Season Five of "Glee" begins tonight (on FOX @ 9pm ET) with the first half of a two-episode tribute to one of the biggest bands of all time: The Beatles! Over the course of the season's first two weeks, the show will cover such timeless classics as "Hey Jude", "Let It Be", and "All You Need Is Love". This epic celebration of The Beatles has been in the works for years, and promises to deliver some of the show's biggest numbers. "Glee" became famous for its elaborate tribute episodes back in Season One with an episode devoted to Madonna; since then, there have been ten tributes of varying quality. In honor of the start of the new season, here's our ranking of the tributes, from glum to glee-ful!
Early in the second season, Mr. Schuester decided to put on "The Rocky Horror Show" as McKinley's school musical, after finding out that his crush, Emma, loved the show. His choice was met with skepticism and resistance from colleagues and students alike, given the inappropriateness of the material. And while "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy's passion for the quirky cult musical is admirable, perhaps those skeptics were right. Why try paying tribute to a show starring a mad scientist transvestite when you have to change the key lyric of his big number from "Transsexual Transylvania" to "Sensational Transylvania"? A subplot about Finn feeling uncomfortable acting in his underwear probably did more harm than good when he finally took off his shirt to reveal...a totally admirable body. If he feels uncomfortable, what's that going to say to the kids watching at home who don't have visible abs like him?
Mercedes as Dr. Frank-N-Furter was just weird. Emma singing "Touch A Touch A Touch A Touch Me" to a half-naked Schuester was barely appropriate. So best number goes, by default, to guest star John Stamos' rendition of this fun, rockabilly number that had the whole glee club jamming out in the choir room. Any excuse to get Uncle Jesse singing is a good one.
This tribute to the classic 1977 John Travolta film had some fun numbers (the opening Blaine-Brittany-Mike dance number; Vocal Adrenaline's rendition of Boogie Shoes), but most of the episode fell flat with a patronizing plot of Schuester trying to force the seniors to declare their life dreams. Hey, Mr. Schuester: you don't have to know exactly what you want to do with your life to go to college. Sometimes college helps you discover those dreams. An alarming subplot of Brittany releasing a sex tape of her and Santana, and an out-of-nowhere decision by Finn to become an actor left many viewers scratching their heads.
Mercedes tore it up on this fiery Trammps number (pun intended), backed up by Santana and Brittany. A perfect combination of killer vocals and great dance moves -- made even better when Sam uploaded a video of it to YouTube, helping his crush realize how talented she really is.
Quite possibly the most highly-anticipated tribute episode "Glee" has ever tackled -- so it was probably inevitable that it would end up disappointing. But man, was this episode a letdown. The writers attempted to cram in too many songs (9!!!), leaving too little room for a coherent story. What little plot there was felt like a total rehash of the "Funk" episode in Season One: rival show choir pulls a prank that leaves the New Directions disheartened, the New Directions teach their rival a lesson by...singing to them. Kurt's decision not to press charges against Sebastian for almost blinding his boyfriend was particularly bizarre. That's not fighting violence with violence, Kurt, that's fighting violence with legal recourse.
Santana and the evil Sebastian tore it up on a fantastic interpretation of this classic tune, accompanied solely by two cellists (who are a real-life Croatian duo called, appropriately, 2CELLOS).
After Madonna, "Glee" devoted its second tribute to Britney Spears in the beginning of the second season. It was the first time that cheerleader Brittany sang on the show, and while many fans were delighted that their favorite airhead was finally featured after a whole season in the background, just as many were dismayed that this tribute abandoned the plot-appropriate song choices of the Madonna tribute in favor of a series of plot-irrelevant music videos. Almost every song that occurred in this episode was the result of a hallucination by a character while under anesthesia at the dentist -- which means they were just excuses to show off some cool, over-produced dance sequences. (Although, bonus points for the clever reveal that Brittany's full name is actually "Brittany S. Pierce.")
Even though it was admittedly a completely superfluous number that had absolutely no context in the plot, it was thrilling to get to see Brittany-portrayer Heather Morris break out her sick dance moves. Morris was previously a backup dancer for Beyoncé, and she tore it up in this number, which recreated scenes from several famous Britney music videos including "I'm A Slave 4 U", "Oops! I Did It Again", and "Toxic".
By the sixth episode of the fourth season, some viewers were already starting to get tired of the writers' attempts to replace the original characters who had graduated with a new crop of 2.0 clones. So when they paired those new characters with one of the most overdone high school musicals, the results were mixed. Positives: guest star Kate Hudson singing a sultry rendition of "There Are Worse Things I Could Do"; Blaine crooning "Beauty School Drop Out". Negatives: Santana came back from college to play Rizzo in a high school production (wtf?); a ridiculous storyline where Marley thought she was gaining weight because rival Kitty kept taking in all of her costumes (apparently she didn't notice that all of her regular clothes still fit perfectly).
It's not a coincidence that the best number in the episode featured mostly original cast members. While watching the performance, Rachel enters a dream sequence where she finally gets to finish the song she started with ex-boyfriend Finn way back in the first episode of the series, backed up by other graduates like Kurt, Santana, and Mike.
Ah, when the "newbies" were still new... The second episode of the fourth season was the second tribute "Glee" dedicated to Britney Spears. This one automatically beats the first because it featured zero hallucinations. This time around, most of the songs were actually plot relevant, including a sexy rendition of "Oops! I Did It Again" by Rachel (trying to impress an overly-critical Kate Hudson), and a hilarious recreation of Britney's VMA crash-and-burn performance of "Gimme More". Plus, Brittany's meltdown due to separation anxiety from graduated girlfriend Santana is a feeling many young people could easily identify with.
Some of the best covers on "Glee" are when they reinterpret a song rather than copy it exactly. So this acoustic version of "3", sung by Tina, Sam, and Joe, was a completely unexpected and completely awesome surprise. Who would have thought to strip down Britney's anthem to threesomes into a soulful, guitar-strumming, hand-clapping ballad?
For the penultimate episode of the fourth season, "Glee" paid tribute to soul king Stevie Wonder. Cheered by fans for featuring many beloved characters who had been sidelined for most of Season 4 (including Mercedes, Artie, and Kurt), this episode had a decidedly early-"Glee" vibe to it, which can never be a bad thing. Artie, after being accepted into film school in NYC, deals with fears of being handicapped in a big city and leaving his devoted mom behind (played by guest star Katey Sagal). Mercedes struggles with the unreasonable demands of her L.A. record producer. Kurt rejoices after some good news from his sick father. Oh, and Blaine plans to propose to ex-boyfriend Kurt, who still hasn't entirely forgiven Blaine for cheating on him earlier that year. (Huh?)
The episode also featured the return of dancer Mike Chang, who journeyed back to McKinley to help the glee kids prepare for Regionals. He danced alongside newbie Jake (who's also a terrific dancer), while Jake sang Wonder's classic "I Wish". Mike's moves were sorely missed, and it was great seeing him back in action in this fun, elaborately-choreographed number.
"Glee" paid tribute to the late Whitney Houston two months after the pop icon tragically passed away. The episode used the kids' sadness over her death to help them express their grief over their impending goodbyes (half the group was only a few weeks away from graduation). It's a poignant episode for anyone who's ever been a senior in high school and had to say goodbye not only to their friends but to their childhood (aka almost everyone). It's also a moving tribute to the life of someone a lot of people looked up to, in spite of (or because of) her struggles -- a sentiment that is sure to be repeated this year with the show's tribute to the troubled life of dearly departed star Cory Monteith.
The episode opened with a slowed-down, a cappella version of Houston's dance tune sung by four of Glee's strongest vocalists: Rachel, Mercedes, Santana, and Kurt. It was a haunting-but-beautiful number full of delicious harmonies that ended appropriately with a single spotlight on an empty stage.
This Season 2 episode focused not only on the music of one band, but on their music from one specific album. Covering songs exclusively from Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours", this is also one of the show's funniest tribute episodes. It introduced the world to the glory of Brittany's inane online talk show, "Fondue For Two", guest starring her obese cat Lord Tubbington. It resurrected the school's newspaper, entitled "The Muckraker", whose sole mission is to "make stuff up." It featured the return of guest star and Broadway legend Kristin Chenoweth as boozy April Rhodes. And it culminated in a revelation that was all the more heartbreaking for being incredibly timely: glee clubber Sam was homeless after his dad lost his job, and was living in a motel room with his two younger siblings. The glee club banded together to buy Sam back his guitar, which he had hocked to make a little money, and the episode ended with a hopeful and rousing rendition of "Don't Stop".
This song was a quiet, tender moment in an episode filled with laugh-out-loud one-liners. Santana, struggling with her feelings for fellow cheerleader Brittany, finally admits her love to her friend by singing this tune. It was far from the conclusion to this couple's story, but it was a beautiful and tearful step in the right direction, featuring terrific vocals from Naya Rivera.
Sometimes the first really is the best. The show's original tribute is still their most well-done, exhibiting a perfect balance between story and music that the other tributes have struggled to achieve. Feeling disrespected, the girls of the glee club are determined to empower themselves by singing the music of the Material Girl. Several glee clubbers decide to lose their virginity (although only one ends up going through with it). Sue recreates the famous "Vogue" music video. Kurt and Mercedes join the Cheerios. The boys learn to treat the girls better. Full of lessons about respect, misogyny, and sex without feeling overly preachy, "The Power Of Madonna" is still the unsurpassed champion of "Glee" tributes.
With its large backup choir of soulful gospel singers, this episode-ending group number quickly became the first season's other most iconic song (after "Don't Stop Believin'", natch). Fun fact: one of the gospel singers is actually the mother of Amber Riley (who plays Mercedes). The two can be seen dancing together throughout most of the number.
Which of the "Glee" tribute episodes did you enjoy the most? Where do you think the Beatles tribute will fall in the ranking? Voice your opinions by tweeting us @StageBuddy!
