Last night saw a Valentine's Day-themed episode of "Glee" featuring a prominent story line for recent University of Michigan graduate Darren Criss as Blaine. Criss, who's become a real sensation, had two musical showcases in the episode. This promo has a brief sample:

So how was it? MTV.com found the episode to be "Glee" at its best, while The Atlantic's "Glee" panel also loved it. Meanwhile, MTV.com has some interesting background on the use of Katy Perry's "Firework," sung last night by Lea Michele.

Another U-M grad, Brad Buecker, serves as supervising producer for the show, and he directed the episode slated to air next week.

MORE TELEVISION

• The kid who plays "Little Vader" in the new Volkswagen ad got a chance to meet the voice of the original Darth Vader, James Earl Jones (another U-M grad).

MOVIES

• I am 100 percent with Dave Bing on this one: The mayor of Detroit has no plans for the city to build a statue of Robocop. Terrible movie, terrible vision of the city (which was shot in Dallas, not incidentally).

• Gulp. People.com reports (with a photo — brace yourself) that Meryl Streep is playing Margaret Thatcher in an upcoming movie.

• Julia Roberts is set to play the Evil Queen in the upcoming "The Brothers Grimm: Snow White."

• Lindsay Lohan is expected to be charged in a reported necklace theft. And she's being sued by a tanning company for $41,000 in allegedly unpaid bills.

MUSIC

• Jeff Daniels' YouTube channel has a couple entertaining videos documenting 10 gigs in 11 days on the road in a motor home.

• The Detroit News thinks Eminem is well positiioned for a big night at Sunday's Grammy Awards.

• The Huffington Post is getting lots of good reaction from an essay on how Christina Aguilera was guilty of "oversouling" her Super Bowl rendition of the National Anthem.

• Lady Gaga has released the cover art for her single "Born This Way." An upcoming "60 Minutes" interview with the singer includes a visit to her old apartment.

• Mad Magazine's new cover features Alfred E. Neuman with a Justin Bieber haircut.

OPERA

• Ben Heppner has dropped out of the Metropolitan Opera's "Ring" saga, The New York Times reports.

ART & EXHIBITS

• Winners of a major wildlife photo exhibit are on display at the Detroit Zoo.

• The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and the Heidelberg Project have each received $100,000 grant awards.

Renee Tellez contributed to this roundup. Bob Needham is director of entertainment content for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at bobneedham@annarbor.com or 734-623-2541, and follow him on Twitter @bobneedham.