'Glee's Rocky Horror remake: 'Worst episode yet'

Actually, let's not do the time warp again. That was the prevailing critical response to the Rocky Horror Picture Show-themed installment of Fox's "Glee" that aired last night. Though the cast's homage to the 1975 cult film was much anticipated by fans, one blogger called it the "worst episode yet" of "Glee." Was it really so bad? (Watch a clip from the episode)

"The Rocky Horror Glee Show" was execrable: What a "singularly flat and affectless episode," marvels Todd VanDerWerff in The Onion's A.V. Club. "The worst hour this show has ever produced" tried to be all things, "all ways, for all people" — a Rocky Horror tribute for film fans and a traditional episode for "Glee" fans. As one of TV's most powerful people, show creator Ryan Murphy can do whatever he wants and "he's choosing to make... a half-assed, attention deficit disorder-ridden show about whatever the hell pops into his brain at that moment."

"The Rocky Horror Glee Show"

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And all this for marketing synergy? If there were an "Emmy category for Most Convoluted Plot Line," says Emily Yahr in The Washington Post, "this episode would win hands down." From Mercedes singing "Sweet Transvestite" to the guys confessing their body insecurities in a "Very Important After School Specials-type" moment, the goings-on felt very off. But hey, in an "incredible coincidence," it did coincide with Fox's release of a 35th Anniversary Edition DVD of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

"'Glee's Rocky Horror week: We watch so you don't have to"

C'mon, it wasn't that execrable: As a Rocky Horror "cultist," my perspective is admittedly "rose-tinted," says Dave Itzkoff in The New York Times, but, although the episode would never be mistaken for "compelling, internally consistent narrative," I enjoyed "spending an hour watching some very talented people throw themselves into a misunderstood little musical."

"The anticipation is over: 'Glee' does Rocky Horror"