Any fan of Nip/Tuck will tell you: Ryan Murphy has a problem with longevity.
The first three seasons of N/T were fantastic, but once the Carver was revealed, everything went downhill.
Okay, you say, so the man had three good years on a show. What's wrong with that?
Well, keep in mind, those three seasons were on cable, which means they only made up about a year and a half worth of network television.
So it's fair to say that there's a good reason to worry about Murphy's biggest hit to date:
Glee.
I could already see the cracks in the facade last season.
I know you Gleeks don't want to hear it, but even you have to admit that by Episode 13, Murphy had finished up most of his storylines and there really wasn't anywhere to go...
...Except down.
The second half of last season was just him stalling for time by doing "special" episodes like the Lady Gaga-fest.
Oh sure, they're fun, but how about a little plot every now and again?
By the end of the season, the game at every Glee party became "Yell out the obvious plot development before the character onscreen reveals it."
The only people surprised by Glee anymore are twelve-year-old girls, but since they're who advertisers cater to the most, nobody's all that upset about it.
The rest of us, however, including the Nip/Tuck fans amongst us, watched tonight's season premiere as if we were watching a familiar trainwreck.
For one thing, Murphy loves to preach. The man never met a soapbox he didn't like. And since he knows he's playing to gay/outcast crowd, almost every Glee episode revolves around acceptance and tolerance.
That's lovely, if not a little boring (we're talking twenty-five hours of television here, give or take) but the problem is most of his characters have now learned to like who they are.
So what does he do?
He creates new characters with identity crises!
Add that to the fact that he has a hard time walking the line between quirkiness and absurdity (David E. Kelley has the same problem. See "Downfall of Every David E. Kelley Show.") and what do you get?
An androgynous female football coach named "Coach Beiste" (pronounced "Beast) looking for a place to sit in the faculty lunchroom.
Coach Beiste's tormenting at the hands of Mr. Schuester and Sue Sylvester (the Emmy-award winning Jane Lynch a.k.a. sometimes the only redeeming factor of the show) became the main plotline, because, you know, when you have twenty-three other episodes to write and all you've got is a glee club gearing up for a SECOND time at regionals, you need to know how to conserve.
Peppered throughout the episode was the introduction of a few new characters including a pretty blonde football player who sings but is ashamed to admit it. (Sound familiar? That's because Glee used the same storyline last year with Cory Monteith's character Finn.)
Actually, at this point, there are so many characters in the Glee universe that it seems like nobody's getting their fair share of time OR a decent storyline. Some characters--like the quirky guidance counselor--didn't even appear in tonight's episode.
(You know you've gone overboard as a writer when you can't make room for main characters in the show's season premiere.)
So many plotlines are being rehashed and redecorated from last year, you'd think this show was in its eighth year instead of its second. Part of that might be because Fox has turned Glee into more than a television show--now it's a brand.
Earlier this year, Fox and Glee's producers had people all over the country uploading embarrassing videos of themselves singing onto Myspace in the hopes of becoming part of Glee's cast. Well, hard as I tried, I couldn't seem to find any of the Myspace stars on tonight's episode. Could the whole thing have been a giant publicity stunt?
Considering all the other publicity surrounding the show, it wouldn't surprise me.
With a tour, singles being released week-to-week, and a Broadway musical in the works, is it any wonder its writers are having trouble coming up with stories for the show itself?
The main couple has already broken up and gotten back together twice. Quinn has gone from being the bitch to the nice pregnant girl to the bitch again. And as for the musical numbers, whereas early in the series they were (mostly) there to help the plot along, now they're just inserted into the episode sporadically with no tie-in between the song's message and what's happening in the story at the time (if there is in fact a story).
Some think Mr. Murphy was a genius for having the Glee kids lose last year at regionals, but what other choice did he have? If they'd won, any dynamic the show would have had would be gone. Regardless of that, if they lose this year, the show will simply start to feel depressing.
In other words, how much longer can he keep this up?
The first three seasons of N/T were fantastic, but once the Carver was revealed, everything went downhill.
Okay, you say, so the man had three good years on a show. What's wrong with that?
Well, keep in mind, those three seasons were on cable, which means they only made up about a year and a half worth of network television.
So it's fair to say that there's a good reason to worry about Murphy's biggest hit to date:
Glee.
I could already see the cracks in the facade last season.
I know you Gleeks don't want to hear it, but even you have to admit that by Episode 13, Murphy had finished up most of his storylines and there really wasn't anywhere to go...
...Except down.
The second half of last season was just him stalling for time by doing "special" episodes like the Lady Gaga-fest.
Oh sure, they're fun, but how about a little plot every now and again?
By the end of the season, the game at every Glee party became "Yell out the obvious plot development before the character onscreen reveals it."
The only people surprised by Glee anymore are twelve-year-old girls, but since they're who advertisers cater to the most, nobody's all that upset about it.
The rest of us, however, including the Nip/Tuck fans amongst us, watched tonight's season premiere as if we were watching a familiar trainwreck.
For one thing, Murphy loves to preach. The man never met a soapbox he didn't like. And since he knows he's playing to gay/outcast crowd, almost every Glee episode revolves around acceptance and tolerance.
That's lovely, if not a little boring (we're talking twenty-five hours of television here, give or take) but the problem is most of his characters have now learned to like who they are.
So what does he do?
He creates new characters with identity crises!
Add that to the fact that he has a hard time walking the line between quirkiness and absurdity (David E. Kelley has the same problem. See "Downfall of Every David E. Kelley Show.") and what do you get?
An androgynous female football coach named "Coach Beiste" (pronounced "Beast) looking for a place to sit in the faculty lunchroom.
Coach Beiste's tormenting at the hands of Mr. Schuester and Sue Sylvester (the Emmy-award winning Jane Lynch a.k.a. sometimes the only redeeming factor of the show) became the main plotline, because, you know, when you have twenty-three other episodes to write and all you've got is a glee club gearing up for a SECOND time at regionals, you need to know how to conserve.
Peppered throughout the episode was the introduction of a few new characters including a pretty blonde football player who sings but is ashamed to admit it. (Sound familiar? That's because Glee used the same storyline last year with Cory Monteith's character Finn.)
Actually, at this point, there are so many characters in the Glee universe that it seems like nobody's getting their fair share of time OR a decent storyline. Some characters--like the quirky guidance counselor--didn't even appear in tonight's episode.
(You know you've gone overboard as a writer when you can't make room for main characters in the show's season premiere.)
So many plotlines are being rehashed and redecorated from last year, you'd think this show was in its eighth year instead of its second. Part of that might be because Fox has turned Glee into more than a television show--now it's a brand.
Earlier this year, Fox and Glee's producers had people all over the country uploading embarrassing videos of themselves singing onto Myspace in the hopes of becoming part of Glee's cast. Well, hard as I tried, I couldn't seem to find any of the Myspace stars on tonight's episode. Could the whole thing have been a giant publicity stunt?
Considering all the other publicity surrounding the show, it wouldn't surprise me.
With a tour, singles being released week-to-week, and a Broadway musical in the works, is it any wonder its writers are having trouble coming up with stories for the show itself?
The main couple has already broken up and gotten back together twice. Quinn has gone from being the bitch to the nice pregnant girl to the bitch again. And as for the musical numbers, whereas early in the series they were (mostly) there to help the plot along, now they're just inserted into the episode sporadically with no tie-in between the song's message and what's happening in the story at the time (if there is in fact a story).
Some think Mr. Murphy was a genius for having the Glee kids lose last year at regionals, but what other choice did he have? If they'd won, any dynamic the show would have had would be gone. Regardless of that, if they lose this year, the show will simply start to feel depressing.
In other words, how much longer can he keep this up?
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Kaleb Blake
John Saveland
Ben Russell
Preston Lawhorne
Sam Maggee
Max the Communist
Salon.com
Comments
Last night's season opener was both horribly disappointing and may have tainted me toward the show's shiny star vocalist. Once one decides to turn mean girl, it's impossible to find redemption of character in a highly regimented culture toward women. Especially, women towards other women.
The show lost its "glow" for me.
Why? Because there's no talent for it.