Though Fox's "Glee, " a music-laced show about a high-school glee club, remains in the top 20 for viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, it has seen its rating drop 25% in that group so far this TV season compared with a year earlier, according to Nielsen data provided by Fox. (Fox, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp.) This could signal a challenge for "Smash, " Mr. Adgate says.

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Ed was in the school orchestra, the glee club, sang solos in the school operettas, played baseball and basketball (Skagit County champs of 1925), drove the school bus, and was president of the student body in his senior year.

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This licensee could be anyone from a garage band aspiring to a record deal or a Glee-inspired high school club that wants to record and sell CDs.

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