In an interview with THR, Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy revealed that several actors on the hit FOX TV series will be leaving at the end of season three. Though they are some of the most popular performers on the series, Lea Michele (Rachel), Cory Monteith (Finn), and Chris Colfer (Kurt) will be exiting the show for sure and won’t be back at all in season four.

Murphy said, “You can keep them on the show for six years and people will criticize you for not being realistic, or you can be really true to life and say when they started the show they were very clearly sophomores and they should graduate at the end of their senior year.”

Murphy went on to say that “more characters are leaving than are staying” and it will be clear which characters will be departing when Glee returns on September 20th. It was previously reported that the contract of Cord Overstreet (Sam) had not been picked up for the 2011-12 season but the door was being left open for guest shots.

The ratings for Glee have been on the decline last season but the musical-comedy series is still FOX’s highest-rated scripted series, averaging a 4.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 11.64 million viewers.

Clearly this is a big gamble on the part of the network and co-creators Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan. Time will tell if this bold move will help to reinvigorate the series or sink it even faster.

What do you think? Will all of the cast departures help or hinder the Glee’s popularity? Will it be cancelled after three seasons? Which characters are too important to leave?

Image courtesy FOX.