A Gleeful Blog

I'm sure that you've at least heard the word "Glee" mentioned in the past months, be it on Facebook or in an actual conversation.

Glee is the newest Fox show, about a high school show choir with a rag-tag group of misfits including a diva, a jock, a soulful black girl, a gay boy, a kid in a wheelchair, a womanizer, a hypocritical cheerleader, and a punky Asian. The glee club, called New Directions, is taken over by Spanish teacher and former Glee member William Schuster. Mr. Shoe (as the kids call him) wants to return the glee club to its glory days and let the kids have tons of fun on the way. The only problem is that the cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester, wants the glee club gone because her "Cheerios" are sharing the funds with the glee club.

The Fox Network took a big risk when they decided to show the pilot of "Glee" four months before the show would actually begin airing. This is unheard of in the world where episodic shows like Glee compete against reality television and broadcast TV. To keep up the buzz about the show, Glee delved into social networking, maintained an online presence, showcased the actors in malls across the country, and held a fan contest. The show embarked on an ambitious marketing scheme. Joe Earley, executive vice president of marketing and communications for Fox, said the show was screened at summer camps, stars engaged in a 10-city tour, street teams handed out "Glee"-related items, and trailers were shown in front of the latest "Harry Potter" film.

Online, characters had Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, the pilot was available for streaming, and the show's stars took handheld cameras to events to gather behind-the-scenes content. The director's cut of the pilot was followed by a "Tweet-peat" where the stars and the fans took to Twitter to discuss the episode.

Martin said he was present when Fox screened an episode at the geekiest of all events: Comic-Con in San Diego, California.

Such innovation may have to become the norm, "Particularly for those networks that skew younger such as Fox, CW and ABC to an extent, they are going to have to really promote all of their shows all year long and find new ways to keep them in front of their viewers and remind them that they are there," said Ed Martin, a television critic who writes for JackMyers.com. "What Fox did last spring was something totally new that had never been done before."

I have watched the current episodes of Glee, and I was impressed with the dance sequences, the choice of music, and the context in which it was used. Although I don't think the Glee versions of popular songs really compare to the original versions, it still has an emotional impact because of the story behind the song. In the case of "Don't Stop Believing", Mr. Shoe is thinking of giving up on his love of teaching and Glee Club to get a better paying job for his family, when he hears his students singing the Journey hit.

One thing I have to say about the show is that I was in show choir, and there is not nearly this much drama. The other problem I have with the show is that Mr. Shoe's wife is selfish and unlikeable, and we're expected to take this as the reason he should leave her and be with his neurotic co-worker, a school counselor. Well, if his wife is so terrible, then why did he fall in love with her in the first place? Plot device, that's why.

That being said, Glee is about finding the happy medium between keeping your hopes and dreams alive and being realistic. Is the storyline really that good? Well, I don't think so (and now they've burned out the go-to teen pregnancy plot line in the first episodes), but the dances are certainly creative and really fun to watch. Glee is a very marketable show and the fact that it is using social networking will only help propel it to Season 2.

Have you seen Glee? If so, what are you feelings on it? Do you think that it deserves all the hype it has gotten for the past months? Do you think that the extra publicity done for the show helped garner ratings for it?

And on that note, here's Kurt's Single Ladies Dance.