Some episodes of Glee have aged like fine wine – this one, not so much.
On Sunday, December 15, Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz, who portray Artie and Tina, revisited the Season 5 episode “Previously Unaired Christmas” on their podcast And You Really Missed It. Spoiler alert: they weren’t fans.
The episode in question aired in December 2013 with a sassy intro from Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) claiming she was “banned” by Fox before it finally aired. But that tongue-in-cheek premise didn’t soften the blow for the Glee actor.
“We knew it was very offensive,” Ushkowitz, 38, admitted. The goal was humor, but the points were missing. “You had to commit so hard because it was so bad.
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Standout cringe moment? Nativity scene in disco style with the song “Love Child.” The Tony Award winner recalled thinking, “Wow, we’ve really hit rock bottom.” McHale, 36, added: “I don’t think it’s supposed to be bad. It’s supposed to be controversial. I mean, bad is good if it’s funny… It just felt controversial for controversial’s sake.”
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Other eyebrow-raising moments included Rachel (played by Lea Michele), Kurt (played by Chris Colfer) and Santana (played by Naya Rivera) dressed as elves getting tricked. And let’s not forget Santana’s portrayal of Mrs. Claus.
“Santana as Miss Claus was probably the worst,” Ushkowitz noted.
But it was hard for McHale to pick just one low point. “I don’t even know. I think it’s up there with turning Becky into Santa,” the Grammy-nominated artist explained. “Kitten [played by Becca Tobin] saying super racist and defensive things to Unique [played by Alex Newell] and Tina.”
He continued, “And then Santana was saying all these crazy things to kids, like real kids. Being fat shaming, anti-Semitic, talking about porn. And then Kurt was sexually assaulted. So, where do we go from there?”
Despite the unpleasant memories, the pair praised their teammates and crew for pushing through. “Good for you and Melissa [Benoist] and Alex because you had some crazy s*** to do and you sold it,” McHale noted. (Benoist, now 36, starred in the hit Marley Rose.)
Festivity aired from May 2009 to March 2015.
