TCA: 'Glee' to be, you and me

POSTED BY JON WEISMAN

Don’t call “Glee” a musical – at least not to co-executive producer Brad Falchuk’s face.

“I’m not a big musical fan,” Falchuk said at the show’s Television Critics Assn. panel today. “I don’t like musicals and I didn’t want to make a musical.  The idea was to attract people like me and (showrunner Ryan Murphy) …I hope we’re so good that people can’t not watch.”

And that’s why Falchuk and the “Glee” crew have cautious optimism that the show’s momentum won’t fall off after its successful preview following an episode of “American Idol” in May.

“Sometimes things find a niche audience, and oftentimes those are very high-quality things that can’t find a broad audience,” he said. “I don’t think we have that problem. I think we are for a broad audience.”

To be sure, the music promises to be a big attraction. Executive producer Dante Di Loreto said there’s a deal in place with Columbia for a soundtrack CD to come out in November, and with success, a second CD as quickly as December.

Di Loreto added that there has been no wanted song that has gotten away.

“We’ve been very, very fortunate,” he said. “We really have gotten every song we wanted. … Our show isn’t any different than any Fox show in terms of budget, but instead of smashing cars and planes, we’re singing songs and dancing.”