‘The Price of Glee’ trailer is out and promising to unpack the scandals behind hit musical series
But it’s getting a mixed response from fans of the actual show.
A new Discovery+ documentary promises to take viewers the behind-the-scenes of the numerous scandals and tragedies surrounding musical TV phenomenon Glee.
Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, Glee ran for six seasons between 2009 and 2015, catapulting its young cast into global superstardom in the process.
But the shows’ success was not without controversy, as its legacy became overshadowed by on-set feuds and off-camera personal struggles.
The documentary will unpack the infamous on-set feuds, as well as addressing the deaths of three main cast members: Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Mark Salling (Noah Puckerman) and Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez).
“In May 2009, 10 young actors made their TV debut on Glee. By 2020, all of them would be famous. And three of them would be dead,” the docuseries’ first trailer opens with, before re-examining the passing of some of the stars, including Cory Monteith, who died at 31 from a drug overdose in 2013, and Naya Rivera, who drowned at 33 in 2020 while trying to save her son.
“The bigger the show went, the smaller their worlds become,” one subject says in the preview.
In addition to the tragic deaths of Monteith and Rivera, the docuseries will also investigate the 2018 suicide of Glee‘s Mark Salling after the actor pleaded guilty to charges relating to the possession of child pornography in 2017.
“I don’t want to say the ‘C-word,’ the curse word, but that’s where your mind goes,” another interviewee says of the deaths as the trailer comes to a close.
Trailer:
“Glee was a once-in-a-generation cultural phenomenon that bravely pushed up against social norms and generated groundbreaking discussions around sexuality, race, disability and family,” Warner Bros. Discovery’s President of Crime and Investigative Content, Linear and Streaming Jason Sarlanis said in a statement.
“Each music-filled week brought joy to so many people, but sadly, even one of the happiest shows on television couldn’t escape the dark underbelly of Hollywood and the frenzy of burgeoning social media.
“While celebrating the show’s indelible mark on pop culture and its unprecedented success, The Price of Glee takes a hard look at the intense pressure that results from being catapulted into superstardom and sheds new light on the terrible tragedies that befell the cast and crew of Glee.”
The Price of Glee premieres January 16 at 9pm ET on Investigation Discovery.
A new docu-series, “The Price of Glee,” is pulling back the curtain on William McKinley High. pic.twitter.com/Tgj5xeirWR
— E! News (@enews) December 9, 2022