RENT -- coming to NBC
 

Not sure if this falls under the category of "oh that's cool" or "oh my God"...

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that NBC is in discussions to bring RENT, the Tony Award-winning musical, to television sometime next year.

They want to air it as a special a la ABC's "The Music Man" but at the moment they are hung up in legal wranglings. So we'll see...

I'd love for them to bring back the original Broadway cast (they've already got Jesse L. Martin), but they'll probably cast Rick Schroeder as Mark and Justin Timberlake as Roger...

My 2nd favorite Broadway musical, I'd love to have a stage performance on dvd.

Im with you, wanting a DVD of the original cast on stage. If they can put Cats out in two (2) versions why not RENT.

And if its on TV, please for the love of everything holy please have Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs together in it. Hell that should be easy since they are married now. Oh and while Im at it, do not put Neil Patrick Harris, or the guy from BSB or Nsync, (dont recall which band) in it.

Neil Patrick wasn't too bad on the Frogs cd...

I think that Rent with the original cast ought to be released on dvd. However, a tv version would be pretty good.

I love this show and have seen it many, many times on stage. I'm glad people are starting to rediscover an appreciation for musicals, but I would just rather see a sharp, professional recording of stage versions. Some shows are just fine the way they are.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Films owned the film rights to this property. Perhaps that is part of the "legal wranglings". Personally, I'd like to see Rob Marshall take a stab and making this a movie a la Chicago. Taye Diggs could be working with him again as Benny? :)

This could be very good news indeed
better than Timberlake, Fatone did a very good job as Mark on broadway, I wouldn't mind seeing him play the part on TV

Re: RENT -- coming to NBC
 

Put me in the "oh my God" category.

There's no way they could do justice to this material on network tv. After sanitizing it to make it "safe" for the masses, you'd be left with nothing more than a 2-hour rendition of "Seasons of Love."

And, btw, Neil Patrick Harris was damn good in one of the productions I saw.

Re: Re: RENT -- coming to NBC
 

I agree. But I'd still like to see it! :)

Re: Re: RENT -- coming to NBC
 

Buts its DOOGIE. Come on, he saved the universe in Starship Troopers and then he has to go and do RENT. No No No, its like Punky Brewester signing up to do an episode of The Shield as a crack addict prostitute, somethings just wont work.

Put me in the "oh my god" category.

One: this material will get butchered as a lot of it deals with stuff not really fit for network.

Two: they will totally ignore the talented members of the cast and put in pop stars, and second rate, one more bomb album away from being has been ones at that. We'll probably get Sisqo, a Backstreet Boy, and Jessica Simpson, who will spend most of her time running around in a skin tight outfit showing off her cleavage and behind.

i'm not sure if i'd enjoy this but if they ever make a DVD with the original cast i'd be all over that. i've seen Rent 3 times and it is by far my favorite musical.

p.s. i've seen doogie howser as Mark for one of my shows and he was surprisingly good!

A video of the broadway performance would be nice.

What needs to be done is a THEATRICALLY RELEASED MOVIE, not a made for TV movie. With the success of Chicago they should do this. I heard rumors Spike Lee was going to do it.

TV version is :down:

Oh and doogie was great when I saw him in LA

Re: Re: Re: RENT -- coming to NBC
 

Dude... that was the best episode! And then they had Dabney Coleman as the jive-talkin' pimp daddy. It was righteous!

saw the musical awhile back - so I can't recall if this would be an issue or not, but wouldn't the television version of this musical get 'sanitize' for the masses.

Any updates on this or other versions

From what I understand, anything regarding a movie version of Rent is just hearsay.

See here for more: www.compulsivebowlers.com

To those who have seen 'em, who did Doogie and Fatone play in the cast?

Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser) played Mark.
Joey Fatone played Roger.

From what I've heard, Doogie wasn't half-bad.

Like Harris, Fatone actually played Mark. I didn't get to see him, but a friend of mine did and he didn't have too many positive things to say. NPH is great in the concert version of Sweeney Todd, though. The guy's got presence and a huge range.

But give us Anthony Rapp!!! He's had plenty of screen credits (he had a pretty decent part in A Beautiful Mind), and for gosh sakes...he's awesome. And Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs would be great, especially with all of the press they're getting for Wicked.

What I'd really like, though, is a taped version of the Broadway show. I'm not a huge Rent-head, but a two-hour TV movie can't do -any- musical justice. I just can't imagine the way they'd film it...well, in any case, I just hope they cast it right.