First, the good news: Fox will give viewers a sneak peek of Glee, the provocative new musical dramedy from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy, after an episode of American Idol on May 19. Now the bad news: That’s all we get until fall! Let’s let Fox chairman Peter Ligouri explain: "An ambitious and unique show such as Glee deserves an ambitious and unique kick-off. We also wanted to take advantage of the huge American Idol promotional platform to launch the marketing campaign in May."
There may have been other motives, too. Rumor has it that Fox was considering whether to give Glee the high-profile time slot behind Idol on Wednesdays this winter, but that spot went to Lie to Me, the we’re-not-trying-to-be-Psych-honest drama that stars Tim Roth. Glee, which is a high-concept series about a teacher who revamps his old high school glee club, may seem a lot riskier than Lie to Me, but it was an immediate favorite among critics at the most recent Television Press Tour in Los Angeles. The drama will now bow in either August or September on a date yet to be determined.
Glee features a soundtrack of oldies and newbies and stars Matthew Morrison (As the World Turns), Jessalyn Gilsig (Nip/Tuck), and Jane Lynch (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby).
People didn’t come back to Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, and a bunch of other shows that aired about a dozen episodes before being sidelined by the strike last year but Fox thinks people will come back to this show after only seeing ONE episode before it’s sidelined for 4 months?? Really?
I’m sorry, I love Ryan Murphy. But did we learn nothing from Viva Laughlin?
People are skeptical about Glee keeping a following over the summer, thinking it’ll follow other shows that did the same thing. However, Glee reaches a pocket of fans that will wait for it. Musical fans, which is who this will reach predominantly, will come back in the fall to follow it. That’s a given because they (we) are a devoted crowd. We’ll keep it around long enough to get more people into it.