Season Three

Season Three of Glee was 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 New Directions, from 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 Tori Vega, Andre Harris, Beck Oliver, Aria Montgomery and the winner of The Glee Project: 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 Schuester) 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.

Cast
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)
 * Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson (21/22)
 * Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang (21/22)
 * Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury (17/22)
 * Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester (17/22)

Special Guest Stars

 * Idina Menzel as Shelby Corcoran (6/22)
 * Whoopi Goldberg as Carmen Tibideaux (3/22)
 * Jeff Goldblum as Hiram Berry (2/22)
 * Brian Stokes Mitchell as LeRoy Berry (2/22)
 * Jonathan Groff as Jesse St. James (2/22)
 * Helen Mirren as Becky's inner voice (2/22) (uncredited)
 * Matt Bomer as Cooper Anderson (1/22)
 * Ricky Martin as David Martinez (1/22)
 * Gloria Estefan as Maribel Lopez (1/22)
 * Rex Lee as Martin Fong (1/22)
 * James Lipton as himself (1/22)
 * Lindsay Lohan as herself (1/22)
 * Perez Hilton as himself (1/22)

Recurring Guest Stars

 * Leon Thomas III as Andre Harris (7/22)
 * Victoria Justice as Tori Vega (15/22)
 * Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans (15/22)
 * Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins (13/22)
 * Dot-Marie Jones as Shannon Beiste (13/22)
 * Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson (10/22)
 * Avan Jogia as Beck Oliver (10/22)
 * Mike O'Malley as Burt Hummel (10/22)
 * LaMarcus Tinker as Shane Tinsley (8/22)
 * Rock Anthony as Rick Nelson (7/22)
 * NeNe Leakes as Roz Washington (6/22)
 * Romy Rosemont as Carole Hudson-Hummel (5/22)
 * Eric Bruskotter as Cooter Menkins (4/22)
 * Grant Gustin as Sebastian Smythe (4/22)
 * Keong Sim as Mike Chang Sr. (4/22)
 * Tamlyn Tomita as Julia Chang (4/22)
 * Max Adler as David Karofsky (3/22)
 * Alex Newell as Wade Adams (3/22)
 * Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery (5/22)
 * Josh Sussman as Jacob Ben Israel (2/22)
 * Lindsay Pearce as Harmony (2/22)
 * Ashley Fink as Lauren Zizes (2/22)
 * Valerie Mahaffey as Rose Pillsbury  (2/22)
 * Don Most as Rusty Pillsbury (2/22)
 * Charlotte Ross as Judy Fabray (1/22)
 * Gina Hecht as Mrs. Puckerman (1/22)
 * James Earl III  as Azimio (1/22)

Major Events

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

Trivia

 * During the season Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine lost their virginities. Sam lost his virginity during or prior to Season Three.
 * Santana and Brittany became an official couple.
 * New Directions reached an unprecedented number of 16 members.
 * Different family members of several characters were introduced - Rachel, Sam, Mike, Puck, Santana, and Blaine.
 * 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 so far to not feature an episode named after a character.

Albums released in or during the Season
(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.)
 * Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2
 * Glee: The Music, Volume 7
 * Glee: The Music, The Graduation Album
 * Glee: The Music, The Complete Season Three