'Glee' to wrap up after six seasons

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- "Glee" co-creator Ryan Murphy says the next season of the Ohio-set musical dramedy series will be its last.

Murphy told reporters at the Paley Gala at Fox Studios in Los Angeles Wednesday his decision to end the show after six seasons was directly related to the death of beloved cast member Cory Monteith, UsMagazine.com reported.

"It's really [expletive] hard. It's hard. It's hard everyday," Murphy said. "It's hard in the writer's room. It's hard on the set. It just feels like ... It's hard, too, because we're getting ready to wrap up a series. We're going to do one more year and that's it. So, the last scene and the last stories were always very Cory heavy."

Murphy said one of the biggest challenges the writers have faced is re-imagining the storyline of Lea Michele's character Rachel, the girlfriend of Monteith's character Finn and Monteith's real-life love.

"Well, you know, it's very sad. I just said the whole end year of the show, which will be next year, was designed really around [the] Rachel/Cory, Finn story. I mean I always knew that," Murphy said. "I knew how that would end. I knew what the last shot was -- he was in it. I knew what the last line was -- she said it to him. So, when a tragedy happens you sort of have to pause and figure out what else you want to do, so we're figuring that out now. I have a good idea. I'm going in, in like a week, to tell the studio and the network how after Cory's unfortunate passing we can end the show, which I think is very satisfactory and kind of an end in his honor -- which I love."

Monteith died of an accidental heroin and alcohol overdose July 13. He was 31.