The character is portrayed by actor Chord Overstreet, and appeared on Glee starting with the second season premiere episode entitled "Audition", first broadcast on September 21, 2010.

Amy Semigran of MTV commented, "Turns out their strategy, as well as Sam's crush on singing partner Quinn Fabray, worked.

Despite some mixed signals and apprehension on Quinn's part, the two turned out a cute little rendition of Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's 'Lucky'.

[2] Despite his initial enthusiasm, Sam does not show up for the formal audition after seeing Finn get kicked off the football team, and because of the low social status of the glee club members.

[5] In "Comeback", Sam establishes a one-man tribute band to teen singer Justin Bieber, hoping to win over his girlfriend Quinn, who he suspects still has feelings for her ex-boyfriend Finn.

[7] Sam's father loses his job and their house is foreclosed on, forcing the family of five to live in a single motel room; he hides this from the glee club until it comes out in "Rumours".

[9] In the season two finale episode "New York", Sam hugs Mercedes after the New Directions finishes performing at the Nationals competition.

They discover that, unknown to his family and despite being underage, he works in a strip bar in order to help support them—they believe he has a job at a fast food restaurant.

Sam gets the permission of his parents to transfer back to McKinley—he will be living with Finn's family—and he helps New Directions defeat their McKinley rivals, the Troubletones at Sectionals.

During "Goodbye", Mercedes graduates, and will be heading off to California: she has been signed to an independent record label as a backup singer due to the video Sam posted and she will be taking classes at UCLA.

Sam is shown returning to McKinley High as a senior and, in "The New Rachel", he is shown to be enjoying his newfound popularity amongst teenage girls and the school for his impressions and the Glee Club's National Championship, imitating Taylor Lautner to great fanfare and sitting with the popular kids.

He is the first to extend his hand to Marley Rose (Melissa Benoist) after the Glee Club insults her mother, apologizing and connecting with her over being under poverty.

Between the next two episodes, "Britney 2.0" and "Makeover", he forges strong friendships with Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris) and Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss).

He confronts and saves Brittany in "Britney 2.0" from a downward spiral and consoles her after her election loss in "Makeover", performing Hole's "Celebrity Skin" with her and developing suspiciously romantic feelings for her on the way, and teams up with Blaine for the Presidential Election in McKinley High, subsequently winning, and comforts him over his troubles with Kurt in "Makeover" and "The Role You Were Born to Play".

After breaking up with Mercedes, Sam found it difficult to love again and ended up dating Rachel, who was in the same boat, after being hypnotised by Sue.

[15][16] Overstreet later confirmed this, but stated that his storyline had been adjusted to pair Sam with Quinn, as a result of the chemistry the producers detected between himself and Agron.

[sic][18]Executive Producer Brad Falchuk said that the relationship between Sam and Mercedes, revealed at the end of the second season, "was born out of the prom episode", and that the characters "have their reasons" for hiding it for now.

[19] However, with Overstreet leaving the show after the second season—his option to become a main character was not picked up, and according to Falchuk he decided not to accept a ten-episode recurring role in the third season with the possibility of further episodes or of becoming a series regular after that—Mercedes finds a new boyfriend during the summer.

[20][21] On October 24, 2011, Murphy officially announced that Sam would be returning as a recurring character starting with the season's eighth episode, "just in time for Sectionals".

Amy Semigran of MTV said of the episode "Duets": "Turns out their strategy, as well as Sam's crush on singing partner Quinn, worked.

Despite some mixed signals and apprehension on Quinn's part, the two turned out a cute little rendition of Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's 'Lucky'.

Amy Reiter of the Los Angeles Times commented: "The is-he-gay-or-is-he-straight storyline is resolved as these two sing a button-cute, guitariffic, blonde-meets-blond rendition of Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's 'Lucky'.

Anyway, Quinn's kind of feeling Sam, but she'd rather keep her heart cold and shriveled so as not to risk her popularity again, so she tells him to take his hair and get lost.

But Sam awkwardly praises Quinn's bravery after her fall from grace, while admitting his own terrible secret: he does, in fact, dye his hair."

Benigno continues, "In any case, Quinn's heart grows four sizes and she puts away the gift certificate, because Sam, the gentleman, should pay on the first date.