"Glee"'s Ryan Murphy on Kurt and Finn, Plus Scoop on Cheyenne Jackson!

At Monday's Glee panel at the Television Critics Association Summer Tour in Los Angeles, Glee creator Ryan Murphy and co-executive producer Ian Brennan shared a number of details about the upcoming season of the Fox hit. Ryan divulged that Sir Paul McCartney had sent a mix tape of music that he hoped Murphy would consider for the second season. At first Murphy thought he was being "punked" and when he realized the offer was legitimate, he was left "gobsmacked."

Executive Producer Dante Di Loreto, Co-Creator/Writer/Executive Producer Ian Brennan
and Co-Creator/Executive Producer/Writer/Director Ryan Murphy

Murphy also reported that Joss Whedon would return to direct a second episode, and that producer and director Adam Shankman would also direct an episode. In addition, for the first time, Glee will feature original music. That will happen in the second half of the season when the kids are assigned to write their own songs. 

Additionally, Murphy promised that some of the lesser known Glee Club members including Brittany and Mike Chang would be getting big storylines this year. 

Murphy also addressed the issue of the relationship between Kurt and Finn, especially what happened when Finn called Kurt a "fag" and how that will continue to play out in the second season.  Asked how he feels about how the relationship has played out thus far, Murphy said:

Well, I’m excited about that because we always had a master plan, which will come to fruition in Season 2. And I agree with you that I think — I think that Mike O’Malley’s character needs to sort of really learn more about the Finn-Kurt relationship and sort of learn about Kurt’s feelings and have an opinion on that. And that’s something that we’re going to do a whole episode about, that Kurt sort of has to deal with the idea of young romantic love. But I think it’s very difficult for that character in his high school environment. I don’t think he knows anybody else like him.

After the panel, AfterElton.com spoke with Brennan who shed some more light on the issue. Asked if they had been surprised by the negative reaction of some fans to the way they handled Kurt's crush and Finn's reaction, Brennan said, "No, that’s the story we’ve been wanting to tell. It isn’t just about the beleaguered gay kid. It’s also about what is his experience being in a school when he’s the only self-identified gay kid. And how is that? Sure, it’s going to seem predatory when all the boys around him are straight.

But that’s precisely the discussion we wanted to have. I’m really glad people picked up on that. That gives us the green light to go forward and to really delve into what this story is about. What are all these parties feeling? How can these characters have “that” [issue] but remain good friends and still deal with that issue. I’m actually chomping at the bits to get at that."

Asked about reports that Kurt's storyline involving his getting a boyfriend had been pushed back, Brennan said, "I'm not aware of any change as of yet. That's still in the pipeline."

As for casting the role, Murphy said the part hasn't yet been cast and "That’s one of those parts that I have to find an actor that I really love and go after and I haven’t found that person yet, but I’m doing it this year." Asked if Chris Colfer who plays Kurt has indicated what he'd like his boyfriend to be like, Murphy said, "No, Chris doesn't want to talk about kissing. He's too shy to have an opinion about that." 

As for the Kurt Prom King storyline, Murphy said that is still in the works. "I want him to run against Lea Michele and see who would win."