The Rocky Horror Glee Show
The Rocky Horror Glee Show is a 2010 episode of the American television series Glee. It aired in the show's second season on October 25, 2010 on the Fox network.
The episode was written by Ryan Murphy, co-creator of Glee, who at the time of airing, was rumored to be working with Lou Adler and 20th Century Fox on a big-screen remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show which eventually morphed into The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again, sans Murphy.
Contents
Air Date
October 26, 2010
Episode Summary
The episode had the regular cast of high school glee club members staging a version of the stage play The Rocky Horror Show, with heavy references to the film version, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In-between the 7 musical numbers from Rocky Horror that were staged on the episode, standard television drama developed involving the cast members teenaged angst over body image issues, casting choices and parental disapproval.
Plot
After glee-club instructor Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) discovers that his love interest, Emma (Jayma Mays) has been attending midnight screenings of the The Rocky Horror Picture Show with his rival, Carl (John Stamos), he presents it to the glee club to perform as their next musical stage production. A subplot of sabotage from outside the glee club emerged as Coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) is coerced into participating in the play by local news station managers Tim Stanwick (Barry Bostwick) and Barry Jeffries (Meat Loaf) who want her to produce an undercover exposé of the play.
Reception and Legacy
"The Rocky Horror Glee Show" was watched by 11.76 million US viewers and attained a 4.9/13 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. In overall viewers, it placed twentieth for the week. Although the initial rumbling throughout the Rocky Community was mixed, most agreed that if the audience for the theatrical experience was widened as a result, it was acceptable. Beyond that, the community was wildly split on the execution. Many felt it missed the mark, while others found it charming and fun. Particularly annoying to most fans was the changing of the word "Transexual" to the word "Sensational" throughout.
The press was equally divided as the L.A. Times along with many Gay Advocacy publications saw it as watered down and offensive in its skirting around sexual issues within the original while major publications like Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone gave it positive reviews.
The episode was considered a success, and spawned a 7-track CD called Glee: The Music, The Rocky Horror Glee Show. Released on October 19, 2010, the CD debuted at #6 on the Billboard album chart, significantly higher than any other Rocky Horror release in history. It also helped to boost sales of the The Rocky Horror Picture Show Original Soundtrack Album and the Karaoke version The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Sing It! (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Minus The Lead Vocals). "The Time Warp" also made the singles chart on the Billboard Hot 100, barely missing the bottom by peaking at at #89.
Cast
Note: Cast changes in the production change based on various anxieties within the episode and and the show's adults fill in at rehearsals makes the list confusing as does doubling up on roles to accommodate more players than roles.
Dr. Frank-N-Furter - A Scientist
Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones
Janet Weiss - A Heroine
Lea Michele as Rachel Berry
Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury (Stand-in only)
Brad Majors - A Hero
Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson
Riff Raff - A Handyman
Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel
Magenta - A Domestic
Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray (1)
Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez (2)
Columbia - A Groupie
Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang (1)
Heather Morris as Brittany Pierce (2)
The Criminologist - An Expert
Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams
Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester (Stand-in only)
Rocky Horror (A Creation)
Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans
Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester
The Great Dr. Everett V. Scott - A Rival Scientist
Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams
Eddie - Ex Delivery Boy
John Stamos as Carl Howell
Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang
Usherette Trixie
Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez
The Transylvanians
Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones
Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang
Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray
Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams
Guest Cast
Meat Loaf as Barry Jeffries
Barry Bostwick as Tim Stanwick
Max Adler as Dave Karofsky
John Stamos as Dr. Carl Howell
Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins
Harry Shum, Jr. as Mike Chang
Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans
James Earl as Azimio
Bill A. Jones as Rod Remington
Earlene Davis as Andrea Carmichael
Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson
Musical Numbers
"Science Fiction, Double Feature"
"Over At The Frankenstein Place"
"Dammit Janet"
"Hot Patootie"
"Sweet Transvestite"
"Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me"
"The Time Warp"
Related
External Links
The Rocky Horror Glee Show at IMDb [1]
