S01.E07: Rivalry Week

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

After Pastor Magnus invites the Second First Choir to perform at the Church of Perpetual Praise, Arthur resolves to sound better than ever to spite him. But when he adds a new singer to the choir - a woman from Ginny's past - Ginny spirals over how to co-exist with a choir member who she hates.

Original air date: 11/7/19

[kirinan]

I really liked tonight’s episode. The pink hair—all of it—made me laugh out loud. And I have to say, this is the only show that makes me do that these days. It’s the best mix of snarky, flat-out crazy, and sweet. I love how Arthur smiles when he finally gets into the performances; Bradley Whitford is perfect in this role. 

[memememe76]

This may be my favourite episode. I have come to have affection for all of the characters. 

[Suzysite]

I was pretty surprised (and yet, not) that the songs they did in church were both secular songs.  That's fine for the community events they've done, but in church on Sunday morning?  Not likely.  It wouldn't have killed them or even been hard to get rights to a couple of songs from the hymnal.

[schnauzergirl]

I was about to write this show off, but last night's episode was a winner.

[Shanna Marie]

5 hours ago, Suzysite said:

I was pretty surprised (and yet, not) that the songs they did in church were both secular songs.  That's fine for the community events they've done, but in church on Sunday morning?  Not likely. 

That's been my problem with the series. As a lifelong church choir member, I desperately want to like this series, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that the writers have never actually attended a church and everything they know about choirs they learned from watching Glee. I had to turn it off during the church service at the beginning of the episode because I just couldn't take it anymore. I suspect I'm not their target audience. There's plenty of comedy material in a church choir, but this show isn't it.

[tennisgurl]

"Their names are not all really Spartacus but its a nice gesture."

That was a really fun episode, I just enjoy these characters a lot and enjoy spending time with them once a week, and a lot of times that all I can ask a sitcom for. Everyone and their multicolored hair was cute, and as snarky and cynical as Arthur often is, I do love how truly passionate he is about music, and how happy he looks when the choir performs well. 

[Sara2009]

I know it’s unrealistic, but I’m glad that the choir doesn’t perform hymns. That would get boring very quickly IMO.

[aradia22]

I'd hoped they weren't going to bring Laura Bell Bundy out of semi-acting retirement only to not let her song. Though, honestly, classical is not really her strong suit. You can hear that she's a little shaky. This is coming from someone who LOVES Legally Blonde and thinks a couple of songs on her country albums are BOPS.

Silly Arthur. He played right into her hands. You don't fire someone until AFTER they finish doing your hair. 

EXCUSE ME. Pink is one of the BEST tasting Starbursts.

This episode was a little weak. I liked that they focused on Dwayne. But they didn't really. And then it came back to him and it felt kind of unsatisfying. I wish the show would realize every week doesn't have to have Arthur and Ginny be the A plot and B plot. Glee wasn't about Rachel and Schu ALL the time. 

Speaking of Glee, choir is not the same as show choir. Not that their moves are so advanced but how are they learning the songs AND all the synchronized choreography on such short notice?

The Reverend is so good. Even just the pink bangs killed me.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This show makes me laugh and it's also sweet without being saccharin. I'm glad that they are expanding the plotlines beyond just Arthur and Ginny. Obviously they are the two main characters and getting most of the screen time but I like getting to know the other characters. I like that they expanded on what we already knew about Dwayne (like in the hunting episode when he was hunting truffles instead of animals and the previous mentions of how he was the black sheep of the family and Wayne was the only one who accepted him he way he was).

Arthur is still trying to act like he's just here to beat Magnus, but his actions say otherwise. The fact that he kicked Kimmy Bell once she cheerfully admitted that she made up that horrible nickname says that he cares about more than just beating Magnus.

But man, THINK, Arthur. Don't fuck with someone while they're in the middle of doing your hair!

Of course, that's where my major nitpick for this episode is. She already had all the foils in his hair (and hence the chemicals/colors) when he decided to kick her out, so what was she originally planning to do to his hair that would turn it pink? Or is she just a terrible colorist?

On top of that, Arthur has white hair and the pink was a pretty light shade. He could have gone to the grocery store and bought some cheap temporary dye that washes out in a brownish color and covered up the pink. But of course, then we wouldn't have gotten to see everyone in their pink wigs to support him. The hot pink bangs that Jax was sporting totally cracked me up.

Adams and Ginny's brief conversation about how they are each other's person in the event of a coma made me laugh because my best friend and I have had conversations about what we need each other to do if we're ever in comas. I also gave my sisters some instructions so that there are multiple people who know to keep an eye on that kind of stuff!

Edited November 9, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Sara2009]

I don’t mind all the focus on Arthur, but I’m biased. I’d probably watch Bradley Whitford read the phone book. 

[Raja]

On 11/8/2019 at 4:34 AM, Suzysite said:

I was pretty surprised (and yet, not) that the songs they did in church were both secular songs.  That's fine for the community events they've done, but in church on Sunday morning?  Not likely.  It wouldn't have killed them or even been hard to get rights to a couple of songs from the hymnal.

Most songs in the hymnal have been in the public domain. I guess they don't trust a modern CCM hit has enough crossover appeal so went with the 35 year old crossover appeal of Amy Grant. but they have done some hymnal classics before but the megachurch didn't seem to be that type of church.

[BW Manilowe]

On 11/8/2019 at 7:34 AM, Suzysite said:

I was pretty surprised (and yet, not) that the songs they did in church were both secular songs.  That's fine for the community events they've done, but in church on Sunday morning?  Not likely.  It wouldn't have killed them or even been hard to get rights to a couple of songs from the hymnal.

This may not be the same thing but, if you remember the Sister Act movies, they both changed hymnal songs so they were set to the music of secular popular songs (a song about “Santa Maria” I don’t know the name of) & they sang secular popular songs, some with words/meanings behind those words changed so they were talking about a relationship with God instead of a secular relationship between 2 people (I Will Follow Him); they also used the Janet Jackson song What Have You Done for Me Lately? to What Has He Done For You Lately? & used that to go into Joyful, Joyful in the finale of the 2nd film. So I don’t think their usage of the music they’ve chosen is too terrible. It also might show the church in question is a more “progressive” church than some others.

Besides, like with the Sister Act movies, I think using modern music helps the product appeal to the masses (though maybe not that many masses, unfortunately—NBC didn’t order more than the original 13 episodes, apparently, so the show may not be long for this life). At least moreso, with all due respect, than something that was written perhaps hundreds of years ago & is always performed so it sounds that same way. Personally, I’d prefer to go to a church that uses modern &/or Contemporary Christian Music than ancient songs you can hear the dust on when they’re performed in the same traditional ways. I will agree to disagree on this if necessary.

Edited November 10, 2019 by BW Manilowe
To add a link.

[possibilities]

I think it's funny that Arthur is ALWAYS talking about singing Ave Maria, but then they always sing something else.

[Suzysite]

15 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Personally, I’d prefer to go to a church that uses modern &/or Contemporary Christian Music than ancient songs you can hear the dust on when they’re performed

Yes, I'm fine with contemporary Christian music.  Old or new, it works.  I just don't see completely secular songs like Titanium being sung in church on a Sunday morning.  

[marketdoctor]

Quote

I'd hoped they weren't going to bring Laura Bell Bundy out of semi-acting retirement only to not let her song

Also, she's from Lexington, Kentucky--fairly close to wherever this show takes place, so the reference to UK and EKU was extra funny.

I knew Arthur's hair coloring was going to go badly; there's a time to walk out, and that wasn't it...but the pink hair was great.  "Titanium" was a nice callback to Pitch Perfect.

So yes, this was my favorite episode so far, even if the church service wasn't realistic.  It wasn't bad for TV; it was just more like on The Simpsons, and they had time constraints, so fair enough.

Edited November 12, 2019 by marketdoctor
Realized I was overthinking (only in a bad way.)

[kaygeeret]

This show with all it's flaws, has become my favorite new show.

I love the characters and the premise, in spite of (or perhaps because of) its silliness.

It's is simply a breath of fresh air in my week.

Bradley Whitford makes it all work.

[Yeah No]

On 11/8/2019 at 1:07 PM, Shanna Marie said:

That's been my problem with the series. As a lifelong church choir member, I desperately want to like this series, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that the writers have never actually attended a church and everything they know about choirs they learned from watching Glee. I had to turn it off during the church service at the beginning of the episode because I just couldn't take it anymore. I suspect I'm not their target audience. There's plenty of comedy material in a church choir, but this show isn't it.

Thank you, I feel exactly the same way.  But it's getting increasingly hard to find any series that gets anything set in a church right anymore.  Even on "God Friended Me" there are glaring errors that anyone whose ever attended an Episcopal church would wince at.  At least all the church scenes have been filmed in actual Episcopal churches in NYC, though.

On 11/8/2019 at 7:59 PM, Sara2009 said:

I know it’s unrealistic, but I’m glad that the choir doesn’t perform hymns. That would get boring very quickly IMO.

Perhaps if they didn't want to perform hymns they should have set it in a very evangelical church with a broader repertoire of music, or how about not at a church at all but a community chorus?  I personally don't find hymns boring at all so that's why I would be interested in a show about a choir in a humble little church in a small town.  But this show hasn't really turned out to be about a choir at all but a little band of misfits that they want to have a reason to put together every week.  They didn't need a choir or even a church setting in order to do that, though.

[Nilknarf]

I love the cast and it’s fun to watch, but I would like it a whole lot better if this weren’t supposed to be about a church choir. The songs both choirs sang were far from church-related.

There are many contemporary songs which can easily fit a theological theme but this show seems more about the episode theme. A bit off-putting for me but YMMV

[possibilities]

Fwiw, every time I ever watch a show set in a setting I know anything about, the show gets it all wrong. I've heard doctors and lawyers say the same thing about shows in medical and legal settings. That doesn't mean it's easy to enjoy a show where everything is wrong, but I think it's more about a general attitude of TV producers than it is about an attitude toward religion.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

Fwiw, every time I ever watch a show set in a setting I know anything about, the show gets it all wrong. I've heard doctors and lawyers say the same thing about shows in medical and legal settings. That doesn't mean it's easy to enjoy a show where everything is wrong, but I think it's more about a general attitude of TV producers than it is about an attitude toward religion.

I agree. Almost every medical drama has scenes where patients are inside the MRI chatting away when in reality, you can't get a clear picture of someone's brain unless they are absolutely still (talking creates too much motion). And most of these shows regularly disregard HIPAA rules and blab about patients' conditions to anyone and everyone.

The frustrating thing is that most shows have technical advisors who will tell the writers what is incorrect and then the writers CHOOSE to do things incorrectly because it fits into their narrative.

The Buffy quote that sums up how people watch tv and get annoyed when their field is portrayed incorrectly:

Buffy: Oh, give me a break! This is all wrong. See, first you would get the big guy, with a flying kick. Then you would take out all the little ones, bam, bam. See, now with the flying kick - from a dead stop! What's powering it? Raw enthusiasm?
Riley: Hey Buff, maybe you ought to leave the work behind sometimes. You're not always on slayer duty, you know? Buffy: It would drive you crazy if we were watching an army movie and they were all saluting backwards and invading all willy-nilly.