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FOX HOLDS "GLEE" TRYOUTS AFTER "AMERICAN IDOL" TUESDAY, MAY 19

New One-Hour Musical Comedy Series to Preview Post-AMERICAN IDOL

In a broadcast first, GLEE, the new one-hour musical comedy series from Ryan Murphy ("Nip/Tuck"), will get a special preview following AMERICAN IDOLTuesday, May 19 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The show will then premiere in the fall (date to be announced.)

"An ambitious and unique show such as GLEE deserves an ambitious and unique kick-off," said Peter Liguori, Chairman, Fox Broadcasting Company. "We also wanted to take advantage of the huge AMERICAN IDOL promotional platform to launch the marketing campaign in May."

"GLEE works on so many levels that we want to utilize AMERICAN IDOL to jump-start positive buzz, which will spread over the summer and into the show's launch in the fall," added Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company.

GLEE is an uplifting series with biting humor that features a soundtrack of hit music from past to present. The show follows an optimistic high school teacher, WILL SCHUESTER (Matthew Morrison), as he tries to refuel his own passion while reinventing the high school's glee club and challenging a group of outcasts to realize their star potential. It's not an easy task when the pitch-imperfect club includes MERCEDES (Amber Riley), a forceful diva-in-training; ARTY (Kevin McHale), a geeky guitarist; KURT (Chris Colfer), a dramatic soprano; TINA (Jenna Ushkowitz), a punk rocker; and self-proclaimed "star" RACHEL (Lea Michele), a perfectionist firecracker.

McKinley's cruel high school caste system prevents the glee club from flourishing, so Will recruits FINN (Cory Monteith), the quarterback with movie star looks, to join the group even though he wants to protect his reputation with his holier-than-thou girlfriend, QUINN (Dianna Agron), and his arrogant teammate, PUCK (Mark Salling). With harsh criticism from everyone, including Will's tough-as-nails wife TERRI (Jessalyn Gilsig) and McKinley's egotistical cheerleading coach SUE SYLVESTER (Jane Lynch), he is determined to prove them all wrong and lead the glee club to the greatest competition of them all: Nationals.

GLEE is produced by Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Dante Di Loreto serve as executive producers, while Ian Brennan and John Peter Kousakis serve as co-executive producers. Murphy directed the pilot.