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Forget the Superbowl, There’s a Glee Marathon!

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Attention Gleeks: the weekend of February 5th is notable for something besides the Superbowl. Yeah, yeah, I know that whole football thing is a pretty big deal, but for those not into the game (or those wonderful commercials), you finally have a decent alternative.

Starting at 11:AM on Saturday, February 5th, Oxygen will run an all-day Glee marathon, showcasing fan-favorite episodes from both seasons, including “The Power of Madonna,” “The Rocky Horror Glee Show,” and “Britney/Brittany.” The marathon is part of an Oxygen promotion for its upcoming competition show, The Glee Project, in which undiscovered talents will compete for a multi-episode guest spot on the show in Season 3.

Oxygen is hosting a live chat with Glee fans during the marathon, where fans can interact and offer their thoughts on what kind of character The Glee Project should supply for Season 3.

Glee Reality Show Searches for New Stars

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The Glee empire just keeps getting bigger. Now, the song-and-dance high school dramedy is getting its first official spinoff, but it’s not what you may expect.

The Glee Project, set to air on cable’s Oxygen, is a reality show where Glee‘s casting director searches for new talent for the show. MySpace submissions and casting calls will whittle down about 40,000 entrants to 12, and then eventually to one undiscovered actor/singer who will be given a seven-episode arc as a guest star on Glee during its third season. Kind of like Darren Criss’ guest arc this season.

The flagship show’s showrunners, Ryan Murphy and Dante Di Lorento, told the Television Critics Association winter press tour that they’re “very serious about growing talent,” and this reality show is a natural outgrowth of that philosophy. Robert Ulrich, Glee‘s casting director, is overseeing The Glee Project‘s talent search (see below), with an eye toward avoiding the hyper-dramatic antics of a typical reality competition. Instead, this competition will echo Glee‘s dedication to acceptance and diversity, offering a mixture of competitors from all walks of life, including people with disabilities.

The Glee Project premieres this summer. Will you be watching?

All this empire expansion is great and stuff, but there is such a thing as growing too much too fast. At what point does Glee reach a point of over-saturation? (Is it already there?)