The producer of this year’s Emmys telecast, airing Sunday, is defending the decision to devote a special tribute to late “Glee” star Cory Monteith.
“Cory’s appeal was to maybe a little different generation than some of the others, and we felt they needed to be represented,” the show’s producer, Ken Ehrlich, told reporters Wednesday.
Monteith, 31 — who played Finn on “Glee” — died July 13 in a Vancouver hotel room. His death was ruled an accidental overdose of alcohol and heroin.
Sunday’s Emmycast, airing on CBS, will also include tributes to Jonathan Winters, James Gandolfini, Jean Stapleton and “Family Ties” creator Gary David Goldberg.
Larry Hagman and Jack Klugman, both of whom passed away last year, won’t get special tributes (but will be included in the traditional “In Memoriam” segment).
“It was important to be responsive to younger viewers, to whom Cory Monteith meant as much as the other four individuals meant to their own generations,” Ehrlich said, adding that, “there was discussion about the fact that this [special Monteith tribute] probably is going to become an interesting topic of conversation.”