Post Super Bowl Episode Of ‘Glee’ Promises Over The Top Insanity

Added on Jan 17, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

Super Bowl

We talked about the importance of the Super Bowl ‘lead out’ spot in late December and the decision of Fox TV to use the timeslot for a big budget episode of their hit series “Glee”. Now a few more details are starting to emerge about what will transpire in the episode of the insanely popular show that I don’t watch but seemingly everyone else does.

While its been known all along that one of the songs performed would be Michael Jackson’s classic ‘Thriller’, Entertainment Tonight spoke to several of the cast members who filled in a few of the blanks about the episode:

When “Glee” follows the Super Bowl on Feb. 6, it is going to be the most expensive episode made to date and it will include New Directions performing its take on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

“I was standing on a football field dressed like a zombie, looking like Bette Midler in ‘Hocus Pocus’ and singing Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller,’” says Lea Michele, who plays Rachel.

With the Super Bowl as its lead, the episode focuses on football and the Cheerios. The action starts when Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) decides it is time to top herself.” Sue is basically setting people on fire and having them jump through hoops,” Jane tells ET. “She is bored, so she decides to shoot one of the cheerleaders — Brittany (Heather Morris) — out of a cannon and make that part of the routine. She is told she can’t do it by Figgins (Iqbal Theba) and she basically throws a hissy fit and destroys a couple of rooms.”

Of course, Sue doesn’t take no for an answer, so she goes ahead with her plans.

“I saw them perform the ‘Thriller’ number and it almost brought tears to my eyes, the lights, the effects, it is incredible what they managed to do,” says Chris Colfer (Kurt).

Then he adds, “There were two ambulances on standby, which is two more ambulances than they usually have. I was so surprised there were no fatalities after that episode because it was insane.”

MTV unearthed some more info:

“It was a huge production. We we’re shooting that until 6:30 in the morning,” Cory Monteith told “AH” at the Television Critics Association press tour. “We shot all night, and it was probably one of the most physical numbers that we’ve ever done. I was lifting Naya Rivera at one point in the dance. It was really active. We had the whole USC band wrapped in to this number as you can see in the photos. It was awesome.”

Photos of the cast filming “Thriller” surfaced on the Internet recently, depicting a prom night-turned-zombie affair. Jackson’s tune is just one of the many hits to be covered in the broadcast. Other songs featured in the post-Super Bowl episode include hits by the Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry and Lady Antebellum.

Kevin McHale revealed that Jackson is his “favorite artist ever” and that he has been continuously requesting to cover a tune by the late King of Pop. “I’ve been pushing very obnoxiously for a very, very long time, so I’m beyond thrilled that we do Michael Jackson,” said the actor.

Like the iconic music video, the “Glee” cover was an extravagant production, which was fitting for star Dianna Agron, who couldn’t help smile throughout filming.

“The whole night, everybody kept saying, ‘Why are you laughing so much? Why are you smiling so much?’ ” she said. “I was just in my element. I was in huge makeup, huge hair, huge costume, the stuff that I loved the most, which is why I loved ‘Rocky [Horror Picture Show]‘ so much.”

It sounds like the Super Bowl episode of ‘Glee’ will deliver everything fans of the show love about it, but only in bigger doses.