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I admit I haven't seen it yet - it's on DVR - busy week. But without watching a single bit of footage, without my own little criticisms of how they did or didn't include this or that, I want to say, unequivocally, that this exposure HAS TO BE GOOD for the activity. Huge positive.

HULU is amazing. I spend the extra bucks a month to get rid of the ads and add Showtime. So worth it.

I'm going to crack up if everyone comes out wearing white jump suits next season, and only Bluecoats choose to wear a traditional uniform.

The show got a .04 rating among 18-49s. It did a little bit better in the 35-64 age group. No time for analysis, but it did better than Everyone Hates Chris repeats, at least. This is all "same day" viewing. Remains to be seen if there is a lift in "delayed" viewing.

If I can get my hands on the numbers, I'll let everyone know.

saw this on FB and had to share... For the past, present, and future Crown brass members....

Just received my annual email confirming my DCI Friends membership - in the email it was stated: The 2016 Blu-Rays, DVD’s and CD’s should be ready to order around the middle of November, just in time for holiday gift giving.

i think they're making a show about people, using the activity as the medium. i don't think its meant to be a drum corps documentary, but instead reality tv, showing memberships struggles with adversity in a format similar to Friday Night tykes or Dance Moms, or even Deadliest Catch. relationships and struggles. the activity is superfluous. I don't think we are going to see much music or performances.

Overnights are released at 4PM ET to Nielsen subscribers (e.g. The network and ad agencies). There is a website called TV By the Numbers that releases cable ratings, but they only get the top rated shows. You can look to see if it made the list. I watched the "hourlong" version and i took more away from it than seeing just the one segment and was able to connect a little bit more to it. (Full disclosure: I did watch the Facebook thing on my iPhone and the screen was covered with floating hearts) As others said, the relative disarray of the Cadets show development is communicated pretty well. I am wondering if the producers and network even want to do this show for another season. If they did, they'd have to start filming in November and probably would have to be reaching out to corps now to lay the groundwork.

What are some shows that aren't heralded as "great, memorable shows" that you guys love? My personal choice is Madison 95.

Fixed it for you.

Same. They get a bunch of shows I watch right after they're on and with my schedule I can't really watch live. Including this one.

A lot of what you post is laughable The CG captain - there's a lot of context. They inferred some of it. Some of it is understandably private. That's why they "walked out and came back" -- CONTEXT that you're unaware of Cadets actually have 22 titles. BD has an amazing 17 during the DCI era. Cadets are one of the historically most efficient and best designed corps there is. You seem to base all your statements on the past 7 years or so. No other organization come competitively close to these 2. That's why they are featured. Cavaliers come close - and folks here were writing them off last year. Coats/Crownies folks seem to want to view the entire activity withing the prism of a few years. It's important to remember, as great as they currently are, they have one title each. They may win others, they may not. But putting them in the league of BD/Cadets or even Cavaliers/SCV/Regiment/etc is really ridiculous MANY of the brass rehearsal strategies and methods came out of BD. Modern visual ensemble rehearsal and design almost completely came out of Cadets. Cadets/BD marching and teaching alumns dominate the rest of the activity - and the band activity - to a ridiculous %. Modern arrangement came out of Cadets/BD & SCV. Drill design dominated by Cades/BD/Cavaliers Hopkins has played an extremely vital and central role in much of this. The man is a lot of things, but he isn't just blindly throwing darts at a board. You should hardly decide "who to work for" based on 39 minutes of a reality show. IMO The show was quite entertaining I thought. Can't we all just enjoy the ride?

i also purchased commercial free.

only 1 episode on hulu. I heard they showed 2 yesterday, is that so? I hope they put the 2nd one on hulu if so.

Lee's a great guy and knows how to get a drum line clean. Those #### Maple Leaf jerseys though....

Ouch. This doesn't sound good. Who's Chris and why does everyone hate him?

Needs to be "Much More Serious about the content." ARE Y O U SERIOUS!? Try watching this with a open heart and open mind. The time, talent, treasure and diversity found in this incredible tribute and expose of our activity is quite serious. I agree I'd love to see this become an annual "series".

Hearing George talk on the show design sounds eerily similar to the designer commentary included in the DCI dvds from the Jethro Tull show.

Okay, so I'm old and going hard of hearing. I watch TV with Closed Captioning turned on. I was benignly watching the "Prom" segment when the caption said "rhythmic squeaking ". There are a couple of people in a dorm hallway quietly listening at a door where "rhythmic squeaking" can be heard. I thought I'd share that.

I'm surprised you can type after all your autograph signing!

No doubt working with Hopkins takes a mental toll, no matter the success. Frankly I'm surprised the core peeps stick around as long as they do. I always assumed they were paid well enough to make it worthwhile lol. But everyone has limits.

riiiiiight. because they have time for that. its not the first time someone has been able to take a couple days away for various reasons. it happens. we don't know the full terms he left on, or how long he was gone, or what terms he came back on. but it does happen. I've seen it.

I think it's WAY too early to become a Debbie-Downer about the show, the content, or the direction. Let it build. It's absolutely most likely that those of us on the "inside" will be the most critical. Therefore, it makes all the sense in the world for us to restrain ourselves from becoming too negative. One never knows who might overhear - or read - the negative vibes and be turned off. My Mom taught me that everyone gets the benefit of the doubt the first time. This is the first, so give it time.

give it time. other episodes to follow.

No doubt. Everything you say is true and that's why it's doubtful DCI would mess with the current model. My idea works more off the model that used to exist in the 70s and 80s when we didn't have 3 or 4 regionals in which all the corps attended. Yes, the regional shows would get split, but I still think they could do quite well; and it does allow for some other corps to get later-evening performance slots (like Madison, Troopers, Pacific Crest...that kind of thing) and a higher placing -- if that sort of thing matters to the corps and the kids. No doubt this model changes the lineup at Allentown and Atlanta. Allentown could still do two shows, but do an open class show (fri) with a few exhibition corps, and do a world class show (sat). Buffalo and Massillon are no longer TOC shows but they can still have excellent lineups. To me, personally, they can get rid of the TOC shows. What we were told and what we get is not the same. It's changed a lot and frankly I have no use for it. I prefer a mix of placements in the lineup, not just 1 - 8. I want 1, 3, 6, 9, 13, 15, 18, 21, 25, and maybe an open class or two -- or some mix of that kind of idea. I like the uncertainty of not knowing what might happen at the regional shows and at FInals. I just feel like the TOC is an exclusive club that looks down on the others, and that is no way to grow the activity. That said, TOC does offer some pros and they have drawn large audiences. I just think they also thin-out the pool of talent for other shows that might happen on the same night. So while Atlanta and Allentown as regional shows, and Nightbeat, Buffalo, and Massillon as TOC shows would change, their lineup could still be quite strong. On the positive side DCI adds a new regional in Glendale, AZ and they beef-up the Drums Along the Rockies regional that, at one time, was strong but is now a shell of what it used to be. The audience numbers would grow in Denver and I imagine the Arizona regional would be a big hit as well. As the tour moves back through the plain states and the midwest this would allow areas like Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin to cash in on a few shows at a time when typically the bulk of the tour is on the East Coast of the U.S. Having some late-season shows would certainly help and it balances out the tour. But as you said, there are negatives with this approach, from dollars to miles traveled, rehearsal days (not as easy when you have to travel long distances), and show lineups.

I was hoping you'd respond. Thanks for the info!

We spoke it up at band practices over the past few weeks, and also posted it on our FB page.

I've certainly noticed some high school band directors post promos for the show on their bands' Facebook pages over the past couple weeks.

weight with potential members? i know what you're saying. but had you even heard of KP or MT before all this blew up? yes "insiders" knew who they were. and Indiana kids knew them. but a huge percentage of kids who marched Crownguard had no idea who MT or KP were before they went there. so i don't see it affecting recruiting much. if you're talking about judges -- who knows? weight certainly didn't win them very many Zingali's. personally i think half dont know or dont care and the other half knows very well who Team 2017 is. brass caption head seem to get a little more press -- people know who Harloff and Cipriani are. but again i'll bet LOTS of people don't know very many more names. percussion is probably the biggest place where names carry weight. caption heads have their true believers who follow them everywhere. honestly i still believe most people walk in the door because of the shows they see on the field. if i told you the new staff was a blend of SCV, Xmen, and Paramount would that sound better? it's not just a bunch of random age outs who said yeah we'll come back and help :-) there's a TON of very experienced people on that staff. i emphasized the alum aspect only because you don't have a bunch of new people walking in the door who don't understand crown and crownguard. actually i'm kind of excited to see what they can do. it would be quite interesting to see crown win another guard trophy after the staff -- that struggled for so long win just one -- took their ball and left the playground.

No doubt it is great for the activity, but especially if it leads to a 2017 series that is much more serious about the content.

Because of the low budget nature of the pilot, the fact that there is no background footage on any of the characters or corps is a major problem and downfall for the show. Personally, I would have spent a good 15 minutes learning about BD and Cadets from a historic standpoint, letting Scott and George talk about what makes their respective organizations different and unique. Without that, you just don't have a clue about the stakes. Also, personally, the fact that they are clearly ignoring ALL of the other corps is really sad to me. I saw a Bluecoats T shirt on a MM last night...and that's literally all I have seen of DCI. There is just no context to this show right now.

There are still a lot of band kids who grew up idolizing Cadets. Does the experience match their expectations? For some, clearly, yes. For others, no, but that's true everywhere. This is a tough gig. Expectations are so high at almost every WC corps.

if they DON'T get around to discussing the rest of the field, isn't it going to be a surprise when 'by the way, these corps we've discussing as the Main Players in the Field didn't win!' though the first hour is too soon to introduce the 'competitive rival,' I suppose. When did Coats pass the Devils in scoring the first time this year? E4 may be a good place for 'hey we lost, we're so used to winning this is awful!'

I hope you are wrong. Otherwise this is going to get old really fast for the insiders, and irrelevant to the outsiders. They have gone way out of their way to position drum corps as something amazingly difficult, and if they don't explain why that is, all the conflict is irrelevant. I've never fished the arctic, but I get a ###### good idea of what the context is for the conflict watching Deadliest Catch. The environment is the main character in that show.

Since instructors actually talk to the judges, I think they'd be in a position to know. Because, you know, they'd actually talk to them. In fact, if the spread in a caption is fairly consistent, then you have a night where the electronic balance is bad, then you hear the judge comment about it on the tape, and then the spread dramatically changes (or you suddenly flip positions with a competitor in that caption) , I think you have pretty solid evidence the balance mattered without even talking to a judge. Your theory that only judges know whether balance affects a score is absurd.

Investments. Specifically, the 'm' is used in the fixed income (bond) market.

about it being made for outsiders, I'd wonder if the non-initiated would have a grasp of what the product is. they TELL a few dozen times how extreme it is, but they only show a few seconds of final product. I get the challenges about putting show clips longer than a few seconds on TV, but will people unfamiliar with DCI have any grasp of the extent of the final product? hopefully they get to that before ep 8. the lack of a 'what is drum corps' during e1 told me that the show was for those already familiar. a minute of DCI by the numbers would have been helpful, I figure. If anybody has presented the show to somebody with a clean slate on the topic, i'd be interested in hearing what they took away from the show. I suppose that after these episodes it is significantly better than my worst fears but not yet to the levels of my highest expectations, which is a pretty reasonable landing zone for a reality series on any subject.

This part was interesting. My wife, who is not a drum corps person, commented, "It looks like he just didn't want to have to go through camp, and just wanted to come back when it was time to start performing." On the other hand, it did give a chance for the Cadets staff to seem empathetic towards the individual, as up to that point in the episode, they seemed very much "we are the staff, you are the members, do as we say." Where as BD was portrayed as a collective group effort, of staff and members working together to create the best product for the field. On another note, maybe I just missed it, but they didn't mention much, if anything, about where the groups are from. It would have been nice to see a little bit about the Concord and Allentown areas, as a point of reference about the groups (for outsiders). There was a total difference portrayed between both the members, staff, and organizations as a whole, in the edits for the show. We all pretty much know that that is the case, but it seemed pretty obvious even to an outsider. It would be nice as well to see more of the "putting together of the show." The way in which it fast forwarded through spring training, and then they were ready for tour seemed to not put enough emphasis on the true difficulty of first making one of these groups, and second putting together a production at that level.

I mean, technically, if the proposed idea failed, they'd be stranded somewhere in Minnesota.....

And that attitude and fortitude will certainly be one of the qualities that allows you to succeed in life in general. But, what one learns with age and experience is to measure the risks and take those with the highest potential return. Perhaps you should exercise what drum corps taught you by becoming a show host. After all, more shows in more areas of the state will expose the activity to more people, creating demand, and performance opportunities for corps, and profit for all - hopefully. The contract can easily cost $25m. Housing - 7 corps require 7 schools, each with minimum requirements per DCi and the corps and cost $500/night (better hope a corps doesn't want to stay over for another night!). Volunteers, police, porta-potties, food trucks, parking attendants... Marketing, a website, ticket-provider... Oh, and the show site. Stadiums can cost extra - figure $1m to $1,500. All told, an early season, mid-finisher-corps show can easily have a $30m-$35m nut to crack (late season, top-12 shows cost twice that or more). At $25 per ticket, how many fans do you have to attract to just break even? Three-thousand? 3,500? Want to make a profit or are you doing this just because you enjoy it? If you increase the ticket price to clear a profit, how many fans will choose to stay home and watch Youtube videos instead? Oh, and if DCI increases the contract price, or if athletic practice impedes the practice fields, or the volleyball team schedules a meet in the gym... Possible? You bet. Go for it.

I got to watch for free via the Fuse App on my iPad. BTW. interesting on episode 2 the members of The Cadets struggled to explain the show concept. Really hard to sell a program when the performers don't quite get the show. The results spoke for themselves. Like the previous 2 seasons, talent had to overcome show concept.

Ghee..how many corps would love to suck that bad.

In Drum Corps I learned how to strive to do things that are risky and hard. Do I always succeed? No. But I can at the very least know I gave it my all, and fought the good fight. And that is a lesson I learned from Corps.

Yet California, which fairly often provides the national champ, is in the position Dublin seeks to avoid for all but 1 of DCI's 44 years

I think one of the downsides of the episode length is a lot of stuff falls by the wayside. It would be nice to have some information on what they are actually competing in and for. I thought the first episode was okay, but I'd like to see a few more to make a true judgment. I suspect drum corps fans will be able to follow it better than non-fans and read between the lines, but I'm concerned about what non-fans will take away. Whether something is scripted or non-scripted, an important thing is getting viewers involved in a journey. Even a good documentary takes you on a journey. You follow it because you care about the characters or the people in the documentary. To me, the most interesting part of the first episode was the CG member who walked out. But, it didn't get much screen time. I suspect it was because they just didn't have much--if any--footage of what led to the walk-out. Everything flew by in those first 20 minutes and we only got a perfunctory introduction to the characters the viewer is supposed to care about and want to watch again. I also wonder if this is a "one off" project or one that has more seasons to it. If the main point is "drum corps is hard", you can communicate that in one season of the show. You don't need two. It doesn't matter if something is scripted or a docu-series, people want to watch more seasons because they either love the concept (e.g. Survivor with its new cast every season) or want to see more of the characters they were introduced to in season 1 (e.g. the Kardashians, the guys on Deadliest Catch). By the end of this series, what will people be wanting to see more of from "Clash of the Corps"?

In the interest of ideas, here's one more that I've kicked around for a while now (this one won't be as detailed as my last post). The bullets break out the basic premise: The country is divided into five regions (see map below). All corps start in the same location (most likely Indy, but doesn't have to be). DCI would facilitate spring training sites in the designated region. The Tour Preview Show follows the same format as quarter finals (including movie theater showings), with corps performing in placement order from the previous year. All corps immediately move into one of the five chosen regions. Note that each year, the order of the regions changes (ie. in one year the tour might start in North East region, the next year it might start in North Central, etc.) The corps all spend 1 to 2 weeks in the region, performing at smaller (6-12 corps) shows. This allows DCI to host multiple shows on the same night without spreading their logistics staff too far throughout the country (at most, 3-4 states away from each other), or host back-to-back events using the same staff (who will only have a few states to travel through). Generally, the corps will compete against the same corps every night in this 1-2 week period, and they will also travel the region together. The 1-2 week period in each region ends with a Regional Event. Rough regional locations are denoted by stars on the map below. These events consist of all corps. Immediately following the Regional, the corps then head to a neighboring region, and the process repeats. Ideally, the corps will spend their time within the region competing against mostly different corps than they saw in the previous region, maintaining competitive excitement throughout the season (ie. wow, last time Coats saw Cadets, they whomped them for two weeks, but they haven't seen each other for two weeks, I wonder what will happen at the next Regional). This process repeats until all five regions are hit, and the corps then make their way to Indy for Finals. There's many things I like about this system. First, it means that every region gets to see every corps. If you want to see them all, go to your nearest Regional. If you just want a few, they'll pass through your area. Each year you'll see different corps (ie. one year the Blue Devils might play the Mankato show, the next year Phantom, etc.) and different qualities (ie. one year the Central Region gets mid June shows, the next it gets late July shows). Second, it gives logistics a lot of flexibility. If DCI maintains a schedule like this, the corps will be moving together more frequently. If DCI then purchased gasoline for the corps they could negotiate a better rate with at least one gas supplier in each region since they'll be purchasing in bulk (the corps would then reimburse DCI). DCI can also coordinate housing easier in this method, with corps doubling up on some housing locations with greater ease if needed. Again, this does not have Indy moving. It simply shows a different tour model. Edit: I should note that I'm not advocating for more shows (at least, not a lot more shows). Some states won't get a show, just as is the case now. I'm simply suggesting another re-ordering of the events to fit into these buckets. Also this model means TOC shows are not lost, since all corps are generally in the same region and can still meet up as needed for those events (probably 1 to 2 in each region).

while geographically this makes a lot of sense, how does it fit into the DCI's very successful strategy of offsetting DCI finals gross attendance with 4 weekends of "indy preview" regionals and 7 "finals preview" TOC shows. if you're going to split the tour like that, TOCs are essentially erased from the schedule after SAT. and the regionals no longer offer the chance for fans to see all the corps. this strategy has worked extremely well for overall ticket sales.

Cool video, and thanks for the link. I know the guards today are just fantastic. Hugely talented and expressive. Still, there's something about seeing those old guards - stiff, high marching, uniform, aiming for universal precision, dressed to match the rest of the corps, smile-less. Yes, it's nostalgic. Looks good, though, if for no other reason than it is something noticeably different from what's common today. And for some reason - maybe deep psychological problems I don't understand – I just cringe at so much Broadway smiling in guards today.

Probably because I was just listening to it, but Phantom Regiment 1993 comes to mind. It gets a little lost in the conversation after Star and Cadets, but man that is a beautiful show.