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When I first heard about the The Glee Project, I kept my expectations low. At best, I thought it'd be a harmless reality series that I DVR'd and maybe watched during a heat wave. Instead, I've been pleasantly surprised and legitimately invested -- so much so, in fact, I would argue the competition series has become more compelling, interesting and all-around entertaining than the show that spawned it.
The Stakes Are Higher
Know what I don't give a crap about? High school drama and relationships... unless the writing is great. Glee's plot lines are often shoddily written around the songs, which does nothing for the actual story arcs. I realize this is a complete paradox, but the draw of TGP is that the winner will gets a multi-episode guest-starring role on a highly successful nationally broadcasted series. Way better than, "Who will Finn pathetically latch on to this season?"
There's Little-To-No Attempt at a Plot
Speaking of Glee's writing, TGP takes most of the best elements of its alma mater -- the singing, dancing, message of self-acceptance, and celebration of weirdness -- and gets rid of icky things like dropped storyline and anything having to do with Gwyneth Paltrow.
There Are Actual Ugly People
I really say this with admiration. The New Directions crew is supposed to be primarily comprised of social rejects, and yet most of the kids are way better looking than your average teen -- not that this is anything new for television, or even Ryan Murphy himself (hello, Carly Pope as "freak" Sam McPherson on Popular). Although most of the less-attractive looking competitors have already been booted from TGP, we were seeing some truly normal (read: ugly) looking kids for a while there. It was actually sort of empowering.
The Behind-the-Scenes Aspect
I've really enjoyed seeing some of the choreographers, coaches, and directors who the Glee cast actually works with on a daily basis. Plus, it's been truly interesting to hear from Murphy himself about his creative process. Who knew he wanted more jazz, country, and Christians on show? And while some the guest mentors have been pretty hilariously lame (I'll give you Darren Chris twice, but Dot Jones? This week it's Gay Dave... c'mon!), any problem I might have with them can be solved by gazing into Zach Woodlee's eyes.
Should we feel sorry for the attractive, well-adjusted singers on The Glee Project? Our vloggers make the case in this video:
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You claim it is "empowering" to see "ugly" people on tv, and yet you are the one calling them "ugly" and knock them down. Nice.
trying to post this again:
You say it's empowering to see "ugly" people on tv, and yet who is it that is calling them ugly and knocking them down?
agree with nearly all of your comments.
I would like to see much more of the coaching and practice. It's clear that it is already having a beneficial impact on their performances.
One of my favorite things about Glee is the development of the cast's performance skills - we are seeing that more directly on TGP. I can imagine the remaining players stepping into Glee now... even replacing much of the cast.
My opinion's about Glee's plot lines is that they are there to set up performances. Musical comedy is very different from comedy or drama and can't be judged with the same criteria.
I think the plots for the past seasons of Glee has been "Who will pathetically latch on to Finn this season?" Last season it was Kurt and this season it was Rachel.
One thing about The Glee Project that bugs me. They test the contestants on their singing and dancing ability. When will they be judged on their acting skills? Glee is after all a scripted drama series. The current cast is full of singers who can only kinda act. We don't need more of them.
One of the main reasons that it will be very difficult to cancel Glee is that the songs sold on cds and individually online as well as the concert tour give them additional revenue streams beyond a typical show.
Given the model, it makes sense that they are looking for actors that can give good musical performances, as well as give them entries into new genres and additional sales. As for the acting, they don't require much actual range. They want the Christian kid christian, the gay kid gay, etc. Nuanced acting is not required from kids chosen because they conform to a stereotype.