Rachel, Finn, Quinn and Puck fans: Brace yourselves. It will soon be time to say farewell to the original McKinley High kids as 'Glee' boss Ryan Murphy confirmed that the characters who were juniors last season will graduate in May 2012.

Speaking on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on Friday, Murphy said that the upcoming Season 3 will be senior year for the original cast.

"I don't think of it in terms of eliminating or replacing. Because I think the thing about this cast is people love them and they are incredibly talented. They've left sort of an indelible mark," he said.

"The thing that I wanted to do and the cast wanted to do, we didn't want to have a show where they were in high school for eight years. We really wanted it to be true to that experience. We thought it would be really cool if we were true to the timeline."

Could 'Glee' have a musical competitor?

As we enter the thick of pilot season, networks have been greenlighting pilots to consider for the 2011-2012 season. One of the biggest in the works is NBC's 'Smash.' According to Deadline, it's based on an idea from Steven Spielberg about putting on a Broadway musical, and would feature original songs by Grammy- and Tony-winning songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

Among the other pilots picked up this weekend were a comedy called 'Vince Uncensored,' from Conan O'Brien's production company (it went to CBS, according to Entertainment Weekly), a thriller/drama called 'Exit Strategy,' starring Ethan Hawke and directed by Antoine Fuqua (snagged by Fox, according to The Hollywood Reporter, along with two comedies, per Deadline), and David E. Kelley's previously D.O.A. 'Wonder Woman' (which landed at NBC, reports Deadline).

In other TV news ...

• Matthew Weiner would love to start writing the fifth season of 'Mad Men,' if AMC would sign a deal already. "I have every intention of making the show when they decide to work out their business with Lionsgate," he said. "I can't wait to come back to work ... I am not looking for a new job." [EW]

• Kevin Smith, Kevin Pollak and Adam Carolla will star in AOL's new nightly talk show. The web video series will team up with the actors' existing podcasts for new episodes every Monday through Thursday, with a best-of installment on Fridays. [AOL]

• Could Keith Olbermann have a new gig already? 'The Social Network' writer Aaron Sorkin has been developing a comedy set behind the scenes at a cable news show. Now that it's getting closer to a pilot pickup and Olbermann is out of a gig, sources are speculating that he could contribute to the series. [EW]

File this one under "What took them so long?"

The first 'Glee' copycat is finally in the works. According to Deadline Hollywood, The CW is developing a "musical and dancing dramedy" called 'Acting Out' from 'Bandslam' writer/director Todd Graff.

But it's got a twist: the show is being described as 'Glee' combined with another unlikely pop cultural source -- 'Bad Santa.' The series "explores relationships of counselors and staff of a down-on-its-luck summer camp whose new owner is a young curmudgeon in the vein of Billy Bob Thornton in 'Bad Santa.'"

Let's face it, when describing 'Glee' (April 13 at 9:28 PM ET on Fox), it doesn't really sound that appealing to anybody over 16 years old. A group of outcast high school kids come together and periodically break into song? Yeah, OK. But, 'Glee' works. The series has won audiences far and wide and it has overcome more than its fair share of obstacles along the way.

Obstacle: It's a Musical
Let's open the TV history books for a moment and examine other musical shows such as 'Cop Rock' and 'Viva Laughlin.'

Check out the rest of the article after the jump.

Remember way back in July 2009? Of course you don't, but thank goodness for search engines. You see, on July 31st of last year, Bob wrote about a Torchwood character going to Wisteria Lane. Now, it's happening. John Barrowman will be appearing on Desperate Housewives. Captain Jack Harkness will be playing a villain, stirring up trouble for the ladies of the neighborhood.

Barrowman is expected to leave England in March to come to Los Angeles to begin filming. He'll appear on screen in April, and he's there for a mini-arc, at least five episodes. And he will be playing a malevolent man, i.e. a villain.

Ausiello reports that he's going to be involved with Angie's story. How will he impact on the Bolens, who are already brimming with angst and drama? Doesn't sound like it will be a positive impact.

Ladies and gentlemen alike know that Neil Patrick Harris has got it all: Perfect comedic timing, a hit show, old-fashioned song-and-dance skills, a ridiculously diverse audience, and a body built for suits. With such overwhelming levels of snazzy, is anyone surprised that NPH has been asked to host the 63rd Annual Tony Awards?

Some of the theater-literate out there may know that NPH has done his fair share of musicals onstage, from RENT to Sweeney Todd to Cabaret. Most of you are probably most aware of his Joss Whedon project, Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog, which provided us with endless joy (and by "endless", I mean "three installments' worth"). Regardless, NPH has the knowledge, the background and the charisma to pull this off.

As a kid, my parents were totally cool with my television viewing habits, as long as it never became excessive or kept my face from being kissed by the light of day every once in a while. Not that they had anything to be worried about, of course, considering that all I was watching was Nickelodeon.

While my fellow prepubescents were slowly but surely migrating to more grown-up programming on MTV (and Playboy, if you had a cable box), I spent the bulk of my time between 1992 and 1996 fully devoted to Roundhouse, a 30-minute sketch show sandwiched between the more popular Clarissa Explains It All and Are You Afraid Of The Dark? on SNICK, Nickelodeon's Saturday night programming block.

The Simpsons: Testify is a brand new album that will hit stores on September 18. The new album features original songs from season ten through eighteen, with such musicians as "Weird Al" Yankovic, David Byrne, Jackson Browne, and, of course, the Simpsons clan and the many residents of Springfield.

The album will feature music from some of the show's recent parodies of big musicals from such episodes as "Yokel Chords," "My Fair Laddy" and "The President Wore Pearls." The album also includes Ricky Gervais' ode to Marge from the episode "Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife."

I know how you feel. Really, I do. A TV show comes along that seems so obvious in its mediocrity you can't fathom why so many people enjoy it. You list myriad examples of how the show is sub-par, or a blatant rip-off of another show, or too reliant on "easy" jokes, but no one will listen to you. They just keep watching and touting the show as if it's some work of genius. It's enough to make you go insane and eat your own face.

Family Guy may be popular, but there's still a lot of people who don't like it. My feelings on this subject are paradoxical. I like Family Guy, but I still have to agree with people who say the writing isn't always up to snuff, and that the show relies too heavily on pop culture references as a substitute for humor. Brian has a line in one episode that always makes me cringe: describing New York City, he claims it's "like Prague, sans the whimsy." Maybe it's just me, but it sounds like some college freshman trying to sound smarter than he is.