Marti Noxon

After two seasons of writing every single episode of the high school dramedy by themselves, Glee co-creators/executive producers Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan are getting help for Season 3. For the first time, the Fox series will have a writing staff next season. Joining Muprhy, Falchuk and Brennan in the writers room will be Allison Adler (Chuck, No Ordinary Family) as co-executive producer. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who did the rewrite of the Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark musical, was recently tapped as co-producer, with Buffy and Angel veteran Marti Noxon and frequent Christopher Guest collaborator Michael Hitchcock, who guest starred on the first season of Glee, serving as consulting producers. Rounding out the group are staff writers Matt Hodgson and Ross Maxwell.

Murphy was quoted last summer saying that he was planning to add writers midway through Season 2. Series normally staff up between seasons, but last summer was particularly hectic for Murphy with the first-ever Glee tour and the release of his movie Eat, Pray, Love. But between writing and directing (Murphy, Falchuk) episodes, supervising music, wardrobe and choreography and planning the summer concert tour, the three never found the time to read spec scripts and interview writers. So Glee ended up producing 44 episodes over two seasons written by three people, a feat pretty unheard of in today’s TV business and a throwback to prolific producers like Stephen Cannell and, more recently, David E. Kelley. But the lack of supporting writing staff started to show in Season 2, where the episodes were uneven and often felt like stand-alone movies built around songs, with the overarching storylines sometimes fractured or meandering. In another unique quirk of the show, there is one writer, Brennan, who writes the vast majority of the lines of the show’s signature character, Sue Sylvester, played by Jane Lynch. The Glee writers start work on Monday, with principal photography on the show’s third season set to begin in August.