Americans have very few opportunities these days to band together with one singular purpose. A couple of weeks ago, however, that happened when NBC aired a live production of “The Sound of Music.”
Unfortunately, I did not get to take part in this exercise because of a work function I had to attend. I could have gone back and watched the event some other time, but the running commentary on Facebook and Twitter made that kind of pointless.
In a weird way, I’m glad I missed being part of the hive this time around. You see, I could have fallen into either of the two sides in the discussion.
There is no doubt I would have fit easily into the group which laughed at every silly moment and wondered whether the good folks at NBC realized they had created a comedy without even trying. But I also could have ended up admiring the event if only because it showed that TV executives had a slightly original thought.
Just as an aside, I would have never fallen into a third, more nefarious camp which complained that the plot didn’t completely follow the movie, which is silly because they were re-creating the Broadway show, not the movie and if you can complain online you can also search for information on the event and know that kind of information.
But that pet peeve can’t keep me from appreciating the wonder that is a live television event serving to unify the nation in wonder and snark.
Some people choose to mock the usefulness and value of social networks, but “The Sound of Music” showed how important something like Twitter can be to our national consciousness. Where else can we get a service that provides you with back-to-back updates, one praising Carrie Underwood’s performance and another skewering her.
Sports fans have become used to this phenomenon online. The running commentary of a big game has turned into an almost essential part of the experience. The same thing happens sometimes with TV shows, but never with the gusto it did the night we all met the new Maria.
This may bother some folks, but I love it. The jokes may have rubbed people who enjoyed the show the wrong way, but people truly came together on that Thursday night. A common bond developed even if some people found it to be less satisfying than others.
The problem now is that the network will take a good thing and run it right into the ground. Sure, they say at first that they will only do this for the holiday season as a special treat, but you know there is some guy in a meeting in Los Angeles trying to convince his bosses there should be live musicals every month, maybe even every week.
I hope they shut him down. This kind of programming works well once in a while. We don’t need to congregate on Twitter all the time to make fun of or praise the latest televised musical. Just as long as they don’t start having reality shows to pick the cast.