Forty-one years after its movie premiere, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is the next musical to receive a television movie makeover.

Unlike “Grease,” Fox’s television musical predecessor, “Rocky Horror” was prerecorded and not performed with a studio audience. Also, the title is not just called “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” it is “The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do The Timewarp Again” giving off the vibe that this is the sequel to the original “Rocky Horror,” although, this is neither a sequel nor a very good remake.

For those unfamiliar with the story, innocent couple Brad Majors (Ryan McCartan, “Liv and Maddie”) and Janet Weiss (Victoria Justice, “Eye Candy”) take shelter in a spooky castle after their car breaks down. The castle is owned by mad scientist and “Sweet Transvestite” Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Laverne Cox, “Orange Is The New Black”), who is about to unveil his latest creation. The other members of Frank-N-Furter’s household include his servant Riff-Raff (Reeve Carney, “Penny Dreadful”), Riff-Raff’s sister Magenta (Christina Milian, “Grandfathered”) and groupie Columbia (Annaleigh Ashford, “Masters of Sex”).

Director Kenny Ortega (“High School Musical”) faces the challenge of turning this gritty and scandalous musical into a prime-time event. While it was nice to see scenes that did not make it into the original movie, the direction on several of the memorable scenes were too safe. The original “Rocky Horror” has been on television before and the more “adult scenes” were in there as is. The only thing removed was the use of certain curse words. Why sugar coat the direction in this remake?

Although the original movie was not a major success when it came out in 1975, the midnight screenings over the years turned it into a cult classic. One of the key things that made the midnight screenings enjoyable was the audience participation during certain points in the movie. The incorporation of the audience participation into the remake itself made no sense. It was basically taking the fun out of it by watching someone else do it.

While no Tim Curry (“Over the Garden Wall”), the original Frank-N-Furter who also plays the criminologist in this remake, Cox stands out the most out of all of the cast members. Audiences can tell she is having a lot of fun with the role while still being able to balance the deliciousness and craziness that goes into it. Cox did not try to be Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter. She brought her own flavor to this juicy role. It is also important to note that Frank-N-Furter is typically played by a male. Cox is transgender. The casting move was interesting, but worked very well.    

McCarten and Justice did the best they could in their roles, but it is the poor direction that made Brad and Janet no different than any of McCarten or Justice’s Disney or Nickelodeon roles. The rest of the supporting cast’s performances were also okay. However, as Frank-N-Furter said, “We can do better than okay.” They all tried their best, but it was the poor direction that held everyone back.

The orchestrations in the songs were too pop-y and some of the costuming was also too modern. These decisions may have been made in order to appeal to the millennial generation. Unfortunately, this remake tried too hard to appeal to them visually.

Aside from Cox’s stand out performance, everything in this remake felt like Disney’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The remake was stripped of the dark humor and sexiness the original movie had. If you’re a huge fan of “Rocky Horror,” this remake is not worth doing the “Time Warp” for.