In light of the recent death of series regular Cory Monteith, Glee‘s fifth season has been pushed back a week, from Sept. 19 to Sept. 26.
This reflects a decision by Fox and 20th Century Fox Television to delay the start of production until early August.
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The musical dramedy’s Season 5 premiere will now air at 9/8c on Thursday, Sept. 26.
The 31-year-old Monteith passed away July 13 in Vancouver from what an autopsy determined was “a mixed drug toxicity that involved heroin, primarily, and also alcohol.”
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A *week*? Seriously? I get that the show must go on, literally, but Fox has the power to give their cast some time to actually grieve … why not let them?
It might do them good to be together and to have something to do. Their grief must be profound because it’s such a terrible loss, but I don’t think I’d prefer to sit around with no purpose other than reflecting on how terrible the whole scene is. Everyone grieves differently though, so what works for one person might not work for another. I hope the set is plastered with psychologists and social workers who specialize in loss and trauma, though, whenever they start shooting.
So have they actually filmed season 5?
They have started season 5 with cory. but because of his death I don’t know what they are going to do
It initially appears insensitive, but the real question is when they actually begin production and how many episodes will be filmed for the fall season. I know they originally intended to begin filming this week so that probably won’t happen until sometime next month (especially considering the writers have to change many things). They likely calculated out how much of a delay the season 5 premiere would have due to a delay in production and came up with a week. Keep in mind that most shows have already filmed anywhere from 6-8 episodes by the time the season premiere airs. So it will likely be that they are only 4-5 episodes in when the season begins and might have a shorter fall season.
Of anyone I just hope Lea Michele is given the time to grieve. It’s important for her to go through her different stages of grief. Working might help now but it ultimately should be up to her. My heart really goes out to her. Losing someone you love so much is devastating.
It’s actually good if they cover “The Show Must Go On” on that tribute episode.
Because after all, it’s still a job and people have work to do. When a close friend or even a family member passes away, it’s hard, but you still go back to your regular life. Just because it’s a tv show, it doesn’t make it any diffrent.
I’m surprised it’s such a short delay. I thought they’d want to take time to make a proper plan and give people time to grieve.
Are they serious now? ONE week?
Yeah I’m
Surprised its not delayed until November. I don’t know how some of the actors will be able to act that soon especially lea.
A lot of people go back to work right after the loss of a loved one because all you can do at home is sit around and cry which isn’t healthy. I know people that have had their mother pass away and they went to work the day after the funeral because it was the only thing to do. I feel awful for his friends, family, and Lea Michele, but life does go on.
Wow, a whole week! Those people at FOX are so considerate.
….but no. I know work has to go on, but they should’ve waited till after the baseball playoffs or something.
A lot of people go back to work right after the loss of a loved one because all you can do at home is sit around and cry which isn’t healthy. I know people that have had their mother pass away and they went to work the day after the funeral because it was the only thing to do. I feel awful for his friends, family, and Lea Michele, but life does go on.
I’m surprised by this. They start production a month after his death, that’s surely not enough time to grieve. They should have delayed the premiere until after the world series.
1 week???? I thought that will be until November. That’s a bad decision
Don’t mistake the delay in airing the episode for the length of time they may delay production. And also keep in mind Glee is a business. How long does your company shut down if a death occurs? It’s sad that he died but life will always go on!
They can try but the show it tainted. Everyone will be looking at the fact Fin is gone and the sad way Cory killed himself. I hope they do cover drug abuse on the show, but regardless the Rachel and Fin relationship was the heart of the show it can’t recover from that loss no matter how much money they throw at it.
^Agreed. Speaking as a writer myself, Rachel and Finn’s relationship – at least to me – was the heart of the series, that’s just not something you can come back from. I’ve been wracking my brain to try and see a way this series can go on, but Finn was such an integral part to the show that no matter what way he is written out, there will be a hole in his place. It certainly won’t be the same show. Any character on that series other than Finn or Rachel could die, and they could possibly pick up the pieces, but the only real chance I can see them having now is if they cut New York out and keep it strictly in Lima.
Doubtful…if anything the fans will want to be seeing more of the old kids. Naya, Lea, and Chris will be front and center this season.
Without Cory/Finn the show is over for me. Finn was my favorite from the pilot. I watched the miserable crap of season 4 to watch Finn’s story. Season 5 was supposed to be huge for Finn, I was so excited for finally a story for Finn’s future. But, now that that won’t happen. Glee is not Gleeful anymore. I won’t be watching Glee anymore with Finn/Cory at the helm. I will watch Rachel’s part via tumblr depending on Lea’s decisions of what is best for her. The rest of Glee is junk.
Hmm. I didn’t think they’d push back at all, but if they did it would be after the MLB games.
I would think a month minimal, a week is pretty lame.
They pushed the start of the season a week, they pushed the start of filming about 3 weeks. So actually the cast is getting almost a month to grieve before going back to work.
A week is tacky and an insult to the cast.
Agreed. I will feel uncomfortable watching footage filmed so soon after Cory’s death, and there is no way they can give Finn a proper sendoff with so little time to prepare.
It’s two weeks of production. It’s just one week later that they start airing so they basically are gonna be behind schedule on purpose. It’s not tacky, it’s basically up to Lea and economics. Ryan Murphy isn’t gonna drag a distraught Lea on set. He had to’ve talked to her about how long she’d need and how she’d feel comfortable about the options for writing Cory out. She’s both his lead actress and the one who’ll have the hardest time having to act under the circumstances. If she feels she can do it, do you really think anybody else is gonna feel like they have the right to demand more time off to grieve? The crew gets paid to work by the hour. As traumatizing as it is, they need to pay their bills. People shouldn’t miss a mortgage payment because you thought it was tacky for them to go back to work. They miss Cory far more than you do. They knew him and they’re his work family. Let them do what they have to do, and look at the result to decide if you think it was artistically a good idea. Otherwise, let these people be. It’ll be weeks before you have to watch it anyway. It’s enough of a respectable grieving period for fans. If anybody individually feels they need more time, I suggest DVR.
Well said!
Beautifully stated!
People need to realize that production has been postponed for more than a week. That said, pushing back the start date a few weeks probably isn’t enough time.
Yeah, I heard production itself was pushed back 2 weeks. Still not a ton of time, but they couldn’t have decided on this without getting Lea’s input on what she can do and when she can do it. If Lea feels she can do it, nobody else is gonna complain.
Should’ve pushed it after the World Series, the show, like every series on FOX, get pre-emped in October for baseball anyway. Why not actually use another month or so to let all parties to deal with Monteith’s death, may it be grieving or replotting the series?
I agree, especially considering Cory’s girlfriend is also a cast member they should push the premiere back much further than just a week.
a week….. really?
It’s Glee and Fox so I kind of expected this, but it still just seems kind of harsh. Like sorry you lost someone you loved, but can you be here Monday at 8?
They’ll probably focus more on the new cast members maybe give the vets more time off.
I betting this also.
I am surprised how fast. But was telling. Friend they should take the first couple of new episodes and focus on Lima. Then come back with New York a couple if shows in. Gives Lea more time along with the writers time to figure out how to write it in. I do think the only logical way to go is to have Finn die. You have a whole episode as tribute and then it can be a plot line for the season as we see characters move on.
People need to calm down. As an earlier poster said, it’s premiering a week later. If they are starting early August it’s at least two weeks of a delay in production starting, since they were due back this week or next.
Have you considered that NOT ALL THE CAST MEMBERS will need more than a month to grieve? And that working and not thinking about the loss could help them to move on with their lives? I have gotta say that I felt like FOX should have given the writers and the actors a little more time to see what to do with the show, like 2 or 3 weeks. I think it would have been better if they had started like, recording the songs in middle August, shooting the performances in late August and shoot the rest of 5×01 in early September. That way, 5×01 could have aired like in the between of 1st and 15th of October.
People please shut up! They are getting 2 weeks off (The rest of July) which would have been them filming. They now begin filming in August, which is why the episode is premiering on September 26th. The show is AIRING a week later. READ FOR ONCE!
Only one week? Really? Not nearly enough time, especially considering that Lea is the main character of the show. If they stopped Bones’ production for 3 months when Emily was on maternity leave (not that she didn’t need it) why not give the Glee cast a little more time too?
One of the stars of the show just died, his girlfriend, the other star of the show is grieving… and they are postponing for a week? Seriously? In one week, the writers have time to change the storylines? the cast is supposed to find the way to get back to normal?
I’m more and more impressed with Lea Michele!!!
I hate to say it, but how long would your work give you off for the death of a friend? Even the death or a co-worker, I would say that even 2 weeks is more generous than most companies would be to their employees.
On the other hand, if your significant other dies, I’m betting you take all the leave you need.
A very dear friend (and co-worker) just lost her significant other of several years. After a week she had to come back to work. She didn’t want to, but it had to be done. It is the reality in the working world.
Well, that’s pretty awful. On the other hand, when my cousin died, my boss told me I had to use sick days or vacation days to go to his funeral, because the absence isn’t excused unless the person who died was a child, sibling, parent, or grandparent. So perhaps it’s to be expected.
How long do you need to grieve? I miss my grandfather everyday of my life but I go to work everyday. I know a woman who after the death of her mother went to work the day after the funeral because it is not healthy to sit around and cry. You need to get back to work and move forward or depression is only a matter of time.
Yes, but few have to reenact their grief in front of a production crew and have it broadcast for the entire nation to see.
I’m certainly not saying that going back to work won’t be hard for them, but the outrage against Fox for not pushing the season back further is a little uncalled for.
I have to agree–I’ve been a little surprised at what some have considered completely reasonable–months? It makes me wonder what bereavement leave is like at other companies.
There will be some it’s going to be horrible for, but for a lot of people that work on Glee, being off for months would likely impact their ability to pay bills–and as much as they liked and appreciated Mr. Monteith, they’re going to want to start moving on with their lives.
It sounds like they’ll have at least a few weeks off, and surely at least some work could begin then, even if the people closer to him need–and probably receive–special consideration and some extra time.
A week is plenty…how often do “normal” people get even a week for a coworkers death? I didn’t get one day for my grandmother!!. Yes this is tragic, but life goes on…. Everyone needs to settle down!
Now I’m suddenly afraid they’ll save the Finn tribute for November sweeps.
Oh my. Now that would be incredibly tacky. I really hope they don’t do that.
People here need to stop freaking out. Life goes on. You can’t expect the show to be delayed for months even though Cory was a big part of Glee. It’s still a buisness and its still a workplace for hundreds not just the cast. Im sure the cast will be fine and may even enjoy all being back together again to help move on from this tragic loss.
The thing that most bothers me about the fact that they’re back filming in August and the transmission is only delayed by a week is the fact that they’re giving themselves much less time to do everything. They were meant to start filming next week, which would mean 2 months between start and airing of the first ep but they also had the first two scripts written before summer so they were also ahead in that respect. I would have thought an October premier would have happened just so they had more time to get the new scripts and plotlines absolutely right.
But they wouldn’t be able to premiere in October, because baseball preempts all of Fox’s programming that month (hell, I’ve always argued Fox shouldn’t start ANY of their fall shows until after the World Series). Or they would be able to do one episode before baseball. If they are doing it this way, episode one will probably be a tribute episode to Cory, then they’ll use the second episode to quickly wrap up the cliffhangers and focus on the new kids a while.
Then they should have waited until November. It would help it a bit if the first episode is a tribute to Cory but they still would have to do extensive rewrites of the first two episodes as they apparently featured a lot of Finn. If they’re going to get preempted after 2/3 episodes anyway then they should have just given themselves that extra couple of weeks and started airing after the baseball
This is just silly, they will only have 3-4 episodes before baseball anyways, why not just wait until November? The writers really going to be able to write a whole season of story lines in an extra week? They need all the help writing that they can get.
Wow surprised it is premiering only a week later but I get that it’s a business and life has to go on. Maybe the two scripts already written stayed the same for the rest of the cast and were elaborated on while the FInchel material was just dropped. Just because the show is on does not necessarily mean Lea will be in the first few episodes. Maybe they will give her a few episodes off before writing for her.
Fox is so money hungry and disrespectful! A week?! Are you f-ing kidding me right now?
I really thought they might delay the show until midseason & then run uninterrupted. This would give them time to really do the story right, no breaks in the storyline when it airs, and gives time for the cast & crew to get themselves in a place to move on, especially Lea. I couldn’t imagine going back to that set right now.
I think they should have a marathon of glee to remember Cory..
They’re going to have to do some serious re-writing to explain his permanent absence, but also re-work entire plot lines involving Rachel, Kirk, and others. It wouldn’t surprise me if this ended up being the last season of Glee as Finn was a pretty central figure in the show. I haven’t watched in a couple years, but I’m curious to see how, as a show, they’re able to recover from this.
Nope, they got a two year renewal….it’ll be on at least that long. One employee dying from a multi-millionaire dollar enterprise isn’t going to change that.
I have to agree… life goes on. It isn’t disrespectful to anyone. It is how the world works. Being Glee, I don’t imagine that there are deep and layered plotlines that will need to he altered.
I haven’t watched the show in years, but I’m curious to see how they handle this. The “flash forward a few years” idea isn’t realistic, since they’d have to recast the entire show. I actually think they should address it head on and let Finn die. This is a valuable lesson for the kids who watch the show.
They really should have just delayed it till November. They probably were already going to be preempted sometime in October as usual because of baseball (or whatever sport). They should just leave it till then to premiere it. What I think they might be doing is just having the premiere episode in September be a tribute to Cory and then take a break and resume in November. However, I really don’t like the idea of them premiering in September and then taking a month off like the usually do. I’d prefer a straight through fall run with a midseason break.
It’s sad that he died, but Glee is a business employing hundreds of people, most of them being paid by the hour. Just remember, if the crew isn’t working, they’re not getting paid. Personally, as sad as it is, I can’t afford to be out of work for a month because one of my coworkers died.
This is definitely a sensible way to view it. They delayed their shooting schedule till August which I think is more than reasonable. There are hundreds of people who need to work and earn to support themselves and their families. Cory’s death was really sad, but they can’t stop people from working for like a month. Now keeping this in mind, they should still delay the premiere date further even though they are still filming new episodes. That way, people still remain employed and viewers will hopefully have a straight through run of episodes with minimal breaks
Thank you! I get that people are horribly horribly sad about Cory –myself included– but when it comes down to it, Glee is a business. They employ a crap ton of people and these people need to be paid. Also, just because production starts early August, doesn’t mean they’ll be filming immediately. Since there are rewrites, they’ll most likely need to redo sets, rearrange songs, have the actors come in for fittings, etc. As for Lea, I am positive that the producers will let her come back on her own terms –especially in the beginning.
I think that a one week premiere delay is fine. The cast members who are ready to begin production in early August can go ahead. Those that aren’t can just be in later episodes. As long as they do a tribute to Cory a week before the new premiere and have the premiere episode be a tribute to Finn the show will be alright.
As much as I think it might be too quick, I think that some are forgetting how many “regular” people are on the crew. Not just cast that might be affected by too much of a delay. These are the people who don”t earn millions, regular folk who have mouths to feed. A longer delay puts these people’s lives in turmoil. Grieving while working hard is probably not a bad thing.
Not soon enough. The premiere should be delayed until winter.
I don’t believe Cory would ever want the crew to suffer/lose money because of him, I only pray that the writers/Fox etc take the loss and pain Lea is going through in there plans as to how they go forward with there story. Please don’t make her suffer more!
One this is for sure: With no time to prepare, the quality of the first few episodes and the inevitable tribute to Cory/Finn will be awful. They could have taken some time, honored Cory properly, and maybe have been able to salvage the show. What a shame. No one cares about the new cast right now, and I know I won’t be tuning in to see them come December.
Only a week? Jeez I thought they would delay it by at least a month or so. I love glee I do but the stars need time to grieve. I think FOX could easily change it and put something else in its place. Poor form if you ask me.
Reality check. He died (god rest his soul) last week and it’ll have been a month by the time they start filming. Get over it.
What if one of your colleagues died? And what if your company decided to shut down for six weeks to allow everyone to grieve, and you weren’t going to get paid during that period?
God, most of you people are stupid.
Agreed. The notion that it’s the responsibility of the fans to “allow time for everyone to grieve” is incomprehensible to me. This is business. Some people must really believe this is their family and their personal friends to think they should take it upon themselves to “allow time for everyone on the show to grieve”. To assume they have any say in the matter is beyond arrogant or, is as you put it and I agree, stupid.
I hope everyone in here screaming “A WEEK??!!” feels dumb when they reread the article.
I think they will probably kill Finn off in some “endgame” romantic way, like on his way to surprise Rachel when he finds out she got the Fanny Brice part. I also wonder if Jonathan Groff (Jesse St James) will come back as the male lead. I know he’s about to start a new HBO series but I wonder if he can do both.
Personally, I would love to see Jonathan Groff come back. He is so talented and just a great character. Plus it would probably help Lea out too. I know he has his HBO show, but they only film 10 or so episodes and he could jump in quickly.
Wow. How tasteless is FOX? One week isn’t much of a time to grieve. I will be seriously surprised if Lea Michele returns to the show at all.
If she doesn’t she’s in breach of contract so she will be back or face a lot of legal issues.
And how clueless are you to just blame Fox? Gee let’s give them an extra week to spend on the sofa sobbing. That’ll help.
Before criticising Fox (they’re such an easy target), did you guys ever stop to think that maybe the cast and crew are okay with the short delay? (actually it’s a delay in airing, the delay in shooting is longer, they’re two different things.) Maybe they thought the best way to honor Cory is to get back to work and do a great job on the next season of Glee? Maybe the delay is purely because the writers have to figure out how to write out Finn. Maybe Lea and some of the Glee veterans won’t be in the first few episodes at all? We don’t know the full motivation behind the decision to move the air date by a week. But, life goes on, even if you lose someone close to you, and majority of folks on here who’re screaming ‘not long enough!’ have never even met anyone in the cast of Glee, so you have no idea how they deal with death.
Same goes for those who were criticising Lea for not Tweeting her thoughts about Cory when the story broke. I’m sure the first thing in your mind when you lose someone you deeply care about is “Oooh! I gotta tweet about that!” if it is, there’s something seriously wrong with you.
FOX wouldn’t have reached that decision without consulting the cast and crew first. Life must go on, everyone, and sometimes throwing yourself back into something you love is the best way to deal with grief. Don’t presume to know what the cast wants right now.
In my opinion, a week is not enough. I understand ‘the show must go on’ and it might take their mind off the tragic loss of their close friend, however going back to that set will bring floods of memories back. Early August is just a week later than filming was originally planned. If Lea is coming back full-time, she will not be ready for this in any shape or form, regardless if she’s in the season premiere (which I expect she would be). That’s basically two weeks from now, meaning Lea and the rest of the cast have only had three weeks to grieve the loss of their boyfriend/friend. I know it would create a massive issue for FOX scheduling-wise, but I’d have thought maybe a better idea would be to schedule filming for November and have the season premiere in January. I mean even if they started filming late Sept-October they could then film more episodes in advance and avoid the hiatus, therefore from January play the season through without breaks. It would give the cast & crew a more comfortable atmosphere to work in, and hopefully by then they’d be able to remember Cory and relish the good memories they had with him, instead of the understandably somber feel on set. My thoughts and prayers with Cory’s family, friends, Lea and the cast. Such a tragic loss, I am truly heartbroken, Cory was one of my idols. RIP buddy <3
I’m really perplexed by all of the “one week??” comments. Isn’t that normal?