Anna Pickard, writing in The Guardian touches on the Glee effect, much observed in music circles currently, of songs from the show immediately racing up the download charts, but also points out the likely medium term effect that will touch many of us whose offspring get involved in school productions:

the real Glee effect might be more obvious closer to home, at your child’s next school concert: a pained rendition of Don’t Stop Believin’, maybe – with questionable dance moves

For me though, this effect on the youth audience is entirely secondary to the benefit of giving them such a fantastic dose of irony in such a familiar format. It’s like getting the Simpsons scriptwriters to do an episode of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, or Charlie Brooker to write the lyrics of a Jonas Brothers song. As an antidote to the sledgehammer morality messages that most American television aimed at the teen audience doles out, it would be impossible to beat the clips of Coach Sue Sylvester’s “That’s how Sue Sees It”, or for those used to the self-reverential contestants on X-Factor, the pure, unadulterated joy of the football field rendition of Single Ladies: