The Substitute (Glee)

"**The Substitute**"
"The Substitute"
Glee episode
Episode no.	Season 2; Episode 7
Directed by	Ryan Murphy
Written by	Ian Brennan
Featured music	"Conjunction Junction"; "Forget You"; "Make 'Em Laugh"; "Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag"; "Singin' in the Rain" / "Umbrella"
Production code	2ARC07
Original air date	November 16, 2010
Guest appearances
	Gwyneth Paltrow as Holly Holliday; Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins; Dot-Marie Jones as Shannon Beiste; Harry Shum, Jr. as Mike Chang; Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans; Max Adler as Dave Karofsky; Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson; Lindsey Sims-Lewis as Cameo; Ashley Fink as Lauren Zizes; Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Never Been Kissed"	Next →; "Furt"
	Glee season 2
	List of episodes

"The Substitute" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the twenty-ninth episode overall. It was written by Ian Brennan, directed by Ryan Murphy, and premiered on Fox on November 16, 2010. The episode guest stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Holly Holliday, a substitute teacher who takes the place of glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) while he is ill. Cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) causes problems as the fill-in substitute principal of William McKinley High School after she gets Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) infected with the flu, and glee club members Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) experience tension in their friendship.

The episode features cover versions of six songs, which received mixed reviews from critics. While the Glee cover of Cee Lo Green's "Forget You" and mash-up of "Singin' in the Rain" with Rihanna's "Umbrella" attracted critical praise and charted both on the Billboard Hot 100 and internationally, the episode's dance-based performances were criticized for their choreography and strict adherence to the original versions. The episode was watched by 11.70 million US viewers, and was the top scripted show among adults aged 18–49 for the week of broadcast.

Paltrow's guest appearance attracted positive commentary, but the episode's sub-plots were less well received. Aly Semigran of MTV, Robert Canning of IGN and Entertainment Weekly's Tim Stack all deemed the episode one of the best of the season. Time's James Poniewozik felt that it was a relatively subdued, mediocre episode, and Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club found it to be an improvement on the previous two episodes, if not genuinely good. The National Alliance on Mental Illness criticized the episode for its depiction of bipolar disorder. Paltrow won the 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance.