We heard last week that Australian actor Chord Overstreet, 22, would not be back at Glee next year. It made me wonder if Chord was getting a little too big for his britches now that he’s dating Emma Roberts, who has a reputation for being difficult. The news was in People and everything and Glee creator Ryan Murphy confirmed it to The Hollywood Reporter, so it sounded official.
Only someone at Glee later tried to take it back. A source told TV Line’s Michael Ausiello that Overstreet could possibly work on the series still. They made it sound like a contract negotiation issue: “[Overstreet’s] option to be a series regular was just not picked up at this time. If Chord wants to appear on Glee, the choice is his. The Glee writers like his Sam character, and have plans to write for him. He and his reps have been told that he is welcome back to Glee, and everyone hopes he will show up on August 10 when filming begins.” Glee was Chord’s big break, so he should stick around for a while.
Now there’s news that Season three, next year’s season from 2011-2012, will be the last for three of the main stars, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith and Chris Colfer. Their characters are set to graduate and creator Murphy explained that it wouldn’t be authentic if they stayed in high school forever:
Glee regulars Lea Michele, Cory Monteith and Chris Colfer will not be back for the fourth season of the Fox musical hit.
In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, series co-creator Ryan Murphy said that the three regulars will be among the characters who graduate at the end of the fall’s upcoming third season.
Colfer, Michele and Monteith are not going to be back at all for Season 4. Murphy tells THR: “You can keep them on the show for six years and people will criticize you for not being realistic, or you can be really true to life and say when they started the show they were very clearly sophomores and they should graduate at the end of their senior year.”
Murphy added that planning for the future beyond high school will be a heavy theme during Season 3, noting that “more characters are leaving than are staying” when graduation time comes at the season’s end.“We’ve never done anything by the book,” he said, adding that who’s graduating and who’s staying will be revealed in the Sept. 20 season premiere. “We made that decision and I involved Chris and Lea and they thought that was a good idea. They both trust the writing and trust me and felt that it would be great to have an open and closed experience for them to go out while they were on top.”
Murphy and co-creators Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan’s decision to graduate the trio — among others — has been well-received by the show’s new writers, he said. The group recently returned to work and are writing story lines that include several characters’ parents as the college talk heats up.
“We already made the decision before the new writers came in, but everybody likes where we’re taking it and what we’re writing toward,” Murphy said, noting that while he loved the “relationship roulette” from Season 2, the upcoming run would find everyone’s love lives more stable.
“I’m much more interested in Lea’s character — not so much on her relationship with Finn, but more on what her dreams are beyond high school and how she plans on getting them,” he added. “That’s what my senior year was about.”
Murphy acknowledged that while he hasn’t discussed graduation plans with Monteith yet, he presumes he’s aware that Finn will be among those graduating. “He knows he was a sophomore when the show started.”
[From The Hollywood Reporter]
Doesn’t it seem like there must be a lot of tension on set? Murphy is admitting that he never told one of the main stars, Cory Monteith, that next year will be the last he’s appearing on the show. So he told the press about it before he even bothered to give a heads up to Monteith. His response as to why was kind of shrug and “he should have known.” That’s ridiculous and unbelievable. We’ve heard about the long hours these kids work on set and it just sounds like Murphy is hostile.
Every since Murphy had all that Twitter drama and started calling out artists for not licensing their music to him I’ve soured on this show. Now that I see how unfairly the stars are treated, I have no regrets about not bothering to watch it this season.
Ryan Murphy:
Cory Monteith:
Lea Michele:
Chris Colfer:
Chord Overstreet:
Never watched.
He gets more like a bitter, mean old drag queen by the minute!
But IMHO, they already knew that. Cory is 29!!! yeah!!! 29. Next year he will be 30!
Lea Michelle will be doing 25 in august.
I didn’t expected Chris Colfer. Others will leave too. Mark Salling will leave too.
Chord Overstreet looks so much better without the ridicublond hair! And so much like McCauley Culkin!
I’ve stopped watching Glee now – it seemed to lose a bit of sparkle. All this stuff seems to confirm that it’s not much fun behind the scenes – and Ryan Murphy looks so sour! Not very Gleeful!
Ryan Murphey sounds like a serious ahole. Cory Monteith and Lea Michelle will probably be ok without Glee.. they were both working before and will likely work after, but I wonder about Chord Overstreet, Amber Reilly and the likes stars will quickly fade.
I thought the first season was great but this year everything fell apart for me and they lost me about halfway through the season.
I can’t imagine why they would let their most beloved characters go — why not follow their lives after high school? But nothing Murphy does makes much sense to me anymore.
I don’t watch Glee, but I do punish myself each week with The Glee Project. On which, Ryan Murphy seems like pure evil. He scares me!
I have a vision… I see the future… a lot of hasbeens… famewhores… their 15 minutes are up…
I do watch Glee-and while I admit it isn’t as good as the first season, it is enjoyable. I’ve also been watching the Glee Project-and I’m with @Francesca-Ryan Murphy is scary on that show.
i will watch Glee as long as Darren Criss is on the show.
p.s. there should have been a picture of Darren Criss even though he wasn’t mentioned, loool
best MALE star on that show by a longshot.
first of all, i’m not a glee fan.well,to be completely honest i hate it but i have to admit that killing of the main characters sounds kinda stupid…i mean would it be better to end the show?
Their characters are set to graduate and creator Murphy explained that it wouldn’t be authentic if they stayed in high school forever.
Seriously? Because it has never looked authentic to being with.
I. HATE. THIS. SHOW! I hate it because even though I have made the choice of NOT watching it Fox entertainment channels force their endless tv commercials down my throat. I have to be careful when I’m watching any of Fox related channel and put the tv on mute whenever the commercials start — because if I hear a single note from those horrible versions they make I’ll get murderous, I’m not kidding when I say I’ll spent the rest of the day hating everything and everyone. But some days ago I wasn’t fast enough and got to hear some notes of Thriller…they simply destroyed the song. One of the best pop songs of all time turned into soppy shit (you know, when your dog poops in the garden or backyard and it rains, so you won’t be able to pick it up using a shovel without having to wash everything with chlorine afterwards? Yes, that kind of shit).
Murphy seems like such a jerk – you don’t announce it to the press before telling someone their losing their job! Plus every show the guy’s ever done has had a good first season and then turned into a stupid mess, so he isn’t as great as he thinks he is.
I find it HILARIOUS that they’re worrying about “authenticity” and “reality” now. I stopped watching because it was so ridiculous.
I haven’t watched since the first season. Ryan is an asshole, how do you not tell someone they will be jobless soon and all you have to say is they should have known. Jerk
Ah…I used to love Glee but those kids are getting long in the tooth as they say. They never tell you their exact age on the Fox website; other than Kurt and Artie, they are all well over 25.
They could have easily kept it fresh with new kids. There are plenty out there with the talent and still in their teens. It is probably easier to write for characters that are already part of the plots – but then get new writers. Maybe that is part of the problem. Jane Lynch can do anything and she has been given the most god-awful plots to work around.
The music is fun but the plots are hackneyed and annoying. How many times can they loose? Or did they win this season. Who cares?
Chris Colfer needs to go to Broadway or some kind of musical theater after this…he is awesome! And I hope that bitch Lea Michele gets taked down a peg or two when this show is over and she realizes that everyone hates her attitude…everyone liked her in the beginning and all she had to do was act polite and be a lady but she blew it.
My conclusion is Ryan Murphy is to TV what Michael Bay is to film.
Also, Murphy makes it sound like their decision to graduate characters is so authentic and brave… hello, Ryan ever heard of Degrassi? And they do it without any of the cheeseball over the top crap your show has (yes I watch Degrassi over my teenager’s shoulder). Glee is like watching Up With People with some sex thrown in. Pass.
Lastly and more importantly @Eve I absolutely love your icon!
NY’s hottest club is…
@ Mia girl:
Lastly and more importantly @Eve I absolutely love your icon!
NY’s hottest club is…
“…Push. This club has everything; ghosts, banjos, Carl Palideno, a stuck up kitten who won’t sign autographs, furckles…”
Me too! I love my icon too! Stefon is by far my favourite character on Saturday Night Live.
I love Bill Hader and when he can’t stop laughing on Weekend Update — not like Jimmy Fallon’s annoying giggling (because he thought his jokes were smart and funny which they weren’t) but because he can’t control himself.
P.S.: have you seen this?
http://newyorkshottestclubis.com/
I’m with Eve’s comment
This show went downhill when it became the Kurt show with all these guest stars. Chris has gotten the best press out of it but I don’t see him going anywhere. The sad thing is these actors have given up their breaks to travel world wide to sing when they could have been establishing their careers more in other projects. Now these guys have nothing but Glee to point at when they go try something else. Lea Michele has the stage but I’m afraid Cory has really nothing.
The top picture is the cutest Chord Overstreet has ever looked. Regarding Murphy, he sounds like a depressed, spoiled, douche bag and if he doesn’t watch out, he will end up drowning his own baby.
This Murphy guy is such a bitchy dude. He irks the hell out of me!
I used to watch Glee. Raved about it to anyone who was listening after seeing the first episode. But after the 1st season it got ridiculous. The characters’ personalities change according to what artist/songs they are covering this week.
The emphasis on Darren Criss was the last straw for me. He’s a great singer but it got ridiculous! I didn’t tune in for the episode where he thought he might be ‘bi’ because all the fan girls think he’s too hot be a gay character and Murphy wanted to capitalize on it. Ugh. Gross!
This show is so dumb. Too many guest stars. Too many egos. Too little plot. It’s a joke.
I watched the first season and enjoyed it. Started the 2nd season and stopped around the 2nd episode. The show just seemed to be the same thing every week, just with different songs and dances. I love the songs and the dancing but there was virtually no plot–it just seemed like the writers wanted to insert as many super famous songs as possible into one episode that had nothing to do with an actual story. Also some of the characters really got on my nerves and the fake pregnancy storyline from the first season really bugged me.
Um, didn’t they say right from the beginning that the plan was to have everybody graduate and move on? Heck, if I recall in the last season finale there was substainal talk about going to college and life after high school, with Finn convincing Rachel to be with him in their last year. So yeah, it shouldn’t be a suprise to anyone.
I don’t watch the show, but I’ve just been hammered by the promos for that Glee talent search reality show this summer.
Given that the Glee actors were unknowns about five minutes ago, I gotta say the reality show cast seemed to have as much merit as the current Glee cast, and the reality show was building interest in them.
I couldn’t help thinking it was a great way to keep show-running costs down to replace the cast every few years with recruits from the reality show “farm team” (or make the cast feel replaceable, anyway).
@Eve “Fat Urkles! And after you’ve been with one of those guys you’ll ask yourself ‘did I do thaaaat?'”
Stefon is sublime and absolutely one of my favorite characters ever on SNL. Hader is inspired. And thank goodness they have not overused the character and run it into the ground!
“Look over there in the corner – is that Mick Jagger? No. It’s a fat kid on a slip ‘n slide. His knees look like biscuits and he’s ready to party.”
@ Mia girl:
I know it’s politically incorrect but when he talks about the “human ——” and explains it afterwards I can’t stop laughing. Like the “human suitcase”.
I’m laughing out loud so I have to stop now.
P.S.: I hope they don’t try to do the Stefon movie — that usually ruins all SNL characters (it’s like they won’t work on the show itself ever again because the movies usually suck).
@Eve
Totally agree about the movie. Although I could spend two hours watching Hader as Stefon and it would never be enough! If you are interested, you can get a Stefon t-shirt at the NBC store online.
@Kaiser & @CB – Bill Hader for HGF! That way Eve and I can chat some more about Stefon without taking over a totally unrelated post! Ha
@ Mia Girl:
I live in Brazil — so no Stefon shirt for me (unless I import it and that would be considerably expensive). Now I envy you to no end.
I’ve requested Bill Hader — or I said I was attracted to him on a HGF post. But I asked for him as Stefon. Yes, I’d totally hit it. Hard. With him making those faces and all.
Ok, let’s stop before Kaiser and CB ban us for highjacking the thread (I’m a repeat offender — have highjacked other threads like the one about Aniston where I kept talking about nail polishes).
Agree with most everyone – enjoyed the first season annoyed with the second season who in their right mind thought bringing on goopy was a good idea; also agree with those that doubt these people will have real musical careers,i.e., with real bands touring and playing live in large venues. WHo would be their audience – the cool kids dislike this show who fans of rock, indie, urban, c and w, they want musical careers but they aren’t greatly talented and they are tarnished by the Glee ties. I don’t see it happening: I concur with 8#
Um, wasn’t everyone in the same grade at the beginning? He’s gonna have to let most – if not all – of the cast go. Not that anyone would miss Lea Michele, but all the cute boys will probably make people stop watching. If they haven’t already. Look what happened when the announced Chord wasn’t a regular this season. You lose him, Puck and Finn and you’re left with no cute boys. Fail!
I do like a show that has a sorta fluid cast. But not realistic? This from a show in which half the cast of “high schoolers” is in their mid to late 20’s. Glee always seemed like it was on it’s way out lately, and I’m thinking getting rid of a portion of the cast won’t help.
As a side note, I generally do not think Chord Overwhatev is an attractive guy, but he looks better without the blonde beiber hair in his face.
I tried to watch this show several times, but I just don’t get the appeal. The music is AWFUL.
We watched the show fairly regularly the first season. This past season, it has really sucked. Way over the top ridiculousness, and/or same-old, same-old. The worst was the final episode. They go to NYC to compete for National Finals without any idea of what songs they’re going to do, (they’re going to write them when they get there!?!?) no rehearsals, nothing. Then they’re all shocked they don’t make it the Finals rounds. Who would enter something like this without hours upon hours of practice and rehearsal? Way to go, I thought, teach young people that they don’t have to work hard to accomplish anything.
I do not like Ryan Murphy. It has nothing to do with the fact he is gay. It has to do with the fact he’s an inauthentic, bitter “it’s everyone else’s fault but mine” attitude that he has. He really put me off with the whole kings of leon feud.
Hate this show. Can’t wait till its off the air or jumps the shark…which ever comes first.
This isn’t really new. A few months ago he said that it would be the last season for some of the actors. He just didn’t say who. Why he announced it to the press instead of the actors is ridiculous. I’m surprised by Chris but Lea and Cory are too old. They couldn’t stay on the show much longer.
I love all the actors on that show but losing these 3 he may as well cancel the show now! It wont be the same show without the same players. And how silly that they are all the same age in real life and we all know they arent high school age but because he thinks firing some of them as if they graduated will come across as believable?? plleeaasse! Glees 15 mins are long over. It was a good show while it lasted.