‘Glee’ To Lose Lea Michele, Cory Monteith And Chris Colfer After Next Season

Glee cast members Lea Michele, Cory Monteith and Chris Colfer will not be returning for the show’s fourth season.

Ryan Murphy said that the three will be among the characters who graduate at the end of the upcoming third season. He said: “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.”

He says that planning for a future beyond high school will be one of the themes during the third season, and that more characters are leaving than they are staying.

He adds: “We’ve never done anything by the book. 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. 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. 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. That’s what my senior year was about.”

Glee returns September 20.

We’re glad Glee isn’t going to drag out high school for these guys, but do you think it’s possible for the series to continue with out Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith? We’re interested to here what the fans have to say! Share your thoughts on Glee in our comment section below!