The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) is one of my favorite movies of all time. If you haven't seen it, you should. I think it's a Must Watch and I bet that even if you haven't seen the movie or the stage performance you probably know what the Time Warp is. (I have not seen a theatrical production of The Rocky Horror Show yet. but I want to.)

I wanna talk about the sequels to Rocky Horror though. Because there ARE sequels.

Ok actually only one of the sequel concepts made it into any sort of final production but STILL. there are sequels.

For most of the projects I'll be rambling about, I'll be sharing information that I've read from The Rocky Horror Fandom Wiki's section about Scrapped Productions because that's where I learned about a lot of this stuff for the first time. To be completely honest, that fandom wiki is the best information I've got at the moment and now that I'm looking deeper into it to write this it has occurred to me that there are essentially No Sources provided for the information on these wiki pages. Please take this blog with a grain of salt, I cannot guarantee the validity of some of the content. A lot of the content will be me Rambling, but I am trying to do additional research on some of the things I'm not super confident about. As much as I'd love to be 100% sure about the information I'm sharing, it just isn't really possible with this topic. There are a lot of super niche and unknown details that I'm not able to verify at this time.

Abbreviation Guide:

• "Rocky," RHPS = The Rocky Horror [Picture] Show
•  ↳ Note: the phrase "Rocky Horror" will also be used as an abbreviation and may not always refer to the character of the same name. Context Clues our beloved.
  
• RHSHH, "Heels"  = Rocky Horror Shows His Heels
• TBAJS = The Brad and Janet Show
• "Shocky" = Fan-Created nickname for Shock Treatment
• ROTOQ = Revenge of the Old Queen

Rocky Horror Shows His Heels

Scrapped Production, Script from 1978

Fandom Wiki Page: Rocky Horror Shows His Heels

Story Summary as told by Me <3 : Rocky Horror is miraculously reborn after the events of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He misses Frank, who was not given the luxury of resurrection. Brad and Janet, for some reason, decided to get married after the happenings of RHPS, and now Janet is pregnant! But it's very clearly Not Brad's child because Brad.... *checks notes* Has Turned Gay. Frank turned that man gay. So that baby is either Frank's or Rocky's (spoiler: it's eventually revealed to be Frank's kid). Brad leaves Janet because he's into guys now and once again goes to see Dr. Scott. Who is also gay now. And Rocky is also there and he has Frank's nasty 9-month-rotted corpse so they can try to bring him back to life. They manage to bring Frankie back by giving him some of their blood. Hijinks ensue. Frank wants to meet the baby! Frank wants to party! Frank wants to Stay Alive! But wait, Frank needs MORE BLOOD to stay alive. Hijinks ensue again. also Riff Raff and Magenta are there.

So Richard O'Brien had written a script and thrown together some music (a 1 Hour long cassette, specifically) for a Rocky Horror movie sequel titled "Rocky Horror Shows His Heels." The material was sent to FOX to consider, and according to the Fandom Wiki, they were interested. The main problem seems to be that Tim Curry did not want to return as Frank-N-Furter, and that the director from RHPS felt that Heels was too similar to the original and he wasn't interested in directing it. So Rocky Horror did Not get his chance to show his heels. The sequel was dropped.

A lot of the music written for this movie did get reworked and reused in future projects, though not all of the songs from the original tape are Known or Mentioned. Even then, lots of the songs were only mentioned by name, and not linked to their original lyrics.

The script for this concept is Not available anywhere to read online, so my homemade summary came from the "Plot" section on the wiki page I've linked. Honestly I think it could've been an interesting story, especially knowing what I do now about how the music was eventually reused. I'd love to see how it was originally intended to be used, that would be so cool!!! Maybe there's an alternate universe where RHSHH is real. The other projects, though, are also super interesting and have features that intrigue me even more. Man it's like trying to pick my favorite child. I don't want to say any of them are bad because they're all Interesting concepts that I'd love to know more about, but some are just more interesting. y'know?

The Brad and Janet Show

Scrapped Production*, Script from 1980

Fandom Wiki Page: The Brad and Janet Show

Draft Script: "The Brad and Janet Show" Draft Script

Story Summary: Remember RHPS? That never happened. Janet Majors is a girlboss with a Job in the Denton TV studio and it's causing tension in the Majors household. Brad is a cringefail malewife who gets referred/sent to some sketchy "Neuro-Specialists" by Dr. Scott to get good. Janet gets groomed into Stardom to be the face of the rising Mental Health movement operated by Farley Flavors, the local Fast Food Monopoly. Keeping this summary on the shorter side on purpose.

Remember all that music from Rocky Horror Shows His Heels? Well Richard O'Brien wasn't about to just throw it away. He wanted to use it. So he wrote up a new script, tweaked some of the lyrics in the existing music so they fit in better, and The Brad and Janet Show was born. The fandom wiki page for RHSHH shows how the songs would've been used originally, and it's interesting to compare that to how they actually ended up being used. The events of Rocky Horror are just straight up Not Canon in this story. Tim Curry still didn't want to get involved though even when offered the role of Farley Flavors (he felt his American accent wasn't good enough), and Susan Sarandon (Janet's Actress) asked for $1 Million to play Janet again.

And then the Screen Actors Guild went on strike! (See: 1980 Actors' Strike)

So yeah The Brad and Janet Show got cancelled. They were going to actually film it in Texas, but so much shit went down that they just Couldn't. And so the script was reworked Again and turned into........

⚡Shock Treatment⚡

ACTUALLY Became a Movie, Released in 1981

Fandom Wiki Page: Shock Treatment

Wanna watch it? You can: Shock Treatment (1981) on YouTube

I'm not gonna write a Summary for this one because I'm actually just going to Ramble about it. You know how I said Rocky Horror is one of my favorite movies ever? Call it sacrilege to the RHPS fanbase but I think I love Shock Treatment more. I love both movies, don't get me wrong, and they're different enough that I don't think I could put one above the other.

So after the Disaster that was Rocky Horror Shows His Heels and The Brad and Janet Show, all the leftovers got reworked into the beautiful mess that is Shock Treatment. I kept the summary of TBAJS short because of how incredibly similar it is to Shocky and I didn't want to spoil anything for those who may be interested in watching it. All of the pre-production issues from TBAJS resulted in another rewrite of the script, the most significant issue being the Limited Filming Space. TBAJS was set in multiple locations and was planned to be filmed in Texas, but that just wasn't achievable anymore. They were limited to One studio in the UK and had to make it work, so the entire movie takes place within the studio. Like, it's set in a filming studio.

Shock Treatment was advertised as Rocky's "Equal" rather than a definite sequel or prequel. Following the success of the Midnight Showing culture of Rocky Horror, Shock Treatment was also in theaters for late-night showings in attempt to draw in that same crowd. It didn't work though. It totally flopped in theaters. People wanted more Rocky Horror only to be met with an entirely different story. Skill Issue on the audience's end LMAO. Yeah, it's not Rocky Horror, and sure maybe I had the advantage of watching it 40 years later already knowing it was going to be something different, but it's still Good. Anyway since it flopped in theaters back in the day, not many people know it even exists. Of course there's a fan community/cult following, Time and the internet can be wonderful like that, but it's nowhere near as popular as Rocky Horror.

Ok actually let me try to better explain why Shock Treatment flopped so hard. A few different factors are at play here, but a big part of it is Change. As previously mentioned, Shocky is significantly different from Rocky Horror. It features different actors and doesn't have very many recognizable characters from RHPS. That, on top of the fact that people are Expecting a Rocky Horror 2, made it way too different for the Rocky crowd. The midnight showings didn't help much, either. In theory it should've drawn in the same crowd like they expected. Rocky Horror fans love a midnight showing, it's like their whole thing. But when your intended audience isn't keen on your new project and you're primarily showing it super late at night, it kinda keeps you from attracting new audiences. So Shocky flopped and faded to a status even more niche than a Cult Classic.

Because of how the story was reworked, It's kinda up to personal preference whether or not Shocky takes place in the same sorta timeline/universe as Rocky. Some people take TBAJS approach and think it doesn't take place in the same timeline, others think they coexist. I like to think that it does occur in the same universe as Rocky and that the still-present strain in the Majors' marriage is a result of their experience at the Furter Mansion, kinda like how RHSHH was written but not for the same reasons lmao.

The music in Shocky is so good. Richard O'Brien knows how to make a musical goddamn. Like most things about Shock Treatment, it's different than the music in Rocky Horror, but I find that the songs are just as catchy and fun to listen to. I also feel like you honestly don't need to have seen Rocky Horror before watching Shock Treatment. They're different enough that you aren't really missing any information if you haven't seen Rocky before. If you have seen Rocky before it then you get like bonus points for knowing who Brad and Janet are. Extra bonus points if you remember Ralph and Betty Hapschatt because they're there too. I may be biased but I do think you should watch Rocky Horror before watching Shock Treatment even if you don't really need to.

Jessica Harper and Cliff De Young make a great Janet and Brad. The movie is visually appealing and I think it's super entertaining. Its message is also like kinda ahead of its time? Like y'know how RHPS is meant to be a spoof of tacky Horror movies? Shock Treatment pokes fun at Television and Reality TV instead and a good bit of the messaging can be applied to how we engage with Content and Consumerism in the present day.

Oh yeah there was also a Stage adaptation of Shocky in 2015. You can Also watch that on YouTube! Here's a link to part 1 of the performance, part 2 is available on the same account as part 1.

But yeah good movie and I think more RHPS fans should watch it. I'm sure I could go on about this movie even more but I think I've gotta stop myself because there's more to talk about that Isn't Shocky related.

Revenge of the Old Queen

Scrapped Production, Script from [1988/1991?]

Fandom Wiki Page: Revenge of the Old Queen

Draft Script: Revenge of the Old Queen - Draft Script

Story Summary: How much can I say about this without basically retelling the entire story. Did you forget that Frank, Riff Raff, and Magenta were aliens? I didn't. Welcome to the planet Transexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. The Old Queen of Transexual is DYING and her son, Frank N Furter, is very obviously not able to claim the throne once she's gone but the Queen actually doesn't know that Frank is dead. Also there's another Transylvanian we meet, Lord de Lordy, who is also in line for the throne. Back on Earth, Brad has a brother and he works in UFO Investigation. Oh also the Rocky Horror Picture Show movie is a thing within the universe of this story but the Events of the movie happened In Real Life there. So many things Happen in this story and it's kinda like RHSHH if it got split in half, took a bath, and found something new to replace the half it was split from.

So I've linked a Draft Script for ROTOQ here because it's available and also because I highly suggest that you read through it if you're interested. I really enjoyed reading it, at least. Out of all the Scrapped content, this story is one I'd actually really love to see more about. A movie isn't realistic, but I think maybe like a comic or something would be really cool. I mostly want to have a design/visualization for Sonny tbh I think he's a fun character.

There's actually One song from this story that made it to the surface: "The Moon Drenched Shores of Transylvania." The version I've linked is fan-remastered, but there's an unedited version with a comment that appears to be from Richard Hartley, the composer of The Rocky Horror Show & Shock Treatment, saying that "[they] wrote 4 songs for this film then 20th Century Fox dropped it." I have no way of knowing if this account is legitimate, but the comment lines up with the information available on Wikipedia about ROTOQ. To clarify, there isn't a Wikipedia article entirely for the project, but there is information about the Rocky Horror sequels on its main page. Here's what it says about ROTOQ:

"O'Brien revisited the notion for a direct RHPS sequel in 1991, writing Revenge of the Old Queen. Producer Michael White had hoped to begin work on the production and described the script as being 'in the same style as the other one. It has reflections of the past in it.' Revenge of the Old Queen commenced pre-production; however, after studio head Joe Roth was ousted from Fox in 1993, the project was shelved indefinitely. Although the script went unpublished, bootleg copies have leaked online, and a song from the original demo tape circulates among fans. The script remains the property of Fox, producer of the two prior films, and remains unlikely to be revived."

For more information, here's a link to the Wikipedia page: The Rocky Horror Picture Show Wikipedia Article, Section regarding Sequels. I'm putting this link here rather than earlier in the blog because it doesn't say much that we don't already know about the earlier projects. It's most helpful for this specific project.

Rocky Horror: The Second Coming

Scrapped Stage Production, Script from 1999-2001

Fandom Wiki Page: Rocky Horror: The Second Coming

Useful Wikipedia Article: RHPS Wikipedia Article section about its sequels

Gonna be real, there's nothing for this one. I couldn't write a story summary for it if I wanted to.

What we do know is that this would've been a Stage Production, and if it were to be successful there would be an attempt to have it turned into a movie. Kinda like what happened with the Original. The title isn't even confirmed, "The Second Coming" is an unofficial working title. Nothing was finalized beyond the first act, and development has been dormant since. The story apparently took bits and pieces from Rocky Horror Shows His Heels and may have also included factors from Revenge of the Old Queen, but I'm not totally sure if that's true. Wikipedia's blurb about this project does mention RHSHH, but only the Fandom Wiki mentions ROTOQ.

Citation 98 on the Wikipedia Article I've provided links to a Google Groups post from 2001 about "Rocky Horror 2," giving us a little bit of an idea of what the sequel might've looked like. One of the songs from this project had been performed (not recorded, though) and the post calls it "I'm Not Dead Yet" while the Fandom Wiki refers to it as "Frankie Phoenix." These are the only mentions of this song that I'm aware of, so I can't give any solid answer as to what the title actually is. Maybe both were working titles?

I really wish I could say more about this production, but I can't find very much about it. I'm working with a 3-sentence-long Wikipedia blurb, a Fandom Wiki, and a 23-year-old Google Groups post and I have the most faith in the Wikipedia blurb. The Google Groups is in second place. Take this section with an extra grain of salt.

From what I'm reading on the Google Groups, the story we were made aware of is very similar to RHSHH. OP also says Richard O'Brien was interested in a Tim Burton Nightmare Before Christmas style animated adaptation of Rocky Horror? Interesting.

Right. I think that's enough for now.

Closing Thoughts

I've been fascinated with these sequel concepts for a while now and I'm glad to have an opportunity to go off on this tangent. I'm sorry my sources are shoddy, but we'll be equally informed now so if I'm wrong we all go down together <3

But yeah! Thanks for reading through my Brain Vomit. I'd love to talk about this stuff with anyone who may also be interested in them!! Maybe not The Second Coming though LMAO (I'm only kidding... a little...)