Sue Sylvester puts the bite in 'Glee'

THE CHARACTER Sue Sylvester on "Glee"

WHEN | WHERE Tuesday night at 9 on Fox/5

WHO She's the season's breakout character on the season's breakout show - caustic, funny, smart, embittered, romantic, cruel, compassionate . . . and (we learned during "The Power of Madonna"), the lady's got a voice. Yes, Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester is TV's reigning potentate of glorious and often hilarious contradictions. (Tuesday night, she's outed as a fan of Olivia Newton-John.)

PHOTOS: Scenes from "Glee" and cast.

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR 'GLEE' CO-CREATOR IAN BRENNANWho really created Sue?

In early auditions, we didn't really know what the character [coach of the cheerleading squad] was; or at least, I didn't. . . . Jane kind of showed us what she could do, [and] we thought, ''OK, great.''

Why is she so important to "Glee"?

She's the counterpoint to the sweetness, pathos and heart of the show. It just cuts so succinctly and obviously that I think it actually makes it work better.

"Glee" got flack for the remark about Sarah Palin in some quarters, right?

The most innocuous line ever said on TV. The irony is that we're the News Corp. We are Fox . . . that was part of the genesis of it. [But] I just think she's fair game.

Can Sue step over the line to cruelty?

It's not total senseless cruelty, [but] there's a kind of specificity to its biting edge.

Where can you go with Sue?

When you have a character that smart and clever, there's no place that character won't go. There's a huge compassionate side to her [and] also a bright, optimistic level. . . . The more we can give voice to that, the character will never get boring.

(And by the way, even though Brennan writes most of Sue's lines, he says the star writes plenty herself.)