Rachel, Finn, Quinn and Puck fans: Brace yourselves. It will soon be time to say farewell to the original McKinley High kids as 'Glee' boss Ryan Murphy confirmed that the characters who were juniors last season will graduate in May 2012.

Speaking on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on Friday, Murphy said that the upcoming Season 3 will be senior year for the original cast.

"I don't think of it in terms of eliminating or replacing. Because I think the thing about this cast is people love them and they are incredibly talented. They've left sort of an indelible mark," he said.

"The thing that I wanted to do and the cast wanted to do, we didn't want to have a show where they were in high school for eight years. We really wanted it to be true to that experience. We thought it would be really cool if we were true to the timeline."