Glee season 2

Did You Know?

• Two singles from the season, "Teenage Dream" and "Loser like Me", were the first to have over 200,000 downloads in their first week of release in the US.
• Amazon.com began taking pre-orders for the complete season box set on Blu-ray and DVD in September 2010, the week the season premiered.

Production

The second season of Glee was a joint production of 20th Century Fox Television and Ryan Murphy Television, airing on Fox in the United States. Dante Di Loreto, along with series creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, served as executive producers, with Murphy acting as showrunner and co-creator Ian Brennan as co-executive producer. Murphy, Falchuk, and Brennan wrote every episode. Murphy and Falchuk each directed three episodes; the remaining episodes were helmed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Eric Stoltz, Adam Shankman, Bradley Buecker, Carol Banker, Paris Barclay, Tate Donovan, and Tim Hunter. Production costs per episode ranged from $3.2 million to $3.8 million, a 20 percent jump from the first season. The Super Bowl episode was pricier, estimated at up to $5 million, while the season finale, which required a week of location shooting in New York City, became the most expensive Glee episode yet at a reported $6 million. The season premiered on September 21, 2010, in the 8 pm Tuesday slot. A special episode aired right after Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011. Fox had planned to shift the show to Wednesdays at 9 pm following the Super Bowl, but instead kept it on Tuesdays to strengthen its weaker Wednesday and Thursday lineups. Episode eighteen, "Born This Way," was the series' first 90-minute installment, extended from the usual 60 minutes to accommodate more musical numbers. The season ended on May 24, 2011, airing at 9 pm after the American Idol finale. A third season was announced on May 23, 2010, before the first season had even wrapped. Murphy aimed to give more screen time to previously minor characters like Santana, Brittany, and Mike, saying everyone would get a moment to shine. Not all plans worked out; for example, a planned long-term relationship between Finn and Rachel was dropped in favor of a love triangle to create drama. Kurt's role unexpectedly grew as the writers focused on handling the gay bullying storyline.

Cast

The core group of twelve actors from the first season all came back. Matthew Morrison played glee club director Will Schuester, Jane Lynch was cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, Jayma Mays portrayed guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury, and Jessalyn Gilsig returned as Will's ex-wife Terri. The glee club members were Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray, Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel, Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams, Lea Michele as Rachel Berry, Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson, Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones, Mark Salling as Noah "Puck" Puckerman, and Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang. Heather Morris and Naya Rivera, who had been recurring as Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez, became regulars, as did Mike O'Malley as Kurt's father Burt. Harry Shum, Jr. and Ashley Fink had bigger roles as Mike Chang and Lauren Zizes. Two recurring actors from season one were gone: Dijon Talton's Matt Rutherford was said to have transferred, and Patrick Gallagher's Ken Tanaka was replaced by Dot-Marie Jones as Shannon Beiste. Familiar faces returning included Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins, Stephen Tobolowsky as Sandy Ryerson, Romy Rosemont as Carole Hudson, Max Adler as Dave Karofsky, James Earl as Azimio, Josh Sussman as Jacob Ben Israel, Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson, Jonathan Groff as Jesse St. James, and Kristin Chenoweth as April Rhodes. New recurring characters were Chord Overstreet as transfer student Sam Evans, Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson from the Dalton Academy Warblers, Cheyenne Jackson as Vocal Adrenaline coach Dustin Goolsby, Jake Zyrus as foreign exchange student Sunshine Corazon, John Stamos as dentist Carl Howell, and Gwyneth Paltrow as substitute teacher Holly Holliday.

Music

The second season shifted toward covering more Top 40 songs than the first, aiming to appeal to the 18–49 demographic. Songs such as Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" and Cee Lo Green's "Forget You" were used while they were charting as new hits. Music supervisor PJ Bloom noted that selecting songs, clearing rights, recording, and filming numbers could take as little as a few weeks. Executive music producer Adam Anders revealed that production and planning sometimes occurred before rights were cleared, as creators were offered early access to upcoming songs by publishers and record labels. The extended play Glee: The Music, The Rocky Horror Glee Show was released in mid-October 2010. Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album was released on November 9, 2010, and Glee: The Music, Volume 4 at the end of that month. An EP tied to the Super Bowl episode was dropped when the tribute idea was abandoned. Glee: The Music, Volume 5, featuring recordings from the Super Bowl episode through Regionals, was released on March 8, 2011. Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers was released on April 19, 2011, and Glee: The Music, Volume 6 on May 23, 2011.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a 79% rating with an average score of 7.61/10 based on 29 reviews, with the critics consensus stating that the series still delights with its musical numbers and engagement with social issues despite losing some spark. Metacritic assigned a score of 76 out of 100 based on 11 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews. Robert Canning of IGN called the "New York" finale a decent close to an enjoyable season. Meghan Brown of The Atlantic described it as an uneven end to an uneven season, while Kevin Fallon said season two was undeniably frustrating but still had ample reason to tune in. Anthony Benigno of The Faster Times gave the season a C+, noting he was an easy grader. Emily St. James of The A.V. Club gave a B−, stating the season opened and closed strong but had a mushy middle with episodes that did not work. Brett Berk of Vanity Fair compared the season's quality to the topography of Utah or the acting career of Amanda Peet. Several episodes drew complaints from advocacy groups: the Parents Television Council named "Britney/Brittany", "Blame It on the Alcohol", and "Sexy" the worst shows of their weeks due to sexual content. "Sexy" was also criticized by Kidscape for including a song by convicted sex offender Gary Glitter. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation objected to the use of "tranny" in "The Rocky Horror Glee Show", and "The Substitute" was criticized by the National Alliance on Mental Illness for its depiction of bipolar disorder. Some critics praised the show's diversity; Akash Nikolas at Zap2It wrote that the show creates a queer fantasia celebrating otherness with a diverse cast.