Ratings 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, marking the highest rating for a
Glee episode. This also made the episode the highest-rated scripted broadcast of a TV series in three years. The episode continued a trend of declining Super Bowl lead-out show retention. It attained a higher rating than the last scripted lead-out show,
The Office episode "
Stress Relief", which followed
Super Bowl XLIII, but was down 31 percent on the premiere episode of the
reality television series
Undercover Boss, broadcast after
Super Bowl XLIV. Both ratings and viewership significantly increased from the previous
Glee episode, "
A Very Glee Christmas", which was viewed by 11.07 million US viewers and received a 4.4/13 rating/share in the 18–49 demographic upon its initial airing. In Canada, where the episode was also broadcast on February 6, 2011, it attained 2.16 million viewers and was the ninth most-watched show of the week. Viewership declined from the previous episode, which was watched by 2.37 million viewers and ranked fifth for the week. The episode's Australian broadcast, on February 14, 2011, drew 1.13 million viewers, making
Glee the fourth most-watched program of the night and the most-watched in the 18–49 demographic. It placed tenth in the weekly viewership rankings. 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. In the UK, the episode was watched by 2.64 million viewers (2.21 million on
E4, and 433,000 on E4+1), becoming the most-watched show on cable for the week.
Critical response The episode was met with mixed response from critics. 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. 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.
New York Willa Paskin felt that Murphy demonstrated "utter contempt" for the potential new audience. She suggested that the McKinley High football team were used as a metaphor for new viewers—who could come to love
Glee if they embraced its musical numbers—but found this insulting as the team are portrayed as being ignorant and intolerant. Kevin Fallon of
The Atlantic found the episode lacking in
Glee "usual acerbic wit and emotional heft", and criticized the under-use of Colfer and Criss. 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." She graded the episode a "C", calling it "boring".
Time James Poniewozik also commented on the repetitive premise, suggesting that the jocks versus geeks plot was the one most likely to be accessible to the new audience. 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.
IGN's Robert Canning also found the long-running football vs. glee storyline repetitive, but wrote that the football players joining glee club was "a welcome twist", however convoluted and unrealistic. He rated the episode 8/10, finding it "preposterously fun".
Entertainment Weekly Ken Tucker considered the episode "at once in-your-face and under-handed, very clever about its very cynicism." 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. It all came together." Rick Porter of
Zap2it criticized Katie Couric's cameo for an attack made against
Dina Lohan. During her interview with Sue, Couric lists Lohan and her dog Sparky as failed Loser of the Year contenders. In a previous episode,
Glee also mocked Lohan's daughter,
Lindsay. Porter felt that the jibe diminished Couric's journalistic credibility, deeming the Lohans easy targets. However, Canning called Couric's cameo "perhaps the funniest part of the episode", 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. ==Music==