Season 2? Expect More!

From www.vancouversun.com by Eric Volmers, Canwest News Service:


Fans of Fox's musical-comedy Glee can expect new students, new teachers and a sampling of mystery guest stars to enter William McKinley High School for the hit show's second season, says one of its creators.

Ian Brennan, who was at the Banff World Television Festival on Wednesday, remained tight-lipped about who exactly is heading to class for season two, but said the show will be maturing with the students.

"For my mind, totally the show will sort of step up in the second season," says Brennan, who met with the media after speaking to delegates Wednesday afternoon. "It's not just anymore about a rag-tag bunch of kids putting on a show. They are at a different level. It's very much, in their life, their sophomore year and these are the changes that happen."

Some of the new blood will be coming from a MySpace audition campaign, Brennan says. That's just one of the ways the show has expanded its brand, which now includes top-selling cds and live performances.

Glee will also continue to up the ante when it comes to musical numbers, a direction the show had already taken in the last part of season one after a four-month hiatus.

"I think we just realized that the structure of the show could sustain that amount of music," Brennan says. "We were actually probably under performing in a way with what we could do. To my mind, from a creative end it didn't have anything to do with sales or wanting to get top of the charts or whatever. The music for the show adds an effervescent quality that kind of lifts it. We never wanted to seem like we're cramming in music. The music still has to further the story, that's how the tracks work the best."

Glee, which revolves around an underdog high school show choir in Ohio, debuted in September and immediately became a surprise hit for Fox, offering a mix of smart comedy, high-school melodrama and lavish musical numbers. It stars Calgary-born actor Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson, a quarterback who shocks his friends by joining his school's show choir.

Brennan said it was a hard part to cast and suggested Monteith's unique "Canadian" qualities may have actually given him a leg up.

"Maybe this is totally offensive, but there's something so open and earnest," Brennan said. "He's just like a guy and handsome and kind of a doofus and weird in his body. I just remember when he walked in, I really thought he was the guy early on. (Co-creators Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy) made fun of me and said I had a weird producer crush on Corey. But he was just our guy."

While the comedy on the show can occasionally be edgy, Brennan credits Glee's earnest qualities for its success.

"It's easy to pick on procedurals or whatever," Brennan says. "TV is a whole smorgasbord, that's what's wonderful about it. But there's a show on television about rape. It's literally a show about rape. In the context of that, I think sometimes the clouds can clear and allow for something different."

"I don't know whether it was just that we had enough of bad news, so let's sing about it for a second."

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