Once in its history, nearly every TV show will dedicate an episode to the time-honored, chocolate-filled love-fest that is Valentine’s Day. Like every major holiday, Valentine’s Day is another opportunity for shows to give their characters drunken hook-ups, romantic turmoil and dramatic revelations—all while covering everything in red and pink.
Experiencing the holiday can be stressful: planning the perfect date, getting the perfect gifts, finding a date in the first place. But watching someone experience Valentine’s Day is weirdly cathartic and heartbreakingly hilarious. So snuggle up with the bae (or a roughly human-shaped pillow) and watch some of TV’s best Valentine’s-themed episodes.
“Modern Family”
Season 1, Episode 15: “My Funky Valentine”
Available on Amazon
Phil (Ty Burrell, “Muppets Most Wanted”) and Claire (Julie Bowen, “Horrible Bosses”) try to spice things up at a bar for a special Valentine’s night. Enter Clive Bixby, Phil’s debonair alter ego. Unlike Phil, Clive is smooth, sexy and romantic—at least, he tries to be. Their evening goes from bad to disastrous in a string of outrageous mishaps that ends with a nearly naked Claire stuck to an escalator—the perfect place to run into friends and family. Burrell’s Clive Bixby might be the shining star of this episode, but Bowen’s Claire is equally amusing, performing outlandish physical comedy that would make Lucy and Ricky proud.
“30 Rock”
Season 4, Episode 13: “Anna Howard Shaw Day”
Available on Netflix and on Amazon
Sick of Valentine’s Day, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey, “This is Where I Leave You”) decides to schedule a root canal on the day to avoid all the love and festivities. Knowing she’ll be hopped up on anesthesia, she scrambles to find a last-minute ride home from the dentist.
Elsewhere in the episode, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin, “Still Alice”) woos CNBC anchor Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay”) and Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski, “Adult Beginners”) tries to regain the interest of her former stalker (Horatio Sanz, “Wreck It Ralph”). This episode is “30 Rock” at its most ridiculous best—even Jon Bon Jovi stops by for a special appearance.
“Orange is the New Black”
Season 2, Episode 6: “You Also Have a Pizza”
Available on Netflix
Think Valentine’s Day is a tough time in the real world? Try being in prison. The inmates plan their annual Valentine’s Day party amid the usual drama running amuck in the prison. While the festivities mostly serve as a backdrop to the show’s bigger storyline, the episode is peppered with lovely and funny testimonials from the inmates about love. Best of all is from Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” (Uzo Aduba, “Pearly Gates”): “It’s like you became more you but now that’s okay. Because the person chooses to take all that on. All that weird stuff, whatever’s wrong or bad or hiding in you. Suddenly it’s all right. You don’t feel like such a freak anymore.”
“Parks and Recreation”
Season 2, Episode 16: “Galentine’s Day”
Available on Netflix and on Amazon
In this classic episode, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler, “They Came Together”) introduces the world to Galentine’s Day: a special celebration of love and friendship on a day that normally only commemorates romantic love. But when Leslie learns about a former flame (John Larroquette, “The Librarians”) from her mother’s (Pamela Reed, “Jericho”) past, she makes it her mission to reunite the two at a local senior center’s Valentine’s Day dance. Hilarity ensues, and Leslie learns the valuable sitcom lesson of not meddling in other people’s love lives.
Valentine’s Day is a polarizing time of the year, but as is often in the case, laughter is the great uniting force between the hopelessly single and the sickeningly romantic. However Valentine’s Day ends up going, indulge in a laugh or two with these TV gems and it’s sure to brighten up the day.
