Glee creator reveals the truth about hit show: ‘I’ve never really talked about this’

It turns out Glee could have looked very different. Photo / Supplied

Matthew Morrison is best known for playing music-obsessed teacher William Schuester on Glee.

But it turns out we nearly got a very different version of the character. The series’ co-creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy has revealed the dark truth about the original Mr Schue on the first episode of the Glee podcast And That’s What You REALLY Missed, reports Decider.

Murphy recalled that in 2008, he had one of the most popular shows on cable with Nip/Tuck, but his passion project Pretty/Handsome was rejected by FX amid fears advertisers wouldn’t support a show about a transgender woman.

Murphy was brainstorming with Fox executive Dana Walden as to what his next project would be. Then he was given an Ian Brennan script while he was at the gym - which combined with Murphy’s dream of writing a musical eventually gave birth to Glee.

“In Ian’s original script, it was a very dark comedy that had the idea of it,” Murphy recalled on the podcast.

“Ian and I were both in choir. And Mr Schue, I believe, was a crystal meth addict in Ian’s script.”

One of the podcast’s co-hosts, Kevin McHale, asked whether the original Mr Schue behaved inappropriately towards his students, which Murphy confirmed.

But Mr Schue’s image was eventually cleaned up for the final version of the show as it developed into a series more about a group of underdogs chasing their dreams. However, it wasn’t he only shock revelation Murphy made about the character.

Matthew Morrison starred as Mr Schuester on Glee. Photo / Supplied

“I’ve never really talked about this. That pilot was written for Justin Timberlake. Mr Schue was written for Justin,” Murphy revealed.

Suddenly, after all these years, the character makes sense - he was originally based on a SexyBack-era JT complete with his questionable hairstyles and passion for vests.

Elsewhere in the podcast, Murphy revealed that one executive habitually called Glee the “F-word show”, at least one used to make fun of Murphy’s voice during meetings, and that a spin-off series all about The Warblers was considered.

Murphy also apologised repeatedly for being an “absentee father” to the Glee cast.