Lemondrop

Joss Whedon, master of the Buffyverse, has signed on to direct an episode of the musical/comedy/drama "Glee." He's not writing and likely there will be no vampires or space cowboys, but in the director's chair he'll still have a good deal of influence and will hopefully bring a bit of that signature style to the show.

Even though we already love "Glee," it never hurts to bring in someone already credited with one of the most innovative musical episodes of a television show in recent memory -- Buffy's "Once More With Feeling." So what can Whedon bring to "Glee"'s table?

1. Half the Cast Dies by the End
It's just not a Whedon drama (or action, or comedy, or anything) if everyone survives to the end of the story. Sorry, wheelchair kid and non-Quinn Cheerios.

2. Unexpected Casting Choices
Whedon killed with this in the past. The English guy from the Taster's Choice commercials as Giles? Becky's punk husband from "Roseanne" as Doyle? Nathan Fillion as an insane preacher? Good times. All "Glee" needs is a foreign exchange student to be played by Miley Cyrus with a German accent.

3. Cliffhanger
Few television directors could pull off a cliffhanger with quite the same style as Whedon, not to mention "Angel"'s ultimate cliffhanger which ended the whole series as a question. If the episode ends with Will and Sue trapped in an elevator with shaky brakes and no hope of escape, it can only be a good thing, right?

4. Emotional Punches in the Face
Whedon can turn from comedy to tragedy on a dime and make an audience feel uncomfortable and lost. If you saw the episode in which Buffy's mother died, you know how powerfully he can stage a scene. Translating that into musical comedy has to be fairly simple. Just diagnose someone with a tragic but curable disease so it can turn out all right in the end. We nominate the underrated Principal Figgins.

5. Angst
Nothing appeals to the youngs out there quite like angst. Brooding, moody, dismal situations breed tons of angst, and touches viewers on a very basic level. "Glee" and angst go together like milk and cookies. Have someone sing "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails (or Johnny Cash, if that's your thing) to the tune of "Walking on Sunshine," and you'll get all the glee and angst you can handle.