Generation Glee

"I never sat down to put a musical on TV," Brennan quipped, recalling his life as an actor before becoming Glee's writer and creator. Written originally as a screenplay, Brennan soon found his own high school glee club experience paying off after he teamed up with Nip/Tuck producers, Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy to bring Glee to TV.

He credited part of the show?s cult status to producer Ryan Murphy's encyclopedic knowledge of music and pop culture. However, he was adamant that the story and writing came first, even as he admits he sometimes finds the writing process terrifying. Brennan discussed the pilot episode which didn't include Jane Lynch's character, something he now sees as an obvious and vital addition.

And what about the Glee Generation? Brennan finds that "a bit rich" but welcomes the freedom that the success of the show has given him and the other producers. The Glee brand continues to grow with live performances, music CDs, and a MySpace competition, which is an expansion of the Facebook and Twitter campaigns Fox used to entice would-be viewers. Likening it to "winning the lottery" Brennan is looking forward to mining other genres of music in its second season, adding guest stars, musical guests and of course, letting Sue Sylvester wreak havoc.

Kevin Fraser