Glee stars Dianna Agron, left, Cory Montheith and Lea Michele pose for photographer Terry Richardson. (GQ)

As if Glee wasn't ubiquitous enough already, this week, three of the hit musical comedy series' nubile, show-tune-belting stars are gracing the cover of GQ, in an "aren't we naughty?" photo that leaves very little to the imagination.

The Glee cover image features the show's leading crooner, Cory Monteith, being flanked by his co-stars Lea Michele and Dianna Agron. And while Monteith's decked out in a sporty rugby shirt that seems McKinley High ready, his female castmates have been styled as scantily-clad high-school vixens - complete with hot-pink heels and barely there cheerleader kilts.

I suppose it's an attempt to channel the faux-nasty spirit of recent Glee guest star Britney Spears' ... Baby One More Time, but the telltale American Apparel look of the image (shot by notoriously slimy Apparel shutterbug Terry Richardson) and its appearance on a magazine geared to an adult male audience, suggests something a lot less innocent, maybe even bordering on the softcore.

The cover photo, and the accompanying "Glee Gone Wild" spread featured inside the pages of GQ, is triggering internet chatter as overwrought and persistent as the chorus of Don't Stop Believin'. Katie Couric expressed disappointment at the magazine's choice to depict the characters from a teen-themed series in such sexualized poses, model and Glee star Dianna Agron has posted an articulate apology-explanation on Tumblr and the outraged Parents Television Council insists the GQ cover "borders on pedophilia."

While I wouldn't go quite that far, I do think the saucy, deliberately provocative images occupy some murky moral terrain. As others have suggested, GQ is pretty accessible on newsstands, and while the jokey, come-hither cover shot is aimed at adults, it will be easy for youngsters to get their hands on pics of Lea Michele in her skivvies.

Though the Glee actors are clearly well over legal age, the characters they play on TV are not. And there's something a bit sneaky about GQ insisting Monteith, Agron and Michele (teen role models spawned by a wildly popular teen series) are legal, while simultaneously toying with the jailbait/Lolita connotations that arise from showing the young glee club characters in very sexualized poses staged in locker rooms and high school libraries.

But I'm turning this one over to you, readers. Is Glee's recent GQ cover inappropriate? Or just a boring grab for ratings, controversy and attention?