Cory Monteith tribute defended by Emmys producer

Cory Monteith's sudden death last July left "Glee" fans heartbroken, but some industry observers felt that the young television star hadn't left behind a body of work worthy of the special Emmy Awards tribute planned this Sunday.

Producers of the annual awards show said last week that Monteith would be remembered in a special "In Memoriam" segment alongside James Gandolfini, Jean Templeton and Jonathan Winters. But some critics, like Variety's editor-in-chief, argued that Monteith showed promise on "Glee," but hadn't lived long enough to fulfill it.

But the Emmy Awards executive producer, Ken Ehrlich, defended his decision to include Monteith in the tribute on Saturday, telling Access Hollywood that critics should wait to see it before casting judgement.

“I do think when people see this, [when] they see that there’s kind of a message involved and what we’re saying about him, they may revise some of this early unfair advance criticism,” Ehrlich said.

“I don’t want to go that far, but there certainly is -- yes, there’s a message in this presentation that I think is a good message for people,” he added. “It does celebrate [Cory], because he really did significant work on that show, but it also, in a way, is a warning.”

The Emmys air Sunday at 8 ET on CBS.