Glee/Trivia
< Glee
- Actor Allusion:
- When Victor Garber takes a break from his usually cool, hard-hitting persona to play Will's dad, he expresses his regret at never going to law school and at the end of the episode decides to apply. This is a Shout Out to Victor Garber's portrayals of lawyers in many movies and TV shows (Legally Blonde, Eli Stone, etc...)
- Victor Garber is also known for his work in Broadway musicals (e.g., Assassins), thus his appearance in a show all about music and musicals is another lampshade hanging in an already overly-meta show.
- Rachel auditions for Glee by singing the song "On My Own" from Les Miserables (the musical). Lea Michele, the actress who plays Rachel, made her Broadway debut as Young Cosette in the Broadway cast of the same musical and more recently played Eponine in the Hollywood Bowl concert. For those not in the know, grown Eponine sings "On My Own". Young Cosette/Young Eponine (nonspeaking) rotate nights in most productions, so she would have played both roles.
- In the pilot episode, when Sandy sees Will at the linen store, his reaction is identical to that of Ned Ryerson every time he sees Phil in the street. Sandy's last name is Ryerson too (though Word of God says that the name "Sandy Ryerson" was scripted before the actor was cast).
- In the second episode, when Terri flicks the kitchen lighter with a very smug attitude (as opposed to her needy, slightly hysterical character) it could be an allusion to Jessalyn Gilsig's role in Heroes as Meredith Gordon, the smug and self-confident woman with the power to control fire and create a small flame from her hand.
- The online recap of "The Rhodes Not Taken," the episode in which Kristin Chenoweth guest-starred, shows Kristin's character hitting one of Chenoweth's famous "Cheno Notes." The narrator Finn comments with admiration, "Wicked." Rhodes also mentions her dream of making it to Broadway. In her second appearance, Kristin says that she's going to create the first all-white rendition of "The Wiz", and she sings the solo for "Home" from the same musical.
- Also, Will and Terri are in a tiny Pie Shop when he thinks of Chenoweth's character.
- Terri's sister asks if her baby will be black, a reference to Jessalyn Gilsig's character (Gina Russo) in Nip Tuck.
- Rachel claims that nudity is one of the few things she won't do to break into the business, which is ironic considering Lea Michele's other famous role involved some nudity on-stage 8 times a week.
- In Sectionals, Mercedes sings a song from Dreamgirls; Amber Riley auditioned for Dreamgirls.
- In episode 4, Kurt performs Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" in his basement along with Tina and Brittany (Played by Heather Morris). This was a Shout Out to Heather Morris' role as one of Beyoncé's backup dancers in Single Ladies. Heather Morris actually started out in Glee as only being there to teach them that dance, and then later got the role as Brittany when it turned out they still needed a third cheerleader.
- Bryan Ryan's vocal exercises as he enters the theater sound horribly familiar.
- In Episode 21, "Funk," it is revealed that Rachel is a vegan after the members of Vocal Adrenaline egg her in the parking lot. Lea Michele is a vegan in real life who has appeared in ads for PETA.
- In "Home" April sings part of "A House is not a Home". Kristin Chenoweth sings the song in the revival of Promises Promises.
- Kurt singing "Defying Gravity" is a reference to Chris Colfer's having been denied the opportunity to perform it earlier in life.
- Though unintentional, this isn't the first time Dianna Agron has played a bitchy head cheerleader.
- Will forbids the club from doing Britney Spears songs, in reference to how Matthew Morrison himself was opposed to doing a Britney Spears episode.
- The show regularly lampshades Finn's lack of dancing ability, in reference to Cory Monteith's notoriously bad dancing.
- Borders on Adam Westing, with Barry Bostwick and Meat Loaf playing conservative strawmen who want Sue to protest the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
- Magenta was played by an actress named Patricia Quinn in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Quinn Fabray plays Magenta in the Rocky Horror Glee Show.
- In Never Been Kissed, Blaine, played by Darren Criss, the lead actor and songwriter for A Very Potter Musical, tells Karofsky that he's "Not Alone," the title of a recurring track from the musical.
- In "A Very Glee Christmas", Mike wishes for Channing Tatum to stop being in stuff. Tatum starred in the first Step Up. Harry Shum Jr., who plays Mike, had a role in Step Up 2 and Step Up 3D.
- In the "When I Get You Alone" number, Blaine tries on some pink sunglasses in a store.
- In Silly Love Songs, Blaine tells Kurt about his plan to sing a song to someone on Valentine's Day, leading Kurt to believe that the song is for him, only to later find out it's for someone else. This isn't the first time a character played by Darren Criss has done something like this.
- In the episode Sexy, Holly Holliday makes a comment about not liking shows about doctors, in front of Stamos's character.
- New Directions does a song from Hairspray in "The Purple Piano Project". Matthew Morrison was the original Link Larkin on Broadway. If you notice, when he hears Rachel's opening notes, he smiles knowingly.
- "I Am Unicorn" is full of it:
- Burt telling Kurt that, if he can't find any good roles for a kid like him, to "write them yourself". Chris Colfer just wrapped Struck By Lightning, which he also wrote.
- The choreography for "I'm the Greatest Star" has Kurt climbing all over scaffolding, hanging from it upside down, and spinning ninjitsu knives. All of which Chris is well known for liking and doing in real life.
- Adored By the Network: Being the biggest hit Fox has had since American Idol, it was renewed for a third season only halfway through the first.
- Artistic License Geography: While the writers have clearly done some research on Ohio locales (such as Rachel mentioning EJ Thomas Hall in Akron), there are smaller details they get wrong that an Ohio native can point out. Some are the result of So Calization, while others are just plain Did Not Do the Research:
- Outside the larger cities and their suburbs, the smaller cities like Lima don't have particularly large Asian or Jewish populations.
- Lima does, however, have a significant Black population, at least moreso than we've seen on the show.
- There's no such place as "Lima Heights Adjacent" that Santana keeps saying she's from (worse is the implication that the place is a ghetto, even though her dad is a doctor).
- Westerville, the location of Dalton Academy, is a suburb of Columbus and almost 2 hours from Lima. Kurt commuting when he attended Dalton and dating Blaine at leisure must take a hell of a lot of gas.
- Ohio's age of consent law is 16. It technically wasn't illegal for Jeremiah, Blaine's previous crush, to date him and be intimate. It's not unreasonable for an adult to be uncomfortable having that sort of relationship with an impressionable teenager, but saying he'd go to jail over it was right out.
- Blaine would have to move to Chicago for the summer if he wants to perform at Six Flags, since that's the one closest to Ohio (the one in Ohio closed in 2007[1]). His better bets would be Cedar Point in Sandusky, or going back to King's Island in Cincinnati.
- The students at McKinley are often seen lounging outside before class during times of the year when it would be way too cold to do so (from late October to mid-April, if you're lucky). In fact, most Ohio high schools don't have much in the way of outdoor accommodations at all for that reason.
- Akron, Vocal Adrenaline's home base, is 3 hours from Lima, making it extremely unlikely that the kids from one town can travel to the other at leisure. And since it's a Rust Belt city, it's also unlikely for Carmel High to have such an outregeous budget for its glee club.
- Celebrity Paradox: If Finn and Quinn are discussing Gwyneth Paltrow naming her daughter "Apple", why don't they realise substitute teacher Holly Holliday looks a lot like her?
- What about Kurt and Rachel's obsessions with Wicked? Don't they notice that April and Shelby look like Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel?
- Continuity Nod:
- Remember Becky Jackson, the cheerleader with Down's Syndrome in episode nine? She's still on the squad six episodes later. In the Season 2 premiere, she's helping Sue with Cheerios auditions, giving her own snarky commentary.
- Sue's sister from the same episode also returns for the back nine.
- The entire "My Life Would Suck Without You" routine in Episode 13 is a continuity nod to the choreography of many past numbers.
- The waitress at the gourmet restaurant (Breadsticks) who Brittany and Santana were rude to in "Hell-O" was the same one who spelled it out to Sue that Will had stood her up in "Funk"
- The Hummels and Hudsons eat at this restaurant in "Home" and we see a sign advertising the store in the Mall on Artie and Tina's date in "Dream On".
- The female Vocal Adrenaline singer, Andrea Cohen, who sang the "With Ray!" solo during their performance of "Rehab" all the way back in the Pilot and was identified by Rachel in "Acafellas" (1x3) when the Glee kids visit Carmel High, reappears toward the end of the season in "Funk." She's also there when they perform at Regionals.
- Finn discovers Sam's awesome voice while he's in the shower singing 80's power ballads . . . the same way Will discovered Finn's voice in the pilot.
- "Britney/Brittany" had a subtle (and hilarious) one - Kurt's facial expression upon discovering that Brittany doesn't brush her teeth, harking back to "Laryngitis".
- Rachel compares her Britney Spears inspired wardrobe change to her Grease-inspired one in "Britney/Brittany".
- Promos for the Superbowl Episode have Sue wearing the fur-lined tracksuit that Kurt recommended Will buy for her in A Very Glee Christmas.
- When the priest at Burt and Carol's wedding skips the customary prayer, a reference to Brittany's line from "Grilled Cheesus": 'Whenever I pray, I fall asleep.'
- When Will suggests a solution for Bieste's problem with disunity on the football team Bieste says "you're going to kiss me again" a nod to "Never Been Kissed"
- In Season 1 Episode 2 Sue tells Will 'I don't think you will find anyone else to swim over to your Isle of Misfit Toys.' Guess what song is sung in A Very Glee Christmas.
- In "Brittney/Brittany", Brittany mentions singing a Ke$ha song. She finally does in "Blame It On the Alcohol".
- When Blaine is trying to cheer up Kurt after losing regionals he tells them there are "plenty of GAPs in Ohio."
- At the end of "The Rhodes Not Taken", April plans on making an all-white production of The Wiz. In "Rumours" she mentions that it ended up being a disaster.
- The pompoms that Kurt and Finn come across in "Funeral" made their first appearance way back in "Wheels".
- Puck and math class:
 |
Season 1, episode 6: |
 |
- Dawson Casting: All of the kids' actors are well in their 20's, with Cory Monteith (Finn), Mark Salling (puck), and Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike) being the oldest and only a couple years younger than their teacher. The closest exceptions are Chris Colfer (Kurt), Charice (Sunshine), and Damian McGinty (Rory), who were all in their late teens when their characters debuted.
- Did Not Do the Research:
- Artie has the wrong type of wheelchair for a young man with his disability, and is portrayed as being unable to do things that a real disabled person would have learned to deal with every day. His wheelchair should not have armrests or handles that allow him to be pushed around, and he should be able to get himself in out and out of his chair and up steep ramps by himself. In fact, he probably would have even figured some maneuver to get himself up steps. Most of all, he should not be struggling with two pound weights in the gym.
- In the first season most of the characters pronounced "Lima", the place where the characters live, incorrectly. This has been fixed in Season 2, though it now makes for a pretty big inconsistency.
- During "Extraordinary Merry Christmas," the kids cut away to a commercial break while filming their holiday special at their city's PBS affiliate. PBS does not show commercials.
- Directed By Cast Member: Matthew Morrison directed "Extraordinary Merry Christmas"
- Fandom Nod:
- Finn's mom and Kurt's dad getting together.
- A lot of fans were disappointed that that the assigned Puck/Mercedes duet in Episode 10 never happened. So in Episode 18, they not only let them sing together but had them date as well.
- Shelby Corcoran as Rachel's biological mother. Nicely they kept us off the trail by making her the rival coach and head faking toward another Love Interest.
- Subverted in that a lot of people wanted an Odd Friendship to develop between Quinn and Rachel, especially for the homeless Quinn to move in with her. Such friendship and moving in did occur with Quinn-just with Mercedes.
- In Bad Reputation, Rachel told Puck that most of the school referred to them as "Puckleberry" while they were dating.
- Pretty much the entire opening sequence of the second season premiere is a nod to the biggest complaints of the show. And it's awesome.
- Various characters in Duet calling Kurt out on his previous behavior in Season 1. It's like the writers read the Just Bugs Me page.
- Furt gives us Finn mentioning "Puckleberry," "Finchel," and "Furt."
- "Silly Love Songs" gives a nod to a different fandom during the Warblers' rendition of "When I Get You Alone". At one point, Blaine and two other singers grab sunglasses from the Gap's sunglass rack; the glasses that Blaine wears are Darren Criss's iconic pink sunglasses.
- "Rumours" has the club rattle off all of the fandom names for the official couples - and create two new ones. Pizes (Puck/Lauren) and Tina Cohen-Chang Chang (Tina/Mike). The actors themselves are in on it as Mark Salling gave Puck/Artie a name (Partie). Someone is reading these pages.
- "The Spanish Teacher" acknowledges a common fan complaint that on the rare occasion we hear Will speak Spanish, his accent is appalling considering he's teaching it in a high school.
- Hey Its That Guy:
- The deaf choir director is the Operative's first on-screen victim in Serenity
- "Wheels" has Vork making a brief appearance.
- Harry Freakin' Potter is Kurt's new friend from Dalton Academy.
- Wendla is the overpowering student "leader" of the Glee Club.
- The bohemian performance artist and misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West is the director of Vocal Adrenaline and Rachel's mom.
- The perky blonde Good Witch is the perky blonde high school dropout and Will's short-lived romantic fling.
- Will divorced with Meredith and now he's gonna be with Charlie.
- Emma's new beau is Uncle Jesse.
- Rory, the Season 3 Irish Exchange Student, is played by the Boy Wonder from Celtic Thunder.
- Hmm. That nun judge resembled a certain high school music teacher...
- Ivy is one of Quinn's "skank" crowd in Season 3.
- Chewbacca in Artie's daydream was played by Peter Mayhew, the original Chewbacca.
- Hey, what is Melchi Gabor doing in Ohio singing ACDC?
- Zach Nichols is one of Rachel's dads.
- Cam Winston plays her other dad.
- Blaine's brother is Neal Caffrey. Let's hope none of the New Directions are missing their wallets.
- He's also Bryce Larkin... Let's hope none of the New Directions wake up with all the US government's secrets in their heads.
- If you have a really good memory for faces, you probably recognize Sugar as Vange from the second generation Midnight Society.
- Or just as Roxanne from American Dreams
- Hey Its That Voice - The Japanese dub has LOTS of voice actors who are famous for being good singers in many anime series:
- Will Schuester is Kyosuke Nanbu and Tekkaman Blade
- Emma Pillsbury is Kikyo and Akane Tendo.
- Finn Hudson is Itsuki Koizumi.
- Rachel Berry is Hitomi Kanzaki.
- Quinn Fabray is Fate Testarossa, Utau Hoshina and Hinata Hyuga.
- Sam Evans is Sora, Saji Crossroad, young Kiritsugu, and Jinta.
- Terri Schuester is Mylene Jenius.
- Shelby Corcoran is Sumire Kanou, Risty and Marida Cruz.
- Bryan Ryan is Ali Al-Saachez and Hiroshi Nohara.
- Jesse St. James is Goh Saruwatari and Phoenix Wright/Ryuichi Naruhodo
- The Principal Figgins is Bernand Monsha
- And in a non-Japanese instance, Becky's Inner Monologue is voiced by Dame Helen Mirren.
- Rachel and Quinn used to be real-life roommates.
- The list turns out to be even longer. Lea Michele has lived with Dianna Agron, Jonathon Groff, Naya Rivera, Heather Morris, Chris Colfer and Jenna Ushkowitz.
- Lying Creator:
- After Idina Menzel was cast, Ryan Murphy insisted she would not turn out to be Rachel's mother. Pretty much no one bought it.
- Ryan Murphy also said that Finn and Rachel would stay together in Season 2. "Special Education" pretty much did away with that.
- When he accepted a GLAAD award on behalf of the show, RM promised the gay audience that Kurt would never be the victim. Cut to season 2, in which anti-gay bullying becomes a huge plotline. Of course, that was before the rash of well-publicized suicides due to bullying. Even those gay advocates who completely supported RM's initial standpoint agree that the way schools deal with homophobic bullying needed to be addressed, and that Glee did it perfectly.
- YMMV on that "perfect" part.
- The entire "who is going to be Kurt's boyfriend" debate is a perfect example of this trope. From implying it'll be Sam to saying "Chord is definitely not the boyfriend" to "BLAINEBLAINEBLAINELOOKATBLAINEVERYONE" to "We haven't decided yet" (with the latter two included in the same interview, no less), well, somewhere in there there's several lies, though it remains to be seen which statements are lies and which are truth.
- As of Original Songs, Kurt and Blaine are together.
- Names the Same: It's probably not the same McKinley as the one in the Final Destination series... though Cory Monteith did have a bit part in Final Destination 3.
- Older Than They Think: In 2003, there was a movie named Camp about a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits performing their own elaborately produced renditions of famous songs. The lead character was the Big Man On Campus who not only had to make a Betty and Veronica decision between the Genki Girl and the Alpha Bitch, but was also perused by a Dogged Nice Guy Camp Gay who had trouble taking "no" for an answer. Camp also took on the darker aspects of kids seeking refuge in the performing arts with little chance of a stable future and had definite shades of Earn Your Happy Ending. Camp not only featured a Cast Full of Gay, and spoke frankly about middle-schoolers having sex, but managed to avert Hollywood Homely and Dawson Casting by using real (mostly amateur) theater teens. Glee still faces heavy scrutiny from Media Watchdogs for having one Camp Gay character and a bunch of 20-something actors discuss sexual themes while playing high schoolers. It's funny to think how the mega-hit TV show struggles with some issues when a tiny, independent film managed to take them on six years earlier.
- Reality Subtext: Blaine sings the praises of Ohio State's football team. In real life, Darren Criss graduated from the University of Michigan. The rivalry between OSU and Michigan is on the order of the Yankees/Red Sox feud.
- Scandalgate: The debacle of Chord quitting and/or being fired (the fandom has never received a straight answer) from the show after his option as a series regular was not picked up is commonly referred to as "Chordgate".
- Serious Business: Among the fandom, shipping is serious business. For example, within hours of "Never Been Kissed" being aired, there was already Fan Fiction, Youtube videos, photo collages, and arguments over the Portmanteau Couple Name for Kurt and Karofsky, plus Ship to Ship Combat with supporters of Kurt/Blaine.
- Stealth Pun: Dave Karofksy dresses as a gorilla in "Heart". What other gorilla has the initials D.K.?
- What Do You Mean Its Not for Kids: The way so many "family values" groups reacted to the "Push It" number and the negative portrayal of the celibacy club in Episode 2 is a bit more understandable when you realize that a lot of parents of younger children were under the mistaken impression that Glee was High School Musical: The TV Series. (Which had nothing to do with the marketing of the show, but everything to do with the surface similarities - musical comedies set in high schools! - and general public ignorance about musical theatre not always being a "family friendly" medium.)
- If the Parents Television Council's uproar about the GQ cover and the more recent one lambasting Lea Michele's choice to appear in a low-cut photo on Cosmo are anything to go by, people are still not getting it. This was even unintentionally lampshaded by the people in the latter case, who said "Lea Michele may be an adult, but to pretend that she doesn't know her fans are 11 is just ignorance." Why should an actress on a show that has had subplots about teen pregnancy and when to lose your virginity, jokes about oral sex, a former teacher turning to drug dealing, and students taking uppers to do better in competitions be expected to cater to 11-year-olds?
- It doesn't help that Claire's, a store famous for cheap jewlery aimed at pre-teens, now sells a small ammount of Glee merchandise. Including make up sets for Rachel and Quinn, Team Finn and Team Puck necklaces, bracelets, and even knee socks.
- What Could Have Been:
- Glee was at first conceived as a movie by Ian Brennan, he wrote the script in 2005 but it never got anywhere, in 2008 the script fell into Ryan Murphy's hands and he and Brad Falchuk (who worked with Ryan on Nip/Tuck) decided the concept would be better as a tv series
- Originally the creators where going to include a character named Rajesh. However, Chris Colfer made such an impression at his audition (for Artie) that the character of Kurt was written specifically for him.
- The producers originally wanted a black girl in the Britanny role (who was then only ever intended to be a background character) but Heather Morris was given the part after teaching Chris and Jenna the Single Ladies dance.
- The Don't You Want Me duet between Blaine and Rachel shows what a lot of duets would have been like if Darren Criss was cast as Finn, the part he originally auditioned for.
- Aaron Tveit also auditioned for the part of Finn. Some of the more Broadway-obsessed portions of the fandom wish he had gotten the part.
- Max Adler also auditioned for one of the male leads, and after hearing him sing and seeing him act one wonders why he wasn't cast as one.
- Sam was originally intended to be the Kurt's romantic interest, but at the last minute the writers decided Chord's chemistry with Dianna Agron meant he would be better as Quinn's boyfriend. At the end of season 2 he and Mercedes had a Relationship Reveal that was supposed to continue on into the next season, but unfortunately Chord declined to come back after his option as a series regular wasn't picked up.
- It was relaunched though
- Telly Leung (Wes' actor) originally auditioned for Blaine.
- Samuel Larsen of The Glee Project (and eventual winner) auditioned for Sam.
- Naya Rivera (Santana) had originally auditioned for the part of Mercedes
- ↑ And even that was four years after the Six Flags brand pulled out and the park went back to its original name of Geauga Lake