This Christmas Glee is giving fans a wonderful present: a Love, Actually tribute. This season's Xmas episode, airing Thursday, December 13 at 9pm, will be a tribute to the brilliant movie, appropriately titled "Glee, Actually."

The episode will use the film's style of telling several disparate stories that all come together in beautiful ways. Here's the official synopsis:

"In a tribute to the film Love, Actually, seemingly separate storylines come together as one holiday-themed episode, in which Sam and Brittany live their lives to the fullest before the much-heralded Mayan Apocalypse occurs. Meanwhile, Jake and Puck spend quality sibling time together for Hanukah, Artie has a holiday dream that changes his outlook on life and Kurt has a Christmas he'll never forget."

The Mayan Apocalypse stuff certainly provides some insight to the photo Ryan Murphy tweeted of Sam and Brittany seemingly dressed as a bride and groom. Maybe they want to get married before the world ends.

But how can Glee successfully respect one of my favorite movies of all-time? Here are five suggestions for what the show needs to do to be as great as Love, Actually.

Use The Movie's Soundtrack

The movie itself has many great songs that would be perfect for Glee to cover. Most importantly would be "Jump (for My Love" by the Pointer Sisters, "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys, "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell and "All You Need Is Love" by the Beatles. And I know Mercedes sang "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in last season's Christmas episode, but not using it for a Love, Actually episode would be a travesty.

Recreate the Cue Card Scene

One of the most touching scenes in Love, Actually is when Mark (Andrew Lincoln) stands outside Juliet's door and holds up cue cards about his feelings for his best friend's wife. Glee NEEDS to do that scene. And if they can add a zombie element (a wink to Lincoln's new role on The Walking Dead), it would be even better.

Someone Needs to Run Through an Airport

You can't get much better than the climactic scene where precocious kid Sam runs through the airport as the music swells to tell the girl he loves that he loves her. This feels like a perfect opportunity to bring Rachel and Finn or Blaine and Kurt back together.

Sue as Billy Mack

If there's one storyline that makes sense for Glee, it's Sue Sylvester as the outspoken, washed-up rock star who comes to the realization that the person he loves most is the fat manager he'd been mocking the whole time. Clearly Will "Butt Chin" Schuester is Sue's Joe.

"Miss Dunkin Donut 2003"

This is a very minor thing that maybe only I care about, but when Jamie is walking through the streets to propose to Aurelia, her father mocks her sister by calling her "Miss Dunkin Donut 2003." That's one of my favorite insults of all-time, and it would make me laugh if Sue would use it, presumably on Unique.


What do you think of a Love, Actually episode of Glee? Are there any other must-have inclusions? Maybe Rory making a surprise return to America so he can visit a local bar in Wisconsin and have many beautiful women fall in love with his accent? Or a cameo by Rowan Atkinson as a jewelry salesman?

The Glee Christmas episode airs Thursday, December 13 at 9pm on FOX.


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(Image courtesy of @MrRPMurphy)