‘The Wiz Live!’ eases on down road to strong ratings for NBC

“CBS” Thursday Night Football coverage won the night – and topped “The Wiz” in five of the six primetime half-hours (the exception being the first, in which the pre-game coverage trailed the opening half-hour of NBC’s musical). NBC’s smoothest outing yet in what should become a holiday tradition.

The live adaptation of the Broadway show, which itself is a take on “The Wizard of Oz” but with an African American cast, was also a hit with critics.

“For “Peter Pan, ‘ what we didn’t know is that the property had sort of overstayed its welcome”, said Craig Zadan, one of the shows” executive producers. Earnestness reigned. Well, commercials reigned, but earnestness set the tone.

It is so interesting that when Shanice auditioned along with 600 others, she did so just to get the experience of auditioning.

According to Nielsen fast national data, the two-hour-and-forty-five-minute musical broadcast averaged 11.5 million viewers and a 3.4 rating among adults 18 to 49, marking NBC’s best Thursday night showing since February 20, 2014, when the 14th night of the Sochi Winter Olympics delivered 20.3 million viewers and a 5.0 in the demo. “There was a white male dancer at Emerald City vogueing lol”.

NEW YORK (AP) – NBC has found the young woman who will ease on down the yellow brick road. This Nov. 30, 2015, image released by NBC shows Shanice Williams as Dorothy, left, and Stephanie Mills as Auntie Em during a dress rehearsal of “The Wiz Live!’ in NY”. I did love hearing, when Queen Latifah’s Wiz (a knockout, by the way) was unmasked, “We’ve been played”.