As the fallout from the very real Sandy Hook school shootings played out at the US Capitol this week, TV's most famous fictional school dealt with the same issue.
McKinley High, the school that provides the backdrop for the teen song-and-dance show Glee, was thrown into chaos in Thursday night's episode when a gunshot was heard ringing through the building.
The show's usual boisterousness was turned on its head as for 10 long minutes as the students and teachers hid, sobbed, texted, tweeted and hugged each other while they tried to work out what was happening.
I watched the episode with my 15-year-old daughter, and to say that it was a shocking experience is an understatement. One moment, students and staff were going about their normal Glee day, worrying about a fake meteor headed to earth to obliterate them, confessing overwrought feelings to the wrong people, singing and rehearsing for regionals. Then, their world was turned upside down. It was heavy television, and particularly heavy for Glee.
Source: https://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/apr/12/glee-school-shootings-episode