Amber Riley
Glee Remains Popular in Spring Season (Scandalicious)
On Tuesday, April 13th, the Fox hit series, Glee, returned to television. In case you've been living under a rock for the past 6 months, here's what Glee is all about:
Cult Hit Glee Hits Mainstream
High school musical comedy Glee nearly doubled its audience on its return to television after a four-month absence, drawing 13.7 million viewers, the Fox network says.
The award-winning series about a group of misfit students in a struggling competition choir saw its biggest audience ever last week, positioning the TV show for a move from cult fan status to mainstream hit.
Fox said that Tuesday's episode of Glee, which stars Victoria's Cory Monteith, outperformed the prior season average for the show by 88 per cent in total viewers, or 13.7 million people compared to 7.3 million.
Glee, a quirky, larger-than-life comedy series that features its cast singing cover versions of pop, Broadway and rap songs, has already won Golden Globe, Peabody and Screen Actors Guild awards since its 2009 debut.
The show had been off the air since December 2009 to make way for the annual Fox ratings juggernaut American Idol.
Two albums of Glee songs have hit music charts in the U.S., Australia, Ireland and the U.K., and more than 4.5 million songs from the show have been downloaded in the United States alone.
Cast members will embark on a sold-out U.S. concert tour in the summer.
Singing competition American Idol remains the most-watched U.S. TV show with an average audience in its current ninth season of 24.9 million viewers. (Times Colonist)
This week's episode airing at 9 EDT/8 CDT on Fox will feature the music of pop icon Madonna. What does she have to say about it? Read on:
Madonna Offers Approval
Madonna has given her thumbs-up to "Glee's" upcoming episode featuring her music.
"I think Mr. Schuester is very cute," Madonna said in a statement, referencing Matthew Morrisons's "Glee" club leader/teacher character at McKinley High School.
"And I'm glad he's doing such a good job empowering all the girls," the Material Mom added.
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, on April 20, "Glee" devotes their entire hour to Madonna songs in an episode titled, "The Power of Madonna."
The episode follows Mr. Schuester as he expresses concern that the ladies of the glee club are being disrespected and bullied by the male members.
In order to give the girls confidence, Mr. Shue asks the glee club girls to tackle Madonna songs "in the hopes that the girls embrace Madonna's strength, independence and confidence so that the guys will see the errors of their misogynistic ways," FOX said in a statement.
Among the tracks performed on the episode are "Express Yourself," "Like A Prayer" and "Vogue," the latter track which fans were able to watch during a commercial break from Tuesday night's spring season premiere of "Glee."
The "Vogue" clip, starring Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester, Amber Riley as Mercedes and Chris Colfer as Kurt, has already become an Internet sensation, as a fitting tribute to Madonna's original clip. (YahooTV)
Tags: cory monteith, amber riley, madonna, chris colfer, fox network, glee, jane lynch, matthew morrison, vogue