Glee is keeping the tone for Season 5 upbeat. Following the tragic death of star Cory Monteith on July 13, the Fox musical comedy series has released the first TV promo for the new season, premiering Sept. 26.
The teaser video doesn’t feature any footage of Monteith’s character Finn Hudson. Instead, it includes old clips of other cast members including a sexy shot of the late actor’s real-life girlfriend, Lea Michele.
“Once again with feeling,” the promo reads. “Once again with drama. Once again with passion. Are you ready to go . . . once again?”
In a Thursday, Aug. 15 interview with Deadline, Glee‘s co-creator Ryan Murphy spoke out about about the special tribute episode planned for Monteith, who died from an overdose of heroin and alcohol. “There were a lot of things that we had to decide [for the memorial episode],” the director explained. “At one point, we were going to have his character die after an accidental drug overdose — that was something we had considered. But we have decided that we’re not going to have him pass from that.”
Getting back to work after losing their costar hasn’t been easy for the cast.
“There’s been tears on set. It’s been hard for a lot of people. But the really difficult thing is coming. We start shooting the memorial episode this week. We’re just now finishing it, and at the end of the week we’ll send it to [the studio 20th Century Fox Television] to get their approvals.”
Season 5 of Glee premieres Thursday, Sept. 26 at 9:00 p.m. on Fox.
