Season Three

Season Three of Glee aired between September 20, 2011 and May 22, 2012. The third season took place during several New Directions students' senior year at William McKinley High School.

The series focuses on a high school Glee Club called the New Directions, set within the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio.

Season Three follows the Club through the sectional, regional and national show choir competitions, and during nationals they finally take home the winning prize. Season Three also introduced several new characters, such as Sugar Motta, Sebastian Smythe, and the winners of The Glee Project: Damian McGinty (Rory Flanagan), Samuel Larsen (Joe Hart), Alex Newell (Wade "Unique" Adams), and Lindsay Pearce (Harmony). Harry Shum Jr. (Mike Chang) and Darren Criss (Blaine Anderson) were also promoted to the main cast, as their characters were only recurring in Season Two. Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Del Monico) and Mike O'Malley (Burt Hummel) both reduced their roles to recurring after being main cast on the previous season, with Gilsig's character being written out of the show.

Main Cast

 * Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel (22/22)
 * Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams (22/22)
 * Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester (22/22)
 * Lea Michele as Rachel Berry (22/22)
 * Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson (22/22)
 * Heather Morris as Brittany Pierce (22/22)
 * Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones (22/22)
 * Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez (22/22)
 * Mark Salling as Noah Puckerman (22/22)
 * Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang (22/22)
 * Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray (21/22)  (episodes 1-17, 19-22)
 * Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson (21/22)  (episodes 1-11, 13-22)
 * Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang (21/22)  (episodes 1-11, 13-22)
 * Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury (17/22)  (episodes 1-3, 5-10, 12, 14-17, 19, 21-22)
 * Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester (17/22)  (episodes 1-4, 6-7, 9-10, 12, 14-16, 18-22)

Special Guest Stars

 * Idina Menzel as Shelby Corcoran (6/22)  (episodes 2-4, 6-8)
 * Whoopi Goldberg as Carmen Tibideaux (3/22)  (episodes 18, 20-21)
 * Jeff Goldblum as Hiram Berry (2/22)  (episodes 13-14)
 * Brian Stokes Mitchell as LeRoy Berry (2/22)  (episodes 13-14)
 * Jonathan Groff as Jesse St. James (2/22)  (episodes 16, 21)
 * Helen Mirren as Becky's inner voice (2/22) (uncredited)  (episodes 10, 19)
 * Matt Bomer as Cooper Anderson (1/22)  (episode 15)
 * Ricky Martin as David Martinez (1/22)  (episode 12)
 * Gloria Estefan as Maribel Lopez (1/22)  (episode 22)
 * Rex Lee as Martin Fong (1/22)  (episode 21)
 * James Lipton as himself (1/22)  (episode 22)
 * Lindsay Lohan as herself (1/22)  (episode 21)
 * Perez Hilton as himself (1/22)  (episode 21)

Guest Stars

 * Damian McGinty as Rory Flanagan (17/22)  (episodes 4-15, 18-22)
 * Vanessa Lengies as Sugar Motta (15/22)  (episodes 1-2, 4, 6-8, 10, 12-15, 18, 20-22)
 * Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans (15/22)  (episodes 8-22)
 * Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins (13/22)  (episodes 1, 3-4, 7, 12-15, 19, 21-22)
 * Dot-Marie Jones as Shannon Beiste (13/22)  (episodes 1-3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20-22)
 * Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson (10/22)  (episodes 1-2, 6-7, 10, 12, 15-16, 19)
 * Samuel Larsen as Joe Hart (10/22)  (episodes 13-22)
 * Mike O'Malley as Burt Hummel (10/22)  (episodes 2, 4, 6-7, 10-11, 13-14, 17, 22)
 * LaMarcus Tinker as Shane Tinsley (8/22)  (episodes 1, 3, 5, 10, 12-13, 19)
 * NeNe Leakes as Roz Washington (6/22)  (episodes 10, 12, 15, 18, 21-22)
 * Romy Rosemont as Carole Hudson-Hummel (5/22)  (episodes 4, 10, 13-14, 22)
 * Eric Bruskotter as Cooter Menkins (4/22)  (episodes 5, 7, 18, 20)
 * Grant Gustin as Sebastian Smythe (4/22)  (episodes 5, 8, 11, 14)
 * Keong Sim as Mike Chang Sr. (4/22)  (episodes 3, 5, 8, 22)
 * Tamlyn Tomita as Julia Chang (4/22)  (episodes 3, 5, 8, 22)
 * Max Adler as David Karofsky (3/22)  (episodes 5, 13-14)
 * Alex Newell as Unique Adams (3/22)  (episodes 16, 20-21)
 * Josh Sussman as Jacob Ben Israel (2/22)  (episodes 1, 7)
 * Lindsay Pearce as Harmony (2/22)  (episodes 1, 8)
 * Ashley Fink as Lauren Zizes (2/22)  (episodes 1, 3)
 * Valerie Mahaffey as Rose Pillsbury (2/22)  (episodes 3, 10)
 * Don Most as Rusty Pillsbury (2/22)  (episodes 3, 10)
 * Charlotte Ross as Judy Fabray (1/22)  (episode 22)
 * Gina Hecht as Mrs. Puckerman (1/22)  (episode 22)
 * Ivonne Coll as Alma Lopez (1/22)  (episode 7)
 * James Earl III as Azimio (1/22)  (episode 3)

Co-Stars

 * Rock Anthony as Rick Nelson (7/22)  (episodes 1, 4, 6-7, 10, 19-21)
 * Dominic Barnes as Trent (3/22)  (episodes 5, 11, 14)
 * Riker Lynch as Jeff (3/22)  (episodes 5, 11, 14)
 * Curt Mega as Nick (3/22)  (episodes 5, 11, 14)

Major Events

 * New members of New Directions: Blaine Anderson, Rory Flanagan, Sugar Motta, and Joe Hart.
 * Quinn's transformation after summer break, joining the Skanks and making over herself.
 * Rachel and Kurt trying to get into NYADA.
 * Blaine transferring to McKinley.
 * Quinn trying to get Beth back from Shelby.
 * Mike's father briefly not supporting his dreams of being a dancer.
 * Mercedes, Santana and Brittany quitting New Directions and joining The Troubletones.
 * Puck and Shelby's relationship.
 * Finn's fear of not having plans after graduation.
 * The relationship progression of Kurt and Blaine, Santana and Brittany, Finn and Rachel, and Will and Emma.
 * Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce become officially a couple
 * Santana's coming out.
 * The Troubletones being integrated into the New Directions.
 * Shannon and Cooter's relationship and the domestic violence by Cooter to Shannon.
 * The wedding proposals: Finn to Rachel and Will to Emma.
 * Sebastian's attempt to steal Blaine from Kurt and destroy New Directions, leading the rivalry between New Directions and Warblers.
 * Sam-Mercedes-Shane love triangle.
 * The rivarly between Sue and Roz.
 * Sue's pregnancy.
 * Dave Karofsky's suicide attempt.
 * Quinn's car accident.
 * Quinn and Joe's relationship.
 * Puck's fear of not graduating and being a "Lima loser."
 * New Directions winning Nationals for the first time.
 * Senior members of New Directions graduated from McKinley: Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Santana, Mercedes, Quinn, Puck, and Mike and their future plans after graduations.

Trivia

 * This is the first and only season that sees Rachel and Finn in an uninterrupted relationship.
 * During the season Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine lost their virginities. Sam lost his virginity during or prior to Season Three.
 * New Directions reached an unprecedented number of 16 members.
 * Brittany and Santana wore their Cheerios uniform in every episode.
 * Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling, and Harry Shum Jr. appeared in all 22 episodes.
 * Jane Lynch is the only main character to not sing at all in the course of the season.
 * This is the only season to not feature an episode named after a character.
 * This is the last season:
 * To feature Dianna Agron and Jayma Mays as main cast members.
 * Mike, Puck, Quinn, Rory and Santana appear as New Directions members.
 * This season features the first absence of Dianna Agron, being the episode Choke, and Jenna Ushkowitz, being the episode The Spanish Teacher.
 * This is the only season in which Jesse St. James appears without performing any song.
 * This is the first season where the show wasn't nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards.

Albums
Note: No albums were released for the songs from the episodes Yes/No, Michael, The Spanish Teacher, Heart, On My Way, Big Brother, Saturday Night Glee-ver, Dance With Somebody and Prom-asaurus.