Darren Criss reunites with “Glee” father-in-law Mike O'Malley just in time for show's 15th anniversary
Blaine and Burt... but where's Kurt?
It’s a Hummel-Anderson reunion — minus one.
Just in time for Glee’s 15th Anniversary, Darren Criss and Mike O’ Malley reunited in a joyous pic shared on social media. It’s too bad that Chris Colfer wasn’t there to complete the family portrait, but we suspect the duo were thinking of him as they smiled in the photo.
The actors are both grinning and pointing at one another in the shot, which O'Malley captioned, “Heckuva son-in-law.”
Related: Chris Colfer shades Glee costar Lea Michele's Funny Girl: 'I can be triggered at home'
As recovering Gleeks will surely remember, O'Malley was with the musical teen drama from its first season to its last, playing Burt Hummel, the initially gruff but ever-loving father to Colfer’s Kurt Hummel. The father-son duo were the emotional crux of many a Glee plotline, from Kurt’s bullying trauma to Burt’s cancer diagnosis.
Glee introduced Criss’ Blaine Anderson in the show’s second season as a mentor and eventual love interest for Kurt. Though they endured a series of ups and downs — including a cheating scandal and a broken engagement — they would ultimately walk down the aisle and tie the knot in the Glee finale's timeskip.
Throughout Kurt and Blaine's romance, Burt played a pivotal role in assuring his son’s happiness with his future husband — including giving Kurt the push he needed to accept Blaine’s first proposal.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related: Darren Criss pitched a Sondheim-themed episode of Glee — which was nothing like the one that aired
Criss, who identifies as straight, has spoken at length about how meaningful it was for him to be one half of the beloved couple, also known as "Klaine."
"It was f---ing awesome,” he said last month at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2). “Nowadays, we just call it a relationship on TV. But to contextualize it, a gay relationship on mainstream Fox, that's a pretty cool thing to be a part of.”
He continued, "It meant a great deal to me, and it meant a great deal to other people. Because when people say they were affected by that show or that relationship, it's not because of me — it's because of that relationship on TV and the risks that people took to put that on TV."
Glee followed the adventures of a high school glee club led by an optimistic teacher (played by Matthew Morrison) hoping to create a space where talented students can find their voices. The series became a bona fide phenomenon after it premiered on Fox in 2009 — a ratings hit that also made a splash on the music charts thanks to the many tunes its characters covered across the show’s run.
While the series came to a close in 2015, some of its creatives and cast members have indicated an interest in seeing it revived.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.