E4 confirms 'Glee' pickup

E4 has announced that it has secured the UK broadcast rights to musical comedy series Glee.

Last week, reports suggested that the Fox series was headed to the UK. E4 has since confirmed that it will air all 22 hour-long episodes of the Ryan Murphy-created show, starting in 2010.

"The buzz around Glee has been almost as big as its musical numbers," said Channel 4's head of acquisitions Gill Hay. "This huge, glossy, all singing, all dancing musical comedy drama series does precisely what it says on the tin.

"It’s the first of its kind on E4 and we are sure the E4 audience will be thoroughly entertained by its fun show-stopping exuberance when it arrives on the channel next year."

Fox's Steve Cornish added: "Glee is a fun and unique musical comedy that we think is a perfect fit for E4. We have high expectations for this show and are delighted to be working with E4 on the UK launch."

The series, which stars Matthew Morrison and Jayma Mays, recently premiered to a respectable 7.14m in the US and has been handed a full-season order by Fox.