'Glee's' Ratings Drop Suggests Backlash Against Controversial Story Lines

After a stellar first season and spotty second season, "Glee's" popularity seems to be taking a hit.

According to Fox News, "Glee's" viewership is down 30 percent from last season. And last Tuesday's episode, "Mash-Off," attracted only 7.1 million viewers, the lowest figures of the season.

Fox suggested that "Glee's" emphasis on sex could have led to viewer backlash. In "The First Time," two couples consummated their relationship while one couple used fake IDs to sneak into a gay bar on Drag Queen Night.

So far, "Glee" season 3 is a mixed bag. I do appreciate the emphasis on the show's core characters. It's always nice to see more Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.), even if his parents are a walking Asian punch line. We've also seen some killer musical numbers, including the "West Side Story" performances and the Adele mash-up.

Yet "Glee's" penchant for controversy seems to have backfired. The adoption story lines so angered viewers enough to spark a change.org petition. Supporters of the petition believed that the story lines between Shelby (Idina Menzel) and Quinn (Dianna Agron), and Shelby and Rachel (Lea Michele) could scare adoptive families into believing that birth parents could return to take their children back.

I'm not personally offended by these adoption story lines (because "Glee" has never been a realistic show to begin with). Yet I do think the show would be well-advised to wrap up these story lines. As seen in season 1, viewers tend to grow weary of "Glee's" baby drama.

As for the sexual themes, the show could benefit from more balanced perspectives. The feud between Finn (Cory Monteith) and Santana (Naya Rivera) is one example of the excessive emphasis on GLBT themes.

There seems to be a double standard on the show when it comes to bullying. Yet Santana's cruel behavior towards other students, her comments about their weight, ethnicity, and appearance is treated as comic relief. Apparently bullying is only wrong if gay students are the targets.

It would be interesting to see if the Finn/Santana story line causes "Glee" to lose even more viewers. We get that Ryan Murphy was picked on in high school for being gay, but does that have to be the driving force behind every story line?

I'd love to see "Glee" return to its season 1 glory, as a show that inspired underdogs and performed great music. Yet often it seems like "Glee" is becoming a mere vehicle for Murphy to exorcise his personal demons.