Image Credit: Carin Baer/FOXIn what’s sure to be music to the ears of Gleeks everywhere, Fox is said to be finalizing a deal to amplify Glee‘s second season.
“Season 2 will be much bigger and much longer,” series creator Ryan Murphy confirmed to us over the weekend at PaleyFest ’10. “We are talking about doing 25 episodes as opposed to [the customary] 22.”
Murphy added that he hopes to inject the show’s sophomore season with a “sweet feeling… like I loved it when The Brady Bunch went to Hawaii. I want [New Directions] to go to some competition in New York.”
Excited by the prospect of fewer Glee repeats next season? Or are you worried that adding more episodes will dilute the overall quality? Sound off below! And then click here to read our spoilerific recap from Saturday’s Paley panel! (Reporting by Carrie Bell)
As far as I’m concerned more episdoes = more music…not a bad thing IMO
NO NO NO NO NO – the sure fire way to ruin a show is to add more episodes to a season – QUALITY over quantity should be the rule. Look at Fawlty Towers – just 12 episodes – each pure concentrated hilarity – and its legacy is ensured. If it had been made in America, I guarantee you it would have been stretched to 9 or 10 seasons as every lame, remotely decent show seems to go (King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond). Keep it short and good. Smallville should have gone this route as should 30 Rock which appears to be losing steam – go out on top, even Seinfeld dragged on too long – that last season is definitely not comparable to the early classic seasons.
Not all series get worse with age – Lost is still amazing 6 seasons in – they cut episodes to 16-18 for the last three, but that’s still quite a few. Everybody Loves Raymond was just as funny at the end of its run as it was when it first started. Friends slipped a bit towards the end.
There are just as many shows that got better throughout their run in comparison to the ones that fell off track. It doesn’t take more than a season to fall from grace.
It is possible to have Quality AND Quantity. I trust Ryan Murphy to not screw it up! lol. You can never have too much Glee!
You trust Ryan Murphy not to screw it up? Have you seen the the last few seasons of Nip/Tuck?
I disagree. Some shows are still doing great after a lengthy amount of time, like Law and Order for example. 20 years, and it’s still running, and a lot of people think this is the shows best season in quite a while. Not all shows can brag about having success after a long amount of time on air.
This is not your typical show. The base is loyal and young, the majority of whom would watch the show if it were sung from beginning to end. 25 eppys sound good to me.
Dude, it’s just three extra episodes. And this hiatus has been massive, it’s basically been the length of a summer break – it’ll be nice not to have it so long next year.
I got a little excited when I heard about the season being longer, but ultimately I have to agree with you.
When you’re dealing with procedurals, a longer season is no big deal. But for serialized shows, the ideal season size is 13-15 episodes. Cable serials (such as Dexter, The Sopranos, or True Blood), have followed this pattern and it suits them well.
When you have serials with 20+ episodes per season, you inevitably run into a common problem: filler episodes in which absolutely no plot progress is made, that are just there to take up space. This was a huge problem for Battlestar Galactica. You mentioned Lost, and that’s also a good example. Lost’s earlier seasons did have their share of boring filler episodes. Then they reduced the season size in season 4, and the result was much better pacing.
Glee kinda straddles the fence though. I do think of it as a serial, but it’s not one where you’ll be completely clueless about what is going on if you miss an episode or two, like with Lost.
In response to MSR about LOST staying relevant 6 seasons in…this is specifically BECAUSE they announced an end date for the show. The show WAS getting stale at the beginning of season 3 with filler episodes and with the producers not knowing how long they had to drag their story out. If we were in season 6 of LOST and no end date was announced…I don’t think we’d be saying the same thing about the show that we are today. The end date announcement was key and it makes LOST pretty unique.
Anyway, I agree with others in saying that Glee shouldn’t be affected too much by adding 3 episodes. They may as well get in as many episodes they can before their cast “graduates” and they run into the eternal issue that these high school shows face! lol
to: Mike RE: Lost having no end date until much later.
When the series first was announced at San Diego Comic Con, they stated they had a five year plan. They said they knew what they were going to do from start to finish for the overall arc and it wouldn’t be some crazy keep it going forever type deal.
The only reason they moved to 6 seasons was because ABC wanted more and there was the writer’s strike.
It’s always had an end date.
Actually Ryan Murphy envisioned Glee as a three year show so extended seasons wouldnt b a bad thing. Hopefully FOX doesnt try to strech the show longer then what the creator wants.
Furthermore, the writers strike happened after the announcement of the end date which shortened season 4 to 14 hours instead of the 16 they agreed to. Which made season 5 and 6 1 hour longer by default. But they negotiated for an additional 18th hour for this final season of lost to have a 2 hour premiere
Christina, gotta disagree with you on that one. They had a 5 season plan. Yes. But you can even read archived articles on this site of how it was a landmark decision to announcing the end date in season 3. Just because the producers wanted to do 5 seasons doesn’t mean that the network would agree to it. The two parties (creative and network) worked together to reach a compromise which equaled 3 seasons that totaled 48 episodes. (equivalent of 2 normal seasons). You can also search my blog for info on this. I know way too much on the subject of lost. (they eliminated this post when I had a link lol google lost addicts blog or google “lost end date 2007 ew”)
to MSR, i disagree. FRIENDS remained hilarious until the end. In fact, once they had announced they would do two more seasons – the got even better! seasons 9 & 10 were by far the best.
I have to say, I’ve never heard of Fawlty Towers or whatever you said, so clearly it wasn’t that popular. I’d much rather see 25 episodes than 22. When you fall in love with characters, you stop caring and criticizing every second of a show. Tell me this: if you love your show so much, why would you want it to be gone? You complain about how certain shows die because they go way too long, but the worst a show can be is gone. I’d rather have a 1/2 as good of my favorite show than a favorite show that’s not on anymore.
Agree that this is good news, as having more eps if done right (and I have faith in Mr Murphy & co.) will give us a chance to develop more of the characters (particularly the “minor characters” that really didn’t get much in the first 13) and especially since they are casting 3 new roles via the much publicized open call auditions, this is not a bad thing. Also, I’ve heard that they are planning to have 10 songs per ep, I was thinking that might be a bit high if you want to get a lot of story/character development in, so more eps may allow them to scale it back to 8 or so and fit more of the performances in… Aslo a good thing!
I’m a little bit surprised, the ratings aren’t that good. I guess right demos and the fact it helps to sell other stuff (CD-s, concerts etc) make the difference…
As long as Quinn and Rachel make out in one of those 3 extras episodes, you’ll get no argument from me.
I’m excited.
It all depends on if they improve the quality of the show. Some continuity, and less far fetched storylines would be far better than an extended second season. I do like the New York idea though.
I’d also like to see the music less produced. It wasn’t that bad in the pilot. Just take the auto-tune down a notch. When they’re performing in the choir room, make it sound like they’re performing in the choir room rather than a Ke$ha song.
I agree with everything you just said. I mostly only watch Glee for the musical numbers, the plot so far has been pretty ridiculous. It would be nice if they kept the songs big, but brought the story a little closer to earth.
Dear lord. PLEASE don’t let them sing a Kesha song.
GLEE IS AMAZING AND NEARLY EVERYBODY LOVES IT. It’s the far-fetched story lines that make Glee so amazing and 3 extra epsiodes is a god send, because i should think well have a season three and perhaps a season 4 and that’ll be it. No more glee = world becomes mentally unstable.
You do know that it’s Ryan Murphy dping the show right? Of nip-tuck fame? The show that was firmly rooted in the surreal, with far-fetched storylines and limited through plot…
Dear lord. PLEASE don’t let them sing a Kesha song.
she has more than the one?
Spot on George. I want more and more albums!
Well, I don’t watch Glee for great writing. Cause apart from Sue’s zingers, great writing doesn’t exist on Glee. But I love it. So the more the better!
Yeah, true. The guy made Popular for goodness sake! Glee is going to remain as goofy (in a good way) as it has been.
About time they got smart with something
I love it! The more Glee, the better! I just hope there’s not another 4 month hiatus.
Think of all the new music! Awesome.
AMAZING!!! anything for MORE GLEE!!!
This is going to be the next 90210. remember the 32 episodes per season in the 90s?
I wouldn’t have a problem with that, but the stories are already inconsistent; how will it look with more stories in the season?
THE MORE GLEE THE BETTER!!!
Thanks Fox, Ryan Murphy & Cast!!
Overexposure will cause this show to die quickly. Glee is not the kind of show they can super-size. I enjoy the show, but only hard-core fans will stick with it if it is on too much (‘hard-core’ fans are great, but they cannot sustain the show alone).
First of all, 3 extra episodes is not “much longer,” Ryan Murphy. Secondly, since The Office started having “super-sized” seasons, the quality has been slipping. Coincidence? I think not.
Sounds good to me! Bring it on! The more the “Mary-ier”
This is going to be the best thing ever!!!