Fox Signals How ‘Glee’ Will Handle Monteith Death

LOS ANGELES â€" The Fox network and the producers of “Glee” have devised a plan to address the unexpected death last month of one of the show’s stars, Cory Monteith, with a direct treatment of the issue of drug addiction, Kevin Reilly, the chairman of entertainment for Fox, said on Thursday.

The first two episodes of the new season of “Glee” had already been conceived as special all-Beatles episodes and that plan will stay intact, Mr. Reilly said. The third episode will deal with how Mr. Monteith’s character, Finn Hudson, will be written out of the show, Mr. Reilly said, though he did not provide details. He said the episode would “deal directly with the incident involved in Cory’s passing.”

The show will also include public service announcements from the cast addressing the issue of addiction, Mr. Reilly said. Mr. Monteith, who had struggled with substance abuse problems, was found dead in a hotel room in Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 13, from what coroners determined was a toxic combination of alcohol and heroin. He was 31.

Mr. Reilly also addressed the annual question of what Fox would do to try to revive “American Idol,” its once-dominant hit. The show needed to replace its judging panel after the end of last season. Mr. Reilly announced that one judge, the country singer Keith Urban, would return. He also confirmed the reports that Fox was in talks with Jennifer Lopez to return as a judge.

Fox also announced that it had commissioned an American version of the widely praised BBC crime series “Broadchurch,” which will begin its run on the BBC America cable channel on Aug. 7.

Mr. Reilly said “Idol” remained a Top 5-rated network show and so Fox was resisting wholesale changes in its format. “It needs some recalibrating and some freshening elements,” he said.