Is GLEE still in its first season?- Page 3

[James885]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:11pm

I don't really care for Glee, but I think that it's really overexposed (and BWW isn't helping that problem). What with the live tour, constant guest stars, and the CD's which, like Phyllis said, seem to be coming out every month, they're going to reach overload at some point. I don't watch it regularly, but I can't really see it lasting longer than 3 or 4 seasons. How long can you sustain something like that? It probably would've been better if it had been a miniseries instead of a regular TV show.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:15pm

It would be great if the producers had Puck sing "Mack the Knife."

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:17pm

Patti wouldn't get royalties from an Evita song on Glee. I can totally see why she might want to be on it, if the dweebs are plotzing over appearances by Mendel and Chenoweth and other such pishers on that show. The irony being they wouldn't even know who she is.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:24pm

"plotzing over appearances by Mendel and Chenoweth"

MenZel

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:27pm

Ha! I guess in my brain I combined Idina and Menzel and got Mendel. At least I didn't write Mencia.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:29pm

"Glee's going to be just like every other recent hour-long show that started out with a bang and then hemorrhages viewers from the second season onward. Heroes. Lost. Ugly Betty. One more for the heap, that's all it is"

Namo the shows you mentioned all ran for 4 or more seasons so in fact if it goes the way they did then it will get over 100 episodes meaning it's you who has just killed your own point.

Don't get me wrong im not a big Glee fanatic or anything i just have this odd fascination with American TV and its ratings, Demos etc. Its something i have wrote about many times in my column. I just think that where you are probably right that its popularity will slip it will still get to the 100 episode mark.

Updated On: 5/17/10 at 04:29 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:29pm

Be careful. Idina's gonna give you the stinkeye.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:34pm

Patti DID sing on "Will & Grace". She sang "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", at the end for a few seconds.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:35pm

"Not to mention they seems to put out a new cd every month"

These producers have to strike when the iron is HOT! Teens have the attention span of a fly and they are like rats to a feeder bar if they like something, so keep pumping out the hits.

Like I said I anxiously await the "E!True Hollywood Story: GLEE" in a few years where half the kids are on Celebrity Rehab and Lea Michele talks about being in a hot tub with jane Lynch.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:37pm

"Like I said I anxiously await the "E!True Hollywood Story: GLEE" in a few years where half the kids are on Celebrity Rehab and Lea Michele talks about being in a hot tub with jane Lynch. "

OK that made me fall of the sofa laughing

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:40pm

There are at least five different cds out (and then several of those have various versions, I saw three versions of the same cd, the only difference being which bonus tracks were on there). That is insane.

[lull89]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 5:11pm

There are 2 full length albums with one more being released tomorrow, some of which have different bonus tracks from different retailers, a common practice in the record industry nowadays, and 1 EP with one more being released after the final episode. They have all done very well throughout the entire world, peaking high on record charts and being certified Gold in many countries. You can see them all with statistics here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Glee

Like the show or not, it is the hottest new breakout hit of the season, and I can see it continuing to do very well. Of the negative or unsuccessful comparisons posted above, I think the only one it is really comparable to is Heroes in terms of sudden pop culture success, and that is the real danger they have to avoid. Heroes was largely critically acclaimed, like Glee has been, in its first season and then experienced a large dip in quality as time went on, and it never regained its audience. As long as Glee continues to produce episodes that are perceived as being at the same quality it currently is at (and most major TV critics have been giving it great reviews), it should continue to be a solid ratings hit, even if it loses a bit of its buzz, as is inevitable as the novelty wears off.

The Super Bowl thing isn't a huge deal, but it is a huge show of confidence and will expose the show to a lot of people who don't normally watch it. The post-Super Bowl spot has been over the last 10 years or so a place to showcase a signature show for the network, and not so much a place to launch new material (with the exception of Undercover Boss this year) that may not have much success without the great lead in. It basically shows that FOX considers Glee to be their signature show, which is a great show of confidence in its long-term potential.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 5:24pm

Well Glee is no Mad Men. Maybe if Glee hired Christina Hendricks or some other interesting actor, it might have a chance. But Crater face Morrison and over exposed Idina wannabe aren't going to cut it for another season. Let's face it, Jane Lynch is the only reason to watch.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 5:35pm

Ok, so Amazon confused with import editions. Still two full length album, an EP (the Madonna album, but at 7 songs, that not ver EPish) have come out already, TWO versions of the same album come out tomorrow and another EP is slated to come out in June.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 7:41pm

Like I said, they gotta move the product now, because this fire is gonna burn hot and fast. Teens will be over it by the second season.

[Marquise]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 8:35pm

I wonder if this is how it was in the early 1970's when THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY hit the air, and they were dubbed. Yes, even David Cassidy was dubbed for a couple of episodes before the producers were told he couldsing.

The PF was a ratings winner for ABC and they scored an international #1 hit with their first single release, I THINK I LOVE YOU.

The "group" released 7 studio and two greatest hits albums for a total of 9 while it was on the air. The show itself ran for 4 years, September 25, 1970 until August 30, 1974 for a total of 96 episodes.

I was only 2 when the show originally hit the air and I became a fan of it during the mid-to-late 70's reruns on what was WNEW (now WNYW) Channel 5, along with that other television family, THE BRADY BUNCH.

Oh, and THE MONKEES were another musical TV pop culture phenomenon before The PF, and that show ran only 2 years, from September 12, 1966 until September 9, 1968 for a total of only 58 episodes. They also had huge success on the pop charts and had a total of 5 Lp releases during the series' original network run.

I only got into THE MONKEES when MTV began airing the series and sparked a resurgence.

Given the past history of the musical television sit-com if glee even runs 3 seasons it's all par for the course.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 11:47pm

Times have changed on all these fronts. I think physical CDs of these Glee compilations are the lowest of the priorities, I believe there has been such a variety of them because of the MP3 format, the things they sell in stores are just formalities. I think these Glee recordings exist for the iTunes generation, primarily.

An interesting thing that both the Partridge Family (a fake band with one guy who really sang) and The Monkees (a fake band with four guys who sang and who eventually morphed into a real band) is that their songs began charting BEFORE their TV series premiered. But those, too, were different times. Radio had an influence on audiences the way payola had an influence on radio playlist creation.

Also, there's next to no syndication on either of those shows. Nobody during the era of Monkee-mania would have predicted that. The Partridges were always a joke.

THAT is the future of Glee. I stand by my prediction that viewers will fade away until most are done with the show by the end of season 2. It'll be on the air and off the air in different (indifferent) time slots for its third season and will be cancelled with unaired episodes. These will make a small but dedicated cadre of fans write internet petitions and die of self-induced orgasms when Glee: The Complete Series is released on DVD to no real fanfare and little success. It will run 36 times a week for 18 months on Logo until Logo is shut down due to lack of interest.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 7:20am

I don't know if you all remember what happened with the "Fame" TV series in the '80s, but it was only really popular in the US for its first season, despite it being a huge hit in Europe, particularly the UK. The show was cancelled on network TV after the ratings quickly tapered off, but then it was picked up with new episodes sold directly to syndication.

And it ran for another five full seasons.

There was also a soundtrack of songs released from the TV show, and a "worldwide" live stage tour. It was a big deal at the time, even after the show lost much of its US audience.

So, yes, a show like this can be kept alive (for quite some time), even if it declines in popularity in the US.

And on another note ...

"I remember when television series had stand alone episodes, one with a beginning, a middle and an end. The following week was a whole new story. Now every show has to be soap opera."

Marquise, this is exactly why I don't watch series television anymore. I don't want to have to tune in next week "or else I'll miss something important." I am totally turned off by that marketing ploy that is driving most creative decisions on TV these days.

So, yeah, i'm one of those guys who has never seen Glee, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Mad Men, etc. Any series TV in the last 10-20 years. They make it virtually impossible to enjoy as a casual viewer. If you haven't seen the whole thing, tuning in to check out the seventh episode in a "hot" new series just leaves me bored and confused. So I stopped trying, and I didn't want to do "homework" studying previous plots and characters just to watch a 22-minute episode of anything. I may have seen ER once and a few others. I was "forced" to watch a few of them for my job producing interactive DVD graphics, but that was work-related, not "pleasure viewing."

And, no, I don't feel like succumbing to peer pressure. And I don't feel like I've missed anything at all.

Updated On: 5/18/10 at 07:20 AM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 8:05am

I was gonna mention Fame which did huge in europe. I remember it been on here on the BBC and then it was axed after 7 seasons i think and replaced with a little show called Eastenders.

The kids from Fame were huge, it was like Beatles Mania when they came to Wembley for the Kids From Fame Tour

[Marquise]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 9:28am

Thanks for reminding me about the FAME series best12. I clearly remember that show. It ran 1 season on NBC and then was cancelled where it then started airing in syndication. I think WNYW carried the show locally in NYC.

There were actually 4 or 5 albums produced with songs from the series, but the show was a bigger success in the UK than here in the states.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 9:39am

The Fame tv series had a movie behind it. When the series started, the movie had already been out and it had a very popular theme song.

[auggie]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 9:49am

Here is a different perspective on this show; My teen and tweens love Glee and they don't watch it on traditional TV at a particular time on a particular day because they are too busy. They like watching it on hulu with facebook up while IMing friends who are also downloading the big song from that episode from itunes. The camp factor zooms right over their heads and the plot line is secondary to some the chracters and what songs they sing. Among this set the breakout character is the dumb blond cheerleader and her one liners. Her "Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?!" line even has its own face book page.

The trick for the show is to keep it working on two levels; to keep these loyal teens/tweens happy discussing the show and buying downloads while giving a wink to the folks like those that post on this site that gives it credibility and tune in on Tuesday's to give it ratings.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 9:58am

The bottom line is still ratings, though, not downloads or Facebook pages.

Without solid ratings, they can't charge big bucks for advertising. And without lucrative advertising dollars the show will get cancelled. I'm sure Glee is not a cheap show to produce, especially with all the musical numbers (rehearsal time, studio time, mixing time, session musicians, arrangers, music licensing and clearing costs, etc.).

I know you're right about the Hulu audience, not just for Glee but for other shows as well. Hulu also has advertising revenue, which I'm sure is shared with the networks who are licensing their shows for Hulu. I'm not sure how or if these numbers are figuring into the overall ratings. They should, IMO, but I'll bet it's not being tracked that way ... yet.

EDIT: I will add that the trouble with tracking it is that statistics can't be gathered all at once for a total number of viewers. If people are watching shows on demand, they could be watching "Episode 7" of Glee for the next several months or even years. So it would be next to impossible to gather comprehensive ratings info for the marketing departments in a timely manner. They can go to their advertisers months later and show them download stats, but, by that point, it might be too late.

Such a shift going on in the industry right now!

Updated On: 5/18/10 at 09:58 AM

[Marquise]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 10:25am

The Fame tv series had a movie behind it. When the series started, the movie had already been out and it had a very popular theme song.

I think we're all aware of that Gotham.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 10:36am

Tres jolie, Coco. Tres jolie.