The 2015 NBC Live Musical? — Page 4

I wouldn't mind a revised Molly Brown with a country Superstar or Taylor Swift.

I voted for The Wiz.

"My vote would be for THE KING & I, which I think would be quite fantastic for the holidays."

KING AND I is being revived at Lincoln Center in the spring, so I think that rules that out.

I wouldn't be surprised to see GREASE, or THE MUSIC MAN, it seems that the monstrous Seth McFarlane wants to play Harold Hill.

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I'm stunned that my choice on that list was HELLO, DOLLY!

I'd love to see it as a tv special.

I'd love to see them do Bye Bye Birdie. It's well-known (and yeah, it's still done in every high school across the country) and you can cast starts in practically every role.

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Fox holds the rights to Grease, right?

For whatever reason, they seem to have their heart set on Music Man, which if nothing else they can find a name like NPH to star, and cast O'Hara again as Marian.

I still wonder if they could do H2$ in primetime, if they were able to convince Daniel Radcliffe to reprise his role.

The ratings are nothing to sneeze at. In the age of Transformers, reality TV, and gritty cable (Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones), getting 9 million people to tune into an innocent 1954 broadway musical isn't bad. When you factor in DVR ratings, the inevitable re-run, DVD and CD sales; this has probably made a pretty penny for NBC. I also read that NBC only needed this to rate half as well as TSOM, which it did almost exactly. So I would be very surprised if they didn't do another one next year (only with a bigger name next time).

The only concern is whether any big names would want to sign up to another live musical after the utter slaughtering they get. I'm amazed that something can generate this much vehement hatred. Has anyone watched TV lately, this ain't that bad when you look at the alternatives. It's old-fashioned and I think a lot of the cynical blogging community don't really 'get' classic musical comedy. This was particularly apparent to me after reading so many comments complaining about how Peter Pan was played by a female; a tradition that goes back to when J.M. Barrie's play was first performed in 1904.

Anyway, what about Emma Stone for The Music Man? Not the perfect fit but she's earned her stripes in musical theatre and would probably get the ratings.

RATINGS DOWN 50% --

http://deadline.com/2014/12/peter-pan-live-ratings-nbc-allison-williams-sound-of-music-1201310634/#

Unless they get another name like Carrie Underwood and a more generally appealing production, I don't see the ratings going back up in the years coming. I know it's hard to find a name that will take a chunk out of their year to rehearse, but I just see it going downhill.

Holding out for The Wiz or Hello, Dolly! Lots of great casting possibilities there and Dolly is a classic and I think The Wiz would be less cringe worthy to promote/watch than The Wizard of Oz. Especially for the target audience which I don't think are kids since the broadcast ends at 11pm on a weekday.

Updated On: 12/5/14 at 01:31 PM

They will most likely go with a Show that is good for the whole family

Holy cow. I know those aren't the final adjusted ratings, but a 2.3/7 rating with barely 9 million viewers is pretty bad for a television event of this size and cost.

I get it. We all hated Carrie. But I would bet that she was responsible for bringing in at least a few million additional viewers last year, if not more. There are millions of country music fans and they are loyal diehards who would sit through practically anything for their artists.

Unless they move back to the SOM model by securing a superstar next year, I don't see the Executives biting again. Greenblatt can insist they're already gearing up for 2015 all he wants but at the end of the day, he answers to their parent company Comcast and its shareholders.

Holy cow. I know those aren't the final adjusted ratings, but a 2.3/7 rating with barely 9 million viewers is pretty bad for a television event of this size and cost.

I get it. We all hated Carrie. But I would bet that she was responsible for bringing in at least a few million additional viewers last year, if not more. There are millions of country music fans and they are loyal diehards who would sit through practically anything for their artists.

Unless they move back to the SOM model by securing a superstar next year, I don't see the Executives biting again. Greenblatt can insist they're already gearing up for 2015 all he wants but at the end of the day, he answers to their parent company Comcast and its shareholders.