Threatening to derail the entire project with a series of internal struggles—just like those that befell a certain rock band—NBC’s Beatles miniseries is already having some issues. As reported by Billboard, the network doesn’t actually have the rights to use any of the Beatles’ music or likenesses, putting this whole thing in danger of becoming a hilariously accurate adaptation of 30 Rock’s Jackie Jormp-Jomp saga.
On top of that, the CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing—which holds the rights to almost every Beatles song—has been trying to make a TV series about the band for years with a pay cable network like HBO or Showtime. If he’s aiming for a more prestigious station like that, it’s unlikely that he’d end up giving the rights to a plebeian garbage channel like NBC.
Billboard suggests that the announcement of NBC’s Beatles miniseries was “premature,” which, yeah, but this doesn’t mean the project is dead. Unlikely as it seems, NBC could still pull it together and get the rights it needs. It’s a network that is no longer the worst, after all. Barring that, though, NBC could always just make a miniseries about The Monkees. They’re pretty similar, and they probably come a lot cheaper. Plus, everyone would love to see a dramatization of the tragic falling out that happened between Davy Jones, the guy with the hat, the other guy, and the other other guy.