NBC is keeping up with its now annual holiday tradition of live musical theater with The Wiz Live! The special, an adaptation of the 1975 Broadway musical, which later became a movie starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, puts an urban spin on The Wizard of Oz. This event airs live Thursday, December 3rd at 8:00pm ET on NBC, and stars Queen Latifah as The Wiz, and David Alan Grier as The Cowardly Lion.

Check out the sneak peek and preview videos below.

It appears that the creepy world of The Wizard of Oz that everyone wanted to see from Spawn creator Todd McFarlane may not be coming our way any time soon. A scoop from Pajiba points to Warner Brothers passing by McFarlane and moving forward with a take that was once thought to be disliked by those involved.

Back in October was the last time that we heard from McFarlane about the progress of his film, and things seemed to be moving forward (Read: Todd McFarlane Talks The Status Of His Twisted “˜Wizard Of Oz’; Shares Story Details). He claimed that he was developing the film with A History of Violence scribe Josh Olson, whose first script was too light and “too Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” for his darker vision, and that rewrites were happening. The interesting thing about that situation, is that it sounded like McFarlane had sold Warner Brothers on his idea, and that he was perfectly okay with the fact that he would have to sacrifice some of his extreme ideas, saying “I just found it odd that they bought that cool, creepy pitch and now they’re taking a step back.” This quote is now even more interesting with the revelation that Warner Brothers is now leaning MORE toward Olson’s script, and running away from the darker idea all together.

Click on over to read a brief description of the Oz that we just might be seeing in the near future.

In memory of Michael Jackson, CityWalk at Universal Studios Hollywood will be transformed into Universal Moonwalk, a massive outdoor celebration of the performer and his legendary career, on July 9, starting at 7PM.

The free event will include screenings of Jackson’s Thriller music video/short movie and his The Wizard of Oz remake, The Wiz. Along with the screenings, a special live dance retrospective will be performed. This dance retrospective will showcase the many years and styles of Michael Jackson’s musical offerings and dancing styles.

As we all know, Michael Jackson died last month after suffering cardiac arrest at the age of 50 after years of incredible stress and unfathomable amounts of medications were just far too much for his body to handle anymore.