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Are We Over 'Glee'?
by Laura Prudom, posted May 11th 2010 11:00PM
Can we ever really have too much of a good thing? Is it physically possible for us to get tired of 'Glee'? The suggestion is pure sacrilege, we know, but before you release the hounds on us, let's remember that, thus far, only 17 episodes of the primetime hit have actually aired, and yet somehow, the cast have already sung the national anthem during the World Series, released three hit albums, scheduled a sell-out summer concert tour, received international syndication, won a Golden Globe and performed at the frickin' White House, not to mention the rumors that the series may soon be adapted into a Broadway musical. After 17 episodes.
While 'Glee' is impossible to define and thus impossible to compare to any other series, in terms of cultural impact, programs such as 'Seinfeld' and 'The Simpsons' immediately spring to mind. And, to put things in perspective, 'Seinfeld' wasn't awarded a Golden Globe until its fifth season (nor an Emmy until its fourth, fact fans), and as far as we're aware, Homer and Bart Simpson have never been invited to serenade the First Family. All this glory for a little engine with an average viewership of 8 million viewers seems almost impossible to believe.
They say that the stars that shine the brightest burn out the fastest, and we can't help but wonder whether everyone's favorite rising star is destined for a similar fate. As tabloid mainstays Britney and LiLo can attest, overexposure just isn't pretty, and right now the 'Glee' publicity machine is working so fast that we can hear the gears grinding; TV Squad has already had cause to ponder whether the show is heading towards an epic fall.
Our biggest concern is just how rapidly the show is burning through story lines; in the first 17 episodes alone, we've witnessed a fake pregnancy, a real pregnancy, about a dozen make-ups, break-ups and romantic near-misses, an iconic staging of 'Single Ladies' involving an entire football team, and so many attempts to get glee club shut down it's a wonder Mr. Schue's (Matthew Morrison) curly blond locks haven't gone gray from the stress -- and that was all before sectionals!
Of course, every show needs its share of narrative conflict, otherwise there'd be no reason to tune in, but the constant back and forth of Will saves glee club/Will loses glee club/Principal Figgins shuts down glee club/Principal Figgins reinstates glee club/Rachel quits glee club ... etc., etc., ad nauseam, is already getting a little repetitive. If the show is destined for longevity, it can't keep retreading the same plot points in weekly cycles.
Similarly, when 'Glee' returned with the long-awaited 14th episode, "Hell-O," it seemed as though the fast-forward button had been hit on many of the show's story lines: Finn (Cory Monteith) and Rachel (Lea Michele) were already (sort of) an item, as were Puck (Mark Salling) and Quinn (Dianna Agron), and Will and Emma (Jayma Mays). Now we've witnessed the introduction of the delicious (but potentially dastardly?) Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff) and dastardly (but potentially delicious?) Shelby Corcoran (legendary theater star Idina Menzel) to spice up the romantic drama, but we kind of wish we were seeing more fall-out from Jesse quitting Vocal Adrenaline in favor of New Directions; it all seems a little too easy...
It's not like we're complaining about actually getting some resolution for our story lines instead of constant teases that only prolong the inevitable (we're still looking at you, 'Lost'), but we wonder how long 'Glee' can keep up this breakneck pace without running out of new ideas and falling back on old habits and genre tropes to fill up screen time.
Likewise, the show's overexposure in the media (which we're well aware we're contributing to with this article -- what can you do?) might turn out to be more of a hindrance than a help in the long run. Right now, the hype is starting to eclipse the show, with the last few weeks providing us with a Rolling Stone cover shoot and Oprah Winfrey special highlighting the show, while a nationwide search for the next cast members is expected to be turned into its own reality talent series.
Even genre-specific super-convention Comic-Con made an exception to give the decidedly sci-fi and comic-lite series a panel at last year's event in San Diego, with another Q&A session (in an even bigger venue) expected at this year's convention. If you're still unconvinced of the show's pop-culture stranglehold, how about some stats? According to Google Zeitgeist, 'Glee' was the No. 1 most searched for TV show in 2009, and ranked No. 6 on Google's list of the fastest rising search terms of 2009, coming in ahead of terms like 'Paranormal Activity' and Lady Gaga and behind searches for Twitter and Michael Jackson.
But have the latest four episodes lived up to the hype? Yes and no. While the show's super-promoted 'Power of Madonna' episode gave us a note-perfect blend of musical mastery and cohesive story line all at once, Kristin Chenoweth's return to the show fell a little flat, with overlong songs that had some audience members feeling bored or just plain bewildered.
The show has captured lightning in a bottle with the introduction of Groff, whose stage-honed vocal skills do give the show an extra burst of adrenaline, especially when he's dueting with Lea Michele, but we can't help but think he's being underutilized in favor of gimmicks and cameos. (He wasn't even in tonight's episode! Though I must admit I found it charming, even without him.)
The May 18 episode features the legen -- wait for it -- dary vocal skills of 'How I Met Your Mother' star Neil Patrick Harris, reteaming with his 'Dr. Horrible' director Joss Whedon for an episode that will doubtless have us dancing on our couches, but we can't help but wonder whether the continual stunt-casting and self-referencing is going to overshadow the story line (everyone from Britney to JLo is already campaigning to appear or have their music featured on an episode).
TV Squad editor Joel Keller believes it already has, pointing out that Sue Sylvester's new-found fame as a music video star is detracting from the plot, and we're inclined to agree. We're not sure if the rest of the season will have Sue tackling other infamous videos (surely a 'Bohemian Rhapsody' parody can't be far off), but for those of us that fell in love with our hapless Gleeks for their camaraderie and the constant threat of slushie facials, we think it's about time the show got back to the characters instead of the musical numbers.
It seems as though you can't open a magazine, Web page or Twitter feed without being bombarded with buzz for the show (whether you believe it's deserved or not is entirely at your discretion), but can audiences ever truly tire of such peppy, feel-good episodes, a unique, three dimensional cast of super-talented misfits and undoubtedly the best soundtrack in television history? Only time (and ratings) will tell -- for now, we're happy to ride the 'Glee' train wherever Ryan Murphy and company want to take us, slushie facials be damned.
Does 'Glee' still get your toes tapping despite all the hype? Do you think the cast deserves their new-found fame, or should they concentrate on hitting the right notes and not every event in town? Do you wish that dreamy Jonathan Groff could just be given a whole episode to croon at us solo? Give us your thoughts on 'Glee'-mania below!
[Follow Laura on Twitter @LauinLA.]
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