Pilot 

High school teacher Will Schuester tries to reinvent McKinley High School's Glee Club.

Director:

Ryan Murphy

Writers:

Ryan Murphy (created by), Brad Falchuk (created by)

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

shower | towel | punishment | embarrassment | gay bashing | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Musical

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 May 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, 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

The scene where Rachel reprimands Finn for deciding to quit Glee because his friends tease him originally ended with her slapping him. In her audition, Lea Michele reached across the table without any hesitation and slapped one of the casting directors, who was reading Finn for her. When the other casting directors erupted with laughter, Michele sternly told them "This isn't comedy - that was my sad face! Now, I'm going to do it again and you're all going to cry."

---

Goofs

When other students sign their names to the Glee Club sign-up sheet, we see Artie's name has been written as "Arty".

---

Quotes

Tina Cohen-Chang: We're da-da-doomed

---

Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Episode #8.95 (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Time for Some Girl Talk
(uncredited)
Composed by James S. Levine

User Reviews

A worthy effort to give "New Directions" to High School depiction (21st century)

This is a cleverly written and well-cast show that seems to exist in a kind of "private school"/money-is-no-object kind of universe. The High Schoolers and the Faculty / Administration live in Midwestern USA but have a kind of search for meaning that takes a long, long time to realize. The high school seems to be underpopulated with hall monitors and deans/assistant principals who will enforce rules and nab the offenders who are hazing other students mercilessly. The pilot gave a kind of funny behind-the-scenes look into how teachers in the late 2000s remain under-paid and co-opted as far as how they do work to make the teens people who are seeking to succeed in "the real world". I really enjoyed the off-beat choices as far as the Glee Club / Swing Choir rock and R/B covered music. Kudos to writers and director!