Life How ‘Rent’ sings about drugs, AIDS and death in prime time: Not your typical TV musical January 27, 2019 Carly Mallenbaum, USA TODAY Comments Off on How ‘Rent’ sings about drugs, AIDS and death in prime time: Not your typical TV musical Fox's "Rent," which airs Jan. 27, tackles mature themes including the AIDS epidemic. Here's how the play is being updated for TV.