Hairspray Live! college sophomore Maddie Baillio, as her first professional role. In November 2016, it was announced that Ricki Lake and Marissa Jaret Winokur (who portrayed Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film and the Broadway version respectively) would make cameo appearances; Winokur and Lake appeared as employees of Mr. Pinky's boutique. Darren Criss served as an on-air host, hosting a half-hour "Countdown to Hairspray Live!" show on NBC with Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes, as well as behind-the-scenes reports throughout the live broadcast. Oreo, Reddi-wip, and Toyota broadcast live, themed commercials during "Hairspray Live!"; Oreo's ad featured the character of Corny Collins,
The Ricki Lake Show program. On May 23, 2011, a U.S. federal trademark registration number 85328080 was filed by 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, giving a description for the new show with the title as "The Ricki Lake Show". The request for the title was approved, with Lake herself just required to sign off. In June 2011, a logo banner for "The Ricki Lake Show" appeared on the websites for trade magazines such as "TelevisionWeek" and "Broadcasting & Cable". In August 2011, an ad for the new show appeared on its YouTube channel. In November 2011, "The Ricki Lake Show" was sold to stations