Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Grease Will Air Live Next Year

After the success of Sound Of Music last year on NBC, now FOX wants to get into the game of live musicals. They have chosen Grease which will air sometime next year. Unlike Sound of Music which went for big names like Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer, FOX is going to go with a cast of unknowns or little known performers. Those of you who wants to see Olivia Newton John or John Travolta are going to be out of luck. Probably a good thing. Another change from the movie will be that it is not going to follow the movie, but rather the Broadway version. So, basically all they are doing is filming a Broadway show. Throw in a bunch of unknowns and FOX has found a cheap way to air some prime time programming that will probably make them a bunch of money. The stars of the show will probably move on to be future reality stars and cover the pages of the tabloids for a few weeks.

NBC is following up Sound Of Music with Peter Pan. I don't think that will be as successful for them. I think for this to work and for people to watch for three straight hours you need to give them something they have seen before and know all the songs to.

66 comments:

WareCat said...

Jesus, take me now!

LottaColada said...

Huh? I was under the impression that everyone hated The Sound of Music re-make.

auntliddy said...

I love this idea in general. I love unknowns from brdway-they are much more talented.

Unknown said...

Sure didn't hear about it being a big success.

Now! said...

@Lotta, they may have hated it, but they watched it.

I agree that Peter Pan is a non-starter. Nobody knows the songs, and the story has a creepy pedophile vibe to it.

Grease, by contrast, is something everyone can sing along to. Hugely popular with my 9-year-old daughter and her friends as well.

VIPblonde said...

I heard that NBC wants to cast a male as Peter Pan. Everybody knows that a woman has always played the part on Broadway. Kristin Chenoweth FTW!

FearN said...

Meh. Do people still watch live TV(aside from sports)? This seems like a cool idea though. I figured folks were abandoning it in favor of watching TV online.

FSP said...

Grease 2 was better.

Now! said...

You know what I'd like to see live? The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was originally a stage musical.

Maybe on a cable network. And maybe when Adam Lambert needs the money.

Anonymous said...

Still prefer Grease2.

Sherry said...

Peter Pan was made for TV years ago. I remember seeing it in the 60's. Not sure if it had Mary Martin or someone else. Guess I could Google.
And while no one knows the songs, they will afterwards. Think it's great entertainment for families and lovers of musicals. And it's not fucking reality tv. Thank the Gods for that!

Unknown said...

VIP- please be wrong on Chenoweth - a full movie of her would be too much.

Leekalicious said...

Hello Cats & Kittens!

Actually, they sound like fun! Better than most reality shows.

SugarTitz said...

Exactly ^5 @7

Count Jerkula said...

Good way to target the drunk broads in a bar is to put a Grease song on the juke box 1/2 hr before closing time. When the song is over, go buy a drink for the loudest, most off key singer. She is primed and ready to go.

Sugar said...

Cha Cha: They call me Cha Cha because I'm the best dancer at St. Bernadette's.

Frenchy: With the worst reputation.

Lordy I do love this movie!

Unknown said...

Ugh. Get ready for Swifty to take a dump.

Frankly I'd rather see Travolta as Sandy than Swicty.

Anonymous said...

Is this your cue, @Count?:

We go together like ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong
Remembered forever as shoo-bop sha whada whadda yippidy boom da boom
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop that's the way it should be...

Mama Bear said...

Miley for Peter Pan!!!!!

HRHKMiddz said...

I didn't even know Peter Pan had songs.

Unknown said...

I vote for Rocky Horror Picture show!

Count J you need to write a book on the art of the hookup. Tips and hints to ensure a good time.

Kelly said...

I'd watch that.

Unknown said...

PS for men who don't like to waste time.

And maybe one day they'll make IT into a Broadway Play.

sandybrook said...

Lea Michelle is gonna be so pissed they are going with unknowns.

B626 said...

John could be the coach.
Olivia could be the principal.

parissucksliterally said...

You could not pay me to watch this and ruin my memories of "Grease".

aemish said...

I didn't know all the songs to Sound of Music when I first saw it at age 12 but me and my bff liked it so much we learned them.. maybe Peter Pan will do that for a new generation?

Lil P said...

I too thought it was panned

Susan said...

This is a completely unscientific survey but three of my 52 piano students asked to learn My Favorite Things and another four or five learned Do-Re-Mi after the Carrie Underwood remake aired. It was definitely a scratch-my-head moment, but I will take it over any request for Justin Bieber, Rihanna or Katy Perry.

So yeah, I guess families watched it. I would just show my kid the original.

Unknown said...

QA Guido - are they filming a Jolly Green Giant musical?

AKM said...

"So, basically all they are doing is filming a Broadway show."

Um, Enty, isn't that what they actually did with THE SOUND OF MUSIC? I didn't watch it, because I had class that night and I heard it was awful anyway -- I can't stand Carrie Underwood -- but I thought it was the musical redux and not the movie. (There are slightly different songs in each, among other slight differences.)

In any case, I love live theater, but I don't care for watching it on TV live. Make sense?

Bleu said...

Taylor Swift so desperately wants the role of Sandy. It'd be stupid to let her sing live, but someone already should have cast her for a taped/lip sync'd/or movie version.

Snootches said...

I watched a little. Carrie's acting took me out of most scenes though. I would love too see the comeback of the live musical! Bring on Peter Pan!

Snootches said...

What about Mrs. Brady, shes still rocking the pixie cut

califblondy said...

You hauled your cookies all the way to the beach for a boy?

I've got so many hickeys I look like a leper.

Gotta love Rizz.

califblondy said...

I'd rather see Cinderella. I loved the old Leslie Ann Warren version.

TalksTooMuch said...

One of the top 10 overplayed bar songs of all time. Also on the list:

Old Time Rock and Roll (which is a shame because really, Turn The Page is a waaaaay better song)

Mustang Sally (wanna break out in hives when I hear it)

Brown Eyed Girl (can I getta little Tupelo Honey, please??)

And so on and so forth. I may have spent too much time in classic rock bars, from the looks of it

TalksTooMuch said...

I dunno, Guido, Taylor Swift has that asexual bit down perfectly!!

Good afternoon, by the way!

TalksTooMuch said...

I LOVE Leslie Ann Warren!! She was one of the best things in Clue (other than Tim Currry, OBVS) and also in A Night In Heaven with Chris Whathispickle from Blue Lagoon

RowdyRodimus said...

@TTM That's why on karaoke nights there were about a dozen songs that the people running it would only let me do because other people butchered them.

Count Jerkula said...

@Cocoa: I see your drink is empty, Beautiful. Might I interest you in a Roofie Colada?

@Tina: It is just like in sports. The mediocre players become good coaches, because they couldn't rely on natural ability. They had to become students of the game.

Lo Key says stop with the censorship already! said...

That would be a good way to get me to LEAVE the bar, Count!

Count Jerkula said...

How's that Low? The roofie colada line or putting Grease on the jukebox?

Sprink said...

There are songs in Peter Pan? Huh.

Sprink said...

Cinderella! "In my own little corner, in my own little place, I can be whatever I want to be..."

Or summat.

Scallywag said...

Loved Lesley Ann Warren and Alan Quartermaine as the Prince. Impossible... things are happening every day...


The NBC Sound of Music broadcast got killer ratings. They just need to have actual talented musical actors in the next one.

"There are songs in Peter Pan? Huh."

Oh My Lord, think of the children who have never clapped their hands for Tink.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDbp0_vIlAg
I have a place where dreams are born,
And time is never planned.
It's not on any chart,
You must find it with your heart.
Never Never Land.

The whole thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJFtCfHDFfw

Snapdragon said...

Wait, how is the musical Grease different from the movie Grease? Is the ending different? Please tell me Sandy doesn't tramp it up/change everything about herself for Danny, because I always thought that was a shit message for girls.

Nolesgirl said...

They should make a musical out of Heathers. That idea just hit me

Snapdragon said...

@Nolesgirl, they did. Heathers The Musical :-D

Nolesgirl said...

@Snapdragon
I must've had a brain tumor for breakfast - I had NO idea :-D

AKM said...

@Snapdragon - The only thing I really remember that was different is that Sandy's last name sounded Polish (I think?) and the whole Australian thing was missing for obvious reasons.

Also, I thought the changing-for-Danny was crap, too, but if you'll recall, he wanted to be more clean-cut and athletic for HER, and so he earned his letter for his sweater. So, you know, I guess they BOTH did some changing? (Maybe not for the better? Hee hee. I dunno.)

AKM said...

Oh wait...I remember reading in one of Marilu Henner's books -- she was friends with the original GREASE writers in Chicago -- that Cha Cha was originally sort of the "fat girl." Apparently Barry Bostwick was in the original Broadway cast as Danny and he met the cast that Marilu was working with (which included Jeff Conway and John Travolta) and he good-naturedly said, "And you're obviously playing Cha Cha, right?" and there she was playing Marty the bombshell and she felt awful. She started her whole weight loss thing after that.

Sprink said...

I've simply never thought about it but am now curious--how many books has Marilu Henner written?

Sprink said...

Oh yes, I could Google, but in truth I don't even expect an answer.

Snapdragon said...

@AKM, good point. I guess her change is just so dramatic; his change is to better himself and hers is to (as you say) not, to abandon her moral values. (I am the last one to judge an adult for having or wanting to have consensual sex, 'cause whatever floats your boat if all involved parties agree, but that little pep talk she gives herself makes me feel like she's resigning herself to a change she's not comfortable with making.)

I had to look up the last name. Dumbrowski. Which is a blessing in a way because I put up with enough shit in grade school for being called "Sandy"; would have been worse if she too had a Polish-sounding surname. And apparently there are no people of Polish descent in Australia? Sheesh... :)

Sprink said...

Snapdragon, I think a Polish-Australian, 30-year-old high school senior as leading lady might have been just one step too far for American film audiences in 1978, non?

Snapdragon said...

@Sprink, true nuff. :D

AKM said...

@Sprink - Heheheheh, it's quite a few. Except for her autobiography -- more interesting than you'd think -- they're all about health and nutrition/cooking. Great recipes, actually! Oh, and one about parenting that she cowrote with her therapist. That one was pretty cool, and I'm not even a parent. It's called I Refuse To Raise A Brat.

RowdyRodimus said...

@AKM Then Barry "Have I ever really done anything worthwhile?" Bostwick can go fuck himself. Marilu Henner is one of the very few women I can say that, to me, are absolutely perfect. Another being Julianne Moore. There are a few others, but those are for me to pine for during the harsh summer nights as I sweat in bed during the blazing heat and trying to stop the chills during the cold winter months.

I really want to punch Bostwick in his throat right now. Maybe even give him a Heart Punch before I go to the most devastating move in history, The People's Elbow or if I'm really wanting to cause him harm, the Worm or the Runing Legdrop. Whatcha gonna do, Barry Lostit, when RodiMania runs wild on you, Brother!

Count Jerkula said...

@Rowdy: Go w/ Capt. Redneck's finishing move, Brain Buster.

RowdyRodimus said...

Bro, I'll one up it. I'll give him a Slingshot Brain Buster.

Count Jerkula said...

I hate Tully Blanchard, but I loved the Slingshot Suplex.

Make sure you have a black, Fingerless leather glove around, in case shit gets bleak and you gotta pull the Iron Claw out of mothballs. It ways more effective w/ the glove. If them Von Erichs had gloves, they woulda beat Flair more than just one time.

AKM said...

Whoa, Rowdy, really?! I love Marilu, and even she said that he just meant it good-naturedly. I mean, that's how the character was written, somebody had to play her, and at the time, Marilu was quite overweight. This was about ten years before "Taxi," remember.

And hell, he said it literally like 40 years ago! I'm sure he's a decent one; Marilu still likes him. He's only an asshole when he's Brad Majors, after all. ;-)

If you're vegan or vegetarian, her books ARE awesome. I'm not even either anymore and I still bust out some of the veggie recipes.

RowdyRodimus said...

@Count Dude, if you go for an Iron Claw and aren't wearing a glove (or a bald, German guy with protruding ears) you just look like a weirdo!

@AKM I'm not serious. Just messing around and naming off really weak looking wrestling finishing moves lol

Count Jerkula said...

Rowdy, I was talking to an e-friend from TX and he told me about when he realized wrestling was fake. He was 8, in a fight with his older brother and put an Iron Claw on him. It didn't do shit and he got his ass kicked. LOL!

AKM said...

Oh, sure, I figured. Just making conversation!

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