Joss to direct one of the “back 9” episodes of Glee. Check it out here
Just another reason to watch Glee. A very shiny reason to watch.
Sweet. Does this mean a martial arts fight between Quinn and Rachel?
I think it means that Sue will be revealed as a vampire…and someone will be killed in the episode. Hopefully Terri.
One can only hope. Unless Terri’s pyrokinesis kicks in (there’s multiple geek references for ya).
True. And Emma’s super memory power would be completely useless. But she did get the mustard out of Will’s shirt (a-ha, another geek reference!).
I’m glad to know that Whedon’s a fan of the show, and that Buffy and Dr. Horrible have shown Joss can put together a musical number. I hope he’ll continue the trend of developing the secondary characters and divert some of the spotlight from Finn/Quinn/Rachel.
Terri and her sister dying horribly would be gravy.
sadly… if he isn’t writeing the episode, Joss directing it doesn’t mean too much.
In TV, a director ( acording to Lavar burton, Kevin Smith and Johnathon Franks) is really just another payed employee. He can direct an actor to say a line a certain way… but has no say at all over the final cut, content, or even the sets and props used in their epidode.
Glee is a great show, and Joss Whedon means a geek orgasim is a given… but it really doesn’t mean that this episode will look different than a normal episode ( unless the writers write FOR a joss whedon episode)
Well, obviously the writers are the ones who’ll determine the plot and character development in that specific episode, regardless of who’s directing it. But given that Murphy and Whedon have a mutual appreciation for one another, and that Whedon will be done with Dollhouse by that time, he may have a little more input into breaking down the episode than a less high-profile director would.
I’m just saying that it can’t be a bad thing because Whedon’s always shown a reverence to continuity and character moments.
I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you there.
I am surprised that Mr. Burton, Mr. Smith or Mr. Frakes would say anything like that, but I will trust you on that point. Does the director have control over the script? The sets? The props? Almost never in any situation. Directors delegate this authority to the individual departments and they take care of it. They may come to the director seeking approval for a change or something new, but otherwise they are left alone.
Having a background in this I can tell you this is a good thing. You don’t want a director figuring out costumes, dressing a set or figuring out which dagger to use because that isn’t where they provide the most value.
The director’s value comes from interpretation of the script and bringing their own angle.
Have you ever seen two productions of Hamlet? Script is the same but it is the interpretation of the material that gives it new life and meaning. That is why directors are brought on board and point in fact why directors are commonly rotated. It keeps the show fresh.
As for final cut, you wouldn’t want the director to have final cut. The show sails under the auspices of the Producer whose job it is to keep the narrative continuum intact. If you have a director make a choice that is far outside the established narrative, even if it is a brilliant choice it needs to be removed. This isn’t to say brilliance is squashed, it is to say that the show itself is a living organism which requires continuity and consistency. This is why the Director provides their cut and the Producer reviews the cut and makes final adjustments where necessary.
All of this is to say that I respectfully disagree with you. The Director’s role is relevant, important and critical. They are not a cog, they are the engineer.
I think a guest director can bring in things. While they won’t have large control of the script i imagine someone with the skills that Joss possesses would be allowed to have some input into the script. And the guest directors certainly do bring in new aspects to the show. When Joss directed two eps of The Office you could see little differences. Nothing major but there were noticeable style changes.
You know, I only recently figured out that Emma was Charlie. It was driving me crazy for weeks! (And at the risk of losing my geek card, I don’t get the mustard reference; please enlighten, then I’ll laugh and pretend I got it all along ;)).
TV is a writer’s medium for sure, while films are more of a director’s medium (and, to fill out the example, theatre would be an actor’s medium). I remember there was a lot of hoopla several years ago over the fact that Quentin Tarantino was directing an episode of ER. It didn’t turn out much different from any other episode.
BSG was a rare show in that the directors got a lot of input, and there were times when you could discern which director had helmed a particular episode; especially if you listened to RDM’s commentary, in which he would laud the efforts of that week’s director.
While obviously no one is going to be driving a stake through anyone else on Joss’ episode of Glee, it’s fun to speculate on goofy, wish-fulfillment scenarios.
Solai, did you do musical theatre? Oh please, oh please, let there be a YouTube clip out there somewhere…
But you’re right. Typically, the director is the conductor who takes everyone’s contributions and unites them into a single vision. In television, that role falls more to the producer or executive producer, who in many cases is also the head writer. Some well-rounded directors have experience in many different fields, and are more qualified to make detailed calls on sets, props, costumes, editing, etc. Some are just good at picking the right people to do the right job, and listening to their gut to make the call when the decision needs to be made.
I did not know Joss directed episodes of The Office. I shall have to check that out. What kind of style changes did you notice? As far as Glee–who knows, the whole thing could be a stunt to grab ratings, but surely they at least know that Joss is a skilled director who will deliver them a quality episode. I can’t wait.
He Directed the “Business school” episode where ironically Meredith gets attacked by a vampire bat…and Jim pretends to be a vampire to freak out Dwight. And also the episode where Jim, Dwight and Michael go to prank one of the other offices.
What i noticed mostly was that the on screen character interaction was a little better and you could feel a little more characterization coming out. More so in the first episode than the latter. Some if it is writing but you could see some of the Jossey goodness coming out if it.
Wait what? What season was this?!
“Business School” was season 3 of The Office, episode 16 (thanks, IMDb).
You know, I only recently figured out that Emma was Charlie. It was driving me crazy for weeks! (And at the risk of losing my geek card, I don’t get the mustard reference; please enlighten, then I’ll laugh and pretend I got it all along).
No worries, Glimfeather. In the musical episode of Buffy, there’s a very brief song where a guy is celebrating the fact that the dry cleaners got the mustard stain out of his shirt while a brightly colored chorus sings and dances behind him. And as we know, Emma is all about the clean.
The kevin Smith take on TV directing is in the Smodcast where he talks about being the director of a pilot for the CW show “Reaper”. He mentions in that he spoke with Johnathon Franks and Lavar burton at comic con ( both actors directed many episodes of TNG, ds9, Voyager, and Enterprise I believe) and that even thou they enjoyed TV directing, it was not the super creative job that directing a play or movie is. He likened TV directing to directing a school play at a christian school. Sure your the director, but you have an approved script, approved shots, absolutely NO SAY in casting, locations or anything else other than " say that line again… but sound more angry, and have a meaner look on your face"
That is important. ( I act and direct in my local Chester Community Theatre myself… so I don’t want to pretend that it’s not important to crack down on actors and tell them to do it your way!) But isn’t Joss Whedon’s popularity HIS characters, and HIS casting, and HIS writeing? The things that he will have nothing to do with in this production?
I’m not saying that he won’t be a good director. I am just saying that this is a good show… and just like the Tarantino episode of ER ( they did have the Docs walk slowly while wearing sunglasses!) it will probably be just another episode of Glee. ( and that’s not a bad thing)
Quite true. Strangely, I remember when Roxann Dawson (B’Elanna) started directing episodes of Voyager, and I distinctly liked her style. I believe it was the two-parter “Workforce,” where the crew had their memories altered to make them believe they were inhabitants of an industrial planet’s, um, workforce. Something about the way she staged certain scenes, allowing them to play out in long shot, struck as me as a bit more thotful than the typical episode. I didn’t care much for her acting, but she’s since gone on to be a pretty prolific TV director (some Heroes episodes, and I wanna say CSI, maybe?).
He likened TV directing to directing a school play at a christian school.
As someone who acted in plays at his Christian school, I find this metaphor particularly apt and hilarious.
…the Tarantino episode of ER ( they did have the Docs walk slowly while wearing sunglasses!)
Did they seriously?! That’s awesome! It’s been so long, that I completely forgot that! I’ll have to look for it now. Thanks for the reminder.
Aha! Found it! The shot in question is at the very start, so I don’t know what the context is for Carol and Susan striding down the hall in sunglasses, but it’s a cute homage.
The rest of the sequence is bloody, choreographed chaos, which ER was already famous for by this time anyway. But still enthralling, and makes me miss great television like this.
P.S. Dontcha love GWC thread drift? From Glee to ER in under two pages. 
Joss would be perfect in Glee - he’d be able to ground the show and the characters more (my feeling is that Ryan Murphy is too over the top for a sustainable series, but the other creators/writers seem to have a better sense of the characters. Joss being a director could only help in moving them in that direction), and still make some awesome music.