C’mon, who doesn’t love “A Christmas Story”?
No, it wasn’t a hit when it was released in 1983. But it has become a holiday TV classic.
Ralphie. The Red Ryder BB gun. “You’ll shoot your eye out.” Santa’s boot. The “major award”/leg lamp. The pink bunny pajamas. “I triple-dog-dare you.” The Bumpus hounds. Skut Farkus the bully. Beheading the duck.
| Courtesy photo Peter Billingsley stars as Ralphie in "A Christmas Story."
A scene from "A Christmas Story."
If you loved that stuff — if you even liked it — the folks at Fox would like you to get all excited about “A Christmas Story Live!” Well, they want you to tune in and watch on Sunday (6 p.m., Ch. 13).
They’re promising a big, splashy production, beamed (to some viewers) live from the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif. (It will air on a one-hour delay in Utah.)
“It’s one of those movies that you grow up loving, and we were so excited to get the opportunity to work on it as a musical,” said Benj Pasek, who co-wrote the songs with Justin Paul. “We’re thrilled to be able to do it as a live broadcast.”
It’s a TV version of the 2012 stage adaptation of the 1983 movie based on Jean Shepherd’s short stories, and it comes complete with singing and dancing. It’s the familiar story of Ralphie (newcomer Andy Walken), who wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. But his mother (Maya Rudolph) is sure he’ll shoot his eye out.
And, yes, the leg lamp makes an appearance.
The cast also includes Chris Diamantopoulos, Jane Krakowski, Ana Gasteyer, David Alan Grier and Ken Jeong. Matthew Broderick is the narrator — the grown-up version of Ralphie.
(Courtesy Tommy Garcia/Fox) Clockwise from top: Chris Diamantopoulos, Maya Rudolph, Andy Walken and Tyler Wladis star in “A Christmas Story Live.”
“Audiences have such an expectation coming in to see the show,” said Paul. “They know the movie back and forth. They know every scene that they’re excited to come in and see how we’re going to be able to imagine it onstage and, here, how we’re going to be able to imagine it in a live TV event.”
It’s a tricky task. And there’s an additional problem with “A Christmas Story” — the 2012 musical is, well, underwhelming. It’s not exactly memorable in its own right, and the music is, well, OK.
But there might be reason to hope. This was Pasek and Paul’s first Broadway show, written before they went on to win an Oscar for “La La Land” and a Tony for “Dear Evan Hansen.” And they’ve written some additional songs for this TV version of “A Christmas Story.”
We’ll find out on Sunday if they were able to pull this off. And where “A Christmas Story Live” fits on the list of of live TV musicals in recent years, which looks like this:
1. “Grease” (Jan. 31, 2016, Fox)
perfect, but the musical numbers were handsomely mounted and well produced, the performances were decent and the direction brought the kind of energy needed to turn a stage production into entertaining TV.
2. “Hairspray” (Dec. 7, 2016, NBC)
NBC mimicked Fox’s “Grease” with a production very much in the same vein — albeit with several technical glitches that detracted from the overall effect. The musical numbers were better than the narrative segments, but that’s pretty much the norm for these live airings.
3. “The Wiz” (Dec. 3, 2015, NBC)
It was big, bright and colorful, with some great performances. And it was a considerable improvement over the wildly disappointing 1978 theatrical film. But it felt like it was trapped in a box — a static telecast of a stage show, which is not good TV.
4. “The Sound of Music” (Dec. 5, 2013, NBC)
Carrie Underwood can sing, but she was miscast as Maria because, well, she can’t act. And when your lead can’t act, that’s a big problem. The musical numbers were fine, but this overlong production was flat.
5. “Peter Pan” (Dec. 4, 2014, NBC)
Wow. About the nicest word associated with this would be “ponderous.” It was way too long, disjointed, clunky and dull.
Follow @ScottDPierce