Valentine’s Day — the time when people declare their love with an assortment of chocolate, flowers, and gifts. Couples spend this time snuggled up in a romantic embrace, while others snuggle up under the covers and binge-watch TV series. Well, if you’re the latter, then today is your lucky day. Here is a list with the best Valentine’s Day episodes to ever air on TV.
- Gossip Girl, “Crazy, Stupid, Love”
Happy Valentine’s Day, Upper East Siders. Drama arises when Blair attempts to play Cupid for Serena and Dan, Georgina tries to start drama by crashing a party, and there’s more trouble elsewhere. But the real focus is Dan and Blair having a big kiss despite Blair being married to the perfect man Louis, which creates a tense situation for them — and Geez can these people not get into drama for, like, one holiday? Still, it’s worth a watch to remind yourself what is important — money is not the key to happiness — nor love.
- Parks and Recreation, “Galentine’s Day”
This one’s for the single ladies. Leslie throws her first annual “Galentine’s Day” party for her gal pals and proves why she’s such a great friend. She greets each of the women with a bouquet of hand-crocheted flower pens, a mosaic portrait (made from the crushed bottles of their favorite diet soda) and a personalized 5,000-word essay detailing why they’re the best. Who needs a Valentine when you’ve got that kind of Galentine?
- Orange Is the New Black, “You Also Have a Pizza”
Considering it takes place in prison, Orange Is the New Black has some surprisingly romantic moments. And this episode is full of them, though not always in the ways you might expect. Bestfriends Maritza and Flaca give romance a test drive, but ultimately decide to keep their love platonic (and pizza-oriented). Bennett and Daya are in love, though it won’t last long before everything goes to waste. And the Poussey-Tastee situation is sad, but also offers a look into Poussey’s backstory, involving a heartbreaking coming out and further insight into what makes the show’s favorite character tick.
- Glee, “Silly Love Songs”
Kissing booths! Love Affairs! Mono! And all to the backdrop of love songs? That’s one Valentine’s Day to remember at McKinley High School. Plus, there’s a nice empowering moment when Rachel Berry decides to concentrate on her career and leave romance behind her, which leads to a powerful performance of Katy Perry’s “Firework” — because every once in a while, a girl just needs to stop and ask herself if she ever feels like a plastic bag drifting through the wind.
- How I Met Your Mother, “Desperation Day”
The night before V-day is dubbed Desperation Day by Barney who believes single ladies are lonely and therefore easy to hook up with before the holiday. But when he ends up falling for one of Robin’s friends, he finds himself on his first-ever Valentine’s Day date.
- The Simpsons, “I Love Lisa”
An important lesson to grab from this episode: Do not take pity or feel sorry for single people on Valentine’s Day. Lisa gives Ralph Wiggum a Valentine’s Day card when she notices he hasn’t received any. Of course, Ralph gets entirely the wrong idea and won’t quit pursuing her until Lisa finally snaps and admits she never had feelings for him. But he doesn’t stay down in the dumps, though; Ralph bounces back by focusing all his attention on his role as George Washington in the school play and totally nails it. If that’s not a motivational V-day tale, I don’t know what is.
- SpongeBob SquarePants, “Valentine’s Day”
SpongeBob has a tender heart and wants to make Valentine’s Day special for his friend Patrick. The big idea? A chocolate hot air balloon. Our yellow fry cook drags the poor starfish all day around Bikini Bottom asking him to guess his gift. Among surprises and misunderstandings, with the help of Sandy, the happy ending is guaranteed.
