GLEE Spinoff for 'Seniors' Nixed; Lea Michele, Cory Monteith to Return for 4th Season

There have been many questions and rumors regarding the fate of three of GLEE's main characters: Rachel (played by Broadway veteran Lea Michele), Finn (Cory Monteith) and Kurt (Chris Colfer).

GLEE creator Ryan Murphy had stated that he was looking into a spinoff for the trio, but according to TV Line, Fox Entertainment's president Kevin Reilly now says that "There will not be a Glee spinoff, but those characters will graduate."

That doesn't, as previously speculated, mean that the characters won't be returning. "It’s led to a very interesting idea that I think is going to really give us something cool to dig into next season," Reilly says.

He also confirms that Lea Michele and Cory Monteith would be back for a fourth season, but admits that co-star Chris Colfer may not be. "What I said before is creatively, we’d want everybody back. I’ve got to look at the contractual situation for all of those. And we will."

Though it certainly sounds as though GLEE will follow the storyline as Rachel, Finn and Kurt leave high school, Reilly isn't getting specific: "It’s cool. It’s different," he says.

Now in its third season, GLEE is a musical comedy about a group of eager and ambitious students who strive to outshine their singing competition to win Nationals while navigating the cruel halls of McKinley High. Since its debut, GLEE has become a bona fide cultural phenomenon, received prestigious honors including the Golden Globe and Peabody Award and singlehandedly made glee clubs cool again.

Read the TV Line article here.