Ryan Murphy Reveals A Very Dark and Different Original 'Glee' Script

Ryan Murphy originally had a very different vision for "Glee" than the one that eventually made it to primetime TV screens and became a cultural hit. As reported by Variety, Murphy originally wanted an NC-17 rating for the show, which planned to tackle some heavy topics, such as Mr. Shue being a "crystal meth addict."

Guesting on the first episode of the "And That's What You REALLY Missed" podcast, hosted by "Glee" cast members Kevin McHale (Artie Abrams) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Murphy spoke candidly about trying to crack the musical code and create a hit show.

"We were having these conversations and I was trying to figure it out," Murphy told Insider. "Like serendipity, I went to the gym, and I was in a towel and a guy went up and handed me a script and he said, 'I had a feeling you were in show choir, am I right?' And I was like 'Yeah.' And he said, 'My friend wrote this script and you should read it.'"

Murphy took the script and found the show much too dark, but it had potential, he said, but it was just a bit too dark for network television.

"The NC-17 version of show choir with a weird protagonist who was unraveling...I just need something optimistic," he said. After an overhaul, the show became the "Glee" fans know and love today. But Murphy also let another major detail slip: "When we were writing the pilot, I've never really talked about this, that pilot was written for Justin Timberlake. Mr. Schue was written for Justin."

Will Schuester, or Mr. Schue, was played by Matthew Morrison.

Listen to the pilot episode of the "And That's What You REALLY Missed" podcast here.

Could you imagine Mr. Timberlake as Mr. Shue? Tell us in comments.