There was a tale of two Christmases on TV last night. Over at NBC, Carrie Underwood led the cast of “Sound of Music Live!” in a joyous rendition of the Julie Andrews classic. While no one involved in the production is likely to win an Emmy anytime soon, the singing was flawless and it was a squeaky clean program that lived up to its “TV G” rating. Over at Fox it was another story. Glee’s “Previously Unaired Christmas” should have stayed true to its name and remained a lost script, considering it was complete with a bisexual Santa, transgender Virgin Mary and its fair share of drunkenness.
Glee producer Ryan Murphy is used to pushing the moral boundaries on his hit musical show, but last night’s episode may have gone a little too far even for his most loyal viewers – especially Christian ones. In true holiday spirit, the show featured a bisexual “Sexy Santa,” who in one scene makes out with and ties up in bed one of the show’s gay male characters and at another point gets two female characters good and drunk before robbing them blind. While, in another scene, the transgender student Unique portrays the Virgin Mary in their high school’s nativity scene and gives birth to the baby Jesus.
I used to watch Glee. It used to be one of my favorite shows. The characters were likeable, the storylines were (for the most part) primetime appropriate (singing rivalries vs. drunken sexuality) and the musical numbers were fun and fully clothed. But, season one now seems like a distant memory compared with the racy plotlines and immoral behavior it’s promoting today.
Glee is not a late-night program. While it currently airs Thursdays at 9 p.m., starting in February it’s moving to Tuesdays at 8 p.m. – well before many children’s bedtimes. I just hope parents tuned into “The Sound of Music” last night instead of the inappropriate bumping and grinding at Fox.
It’s safe to say “Glee” is no longer one of “My Favorite Things.”
