FREE HOT ALYSSA MILANO PIC IN THIS POST!

Just a quick word on Fox's Glee.

And yes, I realize the above sentence is an admission that I watch Glee.

To that, I'll tell you exactly what I told people in the fall of '97 when I briefly became addicted to Melrose Place.

Fuck off.

Also, Alyssa Milano. What the hell was I supposed to do?

(Above) Alyssa Milano. You expected me not to tune-in to this every week? Wait. That's not Alyssa Milano. That's… that's Who's the Boss co-star Katherine Helmond. Hot in her right, but…

… ahhhh, that's the stuff.

Anyway, Glee.

Taken for what it is, it's enjoyable in a "eating a whole bag of Cheetos" sort of a way. A delicious ride, but ultimately somewhat regrettable and most certainly impossible to sustain yourself on. Additionally, the stain on your dignity is every bit as difficult to remove as the caked-on layers of blaze-orange cheeze powder on your fingertips.

But again, it's pretty fun in the immediate sense, so my lack of self-control dictates that I watch.

First and foremost, Glee is a show of stereotypes (though the characters' lines are almost always delivered with tongue placed firmly in cheek).

Roll Call: Big Dumb Joe Quarterback? Here. The Hot Popular Cheerleader? Here. The Type A Perfectionist? Present. The Handicapped Kid? I hear his wheelchair squeaking down the hall now. And, of course, no "who's who" of TV stereotypes is complete without…

{drum roll}

… Fat Sassy Black Girl!

"Oh no you di'int!

You KNOW she's "all up in this piece! Haaaaaay {neck circle, fingersnap}!"

Now, as I've mentioned, Glee is tolerable-teetering-on-enjoyable for the fact that the show is self-aware and the stereotypes cartoonish -- riffing on the High School Musical archetypes while embracing them at the same time.

As an added bonus, each character has its own little "stereotype shattering" twist, too:

Big Dumb Joe Quarterback turns out to be a great singer. Hot Popular Cheerleader is the head of the abstinence club, while Type A Perfectionist actually has a healthy, realistic take on sex. The Handicapped Kid becomes one of the school's most popular.

Hahaha… just kidding.

Handicapped kids can't become popular.

But the point I'm attempting to make is that these overdone characters are lampooned rather effectively and for the most part, played for decent chuckles.

That is, except for one: Fat Sassy Black Girl.

It's not that she isn't a spot-on stereotype sketch. She totally is.

When she tries out for glee club, guess what she sings?

Yup.

You got it.

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T!"

Because that's the only song Fat Sassy Black Girl knows, derrr! Well, that and "Amazing Grace" (but only if oversung 5 whole levels past "Christina Aguilera").

So yeah, it's not that.

It's the fact that she's easily the most insulting TV/movie stereotype out there. The worst fallback for the laziest writers.

I wasn't chuckling at Fat Sassy Black Girl for the same reason I don't chuckle at the Cleveland Indian's Chief Wahoo logo.

I found her offensive.

Which - unless I'm giving them too much credit - means the writers of Glee are doing their jobs correctly. Though, it did take me an episode to realize (before I knew what the show was "about") that every time I viscerally bemoaned Glee's Fat Sassy Black Girl's proclamations of "keeping it real", I was actually viscerally bemoaning every Fat Sassy Black Girl I've had to endure in my lifetime. Eureka: Glee's Fat Sassy Black Girl isn't a continuation, it's an examination.

And exposing/magnifying the facepalm-inducing ridiculousness of Fat Sassy Black Girl may just be the show's greatest glory.

At least, that's what I'm going with.

And yes, I seriously do watch Glee.

Fuck off.