Glee creator Ryan Murphy has said many times that the kids of McKinley High would move on and graduate just like in real life but I don’t think we really thought about what that would mean. Now we are getting a dose of the cold, hard reality as we learn that the big three; Chris Colfer, Cory Monteith and Lea Michele will be part of the Class of 2013 and heading off to college (or New York) at the end of season 4!

Colfer, Michele and Monteith are “not going to be back at all for Season 4,” 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.”

According to Murphy more people will be leaving than staying at the end of next season so prepare for lots of songs about the real world and college and saying goodbye. Also look for a lot more screen time for the parents as talk of post-Glee plans kicks into high gear. Clearly Rachel (Lea Michele) will be headed for New York to stage her one woman show about her headband collection and I hope that this means we will finally get to meet her two gay dads. I vote for John Barrowman and Sean Hayes as her perky stage parents. Kurt (Chris Colfer) won’t be too far behind as he seeks to revive “Mame” and I can totally see them rooming together in a dingy studio apartment off-off Broadway. It’s anybodys guess where Finn (Cory Monteith) will end up.

What will we do without Kurt, Rachel and Finn? Chris Colfer kind of ran away with the show last year with his amazing portrayal of Kurt and I think the show will suffer a bit without it. I hope they bring on some amazing new folks next year to counterbalance this. Out with the old, in with the new! Class of 2013….really, am I that old?