Newton director-producer Sam Weisman gets frustrated when people assume that his hit show, NBC’s “The Sing-Off,’’ was created in response to Fox’s uber-popular “Glee.’’ Sure, “Glee’’ has certainly fueled interest in “The Sing-Off,’’ but according to Weisman, “Sing-Off’’ came first. “I’m sure we are helped much more by ‘Glee’ than ‘Glee’ is helped by us. But the notion that it was a copy-cat thing is really preposterous.’’
Weisman tells us that “The Sing-Off’’ — which has its second season finale tonight — was actually conceived about eight years ago as an idea for a movie. He and producer Bobby Newmyer, of “Breach’’ and “Training Day,’’ wanted to make a film about a cappella groups based on Weisman’s experiences singing a cappella at Yale. Newmyer died unexpectedly in 2005, and even though Weisman and Newmyer’s wife, Deborah, continued to push the movie idea, the project stalled. It was during the writers’ strike that the film concept morphed into a plan for a reality singing competition. Weisman and Deb Newmyer crafted the concept for “The Sing-Off’’ with Joel Gallen, who had worked on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame television specials.
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