( CNN ) -- `` The Sound of Music Live ! '' has become the new definition of `` hate-watching . '' Anyone with a Twitter account has noticed the tidal wave of tweets about NBC 's TV event , which aired for three hours on Thursday night , but that ca n't exactly be taken as a good sign . ( You know a TV show is n't going well when live tweets from DiGiorno Pizza are considered one of the best parts . ) From the moment NBC announced its live TV version of the Broadway classic , a number of `` Sound of Music '' fans responded with a resounding `` why ? ! '' So when the network unveiled its one-take-only `` Sound of Music '' on Thursday -- starring Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer in the untouchable roles of Maria and Captain Von Trapp -- it seems viewers were primed to tear the production to shreds from its opening note . And shred it they did . Critics have commended country star Underwood for attempting live theater without acting experience , but they have n't been able to ignore the result . `` As her multiple Grammys and her legion of country music fans will attest , the quality of Underwood 's singing voice is not the problem , '' said USA Today 's TV critic Robert Bianco . `` It 's that she does n't know how to use that voice to sing in character , or what to do with her face when she 's trying . '' Even though it 's been repeated that NBC was re-creating the stage version of `` Sound of Music , '' rather than the beloved 1965 film starring Julie Andrews , the comparisons between the TV musical and the movie were inevitable . At one point , Underwood had to go on the record to tell her critics that she 's completely aware she is not Andrews . `` I would never pretend that I was , '' the `` American Idol '' champ recently told Entertainment Weekly . `` I know my place . '' Yet that place may not have been in such an iconic role . There are some things that are so revered in pop culture it 's nearly criminal to try to re-introduce them ( see : the widely reviled plan to create a sequel to `` It 's A Wonderful Life '' ) . Underwood is an undeniable talent , but the singer is now facing complaints for even attempting to portray the young nun . `` When Carrie Underwood stepped out on the ( wooded , not grassy ) hills and started singing , I wished the hills were alive with the sound of hungry mountain lions , '' said Time magazine in a review . `` Why was n't she Julie Andrews ? Is being Julie Andrews so much to ask for ? No chic pixie cut either . Heidi braids . '' The Hollywood Reporter wondered if it was `` perhaps unfair to ask so much of Underwood , to have to make Maria 's journey in three scant hours . '' And , to make matters worse , `` True Blood 's '' Moyer -- so familiar to audiences as vampire Bill that some viewers found it difficult to see the actor as anyone else -- did n't live up to expectations , either . `` Moyer is a better singer than Russell Crowe , '' said THR . `` But he 's no Hugh Jackman . Or Neil Patrick Harris . Or Taye Diggs . Or even Nathan Fillion . His attempt at conveying an emotional hollowness just reads as mildly constipated , his furrowed eyes and pursed lips doing all the work . He does n't look stoic , he just looks clenched . '' So it was n't a home run . But that 's not to say that there were n't highlights , with Audra McDonald 's spectacular performance being chief among them . Some have emerged has defenders of the show -- the first attempt at a live TV musical production in almost 50 years -- while a few more have tweeted their hope that the intense criticism of the production wo n't stop NBC or other major broadcast networks from giving live theater in primetime another try . As for Underwood , it sounds like she slept well after going off the air Thursday . `` Glory to God tonight ... I could n't be more proud , '' she tweeted . `` What a tough thing to pull off and we did it ! I am so blessed ! ! ! ''
`` The Sound of Music Live ! '' has been eviscerated on Twitter . Critics were n't in love with the live TV event either . Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer starred in the iconic roles . Underwood is `` proud '' of their performance .