It’s easy to forget now, but back in 2009, the Glee cast season 1 was an absolute gamble. Fox had a show about a high school show choir. On paper? It sounded like a death sentence for ratings. But then Lea Michele opened her mouth to sing "Don't Stop Believin'" in that drafty gym, and suddenly, everyone was hooked. The pilot aired in May, months before the rest of the season, creating this weird, slow-burn hype that we just don't see in the era of binge-watching.
The magic wasn't just the music. It was the lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry of a group of mostly unknowns. You had Broadway veterans like Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele rubbing shoulders with a self-taught dancer like Heather Morris or a choir kid like Chris Colfer. They weren't polished Hollywood mannequins yet. They were raw.
The Auditions That Defined the Glee Cast Season 1
Ryan Murphy didn’t want "TV actors." He wanted people who could actually hold a note while doing choreography. Honestly, the casting stories are legendary. Chris Colfer originally auditioned for Artie, but Murphy was so struck by him that he literally created the character of Kurt Hummel just to get him on the show. Think about that. One of the most influential LGBTQ+ characters in television history didn't even exist in the original script.
Cory Monteith’s audition is the stuff of indie movie dreams. He didn't even sing at first. He submitted a video of himself playing a makeshift drum kit made of Tupperware and pencils. When they finally got him to sing in person, he struggled, but he had that "everyman" quality that made Finn Hudson the heart of the show. He was the bridge between the "cool" jocks and the "losers" in the choir room.
Then there was Jane Lynch. Casting her as Sue Sylvester was the smartest move the network ever made. She brought a biting, improvisational energy that balanced out the earnestness of the kids. Without Sue’s tracksuits and her megaphone-fueled insults, the show might have been too sweet to swallow. It needed that acid.
Who was actually in the room?
The core group was small but mighty. You had the powerhouse vocals of Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones) and the soulful, often underutilized tone of Kevin McHale (Artie Abrams). Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang) brought a punk-pop vibe that felt very 2009. And let's not forget Mark Salling as Puck—the "bad boy" archetype that every teen drama required at the time.
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Why the Music Worked (And Why It Didn't)
The Glee cast season 1 didn't just sing; they dominated the Billboard charts. At one point, they were breaking records held by the Beatles for the most charted hits. It was wild. You’d go to school or work the next day and everyone was talking about the "mash-up" episode.
"Vitamin D" gave us the "It's My Life / Confessions Part II" mash-up, which, looking back, is an unhinged musical choice that somehow worked perfectly. It captured that frantic, over-caffeinated energy of high schoolers trying to do too much. But it wasn't all hits. Some of the covers were... questionable. Does anyone actually need to hear a show choir version of "The Thong Song"? Probably not.
The show thrived when it leaned into the classics. "Maybe This Time" featuring guest star Kristin Chenoweth showed the bridge between Broadway and mainstream TV. It proved that you could put a Sondheim-adjacent sensibility on primetime and people wouldn't turn the channel.
The Reality of the "Glee" Shooting Schedule
Working on that first season was a nightmare. The cast has talked about this in years since, especially on podcasts like And That's What You REALLY Missed. They were filming a full-hour dramedy, recording albums in the middle of the night, and rehearsing complex dance numbers during their lunch breaks.
They were exhausted.
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You can see it in some of the later episodes of the season. The skin is a little paler, the eyes a little more tired. But that fatigue fed into the "underdog" narrative. They weren't just playing kids fighting for respect; they were actors fighting to keep a brand new, high-pressure show on the rails.
Breaking Down the Sectionals vs. Regionals Arc
The structure of the season was built around these competitions.
- Sectionals: The "Defying Gravity" diva-off.
- The Mid-season break: That grueling wait for the "Back nine" episodes.
- Regionals: The Journey medley that still gives fans chills.
The "Journey to Regionals" finale is arguably one of the best episodes of television from that decade. It wasn't just about winning. In fact, they lost. They came in last. And that was the point. The Glee cast season 1 taught a generation that you can be talented and work hard and still lose—but you still have your community.
The Cultural Impact Nobody Saw Coming
Before this show, being a "theater geek" was social suicide in most American high schools. Glee changed the social hierarchy. Suddenly, show choir programs across the country saw a massive spike in enrollment. It made being talented and "different" a badge of honor.
It tackled things that weren't being talked about in 2009. Kurt’s coming-out story, specifically his relationship with his father Burt (played by the incredible Mike O'Malley), set a new standard for parental characters on TV. Burt wasn't a caricature. He was a blue-collar guy trying to understand his son. That nuance is why the show resonated beyond just the "teen" demographic.
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However, we have to talk about the limitations. Looking back with 2026 eyes, some of the casting choices and jokes haven't aged well. Having a character in a wheelchair (Artie) played by an able-bodied actor is a point of contention now. The show’s handling of race was often clumsy, frequently relegating Mercedes to the "big voice" in the background while Rachel Berry took the solos. It was a product of its time—pioneering, yet flawed.
Navigating the Legacy of the First Season
If you're looking to revisit the Glee cast season 1, you have to separate the art from the tragedy that eventually surrounded the show. In 2009, it was all potential. It was pure joy.
The chemistry between Naya Rivera and Heather Morris (Santana and Brittany) started as a background gag. They were just "the Cheerios." But their effortless rapport forced the writers to give them actual storylines, eventually leading to one of the most beloved ships in TV history: Brittana. This season shows the exact moment when the writers realized they had more than just a musical on their hands; they had a character study.
How to Experience Season 1 Properly Today
If you want to truly understand why this show hit the way it did, don't just watch the clips on YouTube. You need the context.
- Watch "The Power of Madonna": This was the first "tribute" episode and it changed the way TV networks thought about music rights. It's a spectacle that still holds up.
- Listen to the "Glee: The Music, Volume 1" album: It’s a time capsule of 2009 production styles—lots of pitch correction, but a ton of heart.
- Pay attention to the background: The best parts of Season 1 aren't the solos; they're the reactions of the cast members in the back of the choir room during someone else's song.
The legacy of the Glee cast season 1 isn't just the songs or the awards. It’s the fact that for one hour a week, it felt okay to be a "loser." It was a messy, loud, high-key ridiculous experiment that fundamentally changed the landscape of musical television.
To get the most out of a rewatch, track the character development of the "secondary" characters like Santana and Quinn. You'll see the exact episodes where the actors' real-life charisma forced the writers to expand their roles beyond the "mean girl" tropes. Also, look for the subtle cameos and early appearances of stars like Idina Menzel, who paved the way for the show's later Broadway-heavy seasons.