'Glee' season 3: No special guest stars, says Ryan Murphy

It's no secret that high school is a time of transition and so "Glee" -- a show about high school -- is maturing as it heads into it's junior year (aka season 3).

According to series creator Ryan Murphy, high-wattage guest stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and splashy tribute episodes (shows that revolve around a particular artist's songs) will not be on the syllabus for the upcoming season. Well, except for one.

"It's one I've been working on for two years," Murphy tells TV Line. "It took forever to clear -- with a really big artist."

But, says Murphy, season three will be all about character and, he adds, there will be big stories in store for characters like Mercedes (Amber Riley), Mike and Tina, Mr. Schue (Matthew Morrison) and, he says, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch).

"We have an amazing 20-episode arc for Jane Lynch that's quite fantastic," says Murphy. And -- shocker -- it won't involve plotting to destroy the Glee club.

"We've decided it's a little tired for Sue to be constantly trying to destroy the glee club. We did that, and we did that well. But now it's time for Sue to stop picking on the glee club and time for her to start picking on the country."

Murphy's decision to hire six writers for the upcoming season -- the first two seasons were written exclusively by him, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan -- now makes more sense.

"We now have a writing staff of nine people, and they're all great, heavy hitters," says Murphy, who adds that he has an endgame (rut roh, we've heard that before) in mind for the show. We know it at least involves the graduation of some of the show's biggest characters.

Beyond that, it's anyone's guess. Until the next interview.