The Ausiello Files: Major 'Glee' scoop

Neil Patrick Harris + Glee + Joss Whedon = OMG!
Now here’s some stunt casting worth singing about: Neil Patrick Harris is nearing a deal to appear in the May-sweeps Glee episode that’s being helmed by his Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog director, Joss Whedon. According to an insider, Harris, ”a card-carrying Gleek,” expressed interest in doing the Fox show after working with Glee choreographer Zachary Woodlee on the musical number for How I Met Your Mother‘s recent 100th episode. Glee creator Ryan Murphy loved the idea, and is now creating a role specifically for Harris. And yes, the part includes a little song ‘n’ dance.

In the meantime, check out these other Glee-related scoops:
The Madonna-themed episode on April 20 is going to be ”big, huge,” declares Murphy. ”We’re shooting it now. It’s got, like, 10 numbers in it, and the production value is very big. We adore her and worship her, so when I’m directing, I’m always like, ‘Do it for Madonna.”’ Murphy wouldn’t say which Madge tune Jane Lynch’s Sue would be doing, but I can confirm that it’s ”Vogue.”
Kurt’s getting a boyfriend next season. ”We’re going to make them a power couple,” reveals Murphy. ”We’re not going to do the whole hiding-in-the-shadows thing. We’re going to make them popular, and out and proud and glamorous. Like prom king and king.”
Upcoming musical guests include Olivia Newton-John (who’ll perform ”Physical” with Jane Lynch) and, possibly, Jennifer Lopez. ”If I got Jennifer, I would want her to be, like, a lunch lady who undergoes a Susan Boyle makeover,” says Murphy. ”And [exec producer] Brad Falchuk is obsessed with having Bruce Springsteen on the show, so I’m sure we’ll go after him at some point.”

SCOOPLETS

SNEAK PEEK: Grey’s Does the Time Warp
Spoiler alert: Dr. Miranda Bailey wasn’t born a ”Nazi” dictator, she was turned into one! The Feb. 18 episode of Grey’s Anatomy will flash back to the early 2000s, when the taskmistress was an intern and she was being menaced by a supervisor from hell (Heroes’ Missi Pyle). ”We’re going to see Bailey when she still called herself Mandy and had not yet learned to speak up,” explains series creator Shonda Rhimes, adding that the first time she laid eyes on Chandra Wilson ”all Mandy’d up,” her heart broke. ”I know that girl — hell, I was that girl,” the boss lady says. ”Mandy is Bailey’s inner geek, and Chandra plays the Mandy of it all brilliantly.”

Brothers & Sisters: The Early Years
Grey’s isn’t the only ABC drama turning back the clock. In a special two-hour episode slated to air in April, Brothers & Sisters will travel back to three different time periods — 1973, 1986, and 2006 — ”in search of two secrets from the past,” reveals executive producer David Marshall Grant. ”One devastating, and one that will answer the question: Is there a hidden value of Ojai Foods?” The ’73 sequence will show the ”beginnings of the Nora/William/Holly triangle” and will require younger versions of Sally Field, Tom Skerritt, and Patricia Wettig. The 1986 time jump, meanwhile, will introduce viewers to the Walker kids as teenagers, including ”Sarah, who’s back from college at 20, and Kitty, who’s a senior in high school at 18.” Casting is under way for those roles as well. So, back to this bombshell secret — a little hint? Is there another illegitimate Walker sibling out there? ”It does not involve that,” says Grant. ”That I can take off the table.” Nora thanks you.