Fox Is Doing Grease Live, and It Will Be Amazing
Apparently inspired by NBC's The Sound of Music Live!, Fox has ordered a three-hour broadcast of Grease. The Hollywood Reporter says that, just like NBC's musical train wreck, Grease will also be broadcast live.
Fox announced its order of Grease Live on Monday, scheduling it for 2015. This will make it the third in a recent resurgence of live musicals on network television; after the ratings success that was The Sound of Music Live!,* NBC has planned a live performance of Peter Pan for this December.
In another universe, NBC might have wanted to call Grease its own, too—but then You're the One That I Want, a 2007 Grease-based musical competition, happened. It was a television event everyone, especially NBC, would rather forget. Because Grease has already failed NBC, and because Fox is already primed for musical success thanks to Glee, the latter network is an obvious competitor for NBC's live shows. (CBS also once gave the format a heartfelt try. RIP Viva Laughlin.) Said Shana C. Waterman, senior vice president of event series at Fox:
From Broadway to film, and across generations, Grease is one of the most beloved musical stories ever told — and we can't wait to bring it to our air in a spectacular live event. Its iconic characters and addictive songs make it the perfect fit for Fox, and we're going to give it the kind of star power and production quality to make every Sandy, Danny, Rizzo and Kenickie out there want to get up and sing along.
Because face it: even if it's a terrible show, everyone watching it will be belting the whole way through. Get excited.
*Yes, despite reactions ranging from anger to dismay from critics and theatre fans, the show garnered 22 million viewers and also did well during a rebroadcast. And at least it was kind of fun, if not necessarily good. Grease Live will probably do just as well. Start making up your drinking games now.
[Image via Getty]