Have you been missing Glee too? It seems like forever since it was on our screens, brightening up our days with musical numbers, gold stars and Sue Sylvester's terrifying brilliance. Well fear not, because the first season DVD boxset has arrived! To celebrate, we met up with the show's lovely executive producer Dante Di Loreto to chat about the series.

Did you always know Glee would be so successful?
"You hope. You work really, really hard to make something and then you hope people are going to show up and see it. There are so many fantastic television shows that never see the light of day. It feels really, really special to be received with such open arms. The show's created by three amazing people, who have written every single episode - Brad [Falchuk], Ian [Brennan] and Ryan [Murphy]. Having that kind of singular voice I think is one of the reasons has been so successful and really resonated."

How do you strike a balance between the songs and the story?
"Ryan was very clear at the beginning that this was going to be a comedy with music. He's a musical genius, in my opinion. He has this sort of encyclopaedic knowledge of artists and release dates. When the show is at its strongest is when the music is really emotionally connected and organically connected to what's happening in the story. When we originally did the pilot we did four numbers, I think, and it seemed enormous. It was an enormous amount of work - it took 17 days to do. We were daunted by the task and then shortly thereafter we were doing six numbers an episode and with the Madonna episode we did 10 numbers. And somehow we still didn't exhaust how much music you could do in an episode. We exhausted, I think, how much we can physically produce, but it seems to flow. I can't really give you a specific answer because we've done some episodes, like 'Mash-Up', where there were just two real numbers - four songs, but two numbers in the episode - but it's still really a great episode. There's so many different things that can happen in the show. I don't know about you but I'm always surprised about what we pull off."

The Madonna episode was a big success, and a Britney one is coming up. What do you think of the themed episodes?
"I think what comes first and foremost to Ryan is what thematically the episode is about. I don't think they're ever going to fall into easy traps. I think they're always going to keep us guessing and keep us surprised. The music is always fitted to the story."

Do you think you would ever do an original music episode?
"Absolutely. It's something that's been considered. It takes more time. As it is we're hard-pressed to complete an episode in the time given, so I'm sure it's something we'll find a way to incorporate. It's just finding the time to do it."

You've had some great guest stars. Why do you think they want to do the show?
"There aren't a lot of places for singers who can act to showcase their skills, or for actors who have great singing and dancing chops to show it off. It just doesn't exist on TV in the United States. So we've been really lucky that so many of them love the show and would love an opportunity to perform on it. But once again, I think our creators have been really smart about always making it about character. I think Neil Patrick Harris was such a character. Bryan Ryan was such a fantastic character and so unexpected. And he is so talented as a singer and a dancer that you weren't watching Neil Patrick Harris, you were watching a great actor performing a great role."

Do you have any dream guest stars?
"I'm still in love with our original cast. They're so talented and they have so much to show us still. They have learned - we have all learned - so much about how to make the show, that I think that's the great untapped resource that we have still to explore."

You had an open casting call recently. How did that go?
"We had about 40,000 submissions and it was a way to really reach out and open the door because our original casting was a very exhaustive kind of casting and this was a way to reignite that. We're all really excited to see what talent's out there. You know, some of the original cast walked in the door and were the role on the page without question. Other people were so uniquely talented that other roles were created for them. And I think opening the door up to talent and to seeing what talent is out there is always exciting and inspiring."

A lot has been made about Glee's message of tolerance and diversity. How important is that to you?
"It means the world to me. If we're successful in anything, hopefully we've succeeded in allowing people to fall in love with characters they may not have been familiar with or they may not even have understood a year ago. When I watch Kevin McHale performing in a wheelchair, I don't think about him as a character in a wheelchair anymore - he's Artie. Chris Colfer as a character, in his relationship with his father, played by Mike O'Malley, has meant so much to so many people. It's really moving. It's just a gift to be involved with that kind of programming. But then again if we ever get too serious or too carried away with our own importance, Sue Sylvester says something incredibly snarky and we realise we're all just a bunch of losers."

How do you balance the humour and the more emotional moments?
"We try not to take ourselves too seriously. By the same token, if something gets too ridiculously funny I think they've been incredibly terrific about grounding characters like Sue. So you have an understanding of why she's as mean and crazy as she is. But also like in all great characters there's a little bit of her in everybody and she says things that you would think of saying but never would actually cross your lips and that's the rich fun of that."

Glee was picked up for a third season before the second had even been filmed. How do you feel about that?
"It's crazy, right? It gives us an opportunity to plan from a production standpoint and spread resources over a longer period of time. It's an incredible gift and it means there's hopefully a lot of terrific work ahead. But all we can do is focus on the immediate future, which is relaunching and hopefully keeping an audience engaged in the same way we have been. You've just got to take it one day at a time and what number are we doing today and what crazy, unusual performance piece have we got eight days to put together, and that's how we'll do it."

And how long do you think the show would go on for?
"Oh, I would never try and fathom a guess. Hopefully, as long as the writers are excited and engaged by the characters, we'll have an audience to create shows for."

The first season of Glee will be released on DVD on September 13.

Will you be getting the Glee DVD? Are you excited about the second season? Leave your comments below!

Merlin Week continues here on Tube Talk with the second of our daily cast interviews! We caught up with Merlin's magical mentor Gaius - also known as actor Richard Wilson - to chat about monsters, romance and Merlin fans. Warning - contains some mild spoilers!



Merlin returns to BBC One on September 11.

Glad to see Gaius back? Looking forward to new Merlin? Leave your thoughts below!

A new series of Merlin is almost upon us (four days now and counting!), and as we're lucky enough to have seen the opening two-parter, we thought we'd give you a few choice hints as to what's coming up. Ten choice hints, to be precise!

1. A year has passed since the end of the second series.

2. An old face returns to plot against Uther.

3. Merlin invents a brand new insult.

4. Someone very important appears. And they're very wet.

5. "The ***** of Uther Pendragon have only ***** to ****."

6. Arthur takes his shirt off. Again.

7. An army is amassing against Camelot.

8. Arthur ends up with mud on his face.

9. Merlin ends up with a bucket on his head.

10. An old friend (or foe?) comes to Merlin's aid.

Click here to browse our gallery of pictures from the first episode.

What do you make of our hints above? Add your comments to this entry below!

Morgana got herself into a bit of a pickle in the last series of Merlin and then she vanished with her not-so-nice half-sister Morgause. But fear not, because it looks like she'll be back (and bad) for the third series! We caught up with the truly lovely Katie McGrath on set in France to find out what's coming up for Morgana, why Merlin is darker this series, and which enemies are headed to Camelot in the future. We're just going to come out and say it - we love her.

Click play below to watch!



Merlin begins on September 11 on BBC One.

Are you a Merlin fan? Do you like Morgana? Leave your comments below!

The final season of Lost is finally out on DVD and Blu-ray next week! As a special treat for all you hardcore Lost fans, we present for your viewing pleasure an exclusive deleted scene from the boxset. Check out the vid below to see a no-nonsense Sun take charge of the situation on the beach, and Ben's less-than-pleased reaction...



The final season of Lost and the complete series box-set are both available on DVD and Blu-ray from September 13.

Enjoy this missing piece of Lost? Looking forward to the DVD and Blu-ray release? Leave your thoughts below!

Merlin is back... back, we tells you! To mark the launch of the third series this weekend, we're throwing the most extravagant of celebrations. All this week on Tube Talk, it's Merlin Week. Hurrah! But what does Merlin Week involve? You can expect exclusive spoilers, interviews with the cast and other special treats.

For the first such treat, we get a behind-the-scenes tour of Uther's castle - in real life, the Château de Pierrefonds near Paris - courtesy of the very evil Morgana very lovely Katie McGrath. Result! Hit 'play' below to see how we get on:



Merlin returns to BBC One on September 11.

So, what did you make of Uther's gaff? Let us know in the usual way.

So we got our first look at the new Skins cast last month. Series 5 is now officially half way through filming in Bristol and will transmit in January next year! Now, how about a sneaky preview of the new US version of the show? We've got our hands on an exclusive pic of the American cast and have decided to share it with all you dedicated Skins fans! What do you reckon to this bunch? Think they can match up to their UK counterparts?



Like the look of the US gang? Looking forward to a new take on Skins? Let us know below!

We treated you to some photos from the One Tree Hill season premiere the other day, but now we can go one better - we've got our hands on one minute and 21 seconds from the episode! It looks like Brooke and Julian have moved on from their problems last year, but who knows if their relationship with Haley will survive this awkward moment?

Click play below to watch the clip!



The new season of One Tree Hill begins on September 14 on The CW.

Did you enjoy the clip? Are you looking forward to the return of One Tree Hill? Leave your comments below!

It's been more than three months now since the Lost gang vanished from our screens, but we're not quite ready to move on just yet. The final season, out on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on September 13, will feature a brand new 12-minute epilogue to the series, 'The New Man In Charge'. We caught up with actor Michael Emerson - the sinister Ben Linus - to discuss the finale, the DVD scene and his plans for the future.

Are you satisfied with Ben's overall character arc throughout the course of the series?
"Yes, I loved the entire arc and was especially delighted with Ben's end in the finale. It was finer and more satisfying than anything I could have imagined. I'm completely satisfied with Ben's adventure. Of course, there are always the 'paths not followed', which are tantalising. It would have been interesting to explore the relationship between Ben and [childhood friend] Annie."

What were some of your favourite scenes from the final season?
"I especially liked shooting the scenes where I was 'teacher' Ben, because it gave me a chance to play a new character in a different key."

Were you pleased to be able to answer some more of the fan's questions with 'The New Man In Charge'?
"Yes, I think the chapter is a nice addition to the Lost narrative. It's nice to have some of the more particular or practical questions answered since the finale took a more spiritual tone."

What were your thoughts on Lost when you joined the show in the second season?
"I thought of it as a work assignment, one of many guest spots I've done on shows over the years. I'm glad I had no idea what it would turn into or I would have been very nervous."

Do you have a favourite episode of the series?
"I have a number of favourite episodes in different categories, but an episode that captures much of what it was like to shoot Lost in Hawaii was the one where Ben and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) stand on a cliff looking at an island in the distance and trade quotes from Steinbeck [in the third season episode 'Every Man For Himself']."

Do you think of Ben as a hero or a villain?
"I think what's perfect about the Ben storyline is that we are never certain where he falls on the scale of good and evil. It's a tribute to the skill of the writers that the audience could never be certain about Ben, even to the very end."

In your opinion, will he ever join the other characters in the afterlife?
"I think Ben, like all humans, is eligible for the afterlife - it may just take him more time to get there."

Have you ever been tempted to act like Ben in real life?
"It would be pointless, no one would take it seriously. My wife says 'Don't ever give me that Ben look'!"

Which season was the most difficult for you as an actor?
"Season two. I was new to the show, and most of my scene work was fairly violent. As the years went by, I began to see more humour in Ben and enjoyed playing him more."

What's next for you now that Lost is over?
"I really don't have anything lined up. I'm lying low for a while and looking for a stage project."

Do you worry that you will always be associated with Lost and the character of Ben?
"One of my new responsibilities is to make sure I'm not trapped in this role forever. I'm looking for a real change of pace."

Any chance you'll star alongside your wife Carrie Preston on True Blood?
"The time is soon approaching when I will need work whether I like it or not! It would be a real pleasure to play a part on True Blood no matter how small. I am an admirer of Alan Ball and I could share a dressing room with my wife!"

What are your final thoughts on the entire Lost experience?
"I'm still trying to absorb this adventure that I've been on. I don't expect it will ever be duplicated in my life. The almost accidental way I got the role and the unbelievable reach of the series are reminders to me that you can never know where a job will lead you. I will treasure this experience even as I move on into my post-Lost life."

Still sad about the end of Lost? Excited about 'The New Man In Charge'? Leave your comments below!