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People: ‘Girls’ star Williams will fly as Peter Pan

Actresses Allison Williams, left, and Zosia Mamet attend the Museum of the Moving Image Annual Honors Benefit on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in New York. (Andy Kropa / Invision)
Actresses Allison Williams, left, and Zosia Mamet attend the Museum of the Moving Image Annual Honors Benefit on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, in New York. (Andy Kropa / Invision)
From Wire Reports

NBC has picked its Peter Pan: “Girls” star Allison Williams.

The network announced Wednesday that Williams will play the boy who refused to grow up in NBC’s new staging of “Peter Pan Live!” The live telecast of this classic musical will air Dec. 4.

The 26-year-old actress-comedian plays Marnie Michaels on HBO’s comedy “Girls,” for which she has recorded several songs. She is the daughter of NBC News anchor Brian Williams and has also appeared on “The Mindy Project” and “The League.”

NBC recently announced that Christopher Walken will play Captain Hook.

“Peter Pan Live!” is a follow-up to NBC’s successful live version of “The Sound of Music” last year. Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, who produced “The Sound of Music,” are returning for “Peter Pan Live!”

Big delay on ‘Big Bang’

Production on a new season of “The Big Bang Theory” is being delayed because of a contract dispute with its top actors.

The Warner Brothers Television studio, which makes television’s most popular comedy, said that Wednesday’s scheduled first day of work after the summer hiatus was postponed. There’s no word on when “The Big Bang Theory” team will be back at work.

The CBS series is heading into its eighth season, and the studio is trying to hammer out new deals with actors Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar.

Contract disputes aren’t unusual at popular, long-running TV series, and CBS Entertainment Chairman Nina Tassler seemed to take it in stride when asked about the negotiations two weeks ago.

“I just love being able to answer these questions year after year, primarily because we have successful shows,” she said.

It’s considered far too early for such a dispute to affect the timing of a show’s season premiere. “The Big Bang Theory” opens its new season on Sept. 22. The show is moving temporarily to Mondays for the beginning of the new season with CBS airing NFL football games on Thursdays for the first half of the season.

The birthday bunch

Actress Susan Flannery (“The Bold and the Beautiful”) is 75. Singer Lobo is 71. Singer Gary Lewis (Gary Lewis and the Playboys) is 69. Actor Michael Biehn is 58. Singer-guitarist Daniel Ash (Love and Rockets, Bauhaus) is 57. Drummer Bill Berry (R.E.M.) is 56. Actor Wesley Snipes is 52. Country singer Chad Brock is 51. Musician Fatboy Slim is 51. Guitarist Jim Corr (The Corrs) is 50. “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling is 49. Actor Dean Cain is 48. Actress Eve Best (“Nurse Jackie”) is 43. Actor Robert Telfer (“Saved by the Bell”) is 37. Country singer Zac Brown is 36. Actor B.J. Novak (“The Office”) is 35. Actor Rico Rodriguez (“Modern Family”) is 16.