Wheels Up! (S.1 E.9)

We had a really nice when we're tapping together. It was it was sweet. Jenna. I was happy that you and I got our own little, you know, two seconds little clip together. We were there, We were there, we were there in spirit. And then Ryan gave a beautiful speech and highlighted UM some of the incredible talent that he has worked with UM and it was just it was really really nice. I was happy to see him

get that award. I talked to him over the holiday break and he was like, I think I'm a little young to be getting it, but I was like, just take it, Ryan, Yes, and He's like, yeah, I'm gonna take He is really young to get it. But he's done such a body of a massive body of working such a short amount of time that like, I don't think any use questioning it. And he's changed, you know, the landscape of television in a lot of ways and made a lot of people massive stars. Yes, and made

a lot of studios very very happy. Um well, congrats to Ryan and for Glee and Ryan, it's okay that you didn't talk about me for five minutes straight like I requested, I forgive you. Yeah, Um well, congrats. Ran back to the best episode there ever was of Glee. Take it away, Jenna, Okay, I love this episode. I have a lot of nostalgia for doing shooting this episode but then rewatching the stops. O gosh, what a good episode. This was so solid and um so we had the

director of this episode, Paris Barclay, on last episode. If you haven't listened to it, go listen to it because it's wonderful. And we talked about how we're coming off sort of the um pure chaos that was previous few episodes and this sort of gets us back down to brass tacks of um Glee and the serious storylines and um monumental moments for a lot of these characters, yes, Um. And then we are also really in the thick of the feeling of like this being the beginning of the phenomenon.

In the middle of this episode, we fly to New York to um dance for advertisers, to um show them that Glee is on Fox, to buy ad space and commercial space and look at our hit. We perform Somebody to Love Love five, which was the whole thing, um, which you just you don't perform for these acat show.

This was special. And then in Glean News the the music Volume one was had come out the previous week, So this episode aired on November eleven, thousand nine, and the soundtrack came out November, remember November two, okay, And then he went to number one on the charts in Ireland, the UK, peaked at number three in Australia and number four in Canada and the United States, and Volume one

has been certified platinum in all of those countries. Crazy, absolutely crazy, And this was so the Wheels episode because of the subject matter we also and because it was more of a serious episode. I think the network it was two things because it spoke to um a lot of different communities, like um down syndrome and people wheelchairs. They wanted to show this episode off in a way UM and show how it was going to impact people. And then also it was sort of like an Awards season,

they don't forget about us next year. And we had screenings that there's a big there's a big movie theater chain r I p Arc Light here in l A. It was so good and I remember we had a gigantic screening there just for this episode. It was very and Chris were there, went for that. It was very Yeah, it was a lot. There was a lot going on outside of the Glue bubble as well as inside UM. But it was exciting. Shall we get into this incredible

episode featuring us. Yes, so most importantly in this episode, Already needs to get two sectionals and we learned that he needs a bus in order for Already to ride with us. Yes, we need a bus with an elevator with a lift to get the wheelchair in and that is expensive of in that for for the Glee club. So Mr Shooe comes up with the idea that because these kids are all very unempathetic, is that that a word? Unempathetic? Apathetic? Jenna,

thank you Okay, so they're apathetic education show. Thank you. They were apathetic um too already being in a wheelchair. Um, they're like whatever, already can just get his own ride. Uh. He decides that everybody is going to have to spend some time in a wheelchair. That's right, And we're gonna have a bake sale, yes, to raise funds to get the bus that we need to get all of us together.

Two sectionals. So let's talk about the wheelchairs for a second, because we started the rehearsals for Proud Mary pretty early on in this episode. If I'm if my memory starves me, right, yeah, I mean we started I the episode before, right, like while we're filming the other episode. I think we started rehearsing for this because this was going to take some

extra rehearsal time. Normally we rehearsed, as you've heard at this point, was in our dance studio called the Tin Shed, but they had to build this gigantic ramp contraption, and so we started using the stage one of the sound stages next door. Yes, that's right in the wheel in the wheelchairs, yes, and all that was on. There was this sort of mock up of this unfinished version of what we ended up shooting with. It was just would

like plywood. Yeah, it wasn't pretty. So we were in the wheelchairs and one day we're rehearsing prad Mary, we're also shooting, you know, in the wheelchairs as well, the scenes that you see us and Diana and Corey decided to take the wheelchairs throughout a lot like for the whole day. And they came back and we're all sweaty and because on the sound stage because people always ask me like, oh, did you get like muscles from doing I'm like no, I'm on a flat, smooth surface all day.

I'm not really having to exert much energy, to be honest. And the lot you know, has some ups and downs and the road is not always perfect. And so they came back and I remember we're all sweaty and gross and had to have like their hair and makeup redone like that was funny. I remember that. I also just remember the wheelchairs did not everyone was struggling, so some more than others. But I just remember at some point people would disappear and just need like fifteen minutes to recover.

Because at first, like Paris said, it was the ramps were too high at first as well. They had to make were like flying down those things, and people were falling on their sides on their back, like shooting backwards. Remember Lee's wheelchair didn't have the brakes on it for a while and she went straight back. So mine, if you see close up, mine had these sort of like stoppers on the back of them, and you could like

pop a wheelie basically and sit there. It was like training wheels, although they looked like training wheels on a tricycle. But some of like half the chairs didn't have those, so some people thought they did assume there's like mine did, and they went to go back and kept going back and ended up on their backs. Yea, um, But I loved that everyone had to be in a wheelchair. They got to experience it for a little bit in real life. Yeah, I was going to ask you how you thought about

I was really excited. I was really and it was also my first solo and yeah, let's talk about it. That was a big deal for me. And so tell me, tell me what the So if you listen to Paris's episode, Kevin tells us that he recorded this twice. Shouldn't normally happen. Yeah, no, and you re recorded it? So what was the first version? Because I vaguely remember this, but what what did it

sound like? So the full story? Before I recorded it, I didn't know that the next episode is going to be about us, and did not know I was going to get you know, I don't know if we were on the shooting the episode before this or two episodes before this. But Ryan walks up to me when we're in the auditorium and he's like, you should listen to Dancing with Myself covered by Novelle Vague and learn it. Something very exciting is coming for you. And would walk

away like what? And I do that? Yeah? And I pull up this song and it's like the sweet little acoustic thing, something style I had never sung in before, and I was like what. I was not super I was really excited about having a solo, but I was like, this is the solo. I wanted something more flashy and but little did I know this sort of set me up. These are the types of songs already saying throughout the

entire series, which I really liked. And you know, just we all got pushed vocally and outside of our comfort zones and this was not within my comfort zone mm hmmm, and I really appreciated that. But when it came to recording it, I went in for several hours and had a normal recording session and with Adamander's and we put together the song just like we did with any other thing up to that point. And then I get scheduled to go back into record, and I'm like, you guys,

ever recorded this? I thought there was a mess up, so I whoever was scheduling it, I was like, I already did this. I don't think I think you know, I don't think I need to go back. And they're like, no, there was no from Ryan. Ryan thinks you sound too sexy. That's right, funny because this version is very sexy as well. Well, I don't know what. So I was very confused, and I was like, I've never been called I remember this. You were very breathy in the first one. I was,

and I was really proud of it. I loved it. I should try to find it. I haven't. Please find it. It's not that different, it's just it is a little more. Well, you don't sound already, you sound like probably like more like Kevin because I was singing everything up to that point was very much in character. And then I went in and we sort of Adam managers like, I don't know. I thought that version was great because he and I

were big fans of the other version. And he's like, just saying it through a couple of times, do whatever you want, which never happened. Everything was very intentional, and so I went in and saying it, I think two or three times all the way through. He's like, Okay, are you happy with that? I'm like yeah. And that was it. So that that version is a little rougher. It's not as good, but it's so good though. Thanks.

I didn't love it as much, but I was very happy to I also when you're watching that, so the filming of that as well, my mustaches started to grow back. Well, you also look so tiny with that guitar sitting on your lips. You look so tiny. It's all I remember is like, I have to fake this guitar again. You have to learn it again. The last shot of the day on that stage, my mustache, the doubble has grown back.

I'm a harry sixteen year old and um shout out to Aaron who was the stunt double fathering him because he is actually in a wheelchair is incredible and if you look closely, you'll see it whenever down that hallway doing the tricks. He doesn't have, you know, the safeties on like I do. They go magically, they magically disappear. But um, he's someone that he goes, you know, to the skate parks and do flips and tricks and he he was runner up last year, and um, and America's

got talent. Extreme, he's and if you go watch videos of him, he's absolutely insane. I don't know how he does these things, but we were so lucky to get him, and he came in and did all those incredible tricks that I would never be able to do. So dancing with myself was a big, you know, a big moment for me and for Artie. It felt like a big deal.

And I got to do that slow mo for the first time, like we talked about with Paris, which was really fun and I looked crazy, but I remember Paris telling me just flip your hair and laugh really loud, and I remember Amber being on the other side of the table and making laughing at me, and we were we were actually then ended up laughing a lot because it's you know, when you have two fake laugh you end up laughing because it's a stupid anyway, so you

just like laugh anyway. Um, this isn't about me, but I think it is. But that was that was crazy to see you shoot that because you had to do it at warp speed. I don't know how you actually it looks like very correct, your your mouth moving, um, saying the proper words, because like I feel like doing it at warp speed, You're like your brain is like, okay,

just say gibberish. I mean I had done it before because of the boy band days where we did some SloMo on a train track, and I think I I had to do that before, So yeah, I and I liked the challenge of it because it is insane. Um, and I did it with p I T I did for a bunch of numbers. Going forward, Okay, so everyone gets into wheelchairs, we start to have a bake sale. Oh my god, wait a second, I have to talk

about Naya here. This was a special thing she did for us because I sort of because she was fully doing it as a joke for us, and then the one they actually I remember her screaming when she saw the final version of it, like, oh my god, they used to take but it's so good. One time did it? That way is the one they used her her stuff in Proud Mary and and in this are golden nuggets. Yes, I couldn't take my eyes off of her golden nuggets. Um. Okay.

So we have the big sale where uh Frankentine we get to see him probably improvised, kicking this wheelchair so large to this wheelchair. Um. And we have the big sale. Right. This is also where we meet Becky for the first time. That's right, Becky and Brittany are together, and by the very talented Lauren Potter, who goes on to be in

the rest of this series. Oh yes, oh yes. She starts off in like Sue Sylvester's kind of storyline her sister, and then she really takes a turn and you know, we work with Lauren throughout the entire series, which was really fun to have her. And this the bake Sales where we're kind of get into the other storyline about Quinn and Finn. Finn having to get a job because Quinn has all of these bills to pay for her

for the baby that she is raising. Just choosing to raise with him, and she's like, tell me, I chose the right man, Um messy, we'll get into all. Yeah, so everybody has to be in these wheelchairs, right, And that one of my favorite lines, which I think is a contender for Ardi Takes, is when Already admits like he his feelings are hurt because everybody has been very insensitive and Rachel says, we didn't think you would take your personally, and Already says, well, you're you're chaining most

of the time, but don't take that personally. And your delivery was very good, um excellent, excellent, and it's very funny.

I thought it was very funny. I enjoyed watching Leah's um performance in these first couple choir room scenes because she is doing something that I thought was very smart where she's still playing you know what happened in the last episode, in the episode before that, and carrying it through of she's trying to not speak up, you know, when the whole defined gravity thing comes up, like she's trying and then she doesn't really the thing that she

doesn't really talk bad about the whole already bus situation in that first choreroom scene. No, she doesn't. But then arties like, no, well already likes to just tell it like it is. So then everybody gets in these wheelchairs and we have this montage of people figuring out how to use the wheelchairs. And if Beef stroken off on Lea was absolutely she really gets it. Um between the slushies and that I was like so gnarly, but it's

pretty Yeah, everybody in the wheel stress is very funny. Um. And Tina, Tina's you know, playing the game, and she talks to Already and says, you know, I just didn't I have a lot of respect for you. Now, I didn't realize how hard this was. And um, I don't think that Tina really had to justify she wasn't really the one who was, you know, being insensitive towards him anyway. But I digress. Um. And you share about your car accident and yeah, I'd say that it was um car

accident with my mother. Um. And people have pointed out that the age doesn't match up, like how old I am and how old I was at the time, and that doesn't really matter. Conne afterwards, Oh boy, um, already, what did you say? Kevin M But I want to be very clear. I still have the use of my penis, which is important. Yeah, I wanted her to know. You know, when you're a teenager and he's presumably getting his first crush on the super hot Tina that he you know

what matters at that age. It's like you want to feel competitive with all the other guys that you could be dating or hooking up with, and way to break the the mood. It got a little serious, you know, just al that's already having no game but already actually has a lot of game. I think, well, yeah, that was the creating a monster here, because then already goes on to just crush um. So we get, all right, how do we how do we break this down? There's a lot that comes up. So what's going on here

as well? So we've met Becky at the bakes. The other storyline sort of within this, within this as well, is while Shoe is trying to get Figgins to you know, give him more money for for the for the bus, for the bus, for handicapped ramps around the school. Whilst rams around the school, um, he brings in um sue because he's inspired. Figgins is inspired because it's free. UM.

By this inclusion of everyone. So Figgins then forces Sue to hold auditions and she has to pick somebody who she wouldn't normally and so through these incredible bring it on like auditions, I was gonna say, yeah, can we do that all the time? Can they just do a show like that where we can just watch auditions happen? Because this was my favorite. We also this is this

is the second shot. Now we see of Um with Fink fastly think by Um Kurt as the wrestler, and then she she's now auditioning here, but she comes back in for you astute glee fans to come back to be part of the glee club. Later on Lawrence, I sees Um brought in. Okay, So so the tryouts with the cheerios, Um, it's funny, they're funny Ambers auditions, Hey, Mike,

you only Chris is UM this. I think the baton twirling was a thing inspired by Chris's size swords that he twirls all the time, and he's been doing it for years and he's very good at it. It's very scary. It's like small swords. UM. And and then that very lanky man who did that very weird CONTORTIONISTUM audition again,

I like to call it an audition, not to try out. Uh. And then we have Becky Jackson and well we don't know is that obviously Sue has a sister who has Down syndrome as well, and Shoe thinks that she's up to something when she um says that Becky Jackson has made the team and was married. I mean, and and Schuster is worried and we're missing something I thought. I thought the storyline was so good, um and done so well.

And Jane was absolutely absolutely incredible. And for people who are used to seeing Jane as Sylvester or if you watch her and anything else, she's like Mazel where she plays the sort of tough character. The real Jane Lynch is Sue that walks into the room to see her sister. That is how she greets you in real life. That is is calm, calm, inviting, so happy to see you. UM. And that scene is so beautiful and um, they are

both so so good in that. I know, and Robin who um has passed away sadly, UM, but you know she will. She will make appearances in multiple other episodes with Jane as well. And every time it's just um, just so beautifully done and shot and performed so and in a really nice addition, well this is and this is the first time that we actually get to see exactly this is like we're humanizing the villain, which at this point you kind of had to do a little bit.

We did. We saw a little bit with rod you know, Remington where she was trying and now we see like this kind of more very very human side of hers. And I think it's nice to see it was it was done so well, and I love that, you know, it'sn't something that's brought up once and never mentioned again.

It's something that is recurring through the entire show and um and I think it impacted people in real life a lot, and it was nice to get you know, in one episode two people with um down syndrome who were incredible actors and um yeah yeah, I just I again had to like look away so I didn't start crying during its um alright, So so within that, like

that's the other storyline, within the bigger storyline. But we go back to the Big Sale, right, and they have the Big Sale, and we obviously know that Puck is the father and he he wants Quinn and he wants to show up, so he's going to do something bad and he goes to Sandy Royerson and um he gets his uh the chronic the chronic lady, the chronic lady,

and he bakes them into the cupcakes. Because this is this goes into the the love triangle sort of of the Quinn, Finn and Puck, where they're both Finn and Puck are both vying for the attention of Quinn, trying to show that they can step up and be fathers to this unborn baby, and we're Finn is failing at a comical level. He can't get hired as a bus boy because he's too tall. Um um uh yeah, what

he knows how to do. And he ends up raising a lot of twelve in the big sale um and takes some of it and gives it to Quinn and she refuses it. But at that same time Finn shows up and it's like, I got a job. This also a contention for charity takes of things at an age well of of Finn and Rachel going in say he's in a wheelchair to get a job, and he had

staying the saying the wheelchair the whole time. He has the job, but you know, you know, also part of the storyline is this incredible fight sequence in the hallway, but with their we have more stunt doubles this time. I remember watching this being shot. Why did we were all there for this? We were I think we were rehearsing for Proud Mary happened to be during this. We were all in the stage right next door to the mcchems set, and I remember I had to go shoot

dancing with myself in the hallway. Were there? I think we were there for rehearsals and were running out and yeah, yeah, they had. I thought it was a really well executed fight sequence because you don't really you can't tell it's

the stunt doubles. He just wasn't the mohawk fake. And also after this incredible Paris tells this incredible story about UM the flower in the air from the sort of cute food fight baking fight between UM where that scene got shut down for a while because there was a potential fire hazard risk discrepancy and because the fire yeah yeah, yeah yeah, um so so okay, So Puck raises the UM thanks to the munchies, and then we present that money with two already for the bus so he can

ride with us the sectionals, and you decide that you're going to do the bigger the bigger issue at hand is the ramps at school, and you're going to donate this money so that other kids can also benefit from um from the ramps who are in wheelchairs as well. So those very kind of you already, and and then you you make Tina with that that very generous move in, and you make Tina fall in love with you, just

like real life Jenna, Yeah, exactly. And so Tina and already now go on their date together, and we're in the hallway, in the very dark hallway again. I don't know what we're doing there that late at night, but here we are. And the first scene we shot for this episode, I feel like it was very early on, yes, and I remember being nervous about it because it was

so early into the opposite. I think it was the first scene we shot of our storyline, and I remember you and I walking to stage working on our lines, working on our lines. We were both very nervous. And also, you know, when it's a an intimate scene like this, there's two people, it's very quiet. You have all that crew who probably aren't paying attention to you because they're staring as it feels like there's a hundred people just watching you. And Paris is very intimidating. And I also

this very shortly. I mean, I think this was when I found out, like the night before, this is when I found out that the stutter was fake. So up until this point, I thought the stutter was real. And so this changed my whole I was like, oh my god, like and and there were pros and cons to it, right because it at one point. I never never wanted it to feel like I was making fun of a person with the who you know has a stutter or experienced a stutter. And um, I really took it seriously.

I did research. I um because Tina actually had tourettes to start with, and then they cut that from her character and just made it a stutter. And Ian Brennan was super excited to tell me about this because, UM, he thought I would be excited. I think to have this like new layer, UM revealed that we all have these like secrets now right, you get to see like a deeper layer of Tina and why she did what

she did. Um, And this is when I kind of came up with the the notion of Tina being an onion because we didn't see a lot of her and to begin with, and so now we're like, we're pulling back each layer of her and as we get deeper into the season's obviously she comes out with like a lot of crazy but earlier and now we get we get to see more of her storyline, backstory and who she is. So I mean it was also really interesting too.

All of a sudden, it's like, oh, here's someone that we thought we knew, and here's someone you thought you knew that you've been playing right, And then it also gave you know, Alreadie and Tina conflict and agency to be like I thought it was very valid. The way I already felt about it, it was like no bitch, I was. I was also like, no, give her a chance. I know. I was like, this was so short lived, so short lived. Anyway, Um, then we kiss, you know,

kids important thing. It felt like, I mean, it's like everybody's watching, but at the same time, like it didn't feel like anything because we didn't have to make out right, it was like a sweet little and that'd be real. It wasn't the first time. Really was this not the first time? There's no way, Jenna alright, fine, I thought that was later, but okay, right, Um, I just assume like there's no way maybe. And what I mean is

Jenna and I, I mean, nobody needs to know. This is what I mean is like we would all kiss each other as friends. Yeah, yeah, it's it's Jenna and I weren't having some steamy affair. That's not what I mean. Like we would, you know what, those partying days, we'd all just like kiss each other kissed. He also was innocent, Um, but no, yeah, you're right, it probably wasn't the first

time kissed. And uh, it was just weird that everybody was watching any new millions of people were going to watch That is very strange to think about because at that point to you like, you know, how many millions of people are going to be watching it? Mm hmm. And it's such a short scene to feel like I was, so we were so nervous about it. But it was the first like grounded scene that we had ever done. Yea, and you get to see more of both of us,

both of our characters, so it was nice. Um. And then the end of this storyline is Obviously everybody is more empathetic towards Artie. We are celebrating you, um, and we do pred Mary and proud Mary was. I was watching this number with such joy last night. I think I cried like four times watching this number. Um from

laughter from remembering people falling all over the place. Our arms were so sore the next day, and also um remembering having having to do all these background vocals and like lip sync them correctly, and it was it was a lot. It was a lot. I remember the recording of it a lot. Yes, I wasn't originally supposed to do that good job. Remember this, and I think you're like, oh,

I have to do that. I think was supposed to do it, but it was too low or something like that, and so then they had also like storyline wise, it made sense for you to do it. Yeah, So I think it worked out. I think it was just sort of one of those things that they had an idea and then didn't pan out. But Zach did an incredible job. We all were like I can't do that, I can't do that move, and he would be like, okay, guys, let's do this instead. And the shaky um thing was

our favorite. That was our favorite move to do because it was the easiest. I loved getting to record this with you and Amber. Do you remember when we were all sitting in the recording studio and Adam was like, m okay, let's just try this. We don't really know because remember we did get a demo. That's one of the only songs we can get a demo for, And so I didn't know what the version was going to be, and like, how am I going to sing? Can I

sing that low? We're just kind of throwing things against and that number really goes down in history as one of my favorite numbers to do. Watch and remember. Um okay. So, so we're missing a big storyline here so far that we have not talked about, and it is the defying gravity of it, the diva which we get to see. I mean, this storyline is really Curt and Burt right again, we get to see more of the amazing Michael Maalley

and curtain Burt's relationship really blossom and bloom. You understand the two of them, and it's um a lot of effing heart. Um again, this is like the heart of the show. But h Kurt tells his dad that Um, well, Mr Shoo picks the song to find gravity and obviously it's going to Rachel, right, but Kurt thought it was going to him, and he's upset. Mr She doesn't learn. Mr She was just like, I'm not gonna here's here's the song, and this is who's doing it, and it's

Rachel again. And Mercedes isn't happy because she's like what the hell? And Kurt is sitting there sort of pensive. So he tells Bert in the in his tire store or tire shop, which I also was like, oh wheels, Jenna, Jenna. Um, I really it took till two for me to figure that out. Um. Kurt tells Bert that he wanted the solo but he's not considered because it's, you know, performed by a woman. And Bert says, well, you sing like a girl, you know, in a good way. Um. But

Mr Hamwill gets really upset. Bert goes to Mr. Principal Figgins and Mr. She was like, look, I can't give him the part, but we could do a stay off or a tryout, right, we let an audition for it.

This montage of Kurt doing the warm up um, and then the phone call is brilliant and heartbreaking and one of my favorite of the most tragic moments of the show, Like I was, it hits so hard and it really it brought again it like brought it back down to the ground nous of like what Paris is talking about, like bringing into the social issues and the truth in

the show. And he gets an anonymous phone call saying that his son is fact, which is horrible, and like what a balance of writing and music, like the scoring and the directing of these storylines are all quite different and are all boiling at different emotions, and you get to that phone call and all of a sudden, this feels eerie and dark and troubling, and like in the middle of Glee episode where it doesn't you don't normally

feel that. And Michael Malley, who played Bert, is just so so good and he and Chris are both very serious actors and take it very seriously and are trying to understand where the characters are coming from. And it's like every time Bert opens his mouth, you know the

amount of work and thought that went into that. Yes, you would like see Michael Malley every very few like the few amount of times that we actually got to work with Mike you' always see him in rehearsal, like working through it still, like really digging deep into like why he's there and what he's doing. And um, and I believe that they made each other better actors as well, because they're both so excellent at the top of their game. Um. So, uh, we have the first Diva off. We have our first

Diva off and it's a Divine Gravity. Which have you heard the song before? Kevin? No, I hadn't heard the song before dinner. God. Yeah, I hadn't heard the actual version of this song until we did it, maybe after years ago. So we okay. So the only version of behind Gravity you knew was Kurt was Leah and and Chris and then Amber as well. I only pop version,

that's really I didn't know. And then I went and saw Wicked on Broadway, uh, with Jackie and Jeff and friend Jackie and jack and I. The song happens, you know, in the actual stage musical, and I hadn't realized. I was on the edge of my feet, I mean on the edge of my feet, mouth open, tears down my face. I was like, oh, now I get it. I gotta listen to Wicked today. Now it's so excited, magical theater experience I've ever had. And I looked over and Austin

was just staring at me, smiling, crying. He's like, I was waiting for this moment, proud moment. I had no idea. Yeah, so I'm well, I'm glad you you've made your way around to the Broadway. It couldn't be happier. Um, Kurt makes everybody promise. He says, we all know I'm more popular than Rachel and I dress better than her, which is true. But I want you all to promise me that you're going to vote for whoever sings the song better.

And then he does the unthinkable. He throws it. He throws it on this beautifully shot number where we talked with Paris about moving, going behind the back road the transitions. Um, yeah, he intends, really bombs on the high note. And because has this really really beautiful moment with Bert, and he said, UM, like, I'm not saying I'm going to hiden the closet. I'm proud of who him. I'm just saying that I love you more than I love being a star. Because he's

used to the insults, but Bert isn't. And so he's taking the time for them both to grow together into you know, Kurt as an out gay man. I don't think I ever asked you this, Kevin, did you were you like, I know, you were so close to it, so maybe it's too close for comfort, But like, were you affected by these storylines like as a gay man, or like was it just to kind of like in

the world, like intermixed in the world for you? Um, I had a very hard time removing myself like from so I appreciated it from the standpoint of I watched a lot of gay media. There wasn't very much of it at the time. I was always desperate for it, So I I loved watching them act together. I love that these were the scenes that were being seen on

network television. I understood the importance of that. I didn't necessarily relate to Kurt as a person, um, but I absolutely adored and was obsessed with these scenes and the storyline. UM because this this didn't we were doing a lot of things that didn't happen on network television. And I was excited because I knew like the work I had to do to try to find shows that had gay storylines, and my parents will see this, you know, parents of kids,

gay kids. It was more like the you were feeling like I'm a part of the impact of like what. I was happy to be associated with a show that was doing things like this. That makes sense, That makes sense. Um, all right, so's the time for Tardy Takes. Yeah, that's that's that's the episode. That's what else. I again, one of our favorites, and obviously should be yours because obviously there's only two songs in it. It's there's a lot that happens in it though, and um, you get to

see a lot of everyone. It's yeah, you do, It's nice, it's nice Tardy Takes. All right. So the cringe moment ak we're calling them ou cheese now, thanks Paris. These are the auchies and things that are cringe e Um, I think I have to steal paris Is one about Mr shooting Mercedes. Don't worry, We'll find something for you to dip in chocolate. Yeah that there's no just doesn't there's no coming back, no, no, we should just yeah. Okay, um, jail, So the worst dance move was unseen. I think this

is okay. Imagine the ramp and imagine Amber coming around the corner, so clipping the side. So picture of the ramps, the stage ramp thing weren't two sizes right, there was the upper level. Did you come down to like a middle level and then you go down to the actual stage. Amber was on the middle level trying to make a turn from the side down to the main ramp. She didn't make it. She clipped it the side at the corner and she went flat sideways and she fell wheel.

Her side wheel is turning still. It was. It wasn't funny because she was so upset, but he was. It was also just like it was slow because none of us were moving quickly in those wheelchairs on those ramps. Exactly. Oh god, too many people felt okay, so that was Leah had a Leah took a tumble as well. I think on the actual I think it was in the actual day of film that she just felt she went down, Um, the best song I have to vote dancing with myself, I would I think I would say Brad Mary Wow,

I just loved that so much. Yeah, and also you wouldn't pick your own song so well, okay, but that was all sound great together. We did, we did, we sounded good. Best performance by a prop obviously the wheelchairs or maybe the flower uh. And then things that h

well and didn't edge well. Um. So there's a line Kevin where Quinn says, they're not going to buy you know, bake goods from losers were in a wheelchair and we're in Cleveland, and I was like, oh gosh, okay, alright, they had some of those some of you glee club folk had some words about the wheelchairs that were simply not okay, not great. Um. And then the best line, what do you think? Oh man, I think there's a lot.

I do like the line of already talking to Rachel, I do take your irritating was the time we don't take that personally? Um, but I sort of. There's also the incredible line I don't want to give all them away. So I don't know what yours is, but I think mine was the burnt line of you seem like a girl, you know, in a good way. Look, I don't know how this music stuff works. I'm pretty exclusively committed to

my Melochamp collection. But isn't there more crossover nowadays? You know, chicks doing construction, guys wearing dress shoes and no socks, I think that's my and Chris's reaction to that was also yes, really good. Um, okay, what do you got for me, Kevin? This is ship we found on TikTok this week. Um, this one is hilarious and very random. So Alive Raves on TikTok Um has Yeah, Jenn, are you watching it now? A theory that Harry Styles was mimicking the one and only Finn Hudson dance moves the

stomp and like the shoulder move. You see Harry doing that and it looks very familiar. I don't know if there's a world in which it's related. That's really funny, but it's fun to think like a little sixteen year old Harry Styles just stomping very you know, very much like Corey would do very good. Maybe Harry was a fan. Apparently he came up, you know, with the name One Direction. Sounds like New Directions. I don't know though, But do you remember Simon cal being a big Glee fan because

we so. I sort of knew Simon because I would go see American Idol tapings and talk to him with Rob Stringer, who was the he's the chairman of Sony Records. Um, in Columbia who we were signed with the Glee and he would talk about how much he loved Glee and how um impactful he thought it was and how important he thought it wasn't what how important the work was doing, you know, showing these songs to new audiences and demographics.

And so then we performed on X Factor in the UK and he'll see there's pictures of us meeting one direction back when they were on it, And I remember Rob Stringer coming back and being like, and Ryan Dreg why not Ryan Dante being like, why this Simon? Why is Simon obsessed with you? It's like, he's not obsessed

with me. I know he's obsessed with Artie because he thinks, you know, showing a kid who was in a wheelchair, um, given the power of the music and the Glee Club of being supported like that, that to him encapsulated what was important about Glee, of showing the underdogs of people who normally wouldn't get to be on network television and seen by millions of people, and those stories being seen. And so I really thought he was he was always

very supportive of the show. He was and I don't know, maybe Harry Styles was a fan and he was poppy. Finn Hudson's moves named after new directions. Who knows funny. Um, well that's all we got for you. That's it. That's it, that's the rest of the show. That's it. We're done and I'm kidding. Thank you for joining us and listening to We love that so we hope you enjoyed it as well, and bously check out Paris's episode if you haven't.

Next week is Ballade valid. Also, by the way, um, over the holidays, we kept turning out episodes, so if you have not gone back to listen to get back there, get back there and next miss recording. There's Kent Hammered, Howard bambook he joined us. There's some Darren Chris as well, so go back listen to those. Jenna, it was great fun. It's been fun. It's been real. See you next week and that's what you really missed. Thanks for listening and follow us on Instagram at and that's what you really

miss pod. Make sure to write us a review and leave us five stars. See you next time.