Looking at Whedon’s [...]]]> From vampire slaying cheerleaders to middle class suburbia, director and writer Joss Whedon has tackled a wide range of characters in his Hollywood career, but its quirky misfit angst that often works best for the 40-something artist, and this week’s episode of Glee has given him the opportunity to delve deeper into the subject.

Looking at Whedon’s visual resume, it isn’t hard to spot a trend. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse. All of those television shows, of which Whedon created and often directed, deal with characters ostracized from society, some so different that they sport fangs or green skin. Wipe the makeup away, and what’s left is a bunch of misfits, all finding extraordinary ways to express themselves.

Buffy Summers, at first a popular cheerleader, quickly finds herself shrouded in darkness after being thrust into the role of a vampire slayer. Angel is a vampire that doesn’t find it fitting to kill every human that crosses his path, rather he falls in love with a vampire killer. These characters are social outcasts.

Now comes Glee, Fox’s hit series about the antics of a high school singing club is full of misfits. There’s the wheelchair-bound geek dreaming of walking, a gay teenage boy afraid of being loud and proud, a pregnant cheerleader and a girl with fantasies of becoming the next Barbra Streisand. While there is no blood sucking there are plenty of social outcasts, all using songs to feel special.

Not only does the entire series follow Whedon’s creative tone, but the latest episode, “Dream On,” focuses on three of the main characters fantasizing about their wildest dreams.

“I like high school shows,” Whedon said. “I think they tap into something very primal. And when you have some elements that take them to the next level, whether it is physical or musical, it is the kind of thing that completely jazzes me.”

The director tackles Tuesday’s musical episode, written by Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk, with a sense of understanding, not just of the way musicals should look on screen – he helped create the online musical phenomenon Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog starring Neil Patrick, who makes a welcome guest appearance this week on Glee – but with a sense that he gets the awkward bunch of high schoolers.

Whedon, when approached to direct the episode, said he wanted to focus on the deeper issues lurking within Glee’s characters. “These are very hard, personal things that they don’t necessarily talk about with other people,” he said. “There is a real thematic coherence about the episode that brought them together on an emotional level.”

Those emotions, which pulled Whedon into the episode, are monumental for the three characters taking center stage this week. Artie, the wheelchair-bound character, is forced to deal with the realities of being stuck in a chair for the rest of life. Will Schuester, glee club’s adult leader, confronts his suppressed dream of acting on stage. And, the Barbra Streisand wannabe, Rachel, gets one step closer to learning the identity of her mother.

Now that Fox has thrown even more support behind its ratings darling – the network just announced that Glee will air in the prime slot directly following next year’s Super Bowl broadcast – social outcasts everywhere can rejoice in knowing that they are certain to have an outlet to turn to on TV each week.

Hopefully, Whedon can stop by every now and then to check in on his beloved misfits, because if this week’s episode proves anything, it is that Glee, Madonna mania aside, works best when its characters have a chance to battle their misfit ways.

Photo courtesy of Michael Yarish/FOX.

Tuesday night’s return of the singing and dancing series scored its best ratings ever, pulling in 13.7 million viewers, which is a vast improvement over its series premiere numbers last year (9.6 million).

News of a ratings smash should come as no surprise to the millions of dedicated fans, otherwise known as [...]]]> Fox’s ‘Glee’ is a hit, again.

Tuesday night’s return of the singing and dancing series scored its best ratings ever, pulling in 13.7 million viewers, which is a vast improvement over its series premiere numbers last year (9.6 million).

News of a ratings smash should come as no surprise to the millions of dedicated fans, otherwise known as “gleeks.” Social networks are constantly abuzz about the Fox series and watch parties are popping up all over the country.

Perhaps the most obvious fan base is the Broadway community — last year the New York Times mentioned that the teenage cast of ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ gathered after their show was over to watch ‘Glee.’ Similar gatherings are still taking place, including amongst college students, as happened last night at an outdoor screening of the show on Columbia University’s main campus.

Who knew that a show that followed a dysfunctional high school glee club, complete with stereotypical characters straight out of a John Hughes script, would turn into a major phenonmon, one that spawned CDs, a national concert tour and a performance at the White House? Certainly not the show’s co-creators, Brad Falchuck and Ian Brennan.

“I thought that it would kind of be like a niche hit that was good and people liked,” Brennan said. “But, somehow it just struck a chord with people, and that is a real, real pleasant surprise.”

What might come as a real surprise, however, isn’t the ratings success or number of record sales, rather a “real world” change that has been occurring in schools around the country.

With increasing educational budget cuts sweeping the nation, arts education is often one of the first programs to get slashed. Just as ‘Glee’ was airing on Fox Tuesday night, the community of Fowlerville, Michigan announced it would be cutting band and art programs due to budget reductions.

In steps ‘Glee.’

“I actually heard from a guy who worked I think in the public school system somewhere in Washington state and he was like yes, we’re having tons of problems,” Brennan said. “He was like the one thing no one is touching now is Glee Club, which is such a fascinating blow back from this show.”

An elementary school principal in Utah sees ‘Glee’s’ musical message as a way to inspire students to sing, despite the fact that their budget has no place for choir.

“It’s a great teaching opportunity to get two songs and mash them together like they do on the show,” the principal told the Salt Lake Tribute. “It would be an awesome thing to find the right parent who could form a glee club and do some modern music.”

While most prime-time programming is filled with cookie cutter procedural dramas and a seemingly endless number of ‘Law & Order’ spinoffs, all merely teaching kids how to dispose of a dead body, ‘Glee’ has quickly turned into a show advocating for a positive change in America, even while maintaining its cotton candy sweetness.

As President Obama and his family watched the cast of ‘Glee’ perform at the recent White House event, an idea occurred to Falchuck. “I would encourage [the Obamas] to get Congress to mandate it as some kind of a law that everyone in the country has to watch ['Glee']. Call it the Glee Reform.”

If that Glee Reform called for arts funding in public schools to be increased across the country, it would certainly have my seal of approval.

‘Glee’ stars ran through the Queen song “Somebody to Love” first, with the whole group getting on the action. Next up [...]]]> As Gleeks await the return of Fox’s hit series ‘Glee,’ those attending the White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll, and anyone tuning in online, were treated to a live performance from the singing and dancing cast.

‘Glee’ stars ran through the Queen song “Somebody to Love” first, with the whole group getting on the action. Next up was “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” performed by Matthew Morrison, playing a ukulele, and Mark Salling, who then sang “Sweet Caroline.” “True Colors” was then sung by Jenna Ushkowitz followed by Stephanie Mills singing “Home.” Wrapping up the energetic set was a group performance of the now smash-take on Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

If anyone was wondering what the upcoming live ‘Glee’ tour might look or sound like, chances are this White House performance was a good sneak peak. And, just so Fox helps reminds viewers when the show returns (April 13 at 9:28 p.m.), the network kicks off ‘Gleek Week’ today, which is set to include multiple ‘Glee’ themed network events.

Fox also promises ‘Glee’ fans an upcoming iPhone and iPad app, although no specific launch date is currently listed.

Viewers are [...]]]> In an age when television programming is scattered across what often seems like thousands of channels, the idea of one channel ruling them all is a joke. There was a time when the three networks, NBC, ABC and CBS commanded the airwaves, but those days are tucked away in the annals of TV history.

Viewers are tasked with weeding out the crap, and let’s face it, the crap makes up about 99% of all television programming. From the ‘Jay Leno Show’ to ‘Jersey Shore,’ recent show offerings have been an assault on the senses. In fact, there’s barely one channel that can be relied on for quality programming, except for HBO.

While HBO came to most viewers’ attention in the early 1980′s for its feature film broadcasts, today’s audience most likely associates the channel as the home to such pop culture phenomenon as ‘Sex and the City,’ ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Six Feet Under.’

Such Hollywood heavyweights as Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks flocked to HBO with their award-winning mini-series ‘Band of Brothers,’ and the soon-to-air ‘The Pacific,’ another epic depiction of war. Martin Scorsese recently directed the pilot for an upcoming gangster series, ‘Boardwalk Empire.’ Not to mention the endless number of comics that have benefited over the years from HBO comedy specials.

However, it wasn’t the big names or flashy titles that first drew me into the cult of HBO, although ‘Fraggle Rock’ might have been the main reason I started watching. What sucked me in was a seemingly simple opening sequence that HBO tacked onto its movies every night. Beginning in 1982, HBO used an introduction to its programming that included shots of a miniature city and its giant logo floating through space.

Those recognizable chrome-plated letters seemed awe-inspirsing to me as kid transfixed to the television set, unaware that I was quite privileged to have HBO piped into our household at a time when most friends merely had basic TV, if that.

Now, thanks to a post on PhantomLeap.com, anyone that missed that glorious HBO sequence can watch it again while also learning how the whole thing was put together in a making-of featurette. Starting with a miniature 30-foot-long cityscape, complete with working light bulbs in every building and hand-made foliage, the intro was painstakingly created by Liberty Studios in New York. After all these years, it was exciting to discover that a few bums and hookers were scattered throughout that memorable miniature city.

With a score by Ferdinand J. Smith that was meant to give HBO the “biggest, most exciting sound on television,” every time the channel would air a film, I distinctly remember rushing to catch that opening sequence. From a branding standpoint, the introduction provided HBO with all that it set out to achieve, excitement and wonderment, at least for this viewer.

Quality programming has kept me tuned into HBO over the years, but the initial impact its sweeping introduction provided is surely what made me a long-time viewer. Perhaps other networks can learn a thing a two from watching it again.

Published by the Huffington Post February 9, 2010.

First hosted by comedian Steve Allen in 1954, ‘The Tonight Show’ has seen many lead the talk show. From Allen and Jack Paar to the venerable [...]]]> After seemingly endless public fighting and controversy, Conan O’Brien is ready to depart NBC’s ‘The Tonight Show‘ with Friday night’s broadcast marking his final time hosting the legendary late-night program.

First hosted by comedian Steve Allen in 1954, ‘The Tonight Show’ has seen many lead the talk show. From Allen and Jack Paar to the venerable Johnny Carson and now O’Brien, the program is full of comic history. Jay Leno reigned as king of ‘The Tonight Show’ from 1992-2009 after nabbing, some would argue “stealing,” the show from David Letterman upon Carson’s retirement.

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the show, with ratings dropping and that ill-fated format switch in 1957 to a news-type program. However, there has been a sense of dignity about hosting the legendary broadcast, until now. Who wants a washed up comedian, Leno, to return to late-night with his tail between his legs, besides Jeff Zucker?

With O’Brien departing ‘The Tonight Show,’ and Leno set to return as host March 1, NBC is certain to face an uphill climb as it tries wooing back viewers and re-building the dignity of its storied program. Any TV viewer that ditched ‘The Tonight Show’ once O’Brien took over shouldn’t be that hard to get back, pending they haven’t died of old age. No, NBC shouldn’t be concerned about that demographic. It should, however, be nervous about the 18-to-49 demographic — a group O’Brien plays well to.

O’Brien has been the leader in late night with the 18-to-49 year-old viewers this season, according to BusinessWeek.com. Leno, on the other hand, has been struggling to garner any viewers for his prime-time show. And once O’Brien is able to return to the airwaves in September, Fox could prove a strong competitor to NBC should they snatch up O’Brien for its own late-night program. The network is the most-watched in prime time when it comes to youngsters.

Zucker recently told Charlie Rose he made a “mistake” regarding the whole late-night debacle. When the coveted 18-to-49 year olds follow O’Brien this Fall, perhaps Triumph the Insult Comic Dog can interview the NBC executive and get him to admit something worse. After all, it appears the NBC higher-ups decided to lock up Triumph and most all of O’Brien’s comic creations so that they can’t be used on a competing network.

Perhaps Zucker’s master plan is to have Triumph the Insult Comic Dog co-host ‘The Tonight Show’ with Leno. Now that might be the only positive thing to come out of this late-night madness — a puppet upstaging Leno each and every night. I’d definitely tune in.

Published by The Huffington Post on January, 25 2010.