THE TV COLUMN

ABC airs heartwarming, uncut Sound of Music

Julie Andrews stars as Maria in the enduring family film The Sound of Music. ABC airs the movie from 6 to 10 p.m. today.
Julie Andrews stars as Maria in the enduring family film The Sound of Music. ABC airs the movie from 6 to 10 p.m. today.

— It’s no wonder that The Sound of Music has become a perennial holiday favorite. It has something for everyone.

The 1965 film was nominated for 10 Oscars and won five, including Best Picture, and Best Director for Robert Wise. It is rated TV-PG and runs just a hair under three hours long.

ABC is stretching that three hours to fill up prime time from 6 to 10 p.m. today.

An hour and six minutes of commercials may seem excessive, but 20 minutes per hour is about standard these days. The average hour drama actually contains only 42 minutes or so of action.

Something for everyone? There’s a religious crisis of faith and purpose. The heartbreak of a stern, widowed father. A gaggle of high-spirited young people who cover the kiddie demographic. Budding teen romance. The lifestyles of the rich and famous. The search for the next big Austrian musical act. Mountain climbing and a society wedding.

Then there are Nazis. Evil, evil Nazis and the machinations of spurned and bedazzled, indoctrinated Hitler Youth.

And the breathtaking, nail biting escape into Switzerland and more climbing - climbing every mountain.

It’s the perfect uplifting holiday movie. And we know all the songs and can singalong.

I especially enjoy “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” sung by 16-year-old eldest daughter Liesl. She was played by Charmian Carr, who happened to be a comely and mature 22 when the film was released.

Julie Andrews was only 30 when she took on the role of Maria the governess.

For your viewing convenience, here’s a list of the six other Von Trapp children, their ages and who played them.

Friedrich, 14 (Nicholas Hammond).

Louisa, 13 (Heather Menzies).

Kurt, 11 (Duane Chase).

Brigitta, 10 (Angela Cartwright).

Marta, 7 (Debbie Turner).

Gretl, 5 (Kym Karath).

My favorite was Cartwright. We had come to love her from her role as stepdaughter Linda in Danny Thomas’ Make Room for Daddy (1953-64).

Finally, if you find yourself nodding off before the four hours are complete, at least be grateful that you’re watching the uncut version. For many years, home viewers had to make do with a 140-minute version that was edited to fit into a three-hour format. The missing half hour made the film choppy and was totally unsatisfactory for purists.

So settle back tonight and enjoy.

To warm up, everybody sing: “Do, a deer, a female deer ...”

More Maria: Hoping to tap into the film’s warm and fuzzy feelings, NBC has cast Season 4 American Idol winner and country singer Carrie Underwood as Maria in a planned live broadcast of the Broadway version of Sound of Music.

Will it fly? I think so, if the network casts other American Idol winners and runners-up in supporting roles.

How about Kelly Clarkson as the Reverend Mother Abbess? Maybe Scotty McCreery or Kris Allen as Rolfe, the messenger who loved Liesl until he drank the Nazi Kool-Aid?

I can see Adam Lambert as Max Detweiler, the impresario in charge of the Salzburg Music Festival. And, of course, Taylor Hicks as Herr Zeller,the evil Nazi henchman who had it in for Capt. Von Trapp.

The NBC musical will air sometime during the 2013 holiday season. That’s plenty of time for Allen to be fitted for lederhosen.

Something new: Joining the scripted series bandwagon, Discovery Channel has ordered up its first miniseries. Production begins in March for Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike.

The series will follow six strangers in the 1890s as they hunt for gold in Alaska. No word yet on who will star in the thing.

Flay everywhere: Mark your calendars. Super chef Bobby Flay will be in two places in January - Food Network and the Cooking Channel.

Brunch @ Bobby’s begins Season 3 at 8:30 p.m. Jan. 3 on Cooking Channel, followed by the premiere of five-episode series Bobby’s Dinner Battle at 9 p.m. Jan. 16 on Food Network.

Flay has picked three teams from each of five cities to compete against one another for the glory of the title of City’s Best.

Each team has a limited budget and three hours to turn a secret theme into a spectacular three-course dinner party for Bobby, their competitors and special guests.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail: mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style, Pages 50 on 12/23/2012

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