Glee TV Series Preview
Fox Previews its New Musical Comedy Series
The newest show to join the Fox lineup this fall is a high school musical comedy series called Glee, which focuses on the Glee Club as well as high school life. In the 1999 film American Pie the singers were considered geeks, but not any more. And this series highlights how difficult and entertaining it can be.
This one-hour series centers on a teacher who undertakes the task to create a great Glee Club and inspire his students with the hope of making it to the Nationals. He sets out to find the best singers in the school to add to the few members that already make up the club. All the while everyone thinks he is crazy to take on this task, but he knows the enjoyment and satisfaction the students will attain with the club. He was once a member of his own Glee Club.
Musical Content in Glee
Ryan Murphy, the executive producer, director, and writer of Glee, says the musical content will vary every week. “With every episode, we do between five and eight music numbers, and my goal is to really try and give the audience something for everybody. We have a hip-hop. We have an R&B. We have a top 40. We have country.” He claims there will be something for every musical taste. “The key to the music is to do stuff for the most part that people know, which is why I think so many people love American Idol because it’s musical comfort food in some way.”
Being set in a high school, there are many sub-plots that will be explored besides the Glee club. “We have a lot of dramatic plot lines,” explains Murphy, “but the thing about this show is that it’s a one-hour comedy, and I don’t want to give away too much stuff because we’re so far away from the premier.”
As for the singing students suddenly becoming the popular kids in school, Murphy claims that isn’t going to happen. “The show really is about underdogs, and I think the key to the tone and the heart of the show is that people will love them because they are underdogs, so I didn’t want to do a show where they were all sort of super glossing and fantastic. The show it also set in the Midwest where I’m from, so we’re trying to keep it very authentic to that.”
Fox Offers Sneak Peek at Glee, May 2009
Fox is giving this series a special preview on May 19 at 9 PM, after finale of American Idol, which is a strategic spot, and then the series will begin in the fall. The show on May 19 is strictly a preview to whet the viewers’ appetites.
This move by Fox to tease the viewers will be followed up by a new strategy. As Murphy explains, “It’s just a great way to get as many eyeballs to sample your show as possible, and the thing that sold me with it is that it’s airing after the ultimate episode of American Idol this summer, but then it’s immediately going to be made available to people all summer long. You can buy (the pilot episode) and download it off the Internet. … But also we’re going to have music available starting in August. We’re going to be teasing some big numbers that we have coming up in the show.”
For information about the premier episode, read this article.
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