When to be Gleeful

If you missed the premiere of Glee, the full episode is availabe on fox.com.

For weeks Fox turned up the promotion for new series Glee, which premiered after part one of the American Idol finale. The show, which combines the angst of 90210, the outrageous style of Ugly Betty, with a hefty dose of High School Musical, was positioned as a landmark television moment and the premiere episode (the series itself doesn't debut until fall) a can't miss moment. Well it seems a lot of people missed it.

The season's final performance episode of American Idol did typically strong ratings for FOX. The special sneak preview of Glee attracted 9.62 million viewers, placing it in TV's weekly Top 20 at #14. Sounds good, right? What if you add the fact that the show lost 40% of its Idol lead in audience and dwindle further each half hour.

So was the premiere a success? If you catch the on-going Fox promotions it was a major hit. Ask TV pundits and the premiere was less than stellar and bodes poorly for the fall.

So who is right in their evaluation - Fox or the Pundits? Could both be right, even when you strip back the hype?

Just as with TV ratings, conflict arises between our self impression and that of someone else. Work performance, school, finances are some major areas where your personal view of things and that of someone else come into conflict. How do you determine who is right or wrong, or who's opinion carries more weight?

The key is having a common benchmark from which to evaluate. In the case of Glee, Fox approached its claim as successful based on the audience size of other Fox spring premieres. When viewed against that barometer the show was a huge success and the networks largest premiere audience in four years. The pundits on the other hand judged the show based on the larger pool of all new show premieres or the programs airing that week, which wasn't so stand out.

How do you establish a common benchmark when your self evaluation is compared to the view of someone else? Share your comments and ideas below!