View From the Phlipside - Glee

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the Movies and more. I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View From the Phlipside.

Attention Gleeks! Your current TV crush continues to roll and is prepared to move into yet another medium to feed your ever growing fanaticism. If that sentence didn’t make a lot of sense to you let me explain. A Gleek is one of the dedicated fans of the Fox TV show “Glee”. Glee centers on a high school show choir in Ohio. It features lots of high production music, the world’s most out there cheerleading coach and millions of dedicated fans. Along the way it’s racked up a Peabody award, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild award and a People’s Choice award. The show also has multiple audio recordings out with over 7 million digital sales to its credit so far. Not bad for a show that hasn’t started its second season yet. Oh, and did I mention that they’ve already been re-upped for a third season as well?

So what’s next? It’s really too soon for a “Glee” movie, although that seems almost inevitable. No the next big thing will be “Glee” books. Reports say that a series of books for younger readers are scheduled to hit the shelves in August to tie in with the debut of the new season. It’s interesting to me that they decide to go with the young reader approach given that there is a huge young adult/adult fan base. I have a variety of friends on Facebook who turn into screaming teenie boppers every time a new episode hits the airwaves.

On the other hand I have to admit to being encouraged. They’re talking about BOOKS! And they’re aiming at books for KIDS! In a time when everyone wants to claim that reading is no longer on kids radars and that they book is dead it’s interesting to see the hottest show on TV right now reaching out to readers. I will admit to having seen most of one episode of the show and not being blown away by it. It was good but it didn’t demand I watch it again. But I will root for any show that encourages reading, brings great music, and great stories to the small screen. We could use some more shows like that.

But Gleeks, can you tone it down just a little bit?


Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010