| Grease: You're the One That I Want! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | BBC Worldwide David Ian |
| Presented by | Billy Bush Denise van Outen |
| Judges | Kathleen Marshall Jim Jacobs David Ian |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 11 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 42 minutes |
| Production companies | BBC Worldwide Nederlander Television & Film Productions Phoenix Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | January 7 (2007-01-07) – March 25, 2007 (2007-03-25) |
Grease: You're the One That I Want! is anNBCreality television series designed to cast the lead roles ofSandy Dumbrowski andDanny Zuko in a $10 millionBroadway revival of the1971 musicalGrease directed andchoreographed by two-timeTony Award-winnerKathleen Marshall. The Broadway production began previews at theBrooks Atkinson Theatre on July 24, 2007, and officially opened on August 19.[1]
The TV show, from the producers ofDancing With the Stars, was patterned after an original format created byAndrew Lloyd Webber for theBBC seriesHow Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, which selected the lead in the successful 2006West End revival ofThe Sound of Music. The show's title was taken from the song"You're the One That I Want" from the1978 screen adaptation ofGrease. Although the song was not part of the original Broadway production, the revival added the songs written for the film to those written for the original Broadway production.
The first episode opened with 11.59 million viewers, which put it in fourth place amongst U.S. network viewing.[2] The television program was usually last in its time slot, but it was effective at generating advance sales of US $8 Million by the finale.[3]
The show held open auditions inChicago,New York City andLos Angeles in October and November 2006.[4] The show followed the successes and failures of performers of varying quality and experience through the audition process. The show's hosts,Access Hollywood anchorBilly Bush[5] and British actress/presenterDenise van Outen,[4] encouraged and interviewed the auditioners.
The applicants were whittled down to 50, who attended "Grease Academy" for intensive training and testing, particularly in voice and dance. From these, 12 contestants were selected by the judges. The panel of three judges consisted of director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall,Grease co-writerJim Jacobs, and British producerDavid Ian. In addition, later episodes of the show featured guest judgesOlivia Newton-John,Andrew Lloyd Webber,Jon Secada, andRob Marshall, as well as guest performerFrankie Avalon. The number of contestants rose to 14 in the fourth episode when two previously eliminated contestants, Matt Nolan and Ashley Anderson, were brought back and given a second chance.
The first episode aired in a 90-minute format at 8:00 pm Eastern U.S. time on January 7, 2007. Subsequent episodes of the limited-run series were one hour long. After the judges had selected the contestants, viewer voting began at the end of the first live show, which aired on January 28. Each week, the contestants were coached on a performance skill – singing, dancing or acting. The contestants' performances were then critiqued by the judges, after which the viewers voted for their favorite performers. The two lowest vote recipients in each group from the previous week were required to compete in a "sing-off", on the next episode, where the judges chose which two should be allowed to remain in the competition, and which two would be eliminated. At the end of each episode, the eliminated Danny sang "Sandy" as his grand exit, and the eliminated Sandy sang "Goodbye to Sandra Dee" as her grand exit with the remaining contestants singing backup.
In theseason finale on March 25, 2007, judge Kathleen Marshall stated that if she would have had to choose two performers at the end of the "Grease Academy" section, she would have chosen Julianna and Derek.[6] However, by the time of the finale she was quite vocal in wanting Max and Laura as her "Danny" and "Sandy". Fortunately for her, it was announced that the program's viewing audience agreed as they had chosen contestantsLaura Osnes andMax Crumm to star, respectively, as Sandy and Danny. The runners up were, respectively,Ashley Spencer andAustin Miller. Osnes and Crumm stayed with the Broadway company till July 20, 2008. Two days later Ashley Spencer and Derek Keeling took over the roles of Sandy and Danny.[7] Allie Schulz understudied the roles of Sandy, Cha-Cha, and Patty on Broadway[8] and originated the role Rizzo in the national tour ofGrease with Eric Schneider as Danny and Emily Padgett as Sandy.Season 5American Idol winnerTaylor Hicks performed as the Teen Angel.[9] The Broadway production ended on January 4, 2009, after 31 previews and 554 performances.[10]
| Name | Color | Nickname | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laura Osnes | Yellow | Small Town Sandy | Winner |
| Ashley Spencer | Green | Ballerina Sandy | Second place |
| Allie Schulz | Pink | Baby Sandy | Third place |
| Kathleen Monteleone | Orange | Spiritual Sandy | Eliminated March 4, 2007 |
| Kate Rockwell | Light Blue | Serious Sandy | Eliminated February 25, 2007 |
| Juliana Hansen | Lavender | Rock Chick Sandy | Eliminated February 18, 2007 |
| Ashley Anderson | Hot Pink | Emotional Sandy | Eliminated February 11, 2007 |
| Name | Color | Nickname | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Crumm | Orange | Slacker Danny | Winner |
| Austin Miller | Red | Hot Danny | Second place |
| Derek Keeling | Blue | Wholesome Danny | Third place |
| Chad Doreck | Turquoise | Ambitious Danny | Eliminated March 11, 2007 |
| Kevin Greene | Green | Bellhop Danny | Eliminated February 25, 2007 |
| Jason Celaya | Purple | Boy Band Danny | Eliminated February 18, 2007 |
| Matt Nolan | Grey | Second Chance Danny | Eliminated February 11, 2007 |
The first episode was watched by 11.59 million viewers, and was unfavorably reviewed by critics. Viewership declined, and the critics' favorites were not the final winners.
East Bay Times reporter Susan Young compared the show unfavorably toAmerican Idol, noting the differences in viewership of 8 million to Idol's 40 million, as well as not "humiliating people" as the American Idol judges do.[11]The Washington Post television critic Tom Shales said, "To call this "reality television" is truly stretching the term to the outer limit of meaninglessness. To call it "good television" would be to risk being struck by lightning."[12]The New York Post television writer Austin Smith attacked the format and stock characters of the show, "...Then there’s the stereotype of the plucky fat girl – two of them in tomorrow’s show - ... Although it’s a foregone conclusion that neither will land the role of Sandy, at least the chubbettes don’t shed any tears. That’s more than I can say about some of the male contestants on this show, who blubber as if their lives had ended."[13]The New York Post theater criticMichael Riedel posted negative reviews after the second episode stating, "Working actors think it demeans their profession, while the industry’s movers and shakers say it makes the theater business look tacky and cheap."[14] After the finale, Riedel again gave a negative review, stating, "The rest of Broadway was put off by the cheesy production values, poorly staged musical numbers and cookie-cutter nobodies who auditioned to play Danny and Sandy. Crumm ... and Osnes are notable only because they were the least attractive of the lot."[15] Although Riedel did admit that the show did better numbers than the Tony Awards, the otherwise most important television show about the New York Broadway scene.[15]
By the time rehearsals were underway in July 2007, and advance sales had reached US $14.2 million, Gordon Cox ofVariety reported the TV show had achieved the goal of promoting a Broadway show.[16]
A similar show was broadcast in the United Kingdom during the first half of 2007.Grease Is the Word was broadcast onITV, with judgesDavid Ian (the producer and man behind the revival),David Gest, 1980s singerSinitta, and American dance iconBrian Friedman. Starting on 7 April 2007 the show followed a similar format to that of the American one. On 11 June 2007,Danny Bayne andSusan McFadden were named as the new Danny and Sandy, to act in the West End revival at the London'sPiccadilly Theatre from Wednesday, 8 August 2007.
A similar show was broadcast in Israel in 2008.Grease was broadcast onChannel 2, with judgesHanny Nahmias andAssaf Amdursky.
A similar format has been used as well in The Netherlands in 2022, with the showOp zoek naar Danny & Sandy (Looking for Danny & Sandy) taking 2 unknown singers and placing the winners in the 2 lead roles for the 2023 performance ofGrease in The Netherlands. Contestants included Melissa Peters, Jeffrey Zwaan, Wendela van Sprundel, Lya Luca, Dylan Meischke, Davy Reedijk, Jarno Korf, Imahni Tsolakis, Shay Lachman, Aimée de Pater, Paul Morris, Dominique de Bont, Victor Lammertijn, Magtel de Laat,Tristan van der Lingen andDanique Graanoogst. In the final, on 3 February,Tristan van der Lingen andDanique Graanoogst were announced as the winners of the series.