PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: PALEYFEST 2015: GLEE {PUBLIC SHORT VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Paley Center for Media's 32nd William S. Paley Television Festival in Los Angeles. Held this year at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, the festival celebrates the excellence and diversity of American television and is dedicated to television's creative community. This PALEYFEST 2015 seminar honors "Glee," the satirical comedy musical series about a high school glee club in Lima, Ohio.
Tim Stack (senior writer, Entertainment Weekly) moderates the following panelists: cast members Chord Overstreet (Sam Evans), Darren Criss (Blaine Anderson), Dot-Marie Jones (Shannon/Sheldon Beiste), Heather Morris (Brittany S. Pierce), Mark Salling (Noah Puckerman), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry) and Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester).
The panelists touch on such topics as: the series' penultimate episode "2009," which featured a flashback to the events of the pilot; Criss' last-minute cameo in the episode, the reveal that enemies Sue and Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) were once friends and Michele and Colfer's duet on "Popular" from "Wicked"; their reactions to the completion of filming two weeks previously, with Michele's as the most emotional; memories of the first year, including Riley's lack of familiarity with television production and Salling's lie about his real age; their "mall tour" and the extremely strong fan reaction to the pilot, which aired in May 2009, followed by the rest of the season in September; a whirlwind weekend in which the cast performed for the Obama family and Oprah Winfrey and at the World Series; Lynch's memories of her challenging "Vogue" choreography in the season one Madonna tribute episode; the development of Brittany's unusual "wisdom" and Morris' experience performing with Britney Spears; Criss' praise for producer and series finale director Bradley Buecker; Overstreet's views on the many jokes about his character's noteworthy facial feature; Jones' "ecstatic" reaction to joining the show in season two and working with Lynch; their many memorable guest stars, including Kristin Chenoweth, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson and Carol Burnett; Colfer's "gratifying" work with Mike O'Malley, who portrayed Kurt's compassionate father Burt; the wildly popular Kurt/Blaine ("Klaine") relationship and Criss' views on the strong fan response, largely based in social media; the "overwhelmingly amazing" reaction to Beiste's gender transition storyline in the final season; Rachel's Broadway role as Fanny Brice and Michele's love of "Funny Girl"; Colfer's writing of the fifth season episode "Old Dog, New Tricks"; Criss' penning of several songs, including "This Time," which served as Michele's final solo number; Criss and Overstreet's unusual choice of souvenirs stolen from the set; shooting the final scene and sharing memories together in the auditorium set; and Colfer's memories of "accidental fun" with Cory Monteith, who portrayed lead character Finn Hudson until his sudden death in 2013.
Questions from the audience and from Twitter and the PaleyFest app then lead to a discussion of the following topics, among others: Riley and Jones' views on the importance of their characters' messages about tolerance and personal acceptance; Michele's role on the upcoming series "Scream Queens," also created by Ryan Murphy; Criss' upcoming leading role on Broadway in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"; his excessive use of hair gel for the role of Blaine; their most challenging musical performances, including Colfer's memories of "almost dying" while filming "Don't Speak" with Criss for a season four episode; ideas about Kurt and Blaine's future children; their favorite lines, including Lynch's favorite of Sue's many witty barbs; and Michele's love of Journey's "Faithfully," performed in the season one finale.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 1999 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:02:22
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 121568
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: Asian American Pacific Islanders Collection
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Tim Stack … Moderator
- Chord Overstreet … Panelist
- Darren Criss … Panelist
- Dot-Marie Jones … Panelist
- Heather Morris … Panelist
- Mark Salling … Panelist
- Amber Riley … Panelist
- Chris Colfer … Panelist
- Lea Michele … Panelist
- Jane Lynch … Panelist
- Bradley Buecker
- Carol Burnett
- Kristin Chenoweth
- Kate Hudson
- Journey
- Madonna
- Cory Monteith
- Matthew Morrison
- Ryan Murphy
- Mike O'Malley
- Gwyneth Paltrow
- Britney Spears
- Oprah Winfrey