When I was nine years old, I saw Grease for the first time and became extremely obsessed. Seriously, ask my parents. I watched the movie at least once a day…every single day… for over three months straight. During that time, I listened to the soundtrack several times a day—sometimes up to five or six times in a row. I pretty much carried my Grease VHS tape with me everywhere and tried to convince my friends that we should watch it, yet again, at every sleepover I went to. Didi Conn wrote a behind-the-scenes recount of the making of the movie called Frenchy’s “Grease” Scrapbook, which remains one of the few non-fiction books I’ve actually read all the way through.
That being said, you can imagine how dear to my heart I hold the source material for Grease Live, which aired on FOX this past Sunday. The mere fact that I referred to the film as its “source material” should give you a glimpse of just how much I pointed out every little difference between the live performance and the movie. It bothered me at first—mostly because it seemed like every scene, or at times even every line of dialogue, was simply being expanded to give either more exposition or to really drive the point home. It drove me nuts because I already knew what was going on. Duh! But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the majority of the changes actually made the story better! Here’s my list of notable differences between Grease and Grease Live and why they make me realize that the movie I was once obsessed with is not perfect after all.
1.) Grease Live is updated to keep up with the times.
I don’t mean that the story takes place in modern day instead of in the 1950’s. What I do mean is that since the 1970’s when the original film was made, society has addressed many issues or nuances that could now be considered offensive or taboo. In other words, America has learned to be more “PC” about things.
For example, the movie version of Jan is essentially the “fat” friend whose goal is to lose weight. Have you ever noticed how she progressively gets thinner and thinner throughout the movie and then is a twig by the end? Well, in Grease Live, Jan is no longer the “fat” one but is the “weird” one instead. In recent decades, movies about teenagers developed a common theme of not being afraid to be yourself. It seems that this theme was added into Grease Live with Jan’s character. In the diner scene where the T-Birds and Pink Ladies are all together, Putzie tells Jan in the original film, “I always thought you were a very understanding person. And I also think that there’s more to you than just fat.” In the updated version, the line is changed and Putzie instead says, “…And I also think there’s more to you than just being weird.” Putzie’s intention is the same in both versions, but the “be yourself” theme is way more prevalent in the new one.
Another example of updated political correctness is when Coach Calhoun announces the rules for the dance contest. In Grease Live, he says that rule number one is that “all contestants must be couples—no solos and no threesomes.” Seems like a rather random rule, doesn’t it? Well, that’s because in the film, rule number one is that “all couples must be boy-girl.” This rule makes sense for the 1950’s but can you imagine the backlash that would have taken place if that line wasn’t changed and it was broadcasted on primetime television in 2016? Yikes.
The last example is how Eugene, the nerd character, is perceived. In the original film, Eugene is nothing more than a stereotypical nerd who gets bullied and ridiculed by the cool kids for moments of comic relief. Yeah, there’s no way that would fly in today’s world. In Grease Live, Eugene is still a stereotypical nerd, but by the end of the movie, he’s a T-Bird! Ummm… WHAT! Turns out that without Eugene’s genius knowledge of physics (and other smart stuff) the T-Birds don’t stand a chance of winning against the Scorpions at Thunder Road. Looks like the cool kids can learn from the nerds after all—another common theme in today’s teenager movies. When Danny wins the race, he thanks Eugene for his help and gives him his T-Bird jacket. It should also be noted that Grease Live’s version of Eugene also defies all odds and ends up with Patty Simcox, a popular cheerleader. You go, nerd! It sure makes Eugene’s character way more meaningful, doesn’t it?
Which brings me to the number two on my list…
2.) Grease Live expands its subplots to address more teen issues.
Think about the original movie. It’s obviously a love story. It’s definitely a teen comedy. But what else is it? Other than a few subtle hints at real life issues, there isn’t much substance that makes it meaningful. If anything, the message of the movie is actually to completely change who you are just to make someone else happy. Great message for the kids, huh? Well, Grease Live manages to expand its subplots so that it does actually include positive messages for the teens watching.
During the drive-in scene, Sandy is still upset at Danny for dancing with Cha Cha at the dance. Nothing changed there. However, they start to bond again when they realize that they both have controlling and disapproving parents. Bringing their parents into the story threw me for a loop at first. The original film doesn’t touch on parent-teen relationships at all. I realized, though, that adding in those few lines of dialogue about it not only makes the characters more relatable for teen audiences, but it also makes them more dimensional and more real. Good move, Grease Live.
One issue that the original Grease does tackle is teen pregnancy. What it doesn’t do, however, is conclude the storyline in any meaningful way. It has a happy ending because it turns out it was a false alarm (Hooray for not being teenage parents!), but is that really a good message for teenagers? The movie is basically saying that if you get pregnant, just hope that it’s a false alarm because then everything will be good again! Oy. Grease Live does the right thing and addresses the issue with a little bit more responsibility. During the Thunder Road scene, Kenickie has second thoughts about racing because he realizes he has a kid on the way and wants to be a responsible parent. During the carnival scene, he expresses his feelings for Rizzo and tells her that he wants to commit to her and the baby. Yes, it was also a false alarm in this version, but the ending is even happier because we know that if she actually had a baby, Kenickie would have done the right thing and stepped up as a father.
Now, let’s go back to Thunder Road when Kenickie realizes he’s about do something dangerous and reconsiders racing. He actually tells Danny that he’s worried about it because of the baby in a brief but powerful “coming of age” moment. Danny, being a good friend that he is, then purposely drops the good luck penny on the ground and hits Kenickie’s head with the car door when he bends down to pick it up. Basically, he knew his friend didn’t want to drive (and for good reason), so he created a scheme that made it seem like Kenickie couldn’t drive so that he didn’t have to look like a puss in front of the Scorpions. Is that a bromance or what? The original film touches on their bromance a little by Danny having Kenickie’s back when he gets hurt, but I’ve always felt like the only reason that happens is because Danny is the main character so the filmmakers wanted him to be the one to win the race. I actually like the live show’s twist on it because it shows us a more compassionate side of Danny—the part of him that Sandy fell in love with on the beach! Aww!
3.) Grease Live fills in the plot holes from the original film.
In the original film, Sandy says the line, “I hope I don’t get camera shy,” in regards to the dance contest being nationally televised. It is a single line that is quickly forgotten when Danny comforts her and the two become the main attraction in front of the camera. She seems to have gotten over that fear pretty quick, doesn’t she? Grease Live took that single line and really expanded on it, making Sandy’s fear of being on camera a pretty big deal. It was mentioned several times leading up the dance scene, seeming very “on the nose” and obvious. While at the dance, Danny and Sandy have a brief moment on the dance floor, but then Sandy suddenly leaves, almost hiding from the camera. That’s the moment when Cha Cha decides to take advantage and steal the dance with Danny, leaving Sandy upset. It is revealed during the drive-in scene that Sandy was hiding from the camera because she lied to her parents about being at the dance and she didn’t want to get caught. Okay, that’s a pretty good reason to leave the dance floor, right? Plus, lying to her parents provides more of a transition from goodie goodie to the rebel she becomes at the end of the movie. It all makes sense.
Now let’s take a moment and think about how Danny endd up dancing with Cha Cha in the film… Danny and Sandy are in the middle of dancing when for some reason—some totally random, unknown reason—Sonny pulls Sandy away so that Cha Cha can swoop in. Huh? Does that make any sense to anyone? I remember watching the movie as a kid and wondering why on Earth Danny’s friend would do that, especially since it didn’t relate to anything else Sonny does in the movie. So I thank you, Grease Live, for finally filling that plot hole for me!
Thinking, again, about my love for the original film, imagine my disdain for Grease Live when Sandy DOES NOT sing “Hopelessly Devoted to You” after the sleepover scene. I recall yelling out loud at the TV. How could they not include that song? Are they trying to ruin the show?!? I was genuinely upset.
But then, Grease Live surprised me—so much that it was the very moment I started to warm up to the adaptation and actually think about the changes in all the positive ways I addressed in this blog. After Danny abandons Sandy by dancing with Cha Cha, Sandy leaves the dance upset—and for good reason. Danny was not a good boyfriend at that moment. So what does she do? She goes home and sings about how hopelessly devoted she is to Danny, even though he keeps hurting her! That’s genius. The song fits better here because up to this point, we’ve actually seen her go through the struggle of knowing he’s bad for her but still coming back over and over again. When she sings it in the original film, she’s really only had two encounters with Danny before that. How is she so devoted to him already? She didn’t even know she would see him again until earlier that same day. And he was a jerk!
I really have to hand it to Grease Live. The production value was amazing, they pulled it off during El Niño, and Vanessa Hudgens singing “There are Worse Things I Could Do” was so powerful and beautiful that I wanted to cry. So although I still love the film with all my heart, I’m pleasantly content with accepting that this version of the story was actually better.
Corgis, Comics, Clothes, and Cinema 
I honestly didn’t like how they made Eugene (and Patty)’s role larger. It was nice to see I guess, but it was unnecessary. Grease is not about them, and I actually just found them annoying in Grease: Live.
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I completely agree with you. Patty’s character brings nothing to the story. It was unnecessary to make her role bigger and yes, she was a bit annoying. Her subplot with Eugene was also unnecessary. I don’t even really like that they added Eugene into the Thunder Road storyline, but I can understand why they did it (as I explained above). I can appreciate it because of the message it gives but if I were to look at it with just my heart and not my head, I would probably also say it doesn’t belong in this story. Thanks for reading!
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I’m just coming across your post now. I know that a lot of people love Grease, but the Grease Live improved on the original by having genuinely great musical sequences. The choreography was amazing and the actors had legitimate dancing skills – especially Vanessa, Julianne, & Aaron. I was shocked at how half-baked the original movies’ dances were.
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