Shh, don't tell anyone, but...

Rating: Null/10 (16 December 2000)

The best kept secret of every school drama teacher in the English speaking world. Find an uncensored version, forgive the dodgy sexual politics, patchy musical numbers and shaky production values, and just grin yourself sick at the deliciously smutty lines, gestures and inuendo, delivered - as Riz would say - with relish.
The legacy of Grease can be seen clearly in Gen X shows like Buffy and (to a lesser extent) Clueless. The acting is naturalistic and underplayed, packed full of attitude without resorting to hammy mugging; the smart and smutty lines are delivered so casually that they slip right under the radar of network censors and twitchy parents; and perhaps not coincidentally, the cast is largely way too old for their roles.
The wonderfully salacious Stockard Channing in particular is clearly having a ball playing a teenager at the ripe old age of 34, and again this fine tradition has been carried on by actresses such as Charisma Carpenter (Buffy, Angel) and Stacey Dash (Clueless). As an aside, how scary is it that Jeff Conaway hasn't aged a day since 1978? I suspect he's been preserved by his liberal coat of hair grease.
It's easy to write Grease off as a "dumb musical". Do it and you're really missing out on a sly and knowing treat. Another quote from Riz to sum up: Grease is just peachy keen.