Comfort TV 3: Gleeification of Fleetwood Mac

Gretchen Krull is singlehandedly responsible for getting me into Glee at all. I was not a Gleek, I did not watch the show, I did not know the characters. But an extra ticket to their live performance at the Gibson Amphitheater changed all that. Others had tried and failed to get me into the new show, but seeing them live made me appreciate the music and it was fun to know all the songs. I am a Broadway nut thereby making it a pretty small leap to a Glee watcher.

I understand many people have a problem with what the cast does as it is rarely an original song. Instead the group remixes songs everyone knows and loves. It has made an iTunes juggernaut and introduced many kids to songs they never knew. Some artists, like Dave Grohl, are anti-giving their music to the show. Others, like Gaga and Pink, say what the hell, a fan is a fan.

I felt shock when I saw an entire episode was built around the Fleetwood Mac album "Rumours." I have always loved Fleetwood Mac and saw them live for the first time last year. My husband is a concert whore and has turned me into one as well. That being said, I am always the one who wants to know the backstory to the songs and the problems. I loved the story Billy Joel told about the Beatles and the B side of Abbey Road. The idea that the band was not getting along and the producer put the song together as a compilation because the band couldn't talk. Rumours has a similar backstory as the band was breaking apart. They poured the drama into the songs and made arguably the best album ever. I can't imagine being Lindsay Buckingham writing music with his wife who had slept with the drummer and wanting to do something that would keep this band together, but that is what they did.

I was slightly worried about the gleeification of such an iconic band but the show did a great job. And in proving the full evolution of the electronic generation, they have access we never before did. Our boy bands might have ruined classic songs, we might have believed Cheap Trick was the first band to do "Don't be Cruel,"but we didn't have the access. Now, not only does the Glee version sell like hot cakes, you have a 30+ year old album selling a gazillion copies all over again introducing Stevie Nicks to an entirely new generation. I don't think any of us were chasing our parent's old 8 tracks of Elvis around, that would be uncool. Downloading on iTunes, totally cool.

That is what comfort TV is. It's a catharses of all the drama you don't want to have to live in your life but still bubbles below the surface. No matter how much you personally avoid drama, people will find a way to bring it into your life. You can rise above, not participate but you still need an outlet for all the frustration. Comfort TV provides those moments of, "I wish I could say that," in a safe fantasy land of imagined situations. I think dramatic outlets are the key to a happy, drama limited life. I say long live comfort TV!

PS...Happy Birthday, Lisa!