‘Sound of Music Live!’ a ratings hit for NBC, but critics not so kind

Right now Bob Greenblatt is adding “live TV musicals� to his list of favorite things (right after brown paper packages tied up with string).

“Sound of Music Live!�, the first live musical on network television in more than 50 years and a pet project of the NBC Entertainment chairman, proved to be a worthwhile gamble on Thursday night. The three-hour event, based on the 1959 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical and starring Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer, reeled in a whopping 18.5 million viewers overall and delivered a 4.6 rating with viewers younger than 50. Translated from Nielsen-speak, that means more than 5.5 million people in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic tuned in. That was enough to tie CBS’ top-rated “The Big Bang Theory� in the demo at 8 p.m.

The broadcast delivered the Peacock Network its best Thursday-night performance with younger viewers since the finale of “ER� in 2009. Audiences also mostly stayed put throughout the broadcast, which peaked at 8:30 p.m. with 19.7 million viewers and wrapped up with 17 million. The success of “The Sound of Music Live!� proves that in an era of time-delayed viewing, networks can still create DVR-proof programming (and probably should).

PHOTOS: Scenes from ‘The Sound of Music Live!’ | ‘The Sound of Music’ (1965)

Conveniently, the live format also made the show immune to critics, who were unable to issue their verdicts until after “The Sound of Music Live!� had aired. That was probably a good thing for NBC, given that reviews were largely unfavorable, with many critics praising the network for taking a big gamble while singling out Underwood’s performance as the production’s most obvious liability.

Wrote Times critic Robert Lloyd, “As a stage actress, there was no way to regard her as anything but an amateur -- good enough, certainly, to convey the meaning of her lines, and sometimes better than that, but lacking weight and substance and the shadings she can bring to a song.�

Reviews aside, it’s probably a safe bet that NBC will try another ambitious live show in the near future. “The Sound of Music Live!� producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan have said they would like to bring a live musical to television every year.

“Wicked� starring Kelly Clarkson, anyone?

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Twitter: @MeredithBlake