Fox’s once upon time phenomenon, sang its final note last night, as the series officially came to an end. Judging by the early rating numbers (according to zap2it, the show earned a measly 0.8 rating share, which roughly equals to about 2.7 million viewers) and frankly the ratings all season long, many people were either unaware that the show was ending or simply did not care. I am pretty sure it was a combination of both – the many fans who left seasons ago were unaware and the few who were aware, did not care.

So how did this once mega-hit (and let us be clear, it was definitely a hit. At the height of the show’s success, it drew ratings numbers upwards of 10 million viewers, sold millions on iTunes and also won 4 Golden Globes, 3 Emmys, 1 SAG and a number of other awards, as well as garnered numerous nominations) become nothing more than afterthought, exiting with barely a whimper? How did it all go so wrong? As someone who has watched off and on throughout the show’s six-season run, I have a few ideas.

• A Show Cannot Succeed Without Good Writing – I have a theory that the creators (Ryan Murphy, Brad Fulchuk and Ian Brennan) of Glee only had a pilot developed and never really thought beyond that. My theory is supported by the rumor that Ian Brennan, who originated the concept for the show, originally planned on pitching it as a movie. So my belief is that they developed the Pilot, hoped that the show would be a decent sized hit, maybe last a season or two, likely becoming more of a cult hit and going the way of shows like Freaks & Geeks, My So Called Life, etc. Shows that had cool concepts, strong first seasons, critical success but never really took off with a larger audience. I mean let’s face it, a show about show choir, with kids breaking out into random songs – what were the odds of it becoming a hit? But then the show not only became a hit but a phenomenal success with huge rating numbers and mass commercial appeal. And suddenly the writers were faced with the task of writing a consistently funny, interesting show with well-developed characters and in the end they simply couldn’t. The cracks started showing up by the end of the show’s first season and only became more pronounced with every subsequent season.
• Remember Who You Are – Glee began as a dark, satirical comedy about a group of misfits trying to succeed in their little show choir. Sure there were touching and heartwarming moments right from the start, but no show that has a character like Sue Sylvester can really be self-righteous or preachy. Or so it would seem. Unfortunately, along the way the writers seemed to forget this and the show slowly began veering more and more into “lesson of the week” territory and started taking itself way too seriously, all the while still wanting to be outrageous and even offensive as it once was in the beginning. The dichotomy simply did not work and the end result was a disjointed, not very funny, mess.
• Hubris Will Always Be One’s Downfall – I made a comment a year or two ago, that in years to come, I believe Ryan Murphy and company could write an essay for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, titled “How To Epically Ruin Your Hit Show”. It could be a cautionary tale for up and coming television writers and producers. In Glee’s case, it involved getting rid of many of the characters and actors the audience had connected with and grown to love, at the height of the show’s success, in favor of bringing in an almost new cast. Why – because Ryan Murphy suddenly decided that he would prove to the viewers and public that the true star and success of the show was the concept and not the actors. Let’s just say it didn’t work out so well. Putting aside the fact that many of the new characters simply did not have the charm and chemistry as a group that the original gang did, but in an effort to keep the older characters around, namely Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith, the show constructed a split narrative that would follow the lives of Kurt and Rachel (later Santana) in New York and Blaine and company with the new cast, at McKinley. It was a mess. The show struggled to give both narratives its own voice, the split was often clunky, Rachel and Kurt alone together in New York was surprisingly boring as they did better playing off the original characters and the new McKinley group just did not have the connection the original cast of characters did. By that season’s end, the show’s numbers had dwindled to 2.0 in rating shares, with an average viewership of 5 million, its lowest numbers in the show’s history. Trust me, it would get worse.
• Characters To Root For – As previously noted, when the show first started, it was the story about a lovable group of misfits trying to make their little show choir, The New Directions, the best in the country or at least in Ohio. They each had their own personal stories and viewers rooted for them to succeed, even the less likable ones like crazy, ambitious Rachel Berry and snooty, popular Quinn Fabray. However, as the writing for show got worse and worse, the characters became awful and that made it harder to root for them or hell in some cases, to even care about them. It later didn’t help when the show became populated by the new crop of characters who were poorly drawn and constructed and lacked any of the same chemistry, charm and humor of the original group. Also, the show’s refusal to let all the older characters go, meant constant comparisons between them and the new characters were inevitable and it was often unfavorable for the newer characters. And in the end, even the writers didn’t care too much about the new crop of characters either, as they were all, save for Kitty, unceremoniously dumped and barely got a mention or acknowledgement in the series finale.
• Cory Monteith’s Tragic Death – Let me be clear, in no way am I blaming Cory Monteith for the show’s demise. I, without hesitation, place the blame squarely on the writers. That being said, I truly believe his passing was the final nail in the show. As I noted above, by the end of Season 4, Glee’s numbers had dwindled down to an average of 5 million, meaning the viewers were already losing interest and moving away. Cory’s tragic death was like a shock to the system for many who still watched and loved the show and even those who had already moved on. The one-two punch of a horrible previous season with a large number of characters viewers did not connect with, coupled with the death of one of the main stars and original characters on the show just created a pall over the show that it simply could not and did not recover from. I truly believe that there was really no way for the show to come back after that. The joy and fun, that magic that made it a success, was simply gone. They tried, but frankly I felt like many of the actors, especially the original ones, seemed like they had checked out at this point and everything just felt forced. I acknowledge that I may be alone in this, but there just didn’t truly feel like much left to smile and sing about after something that tragic. And by the end of Season 5, the show’s ratings had plummeted to a dismal 0.6 which equaled just barely more than a million.

And so last night, it finally came to a blessed end in a two-hour special. The first hour, titled 2009, which saw a retelling of the Pilot, was actually quite good. In the episode, viewers got to see what inspired each of the original members (Rachel, Kurt, Mercedes, Tina and Artie), to sign up for the Glee Club. There were shades of that old Season 1 magic and the episode did a really good job, I thought, in reminding viewers why it was a hit in the first place.

The most poignant moments naturally came whenever Finn was referenced, particularly the scene where the group, holding an emergency meeting to kick Finn out of the Glee Club, each start detailing all the reasons he wasn’t a bad guy despite his popularity. The final moment of the episode was a switch to the original Don’t Stop Believing performance from the Pilot episode. That meant Cory Monteith did appear onscreen one last time. I have to say, that seeing his face slowly come into focus on screen was gut wrenching and the only moment during the entire two hours that I had to choke back tears.

However, I felt that the the final hour, which switched to present time and ended five years into the future, was indicative of the show’s decline. Much like how it started strong and fell hard by the end, the magic of the first hour was completely lost by the second hour. Sure we got shiny, happy endings for Rachel (spoiler – she won a Tony and married Jesse St. James), Kurt and Blaine (spoiler – they’re married and Rachel was the surrogate for their baby), Mercedes (spoiler – she became a singing star), Sam (spoiler – he took over New Directions), Will (spoiler – he became principal at McKinley) and Tina and Artie (spoiler – he became a director and I guess they got back together), everyone else virtually did not exist.

We heard nothing about Puck, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Mike and as for all those new characters who were forced on viewers for almost two seasons, they were pretty much nonexistent. We learned nothing about Marly, Ryder, Jake, Unique or the new characters on which screentime was wasted during the show’s final season. The final moment of the show included every single person (mostly, Melissa Benoist who played Marly, could not make it) who had ever been in the Glee Club returning for a final performance in honor of the McKinley hall being renamed and dedicated in Finn’s memory. It should have by all accounts been a very poignant moment but I found myself not moved, much as I wasn’t for the entire final hour.

The reason was largely because of what I stated above, that the writers, through their very horrible writing, had ruined so many of these characters and relationships for me that I simply did not have the investment any more to care about where their journeys ended. I did not care about Kurt and Blaine getting married and having a baby because that relationship had been ran into the ground in so many ways, the ultimate being time wasted in the final season on an utterly pointless, not to mention borderline creepy coupling of Blaine and Karofsky, Kurt’s former tormentor. The less said on that the better. I couldn’t aww or cheer their happy ending because the couple I fell in love with back in Season 2 stopped existing a long time ago in my opinion.

I couldn’t be happy for Rachel’s success because after the horrible Season 5, where the writers had her jump from getting into a prestigious school, landing a Broadway role months later, then leaving to star in her own show, her success felt almost boring and predictable. Sure she fell flat on her face at the start of Season 6 to create some storyline for the season, but by then it was more than clear where her story was going. So the scene elicited nothing more than a shrug and a “meh” from me.

Once again, the magic this show once had simply didn’t exist anymore and the nostalgia wasn’t enough to bring it back for me. I watched the final hour, the final scene, hoping to feel something, some emotion about this show’s journey coming to an end and I felt nothing. Nothing but a slight bitterness and sadness that something that once was so good and had the potential to be amazing, ended as poorly as it did.

All that being said, I do however want to end on a positive note and state that despite everything, I do believe there once was something special about Glee. Otherwise, it would not have exploded as it did. It truly brought something to the screen that hadn’t been seen before on television and I absolutely believe it paved the way for shows such as Nashville, Empire and even Smash. And though certainly not perfect, it did do a good job of representation, particularly teenage representation and provided young people a show where they could see themselves – gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, the disabled, etc.  I also do believe that Glee is a show that, for better or for worse, will be remembered for years to come. It’s just a pity that those responsible for creating it and bringing it to the world, were also the ones who couldn’t sustain it and allowed it to fall to the wayside.

But despite everything, I’ll still say thank you to the writers and creators, the cast and crew – thank you for the laughs, thank you giving me something that me and my late cousin bonded over and thank you for the music. It was an interesting ride.