"The Purple Piano Project" is the premiere episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the forty-fifth overall. The episode was written by series co-creator Brad Falchuk, directed by Eric Stoltz, and first aired on September 20, 2011 on Fox in the United States. It features the start of a new school year at McKinley High, and for its glee club, New Directions. Members of the club have left, and a recruitment drive is launched to bring the numbers back up. Blaine Anderson, Kurt Hummel's boyfriend, transfers from Dalton Academy to McKinley High, and Mercedes Jones gets a new boyfriend. Sue Sylvester is running for Congress.

The third season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee was commissioned on May 23, 2010, by Fox while the first season aired. It aired between September 20, 2011, and May 22, 2012, and was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Ryan Murphy Television, with executive producers Dante Di Loreto and series co-creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan.