Althouse: Admit it...

December 4, 2014

Admit it...

... if you watched "Peter Pan Live!"

61 comments:

Jane the Actuary said...: Watched the 1st hour. Then my son watched the remainder, and reported the sad ending that they had to grow up, after all.

I didn't fine the songs particularly catchy or tuneful -- maybe the later ones were.; 12/4/14, 10:30 PM
Patrick said...: I did, with my family. We really enjoyed watching The Sound of Music last year. Not just the show, which had terrific and less terrific parts, but we rarely watch TV and it was a really nice night.

This year, nice, but less so. The tunes were less familiar and less catchy, and it seemed to drag. The kids were less into it. Alison Williams sang well, not fabulous. The sword fighting was disappointing to my boys.

I'll probably watch whatever they put on next year.; 12/4/14, 10:44 PM
mccullough said...: I watched the Bears and Cowboys.; 12/4/14, 10:45 PM
jacksonjay said...: Da Boys beat Da Bear!

Don't tell us if Meade watched that Peter Pan thing!; 12/4/14, 10:49 PM
YS said...: And according to OWS: "If you are watching #PeterPanLive you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

https://twitter.com/OccupyWallStNYC/status/540690787928113152; 12/4/14, 10:57 PM
MisterBuddwing said...: OK, I watched. Mostly out of curiosity - being of a certain age, I'm old enough to remember Mary Martin and those delightful songs which, this time around, didn't seem as delightful.

I thought it really sagged in the middle. I mean, come on, three hours???

My first look at Allison Williams (no, I haven't seen "Girls"). I found her charmingly androgynous as the boy who wouldn't grow up, and thought she acquitted herself very well.

Overall, a nice, if decidedly dull production - one that would have been even duller had it not been live.; 12/4/14, 11:02 PM
madAsHell said...: I'm thinking most commenters here watch very little TV...except maybe...football.; 12/4/14, 11:05 PM
paminwi said...: Chris Botti concert in Milwaukee.; 12/4/14, 11:11 PM
Birches said...: The first part was pretty boring. I liked The Sound of Music a lot more. Kids too.; 12/4/14, 11:33 PM
RecChief said...: nope. went to see Motown the musical with my bride. Fantastic show; 12/5/14, 12:00 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: I watched Collateral.; 12/5/14, 12:03 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Was Peter Pan scary? He's scary in the book.; 12/5/14, 12:04 AM
chickelit said...: I'll admit to not caring.; 12/5/14, 12:10 AM
Smilin' Jack said...: "Admit it... if you watched "Peter Pan Live!"

A real lawyer would advise you to take the Fifth.; 12/5/14, 12:25 AM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: No. Really. I Din't. Was there live streaming video of this event?; 12/5/14, 1:27 AM
CWJ said...: Yes. Like last year, I really like the concept and hope NBC continues it. But I thought Christopher Walken looked perpetually bored. But My wife suggested that he's had so much "work" done he can no longer move his face. I suspect she's correct.

So first "sound of music" and then "peter pan." Is NBC's unifying theme we're doing this at Christmas time so the show must have a cast full of "children?"; 12/5/14, 4:37 AM
CStanley said...: Too long, although my little one liked it and didn't want to go to bed. I liked the songs, agree that Allison Williams did pretty well and that Christopher Walken's face was weirdly non-emotive.; 12/5/14, 5:09 AM
rhhardin said...: I watched it live with Mary Martin at Radio City.; 12/5/14, 5:14 AM
Jaq said...: I have watched Peter Pan with Kathy Rigby with my daughter at least 100 times... Ugamug bubambug ugmamug bugamug waaaah...

I have recorded it to watch with her when she gets home from college for Christmas break.; 12/5/14, 6:18 AM
Phil 314 said...: was there drunkblogging of Peter Pan somewhere on the net?; 12/5/14, 6:38 AM
Shanna said...: I tried to watch (couldn't watch sound of music last year because nbc wouldn't come in over the antenna, but I got a stronger one this year). I couldn't manage more than a couple minutes at a time and couldn't make it to Christopher walkin. I hate Peter Pan the story though. Hope they pick something better next year.; 12/5/14, 6:41 AM
Christy said...: Not tempted, never liked the music.; 12/5/14, 6:47 AM
Ron said...: Walken! Walken! Walken!; 12/5/14, 6:50 AM
Anonymous said...: No, I did not watch.
The first TV set arrived in the home where I grew up a couple of months before I was born in 1954 so my dad could watch the Rose Bowl. TV was a big part of my childhood.
I gave up watching TV about 20 years ago. I sometimes watch funny commercials on Youtube. TV actors have become famous and I have first heard of them when they die an early, well-publicized death.
I think being a TV-culture dropout is a good thing.; 12/5/14, 6:51 AM
MadisonMan said...: Didn't watch. I was grading papers.; 12/5/14, 7:01 AM
Ron said...: Here's 10 year old Walken...with Martin and Lewis!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouVhNWNS4wA; 12/5/14, 7:01 AM
rhhardin said...: Imus's Ashley Webster said it would have been better with Lena Dunham as Peter Pan.; 12/5/14, 7:21 AM
Tibore said...: Oh damn, I missed it!

Yeah, forget the lead, Allison W. I'd tune in to watch Christopher Walken as Hook.; 12/5/14, 7:36 AM
PB said...: No.; 12/5/14, 7:43 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: I checked the internet this morning to see if there were any "wardrobe malfunctions." Just because she is portraying a boy doesn't mean I wouldn't mind seeing a flash of boob. Alas.

I am Laslo.; 12/5/14, 7:43 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Walken was too weak to play hook. He just wasn't the creepiest creep in the world. He should have been. It looked right on paper. He was too subtle! Or just tired!

Look at the old video of Cyril Ritchard playing Hook. That was hilarious and genuinely scary to a child.; 12/5/14, 7:44 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Note to self: Do note use Google auto-complete searching as a way to check whether you are spelling a name right.

(Cyril Richardson is a football player.); 12/5/14, 7:45 AM
Fandor said...: I couldn't stop watching the Hillary Clinton music video. That really took me to never-never land!; 12/5/14, 7:46 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Here's Ritchard in the "Oh My Mysterious Lady" sequence that was dropped from last night's show.

I guess seeing men cross-dressing wasn't what they wanted. Or did it drag the production down... with the leads not able to carry the singing?; 12/5/14, 7:50 AM
Bob Ellison said...: My wife had it on, and I watched a bit, but we both grew bored by it and turned it off.

I love American musical theater, and Peter Pan is a pretty crappy musical. Why don't they do one of the truly great ones? Showboat, or The Music Man, or Oklahoma, or Porgy and Bess, or A Chorus Line?; 12/5/14, 8:02 AM
David Smith said...: Watched a few minutes sometime near the end of the first hour - long enough to decide that I prefer my memory of Mary Martin and Cyril Richard to the Anchorman's Daughter and Chris Walken.; 12/5/14, 8:08 AM
JAORE said...: "
I guess seeing men cross-dressing wasn't what they wanted. Or did it drag the production down... "

Cute.

Nope didn't watch. Wasn't even tempted. Must have seen Mary Martin as PP twenty times.; 12/5/14, 8:14 AM
Darrell said...: I watched in order to see if they went with my idea to hook her up to a water hose to make it look like she was urinating continuously at a high velocity. Alas, it wasn't the case. Just imagine the scenes where she flies about on wires--what a missed opportunity!; 12/5/14, 8:42 AM
Birches said...: I agree Bob Ellison, The Music Man would be really great.; 12/5/14, 8:45 AM
Justin said...: I lasted about 30 minutes.; 12/5/14, 8:45 AM
khesanh0802 said...: I read Althouse's blog.; 12/5/14, 8:55 AM
Martha said...: I tried to watch it--but it was T E R R I B L E !
I agree with Imus--IT SUCKED.
It was a vanity production for Allison Williams. I only watched because Christopher Walken was in it and he did not show up (figuratively).

NBC has got to stop hiring well connected children of celebrity parents--Chelsea Clinton, Barbara Bush, Alison Williams..........; 12/5/14, 9:07 AM
Bill said...: I guess I got my signals crossed. I thought Lena Dunham would be playing Peter.; 12/5/14, 9:12 AM
Shanna said...: I tried to watch it--but it was T E R R I B L E !

Yes, it really, really was. I kept flipping over to see if it got better until I gave up.; 12/5/14, 9:15 AM
Darrell said...: I thought that Lena Dunham would be playing Neverland.; 12/5/14, 9:16 AM
RuyDiaz said...: Neither Peter Pan live nor NFL for me. I was reading a Sci-fi/fantasy hybrid novel. Feeling smugly geek right now.; 12/5/14, 9:53 AM
Tibore said...: Walken failed? That's a disappointment. I would've thought he'd be the perfect Hook.

Maybe the director took some of the bombast and edge off his performance. Or maybe Walken took it too seriously. Blech... either way, I'm reading disappointment on the net regarding his performance. And that's sad; he does indeed seem like the perfect choice on paper.; 12/5/14, 10:12 AM
Julie C said...: No no no. I've never gotten the appeal of Peter Pan and had no desire to sit through this version.

We watched football and then White Collar.

Tom and Lorenzo had a great critique of Peter Pan today, by the way. They hated it and found some of the casting choices "creepy".; 12/5/14, 10:27 AM
Rick.T. said...: Watched the pilot and first episode of "The Americans." Excellent.; 12/5/14, 10:36 AM
Shanna said...: then White Collar.

They seem to have stopped updating White Collar seasons on netflix, so I haven't seen anything past s4. I think amazon bought them, and I haven't broken down and gotten prime yet.; 12/5/14, 10:58 AM
pcrh said...: I didn't know Christopher Walken was an amputee.; 12/5/14, 11:06 AM
Known Unknown said...: My daughter and I watched Star Wars Rebels because she's pretty cool for a seven year-old girl.; 12/5/14, 11:07 AM
Ann Althouse said...: For next year...

They should do "Carousel."

My bet, however, is: "Grease."; 12/5/14, 11:35 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Music Man" is a great musical and a great bet as the actual choice, because it has something that both "Sound of Music" and "Peter Man" have: kids!; 12/5/14, 11:36 AM
Ann Althouse said...: And it's very wholesome.

So I take back my bet on "Grease."

I think "Music Man"... for the kids and for the utterly G-rated wholesomeness.

The threat of violence -- which I found scary when I was a kid -- is that they are going to tar and feather the music man.; 12/5/14, 11:37 AM
Anthony said...: I avoided it because of the psychological discomfort it would have caused me having lustful thoughts about what is supposed to be a teenaged boy.; 12/5/14, 11:45 AM
Titus said...: No. I know it is thought that all fags love Broadway but I can't stand the shit.

The music is the worst.

thanks and have a terrific weekend!

tits.; 12/5/14, 11:55 AM
Deirdre Mundy said...: We did, with the grandparents and the kids. We enjoyed it... my kids are fascinated by non-CGI special effects...; 12/5/14, 12:22 PM
Mary Beth said...: This is the first I've heard of it. I binge watched "Black Mirror" on Netflix.; 12/5/14, 3:09 PM
Joe said...: I didn't watch it because I don't particularly like the play, musical or movie. The first scene in the play is delightful. It goes downhill from there.

Ironically, the Tinkerbell movie spinoffs, which I watch a lot due to a five-year-old granddaughter, are much more entertaining.; 12/5/14, 3:49 PM
chickelit said...: The Disney animation version is still the best. It's also one of the oldest rides at Disneyland.; 12/5/14, 7:52 PM