'Rent: Live' Was Mostly Prerecorded & People Are Outraged

Musicals are even more fun when they're live, as several networks have discovered over the last few years. But when viewers tuned in for Rent: Live on Fox, they learned that much of the show, which, of course, was intended to be broadcasted live, was prerecorded instead. People are outraged that Rent: Live was prerecorded and they're letting the network know it on social media.

Fox's production of Rent: Live had a bit of rocky start on Sunday, Jan. 27. In New York City, social media users complained that the channel wasn't working well, meaning that viewers missed the beginning of the show. And then came the news that much of the broadcast would be the prerecording from rehearsals that the cast did the night before, on Saturday. During those rehearsals, lead Brennin Hunt reportedly broke his ankle while performing, which meant that he would be unable to take the stage on Sunday night as planned. So whether they didn't have an understudy or there was some other issue, those running the show clearly decided that it was better to go with prerecorded scenes, rather than attempting to do it live without Hunt available.

Fans, however, were upset about the change, particularly after some viewers had to work to find a way to watch, given the TV issues some experienced at the beginning of the show.

"Since when does Live mean Previously recorded? Lies," one follower commented on the RentOnFox Instagram account.

"I know mistakes happen and you can’t predict injury but ugh, how disappointing for Brennin and eager viewers! Maybe dress rehearsals should be performed at like 75 percent energy...," another added.

"This is a disaster. I can’t believe all the effort I went through to watch something previously recorded," still another commented.

On Twitter, fans had similar reactions. Some wanted to know where the understudies were and why there wasn't one available for Hunt's part. Others just seemed to think it wasn't really, you know, ideal for a production that was meant to be, well, live.

And some just wanted to see what was going on onstage while everyone else was watching something that had been recorded before, especially because those in the live audience said that the cast was onstage performing and whatnot, even though Hunt was in a wheelchair.

Not everyone was entirely outraged, however. Some fans noted that while they'd prefer it if the show had truly been live (which is totally understandable), they weren't exactly hating how the show had turned out, even it was it was just a rehearsal:

"previously recorded?? BUT ALSO THIS IS BETTER THAN EVERY LIVE MUSICAL SO FAR AND ITS BARELY BEGUN," on user commented on Instagram.

So while things clearly didn't go according to plan on Sunday night, fans weren't all entirely disappointed either. Sure, working with an understudy would've likely meant that the show could still go on live, but the cast, crew, and everyone else did their best to make the most out of a situation that was less than ideal. After all, the show must go on, whether fans online are happy about how it goes on, or not.