Jane Lynch Kept Animal Cruelty Out of Glee

Remember that line in Glee where Sue Sylvester threatened Will Schuester that she was going to get a cat from the shelter, let him fall in love with it, and then kill it? No? That's because Jane Lynch, the actress who plays Sue Sylvester, nixed the animal cruelty in the original script.

The line you actually heard, from the Mash-Up episode, was:

I'll need to see the set list for sectionals, after all. I  want them on my desk warm from the laminator at 5 p.m. If it is one minute late, I will go to the animal shelter and get you a kitty cat. I will let you fall in love with that kitty cat. And then on some dark, cold night, I will steal away into your home and punch you in the face.

It may not seem to make much sense, but in all its randomness, the line fit Sue Sylvester. And in its humaneness, it fit Jane Lynch.

You have to love an actress who sticks to her morals, especially when it involves standing up for animals. The show's co-creator and writer, Ryan Murphy, said that when Lynch saw the original line in the script, she told him, "I'm not going to say that. I work for PETA. I can't say kill the cat." Murphy also admitted, "I only allow them to change the script if they have trouble with animal cruelty."

In an interview, Jane Lynch said, "Having dogs and cats who I love so thoroughly has made me a better partner, has made me a better friend. And the love is so unconditional from the animals. I've just become a much better person because of my love for animals."

She's taken the next step and turned that love for animals into activism. Not only did she keep animal cruelty out of Glee, but a few months ago, she recorded a public service announcement for PETA, using Lynch-style humor to promote the important message to spay and neuter pets. Lynch told the animal advocacy organization, "[T]here's 8 to 10 million dogs that are put into shelters every year and only about half of them are adopted out, so the other half are euthanized. You know, it's a terrible thing to come into this world only to be, you know, taken out prematurely, so we can control this population by spay and neutering our own pets." Lynch also wrote the mayor of Chicago, asking him to pass spay/neuter legislation in the city.

It's all too easy for TV shows to resort to cheap humor at the expense of animals. A line about killing a cat may seem innocuous, but joking about animal cruelty diminshes the seriousness of these acts of violence. And, frankly, it's just not funny.

Glee has been remarkable, not only in its originality and well-deserved popularity, but in its willingness to take on issues that so many other prime times shows ignore, like teen pregnancy and homosexuality. There are few things they've missed, like the opportunity to talk about sex education or show star singer Rachel's gay dads, but when it comes to animal welfare, what's left out of a show says almost as much as what makes it on the air.

Jane Lynch for PETA:

Photo credit: VJnet