page_title: Brittany Pierce
section_title: Critical reception
hierarchical_section_title: Brittany Pierce / Critical reception
caption_attribution_description: Naya Rivera (left) and Heather Morris at the Paley Festival 2011 panel on Glee
context_page_description: Brittany Susan Pierce is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Heather Morris, and first appeared in the show's second episode, "Showmance". Brittany was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan. In Glee, Brittany is a ditzy cheerleader, or "Cheerio", for the fictional William McKinley High School, and a member of the school's glee club led by Will Schuester. Morris was originally hired to teach Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" dance to the Glee cast. At that time, the series was looking for a third cheerleader, and Morris landed the role. Morris was upgraded to a series regular in the series' second season, in which Brittany is given a larger storyline, solos and dance routines to perform.
  Morris plays Brittany as unconventional, often scatterbrained, but also entirely well-meaning and goodhearted. She has said that Brittany "love[s] everybody, no matter who they are"; she is frequently smiling and being nice to people.
context_section_description: Jarrett Wieselman of the New York Post has compared Morris as Brittany to Lynch as Sue, and noted that she has "emerged as one of the funniest second bananas on TV right now". Wieselman wrote that since her introduction, Brittany has been given "more and more to do [and] less and less to think", and that the result has been "one of the most clueless characters that's ever figured out how to dress herself in the morning." E! Online's Megan Masters has also compared Brittany to Sue, and stated that Brittany's one-liners "easily rival" Sue's. She deemed Brittany "brainlessly brilliant", and thanked the Glee producers for creating her: "Never before have we had the pleasure of enjoying such a ridiculously dumb—yet always loveable—character on television." When a promotional clip for the episode "Sectionals" indicated that Brittany and Santana had slept together, Dorothy Snarker, when writing for lesbian entertainment website AfterEllen.com, praised the pairing and referred to it by the portmanteau "Brittana". Snarker called the two her "new favourite Glee pairing", and commented: "While Heather Morris (Brittany) and Naya Rivera (Santana) have had minimal screen time, they’ve made it count. Heather in particular has brought the laughs as the Cheerio least likely to get a Mensa invitation. Never mind Finn and Rachel – I’m on Team Brittana now."
  Morris' performance in Britney/Brittany attracted critical praise; Lisa de Moraes called "Britney/Brittany" a "great showcase" for the actress, and praised her "spectacular dance moves" and "deadpan flare". In her otherwise negative review, Emily VanDerWerff deemed Morris "hysterical throughout" and the cast's best dancer. She stated, "Murphy seems intent on running this character into the ground, but Morris isn't going to have her stop being funny without a fight." Jenna Mullins of E! Online observed, "When Ryan Murphy said this episode was a celebration of Heather, he wasn't kidding", and commended her musical performances. Robert Canning of IGN was initially concerned that the episode would diminish Morris' appeal by elevating her from a background role, but was ultimately pleased that it managed to retain her "fan favorite" secondary character status. While Poniewozik asked "have we gotten to the point as a society where it's unremarkable that the most popular scripted TV show in the 18 to 49 demographic is also—almost without comment or controversy—the gayest show on broadcast TV?", Ann Oldenburg of USA Today questioned whether Glee had gone too far by its depiction of Brittany and Santana kissing and their reference to the sexual act called "scissoring". Christie Keith, in writing for the lesbian and bisexual media website AfterEllen.com, suggested that "Duets" was the "queerest episode of any series that's ever been on television", and stated that she was moved to tears by the final scene of Brittany forlorn without Santana. AfterEllen.com also listed her in their Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters.
  Robert Canning praised Morris for her performance in "A Very Glee Christmas", and wrote: "The heart of "A Very Glee Christmas" was found in Artie Abrams attempt to keep Brittany's belief in Santa Claus alive. Heather Morris perfectly played up Brittany's innocence and joy surrounding everything Santa. Her interaction with the black mall Santa was a highlight. Watching Artie, and eventually the rest of the club, work to keep Brittany's belief intact was truly in the spirit of Christmas and should have been made into a fuller part of the episode. Also shining in this storyline was Dot Jones as Coach Bieste. Her scene as Santa, and then her knowing expression as she watched Artie walk, were the best moments of the episode." In January 2010, Morris and her co-stars won the "Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Later that year, Brittany and Santana were nominated for the "Favorite Fictional Lesbian Couple" award at the AfterEllen.com Visibility Awards.
caption: The relationship between Santana (Naya Rivera, left) and Brittany (Heather Morris, right) has been well received by critics and viewers.
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