The Cast of Glee (image: FOX)
In the ocean of television programming, it’s hard for a show to stand out — especially on the Fox Network, where notoriously fantastic shows get canned for no reason — and especially if it’s a musical. You can count the number of musical television shows that have succeeded in the past on one hand. I’m not counting Cop Rock as a success.
So, when I saw that there was a new show on television that was as much musical as it was comedy, I steered clear. On my wife’s urging, however, I finally gave Glee a chance after a couple episodes and I don’t regret it. I do regret missing those first couple of episodes because I hate trying to figure out what’s going on in a new show.
If you know me, and by my musings and opinion pieces on GeekDad, you might think, “How does this cynical and sarcastic super-genius like a show like Glee?” Well, aside from some great music including mashups of classic R&B with modern rock, Glee speaks to the geek or outcast we were in high school. Don’t stand up on a high horse and pretend you were perfect. Every teenager (thanks to the magic of puberty) goes through a time when they are not sure where or if they belong. I played baseball, but was a huge art nerd and creative-writing wonk so I got the short end of that stick in the school popularity game.
That’s what draws us into Glee and keeps us there. The show presents a character study of every stereotypical high school character and personality that can be fit into 40 minutes outside commercials. We’re able to see ourselves in those characters and along with their eventual evolution — our eventual evolution. With sharp writing from show creators Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy, Glee creates a high school atmosphere that’s a bit more snarky than I remember, but with as associative nature that feels like an in-joke memory. If all that isn’t enough to make you watch the show, how about the inclusion of a spot-on Jane Lynch, bursting with cocky confidence as the cheerleader coach?
With the season finale of Glee coming up this week, it felt like a good time to talk to executive producer and co-creator Brad Falchuk (of Nip/Tuck fame) not about the direction of the show or any spoilers for the finale (since those topics were off limits, and not because I didn’t want to know) but about some of the successes of the show and if those kids are lip syncing or not.
GeekDad: Creating a musical show is one thing, but keeping an audience for it is another. How do you feel you were most successful at doing that in this first season of Glee?
Brad Falchuk: I think the key is not approaching it as a musical show. One of the main pitfalls of any theoretically “niche” show is that you spend too much time on the “niche” and not enough time on the “show.” We make sure that our stories and characters are compelling first, then worry about the music. The music is a challenge, but what makes people interested in hearing it again and again is that it evokes the memories of the emotional experience they had with the characters when they heard the song on the show.
GD: Speaking about the music, who’s the master behind the musical selection on the show? There have been some great tunes belted out thus far.
BF: Ryan Murphy is the musical genius of the show. I (and others) pitch ideas, but he picks all the songs. He has an amazing musical library in his head.
Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk, happy he's got a hit show on his hands.
GD: In a lot of programs, playing to the stereotypes of characters has bombed shows. On Glee, it’s worked perfectly. What was the formula for creating the balance between stereotypes and character development?
BF: We really don’t have a formula. Our idea was always to use the stereotypes as starting points — something to make the audience instantly relate to the characters. After that, though, all bets were off and we just try to make them as real as possible. I love it when characters surprise you, just like real people. When I write a scene I just try to make the characters behave in a way that feels natural to them. Sometimes that means they make a left turn and do something unexpected. Those are always the best scenes in my opinion.
GD: We’re geeks, the glee kids are geeks — just for being in glee club. It’s a social by-product. Does any of this come from your own experiences as a teen?
BF: The point of the show is that every teenager is a geek. Every teenager feels a wanting, a desire for something more, to be heard, to be seen. In reality, I was more of the Finn/Puck type in high school (yes, we did throw a kid in the dumpster … a few times) but like those characters, I was unsure of myself and my place. I think the show is working for people of all ages, though because that feeling never really goes away.
GD: Probably one of the most unsure of his place in the world on the show, Kurt (Chris Colfer), is freaking hilarious. Is he that snarky in real life or just really good at his lines?
BF: Any great character is the combination of a brilliant actor and the right writing. He’s much sweeter than Kurt is, but he’s also very wise beyond his years. I find him hilarious (as does everyone else). Writing for him is a blast, because you can basically give him anything and he’ll make it work.
GD: The right writing it is! The writing on the show is particularly sharp. Frankly, it’s the thing that got me hooked. How do you mix the musical aspect with the interpersonal dialogue and still keep both parts fresh and entertaining? A lot of shows fail when trying dual formats.
BF: Like I said in my first answer, the writing is always the priority. Three of us created Glee — Ian Brennan, Ryan Murphy and myself, and we write all of the episodes. That allows for a very uniform voice from episode to episode. Keeping things fresh and entertaining is our job!
GD: Do you think that the popularity of American Idol and those dance shows helped with getting a show like Glee developed? Hypothetically, do you think the absence of those programs would hurt Glee?
BF: Certainly AI gave people the opportunity to see that music works on TV. Without a doubt, it opened eyes and doors. Hard to think hypothetically because AI is not going away any time soon!
GD: There are some deplorable human beings on Glee (namely, Terri Schuester played by Jessalyn Gilsig), no matter their intentions. Did working on Nip/Tuck help with the creation of those types of people?
BF: I have to disagree with you here. I don’t think Terri is deplorable. If you watch her scenes carefully you’ll see that she’s usually right in her assessment of the world and her relationship. She says things many women think about their lives and their spouses. She’s just very honest and selfish — not always a great combination. All of it is fear-based with Terri, though. She’s so scared all the time and certain creatures lash out when they’re scared.
I guess that kind of answers your question — the key to writing “bad guys” is to never think of them that way. Working on Nip/Tuck certainly helped me see the gray areas of humanity a little more clearly — or at least be more willing to explore them.
GD: If you had to pick one actor from the show to sing karaoke with, who would it be? And for that matter, what song would you choose?
BF: Amber Riley (as Mercedes Jones) or Lea Michele (as Rachel Berry), because I could just pretend to sing and let them do all the hard work. They’re so talented you want to kick them. As for a song, probably “In My Time of Dying,” by Led Zeppelin.
GD:Brad, thanks for the interview, one last question. I’ve noticed that sometimes it seems (clearly) that the songs are being lip-synced — though actually sung by the actors right? And other times, it seems like they are actually singing while filming. I’m not going crazy right, that is happening?
BF: The actors sing all of the songs on the show. It’s very important to us that they do all of their own singing and dancing. That said, it takes four to eight hours to shoot a musical number and it would be impossible for the actors to sing the number that many times that perfectly. In order to make it work from a production standpoint we prerecord the songs then have the actors lip-sync on stage when we shoot. We have someone there who’s only job is to make sure the synch is good — 99 percent of the time it works, every now and then it’s not perfect. We rarely have the actors sing live while we shoot.
The cGlee season finale airs Wednesday, December 9th on Fox. For more, heck out the website or head over to Amazon to pick up the soundtracks, Glee: Volume 1 or Glee: Volume 2.
A special hat tip to Brad’s brother Evan Falchuk of the See First Blog, whom you may remember from a previous article I wrote on balancing social media and family, for hooking this up. Thanks Evan!
