Between the challenge of adapting the musical’s anti-establishment themes for a network audience, translating full-frontal group nudity for TV, and getting the merkin order in on time, Hair Live! just didn’t make the cut. According to TVLine, NBC has shorn the 1968 counterculture Broadway show from its future slate of live musical events. (Hair Live! was initially scheduled to air Sunday, May 19.) All joking aside though, it was, in fact, the show’s content that left it on the cutting room floor, as the network says it’s currently interested in “broad-based, family musicals.â€
“Live musicals are a part of this network’s DNA, and we are committed to continuing that tradition with the right show at the right time,†NBC Entertainment co-chairmen Paul Telegdy and George Cheeks told TVLine. “Since these shows are such enormous undertakings, we need titles that have a wide appeal, and we’re in the process of acquiring the rights to a couple of new shows that we’re really excited about.†Sure, but do any of those shows contain songs like “Hashish†and “Sodomy?†They don’t, and that’s why they’ll eventually make air? Yeah, alright. Fair enough.