Hairspray Live! aired tonight, and I can say that, unequivocally, Hairspray Live! was NBC's the best live musical yet. I must admit, I had never seen Hairspray, so I was not excited when they announced it was the next musical. But by the time tonight rolled around, I couldn't wait for it. I watched it before I watched The Goldbergs (one of my favorite shows). That's how excited I was for it. And boy, I was not disappointed. Note: this is a spoiler-free review, because for those that haven't yet seen the show, or any version of Hairspray, I don't want to ruin the magic for you.
Hairspray Live! was so, so good. It was just so much fun, and that's really what mattered. That's what made The Wiz Live and Grease Live work so well, and the lack of fun made The Sound of Music Live and Peter Pan Live, well, kind of disappointing and boring. The whole cast of Hairspray Live! was so great, and the casting was just top notch.
I was initially skeptical of Ariana Grande in the role of Penny. But she was great, and delivered my personal favorite performance in a crowd of great performances. My favorite moments of the show always happened to feature Grande. Maddie Baillio was great in the lead, and was incredibly well-cast. She's an amazing Tracy, and she can really sing.
Andrea Martin was also great. Her role was relatively small, but every second she was on TV was awesome. Prudy was such a great secondary villain, and Andrea Martin really made it work.
Man, Rosie O'Donnell is really having a great year. She's been great on Mom, Match Game, and now Hairspray Live! I'm not a big fan of hers, but she was pretty great in this.
You Can't Stop the Beat is just so much fun, isn't it? It's just so catchy and fun to sing along to. They really knocked it out of the park.
I can't end this review without mentioning Jennifer Hudson, who was amazing as Motormouth Maybelle. I loved her in this role, and she probably delivered the best vocals of the night.
Hairspray Live! was truly a great experience through and through. The lead roles were so amazing in their roles, and made this work so well. This right here is the best of the best when it comes to TV musicals, folks.
Grade: A+
MVP: Ariana Grande
Favorite Musical Moment: You Can't Stop the Beat
Well, NBC really put together something amazing here. I'll be back in 2017 for NBC's next two live events- A Few Good Men Live and Bye Bye Birdie Live. Let's hope that can be as good as Hairspray Live!
Jimmy Kimmel Live is one of three late night shows that I watch. So I was incredibly excited to see him host my favorite awards shows, the Emmys. He was great. So great that he will be hosting the Oscars in 2017. I really enjoyed all of his bits, and I wish he was on screen longer.
14- The Gilmore Girls Revival is Total "Bulls***"
The Gilmore Girls revival was a slight letdown. But, as usual, Kelly Bishop knocked it out of the freaking park. Like seriously, someone give this woman an Emmy. Now. She was the best part of the show by far, and Emily Gilmore was the only character I found myself liking more after this revival. That "Bulls***" scene was killer.
13- FX Becomes Better
While most devoted their attention to FX's other new fall comedy (Atlanta), I watched Better Things. And I really, really enjoyed it. While it took a little while to find itself, by the end, I was really loving it. I can't wait until it returns for season 2. 12- Netflix Gets Stranger
Stranger Things was the breakout hit of the summer, and by the time I watched it in October, seemingly everyone had already seen it. It was really fun, and Winona Ryder was amazing in it. Netflix has had a lot of new shows this year, but Stranger Things stands out among them all. 11- John Oliver Talks about Donald Trump
Before this clip became popular, I'd never seen John Oliver's show. I watched it online, and I found it to be really funny. While I'm still not a regular viewer of Last Week Tonight, I appreciate his work, and I'll still check out clips on YouTube.
10- Denise Hemphill Loves Quantico
Denise is my favorite character on Scream Queens. And when she "died", I was incredibly angry with the show. And then she came back to the show. Which was incredible, because she got to talk about Quantico some more, and that was my favorite part of the entire second season of Scream Queens.
9- Seth Meyers Takes a Closer Look
"A Closer Look" is always a segment I look forward to on Late Night with Seth Meyers. It's my favorite part of the whole show, and it's improved a lot since its introduction. This year, with Trump/Clinton in full swing, it was at the top of its game, and I can't wait for more. 8- Lady Dynamite
Netflix is known for some pretty high-quality shows (well, also Fuller House, but still), and Lady Dynamite is among my favorite. It may not have received the same attention as Stranger Things, but it was by far my favorite of Netflix's new shows (and they had a lot) this year. I don't like it quite as much as Grace and Frankie, but I still adore it. Speaking of, when the heck is it coming back?
7- NBC Goes to the Good Place
NBC's newest comedy series The Good Place is among my favorite shows of the year. It's brilliantly crafted and acted, and I find it to be hysterical. Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, and the rest of the cast are just really great in this show, and I can't wait to finally see its first (hopefully of many) season wrap up in January 2017.
6- Sarah, Sarah, Sarah!
The People Vs. OJ Simpson was one of the most acclaimed shows of the year, and I adored it. Most of my love for it was because of Sarah Paulson, who knocked it out of the park. "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" was one of my favorite episodes of television this year (and maybe ever).
5- Sam Bee Goes Full Frontal
Before Full Frontal, I had never seen Samantha Bee in any television program, as I never watched the Daily Show. However, I decided to tune in, and I'm so glad I did. Full Frontal has quickly become one of my favorite shows, and I look forward to hearing her take on the crazy things that Donald Trump does happen each week. 4- David S. Pumpkins
David S. Pumpkins became an internet sensation after his debut on the Tom Hanks episode of SNL. The sketch left me thinking two things: "That was brilliant!" and "That was so weird!". David Pumpkins is arguably the best SNL sketch of Season 42 so far, and will probably become a classic Halloween sketch.
3- Rachel Bloom Wins the Golden Globe
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was the best new show of the fall 2015 season, and Rachel Bloom received critical acclaim for her role in the series. She appeared to be an underdog for the Golden Globe win, but she defeated several other worthy nominees, winning the CW's second consecutive Golden Globe. It was a deserved win that made me so incredibly happy.
2- Live from New York, It's Ariana Grande
This is SNL's second appearance on this list, and it deserves it, after an excellent 2016. Ariana Grande was, without a doubt, my favorite host of the 2010s, and one of my favorite ever. This was such a great episode, from start to finish, and Grande was the reason it all worked. She truly shined in the Tidal and Sound of Music sketches, while taking a backseat in the excellent Mermaids sketch. No doubt, she'll be back on the SNL stage.
1- Hairspray Live!
When Hairspray Live was announced, I had my doubts, but those were put to rest after watching it. Hairspray Live tops my list for the best TV moment of 2016. I've seen it about 10 times now, and I still love it. Everything about this was just amazing, and everyone killed it. Especially Ariana Grande.
In a terrible, terrible year, these things made me a little more happy, and for that reason, they're the best of the worst.
Monday night saw low ratings all around, with New Years specials on ABC topping the night, likely even with preemptions. NBC's Hairspray Live! encore saw little interest, and the same can be said about repeats on The CW, Fox, and CBS. A Great American Baking Show repeat saw a (likely very inflated) 1.1, AKA a season high.
Finals Update: ABC's Charlie Brown New Year (-0.3), Rudolph's Shiny New Year (-0.6), a Great American Baking Show repeat (-0.6), and a Kevin Can Wait repeat (-0.1) adjusted down. A Scorpion repeat adjusted up (+0.1).
NBC's live musicals can be pretty hit or miss. They range from pretty boring to pretty bad to pretty amazing. So you never know what you're going to get when you tune in. Luckily, they've gotten better as time went on. Here is my list of the NBC live musicals, from worst to best.
#4- Peter Pan Live (2.4 A18-49/9.21 milllion viewers)
Oh, boy. NBC's second go-round of the live musical was a bust. It just was not very good. Nothing really drew me to it, I kind of just watched it because I enjoyed the idea of a live musical, and hoped it would improve upon the Sound of Music. It did not. This one felt uncomfortable, and the casting wasn't right. But Christopher Walken as Captain Hook was hysterical. But I'm not sure that's what they were going for. If you want a better live take on Peter Pan, watch SNL's parody. It was much better.
Score: 6/10
Grade: C-
#3- The Sound of Music Live (4.6 A18-49/18.62 million viewers)
This one had everything going for it. It was adapted from a great stage show/movie. It had a good star. It had a pretty good soundtrack. So it should have worked wonderfully. But it didn't. It was a snooze fest. Honestly, I don't understand how it turned out that way. But it did. Carrie Underwood was not the right choice for the role of Maria. And the whole cast was kinda boring. This one fell flat, but was a solid and formidable effort.
Score: 6.5/10
Grade: C
#2- The Wiz Live (3.4 A18-49/11.5 million viewers)
After losing hope in NBC musicals, I skipped the Wiz Live. I watched it about two weeks later, when I was bored and had nothing else to watch. And I was so impressed. It was such a drastic improvement over the first two that I couldn't believe it. The reason this worked and the other two really didn't was simple. It was actually fun. The actors looked like they were enjoying themselves. The set was really nice and authentic.
Score: 9/10
Grade: A-
#1- Hairspray Live (2.3 A18-49/9.05 million viewers)
Going in to Hairspray, I was excited. The Wiz was great, and I wanted Hairspray to stay at that level of fun and quality. And it exceeded it. It was more fun that The Wiz. It was more fun that Grease Live on Fox. The cast was great. The songs were fun. It was a great choice for a live production. And like the Wiz, the set felt pretty authentic for a live musical, like we really were is Baltimore (too bad it was light out when it was supposed to be dark, though. This was the first live musical that I actually watched the day it aired, and that was a smart move. And based on The Wiz and Hairspray, NBC should make unknown talents their stars more often. It works for them. And the message of this musical is great, too. All around, this one easily is the best.
Score: 10/10
Grade: A+
So there you have it. My personal ranking of the NBC live musicals, from worst to best. What's your ranking? Let me know in the comments below.
NBC aired its latest live musical Wednesday night, and quite frankly, it did not do too well. Hairspray
Live was not a failure by any means- it was still higher rated than The Voice this week on NBC, and will probably be the second highest rated show on NCB. But it is not the success that NBC hoped for. ABC really struggled this week, hitting series lows all around (except for The Goldbergs), and CBS' Code Black actually thrived. The CW saw major declines in a post-crossover world, and Frequency even hit a series low. Fox's series hit new lows, as well, with Empire down four tenths. Finals Update: A Modern Family repeat (+0.1) adjusted up.
