Sky 1 Glee - January Return.

So I’ve just learnt through Digital Spy  (Thanks DS we love you guys) that Glee season 4 wont be showing in the UK until January even though it begins in the US in the next couple of weeks.

Now Sky hasn’t ignored the fact that they’ve pushed it back 4 months and have released the following statement:

We originally thought that the majority of our customers would want to see Glee as soon as possible, but last year you gave us feedback about the constant breaks in scheduling (owing to one-off broadcasts of live sport and other events in the US) and told us you wanted a more consistent scheduling pattern.

"We listened to the feedback and have decided to begin showing season 4 in January 2013, so we can play out in an unbroken run."

Now I can completely see Sky’s point here, I didn’t enjoy Glee anywhere near as much as usual last year because of the gaps between episodes. It was ridiculously frustrating. I wouldn't watch for weeks and then have loads backed up on my planner then when I did watch and get back into it, it would just stop so I can see why Sky thought that leaving it for a few months and showing it back to back would be a good idea. In theory it works!

In practice… Not so much!

Firstly, showing Glee a day after the states was the whole reason for it to move to Sky 1 and away from E4. Now they are just doing exactly what E4 did but even less people can enjoy it now as its on pay TV.

Secondly we live in an age where people know how to get TV  on demand regardless of whether they pay for it or not which means those of us that don’t want to wait don’t have to. So come January Sky’s ratings might be even lower than they are already.

Also the world has moved on. We now live in a twitter world. And hiding from spoilers and updates on shows is becoming increasingly more difficult as days go by. With a 4 month gap between us and the US there is no way we will be able to hide away from whats happening on the show.

It really is a catch 22! If we wait and stick with Sky1’s (to be fair to them) sensible scheduling we risk knowing exactly what happens before we’ve even seen an episode. If we go at it alone we are subjected to breaks every other week.

I for one have absolutely no idea what I’ll do. I guess it will depend on how busy I am with other shows. If I’m bored at xmas I can’t see me not downloading however many episodes are available and having a binge that’s if I haven’t already.

So what’s my point? I don’t really know anymore. I guess what I’m saying is that I agree with Sky’s decision. I think it’s the right idea, it’s a sensible one. No breaks will make watching Glee more enjoyable but that doesn’t mean people are actually going to watch Glee that way.

Glee - Arrogance or Stupidity?

So it’s official, after much speculation, Ryan Murphy has confirmed that season 3 will be the last for Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Corey Monteith.

In a move that's sure to outrage and shock Glee fans everywhere, Ryan Murphy has decided to write out the three main stars of the show, Rachel, Kurt and Finn, plus god knows who else?!

Murphy said in an interview, that was published yesterday, he wanted the show to ‘stay true to life’ and that ‘more people were going then staying’ Which basically means that by season 4 we'll have a whole new cast.

So if whoever is classed as a junior in season 2 is being written out at the end of season 3 lets spend the next couple of minutes working out who'll be staying and going...

So anyone who was up for junior prom king and queen, immediately has to be counted as senior in season 3 which means the following are definitely gone:

Puck

Zizes

Quinn

Santana.

Plus: Rachel, Finn and Kurt who we already know about

Which means the following could be classed as Juniors in the next season and staying on for season 4:

Mercedes

Sam

Blaine

Tina

Artie

Mike Chang

Brittaney

But if we're being ‘true to life’ as Mr Murphy wants us to be, then anyone who's ever been seen in a class with people that are seniors for season 3 need to be classed as seniors as well. And I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Mike Chang in Spanish classes with the likes of Puck and Finn. In fact I know I have!

Don’t get me wrong, I like all the characters in the show but to write out the likes of Lea Michelle and Chris Colfer is TV suicide and quite possibly one of the most arrogant decisions Ryan Murphy will ever make.

Take Josh Schwarz for example. The OC was a successful show until the end of season 3 when Schwarz decided to write out Marissa Cooper who was by far the biggest star of the show. 16 episodes later and The OC was over. And those 16 episodes without Marissa were extremely poor episodes.

But it seems Schwarz has learnt from his mistakes, Gossip Girl is now in its 5^th series, as popular as ever and has retained 90% of the original cast. They've even managed to keep hold of Blake Lively despite being the face of Chanel and romantically linked to Leonardo DiCaprio!

But it seems, in a ridiculous attempt to be creatively independent; Murphy is killing off his own show. I don’t know if its sheer arrogance or stupidity but thinking that Glee is bigger then the characters will ultimately be the death of Glee.

Glee Graduation

The second season of Glee has only just finished but already us Glee fans are worrying about the beginning of season 4. In case you haven’t heard, series creator Ryan Murphy has stated that at the end of the next season the current cast of Glee will all graduate high school. This of course means that our current cast favourites such as Rachel, Britney, Artie and Mike Chang will be leaving McKinley high, Mr Schue and of course the Glee Club.

Murphy’s exact words were "This next [season] will be their senior year, and then that [they] will graduate”. "We didn't want to have a show where they were in high school for eight years. We really wanted to be true to that experience."

So there you go… But where exactly does this leave us Glee fans? Well, at the moment it looks like we could be in a ‘Skins’ situation; a different cast every two years. Which as Skins has shown can sometimes work a treat one year and fail miserably the next. Put it this way, it’s a gamble.

It also begs the question what makes this show great? Is it the Glee club or is it the actual characters? I’ve given it some thought and I really think it’s the characters. I can’t see Glee working without Rachel, Finn, Kurt and Mercedes. Yes it’s a good show but these characters make it a great show. Which means Ryan Murphy is either going to have to go back on his word or the show is going to have to evolve. We aren’t going to be able to spend every scene in the choir room or the auditorium. If Murphy is intent on having these characters graduate we are going to have to follow them on there journey. Whether It’s Broadway with Rachel or Lima Heights with Santana.

I’m not worrying too much though. Under no circumstances can I see Fox sacking the hottest actors on TV. I also can’t see the hottest actors on TV wanting to leave the most successful show on TV. Chris Colfer has already won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Kurt and the nominations and awards wont stop there for him or the rest of the cast.

Yes the silver screen is the future for the majority of this cast but not yet. Glee is THE show to be on and that’s not going to change in the next year regardless of whether Ryan Murphy wants it too.

UPDATE: It seems Ryan Murphy is backtracking already saying 'some of the cast may graduate' claiming that characters like Sam and Blaine won't be graduating. Hmm it's like their making it up as they go along! I'll update when I have more information.

E4 and Glee - RIP

So it’s been confirmed that perhaps the biggest show on TV has gone behind a pay wall. I’m of course talking about the news that tonight will be the last time we see a new episode of Glee on terrestrial television.

To be honest I’m surprised it’s taken so long. These things usually happen half way through the first season on such a big show, so I suppose non-sky viewers can count themselves lucky that they’ve seen so many Glee episodes.

I’ve been having a read around some forums since the news broke and it seems people are mainly blaming Murdoch and Fox for Glee moving to Sky 1. But I really don’t think you can put the blame on them for this, you can’t be annoyed at Sky for wanting the best shows on their channels. No, the problem lies with Channel 4. Glee is the best show on E4 yet from what I can tell they hardly put up a fight to keep it. Instead with the money they’re saving by not buying Glee they will be showing AMC’s The Killing and concentrating on homegrown shows. Yep that’s right they are giving up Glee to concentrate on shows such as Made In Chelsea and Gypsy Weddings. Seriously who is running that joint? If I didn’t have Sky I think my head would explode!

Personally, I feel sorry for the kids who don’t have Sky and won’t be able to watch the new season on TV, but I’m sure that wont stop them from watching it. Glee going behind a pay wall isn’t going to make parents rush out and get Sky TV because their kids are upset. If anything it does the opposite, people get so angry that their favorite shows are being taken away; they just acquire them by other means.

But for the rest of us Glee fans, that thankfully do have Sky, well I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. Yes the ratings will go down and Glee will probably be littered with even more adverts, but at least we wont have to wait until January for new episodes. Sky intends to start showing the new season in the autumn days after the States and that is never a bad thing.