On the heels of an extremely successful showing for “The Sound of Music LIVE!” starring Carrie Underwood, Laura Benanti, Christian Borle and Stephen Moyer, the execs over at NBC announced Sunday at the Television Critics Association tour that they have plans for another holiday special production.
Taking flight on December 4, 2014, NBC presents “Peter Pan LIVE!” a new TV version of the James M. Barrie’s revered musical. NBC President Robert Greenblatt stated that producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who produced “The Sound of Music Live!” will again executive produce the production. Per the official release, casting is currently “on a fast track.”
“The Sound of Music Live!” that starred Carrie Underwood averaged a phenomenal 5.6 rating in adults 18-49 and 22 million viewers overall in the live-plus-7 totals from its Dec. 5 telecast.
“We’re very pleased to be underway on ‘Peter Pan’ as our next live holiday musical for the whole family,” said Greenblatt. “We were all delighted to see how ‘The Sound of Music Live!’ struck such a chord in December and brought nearly 19 million people to the live telecast plus another several million viewers over the weekend. In the hopes that lightning strikes twice, we think we’ve landed on another great Broadway musical — which ironically also starred Mary Martin — that is a timeless classic for all audiences, young and old, who just never want to grow up.”
“We’re thrilled to be reteaming with NBC and Bob Greenblatt in bringing ‘Peter Pan’ back to its roots as a live television event,” said Zadan and Meron. “We hope to create the joy that has made this musical so beloved. We would like a whole new generation to experience ‘Peter Pan’ and for families across the country to share the magic.”
Greenblatt did state that Peter Pan will likely be a male, unlike the original Broadway production which starred women in the leading role.
Who would you like to see star in the upcoming production?
The presents are already coming to Kelly Clarkson this holiday season. In addition to eloping with her fiance any day now, Clarkson just announced via social media that she will have her very own TV Christmas special this season! Given the allusions to a special in the past few weeks, the announcement doesn’t come as a major surprise. What does come as a surprise, however, is that it will be padded with NBC’s The Voice.
On December 10, NBC will air Kelly Clarkson’s (Cautionary) Christmas Tale immediately following The Voice! Being friends with Blake Shelton sure has its perks. This special will help promote Kelly’s first Christmas album, Wrapped in Red, which is set to be released October 25!
Kelly isn’t the first American Idol champ to have their own Christmas special. Carrie Underwood hosted her own special on Fox shortly after being crowned the season 4 champ and featured special guests from Dolly Parton to Kristen Chenoweth to Christina Applegate and more.
The special will tape at the Venetian in Las Vegas on Oct 30. Tickets are on sale now!
Update, May 7 4pm ET: NBC Sports and Carrie Underwood confirmed during a press call that the country superstar will be joining the Sunday Night Football team, starting this fall. Sunday Night Football producer Fred Gaudelli said on a press call, “Carrie Underwood will now open television’s highest rated show with a brand new version of ‘I’ve Been Waiting All Day For Sunday Night.” Carrie went on to say that this is a “perfect fit” and that this is a “very special” event. “Carrie Underwood was our first and only choice to perform the Sunday Night Football opening,” said SNF producer Fred Gaudelli. “She’s one of America’s most popular entertainers and the perfect fit for our show.” Underwood was actually considered back in 2006, but “stars didn’t align” at the time. Underwood’s debut will be on NBC’s September 8th opener.
Rumors are swirling and the puzzle pieces are slowly falling into place. Recently, NBC Sports announced that Faith Hill will no longer be a part of their Sunday Night Football team. The award winning country beauty has been doing the Sunday Night Football theme, “I’ve Been Waiting All Day For Sunday Night,” with NBC since the network since 2007. The Peacock gained the broadcast rights in 2006, where famed P!nk sang the theme for the inaugural season.
Once word came out that Faith Hill will no longer be doing the honors, rumors began swirling as to just might who take her place. The two most prominent seem to be fellow country superstar Carrie Underwood and Black Eyed Peas Will.i.am.
On Monday afternoon, NBC released a memo to us and other members of the press that a conference call will be held Tuesday afternoon to announce new talent on “Sunday Night Football.” Not long after, Carrie Underwood tweeted the following anticipatory tweet,
Carrie Underwood and NBC are already joining forces when the network plans to launch a live version of “The Sound of Music,” starring the country superstar, this December. Carrie Underwood also recently teamed with the NFL when she sang the National Anthem in 2010.
Sunday Night Football, which averaged 21.8 million viewers in the 2012 season, is primetime television’s No. 1 program.
In a special installment of Melodic Mondays, this video was too good to pass up. NBC’s newly revived A Cappella series “The Sing Off” gave us a truly talented bunch when Pentatonix was crowned champs back in 2011. The reality competition series will return this December, as previously announced, but PTX have been making music and headlines since. In addition to stellar covers, which can be found on their YouTube channel, the a cappella group, which formed specifically for the show, has released an album and are in the midst of their latest headlining tour.
Taking their favorites from the 11th century all the way to 2013, the talented group takes us through an Evolution of Music with just their voices. Check out the video below. To order PTX Vol 1, click here. For everything Pentatonix, including details on the remaining tour dates for 2013, check out their official website.
For a list of the songs used in the video above, see below.
11th century-
Salve Regina
1600s-
Canon in D – Pachelbel
1800s-
Symphony No. 5 – Beethoven
1910s-
Danny Boy – Frederic Weatherly
1920s-
Old Man River – Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II
1930s-
Minnie The Moocher – Cab Calloway
1940s-
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy – The Andrew Sisters
1950s-
I Walk The Line – Johnny Cash
La Bamba – Ritchie Valens
1960s-
Stand By Me – Ben E King
Barbara Ann – Beach Boys
I Want To Hold Your Hand – The Beatles
Respect – Aretha Franklin
1970s-
ABC – Jackson 5
Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
1980s-
Celebration – Kool & The Gang
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
Thriller – Michael Jackson
1990s-
Can’t Touch This – MC Hammer
…Baby One More Time – Britney Spears
Say My Name – Destiny’s Child
I Want It That Way – The Backstreet Boys
2000s
Hey Ya! – Outkast
Drop it Like Its Hot – Snoop Dogg
Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira
Single Ladies – Beyoncé
I Kissed A Girl – Katy Perry
Bad Romance – Lady Gaga
I Gotta Feelin – Black Eyed Peas
2010s-
Baby – Justin Bieber
We Found Love – Rihanna
Some Nights – Fun.
Somebody That I Used To Know – Gotye
Gangnam Style – Psy
Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen
It appears that the rumors are true and NBC is committed to transition “The Tonight Show” from host Jay Leno to Jimmy Fallon by no later than 2014. According to a report from the New York Times, a deal has yet to be made, but many network executives have been discussing this motion.
In addition, the show would shift location cross country – from California to New York City, where it all began with Steve Allen. It appears NBC has been “quietly” working on a new studio at famed “30 Rock” for this transition, expected to occur sometime in 2014. With recent jabs to the Peacock network during his monolouges of late, one must wonder if Leno had been tipped off about this recently.
The last time NBC attempted such a transition with Conan O’ Brien, it was reversed in a matter of months.
Update (March 20): NBC has announced the show will return during the 2013 holiday programming slate. Also of note this holiday season for NBC will be the LIVE “Sound of Music” stage production, starring Carrie Underwood.
After axing the show as a consequence of poor ratings during its fall showing in 2011, NBC is reviving its a cappella singing competition – The Sing Off. The change of heart may stem from the success of most recent champ and highly talented group, Pentatonix. Per NBC’s casting site (click to apply for casting),
The Sing Off is back! America’s top A Cappella competition is gearing up for season 4 of the hit series. The most talented A Cappella groups will compete for the opportunity to win $100,000 and a Sony Recording Contract. No lip synching, back-up bands or safety net is allowed; this is the real deal!
Each week, A Cappella groups from around the country will sing the world’s most popular songs, arranged and performed like you’ve never heard them before. One group will be eliminated each episode, and America will decide in our live finale who will be the nation’s best a cappella group, and walk away with the ultimate prize.
There will also be some national casting calls this spring. Check out the dates below and go audition if you think you have what it takes!
Season four will air during the holiday season, late this year. No word yet on whether Nick Lachey will hold post as host. If you ask us, Lachey should return, as should Sara Bareillis, Shawn Stockman and Ben Folds as judges. NBC is unlikely to air The Sing-Off during the fall again, as it has been announced that The Voice will air twice a year. Look for The Sing Off to air either this summer or during the holiday season as in years past.
Chicago, IL – April 27, 2013
Superior St
2744 W. Superior St.
Chicago, IL 60612
Emmy winning actress Jane Lynch has been tapped to join NBC’s latest venture, “Hollywood Game Night.” The “Glee” star will act as hostess for the eight-episode series. The reality series comes from “Grimm” producer Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner. Unlike other celebrity type shows, NBC claims that this show will feature A-list celebrities getting together with non-celebrities and playing games with them in what the network claims to be a “cocktail party atmosphere.”
There is no set air date for the show, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it air as early as the summer of 2013. Or maybe it will act as NBC’s holiday time special game show. Paul Telegdy, NBC’s boss for Alternative Programming had praises to sing about Lynch in a statement released Friday afternoon.
“With Jane Lynch on board as our host, we now have a key component in place that will further enliven the sheer fun of a raucous Hollywood party that will include real everyday people. Her exuberant wit and ability to think quickly will be the perfect match for our show which will give viewers a fresh look inside the off-set lives of their favorite celebrities — and allow them a chance to win money as well.”
Big news coming out of NBC today, as the coveted and iconic role of Maria Von Trapp for NBC’s Live broadcast of “The Sound of Music” has been cast. Carrie Underwood, who has won her fair share of Grammys, CMA, ACM, and other lettered awards, has been cast in NBC’s ambitious project. The LIVE broadcast of the famed story will air sometime near the holidays in 2013.
When we previously announced NBC’s plans, details about the project were still being ironed out. We did know that SMASH duo Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will be behind the production. The duo is also currently producing the upcoming Academy Awards, set to air in February 2013.
Bob Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, made the announcement early Thursday morning. “Speaking for everyone at NBC, we couldn’t be happier to have the gifted Carrie Underwood take up the mantle of the great Maria von Trapp,” said Greenblatt. “She was an iconic woman who will now be played by an iconic artist.”
Zadan and Meron are also more than pleased with the news.
“We’re thrilled to be presenting the Broadway version of ‘The Sound of Music’ live and having Carrie Underwood as the star brings it to a new generation who will fall in love with it for the first time as many millions of people already have. It’s a particular joy to us as producers to see this amazing artist stretch into new territory with this classic musical.”
This is not the first time Underwood has tackled the beloved catalog. During a CBS special in 2007, Movies Rock, Carrie performed “The Sound of Music.”
The award winning country star is currently headlining her Blown Away Tour in the United States and recently announced a second leg of the tour to kick off early 2013. The tour has been entertaining sell-out crowds in arenas all over the country and she has been setting records with album sales on her fourth album, Blown Away. Underwood’s next single, “Two Black Cadillacs,” just hit radio airplay and has already been climbing the charts.
For more, check the rest of the NBC press release below.
“The Sound of Music,” set in pre-WWII Austria, is based on the romantic true story of Maria von Trapp, an aspiring nun who leaves the abbey to become a governess for the widower Captain von Trapp’s seven children and finds herself falling in love with her employer and questioning her religious calling. It premiered on Broadway in 1959, where it broke box-office records and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. The 1965 film version won the Best Picture Oscar. Today it is an evergreen classic — as popular in opera houses and outdoor amphitheaters as it is in high school auditoriums. “The Sound of Music” features a libretto by Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse and a score by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) that includes “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Edelweiss,” and “So Long, Farewell.”
With more than 15 million albums sold worldwide, 16 #1 singles (seven of which were co-written by
Underwood) and five Grammys, Underwood is fueled by a restless creative spirit as she released her most ambitious project yet in her current platinum-selling album “Blown Away.”
She’s won a vast array of awards, including three female vocalist awards from both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM). In 2010, when Underwood garnered her second win as ACM Entertainer of the Year, she became the first female artist in history to win the award twice. Underwood also received the ACM Triple Crown Award, thanks to her past wins for the categories of Entertainer of the Year, Top Female Vocalist and Top New Female Vocalist. Underwood also has won seven American Music Awards, six People’s Choice Awards, nine CMT Music Awards, nine American Country Awards, and is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for “There’s a Place for Us” from “Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” which she both recorded and co-wrote. She became America’s sweetheart in 2005 when she won the fourth season of “American Idol,” a vehicle that transformed her from a shy Oklahoma girl with a great voice to a budding superstar.
Underwood’s 2005 debut, “Some Hearts,” topped Billboard’s Country Albums chart for 27 weeks, has
sold over seven million copies, and was voted #1 Country Album of the Decade by Billboard. Her 2007 sophomore album, “Carnival Ride,” 2009’s “Play On,” and her current album, “Blown Away,” debuted atop the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. Over the course of four albums, she’s saturated country radio with such #1 hits as “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “Before He Cheats,” “So Small,” “Last Name,” “Cowboy Casanova,” “Good Girl” and “Blown Away.” Underwood is currently headlining “The Blown Away Tour,” performing internationally and in arenas across the U.S. and Canada well into 2013. She was the top-selling country female touring artist of 2008 and 2010, as her headline arena tours have played over 100 shows and to over one million fans each year.
Underwood expanded her resume making her film-acting debut in the 2011 feature “Soul Surfer,” following a guest TV role on “How I Met Your Mother.” She starred in her own holiday variety TV special in 2009, and has co-hosted the CMA Awards for the past five years.
Underwood is managed by XIX Entertainment and repped by CAA.
‘Tis the season to prepare to clear your DVR after November sweeps to prep it for a holiday marathon of goodness. As but a mere (and awesome, if you ask us) supplement, we’ve prepared your holiday themed guide for TV premieres, finales, specials and more for the remainder of 2012. You’re going to want to bookmark this page, as we will constantly be updating it as more dates are announced. ABC Family’s Countdown to Christmas and 25 Days of Christmas would fill this calendar past max capacity, so be sure to check out our full listing (click here) for all ABC Family has to offer! So if you want to know when your favorite classic movies, new network game show events, reality competition finales, new holiday specials & more air … check it out below!
Before we give you the lay down on how Sandy is impacting television this week, we want to be sure to send our thoughts and prayers to all of those who are in one way or another affected by Sandy this week. You’re in the Yak’s thoughts.
Now, those of you hoping to get CBS’s comedy block and Hawaii Five-0 last night found out the hard way. CBS pre-empted their original programming and aired a CBS News special on Sandy, since those on the east coast likely were not able to enjoy the same laughs you might have. The original episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Partners, 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly and Hawaii Five-0 will air next Monday, November 5.
ABC and NBC have also made some moves. NBC’s special Halloween episodes of Go On and The New Normal, slated to air Tuesday at 10/9c after The Voice, have been pre-empted. ABC has also pre-empted Private Practice on October 30. Both NBC and ABC will air special coverage of Hurricane Sandy instead. Private Practice will return November 13th (next week is Election coverage) and there is no word when NBC will air their Halloween comedy specials.
The irony between much of the country being unable to see Revolution last night is not lost on NBC. The peacock has opted to pre-empt their Thursday comedies (30 Rock, Up All Night, The Office and Parks & Rec) to air a repeat of Team Adam and Team Cee Lo’s Knockout Round on The Voice, which aired Monday night. Monday night’s Revolution will air Friday November 2 at 8pm ET, followed by an all-new Grimm. NBC will, however, air an ORIGINAL 30 Rock Wednesday Oct 31, since the episode is a continuation from last week’s election themed plotline. This will give Tina Fey and Co. to finish off that story before next week’s actual Presidential election. This 30 Rock episode knocks off the final episode of already cancelled Animal Practice.
Phew. Got all that? That about covers it … check your DVRs.
Taking flight on December 4, 2014, NBC presents “Peter Pan LIVE!” a new TV version of the James M. Barrie’s revered musical. NBC President Robert Greenblatt stated that producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who produced “The Sound of Music Live!” will again executive produce the production. Per the official release, casting is currently “on a fast track.”
