R.I.P. Cory

Wow. What a shame.

Glee star Cory Monteith is dead at 31, his rep has confirmed.

The Canadian-born actor, a.k.a. football jock-turned-Gleek Finn Hudson, was found in a Vancouver hotel room yesterday. A cause of death was not evident at the scene, and no details have been released about the scene except that foul play is not believed to have been a factor. An autopsy is set to be performed tomorrow.

So, so sad. (Check out some of Monteith’s most memorable moments on Glee.)

Monteith, who has been open and candid about his past struggles with drugs and alcohol (his family staged an intervention when he was 19, and he managed to turn it around in his twenties), had recently had some sort of relapse. Or something.

The guy completed a rehab stint at the end of April and was seemingly on the mend, looking forward to work, and enjoying his relationship of one year with co-star Lea Michele, whose rep ask that folks respect her privacy at this “devastating time”.

Photo: BuddyTV.com.

Update 1: Click here for celebrity reactions to the sad news, from his Glee co-stars Kristin Chenoweth and Dot-Marie Jones and his Monte Carlo co-star Katie Cassidy, as well as others like Lance Bass, Kim Kardashian, and Mario Lopez.

Here for more, from Glee stars like Harry Shum Jr. and Lauren Potter, as well as Kaley Cuoco, Nina Dobrev, and Joel McHale.

And here for a statement from the producers of Glee.

Update 2: Matthew Morrison also has echoed his shock and sadness over Monteith’s passing by dedicating his performance of “What I Did for Love” during his Up Close and Personal with Matthew Morrison show at 54 Below in New York City tonight.

Meanwhile, former Glee guest Gwyneth Paltrow, also has expressed her sorrow over the news. So has his co-star and friend Naya Rivera.

Update 3: The British Columbia Coroners Service announced on July 16 that the actor died of “mixed drug toxicity.”

It seems Monteith did, in fact, relapse, as heroin and alcohol were found in his system.

Such a shame.

Keeping Up with the Times

In order to drum up some buzz for its upcoming season, Fox will “tweet-peat” last season’s penultimate episode of Fringe and the pilot episode of Glee this week, meaning the network will broadcast the reruns with real-time commentary from the shows’ producers and stars.

The Fringe father-and-son duo of John Noble and Joshua Jackson will tweet during the show’s Thursday rerun (@FringeOnFox), while on Friday, Glee’s Kevin McHale and Lea Michele will tweet a director’s cut of the show’s pilot (@GleeOnFox).

Fox will run a scroll of the commentary of these tweets, so you don’t have to be on Twitter to read the feeds – they’ll be right there on your TV.

I’m almost seduced by this idea. Almost.

On a Glee-related note, Columbia Records will release multiple soundtracks from the upcoming first season of the show.

Glee: The Music, Volume 1, featuring cast covers of songs by artists from Neil Diamond to Kanye West, will be available on Nov. 3. The Glee cast’s cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” from the May pilot, was an iTunes smash.

Photo: Boston.com.

Update: And in more Gleeful news: We have us a track list for the first Glee soundtrack!

More Glee? Yes Please!

TV is not dead – in fact, it’s quite Gleeful.

Fox has picked up Glee for a full season.

The musi-com originally had received a 13-episode order from the network, but after seeing the show perform solidly, Fox decided to pick up its back-nine option and bring the total number of first-season episodes to a full 22.

They said they wouldn’t stop believin’ – and it worked.

Bring on the more Matthew Morrison & Co.!

Photo: TimeOutNY.com.

Update: I cannot wait to see the Sept. 30 episode of Glee now that I know it’ll feature Emmy winner Kristen Chenoweth as a glee-club alumna – and a rousing rendition of Queen’s “Somebody to Love.”

A Most M-errific Glee

You know how a few months ago Madonna said Glee could use some of her songs for an upcoming episode of the show?

Well, the show’s producers have picked 10 songs that span the Queen of Pop’s entire career, from “Burning Up” to “4 Minutes.”

Also included in the mix: What I can only anticipate will be a very Kurt “Vogue,” and a very Rachel “What It Feels Like for a Girl.”

Click here for a complete list, and start marking off the days in your brand new calendar – Glee returns in the spring.

Photo: iVillage.com.

Update: It looks like “Borderline” and “Open Your Heart,” which are also on the powers that be’s wish list, will be mixed into a medley.

Click here for more M-Glee deets.

Glee Beliebes

Now this is how you get viewers of a certain (young) age to tune in: you do a Justin Bieber episode.

That’s what Glee is planning on doing next month, which is already shaping up to be quite eventful, what with their Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day installments.

Although details are scarce, this much is known: the Bieber-centric episode of the hit TV show is tentatively set to air on Feb. 15.

Photo: JustJared.BuzzNet.com.

Update 1: That Feb. 15 episode, it’ll mark the return of Gwyneth Paltrow as Holly Holliday, who’s coming back to romance Matthew Morrison’s Mr. Schue.

G.P. will be back on the show for not one but two episodes. Yay!

And get this, Glee is also planning on taking on Lady GaGa’s “Born This Way,” her about-to-drop new single.

And Kristin Chenoweth is coming back toward the end of the season for a multi-episode arc.

Update 2: Not so fast with the excitement, Beliebers.

Turns out, Glee isn’t doing a full Justin Bieber episode, just using one of his songs. “[We are] not doing a Justin Bieber tribute episode. We are not doing any more of those this season. Those are reserved for artists with a big catalogue, à la Madonna and Britney, etc.,” said Ryan Murphy, the show’s mastermind. “[What we do do i]s a small part of a big episode that has a lot of other things going on.”

Glee Gets M’s Music

I heart Entertainment Weekly because it always brings me good news.

This week’s cover story on Glee, officially my favorite new TV show of the season, breaks the news I’ve been anticipating for a while now: Madonna has agreed to let the show use her catalog.

Beloved by critics and fans, Glee has been building on its promise since its debut last spring.

Madonna’s involvement so def is a testament to how big the show is getting – and now Quinn Fabray’s (Dianna Agron) story line can get what it so obviously was meant to have all along: a “Papa Don’t Preach” number.

An all-Madonna-music episode is in the works for early next year.

If the Gleeks should win the finals, they sooo should do “Celebration.” In fact, get the Queen of Pop to guest-star as a glee club teacher or something.

Photo: Guardian.co.uk.

Glee to the Stage

Glee has gone from being on everybody’s lips to barely discussed and back – but not for the happiest reasons lately.

So let’s focus on the good for a change again, OK.

The musi-com has transcended its reach from the tube into the recording and touring industries, and now it is set to expand into theater.

Indeed, a Fox exec has revealed that a live stage musical based on the Ryan Murphy feel-good show is in the works.

No time table for a curtain call was shared, but given that Glee has at least two more seasons to go on television one could guess that Glee: The Musical could debut in 2015.

Photo: Fox.com.

Diversity Makes Life Gleeful

The cast of Glee will receive the 2009 Diversity Award for favorite new diverse ensemble cast on Nov. 22.

The show mixes jocks and cheerleaders with a boy in a wheelchair, a geeky girl, a gay student, an Asian goth, and an overweight African-American girl to tremendous effect.

“The bunch are determined to overcome the odds and make it to the big time both in high school and the world beyond,” said the Multicultural Motion Picture Association, which presents the awards, in a statement.

The cast of Glee is on a roll – and everywhere. Watch as they performed the national anthem before of game 3 of the World Series on Halloween:



Now, how long do you think before the Glee backlash starts?

Graduating

Chris Colfer, Lea Michele, and Cory Monteith will be out of a steady gig at the end of next season, according to Glee creator Ryan Murphy.

No, the actors didn’t do anything to piss off the show’s mastermind – he just wants his high school-set hit to stay true to its setting.

Just ask Chord Overstreet.

“[They] are not going to be back at all for Season 4” Murphy has revealed. “You can keep them on the show for six years and people will criticize you for not being realistic, or you can be really true to life and say when they started the show they were very clearly sophomores and they should graduate at the end of their senior year.”

Sounds pretty sensible, I think, especially because Glee has managed to create, rather consistently, a world inhabited by characters ripe for the picking.

Still, it’s a pretty bold move to just plan to do without three of a show’s pillars, even if that show is as successful as Glee.

While there’s already chatter of a spin-off set in Manhattan for Colfer and Michele out on the blogosphere, I don’t see it happening. The former is already expanding his wings in Hollywood and making a name for himself separate from the show, and the latter, well...she has that voice and her eye set on film (ditto Monteith, who currently can be seen in Monte Carlo).

So I think the kids are going to be a’ight. And we, as an audience, will be kept engaged in a brand new way.

Photo: Exposay.com.

Lea Michele and the Teens Remember Cory Monteith

Lea Michele made her first official public appearance following the accidental death of her Glee co-star and boyfriend Cory Monteith this evening.

The actress attended the Teen Choice Awards in L.A., and took the opportunity when she went on stage to collect her Choice TV Actress: Comedy surfboard to give thanks to her fans and those of the show for their continued support throughout this difficult time.

“[Cory] was very special to me and also to the world, and we were very lucky to witness his incredible talent, his handsome smile, and his beautiful, beautiful heart” Michele said fighting tears, with some of her co-stars behind her (Glee won the Choice TV Show: Comedy honors).

“I promise that with your love, we’re going to get through this together.”

Glee, which will kick off its fifth season next month, plans to honor the late actor, and address the fate of his character, Finn Hudson, during the third episode back.

Photo: People.com.

Emmy Likes Her Blood New

Last night, Emmy put on quite a show.

The big winners of the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Fallon (who was fantastic), were shows both old (AMC’s Mad Men) and new (TV’s Modern Family – yay!), and us, since the show ran at a nice pace and on time. And while I’m at it: What...an opening!

HBO, in what has become a bit of a tradition, ruled the miniseries and movies categories, taking home a lot of hardware for The Pacific and Temple Grandin. Claire Danes won and Emmy for her work on Temple Grandin, while Al Pacino picked up one for You Don’t Know Jack.

Emmys for acting in comedy went to Eric Stonestreet and Jane Lynch for their supporting roles on Modern Family and Glee, respectively; Edie Falco for her leading performance on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie; and Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory.

On the drama side, the men of AMC’s Breaking Bad, third-time winner Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul (a first-timer), picked up trophies for their leading and supporting work on the show, while Kyra Sedgwick finally bagged her first Emmy for her turn on TNT’s The Closer, and the exquisite Archie Panjabi received her first for her enigmatic role on The Good Wife.

Top Chef unseated champ-of-many-years-in-the-Reality-category The Amazing Race, and – sorry, Conan! – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart won yet again in the Variety Show race.

For more winners, click here.

And now on to the important stuff: the fashion.

It was a night to wear navy blue or white, with several lady-stars favoring the former, like Glee’s Lea Michele, who did her strapless Oscar de la Renta blue gown proud, Jane Krakowski, and Michele’s co-star Jayma Mays in Burberry; while many others, like Rose Byrne, Julie Benz, Kelly Osbourne, and Kim Kardashian, opting for the latter.

Choosing color was Danes, who stood out in a sparkly Armani Privé. Ditto January Jones, in a love-it-or-hate-it structural cobalt blue Versace; and Keri Russell, whom adored and thought was completely pretty in vintage pink Jean-Louis Scherrer.

Sticking to not-so-basic black was Heidi Klum, who totally...uh...excited me in her mini-Marchesa.

Having said all of this, though, I can’t decide on whether any of them was truly the best dressed of the night (Russell has a clear edge because she is who she is).

I just thought they all played it super-safe, y’ know.

The worst is easier: Naya Rivera from Glee. The too-high hair, the too-high slit on the dress, the color of the dress.... Eek, the whole thing made me want to egg her off the carpet.

Photo: EW.com.

Joining the Club

Glee star Lea Michele’s in for a bit of a reunion.

Michele, a.k.a. Rachel, the ultra-competitive vocalist on the show, will welcome her old Spring Awakening co-star Jonathan Groff, who has signed on for five or six episodes playing the lead male singer of Vocal Adrenaline, the group already seen performing “Rehab” and “Mercy” earlier this season.

“He is a male diva,” said Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy. “A miva.”

And, natch, sparks will fly between Rachel and this new dude.

I cannot wait for that duet.

Photo: EW.com.

Update: OMFG, Gleeks! Joss Whedon is going to direct one of the back nine episodes of Glee that Fox has ordered.

Kate Full of Glee

From the (first) looks of Kate Hudson on Glee, the sexy she brought to silver screens Nine was just a preamble.

And I likey.

The actress will be guesting on the show as Cassandra July, a NYADA dance instructor of Rachel’s (Lea Michele).

Unlike the roles she usually taken on, though, Hudson’s latest character is described as a bit of a witch with a B.

“She has her own demons,” said Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk. “She works by negative.”

Sounds like not a lot of fun...but, then again, lots.

Photo: EW.com.

Update: Click here to watch a preview of the show’s premiere, kids.

Chace Toward Glee

Anyone who reads the gossip magazines knows that Chace Crawford and Matthew Morrison are like, BFF.

Wink, wink.

Anyway. It should come as no surprise then that, at long last, C2 is set to guest on M2’s Glee.

Crawford has landed a non-singing-as-of-now part on the show’s upcoming 100th episode, which also will mark the return of several original cast members (like Dianna Agron, with whom he’ll be paired), as well as MVGS likes Gwyneth Paltrow and Kristin Chenoweth.

The landmark 100th episode of Glee will air in two parts in March.

Photo: ChaceCrawford.Fansblog.it.

Going Chord-less

McKinley High is in for some changes next season.

It was reported right before the holiday that one of last season’s breakouts on TV’s Glee, Chord Overstreet, will not be back on the show as a series regular next fall.

Fan favorites Darren Criss and Harry Shum Jr., though, have been upgraded to full-time status.

The announcement falls in line with what Glee creator Ryan Murphy said last month about how Glee will not be one of those shows set in high school in which nothing ever changes.

It also kinda leaves the budding romance between Overstreet’s Sam and Amber Riley’s Mercedes TBA, huh.

Photo: PopBytes.com.

Glee Gets Britd

After some campaigning on Twitter, Britney Spears is getting her wish of seeing Glee give her the same treatment it gave Madonna last spring: her own episode.

To make matters even better (and quotable!), the episode – the second one back next season – will revolve around New Directions’ scene-stealing Brittany (Heather Morris).

“Heather’s actually got a terrific voice,” said show mastermind Ryan Murphy.

I guess we’ll find out just how terrif in the fall (Glee comes back on Sept. 21).

Photo: CoventryTelegraph.com.

Life’s Better with a Little Glee

Now this is how you build your buzz.

A new performance scene from the upcoming Fox show Glee has made its grand debut online. Watch as Mercedes (played by the in-charge Amber Riley) does Jazmine Sullivan’s “Bust Your Windows” justice:



Glee will premiere on Sept. 9.

A Glee Sneak Peek

I die!

Oh my goodness, Gleeks – how would you like to be among the first to watch the spring premiere of Glee?

Fox and 20th Century Fox Television are giving fans the chance to catch a preview of that much-anticipated episode, and Miami has been chosen to host a hot-ticket charity screening on Thursday, April 8, at 7 p.m., at AMC Aventura.

Exciting, huh. Go get a hanky and come back for the deets.

Alright: Tickets are $15, and all proceeds will go toward the Grammy Foundation’s Grammy in the Schools music education programs for young people. So, go...get.

Glee will return to the tube with nine new episodes on April 13.

Photo: UsMagazine.com.

Taking a Ride

Operation After-Glee is in full swing for one Ms. Lea Michele.

The actress tweeted early this morning that today was her first day on the set of...FX’s Sons of Anarchy?

What? 

Michele is just guesting on the show, natch, playing a truck stop waitress/single mom with whom Katey Sagal’s Gemma forms a bit of a bond on an episode set to air in October.

Between this and getting ready for the final season of TV’s Glee, Imma guess that girlfriend will not be touring her album, after all? (Shame, because it was believed that she would be coming down to Peru.)

Photo: GlamourMagazine.co.uk.

Stylin’ Teach

Sarah Jessica Parker is full of Glee.

The actress – along with Kate Hudson – will lend her considerable star power to the hit TV show this fall when she plays Isabelle, Kurt’s (Chris Colfer) new mentor.

From the looks of it, the lady will be oh-so-stylish (must be those Anna Wintour-designed SJP outfits will be rocking, yo).

Now, while Glee’s upcoming season premieres on Sept. 13, Parker will make her debut a couple of episodes later. So stay tuned.

Photo: Twitter.com/MrRPMurphy.com.