Top 10 Hilarious Glee Running Gags

In a bizarre intimidation tactic seemingly unique to McKinley High, students would throw frozen slushie drinks on unsuspecting students - usually members of the glee club. The slushie facials became so well known that images of the colorful drinks were featured on promotional materials for the series. In later seasons, the on-screen slushies were made of a colored gelatin mixture, but earlier seasons actually used real frozen drinks. It just goes to show how dedicated the actors on
“Glee” were to their roles, and why they looked so believably shocked in those first slushie facials!

In a show full of incredibly talented performers, a weakness in ability really stands out. Unfortunately for Finn, this meant his less-than-stellar dance moves were totally obvious. When the glee club wore t-shirts bearing their biggest insecurities, Finn’s said “can’t dance”, so clearly it was an embarrassing subject for him. Still, his awkward and goofy dance moves were endearing in a way, and made the New Directions seem more believable as an amateur performing group. Truthfully, we’d give anything to see Cory Monteith bust a move in his signature style just one more time.

Ruthless cheer coach Sue Sylvester has zero tolerance for whiners, which she makes abundantly clear at least once an episode. One of her favorite ways to shut down complaints is to remind people that she’s done things much harder than whatever they’re complaining about. From getting waterboarded, to living with hepatitis, and getting rejected from the show Baywatch, Sue’s experienced many struggles in her life. One of these jokes was actually the very first line of dialogue in “Glee”’s pilot. Each joke was a bizarre and unexpected glimpse into Sue’s personal life and past, and really rounds out the amazing character of Coach Sylvester.

Everybody loves Brittany, but we can also agree she has terrible taste. This is obvious in the way she can often be seen bobbing her head and enjoying some objectively terrible performances and songs. Out of all the glee club, she’s the only one who seems to like watching Sugar Motta and Stoner Brett’s shockingly bad auditions. Brittany even once said that her favorite song was “My Headband”, Rachel’s original song that was literally about her headband. So the next time you ask yourself what kind of person would like the latest terrible song, the answer is probably Brittany S. Pierce, which is just one more hilarious reason why we love her so much.

Becky Jackson is one complex character, and one thing we’ll never understand about her is what exactly her problem is with xylophones. The first time we see Becky interact with a xylophone, she’s playing it before Sue’s morning announcements á la Blanche Hodel in Grease. But sometime after that things changed, as Becky seemed to have a personal vendetta against all the xylophones at McKinley. It seemed anytime she got angry, there was a convenient xylophone nearby for her to take her aggression out on, which made us laugh every time. It was such a hilarious and bizarre character trait that no one but Becky could pull off.

As McKinley High’s guidance counselor, Emma Pillsbury liked to prepare for her students’ questions with a wide array of very specific pamphlets. Each one seemed like it was tailor-made to fit the needs of a certain character. All of them had oddly intriguing titles such as “No Insurance, No Problem: How to Give Yourself Stitches” and “So She Moved in with Someone Else….OUCH”. Will even once gave her some homemade pamphlets to apologize after a fight. It’s safe to say she’s pamphlet-obsessed, and they might even be her own quirky love language, but she’s such a kind and sweet character that it comes across as genuinely endearing.

It’s unclear where this catchphrase came from, but it’s basically Santana’s version of “that’s what she said”. Anytime someone says something that could be interpreted as a sexual innuendo, Santana likes to point it out with this one simple word. It seems to have been originated by Santana herself, because although the word is sometimes used in British slang, it is more often used to describe someone pretentious or foolish, rather than an innuendo. Even though it’s not universally known slang, we still know exactly what Santana means when she delivers this line with a smirk that often adds levity to tense scenes.

Sometimes shouting at the Cheerios and plotting to destroy the glee club isn’t enough to satisfy Sue’s neverending rage, which is exactly how these rampages start. When things get too much for Coach Sylvester, she takes it out on everything around her, as she goes off on a furied frenzy of destruction throughout the school. The dramatic music that often plays in the background makes her rage even funnier, although it surely would be a terrifying scene for anyone witnessing it in person. Sue’s rampages became so well known the show even parodied itself by having Will go on his own rampage in a season five episode, further showcasing what an iconic part of “Glee” Sue’s fury had become.

From some of his earliest appearances on “Glee,” Sam was singled out for one unique facial feature: his larger-than-average mouth. Santana wrote her original song, “Trouty Mouth” based on this feature, and the nickname stuck. From that moment on, Sam became known as Trouty Mouth, or some variation of that name. Fans loved both the song and the nickname, and managed to convince Glee’s production team to release the track on iTunes purely through popular demand. The nickname is so hilariously accurate and clever we’re pretty glad it stuck around to become a running joke on the show.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Sue Calling Emma the Wrong Name

Everyone Thinks the Warblers Are Gay

Roz Washington Thinking Sue Has an Adult Baby

Calling Blaine Anderson “Blaine Warbler”

Lord Tubbington’s Eccentricities

Sue toyed around with various topics of insults for her rival Will Schuester, including his “butt-chin”. However, it’s clear to any “Glee” fan that her favorite insult topic is Will’s hair. She mocks his hair in a variety of colorful ways, telling him it’s way overloaded with product, the cut is unflattering, and she just doesn’t like curly hair. This running gag also connects to Sue’s deeper backstory, as she admitted she insults Will’s hair so often out of jealousy because she severely damaged her own hair in her youth. Still, she’s so brutally scathing with her comments, it’s surprising Will didn’t change his hair at any point in the series.