GLEE's Season 5 Cut Short by Two Episodes

The Hollywood Reporter reports that the current season of the FOX musical dramedy Glee will be cut short by two episodes. Instead of the 22 episodes which the series produced in the past, the current fifth season will only consist of 20.

According to the report, the shortened season is due to the production hiatus which the cast and crew experienced last fall, following the tragic passing of Glee star Cory Monteith. After filming a two-part Beatles tribute, and an emotional tribute episode to Monteith's work on the show, Glee took a month's break to allow those involved to deal with the unexpected passing of their co-star.

As of last week, the show shifted its focus on storylines set in New York City, where many of McKinley High graduates, including Blaine (Darren Criss), Sam (Chord Overstreet), Artie (Kevin McHale) and Mercedes (Amber Riley) joined their fellow New Directions alumni, including Rachel (Lea Michele) and Kurt (Chris Colfer.)

Despite a highly promoted two-part 100th episode celebration, ratings for the current season have been on a continual slide, with this week's total viewers falling below 3 million. The show earned a 1.0 rating in the coveted 18-to-49 demographic, matching its series low this week with a 0.9.

"Glee is still a great property to have on our air," FOX COO Joe Earley told THR. "There have been some scheduling challenges...but what we see is still an incredibly popular show with a lot of time-shifting."

Glee airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on FOX.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

To post a comment, you must register and login.