One of our employees is married to a playwright. As they watch TV, they talk about what makes them good and how they could be better. She makes very interesting connections, which we’ve used in some of our video work. And now, we’re passing the goods directly from the manufacturer to you. Take it away, Dorothy.

Everybody loves “Glee.” Or, at least, way way more people love “Glee” than could reasonably have been expected – it’s like the United States is a giant college campus and we’ve just been waiting, without even knowing it, for a televised evening a cappella concert. An album of songs from the show – yes, that’s right, a quirky mix of pop standards in choral form – is number 1 at iTunes, and, at least based on my friends’ Facebook updates, “Glee” is the new black on Wednesdays. Or something.

After eight episodes this fall, it’s been on a brief hiatus, and, while we all wait eagerly to see how long a fake pregnancy can stretch if no one knows what month it is in TVtime, some suggestions for “Glee”:

1) Repeat after me: “against type.”

I know you’re all post-modern and self-referential and stuff, but it can be hard to distinguish a show with narrowminded characters from a show that’s just narrow-mindedly lazy. If Sue Sylvester (yes, Jane Lynch, you’re a genius, you’re fabulous, moving along) calls two of the kids “Asian” and “other Asian” – it’s only really a “joke” if the characters have distinguished themselves as anything else during 8 episodes. And, no, having one of the Asian characters also stutter doesn’t equal plot. Characters who are anything other than white and straight are pretty much asked to do things that line up with their non-white and non-straightness – for Mercedes and Kurt, this means a lot of “being a diva” in a C storyline. (For the guy in the wheelchair it means, er, being a guy! In a wheelchair!) Not only does “impotent fierce” not propel the action in surprising ways, it also cuts out a lot of chances for genuine musical surprise. There’s a whole cannon of songs to chose from – try letting some of your nonlead actors sing them (and no Mr. Schuster doing “Bust a Move” doesn’t count. Really. My suggestion: What if Mercedes had a real, non-impossible romance, and then sang “Fifteen” when her heart got broken? For example, by “other Asian?”

2) Keep being gay. Keep being so gay. Watch the misogayny.

A primer: Having Kristen Chenoweth guest on your show is gay. Having Kristen Chenoweth guest on your show and sing “Maybe This Time” from Cabaret (the movie, not the play, going full Liza) is so gay. Having Kristen Chenoweth guest on your show and sing “Maybe This Time” as a delusional doomed alcholic is so gay as to approach what I call misogayny. Or what my darling friend Josh at Tarhearted describes in this way:

This probably isn’t very politically correct, but I wonder: do gay men hate women? Look at the women who are gay icons. They are universally over-the-top and often unkind or laughably vain. Sometimes even alcoholics or drug addicts. I wonder why that is. Do gay men idolize a strong woman and a dramatic story, or do we like laughing at train wrecks? Or is it both?

Look, by all means, fill your shows with terrible people. It makes for more drama, I understand it. You’re a third of the way through your first season and you’re already at mid-Melrose levels of lunacy. I get the need, I do. But, I’m saying, hey – your crazies are, um, largely ladies. And they lie, um, constantly, about really big deal things, like marriage and babies. And the men – Mr. Schuster, Finn, even Puck – are sweet and dopey and eager to believe the lies that the crazy women tell. I know you don’t want anyone to be too happy because you’d run out of story, but Kurt got to come out, dance to Beyonce, win the football game and his father’s acceptance in ONE EPISODE. Maybe something good could happen to or by a girl. Or even both.