Discover
"The First Time" is the fifth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the forty-ninth overall. Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and directed by co-executive producer Bradley Buecker, it first aired on Fox in the United States on November 8, 2011. The episode features the preparations for performing West Side Story and the show's opening night, and the various events leading to the decisions by two of the show's student couples—Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn (Cory Monteith), and Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Blaine (Darren Criss)—to begin having sex.
While an advanced copy of the episode was released to several reviewers and was highly praised by them, the reviewers of the broadcast were not as generally enthusiastic. In particular, some of the plotting and resulting characterization came in for criticism. The performance of "America", however, was widely acclaimed, especially that of Santana (Naya Rivera) in the role of Anita. While the advance publicity about the "first time" events drew some pre-broadcast condemnation, many critics were enthusiastic about the fact that a gay couple was being given such a storyline.
All six songs were released in five singles, available for download. Of these, "Uptown Girl", a song sung by the returning Dalton Academy Warblers, charted on the Billboard Hot 100, and also on the Canadian Hot 100. The remaining songs, all from West Side Story, did not chart. Upon its initial airing, this episode was viewed by 6.91 million American viewers, the lowest of the season, and garnered a 3.1/10 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. The total viewership for this episode was down somewhat from the previous episode, "Pot o' Gold", though ratings were fractionally higher.
Original Release
11/08/2011
US Release
11/08/2011
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Dianna Agron | Quinn Fabray |
Chris Colfer | Kurt Hummel |
Darren Criss | Blaine Anderson |
Jane Lynch | Sue Sylvester |
Jayma Mays | Emma Pillsbury |
Kevin McHale | Artie Abrams |
Lea Michele | Rachel Berry |
Cory Monteith | Finn Hudson |
Heather Elizabeth Morris | Brittany S. Pierce |
Matthew Morrison | Will Schuester |
Directors
Writers
Creators
Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Dianna Agron | Quinn Fabray |
Chris Colfer | Kurt Hummel |
Darren Criss | Blaine Anderson |
Jane Lynch | Sue Sylvester |
Jayma Mays | Emma Pillsbury |
Kevin McHale | Artie Abrams |
Lea Michele | Rachel Berry |
Cory Monteith | Finn Hudson |
Heather Elizabeth Morris | Brittany S. Pierce |
Matthew Morrison | Will Schuester |
Amber Riley | Mercedes Jones |
Naya Rivera | Santana Lopez |
Mark Salling | Noah Puckerman / Noah 'Puck' Puckerman |
Harry Shum Jr. | Mike Chang |
Jenna Ushkowitz | Tina Cohen-Chang |
Dot-Marie Jones | Shannon Beiste |
Max Adler | Dave Karofsky |
Damian McGinty | Rory Flanagan |
Grant Gustin | Sebastian Smythe |
Eric Bruskotter | Cooter Menkins |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Bradley Buecker | Executive Producer |
Ali Adler | Executive Producer |
Ian Brennan | Executive Producer |
Dante Di Loreto | Executive Producer |
Brad Falchuk | Executive Producer |
Ryan Murphy | Executive Producer |
Michael Hitchcock | Producer |
Alexis Martin Woodall | Producer |
Marti Noxon | Producer |
Mary Robinson | Producer |
Kenneth J. Silverstein | Producer |
Zachary Woodlee | Producer |