‘Glee’ To Say Goodbye To Lima, Ohio & Permanently Relocate To New York City

Robbie Daw | January 14, 2014 9:17 am

Glee fans can exhale. Fox entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly confirmed at a Television Critics Association panel on Monday (January 13) that the the rumors are true, and the setting of network’s award-winning musical dramedy will officially switch from Lima, Ohio to New York City, exclusively. Longtime viewers have complained about several lackluster new cast members who popped up in Season 4 and their flimsy plot lines (sorry, but we ain’t got time for this Marley/Jake/Ryder nonsense), so this move — to the metropolis where original characters Rachel (Lea Michele), Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Santana (Naya Rivera) are currently living out their showbiz dreams on the show — should theoretically be a saving grace for the series.

“Some [characters] are going to be graduating and moving; creatively, it would be ridiculous that everybody moves to New York,” Reilly said at the TCA panel, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. “There will be some that will graduate and move on and they’ll arc back in when we do special episodes. They’ll always be a part of it… But for this season, there will be a graduation, several of the cast members will move on and a few others will go to New York.”

A November Glee episode containing all Billy Joel songs pretty much set up that Blaine (Darren Criss), Sam (Chord Overstreet) and Artie (Kevin McHale) are headed for the Big Apple. (The episode was, after all, titled “Movin’ Out.”) As for the rest of the original cast members up in the air, that leaves glee club director Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison), former principal-turned-janitor Figgins (Iqbal Theba) and New Directions member Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz).

It seems one character who will definitely be sticking around is current William McKinley High School principal Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch). “We’re not going to be in Ohio for more than a few [episodes],” Reilly said, before adding, “As long as there’s a show, there’s Jane Lynch.”

At the Emmy Awards in September, Lynch paid tribute to Glee castmate Cory Monteith, who died in July after taking in an ill-fated mix of heroin and alcohol. The series itself bid farewell to Monteith’s character Finn Hudson in October in the emotional episode “The Quarterback.”

Glee showrunner Ryan Murphy previously announced that next year’s season, the sixth, will be the final one. As for the rest of Season 5, the show is back on Fox after a winter hiatus on February 25, and the 100th episode of the series, which airs in March, will see the return of characters Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron), Noah Puckerman (Mark Salling ), April Rhodes (Kristin Chenoweth) and Holly Holiday (Gwyneth Paltrow). Making his series debut in the episode: Gossip Girl alum Chace Crawford, who is reported to be playing Agron’s love interest.

Do you think it’s curtains for characters like Marley, Jake, Ryder, Kitty (who at least has a minor tie to New York, given that she’s dating Artie) and Unique?

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