Closing Ceremony cuts spark outrage

Viewers were left wondering what happened after NBC cut some iconic British performances out of the Olympics Closing Ceremony on Sunday.

Fans looking forward to hearing the Who, Muse, and Ray Davies of the Kinks instead got a commercial-free airing of the new NBC comedy "Animal Practice."

Cue the outrage. At the handle #NBCfail, complaints rolled in. Wrote @ninatypewriter, "I think NBC has managed to become even less popular than Congress."

Or as @BookSavvy put it, "'Gee, I can't wait for the #ClosingCeremonies to be over so I can watch Animal Practice' - No One Ever."

The network did air the Who after "Animal Practice" and the local news, around midnight. But that didn't seem to satisfy some fans who couldn't believe the snubbing of Muse, whose contribution was particularly important to the 2012 Summer Olympics.

As @alexheberling posted, "Did they not know that Muse did the OFFICIAL SONG OF THE LONDON 2012 GAMES? UGH.

[ Related: Spice Girls stand out at Closing Ceremonies ]

Others were annoyed that the Who's performance aired so late on a Sunday night as a tape delay, when the network failed to air the event live on a Sunday afternoon. Mia Farrow (yes, that Mia Farrow) tweeted, "Hey @nbc it's SUNDAY! Many of us would LOVE to be watching Olympic closing ceremonies right now."

NBC's Twitter feed appeared to warn viewers that the ceremony was about to come to an end before the actual end.

@Nbcolympics tweeted, "And that's a wrap! Thanks for enjoying the 2012 #Olympics with us! RT if you CAN'T WAIT for #Sochi2014!" Another post added, "And stay tuned for #TheWho after @AnimalPractice :)"

The network sparked venomous Twitter feedback over the two weeks of the Olympics for its tape-delay coverage of the sporting events and its allowing only NBC cable subscribers to view the Games' live-stream on the Web.

Despite the complaints about the defects of the Closing Ceremony, the ratings were through the roof. NBC reported that 21.8 million viewers tuned in. The London Games also had a record number of viewers, on average 31.1 million in prime time, making it the most watched non-U.S. Summer Olympics since Montreal in 1976, according to Forbes.

A request to NBC for a comment on the coverage has not yet been returned.

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