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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: November 29, 2012
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: Glee, “Thanksgiving” (season 4, episode 8). [Stream on Netflix.]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: It doesn’t get mentioned enough — mostly because by its fourth season, the bloom was off the rose and people weren’t paying nearly that close attention anymore — but Glee did some interesting things and had some unexpected successes when it came to keeping the show’s story going past the graduation of its principal high-school characters. The originals stuck around, some full-time and some recurring, and new cast members (including current Supergirl Melissa Benoist and movie-star Blake Jenner) were added. I’m not remotely claiming that the results were uniformly good, or even good on balance, but the way that Glee fragmented itself in those later years felt like an active choice to recognize the fragmented reality of the post-high-school experience.
The most successful branch of the Glee tree in these years involved Rachel and Kurt and whomever was wrapped up in their New York City story at the time. Yes, this includes all of Rachel Berry’s absurd rise through the Broadway ranks as a teenage phenomenon. Yes, it includes Kurt and Blaine going through dozens of breakups and make-ups with diminishing returns. And yes, it includes more of that classic Ryan Murphy star-fuckery that would draw above-title stars to the show. Those stars were often blonde and female and in the Gwyneth Paltrow mold. Kate Hudson fit this mold, playing Rachel’s terrifying dance instructor. And Sarah Jessica Parker fit this mold.
Sarah Jessica Parker has been a gay icon for so long, it’s hard to remember why. (Okay, it’s not hard: Sex and the City was the greatest show about gay men in TV history.) She also has a long history of defying embarrassment when she wants to cash in on her celebrity. Or have we all forgotten that GAP campaign from days of yore?
So it’s no surprise that SJP jumped into her Glee role with the same kind of caution-to-the-wind confidence of a woman who knows that her gay fans haven’t abandoned her thus far, so why not test those boundaries? That has to be the only explanation why anyone would have thought a mashup of Scissor Sisters’ “Let’s Have a Kiki” and “Turkey Lurkey Time” from Broadway’s Promises, Promises was a good idea.
“Oooh! She’s been a bitch tonight!” Tell us about it, Janet Sarah. Somehow less convincing than Sarah Jessica Parker being a fierce queen capable of working a room like the finest drag queen is sheltered little Kurt suddenly having the wherewithal to serve Scissor Sisters realness while explaining to New York art kids that a kiki is a party for calming all your nerves and spilling tea and serving just desserts when they deserve. And that’s before we even get into the stylistic whiplash that is “Turkey Lurkey Time.” NOT ALL CAMP IS CONGRUOUS, GLEE!
Still, we were so long past the point of Glee striving to be a great show; at least it could occasionally be the kind of show you would demand other people watch just to see something nuttier than you were going to get on any other channel. And on that level, Glee (and Sarah Jessica Parker) succeeded wildly.
