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Acting, or at least a facsimile of it...


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I didn't mean that Naya's departure was due to her speaking out for her character. It wasn't. Just that the producers' personal feelings about actors, for whatever reason, can bleed into what's being written (or not written) on the show. I mean, this is a tv show that routinely wrote real life situations from the actors into the show, so I don't see why they wouldn't do the opposite too.

Sure.  There was actor/character bleed driven by the writing, but I just don't think it's some conspiracy of intentionally trying to sideline actors because they "spoke up".  I don't believe there's really any evidence of that happening.  Dianna's constantly cited as the #1 example of that, and she was featured fairly prominently until she decided to leave the show.  There was loss of interest in certain characters and really bad writing across the board, and I suppose it may be speculated that it's driven by some sort of perceived punishment of a certain actor.  I just don't think that's true.  The writers just write whatever crappy story pops into their heads.  

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Kevin McHale says that Glee's schedule was so demanding that casting directors realized early on that they couldn't use the Glee cast for any outside projects.  I'm not making an inference.  This is what he actually says. Seems like I remember a very limited few being able to do projects outside of Glee. 'Course, I imagine RIB were selective in who they employed this tactic against and who they didn't. That seems to be in character for them.

 

http://kevinmchalenews.com/post/116289051172/kevin-mchale-on-glee-end-casting-directors-gave#

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I'm sure those long hours doing reaction shots were tough. Lol. Definitely money for old rope. 

 

Even the leads can't have had that a hard shooting schedule, even Lea wasn't that storyline heavy. However badly done, it was usually balanced out with someone else. As opposed to say Grant Gustin on The Flash. 

 

If they cast wanted to do other work they could. I mean Dianna Agron has been in 11 films since 2009, Harry Shum's been in 6, another 7 short movies and a few TV shows, Melissa's done 5 movies, plus the Supergirl pilot. 

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A lot of that is work not done during Glee. As disorganized as the show was, I have no trouble believing it was hard to fit in other work at times, even with everyone's blessings. Or maybe they were so inexperienced in the ways of TV shows they thought they had grueling schedules and will soon realize Glee all those years--including the tour years--was really just a cakewalk. While he could be exaggerating a tad, I hardly think they're liars.

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I'm sure those long hours doing reaction shots were tough. Lol. Definitely money for old rope. 

 

Even the leads can't have had that a hard shooting schedule, even Lea wasn't that storyline heavy. However badly done, it was usually balanced out with someone else. As opposed to say Grant Gustin on The Flash. 

 

If they cast wanted to do other work they could. I mean Dianna Agron has been in 11 films since 2009, Harry Shum's been in 6, another 7 short movies and a few TV shows, Melissa's done 5 movies, plus the Supergirl pilot. 

Those were mostly done after they left the show as regulars.  Also, S1 and S2 and even S3 were extremely time-consuming for the cast, especially Lea and to a lesser extent Chris and Cory.  S4 and beyond did free up some time for some though.  Lea got to complete her book and album during those seasons.

 

The thing also with TV show contracts is that RIB have dibs on the cast members' schedule regardless if they use them or not.  They can't sign contracts to go do other stuff if they're a contracted regular unless they get explicit agreement.  Given the planning (or lack therof) that went around on this show, I'm sure that was virtually impossible to work around for the regulars.

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Not to mention that it wasn't just filming or rehearsals. But those plus recording and learning choreography. Didn't the end of the second season basically run into the tour than the third season with very little break in between

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I thought where Kevin said ""And then I flew back to do Glee for a week, and then I went back to Connecticut to do this movie but then on the weekends I’d go back to Glee. It was really bad. In classic Glee form it was like, 'I’m going to be gone’, so then they wrote the biggest storyline I had all season.”  was typical Glee.  It kind of reminded me of the Finchel relationship i.e. Finn only wanted Rachel when someone else was interested in her. Why does it not surprise me that the writers did the same to their cast?

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Even the leads can't have had that a hard shooting schedule, even Lea wasn't that storyline heavy. However badly done, it was usually balanced out with someone else. As opposed to say Grant Gustin on The Flash. 

 

But Grant Gustin on The Flash isn't filming musical numbers that last 2 minutes in the show but can take an entire day to film, rehearsing for said musical number, and recording for it too. Being the lead character on one show can't be compared to being a supporting character on another show, when the content and shooting schedules are completely different. What you see ON-SCREEN in a 42 minute window is not necessarily directly correlated with the amount of work put in BTS.

 

I think it's indisputable that during the first 3 seasons (but particularly the first 2), the cast worked above and beyond normal hours for a one-hour broadcast show. 

Edited by Ceeg
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I think it's indisputable that during the first 3 seasons (but particularly the first 2), the cast worked above and beyond normal hours for a one-hour broadcast show. 

Not only ridiculously long hours, but they didn't get a summer break either in 2011 and 2012 because of the concert tour.

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Old interview with Heather about taking on a lead role in an episode.  http://www.vulture.com/2010/09/glees_heather_morris_on_taking.html

 

Was it strange to all of a sudden have all this attention on you?
No! Not at all. I was like, yes! I can dance and I can do things! I got really tired; I do a lot in this episode. I didn’t really know why I was so tired all the time at first. I was just working my ass off. Every day I felt like I was drunk, like what am I doing today?! This must be how Lea Michele feels all the time! But it’s true — I’ve never had to go to vocal records before, and adding it is literally that much harder.

 

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Or maybe they were so inexperienced in the ways of TV shows they thought they had grueling schedules and will soon realize Glee all those years--including the tour years--was really just a cakewalk. While he could be exaggerating a tad, I hardly think they're liars.

I am sure I've seen an interview somewhere with Lea in a group of other actresses, and through the interview it becomes apparent that Glee's schedule truly was horrendous, at least in the beginning. (Might be Hollywood Reporter Emmy roundtable in 2011?)

 

And I've also read that those early choir room scenes - while not physically taxing - were nonetheless an enormous drain on the actors' time, since they all had to sit through everything. Even if they were literally just sitting there with no lines.  And in fact that's why they greatly reduced the number of choir scenes with the full cast in later seasons -- to avoid that time suck.

 

So I'm inclined to think Kevin speaks the truth.

Edited by tab19
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So I'm inclined to think Kevin speaks the truth.

I'm sure he does. But others managed to use the time they did have to do albums, films, and musicals. They did spend their time hosting game shows about you tube clips then complain about not being able to do anything else.

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I'm sure he does. But others managed to use the time they did have to do albums, films, and musicals. They did spend their time hosting game shows about you tube clips then complain about not being able to do anything else

 

 

Albums, like writing, can be done on  down time away from the set.   On screen  acting gigs are another matter.   Lea, who I'm assuming got the most offers of any of the young cast, got one movie as part of an ensemble,  "New Years Eve" during her six year stint on Glee. Darren's one film was actually  made before his first year as a regular, and Chris squeezed in "Struck by Lightning" in a laughable tight  3 weeks between the 2nd Glee four and the 3rd season of Glee. 

 

So actually that track record for some of the bigger names backs up what Kevin said.

 

It wasn't so much no  offers, but offers that coincided neatly with the limited down time they had from Glee.   I think those  first two summers they toured and had  to forgo outside projects  were critical, because the show/actors were very hot so I'm sure some opportunities were lost.

Edited by caracas1914
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It had to be especially frustrating for the Glee cast who got tied up with being "regulars" but got little in the way of stories or real screen time (besides filling a chair in the choir room or playing prop to Lea and/or Darren) and couldn't take advantage of the offers coming their way. It was definitely a double-sided sword, being on Glee. On one hand, none of the cast would have gotten these kinds of offers as early as they did without Glee introducing them to the world. But by the time Glee had released the death clench it had on the cast, the best offers had probably dried up for some. Even if they did get offers to do something during the summer break, for the first two years they got stuck on the tour and couldn't take advantage of them.

 

It's heartening to see that many in the cast did manage to get good things lined up now that Glee is over, but we'll always wonder what projects they had to pass on when the demand for the cast was the hottest.

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I am sure I've seen an interview somewhere with Lea in a group of other actresses, and through the interview it becomes apparent that Glee's schedule truly was horrendous, at least in the beginning. (Might be Hollywood Reporter Emmy roundtable in 2011?)

 

And I've also read that those early choir room scenes - while not physically taxing - were nonetheless an enormous drain on the actors' time, since they all had to sit through everything. Even if they were literally just sitting there with no lines.  And in fact that's why they greatly reduced the number of choir scenes with the full cast in later seasons -- to avoid that time suck.

 

So I'm inclined to think Kevin speaks the truth.

Yep.  It is absolutely the truth that Glee's schedule was unusually long days for a really long time for a lot of the cast. TV production has some weird hours and long days, but Glee was atypical even from that.  Even just at a fundamental level, if you thought about it, no other show really required the same type of dance rehearsals learning choreography, learning songs, recording singles etc. on top of the standard TV production stuff like blocking and regular rehearsals.  It was a lot for a lot of the cast for a long time.

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I think I remember reading that when he guested, Neil Patrick Harris jokingly described the conditions as a "sweatshop" & couldn't believe how hard the cast worked. That was at a time when he was arguably the major star of HIMYM, & given his extensive history on tv, I figure he would know!

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I think I remember reading that when he guested, Neil Patrick Harris jokingly described the conditions as a "sweatshop" & couldn't believe how hard the cast worked. That was at a time when he was arguably the major star of HIMYM, & given his extensive history on tv, I figure he would know!

NPH isn't known for exactly being in touch with the real world. He probably thinks people getting their own coffee is sweatshop conditions.

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Sure, NPH doesn't know anything about the television environment, learning choreography, participating in live and taped musical performances, or working long hours. Such a bad example to use. Maybe we need to wait and see what Geraldo Rivera thinks instead.

Of course, the Glee actors had to do way more than the average television cast. Probably didn't get paid enough, either.

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Anyone who thinks life on any TV set is comparable to a sweatshop is not living in the real world.

Perhaps people like NPH and Kevin McHale should get real jobs. Then they can complain about long hours and awful conditions.

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I think the point being made is sweatshops are actual human rights violations where people get paid below a living wage to be abused in almost every conceivable way. Glee was a particularly bad tv show workplace, but many of them were paid more than most of us will make in a lifetime and all got significantly more than living wage. All of them had union protections and California labor laws in their corner. Sweatshop is a bad analogy to use as those currently exist in the world and are far worse than anything Glee even thought about doing to them.

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I think the point being made is sweatshops are actual human rights violations where people get paid below a living wage to be abused in almost every conceivable way. Glee was a particularly bad tv show workplace, but many of them were paid more than most of us will make in a lifetime and all got significantly more than living wage. All of them had union protections and California labor laws in their corner. Sweatshop is a bad analogy to use as those currently exist in the world and are far worse than anything Glee even thought about doing to them.

I wasn't  taking that  post serious because no one even came close to comparing the glee working conditions to that of  a sweat shop.

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I wasn't  taking that  post serious because no one even came close to comparing the glee working conditions to that of  a sweat shop.

Well, the acting is just a hobby thing is frequently lobbed at professional actors, so I'm not sure who was trying to be funny there. None of it strikes me as funny in any way. All of you missed the mark for me by wide margins on both sides. 

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You never know with someone like NPH, they don't live in the real world. It's like Paltrow saying a working mother with a 9-5 job has an easier life than her. It was the same thing in Kevin's interview, they think they have a hard life.

Say what you like about Lea Michele she probably worked longer hours than anyone but I've never seen her complain.

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Considering how he said it jokingly, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Also, none of us really know him in real life, so it is a bit hard to make assumptions about him not living in the real world and what he considers real or not.

 

Anyway, maybe we should just stay on topic, instead of discussing how hard actors may or may not have it as far as their jobs are concerned.

Edited by AndySmith
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Anyone who thinks life on any TV set is comparable to a sweatshop is not living in the real world.

Let's now eliminate all figurative language from our lives. It will be so much better to be all literal, all the time. 

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Well, the acting is just a hobby thing is frequently lobbed at professional actors, so I'm not sure who was trying to be funny there. None of it strikes me as funny in any way. All of you missed the mark for me by wide margins on both sides. 

I didn't miss the mark becasue I wasn't trying to be funny.  I found the comment about acting not being a real job ridiculous.  Merely ask what it was if it wasn't a job. 

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This whole thing is ridiculous IMO. I think some have missed the mark...

Merely ask what it was if it wasn't a job.

Oh, it can be a job...just not a real job.

Anyway, too bad Bryan Ryan never came back! But I guess NPH didn't like to "work" that hard.

Edited by indeed
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Of course, the Glee actors had to do way more than the average television cast.

 

Which  that point still stands, regardless of what you think of acting, TV jobs in generally  etc or how much actors are overpaid, etc,. etc. 

 

I remember when Chris guest starred  on "Hot in Cleveland"; from what I understand they rehearsed a couple of times during the week and then shot the episode before a live studio audience in one day, and Chris was basically  "WTF, this is so much easier!" 

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Which  that point still stands, regardless of what you think of acting, TV jobs in generally  etc or how much actors are overpaid, etc,. etc. 

 

I remember when Chris guest starred  on "Hot in Cleveland"; from what I understand they rehearsed a couple of times during the week and then shot the episode before a live studio audience in one day, and Chris was basically  "WTF, this is so much easier!" 

Multi camera sit coms have probably the easiest scheulde  for scripted shows.    So those are really really not real jobs. :)

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(edited)

Oh, geez. I was kidding.

 

 

Your forgot to put your sarcasm in quotes.

 

 

Multi camera sit coms have probably the easiest scheulde  for scripted shows.    So those are really really not real jobs. :)

 

Yup, not even equivalent to an assembly line job....

Edited by caracas1914
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From the Jon Groff interview:

“It felt like summer camp, cause it was like “you’re in the recording studio, now you’re in the sort of like ghetto like thing with the mirror where you did the dances, now you’re all dressed up and shooting it for like an audience!” Y'know it was like a lot of… it was very joyful. It was busy but it was very like summer camp joyful. For me, ‘cause I think, again, like came in, was like “what’s up,” I sang Bohemian Rhapsody, and then I got out of there.
 

But like for the kids that were there all the time it was a grind because they were doing 16-hour days Monday through Friday, inevitably they would work on Saturdays. And then for the first two years they put them on the road, on the tour, which was like insane. They had like two weeks off, then they’re shooting another 23 episodes back in the thick of it. So they, fortunately they were like young and excited so they were fine, but they really like… drove them into the ground. In a major way."

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Like he knows anything about what it is like in the ghetto. How dare he make that comment! Pfft.

 

but they really like… drove them into the ground. In a major way

 

I also heard the cast got screwed out of royalites from the songs, is that true?

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I have always wondered about the song royalties and would love to know more about that.

 

I know they got royalties but in the long run for how much the songs actually made I wouldn't surprise they were screwed.

 

I always wondered since the songs was tagged glee cast did everyone get a piece of each song or did only those who sang on it.  Did lead singers get more than someone just proving harmonies?

 

A story way back when saying there were screwed but who knows...

http://pagesix.com/2010/08/30/no-glee-over-no-royalties/

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I have always wondered about the song royalties and would love to know more about that.

 

I know they got royalties but in the long run for how much the songs actually made I wouldn't surprise they were screwed.

 

I always wondered since the songs was tagged glee cast did everyone get a piece of each song or did only those who sang on it.  Did lead singers get more than someone just proving harmonies?

 

A story way back when saying there were screwed but who knows...

http://pagesix.com/2010/08/30/no-glee-over-no-royalties/

 

They got royalties, but it amounted to a paltry sum.  And being billed as the "Glee cast" always seemed a little confusing when you didn't necessarily perform on the track, sometimes a person would get a feat. title but it seemed kind of inconsistent.  It'd be interesting to know how that ultimately broke down.  One of the crappiest things about sales in general though is that the performer rarely gets much.  I actually think the biggest place the cast got screwed on in terms of ancillary streams of revenue was the tour.  That tour grossed a ton of money that I don't think the cast saw much of.

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Well, in regards to the cast working hard, I don't think we can deny that they didn't. At least for the first three seasons, it seems like they worked hard and long hours and possibly got less of what they deserved. But hey, some of them tried very hard to put on a good show, so good for them. I remember reading interviews over the last few years of various actors talking about their long hours, their tours, the rehearsals and choreography but then when the new batch of kids came around, for a while the choreography went downhill and wasn't as intense or as gruelling as the original cast had it. But hey, that's Glee for you!

 

Ok, moving on, what is everyone's favourite background moments of the series? I know there are a whole bunch from the first two seasons, and then they kind of dwindle for the rest of the series, but I'm sure there are good moments. Dianna's background moments were usually decent, as were Naya's (obviously), Chris' (especially during the musical numbers) and Cory and Chord's lack of dancing skills? 

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