Fox orders two more seasons of 'Glee'

By Yvonne Villarreal

April 19, 2013 12 AM PT

Fox announced Friday that it has ordered two more seasons of “Glee.”

That would take the musical dramedy into its fifth and sixth season.

“GLEE debuted as the first and only successful musical comedy series on television, and more than four years later, it continues to defy genres, break new ground and have a significant impact on popular culture,” said Kevin Reilly, the network’s chairman on entertainment, in a statement. “Week in and week out, [executive producers] Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan, Dante DiLoreto and the entire GLEE team deliver a series that not only delights and surprises fans, but also inspires them to talk about, share, debate and engage with the show — and I’m absolutely thrilled to have them on board for another two seasons.”

That’s not to say the show will wrap its run at the end of the sixth season — at least, the network isn’t saying that. We checked.

“Glee” launched in 2009 and quickly became one of the network’s golden eggs on the scripted front, with solid ratings, iTunes hits, and buzz (positive and negative) to match it — a recent episode involing a school shooting drew ire from Newtown parents. Not to mention a cavalcade of A-list guest stars (next week’s episode will feature Sarah Jessica Parker).

Now in its rebooted fourth season, it’s been split into two locations: with part of the focus on Rachel (Lea Michele) and Kurt’s (Chris Colfer) New York adventures at NYADA and the remaining students McKinley.

While the show’s ratings aren’t what they once were at the height of “Gleek-dom,” they’re still not too shabby. It’s averaging 8.7 million total viewers, down slightly from last season’s 8.9 million viewers.

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