History YMMV / GLEE

* AudienceAlienatingEra: Season 5. From the start, it was overshadowed by the death of Cory Monteith, featured performances of songs that had not been released yet in the timeline of the show (like Music/KatyPerry's "Roar" and Music/MileyCyrus' "Wrecking Ball" both released Fall 2013 even though it was set in Spring 2013), asinine storylines (like [[Recap/GleeS5E4AKatyOrAGaga an entire episode based around twerking and a scene where Will punishes Marley for not wearing a skimpy outfit]] and [[Recap/GleeS5E7PuppetMaster the infamous "Puppet Master" episode]]). To top it off, they decided to ditch the Glee club entirely for the second half of the season, essentially firing five regulars in the process. Had the show not been renewed for Season 6 before the season started, it likely would have been cancelled as viewership tanked during the season. Season 6 tried to rectify it by going back to the Glee Club but Fox had already made the decision to cancel the show by then.

** The season 4 episode "Shooting Star". 50% of people in and out of fandom think that ''Glee'' was very brave to approach the topic of school shootings. The remaining 50% thinks the episode is just using the topic to attract ratings and publicity, comes too soon after the Sandy Hook shooting, and its AxesAtSchool ending comes with a glaring {{unfortunate implication|s}} about Down's Syndrome people.

* {{Glurge}}:[[invoked]] The show deals with a wide variety of serious issues, especially regarding bullying, homosexuality, sex, body image and other such topics, but the main cast's many, ''many'' {{Jerkass}} moments usually results in a lot of UnfortunateImplications and the characters themselves coming across as UnintentionallyUnsympathetic (i.e., Kurt telling Blaine that he admires how proud he is of who he is and does not like that he's tiptoeing back into the closet immediately after [[NoBisexuals Blaine suggests he's bi]]).

** [[invoked]] The season 4 episode "Shooting Star". 50% of people in and out of fandom think that ''Glee'' was very brave to approach the topic of school shootings. The remaining 50% thinks the episode is just using the topic to attract ratings and publicity, is full of UnfortunateImplications, comes too soon after the Sandy Hook shooting, and its AxesAtSchool ending comes with a glaring {{unfortunate implication|s}} about Down's Syndrome people.

** [[invoked]] A particularly nasty ship war that comes to mind is Brittany/Santana vs. [[GiveGeeksAChance Brittany/Artie]], complete with accusations of ButNotTooGay for making Brittany date a boy, ButNotTooBi for making her stay with Santana in the end, and UnfortunateImplications for how Santana convinced Brittany to cheat on Artie with her, and whether or not Artie was justified in lashing out at Brittany which caused her to break up with him.

** There's a contingent of LGBT fans that dislike Kurt, seeing him as a reductive stereotype of gay people and their actual real-life struggles in a high school environment. Not helping matters is the fact that he spent an entire episode in Season 2 mad at Blaine for briefly experimenting with his sexuality, going so far as to declcare that [[NoBisexuals bisexual people didn't exist]]... which he was vindicated for at the end of the episode.

* UncertainAudience: Especially in its first season, which meshes things like oral sex jokes with the teeny angst of ''Degrassi'' and the kind of {{anvilicious}} messages you'd expect from an 80s kids cartoon along with the cutesy singing appeal of Kidz Bop and The Wiggles. Not to mention the song choices were mainly songs from the 80s or before.

** Ryan Murphy and several of the show's other writers are openly gay, and the cast has a lot of canonically gay characters, but due to a mix of issues such as Kurt and Blaine often acting very stereotypical and Santana's hostility towards bisexuals, the show also has a sizeable hatedom among gay viewers.

* RonTheDeathEater: To put it as delicately as possible, some sections of fandom seem to be under the impression that certain characters are nothing '''but''' vices.
** The worst would have to be Adam, Kurt's boyfriend from season 4 who despite being shown as rather sweet and caring, some Klainers seem to twist him at times into being a huge jerk. The same goes from Anti-Klainers in regards to Blaine as well who although he has made some mistakes, you would think he murdered everyone in Kurt's life from the way they talk about him.

** A particularly nasty ship war that comes to mind is Brittany/Santana vs. [[GiveGeeksAChance Brittany/Artie]], complete with accusations of ButNotTooGay for making Brittany date a boy, ButNotTooBi for making her stay with Santana in the end, and UnfortunateImplications for how Santana convinced Brittany to cheat on Artie with her, and whether or not Artie was justified in lashing out at Brittany which caused her to break up with him.

* WTHCastingAgency: Kevin [=McHale=] is one of the best dancers on the cast (having formerly been a member of a BoyBand), but it's ''his'' character who's in a wheelchair. It made for pretty interesting storylines/musical numbers in which he daydreams about being able to get up and dance, such as in "Dream On" and "Michael"; this, however, has been met with criticism from disabled viewers, since portraying a wheelchair user as constantly wishing to leave their wheelchair is stereotypical and doesn't represent the real life experience of wheelchair users, with an issue that has only been become more visibilized in recent years being that of disabled people rarely being cast for roles, even disabled characters (see UnfortunateImplications above).

** The season 4 episode "Shooting Star". 50% of people in and out of fandom think that ''Glee'' was very brave to approach the topic of school shootings. The remaining 50% thinks the episode is just using the topic to attract ratings and publicity, is full of UnfortunateImplications, comes too soon after the Sandy Hook shooting, and its AxesAtSchool ending comes with a glaring {{unfortunate implication|s}} about Down's Syndrome people.

* {{Glurge}}: The show deals with a wide variety of serious issues, especially regarding bullying, homosexuality, sex, body image and other such topics, but the main cast's many, ''many'' {{Jerkass}} moments usually results in a lot of UnfortunateImplications and the characters themselves coming across as UnintentionallyUnsympathetic (i.e., Kurt telling Blaine that he admires how proud he is of who he is and does not like that he's tiptoeing back into the closet immediately after [[NoBisexuals Blaine suggests he's bi]]).

* GrowingBackTheBeard: Season 6 is generally considered an improvement over Season 5 for focusing primarily on the Glee club while still using the older characters. It didn't save the show as Fox had already decided to cancel it before it aired putting it in the FridayNightDeathSlot, but at least was able to give fans the send-off they were looking for.

* HoYay: So much it has its own page [[HoYay/{{Glee}} here]].

* NightmareFuel: Has its own [[NightmareFuel/{{Glee}} sub-page]].

** Averted with the newbies from season six, ''because'' they were their own characters rather than new iterations of the original lineup.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** In [[Recap/GleeS2E4Duets "Duets"]] and [[Recap/GleeS5E3TheQuarterback "The Quarterback"]], Burt brings up [[Recap/GleeS1E20Theatricality his controversial rant to Finn about his use of a homophobic slur]], echoing fan sentiments that, while Finn was in the wrong for saying it, he ''was'' under a degree of stress at the time. Burt also admits that he may have overreacted ''just'' a little bit. Hearing it from Burt from Finn might have a point and that he may be taking advantage of Sam just as he had a crush on Finn the year before, finally makes Kurt realize that his behavior during that episode wasn't acceptable either; he at least gives enough consideration to Burt's words that he tells Sam he can duet with someone else and that [[ItsNotYouItsMe his reasons for releasing Sam from their partnership lie with himself rather than with Sam]].
** The show removed the new members of the Glee Club in the second half of the fifth season, because of the fans who ''hated'' the new characters and the direction old club members had taken. Instead, the show began to focus on what the old cast was doing out of the club. Of course this severely backfired as viewership went down for those episodes as they found out that the majority of fans did want to see the Glee club, which would explain why they went back to it for Season 6.

* AbandonShipping: Many fans of Finn and Rachel jumped ship after the infamous wedding storyline in season 3. For Kurt and Blaine, it's a toss-up between [[Recap/GleeS3E5TheFirstTime the incident in the Scandals parking lot]], [[Recap/GleeS3E17DanceWithSomebody the Chandler incident]] or [[Recap/GleeS4E4TheBreakUp Blaine cheating on Kurt]].

* UnfortunateImplications:
** When what happened with Puck and Quinn is revealed in "Journey", it's very clear that Quinn does not want to have sex with Puck, and that he both coerces her into it through pressure and plying her with alcohol, and lies about using a condom, both of which qualify the situation as rape. [[https://adibranco.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/does-em-glee-em-have-a-rape-scene/amp/ A lot]] [[http://gleeksandtheirconfessions.tumblr.com/post/100155507773/how-is-quick-so-popular-puck-got-her-drunk-and of people]] [[http://hopkinscinemaddicts.typepad.com/hopkinscinemaddicts/2010/10/glee-season-1-violence-rape-and-the-problem-of-gender.html take issue]] with this storyline never being portrayed as rape and with the narrative placing most of the blame firmly on Quinn's shoulders.
** The storyline about Quinn trying to get Beth back [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170718070156/http://popcrush.com/glee-petition-adoption/ was criticized by adoption advocates]] for giving a bad image of open adoptions, as well as just factual inaccuracy (i.e. once the birth parents sign away their parental rights they're gone for good, so if the adoptive parent is declared to be "unfit," the child is taken into foster care, not given to the birth parents). They petitioned the show to do a PSA dispelling myths about adoption; nothing came of it, but the controversial storyline wrapped up with everything back to status quo.
** Kurt's speech to Blaine who is questioning his sexuality in "Blame It On The Alcohol", where he states that [[NoBisexuals bisexuality doesn't exist and that men claiming to be bisexual are really just closeted gay people]]. While it could just be dismissed as Kurt holding the JerkassBall, and Blaine does call him out on his insensitivity, [[StrawmanHAsAPoint the fact that Blaine is invalidated at the end of the episode]] combined with Kurt's usual history of being seen as an AuthorAvatar regarding LGBT issues [[http://bitchmagazine.org/post/visibility-glee%E2%80%99s-problem-with-bisexual-men-television-feminism was seen by many viewers as a case of the show itself being biphobic]]. Not helping was [[WordOfGod Ryan Murphy]] stating that "it's very important to young kids that they know this character [Blaine] is one of them", as if bisexual kids don't matter. It's especially bad considering male bisexuality has even less representation in the media than female bisexuality and male homosexuality do.
** The controversy got reignited after "Tina In the Sky With Diamonds", where Santana spends half of her courtship with Dani panicking over having no "real" experience since she dated a bisexual woman, and the other half sighing in relief that she didn't have to worry about her girlfriend "straying for penis". Between implying that bisexuals aren't "real" members of the LG'''B'''T community (the "B" is there for a reason), claiming that they're [[AnythingThatMoves unfaithful and promiscuous by nature]], and wrongfully smearing [[EnsembleDarkhorse Brittany's]] character (Brittany didn't even ''end'' the relationship, Santana did), [[https://outwritenewsmag.org/2012/05/glees-problematic-representation-of-bisexuality-and-why-brittanys-bicorn-comment-doesnt-fix-it/ viewers]] got ''very'' [[http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/82142857.html angry]].
** Kurt in general has been accused of being an unflattering stereotype of gay men during a time when StraightGay characters were still seen as a novelty. While Kurt is commended for his courage in not hiding his sexuality and standing up to adversity, he is also [[OffendingTheCreatorsOwn rather disliked by many gay viewers]] for being hard to identify with due to his extreme CampGay tendencies or [[http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/mar/15/kurt-hummel-glee-gay criticized for doing more harm than good]] for representation of gay people in the media. On top of that is resentment over the above-mentioned issues and the way the show uses him as a [[AuthorAvatar mouthpiece]] to promote controversial views expressed by certain portions of the gay community but which are not necessarily shared by the rest of it due to being perceived as hateful towards other LGBT folks.
** Artie has received criticism from disabled viewers for being a very stereotypical portrayal of wheelchair-users, with a key factor being that he's portrayed by a non-disabled actor. Particularly ([[https://medium.com/@MsJayTeeRattray/thats-not-how-this-works-the-portrayal-of-artie-abrams-3dac3ec3fd87 as described here]]), he never stops wishing to be able to walk (with the ImagineSpot scene where he stands up and dances in a mall being very controversial), he accepts behavior from abled characters that would be considered patronizing or even creepy in real life, never mentions wheelchair dancing exists, and makes having a wheelchair (aka the disability itself, instead of the lack of accessibility) the problem that stops him from doing similar activities as his abled friends, plus various factual errors.
---> ''Moreover, there seem to be no understanding of disability as an identity or a community, and paralysis as a life changing injury, but not always life worsening. There was no understanding that wheelchairs provide freedom, not restriction, that other people pushing a wheelchair is an act of trust and wouldn't be done randomly, and that most teenagers and adults find it infantilizing. It was a lazy and uninspiring character who look like he was plonked in a wheelchair and everyone assumed he hated his wheelchair, because that's what non-disabled people assume. Not only is disability its own identity, it is not interchangeable with other marginalized identity, and it's not a shield to avoid criticisms of racism or misogyny.''

Blaine, from Season 4 onwards. His cheating on Kurt was a bad starting place, but he at least was shown to be greatly remorseful for that. However, especially in Season 5, his crappy treatment of the likes of Marley, Kurt, Elliot and others made him increasingly unpopular, though he was still definitely popular as a singer.

** Kurt: His fans adore him for his unapologetic refusal to hide his sexuality and identity, while his detractors (some of whom are [[OffendingTheCreatorsOwn gay males]] themselves) can't stand how he often comes off as a CampGay stereotype and how he's always treated sympathetically by the narrative even when he's clearly the one in the wrong (two particular sore spots include his blatant biphobia in [[Recap/GleeS2E14BlameItOnTheAlcohol "Blame It on the Alcohol"]] and sexual harassment of Finn in "Theatricality").

** Even before it aired, Santana vs. Rachel in [[Recap/GleeS5E9Frenemies "Frenemies"]] was ugly either way. There were fans agreeing with Rachel who says that Santana auditioning for understudy is ridiculous considering she has never shown an interest in Broadway, and that she's just trying to steal Rachel's limelight, and then there are those on Santana's side, saying that Rachel blew a majority of the situation out of proportion, taking the simple idea of Santana auditioning to be her understudy and making it a huge deal which she shouldn't have. And some are just Kurt, siding with neither.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Most fans will say that only the first season is good, maybe the second if they're feeling charitable. The third is seen as the point where the show went too far, though naturally there's debate over which episode specifically was TheLastStraw. Those first two seasons, however, showed early signs of all the problems that would come to plague the show later in its run.

** Apparently, seeing Finn in his underwear is supposed to be a ''bad'' thing. He might not the hottest guy in the glee club but he’s also made fun of for being fat on multiple occasions, because? Even IF he weighed more than the other boys in the glee club that’s more than likely because of his height.

* {{Moe}}: Kurt. His enormous PuppyDogEyes don't hurt. Though depending on the episode he sometimes enters "{{Moeblob}}" territory.

* AudineceAlienatingEra: Season 5. From the start, it was overshadowed by the death of Cory Monteith, featured performances of songs that had not been released yet in the timeline of the show (like Music/KatyPerry's "Roar" and Music/MileyCyrus' "Wrecking Ball" both released Fall 2013 even though it was set in Spring 2013), asinine storylines (like [[Recap/GleeS5E4AKatyOrAGaga an entire episode based around twerking and a scene where Will punishes Marley for not wearing a skimpy outfit]] and [[Recap/GleeS5E7PuppetMaster the infamous "Puppet Master" episode]]). To top it off, they decided to ditch the Glee club entirely for the second half of the season, essentially firing five regulars in the process. Had the show not been renewed for Season 6 before the season started, it likely would have been cancelled as viewership tanked during the season. Season 6 tried to rectify it by going back to the Glee Club but Fox had already made the decision to cancel the show by then.

** In [[Recap/GleeS1E15ThePowerOfMadonna "The Power of Madonna"]], the club performs [[Music/{{Madonna}} "Like a Prayer"]] onstage in front of a closed curtain. At the climax, the curtain opens and an ''entire gospel choir is revealed'' and sings along with the cast. This is never brought up again.
** "Make 'em Laugh" from [[Recap/GleeS2E7TheSubstitute "The Substitute"]] was [[AllJustADream just a dream sequence]] Will had from being sick and watching too much ''Film/SinginInTheRain''.
** Several Warbler numbers feel rather shoehorned. [[Recap/GleeS2E10AVeryGleeChristmas "Baby, It's Cold Outside"]] had little purpose aside from being YaoiGenre fanservice, and [[Recap/GleeS2E11TheSueSylvesterShuffle "Bills, Bills, Bills"]] came right the hell out of nowhere after the commercial break with Regionals practice as its only HandWave.

** Near the end of [[Recap/GleeS4E17GuiltyPleasures "Guilty Pleasures"]], an episode about... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an episode about]]... {{guilty pleasures}}, Tina reveals her love of ''Series/SmallWonder'' by dressing as Vicki... and chasing Kitty down the hallway.
** Even in ''Glee'', most of the songs in "Puppet Master" were this. Half of them were gas-induced hallucinations, while the performance of Ylvis' "The Fox" at the end was completely unrelated to anything else in the episode, and was probably included to cash in the song's success.
** The appearances of Sugar and Joe in season six. They vanished at the end of season four [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome with zero explanation]], and appeared for single-scene cameos without any explanation for their return either.
** "Suddenly Seymour" from [[Recap/GleeS6E01LoserLikeMe the sixth season premiere]]. It's supposed to boost Rachel's spirit, but it's the most random, off-the-wall song choice. Literally any song could be used for the same purpose.

* {{Love to Hate}}: Sebastian at least until his [[spoiler:Heel-Face Turn]].

* AcceptableTargets:
** Bisexuals are either just really [[NoBisexuals deep in the closet]], or they're [[DepravedBisexual compulsive sluts]].
** Short people are often ridiculed as well - Santana has a tendency to make fun of Rachel for being short, various cracks are made about Blaine's height, and people with dwarfism are only seen as elves in various Christmas episodes (and it is joked about).

* UncertainAudience: Especially in its first season, which meshes things like oral sex jokes with the teeny angst of ''Degrassi'' and the kind of {{anvilicious}} messages you'd expect from an 80s kids cartoon along with the cutesy singing appeal of Kidz Bop and The Wiggles.

** Quinn. Yes, she starts out a bully who cheated on her boyfriend with his best friend and then lied to said boyfriend that he was the father of the resulting baby and then made him help pay her medical bills. However, she is only ''sixteen'' when all this happens, with two deeply religious and conservative parents who kick her out of her home when they find out. The best friend, a trouble-making bad boy, fed her alcohol until she agreed to sleep with him, and the timeline suggests that the cheating occurred early on in her relationship with the boyfriend, who cheats on her twice before he knows about her own indiscretion.

** Is Brittany really just stupid, or is she also delusional? Among other signs, she believes her cat has been reading her diary. With the episode "Night of Neglect", a common interpretation is that she's a GeniusDitz mixed with a CloudCuckooLander. Though an episode actually showed her cat (on screen) using a computer mouse, so while we have no confirmation that it read her diary, it's clearly smarter than the average cat.

** Finn being EasilyForgiven for outing Santana. The conflict is solved in the duration of one whole episode and it takes a 180 twist on the fact that in the episode before it, Finn clearly outed Santana as lashing out at her for insulting him, not because he suddenly "cares for her" and doesn't want to risk her health or life.

** During "A Wedding", Brittany reveals that she wants Kurt and Blaine to also get married during her and Santana's wedding, because supposedly she found them to help her be comfortable with her sexuality. Maybe something like that could work for Santana, but Brittany had always been a unique character because she never expressed any angst or worry over her sexuality. She liked boys, she liked girls, and that was that. Season 2 showed that if Santana was willing, Brittany would be more than fine with dating her in public. In the end, it just seems like CharacterShilling (or rather pairing shilling) and a cheap excuse to get Kurt and Blaine married.

** Near the end of "GuiltyPleasures", an episode about... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin guilty pleasures]], Tina reveals her love of ''Series/SmallWonder''. By dressing as Vicki... and chasing Kitty down the hallway.

** The second season. While its themed episodes like "Brittany/Britney", [[Recap/GleeS2E05TheRockyHorrorGleeShow "The Rocky Horror Glee Show"]] and "A Very Glee Christmas", and various guest stars have received a lot of hype and been fairly popular with the younger and/or more casual fans, a lot of viewers think the show lost its luster and long for the first season, when it was less interested in creating big moments and more in telling a consistent story and building interesting characters.

** Blaine in the episode "Puppet Masters" has split the fandom in two, essentially based on whether you already liked or disliked Blaine. Those who liked him thought his childlike adoration of the puppets was charming and adorable, and his interactions with Kurt are understandable due to his concerns that the two are growing apart. Those who already felt the character and relationship had run its course saw him as whiny, selfish, and manipulative towards both Kurt and the club as a whole. There's also a small middle ground who feel there's no way to take Blaine seriously either way because the entire plot was brought on due to a gas leak hallucination.

** Even before it aired, Santana vs. Rachel in "Frenemies" was ugly either way. There were fans agreeing with Rachel who says that Santana auditioning for understudy is ridiculous considering she has never shown an interest in Broadway, and that she's just trying to steal Rachel's limelight, and then there are those on Santana's side, saying that Rachel blew a majority of the situation out of proportion, taking the simple idea of Santana auditioning to be her understudy and making it a huge deal which she shouldn't have. And some are just Kurt, siding with neither of them.

** Holly Holiday. It definitely feels this way for people who don't like Holly, since Ryan Murphy called the actress who plays her "Glee's muse" and seems fond of the character by association.
** Unique, who was made into a main character in Season 4 because of Ryan Murphy's adoration for Alex Newell from ''Series/TheGleeProject''. Compare the screentime and focus Joe gets (despite actually winning the show). It went even further with Newell being promoted to main cast in Season 5, although his character's UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} storyline went towards mitigating this somewhat.

** Brody after the reveal that [[spoiler: he's a sex worker]] is treated like he cruelly manipulated Rachel and tried to steal her from Finn, despite the fact that the two were broken up and he has a very symapthetic (and realistic!) reason for getting involved with that line of work.

** The massive amount of hate the Finchel Fandom itself lets loose against anyone other than Finn who even shows the slightest interest in Rachel. Puck, Jesse, Brody, all of their respective actors ''and'' their fandoms catch no end of hell from them. Mark Salling actually got legitimate, police-investigated death threats after Rachel cheated on Finn with Puck in Season 2. In fact it goes so far as to spill over into [[HoYay The Faberry Fandom]], a non-canon ship.

** The Klaine fandom sends quite a bit of hate as well. Max Adler, Grant Gustin, and Oliver Kieran-Jones have gotten hate sent to them for being a love interest of either Blaine or Kurt. Even Chris Colfer has gotten hate from Klaine shippers due to Kurt's actions in episodes or comments Chris has said that can be taken as anti-Klaine or pro-another pairing like Kadam. Strangely, Darren Criss never really received hate from Klainers even if he said similar anti-Klaine comments or Blaine showed interest in someone else, like Sam in Sadie Hawkins.
** Finn gets a lot of hate from Rachel/Quinn shippers from both sides due to having dated both of them. These fans like to play up Finn's more negative traits, making him out to be a self-centered man-child and sometimes outright abusive towards Rachel, while ignoring his more positive traits like his legit love for Rachel (to the point of letting her go to New York without him so she can follow her dreams). A lot of Quinn/Rachel fanfics will also play up his two-timing ways, despite this never being done out of malice. They also have a habit of vilifying Jesse (who Rachel ends up married to) due to him "stealing" Rachel from Quinn.

** Puck. He already had a leg up due to being a traditional "bad boy" arctype, and was often declared the endgame love interest for Quinn from the moment it was revealed he was her baby daddy. The adoration for him oten brushes aside the more uncomfortable aspects of the character - he was a bully, he got Quinn pregnant while drunk, was a serial cheater and waffled back and forth wildly between supporting her pregnancy and treating her like damaged goods. These issues were similarly ignored if he was being shipped with Rachel, but occasionally they were seen as ''positives'' when Puck was shipped with Kurt (which was extremely popular in season 1). This section of the fandom saw Puck's actions as a form of internalized homophobia and wanted to explore that. Funnily enough, that leads straight into a season 2 character who seems to exist specifically for those purposes...
** Karofsky, like a more canonical Puck, is a complex character and many of his fans accept his flaws as part of what makes him interesting. However, some of his more rabid fans completely overlook the way he injures, threatens, and tries to force himself upon Kurt.
** With the help of Grant Gustin's charisma and the show's "interesting" way of character development, Sebastian slowly but surely became this--because there ''had'' to be a traumatized [[JerkassWoobie woobie]] beneath that "facade". While the show never delved into any backstory for him, his HeelFaceTurn in "On My Way" helped him be seen in a better light anyway.
** Santana, as many of her fans tend to downplay her role in bullying other characters to turn her into TheWoobie due to her torment over her sexuality, especially since Kurt was bullied horrifically for being gay, sometimes ''by Santana'', he and never bullied others the way she did.

** Brittany, who wasn't in the pilot, didn't speak until episode 4, gets a handful of lines in every episode, and still manages to be one of the most popular characters on the show with her charming minimalistic humor. She's one of the two best dancers, in the second season turned out to be a pretty good singer too. Creator/HeatherMorris was only hired to choreograph the "Single Ladies" dance from the episode "Preggers". When Ryan Murphy needed a third actor to play the third member of the "Unholy Trinity" alongside Creator/NayaRivera and Creator/DiannaAgron, she was hired. The last ingredient needed to bump her into a main character was the innocuous line in "Sectionals" about her and Santa sleeping togehter, and once that landed the Brittana fandom exploded.
** Santana Lopez. She started off as a generic AlphaBitch. Then there was the moment mentioned above with Brittany, which skyrocketed her popularity. This led to her singing "The Boy is Mine". People embraced her bitchiness as comedy and fell in love with her voice. All that helped push her into a main character alongside Brittany.

** Dave Karofsky, was really only a character in the second season and a few spots before a nd after, but thanks in no small part to Creator/MaxAdler's talent his character's ArmoredClosetGay storyline made him popular enough to become a rival to Blaine when it came to the fandom's shipping war over Kurt.
** Holly Holiday, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, going from a celebrity guest spot to a recurring character and LoveInterest for Will. She's the most frequently recurring celebrity guest on the show, due to the character's popularity with viewers and the fact that her nature (a substitute teacher who can't stay in one place for long) is easy to work around Paltrow's schedule.
** Jeff and Nick, two background Warblers who have only had one line between them, have been swooped upon by the shippers, pairing them with Kurt, Blaine, or each other.

** During the height of the show's popularity there weren't many places where it was safe to admit that you don't like Creator/LeaMichele's singing voice. These days, especially after finding out about the HostilityOntheSet, it's easier to get away with.
** Creator/ChrisColfer and Creator/DarrenCriss also tend to be sacred cows.

* AbandonShipping: Many fans of Finn and Rachel jumped ship after the infamous wedding storyline in season 3. For Kurt and Blaine, it's usually either the Chandler incident, the incident in the parking lot of "Scandals", or Blaine cheating on Kurt.
** There is no one who still ships Marley and Ryder after what happened in real life with their actors.

** Short people are often ridiculed as well - Santana has a tendency to make fun of Rachel for being short, and people with dwarfism are only seen as elves in various Christmas episodes (and it is joked about).

* AudineceAlienatingEra: Season 5. From the start, it was overshadowed by the death of Cory Monteith, featured performances of songs that had not been released yet in the timeline of the show (like Katy Perry's "Roar" and Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball both released Fall 2013 even though it was set in Spring 2013), asinine storylines (like an episode based around twerking and a scene where Will punishes Marley for not wearing a skimpy outfit, and the infamous "Puppet Master" episode). To top it off, they decided to ditch the Glee club entirely for the second half of the season, essentially firing 5 regulars in the process. Had the show not been renewed for Season 6 before the season started, it likely would have been cancelled as viewership tanked during the season. Season 6 tried to rectify it by going back to the Glee Club but Fox had already made the decision to cancel the show by then.

** In "Duets" and "The Quarterback", Burt brings up his controversial rant to Finn about his use of a homophobic slur, echoing fan sentiments that, while Finn was in the wrong for saying it, he ''was'' under a degree of stress at the time. Burt also admits that he may have overreacted ''just'' a little bit. Hearing it from Burt from Finn might have a point and that he may be taking advantage of Sam just as he had a crush on Finn the year before, finally makes Kurt realize that his behavior during that episode wasn't acceptable either; he at least gives enough consideration to Burt's words that he tells Sam he can duet with someone else and that [[ItsNotYouItsMe his reasons for releasing Sam from their partnership lie with himself rather than with Sam]].

** The series was nominated for 19 Emmys in the 2010 Emmys but only won 4. The Best Comedy Emmy and Best Casting Emmys (Comedy) went to ''Series/ModernFamily'' instead. Of course, had ''Modern Family'' lost those awards, this entry would be on its page.

** Kurt: His fans adore him for his unapologetic refusal to hide his sexuality and identity, while his detractors (some of whom are [[OffendingTheCreatorsOwn gay males]] themselves) can't stand how he often comes off as a CampGay stereotype and how he's always treated sympathetically by the narrative even when he's clearly the one in the wrong (two particular sore spots include his blatant biphobia in "Blame It On The Alcohol" and sexual harassment of Finn in "Theatricality").

** At one point the club is performing one of their songs onstage in front of a closed curtain. At the climax of the song, the curtain opens and an ''entire gospel choir is revealed'' and sings along with the cast. This is never brought up again.
** "Make 'em Laugh" from "The Substitute" was [[AllJustADream just a dream sequence]] Will had from being sick and watching ''Film/SinginInTheRain'' too much.
** Several of the Dalton numbers feel rather shoehorned into the show. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" had little purpose aside from being YaoiGenre fanservice, and "Bills, Bills, Bills" came out of nowhere after the commercial break with Regionals practice as its only HandWave.
** While the shippers loved it, Kurt and Blaine's slow-mo run down a hallway seems a little out of place. It also seemed that way to Creator/ChrisColfer, who said that the scene "was too gay even for ''me''."
** Near the end of "GuiltyPleasures", an episode about... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin guilty pleasures]], Tina reveals her love of ''Series/SmallWonder''. By dressing as Vicki. And chasing Kitty down the hallway.

** The appearances of Sugar and Joe in season six. They vanished at the end of season four [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome without an explanation]], and appeared for single-scene cameos without any explanation for their return either.
** "Suddenly Seymour" from the Season Six premiere. It's supposed to get Rachel's spirit, but it's the most random, off-the-wall song choice. Literally any song could be used for the same purpose.

** "Puppet Master" from season five is...odd. The a-plot is kicked off by Blaine having a gas leak-induced hallucination of his friends as puppets, leading him to create a puppet effigy of Kurt, which then...somehow manifests in New York and calls Blaine to taunt him about his relationship difficulties. And it ends with Blaine making puppets for all of his friends and everyone singing along to "[[Music/{{Ylvis}} What Does the Fox Say]]".
** "Previously Unaired Christmas" is literally a non-canonical episode that exists only because season five aired through December but was set in late spring at the time. It also features scenes where Rachel, Kurt, and Santana are seduced by a sexy helium-weilding mall Santa; and a staged nativity play where Unique-as-Mary gives birth to Baby Jesus ''in song''.

** "Journey" opens with the scene of Beth's conception which people can't seem to agree if it's a romantic moment or an act of sexual assault. The latter isn't helped by the fact that Quinn was drunk, repeatedly said no, and only eventually agreed if Puck used a condom, which he did not.
** The second season. While its themed episodes like "Brittany/Britney," "The Rocky Horror Glee Show", and "A Very Glee Christmas", and various guest stars have received a lot of hype and been fairly popular with the show's younger and/or more casual fans, a lot of viewers think the show lost its luster and long for the first season, when it was less interested in creating big moments and more in telling a consistent story and building interesting characters.

** There's been a huge debate on the scene in "Mash-Off" where Finn outs Santana in response to her incessant teasing. Some say that Santana backed Finn into a corner and so it was only human that he would lash out with the only thing that would make Santana stop. Others say that as awful as Santana was, outing her for that is DisproportionateRetribution and never, ever justifiable. Then there's the middle-ground, where they admit that what Finn did was completely wrong, but he couldn't have anticipated where it would lead (a political ad that uses her lesbianism to bash Sue), and Santana was hardly innocent in the matter.

** "Dance With Somebody" broke the base with Kurt's cheating storyline and Blaine's reaction to it through song; part of the base sided fully with Blaine and despised Kurt for flirting with Chandler; some didn't side with either; and some sided with Kurt as they saw Blaine's behavior as hypocritical given his pre-"Michael" relationship with Sebastian.

** The series was nominated for 19 Emmys in the 2010 Emmys but only won 4. The Best Comedy Emmy and Best Casting Emmys (Comedy) went to ''Series/ModernFamily'' instead. Of course, if ''Modern Family'' hadn't won those, this entry would be on its page.

* DorkAge: Season 5. From the start, it was overshadowed by the death of Cory Monteith, featured performances of songs that had not been released yet in the timeline of the show (like Katy Perry's "Roar" and Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball both released Fall 2013 even though it was set in Spring 2013), asinine storylines (like an episode based around twerking and a scene where Will punishes Marley for not wearing a skimpy outfit, and the infamous "Puppet Master" episode). To top it off, they decided to ditch the Glee club entirely for the second half of the season, essentially firing 5 regulars in the process. Had the show not been renewed for Season 6 before the season started, it likely would have been cancelled as viewership tanked during the season. Season 6 tried to rectify it by going back to the Glee Club but Fox had already made the decision to cancel the show by then.

** In one episode, Puck (played by Creator/MarkSalling) says that he expects that in ten years he'll be "dead, or in jail, or both." Less than a decade later, Salling was dead -- having hung himself after being convicted of possession of child pornography and domestic abuse.

** Between Finn, Rachel, Quinn, and Puck, the pairs are either Finchel and Quick or Puckerberry and Fuinn. Or Finn/Puck and Faberry. Though recent events had led authors to replace Puck with Sam.

** Between Finn, Rachel, Quinn, and Puck, the pairs are either Finchel and Quick or Puckerberry and Fuinn. Or Finn/Puck and Faberry.