It looks like "Glee" season 5 will be cut short. The hit fox musical series will be airing less episodes this season cutting down the traditional order of 22 that the series has produced for the past four seasons to 20.

According to E! News, the shorter season is due to the shocking death of star Cory Monteith.

Apparently, 20 episodes is all that can be squeezed in following the filming of the two-part Beatles tribute premiere and the emotional tribute episode honoring Monteith's character Finn Hudson plus the month long break from production.

Last week, "Glee" made its dramatic shift to solely focus on the New York City storylines which means a lot more of Lea Michele's Rachel Berry.

Several of McKinley High's graduates including Blaine (Darren Criss), Sam (Chord Overstreet), Artie (Kevin McHale) and Mercedes (Amber Riley) will join their fellow New Directions in the big city.

As the show is set to film season 6 which is expected to be its last, ratings for the hit series has continued to drop despite the exciting setting switch and the highly promoted two-part 100th episode celebration.

"Glee" has fallen below 3 million viewers and a 1.0 rating in the 18-to-49 demographic which matched its series low this week with a 0.9.

Despite the decline in viewers Fox COO Joe Earley told The Hollywood Reporter. "Glee is still a great property to have on our air."

He continued, "There have been some scheduling challenges...but what we see is still an incredibly popular show with a lot of time-shifting."

"Glee" season 5 airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on FOX.