Kevin McHale has admitted there are “absolutely” moments in Glee that haven’t aged well.
Kevin McHale knows Glee hasn’t aged well
The 36-year-old actor – who played Artie Abrams in the beloved musical drama series – admitted there is a lot that has made him cringe while he’s been re-watching the show for his own And That’s What You REALLY Missed podcast.
He told the Metro newspaper’s 60 Seconds column: “We were fully expecting that. We even made a full section of the podcast to be ‘let’s call out things that have not aged well’ – and there are absolutely those moments.
“A lot of it is just the jokes – the show was crass, intentionally, it was satirical.
“And because it was making so much social progress, it’s not going to be neat and perfect – you’re going to say some wrong things along the way, which we definitely did and shouldn’t have.
“But there’s been less than I expected.”
While Glee creator Ryan Murphy is open to a reboot, Kevin isn’t sure he could return, considering he played wheelchair-bound Artie despite not being disabled himself.
Asked if he’s like to be part of a revival, he said: “In the right circumstances. I don’t know how Artie could come back.
“I’ve been very open about the problems of me playing a character in a wheelchair – I don’t think that works now.
“But I love the show, I’m proud of it and I loved working with everybody – so if there’s some way for me to be involved, absolutely.”
Meanwhile, Kevin admitted his podcast has been “a corrective experience” after things got “more mixed” as the show went on.
He explained: “It’s been really nice and a corrective experience for us in lots of ways. We knew the first two or three seasons were good and then it sort of gets more mixed.
“However, the fans who listen to the podcast have held our hand through the experience, and said, ‘This is what to look out for in seasons four, five and six’, and they’re so dedicated to the show it’s really reframed how we’ve seen them.
“Some really bad things happened towards the end [including the death of Cory Monteith] and that affected the show – and so being able to look at it now, 10 years on, is great.”
