FOX's 'IDOL' and GLEE Top Tues Nite Ratings Ladder

GLEE, the new one-hour musical comedy series from Ryan Murphy ("Nip/Tuck"), got a special preview following AMERICAN IDOL Tuesday, May 19 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The move was a success for the network as FOX won the night with the musical filled one-two punch of both shows. 

The American Idol season finale, plus the "preview" debut of GLEE was more than enough to win the night for Fox against the finales of Dancing With The Stars and CBS's lineup of NCIS, Mentalist and Without A Trace reports tvbythenumbers.com.

FOX won with the following Ratings/Shares: Adults 18-49 6.4/17 Adults 18-34 5.0/15 Total Viewers (million) 16.909 For more information and full ratings click here.

The preview episode is now online on Fox's official web site for the show. The show will premiere in the fall (date to be announced.) Already music from the show is burning up the iTunes charts, with "Don't Stop Believin'" hitting #2 and "Rehab" hitting #30. 

Press notes describe GLEE  as "an uplifting series with biting humor that features a soundtrack of hit music from past to present. The show follows an optimistic high school teacher, WILL SCHUESTER (Matthew Morrison), as he tries to refuel his own passion while reinventing the high school's glee club and challenging a group of outcasts to realize their star potential. It's not an easy task when the pitch-imperfect club includes MERCEDES (Amber Riley), a forceful diva-in-training; ARTY (Kevin McHale), a geeky guitarist; KURT (Chris Colfer), a dramatic soprano; TINA (Jenna Ushkowitz), a punk rocker; and self-proclaimed "star" RACHEL (Lea Michele), a perfectionist firecracker. McKinley's cruel high school caste system prevents the glee club from flourishing, so Will recruits FINN (Cory Monteith), the quarterback with movie star looks, to join the group even though he wants to protect his reputation with his holier-than-thou girlfriend, QUINN (Dianna Agron), and his arrogant teammate, PUCK (Mark Salling). With harsh criticism from everyone, including Will's tough-as-nails wife TERRI (Jessalyn Gilsig) and McKinley's egotistical cheerleading coach SUE SYLVESTER (Jane Lynch), he is determined to prove them all wrong and lead the glee club to the greatest competition of them all: Nationals".

GLEE is produced by Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Dante di Loreto serve as executive producers, while Ian Brennan and John Peter Kousakis serve as co-executive producers. Murphy directed the pilot.

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