The key facts
- Disney and Hulu officially announced the Glee reboot on the project's social media
- Ryan Murphy wrote the script with Falchuk and Brennan and spoke with ~10 actors
- Lea Michele and Jane Lynch are ready to return; Chris Colfer has doubts after Naya Rivera's death
Official Reboot Announcement
Disney and Hulu have announced the return of Glee — the Emmy-winning American musical comedy-drama series about a school show choir. The announcement was published on Wednesday via the project's social media. Ryan Murphy's original series aired on Fox from 2009 to 2015 and followed members of the choir at the fictional McKinley school in Ohio. The cast included Lea Michele, Amber Riley, the late Cory Monteith, Jane Lynch, and Matthew Morrison as teacher Will Schuester.
Success of the Original Series
Glee became a major hit, known both for its humor and for the topics it tackled — sexuality, race, disability, and mental health. The New Directions choir helped 'outcasts' find their voice through song and dance, and covers of Don't Stop Believin', River Deep, Mountain High, and Smooth Criminal introduced classic hits to a young audience. In 2010, the show was adapted into a concert tour filmed on film, and the cast surpassed The Beatles in the number of appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 among non-solo acts.
Reaction from the Creator and Actors
Co-creator Ryan Murphy told Entertainment Tonight that he had reached out to about ten actors from the original cast and wrote the reboot script together with Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. According to him, the idea sparked enthusiasm among the actors, though they had many questions. Lea Michele, who played Rachel Berry, previously told E! News that, like Jane Lynch, she would gladly return: 'I will always love Glee... I will follow Ryan wherever he goes.'
Chris Colfer's Doubts and Remembering the Departed Actors
Chris Colfer, who played Kurt Hummel, admitted in an interview with Bustle that the reboot will be difficult after the death of Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), who died in 2020 at the age of 33. 'It was a very heavy show, and now that Naya is gone, it will be very hard to make,' he said, adding that he might have more information to reflect on. Rivera was the third cast member to die: Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson) died in 2013, and Mark Salling (Noah 'Puck' Puckerman) five years later. On Sunday, a mini-reunion took place at London's Royal Albert Hall: Darren Criss (Blaine Anderson) brought Colfer on stage for a duet of Baby It's Cold Outside.
Image source, Getty Images Left to right: Jenna Ushkowitz, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Amber Riley and Lea Michele in Glee
