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Glee
Genre	Musical comedy Comedy-drama Drama
Creator	Ryan Murphy Brad Falchuk Ian Brennan
Starring	Chris Colfer Darren Criss Jane Lynch Kevin McHale Lea Michele Cory Monteith Heather Morris Matthew Morrison Chord Overstreet Amber Riley Naya Rivera Mark Salling Harry Shum Jr. Jenna Ushkowitz
Seasons	4
Episodes	88
First aired	May 19, 2009
Last aired	TBA
Related	Glee: The 3D Concert Movie The Glee Project

Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series. It focuses on William McKinley High School's glee club, the New Directions, competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues. The initial main cast encompassed club director and Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), Will's wife Terri Schuester (Jessalyn Gilsig), and eight club members played by Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Mark Salling and Jenna Ushkowitz.

For the second season, formerly recurring cast members Mike O'Malley, Heather Morris and Naya Rivera were promoted to the main cast. For the third season, Darren Criss and Harry Shum Jr. were promoted from recurring to the main cast, and both Gilsig and O'Malley were removed from star billing, though the latter will again be in the recurring guest cast. For the fourth season, Chord Overstreet, who portrays glee club member Sam Evans, was promoted from recurring to the main cast, though both Agron and Mays were removed from star billing. Both will continue to appear as recurring guest stars, with Mays' appearances more frequent than Agron's.

The series was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, who first conceived Glee as a film. The three write all of the show's episodes and Murphy and Falchuk serve as the show's main directors. The pilot episode was broadcast on May 19, 2009, and the first season aired from September 9, 2009 to June 8, 2010. The second season aired from September 21, 2010 to May 24, 2011, and the third season began airing on September 20, 2011. Glee features on-screen performance-based musical numbers that are selected by Murphy, who aims to maintain a balance between show tunes and chart hits. Songs covered in the show are released through the iTunes Store during the week of broadcast, and a series of Glee albums have been released by Columbia Records. The music of Glee has been a commercial success, with over twenty-one million digital single sales and nine million album sales. The series' merchandise also includes DVD and Blu-ray releases, a young adult book series, an iPad application, and a karaoke game for the Wii.

During its first season, Glee received generally favorable reviews from critics, with Metacritic's weighted average based on the impression of 18 critical reviews of 77 percent. The season was nominated for nineteen Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, six Satellite Awards and fifty-seven other awards, with wins including the 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, and Emmy awards for Jane Lynch, guest-star Neil Patrick Harris and Murphy's direction of the pilot episode. In 2011, the show once again won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer won Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively; Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele also received nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress respectively. The show was also chosen by Fox to fill the coveted timeslot that followed the network's coverage of Super Bowl XLV in 2011. On July 14, 2011, Glee was nominated for twelve Primetime Emmys.

Until now, only Kevin McHale has been in all the episodes in all 4 seasons.

Murphy and Fox have produced a concert film, Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, featuring performance and backstage footage from the 2011 Glee Live! In Concert! tour. The film was directed by Kevin Tancharoen, and began its two-week limited release in the United States on August 12, 2011.

Conception

Ian Brennan conceived Glee based on his foul own experience as a member of the Prospect High School show choir in Mount Prospect, Illinois. He initially envisioned Glee as a film, rather than a television series, and wrote the first draft in August 2005. He completed the script in 2005, but could not generate interest in the project for several years. Mike Novick, a television producer and a friend of Brennan's from Los Angeles, was a member of the same gym as Ryan Murphy, and gave him a copy of Brennan's script. Murphy had been in a show choir in college, and felt he could relate to the script. Murphy and his Nip/Tuck colleague Brad Falchuk suggested that Glee be produced as a television show. The script was entirely rewritten, and was picked up by Fox within 15 hours of being received. Murphy attributed that, in part, to the network's success with American Idol. "It made sense for the network with the biggest hit in TV, which is a musical, to do something in that vein," he said. Murphy and Falchuk became the show's executive producers and showrunners, while Brennan is a co-executive producer and Novick is a producer. Brennan, Falchuk and Murphy have written all of the show's episodes for its first two seasons.

Cast and characters

Main article: Cast and Characters

Glee features 12 major roles with star billing. Matthew Morrison plays Will Schuester, McKinley High's Spanish teacher who becomes director of the Glee Club, hoping to restore it to its former glory.^[1] Morrison has assessed that the crux of Glee is "about [Will's] passion for music and influencing his kids."^[2] Jane Lynch is Sue Sylvester, head coach of the cheerleading squad or "Cheerios," and the Glee Club's arch-nemesis.^[3] Lynch states that Sue is "pure evil and doesn't hide it,"^[4] having been created as a product of Murphy, Brennan and Falchuk's "inner mean girl."^[3] Jayma Mays appears as Emma Pillsbury, the school's mysophobic guidance counsellor who has unrequited feelings for Will.^[5] Mays has deemed Emma an amazing character to play, explaining: "I don't find that female characters are always written with a lot of depth, but she's so well defined on the page. Sure, she's terrified of germs and in love with a married man, so seeing her as the voice of reason for the kids is amazing."^[4] Emma's relationship with Will will continue to grow, as "she has these moments of clarity when she's talking to Will because he calms her."^[4] Jessalyn Gilsig plays Terri Schuester, Will's demanding wife of five years. Gilsig has stated that things will become sticky as Terri learns of Will's relationship with Emma, explaining: "Terri is a woman of conviction, so she's going to do whatever it takes to keep her man, even if that means finding this woman and hunting her down."^[4]

Lea Michele plays Rachel Berry, talented star of the Glee Club who is bullied by the Cheerios and football players. Michele took the role in Glee because of Rachel's characterization, explaining: "Not only is she a singer, but she has so much heart— I think it's what we need on a TV. A show that is filled with heart and love that is funny. It sends an amazing message to kids about the arts and being who you are."^[4] Cory Monteith plays Finn Hudson, star quarterback of the school's football team who risks alienation by his friends to join the Glee Club. Monteith was attracted to the fact Finn "isn't just a dumb jock," but instead "walks a fine line between following his dreams and balancing what other people expect of him."^[4]

Also in the club are Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones, a fashion conscious diva who refuses to sing back-up; Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel, a flamboyant soprano who is bullied by the football team; Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams, an electric guitar player and paraplegic manual wheelchair user; and Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang, an Asian-American gothic student with a speech impediment. Colfer has explained that Kurt: "puts on a very confident, 'I'm better than you' persona, but underneath it all he's the same anxious and scared teen everyone is/was at some point. In later episodes, he goes through an identity crisis, accepting and finding acceptance for who he is. [...] He's a tough guy in designer clothes."^[6] McHale describes Artie as "what you would call a nerd. He loves Glee Club with all his heart and uses it to escape the big bad world that high school can be just like the other members of Glee Club."^[7] He found it challenging to adapt to the fact Artie is in a wheelchair, explaining: "Coming from a dance background, I instinctually want to start dancing or tapping my foot to the music. So, I've been learning how to keep that under control and how quickly being in the wheelchair becomes natural."^[7]

Mark Salling plays Noah "Puck" Puckerman, a friend of Finn's on the football team who disapproves of Finn joining the Glee Club. Salling found it challenging to make the character "more than two-dimensional so he can be likeable at the same time," which necessitated "find[ing] the balance between arrogance and cocky and sensible and likeable."^[8] Salling gained 20 pounds before filming the pilot episode in order to better embody his football playing character. He then lost 30 pounds for a scene which required him to be toned, which he described as "an extreme experience."^[8] Dianna Agron plays Quinn Fabray, Finn's girlfriend who is head of the Cheerios and celibacy club. Quinn joins the Glee Club from the second episode, and is described by Agron as Rachel's enemy, and "terrible, the meanest girl."^[9] Recurring roles include Patrick Gallagher as Ken Tanaka, head coach of the football team who wants to date Emma, Iqbal Taeba as Principal Figgins, the high school's unenthusiastic principal, and Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez, a competitive member of the Cheerios. Rivera drew on her own high school experience of unpopularity to prepare for the role, as well as watching films such as Mean Girls to "really get in the zone and feel like a bitchy Sophomore."^[10]

The show will feature Broadway stars in recurring or minor roles including John Lloyd Young as "a retired wood shop teacher with an excellent singing voice,"^[11] Victor Garber as Will's father,^[12] and Debra Monk as Will's mother.^[12] Kristin Chenoweth will play April Rhodes, a former member of the Glee club who never finished high school and ended up hitting rock bottom,^[13] Josh Groban will appear as himself,^[5] and Cheyenne Jackson will also appear.^[14] Other guest stars include Sarah Drew as Suzy Pepper, a senior with a crush on her teacher,^[15] and Stephen Tobolowsky as Sandy Ryerson, the director of the Glee Club before Will took over. Whitney Houston was contacted to appear, but declined, so rapper Eve took her place as Grace Hitchens.^[16]

Casting

In casting Glee, Murphy sought out actors who could identify with the rush of starring in theatrical roles. Instead of using traditional network casting calls, he spent three months on Broadway, where he found Morrison, who had previously starred on stage in Hairspray and The Light in the Piazza, Michele, who starred in Spring Awakening, and Ushkowitz, who had been in the Broadway revival of The King and I and the ensemble of Spring Awakening. Colfer had no previous professional experience, but reminded Ryan of the character of Kurt from The Sound of Music, and was thus cast as Kurt Hummel.^[17] Colfer commented on his casting: "I'm so happy to be a part of something that is so new and different and so needed at this time. It's good to have something positive, especially for kids in small towns, like myself, who need a little pick-me-up. It's true: You can be famous ;— even if there's no money left in the world."^[18]

Auditioning actors with no theatrical experience were required to prove they could sing and dance as well as act. Mays auditioned with the song "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me" from The Rocky Horror Show, while Monteith initially submitted a tape of himself acting only, and was requested to submit a second, musical tape, in which he sang "a cheesy, '80s music-video-style version" of REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling.""^[17] Monteith has deemed his casting "spot on" as: "I'm just like my character. I've never trained or had any lessons. I can just do it — with some adjustments, obviously."^[4] McHale came from a boy-band background, having previously been part of the group Not Like Them. He explained that the diversity of the cast's backgrounds reflects the range of different musical styles within the show itself: "It's a mix of everything: classic rock, current stuff, R&B. Even the musical theater stuff is switched up. You won't always recognize it."^[17] Lynch was originally supposed to have a recurring role in the show,^[19] but became a series regular when a Damon Wayans pilot she was working on for ABC fell through.^[3]

Many of the cast members have appeared together in the musical Spring Awakening (Lea Michele, Jenna Ushkowitz, Jonathan Groff) or on the show Heroes (Jayma Mays, Jessalyn Gilsig, Dianna Agron, Stephen Tobolowsky).

Episodes

Main article: Category:Episodes

Reception

Prior to the broadcast of Glee's pilot episode, Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker gave the show an A, posing the question: "Has there ever been a TV show more aptly named than Glee? It both embodies and inspires exactly that quality."^[20] Glee was the top ranked topic on social networking site Twitter on the night of its initial airing.^[21] Alessandra Stanley for the New York Times called the show "blissfully unoriginal in a witty, imaginative way," saying the characters are "high school archetypes" but noted "a strong satiric pulse that doesn’t diminish the characters’ identities or dim the showmanship of a talented cast."^[22] The Daily News' David Hinckley wrote that the show "isn't close to perfect" but "has likable characters, a good sense of humor and a reasonably deft touch with music."^[23] He called the pilot episode "not very plausible" but "potentially heartwarming," writing of the musical choices: "The duet of "You're the One That I Want" from Grease may be a little obvious, but setting a group dance routine to Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" shows some inspiration. Whether Glee can hold that note remains a very unanswered question. But it will at least be worth watching to see."^[23] USA Today's Robert Bianco assessed: "There's a lot to like here: the exuberance of the musical numbers, the bite to the comedy and the joy of seeing something different. It has casting and tone problems, but it has all summer to fix them."^[24]

The Baltimore Sun's David Zurawik was critical of the show's characterization and comedy, but was impressed by the staging of "Don't Stop Believing," writing that: "the staging of that song [...] is so elevating and inspirational that it almost redeems all the stereotypes and lame humor that come before. Grit my teeth as I did at how one-dimensionally empty-headed the writing could be, I will still be back for the start of this series in the fall because of its musical punch."^[25] Tom Jicha for The Sun Sentinel similarly opined of the episode that: "A lively score and appealing performers somewhat compensate for overly familiar characters and plotting,"^[26] while Rob Owen for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agreed: "It's the music that makes Glee a gleeful delight. Without the song-and-dance production numbers, this Fox pilot would be just another high-school-set comedy-drama."^[27]

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan commented that: "the two biggest musical numbers are tremendously entertaining. They're shot and performed with verve, and they put to shame those medleys contestants often perform on the Wednesday edition of American Idol,"^[28] but again observed: "Whether it will work as a satirical dramedy about the cutthroat social environment of high school is another matter."^[28] Of the principal cast, Ryan opined: "Casting Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester [...] was a wise move; the actor not only has a sweet voice but a hangdog hopefulness that gives a needed anchor to the show's more satirical elements. Cory Monteith gives quarterback Finn Hudson a jock-ish authority mixed with an appealingly square naivete, and Lea Michele not only has an amazing voice but manages to make her character, spoiled diva Rachel Berry, more than a humorless stereotype."^[28] She was critical, however, of Gilsig as Terri, calling her "the worst thing about Glee" and opining: "As written by Murphy and played by Gilsig, the character is screechy, unfunny and deeply unpleasant. It's as if Ryan didn't trust that the audience would get behind Will and the saga of his ragtag glee club and so saw fit to give the teacher the shrewish, nagging wife from hell."^[28]

In contrast, Tom Shales for The Washington Post criticized Morrison as Will, writing: "Morrison is definitely not gleeful and doesn't seem particularly well equipped to be a high-school impresario; as pipers go, he's not even marginally pied."^[29] Shales was more positive regarding Lynch's performance, and concluded that: "Dramatic tension isn't exactly plentiful, but pleasingly staged songs and a general aura of retro ingenuousness come through, and seem awfully if fitfully refreshing."^[29] Variety's Brian Lowry also highlighted acting and characterization issues with the show, writing that: "It's among the adults, alas — who are mostly over-the-top buffoons — where Glee nearly sails off the rails, from Jane Lynch's tyrannical cheer matron to the salivating football coach, a bit like the Rydell High gang in Grease."^[30] Lowry opined that: "Modest redemption comes from the stammering Emma (Heroes' Jayma Mays), who has a clear crush on Will, even though he's married to his high-school sweetheart. Perhaps to foster a rooting interest (or at least sympathy) for a Will-Emma pairing, said wife (Jessalyn Gilsig) is initially presented as a ditsy shrew." Mary McNamara for the LA Times has called Glee: "the first show in a long time that's just plain full-throttle, no-guilty-pleasure-rationalizations-necessary fun."^[31] She praised Lynch as Sue, writing that "Lynch alone makes Glee worth watching," and opined that overall: "The music, though by no means edgy, is energetic with a wide audience appeal, like the show itself.^[31]

After the episode "Showmance," the Parents Television Council named Glee the 'Worst Show of the Week'.^[32]

U.S. ratings

Over the hour of broadcast, the Glee pilot drew an average of 10 million viewers. It began with 12.518 million, dropping after the first half hour from first place to third, retaining only 8.917 million viewers, for an average of 9.619 million viewers.

International syndication

In Canada, Glee airs on Global. The premiere was on September 9, 2009, a week after its original airing on Fox. Throughout the remainder of the season, the show will air at 9 PM and in simulcast with Fox.

In the Philippines, Glee will air on ETC Entertainment Central starting on September 15, every Tuesday at 10:00PM. And will also air at the said network's sister network, Jack TV starting September 14, every Wednesday at 4:00 PM and replays at 9:00 PM. Meanwhile, Jack TV will first air the pilot's Director's Cut edition at September 13 at 9:00 PM. In September 2010, Glee still airs on ETC Entertainment Central & Jack TV. It airs on Wednesday at 9:00 PM in ETC Entertainment Central & Jack TV.

In Latin America, Glee will air on FOX Latin America beginning somewhere on November. The pilot episode has already been aired on Sunday, September 5.

TV3 in Ireland has announced Glee as part of its 2009/2010 schedule.

Awards and nominations

Main article: Awards and Nominations

As of January 22, 2010, Glee has received nominations for People's Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards, Writer's Guild of America Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Satellite Awards, Golden Globe Awards and several other awards. The show has won ten of those awards nominations so far.

Gallery

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Parody

Season 42 of Sesame Street featured a parody of the show, where Anything Muppet members of their school "G Club" prepare for the "G-gionals" with a parody of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing. Puppet handlers had roughly 10 minutes to change all the character's costumes during filming of the segment.

It was parodied on The Cleveland Show. In this parody Finn debates whether singing is as important as football and girls, Rachel sings, and Sue comes out of nowhere and boos her.  In another episode, one of Roberta's teachers is a parody of  Sue.

It was referenced on Family Guy when Stewie sings a very off key version of Before He Cheats and says he should be on Glee.

In an episode of Two and a Half Men,  Alan asks Charlie if he wants to watch Glee and he doesn't want to.  Later Alan and Charlie are seen watching it together and Charlie says 'The tall blonde in the red track suit is freacking me out'.  Then Charlie says 'I love Mercedes' and Alan agrees.

Bryan from The New Normal created a show identical to Glee called Sing.  Many references to Glee are made, such as using props from the fake pregnancy in season 1 and questioning if a real high school student would be a fan of Barbra Streisand.

In YouTube, a user called SimGM Productions makes parodies of various Glee episodes.

Mentions

• The show was mentioned in the 2012 comedy 21 Jump Street, when Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) talks about how everything has changed since they were in high school, like liking comic books is now popular, environmental awareness and being tolerant, with Jenko saying: "You know what? I totally know the cause. Glee. F*ck you Glee!"
• During the "Riff Off" in Pitch Perfect, one of the possible categories the songs the teams would have to sing could come from is "Songs ruined by Glee."
• In The Middle, Sue says that she is a gleek.

References