Ryan Murphy is cooking up another TV project but it's nothing like his dark medical drama creation Nip/Tuck.  This time, he'll be turning his focus into comedy as he directs the pilot called Glee.  Fox has already ordered the 13-episode one-hour series, hoping to have the program on the air in time for spring.

Glee follows an optimistic high school teacher, played by Matthew Morrison (Music and Lyrics) as he attempts to transform the school's Glee Club and inspire a group of ragtag performers to make it to the biggest competition of them all. But it won't be an easy task thanks to a “series of scandals” that caused the downfall of the singing group, and the reservations of his wife, portrayed by Jessalyn Gilsig (Heroes, Nip/Tuck), who thinks he's taking on an impossible task.

Aside from the aforementioned stars, the cast of Glee also includes Jayma Mays (Ugly Betty), who appears as a fellow teacher, and Jane Lynch (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Best in Show) as the school's cheerleading coach. As for the those playing students and choir members, the show has enlisted Lea Michele (Spring Awakening), Kevin McHale (Zoey 101, True Blood), Cory Monteith (Kyle XY), Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz, Dianna Agron (Heroes) and Mark Salling.

In addition to Murphy, the pilot was also written by Ian Brennan and fellow Nip/Tuck scribe Brad Falchuk.  Murphy and Falchuk serve executive producers, while Brennan will be a co-exec producer.

FOX has already ordered additional scripts for the show along with its pilot, so Glee should be able to go into production pretty quickly.

In the meantime, FX has already set the return date of Murphy's other series, Nip/Tuck.  The show is set to resume its fifth season beginning on Tuesday, January 6 at 10pm.  Subsequently, the second season of Damages is scheduled to kick off on Wednesday, January 7 at 10pm.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: FOX
(Image courtesy of Wire Image)