TV The Sound Of Music

Whether or not you liked The Sound of Music Live!, there’s no arguing that the musical’s live broadcast was a ratings hit for NBC. With more than 18 million viewers tuning in to watch the three-hour live telecast, it’s no surprise that NBC would want to do it again next year. In fact, we speculated as much when we shared the ratings news last week, and NBC’s Robert Greenblatt has since confirmed that the network is planning another live production for next year’s holiday season. I want it to be Bye Bye Birdie, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

The Sound of Music Live is a hit! NBC’s live broadcast of the musical production may have had its issues, but ratings wasn’t one of them. The early numbers are in and it’s looking like The Sound of Music Live! came in far above CBS’ ratings in terms of primetime average. It also did particularly well in Oklahoma, with Oklahoma City winning out as the top metered market.

Those who tuned into NBC’s broadcast of Christmas in Rockefeller Center last night got a sample of the outstanding talent of one of the stars from tonight’s The Sound of Music Live! event that’s set to air on NBC at 8:00 p.m. EST. In the above video, Audra McDonald, who plays the wise Mother Abbess in the production, belts out a pretty amazing version of “Climb Every Mountain,” reminding us that she’s not only an actor, but a classically trained musician.

NBC celebrated Thanksgiving Eve by airing The Making Of The Sound of Music Live!, a special that looks behind the scenes at the preparation for the upcoming live broadcast of the beloved stage musical. NBC has since made the special available online, and you can watch it above in its entirety.

A week from Thursday, NBC will be airing The Sound of Music Live!, but you won’t have to wait a week to get your Do-Re-Mi fix. This Wednesday night, NBC will be giving fans of The Sound of Music a look at the making of the planned live production they’re set to broadcast next week. The Making of The Sound of Music Live! will air Wednesday, November 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC.

NBC’s broadcast of The Sound of Music Live! is certainly an ambitious endeavor on the part of the network and all parties involved in putting it together, but when taking the cast into account, not to mention the popularity of the 1965 film based on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s stage musical, I’m thinking there’s a good chance the viewers will turn up. Possibly in droves.

With NBC’s broadcast of The Sound of Music set to be live, it stands to reason that rehearsal footage is about as much as we can expect in terms of a sneak peek for the musical event. The new video offers us just that, teasing some of the classic songs and moments we’re all familiar with — well, assuming you’ve seen The Sound of Music on screen or stage.

There's bad news and good news, which do you want first? We'll start with the good news: Community has a return date! The comedy will return for Season 5 on January 2. Better news is that's a Thursday, in other words, not a Friday or any other non-Thursday day. Of course, for Community to have a spot on Thursday's line-up, one comedy would have to step aside, and it looks like it's Welcome to the Family that's getting the axe.

The last couple of days have been filled with interesting castings. Ben Affleck’s signed on to be the new Batman, and now True Blood actor Stephen Moyer is set to star in NBC’s upcoming live broadcast of The Sound of Music. He’s joining the big production to star as none other than the strict and militaristic Captain Von Trapp.

Next winter, NBC has plans to air The Sound of Music, and we’re not talking the 1965 film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Instead, the network is putting together an adaption of the 1959 Broadway play that will be aired live on television. On Monday, the network solidified the live event, noting that it will officially air on Thursday, December 5.

Carrie Underwood has a little bit of experience with acting under her belt, and a lot more experience singing on live television, which should prove to be useful when the Grammy winner takes on the lead role in NBC's live telecast of The Sound of Music.

My initial knee-jerk/panic reaction to the words NBC and The Sound of Music was uncertainty and borderline outrage at the thought of the network attempting to remake the classic musical starring Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews. But before you jump to the same conclusion, read on, as that's not exactly the case. In fact, what NBC is planning to do, along with Smash producing team Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, is a live broadcast of The Sound of Music based on the original Broadway musical.