Re: 5x19 "Old Dog, New Tricks" Watch & Discussion thread

[fantastica]

okie dokie. watched the episode last night. haven't seen so much kurt in one episode since that grilled Jesus one. first the negative: the dogs were too well-trained. they should behave like wild dogs. I have had untrained dogs and they don't listen to people (LOL). these are highly trained movie dogs. they are so tame. but that's not chris' fault. real wild dogs can't appear in movies. they will chew up all the wiring and won't follow any orders no doubtly.

some part of the editing seem a bit weird/abrupt. again this has nothing to do w/ chris.

i don't mind the mother-daughter mini-plot. it's very predictable, but this is a self-contained episode so it has to get concluded. maybe for a less sugary alternative we can see the daughter sending a real flower to the mother but not appearing in person. at least that would appear to be the first step in reconciliation. but then, it would not be glee. glee has a particular formula and happy ending is pretty much a mandate.

that last song became an ear worm and i was humming it all night last night and drove my hubby nuts.   

i have to admit that i really really liked santana in this episode. i also liked samcedes and artie. i wish chris can write for all these characters. i like these characters under his authorship. they are not super mean and throwing insults left and right, but they are still funny. they are more like real people than caricatures that glee made them out to be.

i won't watch the crap next week. i will come here and read all your report instead.

[Glorfindel]

I know they might not be super high, but anyone has the itune charts?

Top 1500
 
363. Take Me Home Tonight
715. I Melt With You
983. Memory
1269. Story Of My Life
1333. Wake Me Up
1364. Lucky Star
 
 
Top 1500 Pop - only new songs
 
655. Werewolves Of London
 
 
Top 1500 Albums
 
27. Old Dog, New Tricks
333. Back Up Plan


Tumbr reported that the EP charted #6 on iTunes at some point, but I don't know if this is the same charting system as the one I posted above.

[angelnessa]

It hit #6 on just the pop genre chart. I think that's about typical for a Glee album anymore, maybe a little better.

Last I saw, the episode itself was sitting at about #15 in the TV downloads. I remember those long-gone days where Glee would be the #1 downloaded show after every episode.

[brisallie]

Yeah, how things have changed. As usually I wait for the subs, I've realized I'm not doing anymore as even the people that is in charge of the subtitles is taking more time than that usual to do everything. I wonder if they even have lost interest.

[Buenos]

I think that everyone in the Glee production side is going through the motions. Nothing is coordinated anymore, no buzz nor exciting planned events are done anymore.

[brisallie]

@Buenos, pretty much people are doing their job, but is right, there's not so much excitement.

I know part of me still would like to see Kurt hanging out with new friends, as these two haven't been so nice lately, but I've to confess that I found sweet this scene



...when we have lovely kurtcheltana moments, we have.

[ColferInspired]

http://basedonnothing.net/2014/05/07/glee-season-5-the-music-recap-old-dog-new-tricks/

This episode is probably the most reviewed this Season.

There are so many positive reviews.

And let's not forget different ones that probably DVR this episode because of work commitments.

Chris wrote this during takes, and he had to wait to see what happened with two other episodes, with getting the scripts.

This is an incredible effort for so many reviewers to say they liked it or loved it.

Chris don't care about ratings, he cares about us his fans.  

[ColferInspired]

We’ve got one more season left with these characters and this last stretch of episodes has been encouraging. Tonight’s episode was a nice departure and effectively touching and funny throughout; Colfer’s ability to convey a lot through his honed in performances clearly translates to his writing as well. Maybe you’ve been outside of the Glee bubble for a while—I’d encourage you check back in and see how talented Colfer proves to be for yourself.
“

—	Untempered Television

http://www.untemperedtv.com/?p=980

[ColferInspired]

After Ellen: http://www.afterellen.com/glee-recap-5-19-old-dog-new-tricks/05/2014/

Vulture: http://www.vulture.com/2014/05/glee-recap-season-5-june-squibb-billy-dee-williams.html

Hypable: http://www.hypable.com/2014/05/06/glee-season-5-episode-19-recap-old-dog-new-tricks/?utm_content=recaps&utm_campaign=sidebar&utm_source=article&utm_medium=link

Digital Spy: http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/s57/glee/recaps/a569340/glee-is-chris-colfers-old-dog-new-tricks-cheesiest-episode-ever.html#~oDBX4iuePd0hUe

[Glorfindel]

Yeah, how things have changed. As usually I wait for the subs, I've realized I'm not doing anymore as even the people that is in charge of the subtitles is taking more time than that usual to do everything. I wonder if they even have lost interest.

I've noticed that the Dutch subtitles also take a lot more time to be made and uploaded. And there are not as many people downloading the show anymore either.

It's just over, guys.

BTW: Glee adjusted down in ratings: 0.8 /2.10.   

Chris wrote this during takes, and he had to wait to see what happened with two other episodes, with getting the scripts.

This is an incredible effort for so many reviewers to say they liked it or loved it.

   This.

Some people seem to forget that writing an episode for Glee was not Chris' daytime job. Because of the bad planning and production Chris needed to wait till the script for 5x17 was out, so he knew where the characters were in canon (which is ridiculous: the writers should have informed him about what was going to happen much earlier). That left him with only 2 weeks to write the script.
On top of that he wasnt given some time-off from filming so he could write: he literally had to write inbetween scenes and lighting.

If that's the way you treat your writers, Glee.....   

Chris don't care about ratings, he cares about us his fans.  

Yes.  

We’ve got one more season left with these characters and this last stretch of episodes has been encouraging. Tonight’s episode was a nice departure and effectively touching and funny throughout; Colfer’s ability to convey a lot through his honed in performances clearly translates to his writing as well. Maybe you’ve been outside of the Glee bubble for a while—I’d encourage you check back in and see how talented Colfer proves to be for yourself.
“

—	Untempered Television

http://www.untemperedtv.com/?p=980

This is a very flattering and nice review.  

[ColferInspired]

“This week’s Chris Colfer-penned episode gave us lots to gawk at: Blaine hugging dogs, Kurt’s arms in that Peter Pan costume— and reasons to cheer—Santana finding a purpose, Rachel getting grounded. If this doesn’t score Colfer an Emmy nomination, it should at least nab him more screenwriting work.”

—	NewNowNext

Despite the ratings, I think we can call this episode a success.  

[tanita_mors]

i still haven't watched it, but i'm really happy that chris's episode is well received.

[Buenos]

I will have to say I find amusing and entertaining the visceral reactions to Chris having a SL where someone in an old folks' home wasn't visited by their adult child. Somehow he was "guilting"the daughter, whereas I thought his point was that once someone is gone, it's too late and there is still time when people are alive to try to mend things.

The flip side that some don't want to admit is there are adult children with no "issues" who simply don't make the time nor inclination to visit. Of course in this case Chris made it "grey" in that Maggie was far from an ideal mom.

From "Struck by Lightning" it's obvious Chris feels a connection with older folks.

[bayth]

From "Struck by Lightning" it's obvious Chris feels a connection with older folks.

I think part of that might be because he seems to be close to his grandparents. He speaks of them and you have to wonder about the "lunch ladies". The lunch ladies I have encountered aren't very young...

[ColferInspired]

Another review.  

http://poptimal.com/2014/05/08/glee-review-underdog-rescue/

[Glorfindel]

This is a tumblr review, so not from an established critic, but it's good, hits some truths and is funny to read: link.  

[ColferInspired]

This is a tumblr review, so not from an established critic, but it's good, hits some truths and is funny to read: link.  

I love this persons reviews as they hate Blarren with a passion.

Shame this will their last one.

[Delight]

This is a tumblr review, so not from an established critic, but it's good, hits some truths and is funny to read: link.  

Thanks for the link. It is fun to read, what with the unexpected cameo appearances of various characters from various movies   

Thanks, also, for relieving my fears that I may be a bad stan for being somewhat critical about Chris's episode   . After thinking about it a little more, I realize that I've watched the episode with a critical eye precisely because I care so much about it, and I harbour such high expectations for it. It is not a coincidence that there had been so many reviews for the episode Chris had penned. People are taking it seriously and are actually paying attention to various scenes and stories in the episode because it is not a typical Glee episode whereby one can just brush off any inconsistency or WTF plot with the thought 'But it's Glee'.

Glee, when it used to be good, had generated plenty of critical discussion because the characters were well-loved and their behaviours and motivations made sense. Nowadays, most of the Glee episodes had me sighing in disappointment and feeling foolish for even deigning to take any of the plot developments seriously. There had been too many instances of the characters being jerked around like marionettes to tell whatever story the writers feel like telling for that one episode, disregarding all previous story developments and characterization. I wonder if the thought processes of the Glee writers went like this: So I want to talk about STD in this episode-- let's have Artie get chlamydia (never mind that it makes little sense for Artie to suddenly become hot stuff among the girls in college; and so what if he has a girlfriend already). I want to promote public awareness of domestic violence-- Lemme see, Beiste is the only one who's married on this show so let's turn her husband into a physically violent and abusive spouse (it doesn't matter anyway since he's not going to be shown in anymore episodes after this one). Hmm... Wrecking Ball is doing so well on the charts and we need to get one of the characters to sing it-- I know, let's make Jake cheat on Marley so that Marley has a good reason to sing the song.  

Chris respected the characters he wrote about, and it shows in his writing. How I wish the official writers for Glee would do the same.

[Glorfindel]

Hypable Honors: ‘Once Upon a Time’ and ‘Glee’ outshine the rest
By Kristen Kranz (@kranzie85) at 4:30 pm, May 9, 2014 | Reviewed by Donya Abramo


Comedy

Show: ‘Glee’

Actor: Chris Colfer

Chris Colfer impressed us on two fronts this week. Kurt was his normal, charming self on screen, but off screen Colfer was responsible for writing an engrossingly adorable and character-driven episode. His writing for Rachel, Santana, Mercedes, Sam, and Kurt was above and beyond what we could have imagined.
And who wouldn’t love seeing Kurt take on Peter Pan in an old folks home production of the classic play? Especially when it provided such great material for laughs. When you add in the dogs (especially that musical number at the end), and June Squibb, and all the stops that Chris Colfer brought out, we couldn’t be happier to see him don his writer’s hat for Glee.
In addition to being our beloved Kurt Hummel, we couldn’t be happier to see Chris find success in every aspect of his life. His career as an author is blooming quite beautifully, but he could also write for television and this episode proved that in spades.

x

[tanita_mors]

OMG, my two faves together. Kurt and Regina.     

[Glorfindel]

Kurt mentioned her show, Long Island Medium, in his first conversation with Maggie.  

[Puckurt]

I was a little disappointed by Chris' episode, I thought it was kind of weird how he wrote Kurt to be so mean and angry. Kurt's always been written as everyone's assistant, so I thought he'd understand that's what he is in everyone's eyes. To blow up on everyone for not supporting him for some small show that no one cares about was dumb, and so out of character. I really liked that he had Blaine help Rachel though, at least Blaine could be there for Kurt's "best friend". Anyway Kurt sounded amazing on his songs though!

[mindschemez]

lol

[ChrisColferFan1]

I really like this episode. I am watching it again right now. Sure it is not perfect but sitll a great episode, The best thing about this episode is Kurt having his own storyline and not just being a prop to other characters.

[Puckurt]

I don't remember any episodes of glee where Kurt is a prop to people. Kurt is a great character! I didn't like this episode because he had an awful attitude to his friends, his friends that are always nice to him! I wish Puck was there to talk to him, he'd have given Kurt support. At least Blaine was there to support him. I like it the most when someone is with Kurt in his storyline.

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