may, I don't know. It's just, the whole process is fun. The conversations, this one wasn't the most fun, this matchup.

[2:07:14] Matt: It's actually kind of a janner, quite frankly.

[2:07:16] Conor Burke: Yeah, we cut out the entire part where we threw up on our monitors.

[2:07:19] Andrew McGuire: I get ready, I'm going to do it again. But I don't know. I want the good vibes. I'm fully belled to the Gaston of Conor Burke today, but I'm going to go read a book.

[2:07:36] Conor Burke: I'm just flagging the fact that I need to be out the door in 10 minutes. I do want to use the 10 minutes wisely here. Because I wanted to ask this for a while now. And here I am asking the question finally. Rumor has it someone like you, I think I already know the answer to this, is the best, would win against any song within this podcast episode?

[2:08:03] Matt: I can't answer.

[2:08:06] Conor Burke: Oh, within the podcast episode, yeah. It's winning against Don't Stop Believing as well?

[2:08:08] Andrew McGuire: I think so.

[2:08:12] Conor Burke: I thought you were going to say any song on the clock. And I was like, I haven't had that conversation with myself yet.

[2:08:16] Matt: I know, I need to think about that for me.

[2:08:18] Conor Burke: I mean, the whole thing is like, you know, we can say-

[2:08:21] Matt: Actually, I retract that. I'm not giving a definitive answer. I need to think about that.

[2:08:29] Conor Burke: Until the songs are in front of me, I don't know my answer. I really don't. I need to watch it. I need to absorb it. I need to hear it, feel it, all of the above. And then I can say for sure.

[2:08:41] Andrew McGuire: I will say that a silver lining of this podcast episode having happened, a silver lining, this is a terrible time for everybody involved. This entire hour and a half has been terrible. Is that I'm like looking at these four songs, one of them is much different than the other. But these three of Don't Stop Believing, Valerie, and Rumor Has It Someone Like You, all being non-contenders going forward in round three is kind of nice to know, right?

[2:09:09] Matt: No, one's gone.

[2:09:11] Conor Burke: No, those three songs can't be against another, like a Somebody to Love, or I Feel Pretty, I'm Pretty. Those are big songs.

[2:09:20] Andrew McGuire: Exactly.

[2:09:21] Conor Burke: I would trade both of those for Valerie right now.

[2:09:23] Matt: Okay. I hear you. And I'm Mr. Two. I'm Mr. Two, man.

[2:09:28] Andrew McGuire: Oh, are we jumping the gun?

[2:09:30] Conor Burke: Wait, with Valerie?

[2:09:31] Matt: Well, I suppose, yeah. Two of us.

[2:09:32] Conor Burke: We voted.

[2:09:33] Andrew McGuire: Yeah.

[2:09:33] Matt: We all voted.

[2:09:34] Conor Burke: Yeah, we all voted on her, remember that?

[2:09:37] Andrew McGuire: I was just so-

[2:09:39] Conor Burke: You counted down.

[2:09:41] Andrew McGuire: Because 20 minutes ago, I came in strong. I knew.

[2:09:45] Matt: Yeah.

[2:09:47] Andrew McGuire: What a shame.

[2:09:49] Conor Burke: Eight minutes left on the clock.

[2:09:50] Matt: I sound so nonchalant. What a shame.

[2:09:53] Andrew McGuire: Hi, guys. It's Editing Andrew right now. I am major dummy alert, because I completely forgot to do a proper send-off to these songs from this episode. So here we go, better late than ever. My favorite things. One of my least favorite things is when a song needs to leave the glock at. So my favorite things, you will be duly missed. Don't stop believing. Hold on to that feeling, because you're going right on to round four. Let's see. What do we have next? Valerie, why don't you come on over to hell? Right off the cuff. Rumor has it someone like you is going right to round four. I think I did that for the past two rounds. But it never misses. Okay, back to the episode. How do you want to use this time? Obviously, you need to plug. Do you want to plug right now?

[2:10:42] Conor Burke: Sure.

[2:10:47] Andrew McGuire: Conor?

[2:10:48] Conor Burke: Yeah, you can find me on Instagram. I am Conor Burke. That's Conor with one n-c-o-n-o-r-b-u-r-k-e. I always love chatting to the Gleeks. I don't really have anything to plug at the moment. Oh, actually, no, wait, I do! Go watch my commercial that's out now with Zendaya, please.

[2:11:11] Andrew McGuire: No way! Is that out now?

[2:11:13] Conor Burke: Oh, wait, no, it's not out for us in real time. But it will be out by the time that this-

[2:11:20] Matt: Wait, what? Wait, no. Wait, is it going to be?

[2:11:23] Conor Burke: So this will be out a week from tomorrow. We can cut out-

[2:11:27] Andrew McGuire: Oh, yeah, it will be out. Yeah. So I'm in a number of short commercials with Zendaya and-

[2:11:35] Matt: Heard of her.

[2:11:35] Conor Burke: Promo. Heard of her, guys. And-

[2:11:39] Matt: She was supposed to be in the glue booth. Sorry for interrupting.

[2:11:41] Conor Burke: She was supposed to be on this episode, actually.

[2:11:44] Matt: No, I'm talking about the fact that she's Santana in the Ryan Murphy picture that we talked about in the last episode.

[2:11:49] Conor Burke: Oh, what? I completely missed that. I didn't know.

[2:11:53] Matt: Yeah.

[2:11:53] Conor Burke: But yeah, go watch that. That's going to be somewhere. We did a campaign for On Cloud Running that we shot in the Czech Republic, and it was a lot of fun. And I was second on the call sheet. I will say that. Obviously, Zendaya was number one. Who was second? Connor Burke.

[2:12:11] Matt: Was it because they did it in alphabetical order by last name? Some may say that, but I don't think so.

[2:12:18] Andrew McGuire: Wait, what is Zendaya's last name?

[2:12:20] Conor Burke: I don't know, but she's just listed as Zendaya. And then everyone else was alphabetical order by last name.

[2:12:26] Matt: Yeah, it's- Yeah.

[2:12:29] Conor Burke: I mean, by last name alphabetically.

[2:12:32] Andrew McGuire: Did I tell you- Will I share the- Do you know about the Shrek lore, quick?

[2:12:37] Conor Burke: Obviously, she's not going to be in Shrek.

[2:12:39] Matt: Oh, you do want to- You've not shared this publicly. This is the first time that you're sharing any, is it? I knew about this, which is a huge thing, and you deserve all the congratulations and everything.

[2:12:49] Conor Burke: Oh, thank you. So, we were on set, and we were filming, and the director called cut, and he- The second day, sorry. He disappears behind the monitor, and he's looking at what we just shot, and you can hear him. And he's like, oh yeah, that's good. That will do. And as a joke, I'm like, that'll do, Donkey. That'll do. A la Shrek, when Shrek is talking to Donkey. And Zendaya turns to me, and she just goes, I'm in that.

[2:13:19] Matt: I'm in that? It's crazy.

[2:13:21] Conor Burke: Yeah, it's so iconic. And I was like, oh, sorry. She was like, oh, they're making a new Shrek movie. I'm going to be in it. And I was like, oh my god, great. And so, we wrapped filming that day, and then I went back to the hotel, and I looked at- I googled Zendaya Shrek, and literally nothing came up. And I believe I messaged Andrew, and I was like, is it common knowledge that Zendaya is going to be in the next Shrek movie? And then, lo and behold, it wasn't. But then it was announced a couple of weeks ago, and the five people that I've told my DMs that day were on fire. And they were like, oh my god. One of my friends was like, I can't believe Zendaya's in Shrek. I was like, why would I? I was like, Shannon, no offense. I was like, why would I lie about that? That's such a bizarre thing to lie about. Zendaya told me she's going to be in the next Shrek movie.

[2:14:07] Matt: Well, I just am obsessed with the way that she announced to you that she'll be in it. I think that we should all add that to our lexicon, of just looking at something and be like, oh, I'm in that. I'm in that.

[2:14:19] Conor Burke: There is a carousel edition that Ryan Murphy-Zendaya picture. I'm in that. I'm in that.

[2:14:25] Andrew McGuire: If there's not another good episode title, I'm in that might be titled-

[2:14:32] Conor Burke: Oh my god, please. That's a good one.

[2:14:35] Matt: Thank you. Thanks, Zendaya, actually.

[2:14:38] Conor Burke: Thanks, Z. We go way back.

[2:14:40] Andrew McGuire: So, Matt, will you be in an upcoming commercial with Sidney Sweeney by any chance?

[2:14:46] Matt: No, that'd be cool. I'll just be waiting for Euphoria season three.

[2:14:51] Conor Burke: In the meantime, I guess she's a little busy.

[2:14:54] Matt: I'm in that.

[2:14:55] Conor Burke: Both of them, busy.

[2:14:56] Andrew McGuire: I'm in that.

[2:14:58] Conor Burke: Well, if you could let me know when it's coming out. I feel like it's been-

[2:15:01] Matt: Oh, it's been too long.

[2:15:03] Conor Burke: Dangled in front of our faces.

[2:15:04] Matt: She was literally, like, my claim to fame is she was literally filming with us. She flew back to L.A. and then there was, like, a one-day gap and then she'd started on Euphoria.

[2:15:14] Conor Burke: How iconic is that? Very famous.

[2:15:17] Matt: Was I doing plugs? Is that what I'm up to?

[2:15:20] Andrew McGuire: Yes, I would love to hear-

[2:15:22] Conor Burke: And then the Gleeks would, too.

[2:15:24] Matt: I do appreciate the opportunity to do that as well as the opportunity to be on the podcast, Andrew, of course, anytime. But yeah, I am podcasting my mouth away, my mouth off, one of those.

[2:15:38] Conor Burke: I love that.

[2:15:41] Matt: Over on two different podcast platforms, primarily The Diary Room is the podcast I have mentioned throughout this podcast, where if you like this style of competition that I directly stole from Andrew McGuire alongside my Glee podcast co-host Amon Adwin, we're doing the same thing but for Big Brother players across Big Brother U.S., Canada, celebrity version of U.S. and more.

[2:16:07] Conor Burke: So that's The Diary Room podcast and it's been a lot of fun.

[2:16:10] Matt: And then I also talk about a lot of other reality shows on the Free Agents podcast, primarily about The Challenge. We were covering The Traitors this season, as we usually do, and any other reality shows that pop up that we want to talk about.

[2:16:25] Conor Burke: So that's a great time as always, friends.

[2:16:30] Andrew McGuire: I love that.

[2:16:31] Matt: And I love that there's some considerable overlap between the Gleeks and the, what do you, overall, what are you guys called?

[2:16:37] Conor Burke: Reality TV show fans?

[2:16:44] Matt: There's not a great word.

[2:16:48] Conor Burke: You don't have a fun name for that?

[2:16:49] Matt: I don't think so.

[2:16:51] Conor Burke: No, no, there's no good word.

[2:16:54] Andrew McGuire: Get on that.

[2:16:54] Conor Burke: That's on you.

[2:16:55] Andrew McGuire: I'll work on it.

[2:16:56] Matt: Otherwise, this has been another episode, another episode where, well, the first episode of round three that we wanted to throw up. And it's not gonna be the end of that.

[2:17:05] Conor Burke: Maybe just Queer People?

[2:17:09] Matt: Queers is the name of the group.

[2:17:12] Conor Burke: Oh, Queers.

[2:17:13] Matt: That's good.

[2:17:14] Andrew McGuire: I like that.

[2:17:17] Conor Burke: Oh, you like Big Brother?

[2:17:18] Matt: Queer.

[2:17:21] Andrew McGuire: Um, okay. Well, I look forward to throwing up again next week.

[2:17:25] Conor Burke: Okay.

[2:17:26] Matt: Bye.

[2:17:26] Andrew McGuire: Bye.

[2:17:27] Conor Burke: It's Gleek.

[2:17:28] Andrew McGuire: Gleek of the Week.