All the Glee news that's fit to print, including the big story of the day: The Glee pictures in GQ, which some people are arguing were NOT fit to print:

Those racy pics of Lea Michele, Dianna Agron and Cory Monteith in GQ are causing quite a stir (... in men's pants): Here's the thing. I could go a long diatribe about how these "scandalous" photos of Lea and Dianna--who, certain parents' organizations want us to remember, play high schoolers and are thus high school kids' role models (or something)--are overtly fetishizing and sexualizing their high school personas with lollipops and knee socks, and how that is bad for children, and bad for Glee, and bad for AMERICA, but really, all I can say is: It's GQ. (Gentleman's Quarterly. This is what they do.) It's Terry Richardson. (This is what he does.) It's America. (This is what we do, even if we pretend it's not.) It's two 24-year-old actresses and a 28-year-old actor who know the best way to make waves (and branch out of the high school stereotype before it strangles their careers) is to embrace their hit show's angle in an adult(-entertainment) way. And they seem to be enjoying themselves, even poking fun at it all--so why are we taking it so seriously? Besides, since when was Glee (lesbian-makeout-showing, pot-brownie-eating, hallucinogenic-gas-abusing Glee) a conservative, buttoned up show for children?

I guess what I'm trying to say is: "Duh. Yawn. What did you expect?" If you want to be offended, be offended, I guess. But maybe you should save your offended energy for the Rocky Horror tribute. More on that below.

Mark Salling released his "Illusions" music video, and by "illusions," he means "those Magic Eye books we all loved as children": This is apparently music video "Version 2," in which undulating sheets of images are meant to trip us out even more than those dreams the Gleeks had when they were under Dr. Carl's laughing gas. What do you think of Mark's solo debut? Are you digging it or would you rather hear Puck's latest ode to Jewish musicians?



Gwyneth Paltrow on Glee: She's started shooting for her November Sweeps debut. Paltrow will pop up on the November 16 episode "The Substitute." Here's the episode description: "When Mr. Schuester gets sick, a substitute teacher (guest star Gwyneth Paltrow) takes over his Spanish class and the glee club and winds up winning over the whole New Directions clan. Meanwhile, when Sue (Jane Lynch) fills in for Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) as McKinley's top dog, she tries to flex her power on campus." I have very little to add, except that I'm a whole lot more interested to see how Sue abuses her power as stand-in principal.

The CW is planning its own "musical and dancing drama": From the people who brought us Camp and Bandslam, Acting Out is being pitched as a "Glee meets Bad Santa" comedy-drama about kids, counselors and a curmudgeonly owner at a summer camp, according to MTV. I'm not much one for copycats, but I'm a real sucker for summer camp. If it's anything like Heavyweights, Wet Hot American Summer or Salute Your Shorts!, I'm not sure I'll be able to stay away.

Does censoring and changing the gender roles in Rocky Horror Picture Show ruin the point of Rocky Horror?: Such is the question posed, and answered, by Alex Blaze at The Bilerico Project, a site dedicated to LGBTQ topics and their depictions in culture. To summarize his argument: Casting Frank N. Furter as a woman, making Rocky's wardrobe more conservative, changing song lyrics to be more PG, and other evidence of family- and hetero-centric alterations, don't just water down the original: they pretty much change/ruin the entire point of Rocky Horror, which is "about the outside world coming into contact with uber-queer subculture," and having that subculture win. Since the episode hasn't aired yet, it's a little soon to issue a definitive verdict, but ... good point. Very good point. 

That certainly gives us all something to think about until Tuesday, but let's end things on a Gleeky high note: Silver-lining-oriented as it is, Movieline wrote this list of "5 Things Glee Has Done Right This Season," and I'm inclined to agree with all of them, especially #1, #4 and #5. Sometimes we just need to put all the Glee-bashing aside and remember the things we love about the show, and all the gifts its given us (Brittany!), even if Rocky Horror may not turn out to be one of them.

One last thing: Check out these photos from Glee episode 2.6, "Never Been Kissed"!


(Image courtesy of Fox/GQ)