The First GLEE Script Was NC-17 With a Drug-Addicted Mr. Schue, and Ryan Murphy Wanted To Cast Justin Timberlake

Producer Ryan Murphy is known for many successful shows, including American Horror Story, American Crime Story, Nip/Tuck, 9-1-1, Feud, and so much more. One of his biggest hits was the high school musical drama Glee, which ran for six seasons from 2009-2015. It was funny, had a great dramatic storyline, included an incredibly talented cast, and it featured really great music in every episode. But it wasn’t always the upbeat comedic drama we ended up with.

Murphy recently guested on the first episode of the And That’s What You REALLY Missed podcast, hosted by Glee cast members Kevin McHale (Artie Abrams) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), and he spoke about trying to crack an idea for a musical show shortly after signing a first look deal with Fox.

“We were having these conversations and I was trying to figure it out,” Murphy said (via Insider).

“Like serendipity, I went to the gym and I was in a towel and a guy went up and handed me a script and he said, ‘I had a feeling you were in show choir, am I right?’ And I was like ‘Yeah.’ And he said, ‘My friend wrote this script and you should read it.'”

Murphy agreed and thought the script had the perfect musical idea for a show, but it was just a bit too dark for network television.

“Mr. Schue, I believe, was a crystal meth addict in Ian’s script. The NC-17 version of show choir with a weird protagonist who was unraveling…I just need something optimistic.”

Murphy worked with Brennan to overhaul the pilot script and turn it into the show “Glee” fans know today. The co-creator also let it slip on the podcast that Justin Timberlake was the original casting choice for Mr. Shue, played across the series by Matthew Morrison.

“When we were writing the pilot, I’ve never really talked about this, that pilot was written for Justin Timberlake. Mr Schue was written for Justin.”

The next half of the chat will air on the second episode of And That’s What You REALLY Missed. I loved that show, especially the first few seasons, and I think Murphy is a master at crafting good TV. It’s so cool that he was able to take that first idea and mold it into the series we ended up with. I love Matthew Morrison in that role as well, but Justin Timberlake would have been awesome too. What do you think?

via: Variety