Cory Monteith Tribute ‘Criminal,’ Says Jack Klugman’s Son

Jack Klugman’s son is not happy that the Emmy Awards did a tribute to Glee‘s Cory Monteith — and called the decision “criminal” in an interview.

Adam Klugman is the son of Jack Klugman, and he was wholly unimpressed with the Cory Monteith tribute. Noting that the Glee star was only 31 when he died over the summer, the younger Klugman says that his father won three Emmys — and made a massive impact on TV.

Adam explains that Monteith’s arc in Hollywood was short and shallow to his eye, adding:

“I think it’s criminal. My dad was at the inception of television and helped build it in the early days.”

Klugman feels that the Cory tribute was not meant to honor an actor with a large contribution, and rather pander to the most likely to tune in segment of the viewing population, and he said:

“It’s an insult and it really seems typical of this youth-centric culture that has an extremely short attention span and panders to only a very narrow demographic.”

Klugman then got a bit personal, noting that his dad has been remembered more by older Americans, and added:

“What about the people who should be introduced to somebody like my father? I don’t mean to say anything disparaging about Cory, but he was a kid who had won no Emmys and it was a self-induced tragedy.”

Emmy executive producer Ken Ehrlich was forced to address the very public critique in a statement, in which he explained:

“To a younger generation, Cory Monteith’s portrayal of Finn Hudson (on Glee) was highly admired, and the producers felt that he should be included along with the four other individuals we have singled out.”

Jack Klugman’s son was not the only one to complain about Cory Monteith being honored — Variety also published a controversial editorial lambasting the programming decision.