2012 Olympics: American audiences get to see London opening ceremony

Chris Hoy of the Great Britain Olympic cycling team carries his country's flag during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012, in London. / Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

(CBS/AP) The London Olympics is officially under way after a nearly four- hour opening ceremony complete with James Bond, the Beatles and the queen. But Americans are just now getting to watch the spectacle.

NBC is taking heat for not streaming the Olympics opening ceremony online, and instead holding it for the network's delayed telecast Friday.

The $42 million show, orchestrated by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, used trickery to make it seem that Britain's beloved 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth II had parachuted into the stadium with the nation's most famous spy.

A short film showed 007 driving up to Buckingham Palace in a black London cab and, pursued by her majesty's royal dogs - Monty, Willow and Holly, playing themselves - meeting the queen, who played herself.

"Good evening, Mr. Bond," she said.

They were shown flying in a helicopter over London landmarks and a waving statue of Winston Churchill - the queen in a salmon-colored gown, Bond dashing as ever in a black tuxedo - to the stadium and then leaping out into the inky night.

At the same moment, real skydivers appeared in the skies over the stadium throbbing to the James Bond soundtrack. And moments after that, the monarch appeared in person, accompanied by her husband Prince Philip.

Organizers said it was thought to be the first time the monarch has acted on film.

"The queen made herself more accessible than ever before," Boyle said.

In the stadium, Elizabeth stood solemnly while a children's choir serenaded her with "God Save the Queen," and members of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force raised the Union Jack.

Boyle sprang a giant surprise and picked seven teenage athletes for the supreme honor of igniting the Olympic cauldron. Together, they touched flaming torches to trumpet-like tubes that spread into a ring of fire.

The flames rose skyward and joined elegantly together to form the cauldron. Fireworks erupted over the stadium to music from Pink Floyd. With a singalong of "Hey Jude," Beatle Paul McCartney closed a show that ran 45 minutes beyond its scheduled three hours.

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London Olympic Games: Opening Ceremony

[John_Swift]

It could have been a good show, except for the fact that the commentators felt the need to offer us the most idiotic observations, constantly talking-over nearly every performance as if it were a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Not surprisingly, they also cut out significant portions of the program to make room for more commercials, as well as airing a horribly bland interview with Michael Phelps in lieu of a musical number that made for a touching tribute to the victims of the 7/7 bombing victims. In short, American audiences got screwed by NBC.

[britishhere]

Well I'm not really surprised by the above comments. It seems there's a lot of anit-British sentiment in the US. Not sure why, jealousy perhaps? Or a lack of knowledge and understanding?

Could the opening ceremony of been better? Like anything, there's always room for improvement but generally I, the general British public and the majority of the International press, excluding the US, thought it was pretty darn good.

Of course it was done in a typically British way, a way that impressed our nation, and a bit tounge in cheek with a splash of our unique humour. What other countries thought of it, well we hoped they would like it, but of course that's second to our own opinion.

I could start bashing the US, the US commenters here could start bashing Britain, god knows they've already started, but its all been done before. Dragging up past events, picking out silly points and generally poking fun at each other. A bit pointless really.

What's very evident, is that the US doesn't really understand the British Nation - and that not knowing, agitates you.

The USA is a great nation, second of course to our own, but still great. However, put simply, you'll never, ever understand the British, so don't even try. you'll only upset your little selves trying.

[Graham-Cracker]

I like British humor, British literature, British history and British pop culture. But this was the worst thing I've seen in an opening ceremony since synchronized pickup truck driving in Atlanta. And Atlanta had that bit with the classical Greek athletes silhouetted behind that giant scrim to redeem it. Nothing can redeem this spectacle. It was like an amateurish school history play interspersed with awkward pop culture references. And it was depressing. But even worse, it was small. No grandeur, no passion, nothing to uplift (at least, after the kid's choirs from each country was finished). This from the great city of London??!! From England, from the United Kingdom??!! From the Olympics??!! Embarrassing.

[krit_chong_wei]

britishers think they r the best

[3dfocus]

Really not true. The British are very self depreciating. Most people here said the Opening Ceremony would be awful and I, myself, was dreading it but thought the first half was excellent. The scene with rings was incredible and the musical score for that scene was so stirring. It was produced on a fraction of the budget of the stunning Beijing show. With the money, sure - we could have put in even more lasers, more vfx but we are living in frugal times. And that was the point - it was about expressing humanity - not how 'spectacular' we can make it. I am not patriotic at all but thought last night was genuinely original and no money can buy that. Let's appreciate all the hard work that went into this. It's horrible reading such negative comments - it just looks bad on the people making them, and most of the world had very good reviews.

[krit_chong_wei]

the opening ceremony was crap totally crap britishers suk

[mylilelar]

So bad I switched to the History Channel.
After being on a few boards tonight.....I can safely say about 90% of the viewers believe this is the worst opening ceremony EVER.
I still picture in my mind the Chinese man running along the inside of the Bird's Nest 200 feet off the ground.The Brits attempt of a mix of West Side Story and Blazing Saddles came off terribly.
Bring on the steroids!

[dianajune1962]

I wasn't surprised that NBC decided against live-streaming the opening ceremony. It's all about money. Not only that, but they added way too many commercials. I'd be interested to know how much time was spent on commercials vs the actual ceremony itself.

The parade of athletes was especially frustrating to watch. It seemed as though the network went to yet another commercial break almost every other country. Gmab.

I hope that the 2016 Olympics will be broadcast by another network. I'm tired of Nothing But Crap television. NBC can't even be objective and tried its best to bring politics to the Olympics by making hay with respect to Gov. Romney's comments about how Britain was prepared for this event.

Yawnn.....I would have been more entertained by watching my grass grow.

[3dfocus]

The majority has said it was excellent. 90% - the global press have been very positive. What boards are looking at? (global that is)

[mylilelar]

So bad I switched to the History Channel.
After being on a few boards tonight.....I can safely say about 90% of the viewers believe this is the worst opening ceremony EVER.
I still picture in my mind the Chinese man running along the inside of the Bird's Nest 200 feet off the ground.The Brits attempt of a mix of West Side Story and Blazing Saddles came off terribly.
Bring on the steroids!

[krit_chong_wei]

totally right

[SirMOB]

I think it's disgusting that the No Bloody Clue network still hasn't figured out how to handle the Olympic events. This should have been broadcast live across the nation. The rest of the world got to see it live, but no, No Bloody Clue has to edit it and add about 1.5 hours of commercials.