Chord Overstreet Turned Down as 'Glee' Season 3 Regular

Chord Overstreet seemed safe to return for Glee Season 3. As one of the new fan favorites to come on board in Season 2, Overstreet's Sam Evans made his mark on the Glee charts for his "trouty mouth" Justin Bieber haircut, and his last minute financial problems. But Ryan Murphy and company have to make a lot of casting changes over the next year, and someone apparently had to get the short end.

According to TV Line, beloved Glee guest stars Darren Criss and Harry Shum Jr. were officially promoted to series regulars. However, although Overstreet is a full fledged member of the New Directions, his series regular option was not picked up. As such, if he is coming back in Season 3, it will only be as a guest star again, if he isn't written out altogether.

Criss isn't even in the New Directions, yet fans would have thrown a fit if he wasn't a regular, given the "Teenage Dream"'s place as Kurt's new boyfriend. Shum had his role as dancing Asian Mike Chang expanded in Season 2, and now he has taken the next step for Season 3.

Yet there was no room for Overstreet to join the expanding regular cast, as it appears to be filled to the brim as it is. However, that won't always be a problem for Glee, since it plans to shed a lot of cast members at the end of next season.

Murphy doesn't plan to ignore that several characters are about to graduate McKinley High, and they will be indeed saying goodbye at the end of Season 3. As such, this coming year is the last for the show as Gleeks know it, so a lot of hard choices and farewells will be on the way.

Therefore, writing out Overstreet, or reducing his role, is the least of the show's challenges at the moment. As a relatively new and minor character- although most seem minor compared to Rachel, Finn, Quinn and Kurt- Sam's departure and/or reduced impact should be easier to deal with.

Still, the Season 2 finale did hint at a new secret relationship with Mercedes, which will now presumably have to be dropped. Yet with Sam's financial difficulties, and his history of moving around, there should be no shortage of reasons to explain why he won't be around so much.

Going on without Sam and Overstreet should be somewhat easy for Glee, especially with Criss and Shum filling the gap, and with the winner of The Glee Project coming on board as well. However, moving on without the likes of Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer and the other New Directions stars is quite another challenge, and one that the show will be working towards throughout Season 3.

Sources

TV Line- "Glee Exclusive: Darren Criss and Harry Shum Jr In, Chord Overstreet Out!"