NBC’s ‘Peter Pan Live': The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly [Video]

NBC's live broadcast of the musical 'Peter Pan' was everything a live broadcast should be, mainly awkward and full of miscues.

But NBC did what a broadcast network should be doing more of these days, they took a chance on something fresh and different, and for that, they should be applauded.

Sure, the Twitterverse and the internet howled at most of the pieces of the 'Peter Pan' pie, but the show was not nearly has bad as everyone seemed to think. The biggest mistake the network may have made was the choice of material, as 'Peter Pan' is weak as a musical and doesn't have the catchy songs that their initial foray into live TV, 'The Sound of Music' did.

The show was sluggish and awful in spots, but a dapper 71-year-old Christopher Walken held my attention with his sashaying take on the villainous Captain Hook, who seemed to be leading a gang of drag dressing cabaret performers than pirate thugs. I couldn't turn away from Walken every time he was on screen, as his odd make up, and strange way of walking made his version of Hook as far removed from any other I've seen. It was almost as if your Grampa broke bad, and learned to dance in the process.

Allison Williams, daughter of veteran NBC newsman Brian Williams held her own as Peter, even though the fear of doing a live show was in her eyes from the beginning. Some of the original show's politically incorrect songs had to be adjusted and Tinkerbell came off as an annoying prop rather than a fun character.

Overall, it was rough, but passable, and I hope the ratings are high (I know they will be in the states where marijuana is legal, as being stoned may have made the show ten times as funny) so that NBC and other networks take more chances with Live TV in the future. I just hope they make better choices over what content they choose.