Glee Reboot Talk Revives the Show's Chart Records, Casting Surprises and Cast Tragedies

On May 19, 2009, Fox premiered Glee with its pilot episode, postponing the release of the second episode until September 9, 2009, following American Idol. In June 2009, the cast's rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" climbed into the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. By 2010, the Glee Cast had outperformed Elvis Presley in terms of Hot 100 entries, second only to The Beatles. The series was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, featuring Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel. Jane Lynch received an Emmy in 2010 and a Golden Globe in January 2011. Tragically, Cory Monteith passed away at 31 in July 2013, and Naya Rivera drowned at 33 in July 2020. The series concluded on March 20, 2015, with a time jump to 2020.