HOLLYWOOD — If Matthew Broderick was at all intimidated to be marching in the footsteps of "The Music Man" himself, Robert Preston, he surely didn't show it.
Broderick stars in ABC's three-hour remake of the Broadway musical, which premieres Sunday at 6 p.m. on Ch. 4. He plays Professor Harold Hill, the traveling salesman/pied piper/con-man role for which Preston won a Tony — a role Preston reprised in the 1962 film.
How do you step into the footsteps of a legend?
"Well, what I did was I tried to do and sound as much like Robert Preston as I possibly could. Then I found that it came out very different," Broderick joked. "I just tried to look at the material as new. Just start from scratch and think about the story and what happens to everybody and just go piece by piece and try to make the scenes the best that we could.
"I love Robert Preston. He is 'The Music Man.' But, on the other hand, I think it's such good material that it's worth doing again."
And that's been the mantra for executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who have updated musicals like "Gypsy," "Cinderella" and "Annie" for television — and who produced the outstanding "Judy Garland Story" miniseries as well as the current theatrical release (and multiple Oscar-nominee) "Chicago."
"We thought it was a terrific show and a terrific movie, but we also thought that there were values that were not explored, like the love story," Zadan said. "And we found that there was a darker piece here and a more emotional piece that had never been done before."
And their goal was to make this "Music Man" incarnation "less cartoony" than either its film or Broadway predecessors.
"It doesn't take the comedy away, but it makes it less of a cartoon," Zadan said. "And, therefore, the love story rises to the top and there's a much more emotional piece here."
To that end, the story revolves much more around Broderick's Harold Hill and Marian the librarian, played by the magnificently talented Kristin Chenowith.
Which is not to say that this remake is as successful as some of Zadan and Meron's other efforts. Broderick and Chenowith are certainly outstanding, but at three hours the production drags. And the addition of commercials won't help.
But, for generations of Americans who haven't seen the show on Broadway and have never seen the 41-year-old film, this is still a treat.
"That audience has never seen 'The Music Man' and will now see this production," Zadan said.
"In terms of one night of TV viewing, you'll probably reach more people than have seen the show collectively over the years," said Meron.
Which means that, after Sunday night, for millions of Americans Matthew Broderick will be "The Music Man."
WISHES DO COME TRUE: The producers of "The Music Man" say they heard that Broderick was interested in doing the show, set up a meeting with him and offered him the part. Which left Broderick somewhat perplexed.
"How did you know that I wanted to do 'The Music Man'?" he said.
"There was a rumor around that it was something you had always wanted to do," Zadan replied.
Broderick paused, then said quietly, with a gleam in his eye, "I'd like a million dollars."
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com