There’s something kind of sweet and nostalgic about the return of holiday specials on TV. I remember as a child eagerly awaiting the once-a-year airings of the Rankin-Bass stop-motion specials ("Rudolph" being my favourite) and gathering with my family, cozied up by the tree, watching "The Grinch." But in an age when you can stream every kitschy, kiddie, lousy or classic holiday movie or TV special at the touch of a button, broadcast TV is hard-pressed to offer seasonal goodies that bring in the eyeballs.
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NBC is beginning a new tradition of a lavishly staged live broadcast of a musical production for the holidays, and this year's offering is Peter Pan Live! (Yes, that's their very own exclamation point, right there in the title - are you excited yet?!) Good old high-risk entertainment for the whole family! They started with The Sound of Music last year (can someone please explain how an Austrian family’s struggle to escape the Nazis became a holiday story?) This year, it's Peter, with Alison Williams inhabiting the pointy-toed felt slippers of the Boy Who Never Grew Up. (As for whether she flies as well as Sandy Duncan - well, we'll just have to wait and see.)
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Pan's nemesis, Captain Hook, is played by theatre and screen veteran Christopher Walken - and if you've forgotten how that weird cat can dance, I invite you to recall this:
For me, it’s not about which musical they choose or who is starring in it, it’s about revisiting the thrill and danger of live TV. Anything can happen! Set pieces can fall over! Actors can flub lines! Production hands could sneeze audibly during the tender love ballads! In our highly polished, overly made-up, cut and re-cut times, a live, televised production is a warm, fuzzy piece of nostalgia with the potential for - gasp - mistakes. Plus, this is it: once and done. Not re-broadcast, not packaged on DVD: if you miss this (or miss setting your PVR, which is cheating for something like this), you’re not going to be discussing it at the office the next day. It’s gone. Just like TV used to be before your Dad brought home that VCR that was the size of a club pack of tissues and the wonder of time-shifting your TV watching was born.
There’s also something a bit special about recreating that old-time media experience with your family. Live TV events were rare, heavily promoted specials that drew huge audiences (anyone else remember the big reveal of the first artifacts brought up from Titanic in 1986?) Even if it is gathering around the glowing box, it’s a chance to slow down and connect with your family over a shared experience that is a little bit special. Maybe even memorable.
Will you be watching live? Or do you think it’s just another ratings gimmick?
Image source: nbc.com
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