Be mine at TV time.
Whether you’re snuggling up with your love, spending some time on yourself or opting to eat in to avoid the crowds, your favorite television characters can keep you company on this minor holiday.
With only so many stories to be told, shows need as much inspiration as they can to move the plot forward or set the scene for heart-warming hijinks.
You could find solace in the fact that your partner isn’t Michael Scott or you might even pick up a few tips and tricks to take on the road when you’re ready to get back out there. Your TV doesn’t care about your relationship status!
Rom-coms gets all the attention on Feb. 14, but the small screen is just as capable of making viewers laugh and cry. The only conversation you might be having is with candy hearts, but you’ll never be alone with these episodes.
‘The Office’ Season 5, Episode 18, ‘Blood Drive’
Nothing gets blood pumping like the Red Cross. While donating, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) meets a mystery woman and goes on a quest to return a glove she left behind. In classic Michael fashion, he doesn’t put out a memo, he ropes the office into hosting a singles mixer.
While Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) are off at lunch with Bob (Robert Shafer) and Phyllis Vance (Phyllis Smith), Michael loses all hope of finding his lucky lady — but Kevin comes out a winner after getting someone’s digits.
‘Friends’ Season 1, Episode 14, ‘The One With the Candy Hearts’
Ever the wingman, Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) tags along on Joey Tribbiani’s (Matt LeBlanc) date — and at request of Joey’s date — only to be set up with Janice (Maggie Wheeler), who he recently dumped on New Year’s Eve. And just like that they’re back together, but only for a day since Chandler has learned his lesson from the last go-around.
Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) goes on a date with his neighbor, but accidentally ruins his shot at a second date when his ex-wife, Carol (Jane Sibbett), walks into the restaurant. He’s still not over her, even though she’s moved on with Susan (Jessica Hecht).
Back at Monica’s (Courteney Cox) apartment, she, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) have a bonfire in the living room to rid themselves of bad boyfriend reminders. Unable to control the ensuing blaze, the girls are blessed with a trio of hot firemen to dampen the flames.
‘New Girl’ Season 4, Episode 15, ‘The Crawl’
Nick Miller (Jake Johnson) is all about the long game (Jessica Day can attest) and, with a new bar opening in the area, he uses it to complete a bar crawl he’s been planning — and it couldn’t come a moment sooner because he was just dumped and it’s Valentine’s Day. As they travel from place to place, Nick amasses a quirky following, who chant, “The crawl is for all!”
The roommates each have their own ideas for Valentine’s Day, but end up together like usual to support Nick. Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and her current boyfriend, Ryan (Julian Morris), are trying to sneak away to a romantic dinner, Schmidt (Max Greenfield) hits up a cardiology event with Councilwoman Fawn Moscato (Zoe Lister-Jones), Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) chases an army brat and Winston (Lamorne Morris) stays sober.
‘The Simpsons’ Season 4, Episode 15, ‘I Love Lisa’
Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith) feels the love and pays it forward to her classmate Ralph Wiggum (Nancy Cartwright) when she sees that no one has given him a valentine. Ralph being Ralph, he interprets Lisa “choo-choo-choosing” him as a romantic gesture and goes after her like his father, Chief Wiggum (Hank Azaria), pursues perps.
Lisa bursts Ralph’s bubble by not only telling him that they’re not together but that she never liked him at all. Like the great actors who have come before him, he channels his heartbreak into a standing ovation-worthy performance as George Washington in the Presidents Day pageant days later.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 6, Episode 14, ‘Valentine’s Day Massacre’
For some of the staff at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, treating their significant others to dinner turns into treating wounds after a restaurant’s roof collapses. Dr. Derek Shepard (Patrick Dempsey), Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) abandon their dinner plans to attend to the wounded and unravel their co-workers’ personal dalliances.
‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ Season 15, Episode 8, ‘An American Model in Paris’
In 2018, after four years of marriage — and three kids — Kanye West is feeling wife Kim Kardashian‘s attention shifting. Her priorities might be shifting, but his are staying the same, including dictating the pics she can post on Instagram. Ye’s breaking point comes when Kim can’t find an “appropriate” Band-Aid to wear in public, so she uses Valentine’s Day as a chance to right her wrong because her hubby’s into “the small little cute things.”
Kim also feels the wrath of sister Kourtney after she accidentally includes her on an all-family email chain discussing the possibility of Kourtney and Scott having another child together — even though they are happily separated. Little sis Kendall Jenner avoids the hullabaloo in Paris.
‘Gilmore Girls’ Season 6, Episode 15, ‘A Vineyard Valentine’
Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) decides it’s not a romantic getaway without her mother tagging along. She invites Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Luke (Scott Patterson) to spend Valentine’s Day weekend at her boyfriend Logan’s (Matt Czuchry) Martha’s Vineyard property. While Rory and Logan find it fun, Luke turns off the charm and Lorelai isn’t there for it. Logan saves the day — and changes Luke’s opinion of him — when he offers up one of the gifts he’d planned on giving Rory because Luke forgot one for Lorelai.
‘Parks and Recreation’ Season 2, Episode 16, ‘Galentine’s Day’
This take on Valentine’s Day might have existed before Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) commemorated it in 2010, but Galentine’s Day is her holiday. On Feb. 13, Leslie’s mother, Marlene (Pamela Reed), regales the party with a “Romeo and Juliet” story of her own with a lifeguard named Frank (John Laroquette).
After Leslie passes the tale on to her then-boyfriend, Justin (Justin Theroux), they set off to reunite the young lovers at a dance the next day. All their hard work ends in Marlene rejecting Frank and, ultimately, Leslie breaking up with Justin.
‘How I Met Your Mother’ Season 6, Episode 16, ‘Desperation Day’
Like on “Parks and Recreation,” Valentine’s Day eve is for the ladies — or, more accurately, taking advantage of single ladies’ desperation. Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) fondly refers to it as “Desperation Day” and Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) decides to lean into her single status and hang out with her co-workers.
While the rest of the gang is away in Minnesota, Barney and Robin post up at MacLaren’s, each on a separate mission. He finds himself attracted to one of Robin’s co-workers, who winds up rejecting him after he explains to her how to play laser tag. Once the clock strikes midnight, Robin takes the opportunity to point out he failed, but she sets him up on a date with her colleague for Valentine’s Day.
‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Season 2, Episode 16, ‘Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered’
Up the stakes as Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon) gives his girlfriend, Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), a silver necklace as a token of his affection. He doesn’t know that her friends have turned her against him and she breaks up with him, causing him to cast a love spell on her for revenge.
Because Xander’s aim wasn’t true, the spell backfires and everyone but Cordelia sets their sights on him. Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) isn’t immune and attempts to seduce him in the school’s library. At one point, she’s turned into a rat and a love-crazed mob attacks Xander and Cordelia. All’s well in the end as Buffy changes back to her teenage self and the lovebirds walk off into the sunset.