Glee: Silly Love Songs

"Silly Love Songs" is the twelfth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the thirty-fourth overall. The Valentine's Day-themed episode was written by series creator Ryan Murphy, directed by Tate Donovan, and premiered on Fox on February 8, 2011. In this episode, Director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) assigns the McKinley High School glee club to perform love songs in honor of Valentine's Day. Club member Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) sets up a kissing booth for the occasion, to take advantage of his rising popularity and raise money for the club. At the Dalton Academy, Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) and the Dalton Academy Warblers make plans to perform a musical number outside of the campus, and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) confesses his love for Blaine. "Silly Love Songs" was met with critical acclaim, with much of the praise stemming from the character development and the musical performances. Melissa Maerz of the Los Angeles Times, Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club, and Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post all deemed the storyline as entertaining, while Joel Keller of the TV Squad went on to call the episode "the best episode of the season." The episode features cover versions of six songs, including a cover of "P.Y.T." by Michael Jackson and "My Funny Valentine" from the musical Babes in Arms. Many of the covers and performances were met with positive reception from critics and fans alike, with much of the praise going to the Glee covers of "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen and "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney, respectively. All songs with the exception of "My Funny Valentine" were released as singles and made available for digital download. Upon its initial airing, the episode was watched by just under 11.58 million American viewers, and it garnered a 4.6/13 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. Both the total viewership and ratings were significantly down from the previous episode, "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", which aired immediately after the Super Bowl.