I feel there might be a reason that Ryan Murphy may be the token spokesperson from the producer end of the show, and that reason is so he can be the one and only person to keep track of what he tells the media, so as to not backtrack or misrepresent the show. This happened during a Comic Con panel, when Brad Falchuk—the poor man’s Ryan Murphy—insisted that (contrary to what Murphy had said in an interview) Lea Michele, Cory Monteith and Chris Colfer were in fact NOT leaving the show. Silly us, for not realizing that graduation (as is typical on most television shows) didn’t in fact mean they were leaving the show. I guess they’ll just be those graduated high schoolers that stick around, visiting old teachers and attending talent shows as a means to “support the school” when really it’s just because they have nothing else going on in their life. That’ll be fun to watch…
This is just one of many examples where the producers, who feel necessary to share innate details of future plot lines, characters, and the like, go out of their way to share a spoilery bit of information, but then completely take it back or change what they had originally intended once met with an internet firestorm of judgment. A simple solution to this vicious cycle would be to stay close-lipped, as most television shows do so as to preserve some sense of mystery in the content, and reveal only vague story lines such as “we’re going to be jumping ahead 3 months”. Time and time again the producers of Glee reveal some life-or-death plotline they are planning for and either A) completely neglect to satisfy that plotline (anyone remember when Murphy revealed Mercedes would be getting a boyfriend?) or B) take back what they said. Now, coming up to their third season it has become obvious that the producers of Glee are like those kids in high school, desperate to be popular and willing to say and do anything to reach the same level of popularity as the rich kids.
This happened with the Chord Overstreet situation. Murphy and company announced that Overstreet would not be returning to the show, which was met by confusion from the critics and rage from the fangirls. A few days later, Murphy felt the need to clarify, insisting that he wasn’t ACTUALLY leaving the show, he just hadn’t been promoted to a series regular and could join season three if the actor wanetd to. But of course! How did I not see that in your original claim where you said he was not returning. Silly me. Now the producers are back on their original claim that Overstreet won’t be returning because he decided to pursue other projects. Curious but… couldn’t this toying-with-our-emotions have been completely avoided had they opted to deal with it all behind closed doors? Had they met with the actor, offered him a returning (albeit not series regular) role, and then have the actor turn it down—it would have been a completely different situation, a pill much easier to swallow.
It’s becoming clear that these insecurities, the desperate need to be liked and loved, are insecurities that the producers have projected on to the characters. Some of the worst plotlines have existed in the past when the characters go against their initial intentions—of coming together and forming a bond in an unlikely Glee club—and throw away everything to grasp as a shred of popularity. This happened in the weird, random episode where Rachel convinced herself she wanted a nose job.
What the producers need to do is stop handing out empty promises because they think it’s what we want. What we really want is good television, the quality stuff seen in the first half of the season. They have to stop caring about what we think, and just give us what they’ve created. It’s our job, as consumers, to judge the product they present but they shouldn’t offer the opportunity to include us in the pre-planning stages of that product. They need to seal their lips and prioritize: good story lines, developed characters, and the same sense of heart that this show started with. Stop caring so much about what we think, at least stop caring until 10:01PM when the show is over and we can then hash it out.
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