Social Media Jokes About Last Night's 'Little Mermaid' Musical Special Prompted An ABC Exec To Respond

Search
Home

Last night, audiences experienced (were subjected to?) the latest primetime musical special, ABC’s “The Little Mermaid Live.” However, unlike other recent entries in this genre, such as “Grease” and “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the ABC production decided to go with the mixed-media approach, relying on animated bits from the classic 1989 film combined with live-action musical numbers with a new cast including Queen Latifah, Auli’i Cravalho, John Stamos, and Shaggy, among others. Unfortunately, outside of Latifah and Cravalho, most of the production was universally jeered, leading to some interesting social media exchanges.

While much of the criticism seems to stem from the fact that the live production seemed to transition from live-action to animation and back again in jarring, less-than-ideal ways, a lot of the jokes made on social media seemed to revolve around the cast and one unfortunate puppet.

This is just a sampling of the memes and jokes created just in the short time since the musical premiered. It’s been pretty brutal, all things considered. Well, during the premiere, Robert Mills, ABC’s Senior Vice President of alternative series, specials and late-night programming, decided to go on Twitter and defend the production and respond to some of the critics, specifically those who were upset over Shaggy’s odd costume.

READ MORE: Harry Styles Turned Down A Role In Disney’s ‘Little Mermaid’ Live-Action Remake

“For those wondering, Shaggy wore crab claws in early rehearsals and it looked ridiculous,” tweeted Mills, in response to those who thought the actor/musician looked more like Michael Jackson and Eddie Murphy than a singing crab that lived under the sea. Mills went so far as to show the claws, proving that they didn’t look great.

And by the end of the show, with the production quickly becoming the night’s biggest joke, Mills retweeted a fan who enjoyed the musical. The ABC executive tweeted, “I don’t care what anyone else thinks, my man Edward Sanchez said it’s the best ever and that’s good enough for me!!”

If nothing else, this is probably a learning experience for ABC, as the prime time musical trend is likely not going anywhere anytime soon.