An admission: I had never watched an episode of Glee before last night's tribute to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, so I knew little about the show's characters and storylines other than the fact that Jane Lynch played a standout antagonist (Her Sue Sylvester character rattled off some wonderfully snarky commentary last night, such as when she opined: "You know, Halloween is fast approaching, the day when parents encourage little boys to dress like little girls, and little girls to dress like whores."). I had to acclimate myself on the fly, but could nonetheless appreciate that the episode worked well in contextualizing TRHPS.
The premise of the episode is that glee club director Will impulsively decides to stage Rocky Horror as an excuse to get close to guidance counselor Emma (an avowed fan of the cult-classic musical). At first the gambit works like the proverbial charm: the two take part in a steamy in-office rehearsal of "Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me." Complications ensue, though, as the production is threatened by cast members' internal issues, external pressure from parents, and of course, the nefarious schemes of Coach Sue (who only seemingly supports the effort so she can then denounce it on local TV).
In terms of the covers of the hit songs from the original movie, the results, to me, were hit or miss. The Mercedes character gives a powerful rendition of a sanitized version of "Sweet Transvestite" (apparently, you can say "transvestite" on primetime TV, but not "transsexual"). But the performance of "Hot Patootie--Bless My Soul" by John Stamos's Dr. Carl was limp at best (face it, he's no Meat Loaf--who, along with Barry Bostwick from TRHPS, makes a cameo appearance in the episode). Hardly unexpectedly, the episode climaxes with a rousing version of "The Time Warp."
I was impressed by the episode's ability to fit the key components of Rocky Horror within a one-hour episode while still developing the show's own subplots. I also liked how the episode explored/thematized the question of whether the sexually edgy material of TRHPS was appropriate for high-schoolers. All in all, I thought Glee made an entertaining homage to the movie, and offered one of the more clever Halloween episodes to air on network TV in several years.
***
Alas, there could be one glaring negative to last night's episode. Reports have circulated that Glee creator Ryan Murphy has been contacted about possibly directing a remake of Rocky Horror.
Now, there are certain films that should never be touched, and even 35 years later, TRHPS remains one of them. Here's hoping that Murphy's connection to the theatrical musical is confined to a single episode of Glee (even though it is interesting to speculate about which modern actor would make the perfect Dr. Frank-N-Furter).
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