‘The Price of Glee’ explores stars’ deaths, show’s ‘curse’

Here’s what you missed on “Glee.”

The first trailer for a new shocking docuseries “The Price of Glee” was released on Thursday giving a first look into the show’s several deaths and scandals.

The three-part ID docuseries will dig into the behind-the-scenes drama of the hit sitcom and investigate the sudden deaths of three of the show’s young stars: Cory Monteith, Mark Salling and Naya Rivera.

“In May 2009, 10 young actors made their TV debut on ‘Glee’. By 2020, all of them would be famous, and three would be dead,” the trailer explained.

“Glee” followed the dramatic lives of a high-school a cappella club, each struggling to find themselves in between musical breaks.

The hit musical show aired on Fox from 2009 to 2015 and quickly became a cultural phenomenon, but the show and its cast have been known to be riddled with controversies, including drug use, child pornography and racism.

Monteith, who starred as the male lead Finn Hudson, died at 31 of an accidental drug overdose on July 13, 2013, after a years-long battle with substance abuse. He was engaged to his on-screen love interest Lea Michele, who was cast as the female lead Rachel Berry, at the time of his death.

Salling, 35, who played bad boy Noah “Puck” Puckerman, was found dead of an apparent suicide on Jan. 30, 2018, just weeks before he was scheduled to be sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography. During his time on the show, he was accused of rape and abuse and dated his co-star Rivera.

Then several years later, Rivera, who portrayed cheerleader Santana Lopez, accidentally drowned in a California lake at age 33 on July 8, 2020, after rescuing her 4-year-old son during a boating trip. Her body was found on the seven-year anniversary of Monteith’s death.

Rivera had previously been arrested for domestic battery for physically assaulting the father of her child, Jack Dorsey.

The show and its cast struggled both on and off the screen with death, sex, drugs, physical violence, sex abuse, bullying and racism. Several cast members have spoken out about their time on the show and the drama surrounding it, but “The Price of Glee” will give the first comprehensive look into what happened with “unbiased filters.”

“Hear directly from those outside of the cast bubble who can provide no-strings-attached perspectives, such as: relatives and friends of ‘Glee’ cast members; those who were on the set and close to it such as set decorators, hairdressers, stylists and publicists; and entertainment reporters who covered the phenomenon,” a description for the show described.

Viewers will get to hear from people close to Monteith about his struggles with substance abuse, those that worked with Salling about his disturbing secret and Rivera’s family members about her dangerous rise to fame.

Fans and members of the show have whispered about a “Glee” curse for years and this new docuseries promises to dive into the drama.

“I don’t want to say the ‘C word’ — the ‘curse’ word — but that’s where your mind goes,” someone said in the trailer.

All three-parts premiere Monday, Jan. 16 starting at 9/8c on ID, available to stream the same day on Discovery+.