Craig Zadan and Neil Meron

For some bizarre reason, NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt has decided to approve a live broadcast of The Sound of Music play. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Greenblatt says, “There used to be a tradition of broadcasting musicals live back in the 1950s, and we’re thrilled to do it once again with a musical that has been a family classic for five decades.”

Smash executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will produce the live play. Zadan and Meron say they do not intended to remake the film version of The Sound of Music because that would be “artistic blasphemy.” No word yet on who will be in NBC version of The Sound of Music or when it will air.

There is no way remaking the stageplay of The Sound of Music is going to work. People who want to see a musical live will buy tickets to see the show on Broadway or at a local theater. Those who want to watch The Sound of Music on television will just buy or rent the movie. I appreciate Greenblatt’s desire to recapture a bit of television’s Golden Age, but there’s a reason televised plays went away: viewers preferred programs that are broadcast on the same night each week. Even if The Sound of Music scores big ratings, it will probably be because it’s a novelty and not because people actually demand to see the return of live plays broadcast on the major networks.