This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Andrew McGuire: We've got a mission to find the best song that's ever been on Glee. There's no rhyme or reason to it, so don't get mad at me. Glacket by Glacket, we'll rank everyone to see which song will move closer to spot number one. Gleek of the Week, Gleek, Gleek, Gleek of the Week. It's Gleek, Gleek of the Week.

[0:35] Andrew McGuire: Hi everybody! It's me, Andrew McGuire, the host of this podcast, Gleek of the Week, a Glee podcast. And every week we look at, we used to look at six songs per episode, but now we look at four. And I'm joined each week by two guests to look at these four randomly selected songs and decide which are better and moving forward on this little thing called the Glacket. It's not actually a little thing at all. It's been taking years to complete. But I'm doing it with really good friends, such as very good friends of mine who also happen to be Gleeks. And their names are Charlie. Hi, Charlie! What's up?

[1:12] Charlie: Oh, for sure. Every podcast needs at least one, and I'm happy that it's you.

[1:26] Andrew McGuire: And then we're also joined by Patrick. How are you doing?

[1:29] Patrick: Homewrecker.

[1:34] Andrew McGuire: Hey, homewrecker. How are we?

[1:35] Patrick: I'm great. How are you?

[1:36] Andrew McGuire: I'm doing fine. I feel like ever since round three started, I feel like in a really weird space with the hit Fox show Glee. I don't know what it is. I was thinking about it on my walk home today and I was like, what do you think it could possibly be? And I think it's because I'm starting the round by myself, whereas like round one and round two, like Allison was there for the first six episodes of round two. And so I'm like, oh, this is something I'm doing by myself. And it's now settling in, having done it by myself for over a full year now. But now it's really settling in. So but like, that's not how I feel about the hit Fox show Glee per se. I don't know. It's just, I'm feeling a whole jar of emotions. You know what I mean? Something is shifting for me.

[2:24] Charlie: Do you think it has anything to do with like how round three has had some pretty crazy work competitions?

[2:30] Andrew McGuire: Okay. Has it had like crazy work competitions? Because I feel like there's only like really one that has been a crazy work competition.

[2:41] Charlie: Well, I mean, we'll get to it. But do we talk about crazy?

[2:43] Andrew McGuire: Oh, okay. Listen, so I don't want to necessarily get into like the crazier competition quite yet. I'm just trying to figure out like, Andrew, you're asking like, what is it? I'm thinking like, is it because we had to make some we just say goodbye to some beautiful girls? Is it because it's spring and that brings a new new feelings? It's kind of like settling in that like, okay, maybe like round three starting means that like, the end is nigh, you know, and it's like, Oh, okay. This chapter of my life weekly talking about this finite amount of episodes is going to be at a close. I mean, I don't actually know the exact end date. But we're further along further along than we are like, you know, not.

[3:42] Andrew McGuire: So the podcast is a junior. I mean, that's when we realized that Tina and Artie were juniors. There goes at an extra year. And so it's really important to acknowledge like your junior years when you decide you're going to college unless you're...

[3:58] Charlie: Yeah, where am I going to go to college after this? The audit applications are open.

[4:00] Andrew McGuire: I was thinking about going to Juilliard for drama.

[4:04] Charlie: Juilliard.

[4:08] Andrew McGuire: This is a really good point, Charlie, because we've talked about in the podcast before, but the showrunners were like, Oh, crap, who can we make a junior to kind of like, extend their time here? And in a sense, Andrew, isn't that kind of what you did? It's four episodes or four songs instead of show. So you're the showrunner and you're like, Tina and Artie.

[4:29] Charlie: A junior, not a senior.

[4:30] Andrew McGuire: Right, right. Blaine jumpscare is only a junior.

[4:38] Charlie: Yeah. Speaking of, Andrew, go ahead.

[4:38] Andrew McGuire: Oh, I was gonna say like, because you're kind of in your feels about everything. And I feel that too, because in the hiatus between round two and round three, I was very like, where are the new episodes? Like, I need to talk about Glee with somebody. And then it kind of made me reflect, like, this isn't going to be a forever thing. Like, I hope it goes as long as it possibly can go. But then when it's done, I don't know. This is all I do. Not to make this like an entire therapy session about me. But last week in the Abby and Alexa episode, I realized while I was editing back when it got to the point in the conversation where I said, like, this is going to be the Glackett. Like, I'm never going to do this exercise again. And when I was editing it back, I was like, oh, my God. Yeah. I'm not going to be doing this exercise again. This was way too much to do even once. So yeah, I don't know.

[5:37] Charlie: Would you say this is your life's magnum opus?

[5:40] Andrew McGuire: I know. Am I peaking Gleeking too early?

[5:51] Patrick: Oh, nothing. Just, you know, we do still have quite a bit of Glackett to go.

[5:55] Andrew McGuire: That's true. But yeah, I do. I don't spend as much time, I guess, doing Gleek of the Week things as you do, Andrew. But I felt a little bit of the shift. Like, it feels a little bit more real. And I do think it was kind of because of the nastier competitions. I'll talk. I'll say it.

[6:15] Charlie: Yeah.

[6:16] Patrick: Valerie versus Adele mashup. Like, to me, that was going to be like the end. And so I think to have had to grapple with...

[6:25] Charlie: Audio Medium, just for the record, is shaking his head in disapproval of that statement.

[6:30] Patrick: Okay, well, guess what? I don't care. And I...

[6:34] Charlie: I'm here to fight, Pat. So...

[6:37] Patrick: Villain of the podcast and also villain of VOP podcast and Patrick.

[6:43] Charlie: Yeah.

[6:45] Patrick: God, I mean, we'll talk about it. We'll argue for sure. But the point I was trying to make was that, you know, you kind of had to, like, deal with the end. Like, I kind of felt like I was like, wait, this was supposed to be the end of the podcast and it's happening in round three. So I really do feel that sense of, I don't know, end times.

[7:05] Patrick: I can do some, like, semi live reporting right now. We were recording this on Cinco de Mayo, also the day of the Met Ball. And so we don't know the official vote of which song is coming back in the vote that started as of last week's episode. However, there is a clear front runner with a 52 percent, and that is Valerie Season 2. Human Nature is in second place with 15 percent. And so it's looking likely that Valerie Season 2 will live to see another day.

[7:44] Charlie: I just- Valerie isn't even the best Amy Winehouse cover on- someone else did say that.

[7:52] Patrick: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're saying that Back to Black is better?

[7:56] Charlie: I don't agree with- I wouldn't go that far. I think Back to Black is better in the context of, like, when I think of like, Valerie, I think of it like, it's good in that it's like, it's Santana's first big moment. But if I'm going to listen to Valerie, I'm going to listen to the Amy Winehouse version. If I'm going to listen to Back to Black, I'm going to listen to Santana's version.

[8:18] Patrick: So no Gleek ever. What the hell is that?

[8:24] Charlie: I will say that, like, okay, with the voting back of these songs, and I think that I said that while editing last week, is that with the voting back songs and like 10 songs coming back, we will have a clear 100 songs in round four of the Glackett, which I really do appreciate. And it would be such a shame if Valerie Season 2 wasn't included. And it's looking likely that she will have a slot there. But I'm so fascinated to see, you know, what makes up this Glackett 100. You know, I think that's very, very exciting for me personally.

[8:57] Patrick: How many songs from 100 are going to be in the 100?

[9:01] Charlie: That's a great question. I don't think so. Valerie Season 5 is still yet to be pulled.

[9:07] Patrick: I don't like her. I think that she's, like, beautiful and represents a relationship that I can really get behind. However, I don't think that she, I don't know, I would be curious to see what her matchup is going to be. But I think that the best chance is Toxic Season 5.

[9:27] Charlie: That's a good one. Well, okay, so, Charlie, I want you to give me, like, a full formed thought. Like, you clearly have a vendetta against Valerie. You're giving little...

[9:36] Patrick: Charlie has a thought challenge.

[9:42] Charlie: Like, give me give me more than two sentences. Like what what is going through your head with Valerie? Or has someone like you when you found out that those two songs were pulled against each other? Did you not have a visceral reaction? It sounds like you're, you're thinking that that wasn't a big deal. I certainly did.

[10:01] Patrick: You're in your reporter era.

[10:03] Charlie: I am. No, so, like, can I speak? Savannah, slow down. Please. Please, please give me a platform. Please, finally, please, please let men have a voice on this issue. Truly. No, for me, I know in my heart, that rumor has it someone like you was going the long way, just like other songs, such as I feel pretty and pretty as much as we can discuss it. I don't like Paradise. Those songs have longevity. And so no matter what it was going up against, I knew that it was going to be okay. So when it was pulled against Valerie, it was one of those like, okay, like, it was not like I wasn't doing a backflip for it. But I also wasn't hurt. Because it was like, to quote Vanessa Hutch, it was like, inevitable, like inevitable.

It's people are going to die. We have people are going to die songs are going to die. This is round three. Like, I was very fervent in round one of like, I only want songs to go through that I know are going to last and I know that you were the first to say that Charlie not to interrupt you but you were the first to say that I believe that you were in the first live episode of round two. And you were the first person to say like, I have my eyes on round four. And I remember Alice and I being like, Oh my god, this is the first time that we're actually like hearing round four as like an even like idea or thought. And so you really were thinking steps ahead rounds ahead for a while.

[11:30] Charlie: Like we have got to start playing the long game, especially like voting songs back is fine. And Valerie is going to get voted back, which is fine. But I also in my mind, I take note of songs that have been voted back. And I'm like, you walk in with this aura of like, you're not supposed to be here.

[11:47] Patrick: How Okay, so okay, so blame it on the alcohol is a big one. Not if...

[11:52] Charlie: It'll hurt.

[11:53] Patrick: Are we wait, really?

[11:55] Charlie: I'm so fucking done. Why?

[11:57] Patrick: Why is it alive?

[11:59] Charlie: I know. Kill her.

[12:02] Patrick: She died twice. And then she she's still around.

[12:09] Charlie: That's some satanic shit. Or that's bad.

[12:13] Patrick: I think that's okay. So I will say this. And I know that people have their feelings around voting songs back. And I do want to reiterate that if you want the patrons were the ones that voted on, you know how many songs they want back for for round four, and 10 songs throughout round three was the one that one, I will say that, like, going forward in round four, so we will have a clear hundred in round four. And if we're doing, we're going to continue doing four songs per episode. That's an easy 25 episodes around four. So Oh, wait, actually, I can't do the math right now, if that makes sense for round five. But um, yeah, I don't know.

[12:54] Charlie: So we only have like, what, at most seven rounds math wise?

[12:58] Patrick: Oh, do not ask. I know Patrick loves asking me this question every time I try to avoid it.

[13:03] Charlie: Round four has a hundred.

[13:04] Patrick: I told myself that I wasn't gonna ask.

[13:07] Charlie: Okay, round four has 100 divided by four is 25. We're not doing this right now. We're not.

[13:18] Patrick: Stop it. But I do want to I want to get serious around for it. That's that's what I want to I want to leave that on that, um, you know, the voting songs back. It's fine. And add some drama, you know, additional voting and everything. So well, I think I agree with the last round, you go back in, and then you just go like, yeah, but I mean, like, if we need numbers, then I think then, you know, a song here or there, maybe, but not we're never gonna do 10. Again, that's crazy.

[13:47] Charlie: I agree with what Patrick said earlier, where when a song gets voted back, you kind of come into the room when it's pulled thinking, Oh, you really shouldn't be here. And I think that's opinion I certainly share, which is why it is really heartbreaking. When a song like Valerie does die, even if it gets come back, if it comes back, it's kind of tarnished. And I don't know, I personally can't help but think about it differently. Now moving forward, because, in a sense, like it shouldn't really be there. I know we're...

[14:58] Andrew: A lot of Gleeks' winner of their Glacket, "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," has been voted back in, is a song that fits that category, voted back in. Because of a legal note, because it lost to "Survive" or "I Will Survive" last round.

[15:17] Patrick Pacheco: Oh, I know.

[15:18] Charlie: No, I just, hey, for any Gleek that forgot, hey!

[15:22] Patrick Pacheco: I did not forget. And you know what, I don't know if we need to talk about this in a recorded fashion.

[15:27] Charlie: We don't need to talk about it again. But I'm just saying, but if you're saying that a song that was voted back in can't be the winner, then I'm saying that that is a song that people are saying could win.

[15:41] Patrick: Yeah. Well, let me reframe it. I'm not saying it can't. I'm just saying I don't think it will be. I don't know. Imagine we get to the very, very end and "Valerie" has been killed two times or brought back two times or something like that. And it's like, hey, here's the song that never died versus the song that died a few times and got brought back. That's going to be part of the conversation. And will that kind of sway it? Also, I know that, Andrew, you probably have thought a lot about how the actual final song gets pulled. And I'm sure that won't be decided until we're much further down the Glacket. But will it be a group vote? Will it be... I have really exciting stuff like that? Should I reveal an exciting idea that I have for like a penultimate episode now? Or should I? Should it be a surprise for when it happens? I think it's up to you.

[16:38] Andrew: I'm really curious, but you don't have to tell us.

[16:41] Patrick Pacheco: I'll reveal. It's fine. Because I almost want to be held to this because it's an exciting idea for me right now. And I think that when the time comes, I just don't want to be like, oh, I'm not motivated enough to make it happen. So I'm saying this in an effort for people to remember so I can make this happen. For a semi-final round, maybe not like the penultimate episode or whatever, like very close to the end. I would like to reach out to every person that was involved in the cast or crew of the hit Fox show Glee via email or Instagram DM or whatever and be like, hey, not asking you to join a recording, but just like, can you watch these two performances? Say like, hey, my name is Lindsay Heather Pierce.

I played Harmony on the hit Fox show Glee. And here are my thoughts on each song and here is my vote for which song should advance further. And I think that would be a very, very fun episode to have like a culmination of like Lindsay Pierce, Lauren Potter, Kevin and Jenna, Heather, Marshall and Noah and Adam and Nikki, all these people that have been included over and see as many people that would volunteer their time to be part of it. I think it'd be very, very fun for me personally. And then the final episode is Ryan Murphy, of course.

[18:07] Patrick Pacheco: And the final episode will be Ryan Murphy. That is also something that I really want people to hold me to as well. As intimidating as that may be, would love that to be the end of this entire journey.

[18:20] Andrew: Yeah. Patrick, you're really deep in thought.

[18:26] Patrick Pacheco: I am deep in thought. Well, I would want it to, in a sense, be like random, because I feel like there are some Glee cast members who if like you gave them "Don't Rain on My Parade," they just be like, I'm gonna vote for the other one.

[18:42] Charlie: Sure.

[18:42] Patrick Pacheco: So I don't know, maybe discourse will change by the time that we get there. But listen, yeah.

[18:49] Andrew: Okay, well, what else do we have to add on that?

[18:52] Patrick Pacheco: Well, I don't know, I do feel like, because we bring songs back, there wasn't as like big of a stink about the "Valerie" versus "Adele" mashup. Like I was kind of like freaking out while listening to that.

[19:08] Charlie: Yeah, and it was Connor and Matt, right? I think in the back of their minds, and maybe you two, Andrew, you guys were like, well, like "Valerie" is gonna come back. So it's like, not a big deal. So I think that's part of it too, is like, I like treating it almost as if there's no chance for them to come back, because it really like heightens the stakes and makes it a bit more dramatic. I also find that it's like, it's exciting as well for like, to have like a really vomit-inducing competition, like "Valerie" versus the "Adele" mashup. And then like, be like, Oh, like, on pins and needles, hoping that another, it's true, another vomit-inducing competition may happen, because only one of these songs stands a chance within this group.

And that's exactly what's happening right now, too, at least in my view, because "Human Nature" and gosh, the Michael Jackson song, "Smooth Criminal," that one was like, vomit-inducing for me too. And in my last episode, I talked about how much I love "Human Nature." And I fear that her day is numbered now. So "Human Nature" kind of like, I feel like their biggest win on the Glacket was taking out "Don't Speak" in round one. And I think that, yeah, you know, that was like a really big W for them. And it was like, Oh, your days are numbered, like you already had your, you picked a little bit too early. Similarly. And, and so I don't know, I that's what makes me a little bit happy about, you know, "Human Nature." It's like, they had their day in the sun. We had our day in the sun.

[21:00] Patrick Pacheco: Yeah, those are the only two competitions that have really ruffled my feathers so far, though, because we're still pretty young in the Glacket. But both are round three, but both pretty nasty work. So yeah, yeah, not sure what's in store for us tonight. But those are my grievances, I guess, even though the right decisions are made.

[21:12] Andrew: Thank you, Charlie, do you have any thoughts on competitions or anything at all?

[21:18] Charlie: No, I agree. I think that round three has been a success. Like, I don't think there's been issues for real. I think the biggest thing has been kind of acknowledging like, as sad as I was about "Human Nature" going. And I was on that live stream episode, like, there was no way that "Smooth Criminal" wasn't going to win. And like, even though I am rallying behind "Human Nature," and will go down saying it was in my top 10 most streamed songs of 2024, not just Glee songs, but all songs of 2024. It was very sad, but also like acknowledging that it did, in fact, make it to round three was a win on its own. So it's like, we have to give her flowers where she's due. And I think that's where I'm also kind of at now, like how I was like, for me, "Valerie" going out was like, I mean, it made it to round three, and it's coming back. So it's like, don't, don't be hurt. Like, we're at round three of seven rounds. I just did the math. Like, we are almost halfway done. Like, yeah, we didn't lose any juggernauts.

[22:24] Patrick Pacheco: We're almost half halfway. We're further than halfway. There were 111 episodes in round one. There's less songs in each round that goes forward, Charlie.

[22:36] Charlie: Yeah, yeah. Alabama education.

[22:39] Andrew: Wait, Charlie, you mentioned that "Human Nature" was a top stream for you in 2024. Was this like a recent liking that you had with this song or?

[22:49] Charlie: No, I mean, it's always been like, I mean, Sam and Sadie's is my OTP. Sam Evans is my favorite character. My very, very first episode in round one, I famously went down with the ship for "Baby." Where the sole vote for "Baby."

[23:05] Patrick Pacheco: Well, if "Baby" has no fans, I am dead.

[23:14] Charlie: So "Human Nature" has always been a top stream for me. But it was I think it was just 2024 was just like, Sam and Sadie's needed to be back in my life. And so that's why I climbed the ranks. Will it be a top stream of 2025? Probably.

[23:29] Andrew: Okay, it's in the top 10 of your... it would make like the top of your Glacket.

[23:34] Charlie: Oh, "Human Nature"? I don't think... I don't think it would win the Glacket. I do think that "Human Nature" would be around six for me, though.

[23:41] Andrew: Okay, wait, what? What would be the winner of your Glacket?

[23:45] Charlie: I feel pretty unpretty. It is. Okay, taking it. It is that girl for me.

[23:50] Patrick Pacheco: Okay, Patrick is giving judgy eyes. Back to Patrick.

[23:55] Andrew: Back to Patrick.

[23:57] Patrick Pacheco: No, I mean, like, it's a good one. But the winner of your Glacket. I'm not sure about that one. But maybe I'm not one to judge because I feel like for the longest time I said that the "Adele" mashup was gonna be like the winner or would be the winner of my Glacket. But honestly, I don't know, like, I'm struggling to find a comparison in like non-Glee life to this. But is there ever something that like in your mind is, that's my favorite thing. But then sometimes you don't reach for it? Like you have a favorite ice cream flavor. And if someone says, What's your favorite ice cream flavor? You say, chocolate, but you reach for vanilla more or something like that. Like, I don't know. I feel like I feel like Ted Talk direction. We can't record after I have a day in corporate America.

[24:46] Charlie: Reach for vanilla.

[24:49] Patrick Pacheco: But you know, you know what I mean? It's like, I don't know "Adele" mashup. I'm always like, yeah, that's one of my Glacket. That's one of my Glacket. But I don't know, like if "Valerie" killed her, I would have kind of maybe been okay with it. And that's just something that I'm dealing with in my personal time when I go on walks and I'm driving in the car. I'm like, what? What? What do I feel like? Who am I? You know?

[25:15] Andrew: Yeah, I got another Ted Talk kind of quote there. Talking about a Glee.

[25:21] Patrick Pacheco: Who am I? But I don't know. I just think that this is what makes the Glacket really, really fun that it's like, there's so many different contributors, that there's so many different like, Oh, is this are they out of the competition? Are they not out of the competition? Because it's like, you know, if "Valerie" was actually like fully out, then like, we're looking at a completely different Glacket than we could have ever imagined. But yeah, I'm like, I truly don't know what would win. I have an idea. I think I said it very early on, actually, in 2021. I said that "Somebody to Love" season one version does feel like a good pick for winner of the Glacket. But I'm only one vote. These competitions have three votes. And so, um, yeah, it could prediction.

[26:13] Charlie: And yeah, go ahead. I think it's gonna be... Oh, wait, maybe I'm gonna take this back and be a joke. No, no, it's not gonna be a joke. I wish it was "Gloria." Oh, my God.

[26:29] Patrick Pacheco: Um, maybe I won't put it out there into the...

[26:34] Andrew: While you're thinking on that, I do have a question. Do we do when we think about the winner of the Glacket? Are we thinking of the one song that if you're like this one song embodies everything about this TV show, that if you could only listen to one Glee song for the rest of your life, it has to be this one? Or are we encompassing the winner of the Glacket as this collective community that was built that we all rally?

[26:48] Charlie: Oh, true. Okay. I was like, kind of roll my eyes because I was like, you know that we're not voting on like any one clear idea for any of these competitions. Um, but I think that, you know, the fact that it's taking years to do and we're not just finishing it in a week, um, kind of does lend itself to be like, okay, what does what does the culture of this fandom mean to me when voting? That definitely comes into play? Yes.

[27:22] Patrick Pacheco: So like, when the Glacket started in 2021, versus when it ends in 2028?

[27:29] Charlie: Oh, hello.

[27:29] Patrick Pacheco: Yeah. Well, and I'm also like, I've just like turned a new leaf recently with Finchel this like not to toot my own horn with this "Party for You." Oh my god. I made it the caption. It wasn't a joke. I cried making it like I literally was so fucking emotional making this fucking edit. And I like there's like thousands of views on it. And I'm half of them. I every time I get a new like, like, I'm like, I'm watching it with the person that just liked it. I gotta watch it again. I'm just like, it makes me so sad and like so emotional. And like people are actually like, I don't know. I don't know if they're being serious when they're like, thanks. I hated this in the comments. But like I needed I had the idea all last week to make specifically Finchel for you part of Finchel Finchel for you, Finchel party for you edit. And I did it by weekend. And I, I don't know, I just needed it was just like, I felt so constipated with that thought. And I got it out of my system.

[28:36] Andrew: I mean, that was my "Faithfully" like it was a ride for "Faithfully." But I if that was "Faithfully," that would win the Glacket. I'm like, so I'm just saying this because I'm like, I'm almost like manifesting like a Finchel song, like a really emotional Finchel song because I'm ready to emotionally talk about.

[28:54] Andrew: Finally on this Glee podcast.

[28:57] Charlie: Well Andrew, I'm on the same page as you. Thank you so much for your contribution to the culture. That was an insane edit and "Party" for you has been stuck in my head for like the last three or four days. Did you know that one came out in 2020?

[29:15] Patrick: Yep, why no older album, but yeah, geez.

[29:19] Charlie: The amount of times that I watched that edit, Andrew, is insane. And then I was on a walk yesterday and instead of like, I just was listening to like the full song on repeat for like an hour. And I kept thinking about your edit and I was like thinking about, okay, not too much. No, no, no, not like the whole time. But like, you know, no, no, no, no, but like it's so good. And so I'm on the same wavelength as you where Finchel really was so beautiful. And you know, back to the point I was debating sharing earlier, I feel like the winner of the Glacket is gonna be "Don't Stop" because I really, I don't know the Fleetwood Mac song and I was like, baby, that was out. Oh, no, no, no, no, like right, like I don't know, like if you're really, really hard to kill that one. Like maybe I'm like, I think it will be, it will be like "Don't Stop."

[30:14] Patrick: We're doing more than that. It's a whole journey melody.

[30:19] Charlie: But our medley, but yeah, I...

[30:23] Patrick: Melody, yeah, the harmonies little sister.

[30:25] Charlie: That's a McLean boot.

[30:31] Andrew: Okay, we continue. Finish your thought. I'm so sorry.

[30:39] Charlie: It's okay. I mean, so right, 'cause Charlie, you were saying when we're really getting down to the wire, is the collective consciousness of voters around the Glacket going to be, well, what's like the song that's so representative? Like what is the iconic song? And obviously to the greater culture, that's "Don't Stop Believin'," but then in like the subculture that we've created together, Andrew, our fearless leader bringing us, okay again, Glacket NTM.

[31:04] Patrick: NTM.

[31:07] Charlie: Yeah, you know, like, oh, I don't know what is it.

[31:12] Andrew: Well, yeah, I don't know what the song is.

[31:15] Charlie: Be like a part of me just feels like if we get to the end and "Don't Stop Believin'" wins, it's like what did we just do for seven years? Like that does feel like, and I brought this up a few weeks ago that I was like, I don't want the end of the Glacket to look like Glee for dummies, that it was like it kind of like a beginner's guide to Glee, you know? Like hey, here are the songs that charted the most, here are the songs that like did the most numbers on YouTube? Like I know I want the hidden gems to be represented at the end of the Glacket, right?

[31:48] Patrick: So then I don't know, but couldn't it be a bunch of hidden gems and then like "Don't Stop" wins? Like I'm not...

[31:56] Charlie: Things are exclusive.

[31:59] Patrick: Yeah, yeah, so...

[32:01] Charlie: Versus "Don't Stop."

[32:04] Andrew: Right, right. I think, but you know, Angie, you were talking about like the Finn and Rachel bit and like that's kind of like Glee's it couple, right? But like how much on this podcast do we talk about Finchel? But then when you're really in it and you like think about it, it's like damn, that's like good. You know, like Rachel was great. Like I'm ready for Finchel, right? So then that's kind of how you feel about "Don't Stop," right? It's like we don't talk about "Don't Stop" that much, but when you really think about it, you're like, oh, that's kind of a really hard thing to not put forward.

[32:33] Charlie: Yeah, and she's safe and sound, of course, in round four right now. So we'll check it back in with "Don't Stop."

[32:41] Patrick: I don't like that you're calling it "Don't Stop."

[32:46] Andrew: I know that Glee calls it "Don't Stop." Okay, sorry, finale. I'm just like my mind can't process it other than the Fleetwood Mac song.

[32:56] Charlie: Of the "Don't Stop" of the we're doing "Don't Stop" at regionals. We have the original is in round four. We lost Rachel's solo right in round one as well as regionals, which was a loss in round one. And then we lost the season five version in round two, so we have the OG left.

[33:11] Patrick: We only have OG.

[33:14] Charlie: Yeah, okay, that gives it... I just looked in the back. We only have one "Don't Stop" leaving and it's out right now.

[33:21] Patrick: Yeah, wow, like that gives it points for me. If I could, it's the only one left.

[33:30] Charlie: "Don't Stop" in round four. We're doing "Don't Stop."

[33:36] Andrew: Um, I think that we've effectively talked intro-wise enough. Any final, final notes?

[33:44] Charlie: Which we can't, are gonna be at the Met Gala tonight.

[33:48] Patrick: Wait, doing okay. Wait, can we take a little break and check to see? Like has Leah Michelle arrived at Met Gala? Is she still invited to the Met Gala?

[34:01] Charlie: She was invited the past two years, but I don't think so. I don't think that she's there.

[34:10] Patrick: You think Jonathan Groff and Darren Criss will be there?

[34:14] Charlie: Darren Criss will be there. Tony Award nominee Darren Criss will be there. I don't see anything about Leah Michelle. Um, let me see.

[34:22] Patrick: Is Jessalyn Gilsig gonna be there?

[34:28] Charlie: Jessalyn Gilsig is singing. She's hosting, yeah. Um, I don't think I see anything about Darren Criss and then who else? Jonathan Groff?

[34:38] Patrick: Vanessa Lachey?

[34:41] Charlie: What, Amber Riley go to Met Gala?

[34:44] Patrick: I don't, unfortunately, I don't think she's gonna be commenting on the box.

[34:48] Charlie: She is. It's a full-time job.

[34:52] Patrick: She takes it really seriously and I'm, and honestly, it sounds sarcastic, but I love her so much for it. The amount of time and energy she puts into commenting on TikToks makes me so happy.

[35:06] Charlie: So funny comment section. It's so good.

[35:08] Andrew: Okay, with that out of the way, are we ready to pull our first song? That's scary to so no, I'm excited.

[35:14] Charlie: Here it is. We're manifesting Finchel. Anything else?

[35:18] Patrick: Yeah, what are you saying, Charlie?

[35:21] Charlie: What, like a heavy hitter? Like I want something that I like, I want something to go out like hard. Like I want...

[35:30] Andrew: Let's just do it. I want "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" so that Pat and I can fight.

[35:35] Charlie: Okay, I have our first song. It's not anything that you said.

[35:41] Patrick: Anybody said, actually. Um, it's, it's kind of lackluster. I'm so sorry to be saying this. It's a good song. It's fine. We're doing a flop in round three.

[35:54] Charlie: We're doing a flop.

[35:57] Patrick: Hold my gala 2025, Alex. No, I was there. It's new. Oh, wait. Let's like take a break first.

[36:04] Charlie: Wait, do you have a picture?

[36:07] Patrick: Um, we have a black...

[36:08] Charlie: Oh, this is gorgeous. It's good. It's very good.

[36:13] Patrick: Yeah, all right, well, okay, audio medium, we're looking at someone at a piano. It could be literally any song. Do we have a stab in the dark?

[36:19] Charlie: Um, no, "Don't Stop Me Now" died in round one, Charlie. Come on.

[36:31] Patrick: Um, do you let me just tell you it's "Next to Me."

[36:38] Andrew: Oh, all right, that was "Next to Me."

[36:40] Patrick: All right, that was "Next to Me" sung by Lea Michele and Idina Menzel. What do you think about that?

[36:48] Charlie: Um, I know that there's a lot of people who really love Sara Bareilles and I do too.

[36:56] Patrick: It's not Sara Bareilles.

[36:57] Charlie: Um, all right, I think Charlie, you're gonna have the first remarks on "Next to Me."

[37:03] Charlie: Oh, it's a meal Sunday, a meal, and right, Charlie? Or yeah, I think it's, um, it's like it's spelled Emily, but I think it's a meal.

[37:13] Patrick: Yeah, I think, oh, I don't know her.

[37:20] Charlie: No, okay, please apologize to Sarah. No, this guy, I could see where you got that from. This is okay.

[37:25] Patrick: Are you...

[37:29] Charlie: Well, let me, I want to know Charlie's opinion though 'cause I'm a stupid head.

[37:35] Charlie: So this song famously not done by Sara Bareilles, um, my first immediate question was, is this beat pretending? Question mark?

[37:45] Patrick: Okay, I, that's what I was...

[37:50] Charlie: I was looking up. How did it get here? It beat pretending, which I do stand by. I stream this more than pretending.

[37:53] Patrick: I know that, you know, maybe, maybe I...

[37:56] Charlie: Emotional central.

[37:57] Patrick: Exactly, no venture. I've turned a new leaf though. You know, I voted for that before I, you know, started really investing in that relationship when the Tyrannosaurus was eating the Jew, famously worst line ever said by Chris Colfer.

[38:15] Charlie: Yeah, season two had a moment. Um, but no, I, as a loud and proud pretender, I just cannot believe that song beat pretending. My other immediate thoughts were Tony Awards snub for Idina.

[38:29] Patrick: Um, I know this is not a Tony Awards space, but her swinging on a zipline around...

[38:32] Charlie: Why is this not a Tony Awards space?

[38:38] Patrick: It's art.

[38:42] Charlie: Oh, yeah, that's right.

[38:42] Patrick: Um, we're back to bullying Patrick. Um, I don't even know how we got there.

[38:48] Charlie: Um, wait, can I say something while we're in the Tony Awards space that I've been wanting to say for a while?

[38:54] Patrick: Um, but I just haven't been, you know, whatever. I'm going to say it now. Um, Elias's grandmom was in our apartment a few weeks ago and saw I, well, I have the framed picture of literally Michelle's Instagram story of me in the background.

[39:07] Charlie: And I have that like with just like a bunch of other photos on a shelf.

[39:16] Patrick: And Elias's grandmom asks me, is that your mom?

[39:24] Charlie: Yes.

[39:24] Patrick: And I was like, uh, no. And it was like a really, it was really embarrassing to be like, no, that is Lea Michele. She had no context for who Lea Michele is.

[39:30] Charlie: Um, and then I needed to be like, that's me in the background. That's me in the corner. That's me in the spotlight.

[39:38] Patrick: So that's what I've been wanting to get off my chest for a while now.

[39:42] Charlie: No, when you told me this story, you said, and then I said, that's not my mom. That's my mother.

[39:48] Patrick: That's another alternative for a joke.

[39:51] Charlie: Yeah, there we go. Speaking of that's not her mom, that's her mother.

[39:55] Andrew: Segway.

[39:56] Charlie: Segway. Shelby not going to Rachel's opening night. Like I get, obviously, probably Idina never wanted to set foot on the Glee set again.

[40:01] Patrick: Well, that episode was already too packed. Don't we agree?

[40:08] Charlie: Opening night because half of the episode was about Sue and some random guy.

[40:16] Patrick: That is so true. Get out.

[40:18] Charlie: Yeah.

[40:20] Patrick: Okay, NYC, underrated bop of the Glacket, truly.

[40:24] Charlie: Um, but no, like two, yeah, like they even did like the whole like already sent a letter. Quinn didn't use her train to get, I think like a letter like Shelby.

[40:33] Patrick: Shelby, I think, I think they had a line, Principal Figgins. Am I making this up?

[40:38] Charlie: Principal Figgins sent a letter.

[40:41] Patrick: Yeah, but like Shelby didn't even send a letter or flowers.

[40:43] Charlie: Like, well, I think, okay, can we, is there a universe where Shelby was at opening night, but we just didn't see it? Is that possible?

[40:52] Patrick: Shelby, thanks so much for coming.

[40:56] Charlie: And that's just kind of what we understand.

[40:59] Patrick: No, unfortunately because she does mention, oh, like I said hi to my dads. I feel like she would have also said...

[41:06] Charlie: Is there a line there? I know she saves a seat for Finn, emotional Finchel, right? Emotional Finchel. Thank you, Glacket.

[41:14] Patrick: She makes a point to say that like her dads are in the audience or something like that. I forget the exact line, but yeah, I don't know because they made such a big deal explaining what characters weren't there in that episode particularly that I feel like they had a discussion in the writer's room. Do we bring up if Shelby's there? And they just...

[41:36] Charlie: They forgot.

[41:36] Patrick: No, they forgot that like in this scene where before they sing "Next to Me," they forget they forgot that they gave Idina the line, I'm going to be at your opening night. They fully just, they're not accountable. And that's okay.

[41:54] Charlie: The song yet? Am I out of time out?

[42:02] Patrick: Yeah, it's okay. Are you guys still mad at me?

[42:02] Charlie: No, what do you want to say about "Next to Me," originally performed by Sara Bareilles?

[42:08] Patrick: Um, okay. Anyway, I think that it's really technically good and that's what so much of the later half of Glee was to me. It was like, this is excellent. Like the vocals are good, the performance is fun to watch, but it's kind of soulless to me.

[42:28] Charlie: Um, and so then to see that this is in round three and we already talked about how it beat pretending, I'm kind of like a little perplexed by all of that because that's why I started off saying I know people love Sara Bareilles or something because I was like, is there like a reason why this really made it? Like are people really into this song and like the non-Glee cultural zeitgeist or like what exactly was that about?

[42:54] Patrick: Um, so yeah, I think it's good, but it's not great. I, is it super surprising to me that it's in round three? Maybe not.

[43:10] Charlie: Um, I mean, I would have voted for pretending for sure, but I like it and it's good. It just doesn't really feel like anything to me. Like watching that, I wasn't like, oh, I was like, oh.

[43:21] Charlie: Oh, yeah, they're good vocalists. I do want to bring up because we've been focusing a lot on the pretending of all that it took down pretending to be here. But I also want to bring up who it brought down in round one, which is "Make Them Laugh." And so I think that like, it has like a complicated history already next to me that it like it took it had a very easy W in round one, complicated W in round two. And I think that it's, if I were to guess this might be the last time that we watch on the Glacket.

[43:54] Patrick: Until it gets voted for it in round one and round two.

[43:56] Charlie: Right. Wait, what did you say? Did you vote for it in round one and round two?

[44:02] Patrick: I, uh, actually, I can check that right now. I would, it would, I would be surprised if I didn't. Thank you, Elijah.

[44:08] Charlie: Thank you, Elijah. Um, yeah, I believe that I did. But it would take me a second to look it up. Who would vote for "Make Them Laugh"?

[44:17] Patrick: I would. Are you kidding? I love that.

[44:21] Charlie: Name three reasons why, go.

[44:24] Patrick: Because the choreography is really fun. Jumping through a wall. I thought I was like, yeah, and like, climbing up the hallway and Mike Chang was in it. I feel like Mike Chang's dance numbers are like, if a song has a Mike Chang dance number, it's almost like he is like a featured vocalist. It's like a Mike Chang song. So I view it kind of like that.

[44:52] Charlie: So I have the Elijah vote stats. And in round one, it was a sweep for "Next to Me." Nobody voted for "Make Them Laugh." But between "Next to Me" and "Pretending," it was on episode with Matt and Amman. And both me and Matt voted for "Next to Me." And Amman voted for "Pretending."

[45:15] Patrick: And that's one must have been a time of Matthew Morrison negativity.

[45:20] Charlie: It would be a different Glacket if we were to start it today.

[45:24] Patrick: Yeah, that's, yeah. So I don't know. Um, obviously, though, people like this song enough. So I don't want to be like, the song sucks and blah, blah, blah. I'm sure it like makes the list for some people just not really. I know, um, past Gleek the Week two times over Audrey really likes "Next to Me" a lot and is rooting for it. I personally am like this is no disrespect, Audrey, of course, but this is kind of like this, the stepsister to "Poker Face" and like they, like they want to "Poker Face's" cookie so bad, you know, and it's like, No, you need to be singing an inappropriate song about like muffins for it to like stick the landing. If Shelby and Rachel are going to be on a, you know, like across from each other from on a piano, you know, so I don't, it's definitely fine.

[46:18] Patrick: It's the worst. What would they be, Richelby? I don't know.

[46:22] Charlie: Their ship name.

[46:23] Patrick: It's the worst.

[46:24] Charlie: Oh, wait, how about Corkaberry?

[46:26] Patrick: Cork. I like Corkaberry. It's Corkaberry. There's "Poker Face," "I Dreamed a Dream," "Next to Me," and "Somewhere," "Somewhere" is really good.

[46:38] Charlie: "Somewhere" is the best. Yeah, "Somewhere" is the best. I will say, my main note about "Next to Me" is, I wrote down do something interesting. If Idina Menzel is going to come back on set, like it's so annoying that like they spend the time that they have with Idina Menzel on the Glee set. And I understand they want that sweet, sweet iTunes money. And they're like, Idina Menzel only has a, like, she's only around for one scene. Let's make it count. Let's really milk this cash cow. But like, I literally just like I'm thinking about like, okay, they could have had a much more interesting scene with Shelby in New York with Rachel than Shelby being like, hey, sing something different for your Funny Girl audition. But don't sing this song because we're already singing this song in this episode. You need to see and we don't do that on this show. You know what I mean?

[47:32] Patrick: Well, there's also the storyline of like, no, I really do. Like, there's also a storyline of how Shelby kind of wanted to make it big as well. And then she did, but kind of didn't. And then there's obviously like the Kate Hudson storyline, Cassandra, there's something to be like taken from that. And so then like both of them never really got their moment in the sun to be like, Oh, my God, like, Rachel is doing it. And like, that could have been me and like a different timeline, but it's not. And there, they could have done something with that. That would have been a lot more interesting to me than being like, well, Lea Michele's only singing four times in this episode and contractually, she has to sing five.

So let's do a Lea Michele and Idina Menzel duet, Adele, whatever, it becomes very like, what I hate what I don't like about season four is when it becomes Glee karaoke, it's very much just like, well, you just got to give her something to do. But something that I've always again, this was never going to happen, because there was no way I do know what's going to sign on for another multi arc story after.

[48:41] Charlie: Oh my God, she's done two already. Yes.

[48:41] Patrick: But like, there was so much potential for the Rachel Shelby mother-daughter dynamic to actually play into Funny Girl as Fanny Bryce's mom is such a major role of the actual musical Funny Girl, that it's like, would have been crazy if they had leaned into that like Shelby's playing Rachel's mom in Funny Girl, which is very like Smash coded when that is interesting. And I didn't have the context for the actual story of Funny Girl while Glee was airing. But learning like how pivotal the mom character is, and that we don't even have a throwaway line if I recall about like, who is playing that role, because I would imagine if Rachel within universe is a nobody, which she is, then that character would be probably a more seasoned performer, and would be like a really interesting guest star to have play themselves.

I don't know. Because like, all we get is Mr. Arnstein for like, one episode, I think, when they do "You Are a Woman, I Am Man." Is that right? Yeah. Yeah, he's not even in the opening. You know what, everybody wants to focus on Idina Menzel not being in opening night, I want to focus on Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four not being in the opening night episode, because baby, that's your opening night too.

[50:03] Charlie: Where was Carlisle Cullen?

[50:05] Patrick: Where was he?

[50:08] Charlie: Because like, Patrick, running the auditions, and then the random producer takes over as the only other member of the Funny Girl company.

[50:17] Patrick: I he pissed me off. He pissed me off so bad. Um, Sydney over him. I give me back Carlisle Cullen and Mr. Fantastic. Um, yeah.

[50:29] Charlie: My God, I thought that that was like the actor's name, but that he was in Twilight. I was like, what? Anyway, yeah, I feel like we need to cut like, 45% of this episode so far. For my sake only, because I like keep like, not thinking things through. I'm like, oh, that's an interesting name. I didn't know.

[51:01] Patrick: Sarah Bareilles, Sarah Bareilles is in Funny Girl.

[51:05] Charlie: No, I'm sorry. No, it's actually completely okay. It's a very easy mistake to make.

[51:07] Patrick: Well, um, no, Charlie, I think that's a really good point, though, about having like, playing up like the mother-daughter dynamic a little bit like, in a sense, when I was watching Glee for the first time, especially like season one and season two, I feel like, to me as the viewer, I wasn't really fully understanding like, Shelby and Rachel's dynamic really, and how kind of messed up it was. And I feel like as I rewatch the series, a lot of times I'm like, Oh, this is weird. But like, just to the casual Glee viewer, I don't think you're really internalizing how fucked up that whole situation is. So it would have been, I don't know, kind of something different to play up like the you're my mom thing.

Not like, again, in the sense that it was like tired after season one, but like, actually make it something a little bit more dramatic instead of making a Glee karaoke, as you're saying, Charlie, or not even dramatic, but like, meaningful or clever or something about the characters, but instead, it's Idina comes to Nyada, and they sing a Natalie Imbruglia song.

[52:18] Charlie: And then yeah, another one.

[52:20] Patrick: It's a Rita Carpenter song.

[52:23] Charlie: Yeah, it just...

[52:24] Patrick: So why are they wearing the exact same outfit? Why are they both wearing purple? Like, we're wearing a lilac blouse with a blazer. Also, I don't know, how did Shelby get in? Does she have a visitor pass? Like, are we talking about the dynamics of higher education right now?

[52:43] Charlie: Like, right, let's guess it's too American right now. I think that, um, I think that we've said effectively everything that we could possibly say about "Next to Me." Are we ready to see what "Next to Me" is going to be against?

[52:55] Patrick: The other Sara Bareilles song. Charlie, if it gets pulled against "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," will you vote for "Next to Me"?

[53:03] Charlie: As a Sara Bareilles fan, yes.

[53:06] Patrick: Um, OK, so this is really fun because, OK, so "Next to Me" was this first song. And then the song that it's against is a song that starts with the last word of the first song.

[53:21] Charlie: Come on, you got it.

[53:24] Patrick: "Me" by Taylor Swift featuring Britney Spears.

[53:26] Charlie: Yes!

[53:27] Patrick: It's not awesome without me.

[53:28] Charlie: Is it "Me Against The Music"?

[53:30] Patrick: It is "Me Against The Music."

[53:32] Charlie: Oh my God, this is my first Britney song.

[53:36] Patrick: Um, let me find it. It's right next to "Make Em Laugh."

[53:41] Charlie: Um.

[53:41] Patrick: Let's just play that, honestly.

[53:44] Charlie: A little treat, we can watch "Make Em Laugh."

[53:47] Patrick: I know how much Patrick loves that one. Patrick, I feel like I'm so sorry. Why am I bullying you?

[53:54] Patrick: You know, I love it.

[53:57] Charlie: I love this Christina number.

[53:58] Patrick: Christina.

[54:00] Charlie: I can't believe that I left that entire thing in. Thank you so much for the culture.

[54:05] Patrick: Wow.

[54:06] Charlie: As you fucking should. Wait, Patrick, is this because I know that you're a Britney fan.

[54:13] Patrick: A Britney stan.

[54:15] Charlie: Yeah, I. This is your first Britney song on the clock.

[54:18] Patrick: Because I've never, I've never gotten a Britney song on the clock.

[54:21] Charlie: Because mostly because you tried to kill all of them in round one.

[54:25] Patrick: Hey, not too much.

[54:27] Charlie: You want to lose control?

[54:29] Patrick: Not too much.

[54:31] Charlie: Well, no, I am a huge Britney fan. I probably am like the biggest Britney fan of anyone who's been on the black. It may be if you've been on the black before and you think you're a bigger Britney fan than me. Come on, DM me. I've gotten to arguments in line at like Britney Spears nights at bars, asking people like quizzing them on trivia because like I wanted to cut them in line.

[54:49] Patrick: Yeah. And I'm like, what was Britney Spears' second single? And they're like, I don't know. And I'm like, OK, let me take your place in line. What can I say? I'm a huge.

[55:01] Charlie: Do you know what you would know feasibly?

[55:04] Patrick: What is it? Yeah.

[55:07] Charlie: Do you know the song "Sometimes"?

[55:08] Patrick: I was going to guess "Sometimes." I'm not fucking kidding.

[55:11] Charlie: I was like, not to be confused with "Everytime."

[55:16] Patrick: Christ, I was underrated.

[55:18] Charlie: No, which you did kill.

[55:21] Patrick: I did. Yeah, I did. Let me see. How did I kill that one? I don't remember, but I feel like I bring it up all the time and I have like no idea what beat it. But yeah, I I guess I'll leave off my first set of comments by saying I'm really, really excited that we got a Britney song because I've never gotten one before.

[55:41] Patrick: It lost to "Do Up That Thing."

[55:43] Charlie: OK, I get that.

[55:45] Patrick: And I did. It was like clean. You know, everybody voted for "Do Up," which I wish that someone voted for "Everytime."

[55:54] Charlie: No, I did not. I wish I did pity vote for "Everytime."

[55:58] Patrick: OK, Pat, as this has now become a Britney podcast, what would you say is Britney Spears' best? I'm going to use your Taylor. Like, what is Britney's best era? And there is a correct answer.

[56:11] Patrick: I'm probably, I mean, most people would say. I don't know, it depends, like I think the general public like likes like really, really early Britney. So like maybe "One More Time" or "Say It Again." My favorite is her third album, Britney, self-titled. But I think a lot of like that "Slave for You." That's that was like kind of like the biggest that's "Overprotected," which was like a really great song that kind of never really took off. Yeah. There's a lot of good stuff on there. And like, I like kind of the deep cuts on that album. But then I think critically, a lot of people are really into "Blackout," which is I saw people, you know, understandable. Now people really.

[56:57] Charlie: Well, that's because "Toxic's" on it.

[57:00] Patrick: Yeah. "Against the Music." But then like critically, like people are like, oh, "Blackout" was like amazing. Blah, blah, blah, blah. But I like all of her eras. I think she ended on "Glory." I don't think we'll ever get an album from her again. But there are some really great songs on there. If people haven't given it a listen.

[57:14] Charlie: With "Glory," I'm just refreshing my own memory is "Glory" "Slumber Party"?

[57:19] Patrick: Yes. "Slumber Party" is so good.

[57:22] Charlie: I talked about that on my first episode. I won the Charlie and I shared. I was like "Slumber Party." The show that I did. It's really good.

[57:30] Patrick: The only time. OK. Borrowing a Britney Spears album title. The only time that I ever blacked out was when I remember distinctly listening to "Slumber Party." And I was with Allison Dodge. And it was the New Year's Eve going into 2017 was the only time that I ever blacked out.

[57:48] Andrew: And I distinctly remember Slumber Party was booming in that place.

[57:54] Charlie: Okay, well, thank you for indulging me. I feel like I have a place to talk about Glee every so often, but like, I don't know anyone on this earth who wants to talk to me about Britney Spears. So at the time of this recording, please DM me if you like Britney Spears. We'll be friends. Comment below if you like Sara Bareilles and Britney Spears.

[58:14] Patrick: At the time of recording, we're 10 days away from the 25th anniversary of Oops.

[58:19] Andrew: How are we?

[58:20] Charlie: No, but they're gonna try to like,

[58:25] Patrick: I mean, this is like a new album and like sell shit. I don't know.

[58:29] Andrew: Wait, Patrick, what did you say?

[58:32] Patrick: Sorry, we're talking over each other. I was just gonna say like, whoever is controlling her catalog and her like online persona, or whatever is gonna be like, Oh, it's like the 25th anniversary, like stream the 25th anniversary album. And I'm gonna be like, Miss Spears doesn't give a shit about this. So I will not be streaming.

[58:54] Charlie: I wish that she allowed comments on her posts. Is there an account? I know that I know, I know that we're talking about Me Against the Music Gleecast version by Gleecast. But of course, Britney Spears was at the end of this performance. So we're allowed to talk about this.

[59:06] Andrew: Britney Spears Instagram feed, the fact that she has no comments on I desperately I just like want an entirely different account that posts all the stuff that Britney Spears is posting, just so I can we can have like a discourse properly as a nation, as an entire planet, that it's like, okay, what do we make of this? Because it's always it is always the most unhinged shit. So that was that she had it on for years. So like, people were having lots of comments about it. And I think that she or whoever turned the comments off because like, every comment was like, like twice if you need help, like, are you okay? And it was like, okay.

[59:41] Patrick: Oh my god. So in that one time, this is so stupid in hindsight. But one of the comments, one of the comments was like, we're read in the next video if you're if you need help. And then she did.

[59:51] Charlie: Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. She's, she's a really tragic figure. And it's like one of those things where it's sad because like, she's still around. But like, her legacy is so monumental.

[1:00:07] Andrew: She had two Glee episodes.

[1:00:09] Charlie: Exactly. But like, I don't know. And you know what? So I don't know, I could talk about why Britney Spears is so important to me forever. But honestly, even like the song and like the fact that she was like on Glee. I was always like a fan. But I won't lie. Like when Glee did Britney, I was kind of like, wait, yeah, like these songs really fucking hit. And then I kind of like, got really into like, understanding her as like a contributor to pop culture. And I think she's a fascinating figure.

[1:00:49] Andrew: What is we will get to Charlie, I just need to pick Patrick's Britney brain for a second longer. What is the biggest stinker Britney cover that the Glee cast did?

[1:01:00] Patrick: That's a great question.

[1:01:04] Charlie: You know, what's what's cool is I can't really 1000% think of one. I think the biggest frickin issue was that fucking Rachel song they put at the end of the first Britney tribute that we're doing this episode stop.

[1:01:24] Andrew: Why did you do that? No crazy song is a tribute to her boyfriend.

[1:01:30] Patrick: It's you. You're breaking up the wrong tree if you're if you if you want this discourse right now.

[1:01:35] Andrew: No. Okay, well, out of all the times I've been on this podcast, I definitely want an opportunity to say that I think that's fucking crazy. No, I'll say this right now. I was literally I was literally because you're talking about the only exception from from Britney, Britney, of course, of the closing number. And I was listening on to the on the train home today to get to this recording. And I was thinking about it. I'm like,

[1:02:02] actually, one of the things that I want to say in this recording, and I'm going to say right now is the only exception is more important for Finchel than my man. Like, I think that like, that is, that is the Finchel number. That's the Finchel number. We need to be so serious, because also not to toot my own horn with this party for you at it. But if you if you caught at the end of the party for you at it, it's the most beautiful Finchel moment of Fin talking to Britannia at the lockers. And then him being like, Oh, I need to actually go across the hallway to talk to Rachel because Patrick, I know you're probably brewing in your mind right now. How can I ruin this for Andrew? Don't do it. Because this is the most special moment possibly on the entire show. I really am obsessed with this moment. Don't. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it.

[1:03:01] Charlie: Audio medium. Andrew, I hope that you I don't know, do I have to put this in the carousel but for the past like minute and a half you've been like pointing your finger.

[1:03:09] Andrew: I want to drive home how important this is to me. I'm not fucking around. Okay, wait, really, really quick. I'm gonna say a few things. And then Charlie, we need to get to we definitely need to get to respond to Andrew, literally assaulting me with his index finger.

[1:03:32] Charlie: The only exception, the context of that was like the weird like Finn Rachel plotline in Brittany, Brittany, where it's like, Oh, like, I don't like it when you're hot. I don't like it when you're like, happy, blah, blah, blah. Oh, wait, let's sing the only exception. It was just kind of like, and you're doing you not to do. Do you know what is a better financial song or moment and the only exception? I'll say it. I'll say it right now. It's the train song.

[1:04:06] Patrick: The train, the toxic gossip train. It's when when he's running after her. And when you put that in the edit, was I crying? Yes, reason for branches is a better version. You can look at Elijah's vote. And you know what? Okay. And for me, who tried to put that through ritual? You killed it? Like, Rachel branches is a financial song. What are you talking about?

[1:04:30] Charlie: There's a potential moment in it. But for me, roots for branches is Rachel. Like it is it is Rachel. Okay, I'm with her life. But yes, like the financial breakup and all that is true. When I think of roots before branches, now there is the mp3 and the mp4, which are two different songs.

[1:04:48] Andrew: Okay, so like five minutes ago, when I said let's get to you, Charlie, I take it back. Wait, no, because like, we didn't need to hear any of that. I know this saying that roots for branches is a better financial number than only exception when only exception is, I agree, the like, that is the official code for me.

[1:05:06] Charlie: Thank you, Charlie. I, I know that in a world where this is live TV, what we're doing right now, I would be so like, curious to see like, leaks, like flipping through the channels and being like, Oh, what song are they discussing? We're talking, of course, about Me Against the Music right now. Um, and truly, no, but I do want to I do want to say one last thing about Finchel. Is that is that I think it is like, it's a testament. I know that we just pulled landslide in the last episode. And I talked my fucking ass about that song, bringing up my life. Um, and they do, I feel like pulling me against the music right now is like a reminder of them being like, Hey, remember who you are. You're a botanical fan through and through.

It is almost pride month with I know the heterosexuals pop off sometimes, i.e. the only exception, but uh, but we got to stay focused. And this is what me against music is for me, Charlie, I'm so desperate to hear your scathing critique of me against the music.

[1:06:16] Charlie: So for me, it is, I think the best hallucination bit number thing, like I think stronger is to answer the question 20 minutes ago of what's the worst Brittany cover? The answer is stronger.

[1:06:31] Andrew: I'm also close. Brittany said she liked that one. Also, are you talking about the best hallucination number in Brittany Brittany or in the entire series because there is very famously um, all the bling bullshit that happened that one time in season five.

[1:06:48] Charlie: Oh, with like Brittany, Brittany, who was station puppet master is one of the greatest episodes of television of all time. We can't talk. I feel like, I feel like we're skirting back into going away from me. We can't go. But I don't want to talk about it at all. Let's talk about anything else. Me against the, me against the music discourse, me against this podcast, but no, I, I think me against the music is the best Brittany hallucination. Thank you. Um, however, something that is both positive and negative points for me is that it is such a verbatim recreation of the music video, which is fine, which is fine. But it also, when Glee does that, they either do it so right, or they do it so wrong. And for me, I'm like, and for me, I'm like, it needs to be consistent throughout the whole show.

[1:07:40] Andrew: Like the, like what I think of a Glee recreation of music video, I think of Vogue, like it is shot for spot almost to the frame, exactly the same as Vogue. And if you're going to do that in power of Madonna, which is the best tribute episode of the entire series, you need to argue with the rest of the show.

[1:08:02] Charlie: I agree, Charlie. Um, you know, there aren't enough leaves. Um, you know, they're like rolling around the leaves. It's like, did they did the leaf budget go out?

[1:08:12] Andrew: Oh my god, I forgot. Okay, I didn't know what you were talking about for a second. Leaves. Got it. I'm talking about the song that you want me to talk about.

[1:08:16] Patrick: I don't remember any leaves. I'm the only exception. But what I like about it, Charlie, a lot is that like, I, I don't think in like 2000 when this episode come out 2010.

[1:08:28] Charlie: Yeah, 2010. Yeah.

[1:08:30] Patrick: Um, when when this episode came out, I don't think I'd ever I'd heard the song. I don't think I'd ever seen the music video before. So it is like a viewer who's like, Oh, like, what is this? Like, what is this concept? And you kind of put together all the recreating the video. And then that's what was really cool about Glee a lot of the time is that you got to get a taste of like, what that cultural thing was. And then you got to explore on your own. So so many things in Glee were like that for me. But yeah, I agree. Like, do we have to recreate everything? It's kind of like, easy. There's not like any like new artistic thing that they're doing? Well, so yeah, it's kind of negative points in that regard.

[1:09:16] Charlie: I will say that like, okay, so they recreated. Did they recreate I'm a slave for you music video? Or is that just like, I mean, they had this banana, banana, the snake. So they recreated the me against the music music video. And also baby one more time music video. Yeah.

[1:09:36] Andrew: And that's probably my answer to the one that they did worst. Andrew, I think that's my least favorite. Maybe one more time. Well, it's still around in the blacket. That's also one of my songs in general.

[1:09:48] Charlie: Lea Michele said in a recent interview, I don't know that like, was her favorite. She was like, actually, the only exception is the best bench number in the entire series. Maybe the best number, maybe the winner of winner of the black is what she said. And that was when I was like, Oh, I'm being perceived by Lea Michele.

[1:10:06] Andrew: Um, why did it? Why did it have to come in the Britney episode?

[1:10:09] Patrick: Stop, like, why couldn't you? Why couldn't you save it for episode six?

[1:10:15] Andrew: Because hey, no, Patrick, I want you to listen. Listen, Patrick.

[1:10:22] Charlie: I'm so sorry.

[1:10:26] Andrew: Listen, Linda, listen. I'm pointing a pen at you now. So you better listen.

[1:10:32] Patrick: This entire show is stupid. Okay, we know this.

[1:10:41] Andrew: Them ending the Britney Spears tribute episode with a Paramore song, sung by the annoying lead of the show, Rachel, being like, I'm above doing this assignment of doing only Britney songs. Let me do my one. Let me do this one song for my boyfriend is within the fabric of what the show is entirely about, Patrick. And I feel sorry for you if you don't get it.

[1:11:03] Patrick: Okay, so the Madonna tribute episode? Yes.

[1:11:10] Andrew: Let's put a Black Eyed Peas song in there.

[1:11:14] Patrick: Wouldn't that kind of like ruin the integrity of that episode?

[1:11:17] Andrew: Because Rachel...

[1:11:18] Patrick: I would like to see how they do it.

[1:11:21] Andrew: Am I in crazy town?

[1:11:22] Charlie: Do you want to see if you sing Amy to Finn?

[1:11:25] Andrew: Like, I want to see the cut Black Eyed Peas song from the Madonna tribute episode. Now I'm really curious.

[1:11:32] Patrick: Boom, boom, pow, in the corsets, Beth is dead.

[1:11:35] Andrew: Yeah.

[1:11:38] Charlie: I really cannot wait for this episode to go live. Because I want people to reach out to me, please.

[1:11:47] Andrew: And be like, were Andrew and...

[1:11:50] Patrick: What's his name? Kendra?

[1:11:53] Andrew: Wait, that is your name.

[1:11:55] Patrick: If Mary, I'm Kendra Diopety.

[1:11:58] Andrew: If Andrew is your name.

[1:12:00] Patrick: It's your name.

[1:12:02] Andrew: Who are you?

[1:12:04] Patrick: Who are you?

[1:12:05] Andrew: Are Andrew and Charlie like shitting me right now? That they're trying to be like, yeah, the only exception being in the Britney episode was like an amazing choice and they couldn't have just...

[1:12:45] Andrew: I distinctly remember, maybe I brought this up in the past two times that we've pulled it on the Glockett. I remember playing Glee Music Volume 4 in the car with my mom in 2011. And I remember listening to this track on the album. And when they get to the part where Santana sings, "I hear you want to lose control, come over here, I've got something to show you." I remember my mom had a very visceral reaction. And she was like, "Oh, that's gross." Like, she really did not like that.

[1:13:24] Charlie: That's where she lost it?

[1:13:26] Andrew: I know! I was like, girl, you watched this episode and you didn't have that. Now you're actually listening?

[1:13:32] Patrick: You have to put it on the Glockett. Please, Andrew's mom, Glockett Appearance.

[1:13:35] Andrew: I cannot! Please, an episode of your mom and Lea Michele, mom and mother.

[1:13:43] Charlie: Me? I remember when we first started out, I was trying to campaign to Alison that we would have like a Mother's Day episode with both of our moms. And Alison was actually the person that was like, "We're absolutely not doing that. I'm not putting my mom through that." And I was like, "I have no qualms with putting my mom through this." So anyway.

[1:14:04] Andrew: Well, round four, we're ready for you.

[1:14:07] Patrick: Round four.

[1:14:07] Charlie: She's good.

[1:14:10] Andrew: Instead of Ryan Murphy as the last guest. Patrick, what did you want to say?

[1:14:15] Patrick: I'm sorry that I'm being, I feel like I'm being such an asshole. I'm so sorry.

[1:14:19] Andrew: No, I appreciate it. Because I feel like at the beginning of this episode, we were kind of like, when old friends haven't seen each other in a while, you're kind of being like a little formal. We were like, "How many episodes will be in the next round of the blackhead?" And I was like, now we're like, we have like a little bit more oomph that we could give each other. And now we're screaming. And that's what I thought the whole episode was going to be. So, you know, I was ready for it. I was prepared. Yeah. Also, famously, if you listen to the last episode, the three of us did together, you guys also ganged up on me. So that's okay. I am the enemy of the podcast.

[1:14:55] Charlie: No, for real. I'm scared.

[1:14:59] Andrew: The podcast enemy of the Patrick. Do we want to vote "Next to Me" versus "Me Against the Music"?

[1:15:09] Patrick: Two duets sung by four different women.

[1:15:13] Charlie: Both famously covered by Sara Bareilles.

[1:15:17] Patrick: Yes, Sara Bareilles and Sara Bareilles actually originally recorded "Me Against the Music."

[1:15:23] Andrew: I'll go first because I feel like I could see the review, I guess maybe doing the other way, but I'm obviously going to go for "Me Against the Music."

[1:15:31] Charlie: I'm going to also say that.

[1:15:36] Patrick: I agree. I don't want to do a pity vote. Like, I don't know.

[1:15:44] Charlie: If we pull up, though, that's a different conversation.

[1:15:47] Patrick: If we pull "Love Song," I want to pull "Love Song" against "Blame It on the Alcohol."

[1:15:53] Charlie: "Blame It on the Alcohol" is not in the cup anymore.

[1:15:58] Andrew: Please put it back in the cup.

[1:16:01] Patrick: Wait, did she die?

[1:16:04] Charlie: She died twice.

[1:16:05] Andrew: Every episode.

[1:16:07] Patrick: I thought we brought her back for round three. And that's what "Love Song" lost to.

[1:16:12] Charlie: Wait, what are you saying?

[1:16:15] Patrick: When we brought a song back, "Love Song" didn't get brought back right away.

[1:16:19] Charlie: "Love Song" is still in the cup. "Blame It on the Alcohol."

[1:16:21] Andrew: I know.

[1:16:22] Charlie: Yes.

[1:16:23] Patrick: Okay, sorry. So like I, the first time that we could have brought "Love Song" back, I thought the Greeks, the patrons voted "Blame It on the Alcohol" back.

[1:16:32] Charlie: No, they did. They did. Yes, you were absolutely correct.

[1:16:35] Patrick: They did.

[1:16:36] Andrew: So is "Blame It on the Alcohol" in the cup right now?

[1:16:38] Charlie: "Blame It on the Alcohol" is not in the cup right now.

[1:16:40] Patrick: No, "Blame It on the Alcohol" was pulled in the last episode.

[1:16:43] Charlie: "Love Song."

[1:16:43] Andrew: What? Oh, shit. I feel like I have a bad short-term memory.

[1:16:49] Patrick: No, because that was literally the last episode. Okay.

[1:16:51] Charlie: No, because I know that like, I know that the glisteners aren't actively thinking about the Glock at all times. So it's good to have these refreshers.

[1:16:59] Patrick: I'm over-correcting now because before you were like, screaming at me. You're like, "Patrick, it's okay that you don't remember the competition from the episode I sent you like three days ago to listen to before this podcast."

[1:17:12] Andrew: So I can't be mean. I can't be nice. I can't win. Jesus Christ. Earlier, I was like, "Oh, like, Andrew, you're so great." And you're like, "Not too much. Next."

[1:17:27] Patrick: Okay, so we're doing one more competition.

[1:17:31] Andrew: Okay, we got a more solo.

[1:17:33] Charlie: I hope it's um, okay, I'm not gonna say.

[1:17:38] Patrick: No, say it.

[1:17:40] Charlie: I hope it's "Natural Woman." And then we hope we pull something better.

[1:17:44] Patrick: And then I kill "Natural Woman."

[1:17:45] Andrew: No. Oh, my God.

[1:17:48] Charlie: "Natural Woman" is wrong with you.

[1:17:54] Andrew: No, I can't believe that.

[1:17:57] Charlie: Is it "Natural"? It is "Natural Woman."

[1:18:00] Andrew: Okay, okay. Okay. I was just saying that because you were being mean. I know that's like your favorite. So I was trying to be mean to you. But no, I absolutely love this Murph solo.

[1:18:07] Patrick: But wait, wait, so that was a bit or?

[1:18:11] Charlie: We'll see when the second song's...

[1:18:15] Andrew: I'm scared.

[1:18:16] Patrick: No, this is a great one, though. I want you both to be serious.

[1:18:22] Charlie: Do you actually not like that?

[1:18:24] Patrick: No, seriously? Wait, why, Charlie?

[1:18:29] Charlie: I think for me, it's the worst Aretha Franklin cover in the series.

[1:18:35] Patrick: Okay, we're counting what? "Respect"?

[1:18:38] Charlie: "Respect." "Ain't No Way."

[1:18:41] Patrick: This, that's it.

[1:18:42] Charlie: Yeah. I also like for me, I cannot listen to this song in general without thinking about the Divas Live performance where Celine Dion is just like screaming.

[1:18:55] Patrick: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1:18:56] Charlie: I just like cannot take this song seriously. Because I know you're Celine Dion screaming in the background. But for me also, like, I think "Natural Woman" would have fit better in the Carole King episode because it was famously written by Carole King. And it's like, of course, Mercedes is going to sing "Natural Woman" in front of a carousel while people walk around.

[1:19:19] Patrick: And wait, it just felt like, what do you mean?

[1:19:23] Charlie: Where did the carousel? Like, am I missing? What's the connection between the carousel?

[1:19:28] Patrick: It's just like, of course, she's gonna sing this song and they're gonna be on a carousel.

[1:19:32] Charlie: But what do you mean? Like, so you knew since season one that she's gonna be singing this in front of a carousel, like Sara Bareilles and Aretha Franklin and carousels.

[1:19:41] Patrick: It was just like, it feels very just like Glee AI generated, like, okay, create a setting for Mercedes to sing "Natural Woman." Oh, she's gonna do it on a carousel. Like, it just feels so predictable that you're just like...

[1:19:55] Charlie: No, I can't. No, I can't believe what I'm hearing. So what do you mean? It's predictable for Mercedes to be singing it at a carousel. This is the only number that they do at a carousel.

[1:20:06] Patrick: Just like, of course, she's going to sing "Natural Woman." And of course, it's going to be on a carousel. Like if it was predictable, she would have been singing it in the choir room or like on stage, or like just like a dime a dozen Glee performance. This is new. This is creative. I also like I famously would have thrown up if I was on that carousel, like trying to dance while it was spinning. Maybe that's also why I just am anti-carousel.

[1:20:29] Charlie: You're anti-carousel? This is not a carousel space.

[1:20:34] Patrick: But no, it just it's like the fedora her having Sam's coat and then just taking it off. It's like what bad...

[1:20:42] Charlie: Really this is so wild. Like the entire genetic makeup of this song is pissing you off.

[1:20:47] Patrick: Yeah, like it's just bad. Like and it's someone who like is such a Sam Sadie's Stan. It's just like, I hate the Sam Sadie's sex plot so much because it just becomes unnecessary. It's just like, they're not going to have sex. But then Sam says, "Please." And then Mercedes is like, "Maybe we should." But then it's like, "No." And then also like the microaggressions of it all. Like, it's just yeah, like bad writing. And so maybe that's also what is tarnishing it for me. But I'm just like, it's just not. It's a never stream for me. Like, if I'm going into "Natural Woman," I'm putting it, you know, Charlie, this is I've said it before. I've said it the past two times that we watched this performance. This is like in my top 10, the Glee cast version, my iTunes most played. This was this is your "Human Nature." This is kind of my "Human Nature."

[1:21:45] Patrick: I mean like, yeah, it had the streams on my Apple Music Library. And for good reason. She eats it up. I think it's so insane to me that like, why this song, you have your crop of the litter to like, it just feels very much just like, it's just so like so much of an obvious choice. It just feels like lazy writing.

[1:22:04] Charlie: I want to hear another opinion. And Patrick is the only other person here. Patrick, let's hear from you.

[1:22:16] Patrick: Well, I mean, I did start this by saying, oh, I hope it's "Natural" so I can kill it because I was trying to be like me and do Andrew because I know that especially recently, I guess the song was pulled a little bit later and round to like, you've been talking about this a lot. And then in like subsequent episodes, I feel like you've brought it up quite a bit. So obviously, it is one of your faves. And I feel like I have like, a little bit of a similar sentiment that Charlie has not quite the same degree. Not that it feels obvious, or of course, it would be on a carousel. I was kind of losing you the plot there. But I, I think for me, so many of the Rachel solos, the Blaine solos and the Mercedes solos, because they're like, the better vocalists, the ones who are going to get more solos, like toward the end of the series, it felt like they were like, "Oh, yeah, what song have we not sung yet?

Like, what song would Amber sing really well, 'Natural Woman,' and then you kind of fit it into a plot that as Charlie said, kind of sucks." And you're like, as a viewer, and someone who just didn't love season five, like I can appreciate how great of a vocal it is and how good it is. But I think something kind of stops me from naming it as like one of like, my all-time great or solos even because I'm like, that was kind of at a point of the show where it kind of sucked. And I don't feel like it had that, like, extra factor that made me think any different than it like "Gloria," for example. Yeah, I didn't really love season five. But like, there's a there's something in the air in that song where I'm like, I will allow a season five number to be like, one of my tops of all time.

But "Natural Woman" to me just kind of gets a little lost in the Mercedes solos, just because everything she sings is so incredible, right? Like, I just don't quite get why this one would go over many of the other mer solos. But like, I can appreciate how good it is, because it's a mer solo. So I will say, to both of y'all's points, that it does feel like a very inconsequential mer solo. And I think that I brought this up last time that we had conversation about this song, is that like, it does just feel like, if I were to presume what happened in the writing of this episode, they were like, "Oh, Mercedes should have a big number in this episode. Oh, wait, she hasn't sung 'Natural Woman' yet.

Like we can like squeeze it in." It does feel like just like, oh, we need to have Mercedes sing "Natural Woman" by series and it's a canon event. And like, I'm glad that we got it. I do. I do think to both of your point. Yeah, that it didn't do much like it could I think it could have had a much more impactful like storyline. It just feels just like almost like a music video in a sense that it's like, oh, this is not like related. I would love to be like prove wrong though. I want to hear like another just feels it feels very much. And there's some there there's like two dichotomies in the Glee song world. There's like some Glee songs that have to be in the episode for the plot actually are plot driven.

Then there's some Glee songs that literally are just like we just hit shuffle and somebody started singing. And this just makes me a full "Next to Me." Also famously, like it has nothing to do with the storyline whatsoever. You could lift it out of the episode and the same Sadie's plot still works. Like, but you can't do that. She's still saying "Colorblind" in this episode. This is bash right? "Colorblind" is in this episode. Yes. "Colorblind." "Colorblind" is awful. No, "Colorblind." Oh, my voice is going. Um, "Colorblind" is like it is you've been yelling at.

[1:26:42] Charlie: Something if it didn't mean anything to you like at least like you try. I was like, oh like they're doing a thing. They're trying to do something like more unique like it's more of an original by Amber, right? And stuff like that. So I don't do you think that any part of your love for this song is influenced by it being in New York? Like is that like a no special thing for you at all? Because like I remember, okay, so this episode premiered when I was a senior in high school, and so I already knew that I was going to be moving to New York. And I remember being like, I remember like visiting for colleges and I was like, oh my god, I want to go to the carousel that she's saying "Natural Woman" at. And then I know I didn't go while visiting and I lived for 10 years in New York and not once went to the carousel.

[1:27:39] Patrick: So what you're saying is it doesn't actually have that much weight?

[1:27:41] Charlie: I've been in the surrounding area. It's also famously, I brought this up in the last conversation around this song, that it's very popularly known as the setting from "Past Lives." There was, uh, the poster for "Past Lives" is right in front of this carousel. I've been in the area. I've not actually gone on the carousel. Do I need to go on the carousel to prove my fandom for this song?

[1:28:04] Andrew: No, I was just like kind of wondering because I realized that this episode came out when you were probably like starting your New York adventure.

[1:28:12] Charlie: Yeah, I was wondering like if it kind of added any element of wonder to it.

[1:28:18] Andrew: No, I don't think you need to prove your carousel. I have my ticket.

[1:28:22] Charlie: Yeah, let's see your New York. I don't know. I also because I re-watched season five like, uh, like two or three months ago, and I was giving it more of a chance. I think every time I re-watch it, I approach it with a little bit more grace. I see like the value in it a little bit more because I don't know. It's kind of easy to shit on Glee as we all know, but then when you really watch it and you think about how much effort went into all of these episodes still even though they didn't maybe hit the same, you come out of it, you know, with different opinions.

[1:29:00] Charlie: I still though like the Sam and Mercedes thing, I feel like season two at the end, season three, I really got it. Season five they really just kind of lost me like, oh, Sam and Mercedes is a great couple because they're so goofy. She threw her coat in the river like—

[1:29:19] Patrick: What? He threw the coat?

[1:29:22] Charlie: Okay, whatever. Like no, I just want, I don't want that to be a Mercedes—

[1:29:26] Patrick: Okay, okay, no, she throws the coat.

[1:29:28] Charlie: Okay, no, she throws the coat.

[1:29:30] Patrick: No, she does, right? Yeah, because he's like, oh my god, Mercedes, like how dare you.

[1:29:36] Charlie: Does she throw it?

[1:29:38] Patrick: Yeah, he gives— not me trying to validate this scene. He gives her his coat because she throws it in the river and then the random white lady goes, you can't just throw things in the river.

[1:29:47] Charlie: Yes!

[1:29:48] Andrew: Okay, after you're typing on your phone, like what are you prompting into a search engine?

[1:29:54] Patrick: Mercedes throwing—

[1:29:55] Charlie: She's trying to find like the scene. I put in "Mercedes Sam Glee Bash" and nothing is— like that was my birthday party last week. Sorry.

[1:30:09] Patrick: Uh, "Mercedes Sam Glee Bash."

[1:30:13] Charlie: Um, wait, why I—

[1:30:16] Andrew: While Andrew looks at the Glee Bash—

[1:30:20] Patrick: Your comment, Pat, about season five is truly such an important discourse that I don't think the Glee community is having enough. Like season five is two different TV shows. You have five A, which everyone shits on, which is better than five B.

[1:30:36] Charlie: Like I hate the Glee X in the City Glee NYC season. It's terrible.

[1:30:40] Patrick: But the first half of season five, while they were dealing with the loss of Finn and Cory, and the show goes off the rails, we famously have "Puppet Master" and "Katie Gaga." That actually is a better show than what they tried to do in the all NYC season. And I think it's because they had nothing left except for that show and they shouldn't have gone back. We've already talked about that. Kevin and Jenna have already made their advertisements on that conversation. But it's like what they were able to do in such a time of turmoil was leaps and bounds ahead of what they were doing in the random nine episode stretch of five B.

[1:31:20] Andrew: And I think that's why I hate this song is because for me, that's the crux of the five B.

[1:31:26] Patrick: I think, okay, I think that you're too easily separating season five into two parts where I see it as three because I'm galaxy brained.

[1:31:35] Charlie: Um, I say that season five is— the first third ends, uh, previously honored Christmas. The second third begins "Frenemies" and ends "New Directions," and then the last third is just the New York plot. And to that point, I will say that middle chunk "Frenemies" to "New Directions," that's the sweet part of season five.

[1:32:00] Patrick: She had the sauce.

[1:32:06] Charlie: And yeah, so I don't know. Like I don't want to diminish this song too much because, Andrew, it's clearly one of your favorites and like I totally can see it. It just like, I don't know, it doesn't like hit so much for me.

[1:32:18] Patrick: But is the only exception in round three?

[1:32:23] Andrew: Yes, it is. So I hope that that gets pulled and then that'll be my revenge.

[1:32:28] Charlie: I don't necessarily want "Natural Woman" to die. I just want one of them.

[1:32:31] Andrew: I have a feeling that she will die today and I will say just before I pull the last song of the episode, I will say that like "Natural Woman," I always saw her as like the dark horse more solo that like I was thinking like, okay, we're not thinking about her. She provides the vocals. It's a beautiful scene. It's not random. It doesn't feel AI generated at least to me.

[1:32:53] Patrick: Well, the setting of it being a carousel—

[1:32:58] Charlie: And I just, I really thought that like she could have— I'm already like saying that she's dying.

[1:33:10] Patrick: What do you think if you're saying that it was the dark horse? Like for me, the dark horse more solo is "Try a Little Tenderness." Like I am never thinking about her, but every time she comes up, I'm in.

[1:33:19] Charlie: That's a very good point.

[1:33:21] Andrew: Yeah, that— okay.

[1:33:24] Charlie: Who's to say that there's only one dark horse? She can have a few dark horses, right?

[1:33:26] Patrick: A bad Mercedes solo.

[1:33:28] Charlie: Wait, what? There are bad— there's not a bad Mercedes solo to me.

[1:33:31] Patrick: There's bad Rolo's. My head is not good.

[1:33:35] Charlie: It's camp.

[1:33:36] Andrew: Look it up. I think that "Shaking My Head" is the Mercedes solo that comes to mind when I think of a bad Mercedes solo, which is still good.

[1:33:42] Patrick: Like I think it's like I still have fun with Britney's in the back. I am an advocate of like whoever the backup dancers are in a song, they matter.

[1:33:58] Charlie: Make them laugh. Mike Chang matters.

[1:34:03] Andrew: How about the backup singers in this song "Natural Woman"?

[1:34:10] Patrick: That Tesla— what are their names? Tesla is one of them.

[1:34:16] Charlie: Or what does he say? Oh like?

[1:34:18] Andrew: Everyone is named after cars, like all that crap.

[1:34:20] Patrick: I'm just saying that she canonically has a name, at least one of them.

[1:34:22] Andrew: Are we ready for the final song of the episode?

[1:34:27] Charlie: Yeah, I'm out of breath.

[1:34:29] Andrew: Thank god it's only four songs now. It's another season five song.

[1:34:33] Patrick: Oh god, we really—

[1:34:35] Andrew: Got actually like really an— is it an iconic club?

[1:34:39] Charlie: Okay, let me find. I think I'm gonna say that's how do some people get "Valerie" and "Adele" mashup and we get two season five songs. That's what I want.

[1:34:53] Patrick: No, this is a good one. I know a lot of people like this. I have complicated feelings about it.

[1:34:58] Charlie: Oh, I'm curious. What is it?

[1:35:06] Andrew: Boom, boom, boom. You see what it is?

[1:35:11] Charlie: Oh yeah, I do. "Marry the Night."

[1:35:15] Andrew: I always think at the end of the performance when Adam Lambert is like literally doing Sia drag and swinging from the chandelier that like I'm— I always wish that he breaks it, that like the chandelier comes off of the ceiling and like it's like a bit in the episode where like Kurt's like, I rented out this room and now I need to pay for the damages.

[1:35:30] Patrick: The first time ever watching that, that I actually like heard the glass sounds, I was very concerned. It's like why is the glass so loud?

[1:35:37] Charlie: Yeah, no, it's so loud.

[1:35:44] Andrew: "Marry the Night," Patrick, what do you think about this?

[1:35:46] Patrick: Well, right when you put that on the screen, I was like, yeah, it is an interesting conversation as you said because I don't really feel strongly or one way or the other.

[1:36:00] Patrick: I guess I've definitely been on the podcast before when I've been like, oh, they get guest stars on and they make them sing covers of covers just to cover them.

[1:36:13] Andrew: Um—

[1:36:15] Patrick: But for this one, I mean like Adam Lambert is just so good that I think it's kind of really fun.

[1:36:20] Patrick: But I don't know. I feel so many different ways about it because part of me is like they just got Adam Lambert to kind of like just be like an Adam Lambert type character and then other parts of me are like given other season five people and I mean Demi Lovato's also like right there next to him for most of it and like they totally flushed out Adam Levine's—

[1:36:50] Charlie: It's on television. I don't mean—

[1:36:54] Patrick: Sarah Bareilles' character.

[1:36:55] Charlie: Sarah Bareilles' character more.

[1:36:57] Patrick: Yeah, so, um, I don't know. This is one where it's not hard for me in the competition because I am so enamored with both songs. I'm just kind of like wow, they're both really vocally impressive and great and I don't dislike either of the moments that much but they kind of get lost in like the season five karaoke fray to me even though they're both really good.

[1:37:28] Andrew: Yeah, no, I feel a very similar way about this that there's like there's no doubt that Adam Lambert can sing. One of the best vocalists on this damn show. However, all that being said, it feels like "Marry the Night" feels like we could have gotten this Adam Lambert cover. There's nothing within the DNA— I understand that you are technically in the Nyada dance room and that Kurt and Santana, the characters on Glee, are watching this performance. This does not feel like a Glee performance to me at all. There's nothing like in the DNA of this performance and I'm like, well, this is why we come to Glee. This is, oh, oh, oh baby, oh baby, like they— can this is exactly what I expect with Glee that I'm like no, this feels like he could have sang this in American Idol. He could have sang this at his concert.

[1:38:22] Patrick: Did he sing this on American Idol?

[1:38:26] Andrew: Right? That I'm like I almost like wish that I understand this is the famous "Kitty Gaga" episode. However, I kind of wish that Adam Lambert did like a different kind of song that it's like we know Adam Lambert to sing these types of songs and like I'm not surprised. Give me something surprising.

[1:38:46] Charlie: If he had done— okay, we want obviously like the whole "Kitty Gaga" discourse like obviously Elliot is going, that's his thing, right?

[1:38:52] Patrick: Elliot, yeah.

[1:38:54] Charlie: He's going to sing a Katy Gaga song.

[1:38:56] Patrick: But like "Perfect Illusion" was right there.

[1:38:59] Charlie: They've already done "Edge of Glory."

[1:39:01] Patrick: "Perfect Illusion" wasn't out, I don't think.

[1:39:05] Charlie: "Perfect Illusion" is out yet. I came out after.

[1:39:10] Patrick: Is it not out?

[1:39:15] Andrew: Yeah, I'm not— famously, I unfortunately I am a Katy, I am not a Gaga.

[1:39:18] Charlie: Um, sadly, you're brave enough to say that. I will say that.

[1:39:21] Patrick: I'm no, I'm a Katy too. I'm sorry to say.

[1:39:27] Charlie: She went to space.

[1:39:29] Andrew: I need to take the BuzzFeed quiz because I've never taken it before.

[1:39:33] Patrick: I mean the BuzzFeed—

[1:39:35] Charlie: Please, the rapid test.

[1:39:37] Andrew: Wait, I'll take it. Do you guys think I'm a Katy or a Gaga?

[1:39:40] Patrick: Um—

[1:39:41] Charlie: I think you're a Katy.

[1:39:43] Patrick: I think you're a Katy.

[1:39:46] Charlie: Okay.

[1:39:47] Andrew: Um, I'll take it in and send you guys the results. But anyway, um—

[1:39:51] Charlie: Yeah, my—

[1:39:52] Patrick: Go ahead, Charlie.

[1:39:54] Charlie: No, so like my first immediate reaction was Demi Lovato may be the worst person to fake playing guitar. She was strumming. It was just like—

[1:40:00] Patrick: And I—

[1:40:01] Charlie: It stands to reason Demi Lovato knows how to play guitar. I don't know much about Demi Lovato. However, playing guitar is within her wheelhouse.

[1:40:08] Patrick: I mean she famously lost Final Jam to—

[1:40:13] Charlie: To Margaret, um, for Peggy, but um—

[1:40:19] Patrick: It's just, it was just bad and like for me like season five and we talked about the whole split of season five like the Danny era of season five had so much potential, but I feel like there was just so much hate from Britannia.

[1:40:38] Charlie: No, I just don't think that they— this is just what Glee does.

[1:40:42] Patrick: Yeah, this is just what Glee does with like their main characters like side love interest that it's like Adam— I'm thinking of Biff, I'm thinking of, uh, you know, like—

[1:40:54] Charlie: Why can I think of anybody else right now? The girl who was reading all the Virginia Woolf books or—

[1:41:02] Patrick: Yeah, but I'm thinking of like a multi-episode arc where it was like, oh, Brody feels like kind of the most fleshed out of the group.

[1:41:10] Charlie: Um, but I'm like, we know how this story ends. I'm like, you're not even doing anything interesting with this character. You are strumming in the background of "Marry the Night," and it just feels like I know how to play guitar better than that. What are you doing? What are we doing here? Like, the toxic gossip train back there, like drumming, coming down the train and coming down the tracks of misinformation.

[1:41:33] Patrick: Yeah, I think that I love summer 2023 references. I definitely think my favorite part of this is like Santana filming it and trying to hype them up, being like, "Yeah, whoa!" Like, I think this is nothing against Naya's acting choices. I just think it's actually especially funny when she kind of like really campifies it and like has certain reactions that are kind of like, I don't know, on the cusp of like Naya making fun of being on Glee slash like playing it up a little bit too much. Like, I feel like it's an intentional choice in her in this song, like played up a little bit more, which I find very funny and endearing because she could move on paper, and I'll send it through in the Glacket. So I don't know that this song does have Naya in it kind of, so maybe that's a point that segues presenting itself.

[1:42:39] Charlie: I do want to bring up what this song won against in rounds past. And actually, in the last round in season two of the Glacket, it won against "A Santolo," "Science Fiction Double Feature." Sent that through. That's kind of crazy. That was with Claudia and Cassie, and I was the only vote for "The Lips." And what happened, Claudia?

[1:43:02] Patrick: Yeah, I know. Major flaws.

[1:43:11] Charlie: Yeah, and then also won against a Glee cast version by Glee cast that I consistently forget about, "Forever Young." Do you know what "Forever Young" is?

[1:43:17] Patrick: Yeah, it's a Will solo, the wallow from the season three finale.

[1:43:25] Charlie: Yeah, we don't need that one that much.

[1:43:32] Patrick: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I feel like I definitely am leaning in a particular direction, but I do kind of feel like both of these songs are middling to me, which is crazy to say. Beautiful vocals all around. I think it's because, and I don't know how many times on the Glacket between talk about like everyone's complicated relationship with season five. We've talked about it enough here. I think it's just kind of the season five of it all where this is where I was like watching kind of against my will. And even though I revisited, I think these songs just like a lot of time, no matter how much of a chance I give them, they won't really hold a special place in my heart. But that's not to say all of season five is off the table, of course, just like these two. I get why they're in round three, and I get why some people might consider them some of their favorites. I mean, again, the vocals are great. It just really doesn't mean anything to me. So that's where I'm at.

[1:44:33] Charlie: Wow, what do you think?

[1:44:39] Patrick: So I'm trying to sit here and think like Pat just said, I understand why they're both in round three, but like this beating "The Lips" and "Rocky Horror" and "Natural Woman" beating "Cell Block Tango," both of those songs should be in round three over either of these.

[1:45:01] Charlie: Okay, wait, wait, wait. In the alternate universe of "Cell Block Tango" being against "Science Fiction Double Feature," what's winning there?

[1:45:09] Patrick: That's tough for me. I would do "Cell Block Tango." I think I would use "Cell Block Tango."

[1:45:15] Charlie: Oh damn, really?

[1:45:21] Patrick: Yeah, I do remember well on one episode when I was listing off like a million grievances, I did kind of say I would have done "Cell Block Tango."

[1:45:26] Charlie: And yeah, so Charlie, I do want to kind of end what I said. I don't necessarily agree that both these songs should be in round three based off of like past competitions that I maybe would have like chosen the other one over. I'm just saying like in general of like the entire 666 songs, like these are, you know, good. But yeah, looking back at what they beat, yeah, neither of these are really like, I would have rather been talking about "The Lips" versus "Cell Block Tango" for sure right now or these two.

[1:46:08] Patrick: Sorry, okay, but even like "Natural Woman" all the way going back to round one. Now I'm just now I'm just reading the Glacket. "Natural Woman" beating "Pumping Blood," the famous bar swing anthem.

[1:46:14] Charlie: Okay, also you're failing to mention when "Natural Woman" made its debut appearance on the Glacket. Do you can you see who was the guest for the guest?

[1:46:18] Patrick: Lindsey Heather Pierce.

[1:46:26] Charlie: That was in Lindsey Heather Pierce's episode, so it all comes back to her. It always does. She can do whatever the hell she wants. So if she wanted to go to round two, I totally get it. She still listens week to week, and she's like, "Oh, I really, really hope that 'Natural Woman' keeps on."

[1:46:39] Patrick: Wait, you have her episode like all the songs from her episode? Yes, in front of you, Charlie. Is "Natural Woman" the only one that's still around? What are the other songs?

[1:46:43] Charlie: "Rather Be," "Promises, Promises."

[1:46:49] Patrick: "Promises" and "Rather Be" were both kicked out in round two, so "Natural Woman" is the only remaining survivor from the Lindsey Heather Pierce.

[1:46:55] Charlie: That's your case for this song. If we're going into, are we talking about voting now?

[1:47:01] Patrick: Sure, okay. That is my case. A further point for "Natural Woman" goes all the way to the final round just because of Lindsey Heather, because it's the sole survivor. Because we knew that like, yes, it's inevitable that "Promises, Promises" is going to not make it. It's okay. "Rather Be" is beautiful, but like it does not stand to continue on the Glacket too much longer. "Natural Woman" is the one that's like, okay, we need to rally behind this. Actually, we need to be so serious. We can't have what Lindsey Heather Pierce did for the Glacket be in vain.

[1:47:35] Charlie: That's true. That is true.

[1:47:41] Patrick: Okay, yeah, I actually have, I've been meaning to say these two things for the sake of adding it to the carousel for this week's episode. In conversation around "Natural Woman," I don't know if I've ever talked about this with Allison in a recorded fashion, but I remember like she sent me the funniest fucking video one time while she was like waiting to cross the street. And you know the button that you press and it goes, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait?" She took a video of that, and she said, "Sam and Sadie's in season five be like."

[1:48:27] Charlie: And then also this is maybe, this is definitely less funnier, but every time that Elias and I watched "Katy Gaga," which has been, you know, in the early hundreds at this point, the part right before "Marry the Night" when Adam Lambert walks in and Demi Lovato says the line, "You look badass," and then Adam Lambert like turns around and is like, "Thanks." It's just, it's so good, and I just need to include it in the carousel so everybody understands.

[1:49:04] Patrick: Do you think that Adam Lambert was given a script, or do you think he fully was just ad-libbing? Because like why would you think that?

[1:49:10] Charlie: Remember, yeah, but like he's still playing it. Adam Lambert, listen, I kind of disagree with you there. I think that he like was trying. He was trying. They did more with him than Demi, which is insane because Demi's infinitely more famous and they also like known actress as well.

[1:49:31] Patrick: Adam Lambert, this is, if I'm not mistaken, I would assume first credit, acting credit for Adam Lambert. He was in "When Justin Meets Kelly," of course.

[1:49:47] Charlie: And then with that, we're going to vote now.

[1:49:57] Patrick: We're not even a pity laugh. You killed the conversation.

[1:50:04] Charlie: Wait, what is that? What do you, what is that? A show from Justin to Kelly?

[1:50:11] Patrick: Oh my fucking god. It's what, they did a movie, Kelly Clarkson and Justin, whatever his name is.

[1:50:15] Charlie: Who would do you know what you're talking about? I was trying to say like, oh, like right after American Idol, they made him do that crappy movie, but I get that.

[1:50:22] Patrick: I'm a little too big brained right now, so I'll use my big brain to cast the first vote. Are we not ready for that before we continue?

[1:50:29] Charlie: No, the vote has been cast, but I'm on Adam Lambert's IMDb right now. His first credit is the, what is this, the "Ten Commandments: The Musical" in 2006, where he played Joshua. And then the next one, two, three, four, five, six credits on IMDb are all music videos for Adam Lambert. And then after that, it's five episodes of "Willie." He was only in five episodes.

[1:50:57] Charlie: I know, it's not crazy.

[1:51:03] Patrick: "Katy Gaga."

[1:51:11] Charlie: Please, please, we're not doing this.

[1:51:16] Patrick: I think I've been here where you've named every single Quolo at least three times, and I'm just like, "All right."

[1:51:23] Charlie: Anyway, wait, that is a bit that we do, the three of us, where we name all the Quolos.

[1:51:29] Patrick: Charlie, do you have a vote for this competition, Lord?

[1:51:35] Charlie: I am so sorry. I already forgot your vote, Patrick.

[1:51:39] Patrick: I thought you did vote.

[1:51:48] Charlie: No, because I was like, "I'll cast the first vote." I forgot that you kind of already voted, and then you're like, "Hold on, I need to look at his IMDb." I feel so sorry. I'm really sorry then.

[1:52:02] Charlie: All right, well, Charlie, you cast your vote.

[1:52:11] Patrick: Uh, just because as time goes on and we're in round four, I do want to see, I think, more of the main cast, and I'm okay with some of these like extra frilly things to have had their fun in the sun but be done. So yeah, "Natural Woman" is going through.

[1:52:31] Charlie: Andrew, and I know that you were nervy about her for a little bit in this episode, so are you happy? Are you going to be nice to us now?

[1:52:39] Andrew: I feel so unhinged. That's gross.

[1:53:03] Charlie: I'm just really afraid to listen back to this episode. Like this was a wild ride. I'm really sorry. Does anybody actually like need like a full apology, like a recorded apology from me?

[1:53:12] Patrick: Break out the ukulele.

[1:53:20] Andrew: Okay, you're totally allowed to.

[1:53:23] Charlie: No, because I feel like right now I'm being like, "Andrew is so mean to me," and I'm going to look back at this or listen back to this episode. Really, I'm the one who's like instigating and like being crazy, and that's typically how I...

[1:53:37] Patrick: Well, I think it's two things. I'm like, oh, I was kind of, I know now that I got my way with the vote of this last competition. Now I'm like, I'm sorry, everybody. I pulled the Lindsey Heather Pierce card.

[1:53:56] Charlie: You really did.

[1:54:02] Andrew: My vote will be, uh, very obviously...

[1:54:09] Patrick: You voted already, did I vote?

[1:54:15] Andrew: Oh, you're going to vote twice? Wow.

[1:54:21] Charlie: Okay, um, I don't know. I don't... "Natural Woman." Okay, just for the record, I don't know if I already voted, but let's just put it out there.

[1:54:30] Patrick: And with that, the legal note being, um, the only song from "Katy Gaga" left in the Glacket is "Wide Awake."

[1:54:39] Charlie: Applause.

[1:54:43] Patrick: You should have said that. That was a thing for "Marry the Night."

[1:54:51] Charlie: Does that change the vote for you?

[1:54:57] Patrick: Well, I don't know because I don't know if I'm a Katy or a Gaga.

[1:55:02] Charlie: You have to take it live on the podcast.

[1:55:19] Patrick: Wait, we didn't have time to count all of Adam Lambert's episodes of Glee, but we have time to take a full BuzzFeed quiz.

[1:55:27] Charlie: So the polls are still open, everybody. So there's "Say a Little Prayer."

[1:55:33] Patrick: No, I actually can't. I think I feel confident.

[1:56:08] Charlie: She hasn't had a chance to fight in round three yet.

[1:56:10] Patrick: Wait, what songs, what Sarah Muller songs are...

[1:56:15] Charlie: Stop. I was gonna make fun of it, but we can't both make fun of it.

[1:56:23] Andrew: My last ever Gleek of the Week.

[1:56:26] Patrick: You're of course thinking about Love Song and Brave. That's the only two.

[1:56:31] Andrew: I was gonna ask, yeah, what songs did Glee cover, because I didn't know how many there were.

[1:56:36] Charlie: There's just two.

[1:56:38] Patrick: They didn't do Gravity.

[1:56:39] Andrew: That's all. That's all. Just trying to have a conversation.

[1:56:42] Charlie: That's all I wanted to ask.

[1:56:45] Patrick: In my mind, Sarah Bareilles is just Waitress now. All she is is in Waitress.

[1:56:51] Andrew: What did they do? She used to be mine on the Glee booth.

[1:56:54] Charlie: Oh, I thought you were gonna say, When He Sees Me. Famously, Jenna Ushwitz.

[1:56:59] Patrick: Famously, Jenna Ushwitz.

[1:57:00] Andrew: Mm-hmm. She used to be mine. Is that a Quolo? Is that the missing Quolo?

[1:57:08] Charlie: Wait, you know what?

[1:57:10] Patrick: Is that Shelby?

[1:57:11] Andrew: Okay, imagine a She Used To Be Mine duet between Quinn and Shelby.

[1:57:19] Charlie: Like, pop it up on the screen.

[1:57:20] Andrew: I just dropped some really good ass ideas, and you guys were having your own little thing.

[1:57:24] Patrick: Do you hear that, Charlie?

[1:57:25] Charlie: They have that She and She Used To Be Mine battle, where they're in balconies, singing to one another. They don't know they're singing the same song, though.

[1:57:33] Andrew: Which characters?

[1:57:35] Charlie: Shelby and Quinn, both singing to their battle.

[1:57:38] Patrick: That was the idea that Patrick just... Okay.

[1:57:43] Andrew: All right, with that, I think we need to stop.

[1:57:46] Charlie: Yeah.

[1:57:47] Patrick: I think so, too.

[1:57:48] Andrew: All right, obviously, I was very... This is editing Andrew, by the way. Obviously, I was very unhinged. We all were at this point in the recording, and I completely forgot. I don't know why this has been happening so much recently, to do an episode wrap-up.

[1:58:06] Andrew: And so here we go.

[1:58:08] Andrew: Next to me, next to me, in hell.

[1:58:12] Patrick: That just feels very obvious.

[1:58:16] Charlie: Me against the music.

[1:58:18] Andrew: You can go against any music, and you're gonna be the winner.

[1:58:24] Patrick: You're gonna come out on top. I don't know.

[1:58:28] Charlie: You make me feel like a natural woman.

[1:58:31] Andrew: You make me feel like a natural winner.

[1:58:35] Patrick: Marry the night.

[1:58:38] Charlie: Well, you're getting a divorce.

[1:58:40] Andrew: Divorce? Divorce the day.

[1:58:43] Patrick: Marry the night? More like divorce the day.

[1:58:45] Andrew: Charlie, starting with you, where can the Gleeks find you? Any social Gleedia?

[1:58:51] Charlie: So I honestly only have an Instagram to talk to Pat and Andrew.

[1:58:58] Charlie: So don't follow me on Instagram, because I won't follow you back.

[1:59:02] Charlie: I'll be very candid. I literally only use the account to talk to Pat and Andrew.

[1:59:06] Patrick: That's awful.

[1:59:07] Charlie: Yeah, I gave up all social media except for that, so that I could talk to them.

[1:59:11] Andrew: Wait, that's so sweet.

[1:59:13] Patrick: Except you didn't, because you send TikToks in that chat all the time.

[1:59:20] Charlie: I don't count TikTok as social media.

[1:59:22] Andrew: Wait, Charlie, you just added me on Pinterest.

[1:59:25] Charlie: Charlie, what's going on?

[1:59:28] Patrick: Wait, someone found my SurveyMonkey account.

[1:59:32] Charlie: Charlie, you're very active on your Tumblr, it seems.

[1:59:37] Patrick: Oh, someone found my Myspace.

[1:59:40] Charlie: Oh, wait, so you don't have any social Gleedia with that?

[1:59:45] Charlie: You can find me, but you can request to follow me, but I'm not going to follow you back, and I won't accept the request, because I have zero.

[1:59:54] Charlie: So save yourself the ratio, because I won't follow you back.

[2:00:02] Charlie: Lindsay, Heather Pierce, when you listen to this, do not expect to follow back.

[2:00:06] Charlie: But see, that's important, too, if you want to find me, but I will not follow you back.

[2:00:12] Charlie: Oh, thank you.

[2:00:13] Patrick: What about you?

[2:00:15] Patrick: Well, that's really sweet, Charlie, because even though, if I listened back to this episode, I would be like, these people do not like each other.

[2:00:26] Patrick: But we talk so many times throughout the day.

[2:00:31] Patrick: Yeah, like, this is like my shitposting group chat, where I'm just like, I have this thought about Gleedia, and I'm going to, like, make them watch it or whatever.

[2:00:40] Patrick: Because we've been at it since, like, 2021.

[2:00:42] Patrick: You know, like, we were, you know, a famous first set of guests, kind of.

[2:00:48] Andrew: So, yeah, episode 50.

[2:00:52] Patrick: So, yeah, I mean, I love chatting with you guys.

[2:00:56] Patrick: I loved, I told Elias this story that you shared with me the other day, that your boss, or can you talk about this?

[2:01:04] Andrew: Sure.

[2:01:07] Patrick: Not my real life lore.

[2:01:10] Andrew: So, I just recently changed jobs.

[2:01:13] Andrew: And so, I was at my new Corporate America job, and I listened to podcasts at work.

[2:01:18] Andrew: And I was catching up on the podcast, because we were recording this episode.

[2:01:23] Andrew: And my boss walked into my office and said, what are you listening to?

[2:01:27] Andrew: Not like in a mean way. She was just interested.

[2:01:29] Andrew: And I was like, oh, it's just a podcast about my favorite TV show.

[2:01:32] Andrew: And she's like, oh, what's your favorite TV show?

[2:01:33] Andrew: And I was like, Glee.

[2:01:34] Andrew: And she was like, I love Glee.

[2:01:36] Andrew: And I was like, well, it's a podcast about Glee.

[2:01:39] Andrew: And she was like, I actually just started listening to a podcast about Glee.

[2:01:42] Andrew: You'd probably really like it.

[2:01:44] Andrew: She was listening to Gleek of the Week.

[2:01:48] Patrick: And then she was like, you should listen to this podcast.

[2:01:50] Andrew: And then I said, what episode are you on?

[2:01:52] Andrew: She was on episode, like, three.

[2:01:53] Andrew: She just started the podcast.

[2:01:55] Patrick: Which, if you were there at the beginning, some of those were, like, we were rough.

[2:01:59] Andrew: Scary times.

[2:02:00] Patrick: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[2:02:01] Andrew: We were all.

[2:02:01] Patrick: We had to grow.

[2:02:02] Andrew: There was an evolution period.

[2:02:04] Patrick: Yeah, it was a sweet time.

[2:02:05] Andrew: You know, there's always an Acafellas of every show.

[2:02:10] Patrick: We had a lot of Acafellas back to back to back to back.

[2:02:12] Andrew: Yeah, but I love that so much.

[2:02:15] Patrick: Yeah, that's why I said skip to episode 50.

[2:02:18] Andrew: And she's like, oh my gosh, you're on the podcast.

[2:02:20] Andrew: And I said, I've been on it a couple of times.

[2:02:23] Patrick: So now she's going to listen to this one.

[2:02:25] Andrew: Wow, wow.

[2:02:27] Patrick: I hope that she isn't like, I always get so worried about people, like, starting from the beginning and listening to those first few episodes and being like, oh, this is actually shite.

[2:02:30] Andrew: And I can't listen to it anymore.

[2:02:33] Patrick: Because it's only until we get to episode 50 that the gears really start moving.

[2:02:42] Andrew: I did give her some, like, top tier episodes to listen to.

[2:02:46] Patrick: Like, I told her some not to listen to.

[2:02:49] Andrew: Wait, which one?

[2:02:50] Patrick: Wait, which one's not to listen to?

[2:02:52] Andrew: I mean, the Charlie Moon of it all.

[2:02:55] Patrick: Oh, the Charlie Moon episode.

[2:02:56] Andrew: Yeah, that was bad.

[2:02:57] Patrick: We can say that.

[2:02:57] Andrew: Rough.

[2:02:59] Patrick: What's the other one that I don't listen to?

[2:03:02] Andrew: There's another one that's coming to mind, but I don't feel comfortable saying it.

[2:03:05] Patrick: Episode 50.

[2:03:06] Andrew: Episode 50 was really terrible.

[2:03:08] Patrick: I hate that episode.

[2:03:11] Andrew: One of the worst episodes that I think is one of the funniest episodes was the very original live stream that we were on.

[2:03:17] Patrick: Uh-uh.

[2:03:20] Andrew: Which famously lost, we lost Lovechild that night.

[2:03:23] Patrick: We lost Lovechild within it all.

[2:03:28] Charlie: Wait, I want to hear something positive for once.

[2:03:30] Charlie: Wait, Charlie, what is the episodes that you were recommending her listen to?

[2:03:34] Charlie: My all-time favorite episode of the podcast of, like, absolute all-time is the Lindsay Heather Pierce episode.

[2:03:41] Patrick: You're kidding.

[2:03:42] Charlie: She was down to clown.

[2:03:43] Patrick: Yeah, she was in it.

[2:03:44] Charlie: I think that's, like, for me, I, like, the Allie Stroker episode is awesome.

[2:03:49] Patrick: Oh, I don't feel the same.

[2:03:51] Charlie: I felt like we had very limited time with Allie Stroker.

[2:03:54] Patrick: Yeah.

[2:03:54] Charlie: And I would, it would, yeah.

[2:03:56] Patrick: What about the episode with the girl who got yelled at by the producers for tweeting about stuff?

[2:04:00] Charlie: That was a good one.

[2:04:01] Patrick: So that was actually the episode that I was thinking of that I was like, I can't actually say that that was a bad episode.

[2:04:04] Charlie: But I'm glad that you said it.

[2:04:07] Patrick: That?

[2:04:09] Charlie: People are going to listen to that tonight and compare it to this one.

[2:04:12] Patrick: And be like-

[2:04:13] Charlie: Don't listen back to it.

[2:04:14] Patrick: I literally think, oh my god, I'm, like, transported back to the week that we released that episode in 2021 because I remember there was only, like, 50 people that listened at that point, like, every week.

[2:04:26] Charlie: And I swear to god, I heard from all 50 of them being like, how dare you have her on the podcast?

[2:04:33] Patrick: I'm like, what do you mean? She was part of the show.

[2:04:40] Charlie: I think that's-

[2:04:40] Patrick: Have her on Let's Play, Jenner.

[2:04:42] Charlie: Some of the earlier ones, like, the Nikki Blonsky episode is just so hilarious that you had Nikki Blonsky in round one.

[2:04:50] Patrick: Yeah, that is kind of crazy to think about.

[2:04:52] Charlie: Can we, like, please, like, how did you get-

[2:04:55] Patrick: What was the point?

[2:04:56] Charlie: Nikki Blonsky from the movie Hairspray?

[2:04:58] Patrick: Nikki Blonsky or-

[2:04:59] Charlie: Nikki Blonsky from the movie Hairspray, behind the scenes knowledge of that booking was that I, at the time, I was producing Grindr's podcast, The Rear View, and I thought, like, and it was exclusively, like, the guests that would come on to Grindr's podcast had to be exclusively queer.

[2:05:22] Charlie: And Nikki had recently just come out.

[2:05:26] Patrick: And I was like, oh, we should have Nikki Blonsky on.

[2:05:28] Charlie: And she, like, immediately was like, yes.

[2:05:30] Patrick: And I was like, oh, okay.

[2:05:32] Charlie: And then noted.

[2:05:33] Patrick: I was like, how about a Glee podcast?

[2:05:35] Charlie: And then she was like, yeah.

[2:05:36] Patrick: And so-

[2:05:37] Charlie: I'm obsessed with that.

[2:05:39] Patrick: Don't do anything for a check, really.

[2:05:42] Charlie: No, I love her.

[2:05:43] Patrick: And I remember she, like, really didn't-

[2:05:45] Charlie: I know that we're like, we should stop talking because the episode's over.

[2:05:49] Patrick: But, like, Nikki Blonsky, if you listen back to that episode, which I might just go back and listen back to that because it's so funny listening back because, like, she thinks that the premise of the show is that we watch a performance together and then she's like, now do I sing it?

[2:06:03] Charlie: And I'm like-

[2:06:04] Patrick: So good.

[2:06:07] Charlie: No, that's not necessary.

[2:06:08] Patrick: But I would love to hear it.

[2:06:09] Charlie: Yeah.

[2:06:10] Andrew: All right. Well, I will share where the Gleeks can find me and then we can finish the episode.

[2:06:17] Charlie: That was too much Nikki Blonsky talk.

[2:06:20] Patrick: Well, I have asked, can you have her back on so I can be on with her?

[2:06:24] Charlie: Because that would make my life.

[2:06:25] Andrew: But you don't like me.

[2:06:26] Charlie: But no, okay.

[2:06:28] Charlie: As much as I would love to have-

[2:06:29] Andrew: Okay, I'm so sorry.

[2:06:31] Charlie: It's only for me.

[2:06:32] Charlie: It's not for the good of the podcast or for you.

[2:06:34] Charlie: I just wanted to do it.

[2:06:35] Charlie: I want people to understand because-

[2:06:38] Charlie: I want people to understand that Nikki Blonsky doesn't know what's going on in the Glocket.

[2:06:42] Charlie: And I don't want Nikki Blonsky to show up and have no context for any of the songs and then make a fatal error.

[2:06:48] Patrick: And then everyone's mad at me.

[2:06:50] Patrick: Patrick could never get mad at you unless you do stupid shit like-

[2:06:55] Charlie: You are-

[2:06:56] Andrew: I don't want to say it.

[2:06:59] Andrew: So anyway, Gleeks, Charlie may not follow you on back on Instagram, but I definitely will because I love-

[2:07:07] Patrick: The bad witch.

[2:07:09] Andrew: I think it's so fun when I'm looking through my stories and stuff, and then I'm just like, who is this person?

[2:07:14] Andrew: And then I go on their Instagram, and they're a fellow Gleek.

[2:07:19] Andrew: And then we chat about songs and stuff.

[2:07:22] Andrew: So I would love to hear from people about if you feel like I was bullied on this episode.

[2:07:29] Andrew: And then two, I would love to hear about any Glee Britney Spears fans.

[2:07:36] Andrew: I would love someone to chat with about Britney.

[2:07:40] Andrew: But my Instagram is at Patty Salmon.

[2:07:43] Andrew: So that's all from me.

[2:07:46] Charlie: It was beautiful.

[2:07:47] Patrick: Thank you so much for your-

[2:07:50] Andrew: Genuinely, look at me.

[2:07:52] Andrew: I'm not kidding.

[2:07:53] Andrew: Thank you so much for your friendship, for all the energy that you send my way to continue this damn project.

[2:08:03] Andrew: I really appreciate it.

[2:08:04] Andrew: I'm very glad that this silly little show brought us all together.

[2:08:08] Andrew: And I'm glad to- I'm really proud to call you both my friends.

[2:08:14] Patrick: I feel the same way, except for the past two hours.

[2:08:18] Charlie: I was hoping that that would clean slate.

[2:08:20] Patrick: No, just kidding.

[2:08:21] Patrick: No, for real, we chat all the time.

[2:08:25] Patrick: And it's so strange to have people who I've never met in real life, who I feel really close to.

[2:08:30] Patrick: I feel like I can shoot the shit with, but also share updates about my life.

[2:08:36] Charlie: So yeah, it's really-

[2:08:37] Charlie: When we get out of the group chat, it's gonna be crazy.

[2:08:41] Andrew: You know what?

[2:08:42] Andrew: I am waiting for the next chance to do a Glee'd Up, a Gleek of the Wheat meetup.

[2:08:48] Andrew: Because, well, Andrew, you said that you wanted to do a cruise.

[2:08:52] Andrew: Let's bring that back.

[2:08:53] Charlie: We're not ending this episode.

[2:08:56] Charlie: I would like to do that.

[2:08:57] Patrick: I just don't want to spend an exhorting-

[2:08:59] Charlie: What is the word I'm looking for?

[2:09:01] Patrick: Exhorting.

[2:09:04] Charlie: Okay, a Glees cruise.

[2:09:06] Patrick: Would it be-

[2:09:08] Charlie: Are we chartering a yacht and it's just Glees?

[2:09:11] Patrick: Or is it just like everybody gets the same-

[2:09:13] Charlie: It's like a New York one, where you get to-

[2:09:15] Patrick: Yeah, they did the Brittany boat, and I think they did a brat boat.

[2:09:19] Charlie: They have boats for different artists.

[2:09:23] Patrick: Who's the demon to make up the Glees cruise?

[2:09:25] Charlie: The demon to make up the Glees cruise?

[2:09:26] Patrick: Yeah.

[2:09:27] Charlie: You know, if we do the Glees cruise, maybe we'll see Amber Ailey's coat.

[2:09:34] Andrew: And there we go.

[2:09:35] Andrew: And I think that that's a really great place to end this episode, because I don't want to edit more than I have to, if we could just continue talking in a non-recorded fashion.

[2:09:45] Andrew: Thank you so much for listening to this episode between me and two very close Gleek friends of mine.

[2:09:50] Andrew: It's been so much fun, and I feel sorry if they feel that I was mean to them at any point during this recording.

[2:09:54] Andrew: We will be back with another episode next week, okay?

[2:09:59] All: Bye!

[2:10:01] All: It's Gleek, Gleek of the Week.