GLEE's Ryan Murphy Speaks About Cory Monteith's Death; Team Heads Back to Work in August Before 'Long Hiatus'

Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy has made his first public comments on the sudden and tragic death of cast member Cory Monteith from an overdose. Murphy told Deadline.com that, after discussing next steps with Monteith's girlfriend and co-star Lea Michele as well as the rest of the team, GLEE"s cast and crew will be returning to work next month.

"We will begin shooting in late August the two shows we had already written, so that people can physically go back to work," Murphy said. "We will then do an episode that will deal with the death of Finn's character and follow that with a long hiatus. I don't know exactly when we will come back, and we are trying our best with this attempt at damage control. We are planning a memorial for the cast and crew sometime this week on the Paramount lot."

Read the original report here.

The tribute episode will be written by Glee co-creators Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, but no decisions have been made about the angle or content. Michele will figure prominently in the direction the trio decides to take. The already written, two-part episode is a tribute to The Beatles; this is what the cast will film in August.

Responding to those who would have Glee take a longer hiatus before continuing work, Murphy said: "For many of the people we work with who are very young, and also for the fans of the show, this is probably the first time they have experienced death, and that was not lost on any of us here. I understand that everyone has their own way of processing grief. Every possible option was explored, and what we did was look to the people who loved Cory, who worked with him most, and specifically Lea. This is what they wanted to do."

He added: "They wanted to be back on the set, where there is a sense of security, and where they can grieve together and talk about him. When that happens, we will have grief counselors for the first two weeks to help everyone through it."

Murphy talked about being highly aware of Monteith's addiction and being "very invested in his sobriety". He told Deadline that he and others from Glee had organized an Intervention last March to urge Monteith into rehab. "...the only analogy I can think of is that he felt like an older son to me," Murphy said.

Talking about returning to work on GLEE, Murphy addressed the show's history of helping young people. "What we've been talking about in the writer's room is that maybe the way we deal with this tragedy might save the life of someone," Murphy told the site.

The series' executive producers, 20th Century FOX Television and FOX Broadcasting Company, have jointly decided to delayt the Season Five premiere of Glee to Thursday, Sept. 26 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX, rather than its orginal debut date of Sept. 19.

Monteith played loveable FINN HUDSON, the star quarterback of McKinley High who became a leader of Glee club New Directions. Outside of GLEE, Monteith worked closely with several charitable organizations, devoted to helping people effect positive change in their lives. In honor of his passing, The Following groups will be accepting donations in his name:

· Project Limelight Society: www.projectlimelightsociety.org

· Virgin Unite: www.virginunite.com

· Chrysalis: www.changelives.org/donate

Glee is produced by Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Century FOX Television. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan are co-creators of the series. Murphy, Falchuk, Brennan and Dante di Loreto serve as executive producers. "Like" Glee on Facebook and download the Facebook Fan Page app at www.facebook.com/Glee. Follow the series on Twitter @GLEEonFOX and join the discussion at #glee.

Photo Credit: FOX Broadcasting