FOX’s much-hyped preview of Glee aired in a coveted position, following the second-to-last American Idol of the season. In that plum timeslot, how well did Glee perform do? Will the musical comedy stick around?
Glee follows the administrators and the members of a formerly top show choir at a fictional Ohio high school. A young teacher (Broadway’s Matthew Morrison) offers to take over leading the group to try to return them to their former glory. Other castmembers include Jayma Mays, Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Dianna Agron, Mark Salling, Jessalyn Gilsig, and Jane Lynch.
The series debuted to an average of 9.6 million viewers with a 3.9 rating among adults 18-49. Those numbers sound okay on their own but, when you dig deeper, it’s a different tune. The show’s American Idol lead-in attracted 23.8 million viewers with an 8.6 rating in the demo. About half as many people tuned in to watch Glee and then, by the second half hour, another three million tuned out.
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FOX execs have to be disappointed considering the great Idol lead-in and all of the promotion that the network has poured into it. The show has already secured a spot on FOX’s Fall schedule as the network’s only new drama. It’ll definitely be back. But, if the debut is any indication of the show’s future, you have to wonder, for how long?
According to FOX spokesperson Joe Earley, the network is pleased with the show’s average performance. He tells the Hollywood Reporter, “The measurement for success last night was never about the demo rating… We’re definitely happy with the way Glee performed, we knew how tough the competition was going to be, last night was a marketing experiment and we got almost 10 million people to see it, which is fantastic. We could work all summer long marketing the show and not get those many people, and certainly not in the fall.”
So, what do you think? Worth keeping or should it be cancelled?
Image courtesy FOX.
Please please keep Glee!!! 🙂
Rest assured that I’m not a person that likes musicals or ever participated in drama/glee club in high school. I have zero musical/singing talent and only watched this show because I recognized the old lady that sponsored the cheerleaders from her role in 40 year old virgin and liked it. With all of that being said, I thought the pilot episode was tremendous and the young lady that plays Rachel is a phenomenal singer. I’ve actually watched the “Don’t stop believing” clip from the end of the show several times because she does such a tremendous job. I sincerely hope… Read more »
I love this show!!! Once in a long while American TV producers get it right. Quirky, funny, great characters, and a good story. Usually this quality is only found in shows from north of our border or across the pond. Let’s hope they keep it up and producers here catch on and give us more of this quality work.
i have watched the first episode like three times! i love love love this show :D:D:D me and my best friend watched it the other day in the internet and we were like dang this is a good show. i’m 14 and going to to high school and it kinda shows how it really is and the things that happen. i really really like this show and look forward to watching it in the fall 🙂
AH! This show is awesome without a doubt! Please please please keep it! I love kevin mchale 🙂
Glee is a rare gem, and will therefor be a likely candidate for cancelation. Fox: please, please keep it on! It may take a full season to gain momentum, but it will! Rarely is a show cast so perfectly. Lea Michele is especially perfect and compelling.
So funny! I’ve always loved a good musical. If fox dumps this show, I will lose all faith in the network (I’ve already taken a few blows from their dismissal of Firefly and the close call of Dollhouse). I’m extremely excited about Glee and look forward to watching it this fall.
Now I am a 16 year old guy who loved this show and my friends think its a musical (so they think its gay) but I liked cause its very funny!!!!
AMAZING SHOW! cory monteith is adorable and i hope his character and Lea michele’s get together <3 !!!!
I love Glee….I have talked to tons of people who did not watch it when it originally aired (wasn’t the Dancing with the Stars Finale on??) but have loved it since seeing ti on the internet. Fox would be completely stupid to cancel a show that has got so much buzz and a huge fan base already. Glee rocks!
I just got a chance to watch Glee on HuLu and I love it! I am looking forward to seeing it this fall. I wish it was running over the summer.
This show is exactly what we need. More fun and music and goofiness and less death and dismemberment, but I fear this will just end up like Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Cupid and every other show that is different and not mainstream. When are they going to realize that every show can’t be in the top 10 and it’s okay to keep shows alive that are directed towards left brained people that are into violence.
Absolutely loved this show. I finally got to see this show on my TIVO and it was great. FOX would be crazy not to promote this show more and hype it for FALL. With all the other crap on TV this show will blow them away. The music was great and the pace and characters was perfect. I have watched it two times already. To bad we have to wait until fall for the next episode.
I love this show. I cant remember the last time Ive seen a new show with this much potential. Colorful characters, great plot, and the music is phenominal. I’ve probably listened to “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” 20 times since Tuesday. Please keep this going.
I have been listening to “Don’t Stop Believin” ever since it first came out. I even downloaded it off iTunes, and I don’t download ANYTHING off iTunes. They cast members especially Lea Michele have amazing voices. I saw Lea perform once before back in 96-97 when I saw Les Miserables. Her voice has gotten 100 times better and she is beautiful. This show shows alot of promise and I can’t wait to see what happens next week.