Dream On (Glee)

"**Dream On**"
"Dream On"
Glee episode
Episode no.	Season 1; Episode 19
Directed by	Joss Whedon
Written by	Brad Falchuk
Featured music	"Daydream Believer"; "Piano Man"; "Big Spender"; "Dream On"; "The Safety Dance"; "I Dreamed a Dream"; "Dream a Little Dream of Me"
Production code	1ARC18
Original air date	May 18, 2010
Guest appearances
	Neil Patrick Harris as Bryan Ryan; Jonathan Groff as Jesse St. James; Idina Menzel as Shelby Corcoran; Molly Shannon as Brenda Castle; John Michael Higgins as Russell; Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins; Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez; Paul C. Vogt as Herb Duncan; Heather Morris as Brittany Pierce; Harry Shum, Jr. as Mike Chang; Dijon Talton as Matt Rutherford;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Laryngitis"	Next →; "Theatricality"
	Glee (season 1)
	List of episodes

"Dream On" is the nineteenth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on May 18, 2010. It was directed by Joss Whedon and written by series creator Brad Falchuk. Neil Patrick Harris guest-stars as former glee club star Bryan Ryan. Working as a school board auditor, he threatens to cut the glee club out of the budget, bitter at never having attained his own show-business dreams. Rachel (Lea Michele) attempts to find her birth mother, and Artie (Kevin McHale) struggles with his desire to walk. The episode title is a reference to Aerosmith's song "Dream On", also performed during the episode.

The episode features cover versions of seven songs, four of which were released as singles, available for digital download, and three of which are included on the soundtrack album Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers. "Dream On" was watched by 11.59 million American viewers and received generally positive reviews from critics. Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune, Bobby Hankinson of the Houston Chronicle, Gerrick. D Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times and Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club all deemed it one of the best episodes of the season, while Aly Semigran of MTV, Entertainment Weekly's Tim Stack and Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal praised the musical performances. Blair Baldwin of Zap2it in contrast felt that the songs were inconsistent, and while Harris' appearance was generally well received, Eric Goldman of IGN felt that his storyline was lacking in impact.