It was written by Ian Brennan, directed by Brad Falchuk, and was broadcast immediately following Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011 on Fox.

Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), the coach of the cheerleading squad, grows disillusioned with the sport, and in an effort to recapture her love for it, and for a publicity stunt, plans to fire Brittany from a cannon during the team's next competitive routine.

He notices and encourages the talent of Dave Karofsky (Max Adler), a bully who has previously acted violently towards the glee club members and had a crush on Kurt.

To ensure that the game goes ahead, glee club members Rachel (Lea Michele), Mercedes (Amber Riley), Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Lauren (Ashley Fink) join the football team.

The game begins badly for the McKinley side, and when Tina is injured during a play, captain Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) takes control of the situation.

Beiste welcomes the football players back, and they go on to win the game by intimidating the opposing side, dressed as zombies from the halftime routine.

[6] Brian Stelter of The New York Times noted that her appearance was unusual, as anchors from rival networks—in Couric's case, CBS—do not typically make cameos on their competitors' programs.

[11] In January 2011, entertainment website Zap2it reported that Filipino singer Charice would appear as exchange student Sunshine Corazón, performing the Black Eyed Peas' "Meet Me Halfway" with rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline.

In the US, "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" was watched by 26.8 million viewers, and received a rating/share of 11.1/29 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic,[14] marking the highest rating for a Glee episode.

[19] Here, viewership registered an increase of approximately 47% over the previous episode, "A Very Glee Christmas", which aired on December 7, 2010, attracted 769,000 viewers, and failed to reach the top fifty for the week.

Robert Bianco of USA Today found it lacking in plot and a driving moral, however felt that it was acceptable as a standalone episode – one which could be enjoyed by fans and new viewers alike.

[22] In contrast, Vicki Hyman of The Star-Ledger commented that despite the football-centric plot, the episode would be hard to follow for new viewers brought in by the Super Bowl, requiring too much knowledge of previous storylines.

[24] Kevin Fallon of The Atlantic found the episode lacking in Glee's "usual acerbic wit and emotional heft", and criticized the under-use of Colfer and Criss.

[25] Highlighting a general malaise with the show, Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post deemed Sue's boredom with cheerleading a meta-reference to the series itself.

[26] VanDerWerff observed that Glee "keeps tossing the same elements into the hat and coming out with similar results, as though the only thing anybody’s putting any effort into are the musical numbers."

He found the episode "easily forgettable" overall, criticizing the flat characterization, but noted that even when the series frustrates him, he continues to love Glee for, not in spite of, its inconsistency.

He noted that while he had become jaded with Glee, he enjoyed "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", summarizing that, "Everything in this episode was chaotic and topsy-turvy, but you never had the feeling the silliness was getting away from the producers.

'"[26] The Daily News's Soraya Roberts expressed relief that the writers were not gullible enough to have Karofsky end the episode by joining the glee club.

[33] Amy Reiter of the Los Angeles Times opined that Karofsky's character development was the best element of the episode, but found his conflicted emotions convoluted, and was pleased that he was victimized by the hockey team.

Falchuk, the episode's director, stated that the sequence was included to attract male Super Bowl viewers who would not ordinarily watch Glee.

[38] In early reports relating to the episode, Lynch claimed that Couric and Morrison would perform a dance number to "Tea for Two", Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar's song from the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette.

"[25] Reiter also deemed it boring, describing it as "an elaborate smorgasbord without flavor",[34] and Rolling Stone's Erica Futterman criticized the uninspired, over-the-top choreography.

Though she enjoyed the a cappella cover, Brissey found it incongruous in context, opining that Glee's best performances are those linked to the storylines, allowing viewers to invest in their message.

[47] Several critics voiced similar complaints while enjoying the song itself, including Mullins, Futterman and the Houston Chronicle's Bobby Hankinson.

[44][46][48] Tucker felt that it had "more snap and vigour" than the final number, but also disapproved of its awkward inclusion, writing that it impacted negatively on the episode's momentum.

[30] Fallon gave the track an entirely positive review, suggesting that it should have been the episode's opening number and lauding it as "surprising, oozing with charm, and actually kind of joyous.

"[25] CNN's Lisa Respers France embraced the "completely random and bizarre" song choice, writing that it reminded her of the first season, "when [she] never knew what to expect and [...] was often happily surprised.