In the episode, Artie is obsessed with the King of pop. And in a heated opening scene, he faces off with Schuester - he’s fed up with the glee club kids’ never-ending harassment at the hands of bullies. The dream sequence begins when Artie literally stands up for himself. “I’m almost scared, because I want to do Michael justice,” says McHale. “My biggest concern is making sure we do something fresh while keeping its integrity.”

Ultimately, McHale and Shum encountered just one big obstacle to overcome: which one of them would take on the Janet Jackson role. Says McHale, “I asked Harry, ‘How high can you sing?’”