"Glee" Showrunner Ryan Murphy Wants His Next Move To Respect And Honor Cory Monteith's Life

After a long period of silence on the tragic event, Glee creator Ryan Murphy has finally spoken out on Cory Monteith’s death and the fate of the show from now on. Murphy explained that Monteith had been like a son to him and that the decision of whether to stop filming Glee out of respect or continue out of duty, had been one of the most difficult in the showrunner’s career.

Mental health is a priority in the wake of Monteith's sudden death.

“When you’re faced with something so sad and so shocking, what do you do? Do we cancel the show? Do we start shooting in January? What do we do?” he says in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “Ultimately, we decided the best thing for everyone is to get back to work and be around people who knew him and loved him so that everyone can grieve together.”

Murphy wants to display the utmost respect for Monteith and his character, Finn Hudson.

This autumn, Glee will return with a delayed premiere date – Sept. 26. The two already completed episodes, centered around Beatles tributes, will air in the following weeks, with minor alterations. Then the cast and crew plan to make and air a special tribute episode for Cory, “assuming they can get the tone right.” Afterwards, Myrphy wants the show to take a brief hiatus until January, in order for everyone to recover and get to grips with the situation. Above all, Murphy is now concerned with keeping the tributes respectful and maintaining the mental health of everyone on the Glee set. Ultimately, though Murphy explained that the decision was up to Cory's co-star and fiancee, Lea Michele

"The right thing to do for the show, at least at this point, is to have that character pass. When we do the tribute episode to that character, we'll have to do it in a way where the castmembers will not have to re-create feelings of grief that they’ve had this week -- but do it in an upbeat way," he says. "If we can do this responsibly and help young people through these feelings, that’s the best that we can hope for." Murphy says that they don't intend to tackle the tribute episode until after the memorial, as so much of the cast and crew are still making sense of their emotions.”

Ultimately, the decision will be left to Monteith's longtime partner, Lea Michele.