1:43PM: “Rachel Berry is similar to how I acted when I was eight years old,” admits star Lea Michelle when asked if she can relate to her GLEE character. “Singing and performing was my passion.”
1:46PM: A reporter — who clearly hasn’t seen the show — asks if GLEE is simply an attempt to cash in on the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL phenomenon. Co-creator Brad Falchuk reveals that he hasn’t seen HSM, but believes the success of the Disney franchise may have created opportunities for a show such as GLEE. Adds executive producer Dante Di Loreto, “I think the world’s a better place if there are more people singing and dancing.”
1:47PM: In response to a GLEE fan’s worst fear, that the show is too smart for a country that finds TWO AND A HALF MEN funny, Falchuk says matter-of-factly, “that would suck!”
1:48PM: Apparently, creative genius/producer Ryan Murphy is absent from the panel because he is in New York shooting a movie with Julia Roberts. Who knew?
1:49PM: Falchuk promises that where Jessica Gilsig’s character’s ‘fake pregnancy’ actually ends will be someplace very interesting, dramatic and real.
1:50PM: Corey Monteith takes a few minutes to explain how challenging it was to learn lines, dances, music, pre-record the music, shoot scenes, heck we’re getting confused just writing about it. Co-star Jenna Ushkowitz equates shooting the show to summer stock theater where you perform at night and rehearse for the new show during the day.
1:52PM: Dante Di Loreto on the show’s budget, “It’s no different than any other first year show on FOX. But instead of blowing up stuff, we’re singing and dancing.”
1:55PM: With apologies to PARTY DOWN, Jane Lynch believes that the role of Sue Sylvester is the role of a lifetime and that “the words that come out of my mouth are some of the best heinous thing I’ve ever said, I couldn’t be happier.”
1:59PM: Chris Colfer on what’s changed since the show’s test balloon premiere, “Our facebook pages have gone crazy!” Check it out for yourself here.
2:02PM: Spoiler Alert! An upcoming episode entitled ‘Wheels’ will revolve around Kevin McHale’s Wheelchair-bound Artie and feature a huge wheelchair musical song and dance number.
2:04PM: Good news for fans (like us!) who can’t stop listening to “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “Rehab.” Courtesy of a deal made with Columbia Records, a first soundtrack will hit shelves in November followed quickly by a second one in December.
2:06PM: The panel side-steps the somewhat ridiculous question with regards to how close in age are the cast to their small screen counterparts. “Chris [Colfer] is the closest,” admits executive producer Ian Brennan, adding, “We just keep them all out of the sun!”
2:07PM: “I was the president of 20 different clubs but had no friends,” explains Colfer, who got the afternoon’s biggest laugh by revealing that, “I was kind of a lone duck in a pond who spent all his time criticizing people around me.” 