History YMMV / Hairspray

* MoralEventHorizon: Crossed by Prudy in every incarnation, and always with the "permanently punished" scene. The original film [[PlayedForLaughs has her impose a]] CoolAndUnusualPunishment on Penny (force her to wear a giant letter P on her blouse every day), and the stage musical has her [[TookALevelInKindness change her attitude in the end]], but the 2007 film [[PlayedForDrama makes her much worse]].

* NightmareFuel: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JSmox9yk6s Blood on the Pavement]]," a hidden track from the original cast recording about the dangers of drunk driving with ''major'' LyricalDissonance. It comes out of nowhere and is a lot closer to Creator/JohnWaters' [[GallowsHumor usual sense of humor]] than the rest of the musical.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The 2007 movie is far more popular than the original.

* ValuesResonance: Publicity for NBC's version emphasizes how the themes of overcoming racial prejudice feel as relevant to 2016 as to 1962, especially with the US divided over Creator/DonaldTrump becoming President-Elect.[[note]]This might become HarsherInHindsight after ''Hairspray'' scored the lowest Nielsen ratings of any of the network's New Tens musicals.[[/note]]

** "Good Morning, Baltimore" in the 2016 show. It's pretty darn awkward to have a song celebrating the morning when it's clearly night.

* FoeYay: A deleted number before the finale in the musical, "It Ain't Over 'Til The Fat Lady Sings", is Tracy singing a challenging song toward Amber whose lyrics not only get increasingly absurd as it goes on, but several of them begin sounding like double-entrades and terms of endearment ("Good luck, baby", "It's been great fun but it was just one of those things", "I'll put you in a trance and dance you right off-stage", etc.)

* InformedAbility: As a character, Tracy's dancing wows everyone who sees her. In practice, her talent varies depending on the skills of the actress portraying her: in some adaptations she's at least as good as the rest of the cast, in others she's noticeably less so. It's an understandable variance, all things considered. (For similar reasons, Amber's said to be [[InformedFlaw a less-than-competent dancer]] but her actress is usually equal to anyone else in most scenes; she only makes obvious mistakes when we're ''supposed'' to remember she's a bad dancer.)

* InformedAbility: As a character, Tracy's dancing wows everyone who sees her. In practice, her talent varies depending on the skills of actress portraying her: in some adaptations she's at least as good as the rest of the cast, in others she's noticeably less so. It's an understandable variance, all things considered. (For similar reasons, Amber's said to be [[InformedFlaw a less-than-competent dancer]] but her actress is usually equal to anyone else in most scenes; she only makes obvious mistakes when we're ''supposed'' to remember she's a bad dancer.)

* DracoInLeatherPants: Amber (in the 2007 movie, at least) can come off as this. While the way her mother treats her and the HumiliationConga that she went through while participating in the pageant makes her come off as a JerkassWoobie, but Amber is still a {{jerkass}} and has done her fair share of {{jerkass}} deeds with or without her mother's influence (acting rude to the other dancers she works with for the Corny Collins show, gossiping about Tracy to her other classmates due to her jealousy over Tracy being a good dancer, intentionally gets Tracy sent to detention by her teacher, and her and her mother even fat-shaming Tracy's overweight mother).

* ToughActToFollow: Critical reception and ratings for NBC's version took a dive from their production of ''Theatre/TheWiz'' the previous December, and FOX's ''Film/{{Grease}}'' in between. Fans of the 2007 ''Hairspray'' movie also couldn't resist unfavorably comparing NBC's actors to its cast.

* NightmareFuel: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JSmox9yk6s Blood on the Pavement]]" provides a creepy ending to the Original Broadway Cast Recording, especially for listeners who assume the album would end with "You Can't Stop the Beat".

* HarsherInHindsight: In the original film, Amber's parents try to bomb the climactic concert. Just five months after Ariana Grande played Penny in the 2016 live show, a terrorist attack killed 19 people and injured dozens more at one of her concerts.

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/DarrenCriss' fans wondered why NBC would only make him the host of their ''Hairspray'' telecast, instead of actually put him in the show, especially to replace an actor they found lacking in charisma. (Then you have viewers who wish NBC didn't have anyone host the broadcast, since Criss' segments broke up the flow, and disappeared from the master used for barebones DVD release and the "encore" presentation.) The official explanation says that Criss' starring role in a touring production of ''Theatre/HedwigAndTheAngryInch'' would've created scheduling conflicts with ''Hairspray'' rehearsals.

* SpecialEffectFailure: Many commenters on the NBC live show complained that the singing was pitched too low in the sound mix and hard to make out, even seeming to occasionally cut out completely. Fortunately, NBC managed to either reduce or fix these issues in the West Coast feed and DVD, but there are some that still got through even after the improvements.

* DawsonCasting: Although Tracy is a teen, they never state how old she is or what High School level is she in. Maddie Baillio is 20 when she got the role for ''Hairspray Live!'', but it fits the trope. The 2007 movie's Nikki Blonsky somewhat fits it too as she turned 18 in the middle of filming the movie, as she was 17 when she got the part.

* DawsonCasting: Although Tracy is a teen, they never stage how old she is. Maddie Baillio is 20 when she got the role for ''Hairspray Live!'', but it fits the trope. The 2007 movie's Nikki Blonsky somewhat fits it too as she turned 18 in the middle of filming the movie.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: In the original, when running from the police Tracy, Penny, Link and Seaweed run into a couple of beatnicks who invite them to get naked and smoke weed, and offer to iron the girls' hair. Our clean cut heroes naturally are freaked out and run away. However, Tracy and Penny using a ''clothing'' iron to straighten their hair becomes a RunningGag later on in the movie.

* LoveToHate: The Von Tussles in the musical, particularly Velma since Amber's [[ButtMonkey so awkward]] that it's difficult to hate her. The songwriters said they actually removed more mean-spirited lyrics at Tracy's expense in early drafts of "Miss Baltimore Crabs" since they wanted the audience to enjoy Velma as opposed to just despising her.

* SpecialEffectFailure: Many commenters on the NBC live show complained that the singing was pitched too low in the sound mix and hard to make out, even seeming to occasionally cut out completely. Fortunately, NBC managed to either reduce or fix these issues in the West Coast feed and DVD.

** Even though it's a deleted scene, "I Can't Wait" from the 2007 movie has to be one sad song, as this song is the opposite of what Tracy's beliefs are. Nikki Blonsky's vocals for this scene doesn't help.
** NBC took "I Know Where I've Been" UpToEleven when Jennifer Hudson's powerful performance made the other actors cry.

* ValuesDissonance: Parodied. When Tracy and Edna are on their way to the clothing store, they pass a bar where a group of visibly pregnant women are smoking and making a toast "to the future."

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/DarrenCriss' fans wondered why NBC would only make him the host of their ''Hairspray'' telecast, instead of actually put him in the show, especially to replace an actor they found lacking in charisma. (Then you have viewers who wish NBC didn't have anyone host the broadcast, since Criss' segments broke up the flow, and disappeared from the master used for DVD and the "encore" presentation.) The official explanation says that Criss' starring role in a touring production of ''Theatre/HedwigAndTheAngryInch'' would've created scheduling conflicts with ''Hairspray'' rehearsals.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Divine's line "Did poor Debbie Reynolds have a nervous breakdown?" becomes rather eerie and sad in light of Creator/DebbieReynold's tragic death of a stroke, which happened just a day after the death of her daughter Creator/CarrieFisher.

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/DarrenCriss' fans wondered why NBC would only make him the host of their ''Hairspray'' telecast, instead of actually put him in the show (especially to replace an actor they found lacking in charisma). The official explanation says that his starring role in a touring production of ''Theatre/HedwigAndTheAngryInch'' would've created scheduling conflicts with ''Hairspray'' rehearsals.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: The milkman in NBC's version earned some fans after he turned up in this charming [[TheOner Oner]] of [[https://www.facebook.com/HairsprayLive/videos/668242646682635/ a Reddi-Wip commercial]].

* JerkassWoobie: Amber in some points, particularly in the 1988 film where the girl is practically tortured by her parents, and at the end of the 2007 movi.

* HollywoodHomely: The driving point of the movie, considering that Tracy is still a very attractive young woman who just so happens to be fat (her weight seems to be treated "as is" by everyone but the villains; this has been lauded by a number of people, stating that Hairspray has one of the most positive depictions of fat girls in any form of media).
* HollywoodPudgy: {{Averted}}, especially in the 2007 version. Nikki Blonsky, while extremely pretty and adorable, is also obviously overweight.
** According to the casting director of the 2007 version, they strongly emphasized that they were looking for a girl that was fat and beautiful, they made sure to let it be known that they were not hiring any girl that was "just chubby" or slim.
* JerkassWoobie: Amber in some points, particularly at the end of the 2007 movie.
** In the 1988 film, the girl is practically tortured by her parents.

* SpecialEffectFailure: Many commenters on the NBC live show complained that the singing was pitched too low in the sound mix and hard to make out, even seeming to occasionally cut out completely. Fortunately, NBC managed to either reduce or fix these issues in the West Coast feed.

* {{Narm}}: In the original film adaptation, Tracy shows up to the dance competition ''in a dress with pictures of roaches on it.''