It’s been five months, but the cast and crew of “Glee” are still mourning the death of star Cory Monteith, “one of the best people I ever met,” said series creator/writer/producer Brad Falchuk.

“From the beginning of the show, the relationship between Cory’s character and Rachel (Lea Michele) was the core of it,” the Newton homey told the Track. “He was also truly one of my favorite people. The kindness, the generosity, that’s who he was. When we were on tour, he was always the first one to run out into the crowd and sign autographs. He kept everyone together and happy. I loved writing for him. I miss writing for him. I miss him as a person. … It’s hard to be at work sometimes.”

Falchuk said it’s been especially difficult to do this season of the show, knowing what might have been had Monteith not died of a toxic mix of heroin and booze in a Vancouver hotel room last summer.

“We were heading towards something special with his character this season,” he said. “We were really excited about it.”

Falchuk said the cast and crew knew Monteith was “fighting some demons.”

“But I honestly believe this was an accident, and had it not happened, I think he would have worked it out. I think he was on his way to a better place, but it was a dark road to get there.”

Falchuk, who has three huge hits under his belt with “Glee,” “American Horror Story” and “Nip/Tuck,” left Newton 20-something years ago to make a career in Hollywood. And although the Left Coast is his home, he has been traveling back to Newton a lot this fall to help campaign for his big brother, Evan, who has launched an independent run for governor.

“You know, I’ve known him my whole life and he has an enormous amount of integrity. He’s the most honest person I know,” Falchuk said. “He is also very creative and thinks outside the box. I remember when we were in Little League, he was the pitcher. He realized very early on that if he threw sidearm, he could throw strikes. We never saw anyone in Little League throw sidearm, but his intent was to throw strikes and that got the job done. He comes up with creative solutions to problems, then he just does it.”

Evan Falchuk — a 44-year-old health care exec — is such an out-of-the-box thinker, he has started his own political party, the United Independent Party.

“There is a disconnect between politicians and the priorities of most voters,” Evan Falchuk told us. “That’s why I thought it was important to create a new political party. I think there’s a need for smart, independent candidates to get involved at all levels of government and it could really have an impact on the way politics works in Massachusetts.”

Falchuk, a social liberal who “thinks the government should spend its money wisely,” said he’s visited 60 cities and towns over the past few months and overwhelmingly people tell him “they are not feeling listened to by their elected representatives.”

He faces an uphill battle as a third-party candidate, but said, “If it were easy, a lot of people would be doing it.

“It’s a worthy cause. Like any entrepreneurial enterprise, if you work really hard at it, and have the right set of ideas, you can do it.”

File Under: Brotherly Love.