Remember when Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy said series stars Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith were going to leave the show after next season? Scratch that and reverse it. In an apparent about-face, Murphy’s fellow co-creator Brad Falchuk said at Comic-Con Sunday: “They are not done with the show after this season.”
Um, hey now what now? Despite saying for more than a month that the seniors in Glee Club would graduate and leave the show and then specifically confirming Michele, Colfer and Monteith would be departing in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, now the Glee bosses are saying “It was never our plan, it was never our intention to let them go.” Confused? Join the club.
The first question on the panel, moderated by Michael Ausiello of TVLine.com, was about the big three’s departure. So are Finn, Rachel and Kurt dunzo after season three? Falchuk said:
Cory, Lea, Chris, they are seniors and so they are graduating. But because they are graduating doesn’t mean they’re leaving the show. I always say, if you have Lea Michele under contract, you don’t just say, “You know what? We’re gonna let you go.” It just wouldn’t be kind of the smart thing to do.
Entertainment Weekly confirmed that all of the Glee regulars signed a standard seven-year contract with the show. So there deals would be nowhere near done after Season 3, though the studio has the right to drop them after any year.
Falchuk wouldn’t say what year any of the other characters were, except for Jenna Ushkowitz – who was on the panel – whose character, Tina, is a junior. Also on the panel were Darren Criss, Harry Shum, Jr., Dot Marie Jones and the last member of the Glee power troika, co-creator Ian Brennan. Murphy was not in attendance.
But the wait to find out who will be graduating and who will keep singing won’t take too long. Falchuk said all of the characters will have their year in school revealed in the first episode of the new season. The season will be split into first semester and second semester and the first nine episodes will lead into sectionals.
So what about our favorite Lebanese and bi-curious couple, Santana and Brittany? Any Comic-Con scoop on Brittana. Well, first of all Brennan doesn’t like the portmanteau. “Santittany is so much funnier. It, like, won’t catch on. I keep saying this and no one pays attention.”
For the last time. Ian, stop trying to make Santittany happen. It’s not going to happen.
But more importantly, were the producers surprised by the strong fan support and demand for Brittana? Falchuk said:
We started getting into that storyline almost as a goof at first. Like, this funny joke about them sleeping together because they were so close and we thought it’d be funny. And then as we started taking some time with it we realized how, this show is so inclusive and representative, but there was a group of people we weren’t representative of — this whole lesbian and bisexual female community. So we said let’s get into it and see what this is about. Let’s try. We were fortunate the network wasn’t resistant of it and let us try it out. And then it became something much deeper. So we’re very proud of it. We weren’t surprised because we knew there was this group of people out there looking for that.
Brennan did sing the praises of its actresses:
America watched us realize that we had two incredible talents on our hands that we didn’t realize in both Heather Morris and Naya Rivera …. Heather was cast almost as sort of a background dancer. Naya was sort of cast as a pretty face. We realized that Heather is a comic genius. And Naya is as well and has this crazy incredible voice. So that is what is exciting for us. How did we get so lucky to have those two actresses?
You’re right, you are lucky. And don’t you forget it. And don’t forget to keep give them good, real storylines next season. Also, no more uncomfortably sexual songs about cups.
Other tidbits from the panel: Chord Overstreet’s Sam is definitely gone (he opted not to come back for the 10 episodes offered him). Mercedes will have a different boyfriend at the start of the season. Coach Beiste will be back. And they’re “leaning against doing” a New York-based spin-off featuring Lea, Finn, Kurt and/or Blaine.
Oh, and about that Glee: The 3D Concert Movie? They apparently played a 3D preview at Comic-Con with Brittany talking about how good her boobs look in 3D. And then they showed the clip of her performing “Slave 4 U,” which HitFix.com called “what 3D was made for” and “kinda remarkable.” Um, just kinda?
So, happy that Lea, Chris and Cory aren’t leaving after all? Confused about how they’ll stay? Confused about why the Glee producers seem so confused about what’s happening on their own show? Or, is it just what I always say to myself when reading Glee news, “Ryan Murphy is talking? Pass the salt shaker. I’m going to need more than a few grains.”
