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Cory Monteith will be honored by “Glee” during an October 10 episode that will deal “directly” with drug addiction, Fox confirmed on Thursday (August 1). Monteith was found dead on July 13; it was later determined he died from a mixed drug toxicity involving heroin and alcohol.
“That is the episode where Cory’s character will be written off and will deal directly with drug addiction and with the circumstances surrounding Cory’s death,” Fox president Kevin Reilly said, though Deadline reports that he would not disclose whether Cory’s character, Finn Hudson, would die of a drug overdose during the episode.
Meanwhile TVLine reports that “it’s a possibility” that never-before-seen footage or outtakes of Monteith may be used in the episode.
PSAs starring the cast shot by “Glee” co-creator Ryan Murphy will reportedly air during the episode, and sales from the music will go to setting up a fund in the late actor’s honor.
According to E!, at the TCA, Murphy shared that Monteith’s on-screen and off-screen girlfriend Lea Michele has been a “pillar of strength” and “an extraordinary human being” in the weeks since his death. He added the cast will get back to work next week.
“You either deal with it head-on or you just disappear until January or February, and I think that’s not what people need right now from a position of leadership,” he said last month, sharing it was Michele who gave everyone the blessing to head back to work. “We decided that, but to reiterate it, I don’t want anything to feel rushed, and I feel like that’s why the third episode we’re going to take a long hiatus so that people can continue to feel taken care of and just pause and get the help that they need and not feel like we have to be rushing back.”
At Thursday’s event, Reilly noted that the show will likely end its run after season six. “I would not anticipate it goes beyond two more seasons,” he said, according to E! News. The show’s fifth season is slated to premiere this fall. He, however, added “Look, never say never, but there’s two very clear arcs to get to the end and conclude. If we discover a new crop of kids and there’s some breakout in life, who knows? But right now we’re just thinking about two more seasons.”
Following the news of Monteith’s death, “Glee” pushed back its premiere one week to September 26. The first two episodes of the show are still slated to be Beatles-themed. In addition to the “Glee” tribute episode for Monteith, a tribute is also planned for the Emmy Awards, airing in September. Emmy’s executive producer, Ken Ehrlich, said it will be “something that reflects an homage.”