Very disappointed :(

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Not That Great. I was expecting more and this production felt rushed and felt extremely flat. Casting was horrible and the entire production looked cheap. In an attempt to be hip The Wiz Live lacked heart. It was not good on any level at all. It doesn't have any identity from the Wizard of OZ which. The Wiz Live will be enjoyed by 3 to 12yo for sure. There are better productions. Singing was off pitch, dancing looked clumsy, costumes looked scary, acting was horrible, sets were cheap and tacky. It was a nice attempt but NBC really missed the mark with this production. The Wiz with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson will always be the best adaptation of THE WIZ. Just skip The Wiz Live and just watch THE WIZ with Diana Ross. Its much more enjoyable and urban. It sets itself apart from Wizard of OZ copy cat versions.

I know the story from the 1939 movie--my favorite of all time--and a beautifully illustrated book. I have never seen a version of this story, where the cast is black and Dorothy is trying to return to Omaha, not Kansas. Or was she? I don't know what was invented for this production, and I didn't see the "Making Of" special until afterward. All I know is the crows were in the Scarecrow's big number. I do know some of the language used here could not have been in any of the 1970s versions, since those words didn't have those meanings way back then.The first two live NBC productions had their problems. Until I read or heard other opinions, I didn't think anything was wrong with Carrie two years ago, except the other cast members were more talented than she was. Last year, there was one truly dismal performance and one uneven performance among the leads. This year, NBC had no weak links and, for the first time, the lead actress was fantastic. And she was a newcomer!Elijah Kelley is quite a dancer. Could Michael Jackson have done quite as well way back then? Perhaps. I've never seen him in the role. I do know Jackson had that kind of talent in the 80s.In the "Making Of" special, Ne-Yo is said to have delivered his lines with heart. That's certainly true.Bad Principal to Bad Teacher had a Bad Series, in the eyes of most viewers, but I liked his show. But because others didn't agree with me, he was available to be a great Lion.Common is anything but common. The Bouncer of Emerald City stands out and becomes a truly memorable character.The original Dorothy is now Auntie Em, and very good too. Quite stern but loving, as she has to be. I'm not clear on whether Stephanie Mills played her sister, who tempted Dorothy in Oz, or who made Dorothy see her. This was something new to either this specific production or to the black version. Anyway, Mills is good in both roles if that is her.When I saw the Good Witch, I saw a great if quirky character and did not see Mercedes from "Glee". In the "Making Of" special I immediately recognized her.The Wiz is great too, in different ways. I've never seen a version where the group saw the actual person before that one scene, but what they did see at first was a flamboyant, confident and demanding ruler. Queen Latifah is great there and, of course, later. If you don't know the story, I won't give it away, but the later scenes are quite effective.The Wicked Witch has a less prominent role here than in the 1939 movie. Mary J. Blige is deliciously evil and even more so than her ABC counterpart, but not quite on the level of Margaret Hamilton or ABC's most evil witch of all.And then there is a fourth witch, another good witch. She is kind and less off-the-wall than the other one. Not in the 1939 movie, but presented in a different way in the book. I'm not sure what the purpose was in having the farm hands, since they weren't in the original book and no mention is made of Dorothy thinking they were familiar either in Oz or later. I was wondering how they could get out of makeup to do the finale from the 1939 movie, but that's not what happened. Anyway, there is no Uncle Henry, so running a farm on her would have been quite a challenge for Em and Dorothy alone. The farm hands add something at the beginning. I mentioned no weak links. As in the 1939 movie, everyone who has a line delivers it well, whether it is one line or many. Lots of other quirky characters add something. Several Munchkins and a couple of employees of the Wicked Witch are included. And the crows are very "Street".The music is great even if it isn't entirely my taste, but I couldn't help but like the Scarecrow's number, which isn't quite disco but is the style that became disco back in the 70s. Some of the music is good to me, and some is good only to those who have that particular taste in music, which I don't. And the dancers are very talented. Once again, not necessarily what I would like, but it is a fantastic production. Visual effects are pretty spectacular as well. I learned a lot more when I saw the "Making Of" special, but so much of what goes on in the background is so real. I only saw one wire supporting a character who was up in the air.Family friendly? A little less so than the 1939 movie, in which some the flying monkeys scared some kids. This one is not quite as scary, but does have three curse words, one for each hour, and one particularly bad one.The best yet? Maybe. NBC should keep doing this.

Apparently, there are thousands of people out there who never saw or knew about "The Wiz"? How dare they make a black version of the Wizard of Oz? Well,it's only been around as a play and movie since 1975! What a major improvement over the scary and depressing movie! I love the fact that the Good Witch of the North is "low on batteries" and her glitzy fireworks fizzle! Not as long as the 2 previous "live" NBC shows. Just under 2 hours without 54 min. of commercials. For all ages, and, well, just for everyone. It's presented as a live Broadway play and needed a live audience! The staging reminds me of "Wicked", and I am comparing it to "Wicked" in a very positive way! The use of "Cirque Du Soleil" talent is genius, but the battle scenes seem small and are not that impressive. The opening tornado scene is a bit hard to understand for a very brief moment. The "grey storm people" in strange costumes represent the tornado, as they are spinning around and around like a "whirling dervish". They should have been more "airborne"! The video-photographer takes a few scenes to find his "composition". Dorothy scowls a bit due to her face not being fashion model-perfect. She is just a "plain girl" from the farm. Then she sings! She totally "owns""Home" and it is sung in both acts. It's a song requiring both range and power. Great choreography and dancing. The dancing poppies are very slinky-sexy and steal the show! The laser-generated backdrops are most effective. A simplified "Oz" story with 1970's "jive" talking. The Wicked Witch's coal factory replaces the dreadful "ghetto sweat-shop" from the movie. The "Oz-Man" mechanical head sure reminds me of "Wicked"! The stage pyrotechnics are effective! The best thing I have seen on broadcast TV this year! The only people that won't like this are people who don't like musical plays. Many of the songs flow into each other. Songs that were "minor" in the movie get full-treatment here! It will be on Broadway again! Yes, there are a few chorus and "Cirque" people who are white, Asian, etc. Why not? Far superior on the DVD without an hour of Walmart commercials! Includes the "Making of The Wiz" as a bonus.

I enjoyed the original Wiz movie....but this play was a complete and utter mess....the play felt rushed in many scenes, and the transitioning from one song to another was terrible. I think that they put so much work into the costumes, that they forgot to work on the script.****SPOILER***** Speaking of costumes...it's pretty obvious that the crows in the scarecrow encounter scene had a obvious wardrobe malfunction during the last minutes to curtain call....crows are supposed to have BEAKS! The crows in the Wiz LIVE look like human crow hybrids....I was hoping for a complete production when I watched this remake....but I was sadly disappointed and let down.