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In the wake of Cory Monteith's tragic death last week, Glee execs have pushed back the show's fifth season premiere. New episodes will now air two weeks behind schedule on Sept. 26 instead of Sept. 19.

"In light of the tragic passing of beloved Glee cast member Cory Monteith, the series' executive producers, 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Broadcasting Company have jointly decided to delay the start of production of Glee until early August," Fox told Us Weekly in a statement. "No further details are available at this time."

An autopsy revealed that Cory overdosed on heroin and alcohol in his Vancouver hotel room on July 13. He was 31.

The close-knit Glee cast, which includes Cory's girlfriend, Lea Michele, has expressed devastation over the star's untimely passing. Jane Lynch held back tears while speaking about Cory , who she described as a "bright light," to Jay Leno on Wednesday.

"Cory had one of the biggest hearts, a real bright light. He was one of those guys," she said. "He knew he was breathing rarefied air -- the gift that this wonderful show gave us. I don't think he left one day unlived. He was a real bright light in our family we've lost a really great guy."

Update: In his first public statement since Cory's death, Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy told Deadline that the young actor was "like an older son" to him. After consulting with Lea, the cast and crew decided that the best way to tackle their grief "was to return to work and mourn together."

    We considered every option, and decided to do what the cast and crew felt best, the people who had something unique with Cory, who loved him. 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. We had already written the two part Beatles tribute and we’ll shoot those and Cory’s tribute for that third episodes and then we will take a long hiatus and figure out what to do.


Ryan, who staged an intervention for the young star and forced him to go to rehab, was extremely invested in Cory's sobriety. He said he noticed that something was off about Cory a few weeks before his death.

    A couple of weeks ago, he and Lea came to Fire Island where we were shooting The Normal Heart, and I honestly couldn’t tell what was going on with him. He didn’t seem quite himself, but when I confronted him he claimed he was clean. It has been a very difficult roller coaster ride, and all through that, and through the last week, Lea has been the most brave and courageous person I’ve ever met. She has dealt with an impossible situation with more humanity than you could ever hope for.