"Glee" to Kick Off Premiere Season Sept. 16

By Andrew Gans
and Kenneth Jones
16 Jun 2009

Lea Michele in "Glee"
Lea Michele in "Glee"
Photo by FOX-TV

"Glee," the new FOX-TV musical series about a high school glee club, starring Matthew Morrison as an eager teacher, will make its official season premiere Sept. 16.

Variety reports that the series will debut at 9 PM ET following the fall edition of "So You Think You Can Dance" (at 8 PM).

"Glee," which also features Kristin Chenoweth, Victor Garber, Debra Monk, Lea Michele and more, was introduced in an hour-long "preview event" — the pilot episode — May 19.

According to FOX notes, "'Glee' is an uplifting series with biting humor that features a soundtrack of hit music from past to present. The show follows an optimistic high school teacher, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), as he tries to refuel his own passion while reinventing the high school's glee club and challenging a group of outcasts to realize their star potential. It's not an easy task when the pitch-imperfect club includes Mercedes (Amber Riley), a forceful diva-in-training; Arty (Kevin McHale), a geeky guitarist; Kurt (Chris Colfer), a dramatic soprano; Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz), a punk rocker; and self-proclaimed 'star' Rachel (Lea Michele), a perfectionist firecracker.

"McKinley's cruel high school caste system prevents the glee club from flourishing, so Will recruits Finn (Cory Monteith), the quarterback with movie star looks, to join the group even though he wants to protect his reputation with his holier-than-thou girlfriend, Quinn (Dianna Agron), and his arrogant teammate, Puck (Mark Salling). With harsh criticism from everyone, including Will's tough-as-nails wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig) and McKinley's egotistical cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), he is determined to prove them all wrong and lead the glee club to the greatest competition of them all: Nationals."

Glee will feature a soundtrack of hit songs from past and present. It's produced by Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television.

Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan are co-creators of the series. Murphy, Falchuk and Dante Di Loreto serve as executive producers, while Ian Brennan and John Kousakis serve as co-executive producers. Murphy directed the pilot.