Emma Pillsbury Schuester is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. Portrayed by actress Jayma Mays, Emma appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Emma was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. She is a guidance counselor at the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio, where the series is set. Emma suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and has romantic feelings for glee club director Will Schuester, but she becomes engaged to football coach Ken Tanaka, as Will is married. Ken ultimately breaks up with her on their wedding day because of her feelings for Will, and when Will leaves his wife, Terri, he and Emma share a kiss. Their relationship is short-lived, and in the second season, Emma and her dentist boyfriend Carl Howell marry in Las Vegas. The marriage is later annulled, as it was unconsummated. At the beginning of the third season, she and Will are living together; they become engaged shortly after New Year, and they consummate their relationship near the end of the school year. Emma leaves Will at the altar midway through the fourth season, but the two later reconcile and marry in the season finale. She becomes pregnant during the middle of the fifth season.

Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that aired on Fox in the United States from May 19, 2009, to March 20, 2015. It centers on the New Directions, a glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School, that is located in the American state of Ohio, which competes as a show choir while its disparate members deal with social issues, especially regarding sexuality, race, family, teen relationships and teamwork.