And the uncalled false start penalty.

But the entire sequence was made up for by “I had sex with your mother. No, seriously. I actually had sex with your mother” delivery.

After all, GLEE is a musical comedy set in a heightened reality. Genre is part of the issue here. Comedies rarely depict completely believable worlds: some aspect of reality must be skewed in order to tease out laughs. There is an innate suspension of disbelief. Dramas, meanwhile, are placed in a more tangible reality, where the need to suspend disbelief is more fervently frowned on.

In GLEE, the over the top aspects of this high school’s world, from the Single Ladies football dance to the Celibacy Club to the host of wacky teachers with very peculiar conditions, are a matter of course. The show isn’t SUPPOSED to be taken seriously a la THE WIRE. It’s a comedy at heart, and I think this distinction gives it the power to suspend my disbelief a little bit more, so long as it still delivers what it promises: musical numbers and amusing dialogue.

That said, I do agree with Belinkie that the actual plotline of the episode pushed the line a little. But again, I’m just going to run with it. This show isn’t going to replace LOST in my heart. I’m willing to let the football players put a ring on it if they want.

@Gab, RE: Superbowl Shuffle. They referrenced it in the episode, so I’m pretty sure the final seconds stunt was a tribute in some respect.

HOWEVER, while I know NFL players get fined for it, I am now curious as to whether there are rules in hs football about trash-talking on the field.

And football players dance all the time, right? I mean, c’mon, don’t you remember “Remember the Titans” or “The Replacements?” ;p

But IRL, the Bears made “The Superbowl Shuffle” when they went to the Superbowl (one of the reasons I’m a Bears fan):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJNC3dgreaU

I actually wondered if this bit from _Glee_ was some sort of tribute to that, believe it or not.

Obviously I’m being facetious, but it illustrates an interesting point: the target demo for Glee probably doesn’t watch much football and probably doesn’t know about the rule upon which this post is based (I certainly didn’t). As Kristina said above, we watch for the musical numbers. Personally, I was laughing my ass off during this entire sequence.

Consider also the dual utility of this episode:

1. Flesh out the character of Kurt
2. Explain why 4 football jocks are suddenly in the glee club at the beginning of the next episode.

When viewed in this context the episode should be considered a success in the overall arc of the series, even though it was clearly not their best work. What’s the opposite of “filler?”

Honestly, the dancing football team by itself wouldn’t bother me too much – it’s silly show, silly things happen. What BOTHERS me is these guys can’t tell a story.

If by “story” you mean “something out of the warmed-over Joseph Campbell screenwriting seminar Robert McKee spec script turnaround d-girl script coverage playbook”, then I agree completely.