The film stars Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth and features David Aaron Baker, Debra Monk, Victor Garber, and Molly Shannon.

On the day of the Fourth of July picnic, anvil salesman Charlie Cowell arrives in River City to tell Mayor Shinn about Hill's lies but Marian distracts him by kissing him, causing him to miss his train.

Notes Although Variety reported that Broderick's real life wife Sarah Jessica Parker was being considered for the role of Marian, it ultimately went to Kristin Chenoweth.

Many critics found it inferior to the original 1962 film version of the play, and Broderick's performance as Hill was generally compared unfavorably to Robert Preston's.

Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "passable entertainment" with "strong production values, excellent costumes and art direction, and a rich color palette that conjures cozy notions of small-town America in the early 20th century," but he felt it "never matches the 1962 film with its classic performance by the late Robert Preston.

It was Preston ... who galvanized The Music Man with his vibrant, masculine authority ... Broderick, by comparison, is cute, wide-eyed, a bit squishy and about as dynamic and intimidating as Winnie the Pooh.

... Meron and Zadan, who also produced the successful TV version of Annie in 1999 and the excellent Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows in 2001, have developed a winning formula for quality television movies with bigger-than-usual budgets.

"[2] Writing for The New York Times, Michele Willens noted, "In The Music Man, Ms. Chenoweth finally gets a television part worthy of her talent," and she called the dances choreographed by Kathleen Marshall "inventive.

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film in anamorphic widescreen format on Region 1 DVD on November 11, 2003.