Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2009 > November > 11 > Entry
Disabled actors upset about tonight’s ‘Glee’
Some disabled actors are speaking out against FOX TV’s “Glee,” which airs an episode tonight largely based upon the paraplegic character Artie, portrayed by Kevin McHale — an actor who, unlike Artie, does not have to use a wheelchair. The criticisms appear in an article from the Associated Press.
Robert David Hall, a longtime cast member of CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” heads a multi-union committee for performers with disabilities, according to the article. He suggests that fears of litigation, production slowdowns or viewer discomfort are poor reasons for casting non-disabled actors as disabled characters. “I’ve made my living as an actor for 30 years and I walk on two artificial legs,” Hall is quoted as saying.
“Glee’s” executive producer, Brad Falchuk, says plenty of wheelchair-using actors were auditioned for the part. “We brought in anyone: white, black, Asian, in a wheelchair,” he said. “It was very hard to find people who could really sing, really act, and have that charisma you need on TV.”
Casting controversy aside, I found tonight’s “very special” episode to continue the confusing slide in quality “Glee” was experiencing before its recent hiatus. The more pseudo-serious the show gets, the less funny and entertaining it becomes. Tonight’s effort seems more like an after-school special, except for the consequence-free introduction of pot-laced brownies to a bake sale — and didn’t the show just have an episode that hammered home how bad drugs are?
This exemplifies the schizophrenia problem from which “Glee” is suffering. It continues with the character assassination the writers are perpetrating on Jane Lynch’s Cheerios leader, Sue Sylvester. Will she be nice tonight? Or evil? Maybe this is the week in which she’ll be both … I won’t spoil it, except to note that the episode ends with a treacly Sue scene that, I guess, attempts to explain her odd behavior, but doesn’t do that at all.
Sue’s secret was not, as the winner of our recent TV Blog contest Gabe Hernandez guessed, that she is pregnant with newscaster Rod’s baby. Nice try, though. Enjoy that soundtrack CD, Gabe. You may want to just listen to it instead of watching tonight’s episode.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Entertainment
Comments
Austinites love to be heard, and we're giving you a bullhorn. We just ask that you keep things civil. Leave out the personal attacks. Do not use profanity, ethnic or racial slurs, or take shots at anyone's sexual orientation or religion. If you can't be nice, we reserve the right to remove your material and ban users who violate our Visitor's agreement. Click here to report comment abuse.