Tuesday, 16 March 2010

SPOILER ALERT! Get the Glee-ful dish on hit show’s new episodes

All the gossip on the second half of the season

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Glee airs on E4 in the UK

The 27th Annual William S. Paley Television Festival hit an attendance high on March 13 when 2,000 "Gleeks" descended on the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills for a presentation with the cast and producers of Glee.

Fans got all the gossip on the second half of the show's smash first season. "I keep saying, bigger, better, and no pregnancies!" jokes co-creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy. "In the first 13 [episodes], we did three or four musical numbers an episode, and in the back nine, we do 6-8 numbers on average, with more music, more comedy, and more Jane Lynch!"

Warning: spoilers ahead!

  Hello My (Boy)Friend, Hello: "The big romance thing is there's a new character," Murphy says. "Jonathan Groff plays Lea [Michele's] new love interest [named Jesse]. He's the lead singer of Vocal Adrenaline, the evil empire group, so that sort of throws Finn off his game. And my new favorite thing that I'm just obsessed with is making Puck a player. He's got Quinn knocked up but he's dating everybody, including Mercedes! So that's been our new favorite thing and we are writing him like the guy who won't settle down. Mark [Salling] is just really good at that." Murphy confirmed on the panel that Kurt, played by Chris Colfer, will get a boyfriend, too.

Guest Stars and Musical Bars: Kristin Chenoweth will be back, Idina Menzel will be the director of Vocal Adrenaline, and Neil Patrick Harris will make an appearance. "The first season, I didn't want too many guest stars," Murphy admits. "I didn't want it to be The Love Boat. I wanted people to fall in love with our characters and a lot of stuff that's been printed is just not true. I meet with a lot of people. What I'm more interested in are the musical tributes to people. We are doing a tribute to Lady Gaga, yeah, and doing a tribute to Steve Perry in the finale, I think. Not a whole episode like we did with Madonna but we are sort of bowing at their feet a little bit." And don't be surprised if Murphy eventually ropes in his Eat, Pray, Love star Julia Roberts. But what musical clearances hasn't the show secured? Morrison volunteered Coldplay, while Murphy said Bryan Adams!

Sue Strikes a Pose: The Madonna tribute episode will be the second episode back this spring. "We will actually have 10 Madonna songs featured," Murphy said. One of the key numbers will be a direct take on Madonna's "Vogue" video featuring Jane Lynch herself. "I've got the costumes, every one of them," Lynch said.

Two to Tango: Matthew Morrison revealed that Neil Patrick Harris will play a rival from Will Schuester's glee club days at McKinley, a guy two years his senior who now sits on an arts board and presents another challenge for Schuester to keep New Directions alive. They will duet on an Aerosmith song and a Billy Joel tune. "It's great watching them work," Murphy added.

Delivering the Goods: Quinn Fabray's pregnancy "will be in the finale," Murphy confirms. When asked if she had been preparing for her birthing scenes, actress Dianna Agron said, "I have heard every pregnancy horror story ever told, every single one!"

Cynthia Wang