‘Young Frankenstein’ Set as ABC’s Next Live Musical With Mel Brooks to Produce

TCA 2020: Will air this fall

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Photo: Paul Kolnik

ABC has set Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” as its next live musical, the network announced Wednesday during the Television Critics Association press tour.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the 1974 film as well as the 2007 Broadway adaptation, will produce ABC’s version, titled “Young Frankenstein Live!” It will be based on the Broadway stage version, which Brooks co-wrote with Thomas Meehan (Brooks also wrote the music) and ran from 2007-2009 in the U.S. and 2017-2018 in the U.K.

The live production, which will air in the fall, will feature music from the stage adaptation, originally composed by Brooks. An air date and cast announcement will be made at a later date.

ABC’s first foray into the live musical space came in November with “The Little Mermaid Live” — though it was only partly live — which hauled in a 2.6 rating/12 share in adults 18-49 and 8.978 million total viewers. Those numbers rank it fourth in the modern era of live-TV musicals among adults 18-49, and seventh in terms of total viewers.

The film version of “Young Frankenstein” was released in 1974, and was a parody of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” (or more accurately, a parody of the numerous 1930s-era adaptations of her work). It starred Gene Wilder (who also co-wrote the film) as a descendant of the famous mad scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein, with Peter Boyle playing the monster.

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