Just in case you somehow needed further proof that there’s another goddamn Republican in the White House, NBC has decided that Hair is simply too dangerous and progressive for its 2019 audience’s delicate sensibilities. The network has decided to cancel its plans to do a live production of Hair later this year, and while it didn’t specifically say that it was terrified of young people with free spirits, Deadline says that NBC has noted that it is still “committed to live musicals” and that it “plans to return to the type of broad-appeal productions that launched its live musical franchise.”
The wording there seems to pin all of the blame on Hair not having “broad appeal,” but Deadline points out that there is some other context worth considering. For starters, the ratings for Fox’s recent Rent production weren’t great, suggesting that people might not be as crazy about these live musicals as they were a few years ago. Oh, also, the planned airdate for Hair Live! would’ve been the same day as the series finale of Game Of Thrones, and going up against that would’ve been as stupid as flying off to Vietnam to fight in a pointless war for the man.
NBC has no plans to do Hair at a later date and any future musicals have not yet been announced.