Report: FOX’s “Glee” Expected to Get New Timeslot

FOX’s “Glee” changed it timeslot once in its freshman season–it moved from Wednesdays at 9PM to Tuesdays at 9PM once it returned from a lengthy winter hiatus. But given the fact that it now receives the “American Idol” lead-in and has become one of the top-rated shows on television (recently behind only both “Idol” airings and “The Big Bang Theory” each week), few “Glee” fans or staff members were likely to argue.

A rumored change for next year, however, will be a bit more disputed–the word is that FOX wants to move its breakout musical comedy to 8PM in the fall.

According to a rumored schedule posted by Variety, FOX is looking at moving “Glee” to 8PM on Tuesdays as a lead-in for new comedies “Running Wilde” and “Keep Hope Alive” (reportedly now called “For Hope’s Sake”). FOX’s supposed format for 2010-11 books all of its new fall shows in the 9PM hour (“Lone Star” on Mondays, the aforementioned Tuesday comedies and a new series on Wednesdays) in order to provide support from established hits.

Not to be confirmed by FOX until Monday morning, the change still, however, might not take place. “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy has reportedly campaigned hard against the timeslot move, and as “Glee” is performing so dominantly in its current timeslot, his side of the argument might have enough leverage to help “Glee” stay put. But as of Sunday, Variety’s sources believed the change was going to happen.