21 Things That 'Glee''s Ryan Murphy Invented Aside From the Horror Comedy

By Rebecca Pahle | Lists | October 21, 2014 |

By Rebecca Pahle | Lists | October 21, 2014 |

I always credit Ryan Murphy with creating shows that I try and then quit after half a season (Yeah, I gave Glee a shot back in the day. So did a lot of people, OK?!), but it turns out he has something far more impressive on his résumé: the entire horror-comedy genre. Someone tell Sam Raimi. And James Gunn. And Edgar Wright. And Peter Jackson. And John Landis. And…

Murphy’s status as a time-traveling founder of genres came out in a press release for Fox’s new anthology series Scream Queens, which honestly sounds like the sort of thing I might like if not for its Ryan Murphy-ness. Here’s the relevant quote, via Collider:

“I knew I wanted to work with Brad [Falchuk] and Ian [Brennan] again on something comedic, and we are having a blast writing SCREAM QUEENS. We hope to create a whole new genre - comedy-horror - and the idea is for every season to revolve around two female leads.”

“We hope to create a whole new genre—comedy-horror”

“We hope to create a whole new genre—comedy-horror”

“We hope to create a whole new genre—comedy-horror”

OK, buddy. Because no one ever thought that the inherent capability of horror to trend toward the ridiculous makes it a good candidate for jokes. Evil Dead 2 is actually a super-serious commentary on the dangers of colonialist tendencies in a post-capitalist society. You invented the horror-comedy. You also invented:

• Pajiba
• Dinosaurs
• The anthology series
• “Very special episodes”
• The Internet
• Tube socks
• That soul-crushing sense of ennui you get where there are no good movies out
• ♪♫♪BROADWAAAAAAAAY♪♫♪
• Butt plugs that look like Christmas trees
• Christmas trees that look like butt plugs
• Denny’s
• The Ebola virus
• Mange
• The collected works of Ayn Rand
• Ryan Murphy’s own grandfather
• Cool Whip
• People who pronounce “museum” as “mu-ZEEM.”
• Nipple armor
• Channing Tatum
• Actual glee. Like, the feeling.
• Herpes