'Glee' Season 5 to be pushed back to November?

Credit: FOX

In the wake of Cory Monteith's tragic death, FOX is now considering delaying Glee Season 5 until November.

According to New York Daily News, FOX officials began talks on Monday about how to handle the death of Monteith, who was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room on Saturday at the age of 31. A coroner's report revealed that the cause of death was the result of "mixed drug toxicity" due to the presence of alcohol and heroin in the actor's system.

The FOX brass is reportedly seriously considering delaying production for about a month, “to let everyone breathe,” said a FOX source. The fifth season of the show was set to begin production next week. FOX has originally planned to premiere the fifth season on Sept. 19 to get a jump on the postseason Major League Baseball coverage, which messes with the network's primetime schedule every year. But Monteith's death requires a drastic reworking of the first few episodes of the season, in which Monteith was expected to be featured prominently.

It's unknown, at the moment, how the hit FOX comedy, which has already been renewed for season 5 and 6, will address the actor's death within the world of the show. His character, Finn Hudson, had been written out of the last few episodes of season four to allow for Monteith to enter rehab. However, the character was expected back for the season five premiere in a substantial role.

So what are the options for showrunner Ryan Murphy?

With Hudson having been written out in the latter part of season four, it's entirely possible that the show will opt not to have the character pass away off-screen, but instead state that the character has left and will not be returning. In a way, it would be kind of a sweet tribute to know that although Monteith is gone, Finn Hudson still lives out there somewhere, figuratively. However, in these situations, showrunners tend to have the character pass away so that the series can offer an episode that serves as a tribute both to the character and to the performer, in addition to allowing the cast to say goodbye in their own way.

But is that really something audiences would want to see? With Lea Michele reportedly "inconsolable" following Monteith's death, it might not be wise to put her onscreen and force her to deal with her boyfriend's death in front of a camera. His castmates all loved and respected him, and they likely would want to pay tribute to him in some way, but perhaps a one-hour special in which the castmates talk about their late friend would be better than situating Monteith's very real death within the context of a fictional world? It's hard to know, and Ryan Murphy is in a bit of an impossible situation, in that no matter what the Glee showrunner does, he's likely to upset someone. But a person died, and at some level, Monteith's absence must be addressed -- particularly given the size of the figurative void Monteith's death will leave behind.