Glee episode 9, “Extraordinary Merry Christmas” began shooting on November 10 and is directed by…Mathew Morrison! The episode is set to air December 13.
This year’s holiday-themed episode finds foreign exchange student, Rory missing his family back in Ireland. Also, Mercedes, Santana and Brittany are BACK in New Directions! YAY. But the club has a difficult decision to make. They have two different events scheduled for the same day. One will help others, the other will feed their ambitions. Which will they choose?
Also: Finn and Santana seem to bury the hatchet as Santana helps Finn pick out a Christmas present for Rachel (Necklace? No. Sends the wrong message. Earrings instead!), Artie has a fantasy run-in with Star Wars’ Chewbacca, The hour will pay homage to the awesome cheesy Christmas specials of the 60’s (complete with Rory as Itchy the Christmas Elf).
Sue approaches Artie, Kurt and Blaine to sing at a local homeless shelter. The whole gang, including Will, Sue and Emma sing “Do They Know It’s Christmas” at the shelter. A local station approaches Artie to direct a Christmas special. Mercedes and New Directions sing the Mariah Carey classic “All I Want for Christmas is You” (See VIDEOS Below)
Via Photos (See gallery below) Sue Sylvester visits a homeless shelter. Blaine and Finn give Kurt and Rachel their Christmas gifts! Mercedes sings a song in the choir room. The Troubletones and New Directions are all together in the choir room, like one big happy family!
Matthew Morrison discussed directing the Christmas episode of Glee on Jimmy Kimmel Live Dec 1. He said they do an homage to the Star Wars Christmas special ( George Lucas sent over the real Chewbacca to appear!) and also the Judy Garland 1960’s Christmas special, which is shot in black and white!
Glee Season 3 Spoilers – Episode 10 – The Proposal
Official Synopsis:
When New Directions is asked to perform at two different events on the same day, at the same time they have a tough decision to make. Will they choose correctly and spread Christmas cheer, or will their ambition get the best of them? All this and more in the all-new “Extraordinary Merry Christmas” episode of GLEE airing Tuesday, Dec. 13 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (GLE-309) (TV-14 D, L)
Cast Spoilers
- Director, Matthew Morrison, tells TV Guide, “”A Wookiee comes to him [Artie] in the middle of the night and speaks to him…Morrison got to do double-duty for the special, acting in and directing the episode, “Extraordinary Merry Christmas,” which he describes as “nothing like you’ve ever seen on Glee — or on television — before.” (TV Guide)
- Damian McGinty: “Earlier this week I hopped on the phone with Glee‘s Damian McGinty to chat about the show and his work with Your Dollar Our Future. And during our chat, the Glee Project co-winner told me a bit about the upcoming Christmas episode that will find Rory experiencing a bout of homesickness from his native Ireland. “It’s just all about him growing up at the minute,” McGinty says. “He’s very young compared to everyone — he’s such a kid. So it’s going to be a whole journey for him.” (EW)
- Damian McGinty – Rory May Find Love: “”At the end of the Christmas episode there’s a little hint that he might have a girlfriend on Valentine’s day, so who knows,” he said. “I hope so, all the girls of ‘Glee’ are gorgeous.” (Billboard)
- Question: I hear there are some great Finn/Santana scenes coming up on Glee. I’m intrigued! What does this storyline entail? Think of it as a Christmas miracle. In the show’s holiday episode, the two have a great scene in which they bury the hatchet for good. (Or at least for good for now.) When he asks her to help him pick out a present for Rachel, she talks him out of a necklace (a gift she claims sends the wrong message) and into a pair of earrings. Oh, and speaking of the Christmas ep: As Lea Michelle revealed on Twitter this week, the hour will pay homage to the classic (and ubercheesy) holiday specials of the ’60s, complete with classic Yuletide scenes, an over-the-top announcer and way-over-the-top costumes (e.g. Rory as Itchy the Christmas Elf). (TV Line)
Anonymous Spoilers (Twop)
- Damian and Chord have a scene together
- There’s a sweet Finchel scene
- Chris, Harry and possibly Kevin filmed a scene in the McKinley Locker Rooms
- Santana, Mercedes and Brittany are all back in New Directions
- Artie has a Chewbacca fantasy
- Rachel wishes “Happy Hanukkah” in the last scene of the episode.
Song list
Click to Listen to Extraordinary Merry Christmas FULL SONG Previews
“My Favorite Things” – Lea Michele, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss
“River” sung by Lea Michele (Rachel sings it on stage with Glee club watching. It’s for the “Christmas Special”, but Artie doesn’t like it.)
“All I Want for Christmas is You” sung by Amber Riley
“Extraordinary Merry Christmas” sung by Lea Michele and Darren Chris
“Let It Snow” – Sung by Darren Criss and Chris Colfer
“Blue Christmas” – Damian McGinty
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” – Boys
“Do They Know it’s Christmas” – New Directions
Christmas Wrapping – Heather Morris
Performance Previews:
All I Want For Christmas Is You
Mercedes and the New Directions perform the Mariah Carey Classic in the choir room
http://youtu.be/OU8BAPvFrzg
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
Sue, Will, Emma and New Directions visit a homeless shelter
http://youtu.be/KXuY9GjOSO4
UPDATE: Short Clips with Artie, Sue, Kurt and Blaine
Sue asks Artie, Kurt and Blaine for Help
Sue Sylvester’s first holiday without her sister leads her to do volunteer work at the local homeless shelter. She asks Artie, Kurt and Blaine to perform. The nicknames she makes up for them are hilarious!
Artie will direct a Christmas special for a local TV station
http://youtu.be/Uv9VInWpNJI
FOX Promo
http://youtu.be/7uqZkLLmAIA
New Promo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dTLEfB1y_c
Photo Gallery
Tweets:
- Lea Michele tweets “Starting the Christmas episode with a really cute
#Finchel scene - Cory Monteith tweets, “Merry Christmas Episode!
@msleamichele &@CoryMonteith =#FinchelForever http://yfrog.com/nw91zidj - Lea Michele tweets, “
@damianmcginty singing a lovely and charming Christmas song right now:) he’s the sweetest..” - Lea Michele tweets, “Back at work! And back to Christmas! First scene up with
@DarrenCriss@chriscolfer and@CoryMonteith” - Lea Michele tweets, “@MsAmberPRiley is belting out one of the best Christmas songs in the choir room right now!
#ICantwaitforChristmas! - Lea Michele tweets, “So excited to shoot this scene/musical number today. It’s one of my favorite Christmas songs that always makes me cry! Can’t you guess.”
- Damian McGinty tweets, “Just had a serious fan boy moment this morning with
@chordoverstreet …can’t believe who i just met!! @druidDUDE is in heaven!! - Kevin McHale tweets, “Me & Chewie!!!! http://instagr.am/p/UuBJf/”
- Chord Overstreet tweets, “it’s a white Christmas!! http://yfrog.us/e3zm6z”
- Chord Overstreet tweets, “shooting a very nice scene tonight with
@janemarielynch and@DiannaAgron - Lea Michele tweets, “First scene up today a great Christmas original song with myself and
@DarrenCriss - Chord Overstreet tweets, “bout to shoot a great scene with
@damianmcginty and@msleamichele - Damian McGinty tweets, “I’m loving this scene tonight with
@CoryMonteith@msleamichele and@chordoverstreet …the set looks AMAZING. - Lea Michele tweets, “Now back at work! Shooting outside with
@CoryMonteith@chordoverstreet and@damianmcginty…Its fake snowing outside” - Lea Michele tweets, “Me and
@damianmcginty &@chordoverstreet :) http://pic.twitter.com/HdbQ6Qht - Lea Michele tweets, “Worked until after midnight last night! Back on set now! The whole gang is here! Last day of work till the holiday. Lets make it a good one!”
- Jane Lynch tweets, “Matt directs Xmas episode. Diana barely in the photo.
#glee http://lockerz.com/s/158811014 - Lea Michele tweets, “Shooting a really sweet number for our Christmas episode right now.. There are lots of children running around our set tonight.. So cute!!”
- Lea Michele tweets, “Morning! Back at work and shooting an amazing scene for our Christmas episode with
@chriscolfer@DarrenCriss and@MsAmberPRiley” - Matt Morrison tweets, “Back from Thanksgiving, last few days directing the Christmas Episode. Can’t wait for everyone to see it! http://pic.twitter.com/sfKXYABF
- Lea Michele tweets, “Just finished an awesome day at work! Got 2 do a scene 4 the Christmas episode where we paid homage to the classic 60s holiday tv specials!”
- Lea Michele tweets, “Another early morning! Shooting our Christmas special again today..and now the whole gang is here. It’s going to be another loooong day!”
- Damian McGinty tweets, “Early morning on Glee, more christmas, and a fairly hilarious outfit…”
- Lea Michele tweets, “Finally home after a very long day. Finished our Christmas episode! Tomorrow we begin a new episode that’s filled with many more surprises!”