# Fox's 'Glee' Gambit

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/today-in-history-with-the-retrospectors-3756506/fox-s-glee-gambit
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/today-in-history-with-the-retrospectors-3756506/fox-s-glee-gambit.md
Podcast: [Today In History with The Retrospectors](https://stenobird.com/podcast/today-in-history-with-the-retrospectors-3756506)
Published: 2026-05-19T00:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR2690986540.mp3
Audio file: https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR2690986540.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/today-in-history-with-the-retrospectors-3756506/episodes/fox-s-glee-gambit
Duration seconds: 732

## Resource

Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s musical comedy-drama ‘Glee’ was first screened on Fox on May 19th, 2009. In a strategy to whip up excitement before the season premiere in the Autumn, the network showed the pilot in a plum post-‘American Idol’ slot, and then besieged websites and social networks with advertisements over the Summer. The strategy worked - justifying ‘Glee’s enormous budget, relatively unknown cast, and complex musical rights negotiations - and by the end of 2009 the show had generated 25 Billboard Hot 100 hits from its soundtrack. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how this tightly-structured pilot cunningly conceals its Broadway roots whilst introducing its cast of characters; consider how the success of the series launched Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ onto an unsuspecting UK; and consider whether the show’s happy vibes had the good fortune to launch in the midst of the financial crisis… Further Reading: • ‘Glee Pilot Oral History, Part 4: The Premiere’ (Out Magazine, 2015): https://www.out.com/television/2015/3/19/glee-pilot-oral-history-part-4-premiere • ‘How Ryan Murphy Became the Most Powerful Man in TV’ (The New Yorker, 2018): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/14/how-ryan-murphy-became-the-most-powerful-man-in-tv • ‘Glee Pilot Promo - May 19th, 2009’ (Fox, 2009): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5O28G7TgOw Love the show? Support us! Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Desig…

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