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2|Cover story New directions Fourth season of 'Glee' treads new ground By Andrew Warren TV Media t's hard to say goodbye to your friends. For fans of Fox's hit show "Glee," the end of the series' third season was a bittersweet sendoff. The New Directions high school glee club sang its way to victory in the Nationals show choir competition, but the gradua- tion ceremony soon after saw eight seniors move on to bigger and better things. Fans of the show, or "gleeks" as they like to be called, can finally end a sum- mer of waiting for the most popular musical on TV to re- turn for its highly anticipat- ed fourth season. But the new season also ushers in some changes, including a move to Fox's Thursday night lineup. The fourth season will see a new format that focuses on two far-flung cities, tal- ented new faces, and a pa- rade of guest stars. The soul of the show remains the same, though. All of the ma- jor actors are returning, and it's a pretty safe bet that the tunes will be as catchy as ever. For non-gleeks, a little background may be in order. "Glee" is a musical comedy- drama that follows the mem- bers of a high school glee club, called the New Direc- tions. The club members compete on the show club concert circuit, all while dealing with the typical problems of growing up. It premiered in 2009 and al- most immediately became a ratings hit, earning itself 19 Emmy nominations. Since then, "Glee" has been nominated for many more awards, and won sev- eral of them. The kids (and their teachers, too) have I dealt with relationships and betrayal, sexuality and love, pregnancy and suicide. The show's been a ratings hit for Fox, and the huge fandom that's sprung up around it has led to the inevitable tie- in merchandise. Being that the show is a musical, it's perhaps unsur- prising that numerous soundtracks have been re- leased. Perhaps more sur- prising is the extent of their popularity. Many of the al- bums have hit No. 1 status, going platinum in countries around the world, and even beating records previously held by none other than The Beatles. The cast of the series has also gone on tour, hitting concert venues across North America, the United King- dom and Ireland in 2010 and 2011. Also in 2011, "Glee: The 3D Concert Movie" had a limited run in theaters. The footage of the cast perform- ing was filmed in East Rutherford, N.J., and includ- ed a backstage look at the concert, as well as personal stories of youth who've had their lives impacted in a pos- itive way by the show. So it could be said that a new season of "Glee" is a bit of a big deal for fans. Changes are afoot, but the formula that has made the show such a success remains intact. TV Media Weekly|September 15 - 21, 2012 CHANNEL GUIDE Comcast Walton Cable- Vision `uWTTV CW Indianapolis " WRTV ABC Indianapolis $ WISH CBS Indianapolis h WTHR NBC Indianapolis r WLFI CBS Lafayette y WFYI PBS Indianapolis d WPTA ABC Ft. Wayne g WNDY MNT Indianapolis WHMB IND Indianapolis WIPB PBS Muncie R WFFT FOX Ft. Wayne G WXIN FOX Indianapolis Arts and Entertainment American Movie Classics Animal Planet [A&E] [AMC] [AP] [BET] [CMT] [CNBC] [CNN] [COM] [DISN] [E!] [ENC] [ESPN] [FAM] [FOXN] [FSN] [FX] [HALL] [HBO] [HIST] [HN] [LIFE] [MAX] [NICK] [OXY] [QVC] Black Entertainment TV [BIGTEN] Big Ten Network [BRAVO] Bravo County Music Television Consumer News & Bus. Ch. Cable News Network Comedy Central [CSPAN] CSPAN [DISC] Discovery Channel Disney Channel Entertainment TV Encore Entertainment Sports Net. [ESPN2] Entertainment Sports Net. 2 Family Channel Fox News Channel Fox Sports FX Hallmark Home Box Office History Channel CNN Headline News Lifetime Cinemax [MTV] Music Television Nickelodeon Oxygen [SHOW] [SPIKE] [STARZ] [SYFY] [TBN] [TMC] [TNT] [TOON] [TRUTV] [USA] [VH1] 4 6 7 12 8 20 10 21 11 9 39 43 30 32 67 55 59 36 34 50 14 28 38 49 70 26 27 44 52 53 54 65 700 40 35 29 730 31 37 61 Quality, Value, Convenience 18 Showtime Spike Starz Science Fiction [TBS] WTBS Atlanta [TLC] The Learning Channel The Movie Channel 750 57 650 56 Trinity Broadcasting Network 13 41 47 Turner Network Television Cartoon Network TruTV [TWC] Weather Channel USA Network Video Hits One [WGN] WGN Chicago Local Programming With the graduation of many of the beloved New Di- rections members, the show's focus will be split. While most of the action will still take place in the familiar halls of William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio, the cameras will continue to keep up with the eight grads. Unfortunately, not all of last year's class will be given equal screen time. Parts of "Glee's" set have been dis- 785 42 45 66 25 24 33 22 3 Jacob Artist joins the cast of "Glee" this season as Noah Puckerman's half-brother, Jake assembled and rebuilt as a new "New York" set. As any gleek knows, a major plot arc last season saw Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) trying to get into the prestigious New York Academy of the Dra- matic Arts (NYADA). Now that she's been accepted, she'll have to deal with all the issues of adjusting to college life, including living on her own. In last week's premiere, we found her start- ing her classes at NYADA with a tough new dance in- structor, the indomitable Cassandra July (guest star Kate Hudson), and even meeting a possible new love interest (new cast member Dean Geyer). Meanwhile, back at William McKinley High, the process of rebuilding the champion New Directions has begun. The school's glee club is run by Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), and, with the help of former stu- 11 24 18 14 33 27 21 9 5 24 15 37 30 35 36 9 2 7 14 34 37 24 33 9 19 17 35 26 36 22 20 29 9 10 26 29 4 6 8 13 22 2 Indiana 4 6 8 Sammo ns of 13 22 20 21 7 12 10 18 3 40 41 Tipton Cable TV 4 6 8 13 2 12 3 5 10 11 35 26 Oak Hill Cable 4 6 8 13 2 32 10 40 21 12 28 15 4 6 8 13 2 22 10 55 53 12 41 30 44 34 3 32 20 35 23 28 25 33 26 38 17 27 31 36 21 39 27 16 28 22 18 30 25 23 24 3 22 38 18 47 14 28 34 21 20 3 26 33 16 39 30 19 7 16 31 24 18 29 34 14 32 15 30 29 17 31 20 42 18 32 7 33 5 16 14 27 2 7 42 19 46 5 39 16 50 14 27 48 17 29 15 35 23 31 40 9 35 4 6 8 13 20 10 40 11 166 795 252 155 650 181 525 216 202 140 230 120 302 134 619 606 178 210 734 128 176 270 203 360 502 314 368 9 145 151 560 112 250 108 325 225 124 518 180 99 dent Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), begins seeking out potential recruits among the high schoolers.Among the new characters at the school are Jake Puckerman (Jacob Artist) and the latest New Directions members, Marley and Kitty (Melissa Benoist and Becca Tobin, respective- ly). Swayzee AT&T U-Verse Where the members of the New Directions, both old and new, go from here still re- mains to be seen.

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