| "The Rocky Horror Glee Show" | |
|---|---|
| Glee episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 5 |
| Directed by | Adam Shankman |
| Story by | Ryan Murphy Tim Wollaston |
| Teleplay by | Ryan Murphy |
| Featured music | "Science Fiction/Double Feature" "Over at the Frankenstein Place" "Dammit Janet" "Hot Patootie/What Happened to Saturday Night?" "Sweet Transvestite" "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me" "Time Warp" |
| Production code | 2ARC05 |
| Original air date | October 26, 2010 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"The Rocky Horror Glee Show" is the fifth episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the twenty-seventh episode overall. It was written by series creator Ryan Murphy, from a story by Murphy and Tim Wollaston, directed by Adam Shankman, and premiered on Fox on October 26, 2010. The episode features the glee club paying tribute to the 1973 musical The Rocky Horror Show, with elements of its 1975 film adaptation The Rocky Horror Picture Show, by staging it as a school musical. While cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) attempts to sabotage the production, glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) dwells on his feelings for guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), and club members Finn (Cory Monteith) and Sam (Chord Overstreet) deal with body image issues. Barry Bostwick and Meat Loaf, who star in the original film, appear in cameo roles in this episode.
Elements of Rocky Horror were sanitized for the episode, including the costumes and lyrics. Creator Richard O'Brien expressed disappointment in the dilution of the musical's themes, and a spokesperson for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation criticized the episode for its use of the term "tranny". Watched by 11.76 million US viewers, "The Rocky Horror Glee Show" was the fifth consecutive episode of Glee to become the top-rated program on the night of broadcast in the 18–49 demographic. It received a mixed response from critics, was alternatively deemed the series' best ever themed-episode by Rolling Stone's Erica Futterman, and was described as the worst hour in the show's history by Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club.
The episode featured cover versions of seven Rocky Horror songs, which were released on an extended play album. Glee: The Music, The Rocky Horror Glee Show reached number six on the Billboard 200. It marked the lowest debut and sales for the Glee cast in the US, but the highest position ever reached for a Rocky Horror album. The songs attracted mixed commentary, particularly the performance of "Time Warp", which was given a grade of "A+" by Entertainment Weekly's Tim Stack, but derided by Matt Zoller Seitz of Slant Magazine as "very possibly the weakest, most uninspired rendition" he had ever heard.[1]