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Fox just confirmed: There will not be a Glee spinoff.
“We’re graduating the characters that are arcing toward graduation,” said said Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly. “What’s come out of it is [creator Ryan Murphy] has come up with a really cool idea. There will not be a Glee spinoff. But those characters will graduate and that’s led to a really interesting idea that I think will give us something to dig into next season, and it [starts with] the spring batch of episodes. That’s all I can say about it now.”
Lea Michele (Rachel) will continue with the show, he added. No word, however, on what that means for Chris Colfer (Kurt) and Cory Monteith (Finn). After his panel, the entertainment topper assured the new Glee storyline would not represent a radical change.
Reilly’s comments jibe with those made by Glee creator Ryan Murphy last July, when he said plans for a spinoff starring the graduating seniors had been put on hold — possibly permanently. That was an abrupt about-face from an interview Murphy gave earlier saying that the trio would be leaving Glee after season 3.
Then, fellow exec producer Brad Falchuk state at Comic-Con that those actors were not leaving the show after all. Oh dear.
Back in September, Murphy admitted to reporters that he probably should not have spoken publicly about Glee’s future. — even though a spinoff would make sense in an effort to keep the popular actors in the Fox fold.
“I will never again say people are leaving,” Murphy declared, smiling. But he turned serious when admitting that maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to discuss the idea of a spinoff with so many people in Hollywood, which led to an explosion of stories about the show’s future and what it could mean to seniors Rachel, Kurt and Finn.
“It just snowballed,” Murphy admitted about the reaction. “It took a turn and got nasty … I think fans resented it.”
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