Back when Murphy teased the news, he suggested that he had spoken to “around 10 of the original cast members” about coming back, who had questions but were ultimately described as “enthusiastic.” That being said, if you’d like to indulge in a bit of gossip, TMZ reported after Murphy’s announcement that there was some bad blood from some in the cast, who described creating the original series—and then taking the show on an arena tour after its first and second seasons—as grueling, while Murphy and Fox profited far more than the cast did. There were also concerns from these anonymous insiders that Murphy would show favoritism toward Lea Michele, who played Rachel Berry, the de facto lead of the New Directions. Meanwhile, Jane Lynch, who played champion cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester in the original series, apparently indicated last month that no one reached out to her, but that she would be on board for more.
Is this a good idea? Well, let’s look at some facts. Glee ran for six wildly inconsistent seasons on Fox, from 2009 until 2015. The show often tackled hot-button social issues and covered the biggest showtunes and pop songs of the day—which, obviously, included a ton of Katy Perry. Multiple of its original cast members have died in tragic circumstances, and, since the show ended, Ryan Murphy has lent his name to a slate of wildly inconsistent projects, which have included The People v. O.J. Simpson and The Assassination Of Gianni Versace—projects that earned Emmys for Courtney B. Vance, Sterling K. Brown, Sarah Paulson, and Glee alum Darren Criss—and All’s Fair. There’s also a whole bunch of new music we imagine the New Directions would be champing at the bit to perform. When we last heard from them, no one yet knew what Hamilton or Chappell Roan were. To quote the latter, good luck, babe.
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