Cory Monteith Death: 'Glee' to Address Addiction Issues in Tribute Episode
"Glee" writers finally explained how they would deal with Cory Monteith's sudden passing from ingesting a fatal combination of heroin and alcohol. Shooting for the show is scheduled to begin at the end of this month.
"The third episode will write Finn (Monteith) out of the show. That episode will deal directly with the incidents involved with Cory's passing and the drug abuse in particular," Fox's Chairman of Entertainment Kevin Reilly revealed at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Los Angeles.
"Ryan [Murphy] will shoot some PSA's with the cast, who will speak directly to the audience. We will begin shooting in late August the two shows we had already written, so that people can physically go back to work. We will then do an episode that will deal with the death of Finn's character and follow that with a long hiatus," Reilly said.
He noted that sales of music from the show will go to benefit a foundation created in Monteith's memory. There has been no talk yet about what music may be featured in the episode. Monteith's character, Finn, was one of the most-featured on the series and was a huge hit with fans.
Creator Murphy spoke out about getting the cast back together for filming and praised Lea Michele, Monteith's co-star and real-life girlfriend, for her strength during this difficult time. He explained that nothing in the special episode would be done without her approval.
"We made no decisions without consulting Lea," Murphy told TVLine. "And she was very adamant that she thought it was best for the cast and crew to get back together sooner [rather] than later so that mortgages could be paid and people could take care of their families."
"If Lea had said to me, 'I could never do this again and I don't want to do this again,' you know, she is sort of the show, so what do you do? And I would've, out of respect to her as a person, said, 'OK,' but that's not how Lea operates; that's not how she feels," Murphy told E! News.
"Glee" will premiere on September 26 on Fox and air three episodes before going on indefinite hiatus.
