the progression of glee

ryan murphy

*this was originally published in early 2020 and then unpublished in 2021*

let's dive in shall we?

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Ryan Murphy's treatment of the actors
I think it's safe to say we all know how incredibly talented every single glee cast member is, especially the OGs BUT you wouldn't always know based on how they were treated/used on the show - especially if they weren't Lea Michele.

Let's start with Jenna Ushkowitz. Jenna is immensely talented. She grew up on Broadway. However, they hardly used her talent on glee with Tina, and when they did, it was usually to make a joke or in a mocking way. Not to mention all of the Asian jokes that Jenna (and Harry) got sick of - Tina finally got a competition solo and it's Gangnam style?? They left her name off the credits of the Pilot originally and she thought she was being fired. All the stuff they did to Jenna on the glee tour was horrible. They cut her from the poster, they took her song out after they promised her it would be in it even though she had already told her family about it and she invited them to the premiere - no one told Jenna it was cut, she found out with everyone else. They made Tina into a horrible character from s4 on - they made her creepily obsessed with Blaine (the vaporape storyline), they made her self-centered and I personally didn't like how they treated her in The Quarterback episode. They made Tina make a statement about how she can't wear black much longer because it was like the old her and in my opinion, they shouldn't have had that "comic relief" (if that's what it was) in an episode that not only memorialized Finn but also Cory.

Chris Colfer was straight up BULLIED on the set of glee by Ryan Murphy, who was a grown ass man who knew better. Many people think the season 6 Santana rant to Kurt is funny, but Naya said she was so uncomfortable doing it because Chris was so upset since it was a personal attack on Chris (not Kurt) from the writers. Ryan also took credit for "discovering" Chris and making him so famous. They also treated Chris like he was just the gay best friend and not his own person / Kurt being his own character - at least not to the extent Blaine and Rachel were their own characters. When Darren joined the cast, they reduced Chris' strong character to someone who needed someone else. I'm honestly surprised they let Chris write an episode of glee (where he lowkey exposed Lea, I mean Rachel, for being a diva).

Dianna Agron was mistreated on set too. Ryan Murphy once said he hated Dianna because she humanized Quinn and Quinn was never supposed to become good/change - she was supposed to remain an antagonist throughout. Another thing he did which still really pisses me off is he didn't allow Dianna to come back for The Quarterback episode. Everyone was invited back to be there together to grieve Cory and celebrate his life, but Dianna is the only OG who wasn't (Heather couldn't come because she was so pregnant and afraid of getting too emotional and going into early labor). Dianna and Cory were super close in real life - not to mention how close Quinn and Finn and their storylines were - and Dianna deserved to be a part of that episode. Ryan said he didn't know why Dianna didn't come (which means he didn't ask her) and Dianna had said if she had been asked, she would've made sure to be there.

Cory Monteith always seemed to be one of Ryan's favorites (and a huge fan favorite). It's not a secret that Cory had a long battle with addiction, which Ryan (and many others knew about), yet they didn't think twice to write in Finn's dad dying of a drug overdose and not in the Army - like Finn had always been told. Not only was this storyline unnecessary to add in, it must have been triggering to Cory. There are rumors that Cory wanted to leave the show / have a smaller role after season 3 because it was becoming too much for him. He obviously stayed but left the show to attend rehab in April 2013. Ryan hasn't been shy about taking credit for Cory's decision to go to rehab and has said he's the one who sat Cory down and told him he had to go get help (promising to save his job for when he was better).

Naya Rivera detailed one glee incident in particular in her memoir (Sorry Not Sorry) when Lea was being difficult and Naya asked the producer if they were going to do something about it so they could film. Lea had locked herself in her trailer near the end of season 5 because she was mad about Chris' episode / that Chris got to write an episode. Instead of them realizing Naya was right, Naya was yelled at and written out of the season 5 finale episode, proving the double standards and toxicity of the behavior Ryan created and accepted on his set (we now know that wasn't the first or last time Lea was difficult and immature and unprofessional on set).

Blaming his actors for a failed spin-off
After season three, there was talk of a New York spin-off featuring Cory, Lea, and Chris. Ryan said he had discussions with Chris and Lea (but not Cory) for months about the spinoff and said Chris knew his character was graduating and leaving. Chris tweeted "it wasn't my choice to leave glee but I respect it and understand why it has to happen" referring to Kurt graduating and leaving McKinley, not knowing he was supposed to be in the spin-off because he was never actually told. Later on, Ryan said he had spoken to Lea, Chris, and Cory - which contradicted his statements to the Hollywood Reporter when he said he never talked to Cory. After these announcements about the spin-offs and actors leaving came out, Brad Falchuk said at the San Diego Comic Con that Finn, Rachel, and Kurt will be graduating but it doesn't mean they're leaving glee (which contradicts Ryan's statements). Then Ryan gave another interview and said the spin-off was in the early stages but because of all of the commotion in the press and Chris' statements on Twitter, the spin-off was now canceled.

Glee reboot
In 2020, Ryan teased fans with the idea of a glee reboot (which I was personally against because I didn't want a world without Finn Hudson or Noah Puckerman, and also now Santana Lopez, and I didn't want other actors playing the characters we loved so much - especially when the show hasn't been off the air that long). Anyway, Ryan said he already spoke to everyone in the cast and they were all on board, which was definitely not true, and the only cast member comment I remember seeing was Lea's (I think John Stamos and some of the other guest stars might have commented also and I believe Grant Gustin commented). Ryan was so ready to start all over again from the pilot and redo it with different actors - though part of what makes glee so special is that most of them were kind of unknown in the beginning and much like their characters, they came up together. Luckily, after Lea's behavior on set was exposed, Ryan deleted the posts like nothing ever happened

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Kevin and Jenna have said numerous times that season one was really everyone (cast and crew and writers) getting to know each other, and season 2 is when they started to blur the lines of characters/actors.

So I have a theory that Ryan ruins the characters so we don't give the actors the recognition they deserve. Because he knows a lot of people can't separate the characters from the actors (a lot of people's favorite glee actors are the ones who play their favorite characters - not all but a lot)

For example, Tina. They made her so different and unlikable in the later seasons and a lot of people didn't recognize Jenna's talent or like her the way they liked other cast members because of it

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Feel free to comment your opinions and thoughts or rant in the comments