The biggest bombshell in entertainment news this week wasn’t Taylor Swift’s tour. It wasn’t a new Avatar: The Way of the Water trailer, nor was it the fact that Henry Cavill is dropping out of The Witcher franchise. Not even Elon Musk’s bold move to monetize Twitter verification tops this jaw-dropping revelation. It involves Glee, of course.
Glee co-stars Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz (who played romantically-intertwined Artie and Tina, respectively) have started a podcast delving into the origins of the show. As any fan of the Ryan Murphy musical high school drama could’ve guessed, after just one episode, drama has already been tossed in our faces like a cold Slushie. Strap on your #GLEEK rubber bracelets and your Kurt Hummel T-Shirt—the Glee podcast is about to get super juicy.
On the first episode of And That’s What You Really Missed, creator Ryan Murphy was the guest, and delivered some unsettling insight about the early days of Glee. Whatever you thought was going to come out of this podcast, think four times more chaotic. Will Schuester, played by polarizing actor Matthew Morrison (remember when he was The Grinch?), was originally supposed to be a crystal meth addict. Furthermore, he was meant to be played by Justin Timberlake.
Okay, wow. Though the hosts have explained that they want their new podcast to “debunk some of [the] crazy TikTok conspiracies,” it seems like it may become a Glee-gossip power hour, which is great for all of us Gleeks who want to relive the golden years.
Ryan Murphy is scheduled to return for another episode next week—new episodes air weekly on Mondays, and are available to stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast streaming services—but before then, we need to brace ourselves. What’s going to be the next headline-making news? (Though it may be hard to top the sweater-vest, rapping teacher being addicted to meth…)
We’ve listed a few random predictions that may be revealed on this blessed podcast, including some obvious forecasting (Lea Michele…), off-the-wall storylines, and more. To be clear: none of this is confirmed in any way! These are all projections based on the first episode. With that disclaimer, let’s begin.
Lea Michele Can’t Read: Let’s just get this over with, right? The most obvious news would be this revelation, or perhaps, a debunking of sorts. Maybe Kevin and Jenna have old Instagram videos, Nashville filter applied, with Lea reading from her script. Maybe they’ll do a lie detector test with Lea on the show—if she can get out of Funny Girl performances, that is!
Chord Overstreet’s Role Originally Went to Justin Bieber: Chord Overstreet has a big new Netflix Christmas movie coming out next week, Falling for Christmas, so we wouldn’t be shocked if he appeared on the show soon to promote it. Though he truly fits the build for a stereotypical Netflix Christmas hunk now, he used to have total Bieber hair and physique. Since Murphy’s already revealed that Justin Timberlake was meant to star in the show, it would make sense that he was eyeing other musicians for the part of Sam Evans in Season 2.
The Show Was Initially Named Something Else: Like Choir, but that was too simple. Or Pitchy, a riff on bitchy, but Ryan Murphy heard word of Pitch Perfect and abandoned the title. I just need to hear all the proposed titles before they landed on Glee.
Gwyneth Paltrow Was Supposed to Have a Leading Role: A girl can dream, right? We needed more Holly Holliday. Case closed.
The True Story Behind the Shower/Weed Scene in the Pilot: This sequence has always baffled me. Will Schuester, desperate for new members in the Glee Club, overhears star quarterback Finn (Cory Monteith) singing in the showers. Weird behavior. He makes it his goal to get him into the Glee Club. Very weird behavior. So, he plants weed on Finn and blackmails him into joining the Glee Club. Extremely weird behavior. And we’re supposed to like this guy?
My thought is that Ryan Murphy was still set on Justin Timberlake, and he plopped this scene in to incriminate Will Schuester from the very start. If Timberlake agreed, he could simply pour the blood back onto Mr. Schue’s hands and easily write him off the show. Done and done!
Jane Lynch Had Crazy Beef With Most of the Young Actors: This is a stretch, but as soon as Lea Michele joined Funny Girl, Jane Lynch got the hell out of that show. Something feels fishy. Also, Sue Sylvester is always mad at the Glee Club—perhaps some method acting? Maybe she wasn’t acting at all?
J.Lo Campaigned for Her Own Breakout Music Episode: Or Pitbull, honestly. I could see either of them attempting to get a solo episode dedicated to their music like Madonna, Britney Spears, and Michael Jackson had in the show. Who else might have courted Murphy to get their own episode?
We’re Going to Learn About the Dianna Agron/Ryan Murphy Feud: This isn’t as much a prediction as it is noted fan gossip. Rumor has it that Ryan Murphy feuded quite a bit with Dianna Agron, who played Quinn, while filming the series. This makes sense. In the first season, her character is pregnant; in the third, she goes goth and is eventually hit by a car, sending her to a wheelchair. Poor girl couldn’t catch a break! Something tells me we’ll learn a bit about this Sam Levinson/Barbie Ferreira-esque drama in the podcast.
All of the Songs That Never Were: I want to hear more about the songs that never appeared in episodes. What couldn’t Ryan Murphy license? Which songs didn’t make it to air because there wasn’t the right singer? There’s a long list of songs that never aired on the fan-populated Glee wiki page, and I want to know why they were never performed on our TV screens.
