As you might have heard by now, Carol Burnett has been cast as Sue’s (Jane Lynch) “Nazi-hunting” mother, Doris Sylvester and is set to appear in episode 7 of season 2, “Furt” (and that the two will also be singing together!). What you might not have heard by now is just what Burnett and Lynch will be singing:
My husband and I were having dinner and he said, “Why don’t you do ‘Ohio,’ since your character’s coming back to [the show's setting of] Ohio? You could sing, ‘Why, oh why, oh why, oh — did I ever leave Ohio?’” I talked to [Glee co-creator] Ryan Murphy — and nobody [at the show] knew the song because they’re all so young. I said, “Listen to it and see what you think.” They thought it was great. It’s funny, [later] they called my assistant and said, “We’re going to send over the music. We don’t know if Miss Burnett knows this song or not.” [Laughs]
Besides singing “Ohio”, here’s what else we can expect with Doris Sylvester:
Season 2, episode 8 might be her first guest appearance – but it won’t be her last. Burnett claims that even though she’s only interacting with Sue in this episode, the character of Sue’s mother won’t be a “one-off appearance”.
Source: TV OverMind, TV Guide