Pilot (19 May 2009)

Optimistic high school teacher Will Schuester tries to refuel his own passion while reinventing McKinley High's Glee Club and challenging a group of outcasts to realize their star potential... See full summary »

Director:

Ryan Murphy

Writers:

Ryan Murphy (creator), Brad Falchuk (creator),

Stars:

Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jessalyn Gilsig

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Dianna Agron	...	Quinn Fabray
Chris Colfer	...	Kurt Hummel
Jessalyn Gilsig	...	Terri Schuester
Jane Lynch	...	Sue Sylvester
Jayma Mays	...	Emma Pillsbury
Kevin McHale	...	Artie Abrams
Lea Michele	...	Rachel Berry
Cory Monteith	...	Finn Hudson
Matthew Morrison	...	Will Schuester
Amber Riley	...	Mercedes Jones
Mark Salling	...	Noah 'Puck' Puckerman
Jenna Ushkowitz	...	Tina Cohen-Chang
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Sandy Ryerson
Patrick Gallagher	...	Ken Tanaka
Iqbal Theba	...	Principal Figgins

Storyline

Optimistic high school teacher Will Schuester tries to refuel his own passion while reinventing McKinley High's Glee Club and challenging a group of outcasts to realize their star potential. Going up against McKinley's cruel high school caste system and facing harsh criticism from everyone around him, Will is determined to prove them all wrong.

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Plot Keywords:

geek | towel | embarrassment | gay bashing | gay character | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Musical | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 May 2009 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, Ryan Murphy Productions, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stephen Tobolowsky plays a character named Sandy Ryerson, the same last name as his character in Groundhog Day, Ned Ryerson.

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Goofs

During "Don't Stop Believing," as Finn finishes playing the drums, he stands up and hands the drumsticks to the drummer, but we hear the drum fill continue while there is clearly no-one playing.

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Quotes

Sue Sylvester: [at cheerleading practice] You think this is hard? I'm living with Hepatitis, *that's* hard!

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Connections

References Dr. Phil (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Golliwog's Cakewalk"
(uncredited)
Written by Claude Debussy
Performed by The Swingle Singers

User Reviews

This pilot of "Glee" should be the start of a new entertaining series

I finally watched the pilot episode of "Glee" after all these weeks and I must say, I can't wait for the rest of the season when new episodes come this fall! Michael Morrison arrives at the high school to replace Stephen Tobolowsky (who's the funniest player in this episode) as the new glee club teacher. Jessalyn Gilsig is his ambitious wife and Jayma Mays is a fellow faculty member who believes in Morrison's dream. Jane Lynch is the hard-as-nails (and pretty funny as well) cheerleading coach. And then there's the fine singing leads of Lea Michele as the snobbish-yet-appealing Rachel and Cory Monteith as the jock-who's-also-musically-inclined Finn. Great songs abound like "On My Own" from Les Miz, "You're the One That I Want" from Grease, and "Don't Stop Believin'" which Journey made popular. Sure the characters fit certain types but since this is a series pilot, there's always room for some possible future twist around the corner. And all of the characters, with the exception of the one played by Ms. Gilsig, are likable. So on that note, the "Glee" pilot automatically has made me a fan. Update-9/22/09: Just watched the extended director's cut which has an added complete number of an Amy Winehouse song from a potential rival choral group and a few added scenes like that of the high school coach harassing the Jayma Mays character. That's another character I don't like, even more than that wife I previously mentioned played by Ms. Gilsig. With the season already begun, I'm now gonna play catch up with this series...