The charity drive has raised more than $1 billion over the past three decades in the U.K., and a slew of celebrities in the U.S. joined forces hoping to garner the same success as they raised funds for 12 charity organisations fighting poverty in the U.S., Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The highlight of the first-ever telecast was a video narrated by Liam Neeson, who provided backstory in a mockumentary style sketch starring the Yellow hitmakers.

Frontman Chris Martin revealed their new rock opera project is "the best idea we've ever had", but he had some trouble convincing the cast members that it was truly a brilliant plan.

Luckily, Kit Harington came to the rescue, and with his support, members of the past and present cast soon followed. Harington kicked off the showcase by singing a parody of The Troggs' Wild Thing, changing the lyrics to: "Wildling/you pull your bow string - shoot me", singing to actress Rose Leslie, who plays wildling woman Ygritte.

Other song highlights from the musical include Emilia Clarke singing Rastafarian Targaryen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau playing piano on a track called Closer to Home, and Peter Dinklage rocking out to A Man For All Seasons (Still Goin' Strong), a nod to how he's managed to avoid death on the fantasy series.

In the end, despite Martin's optimism, he lacked the approval of Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin and ultimately had to scrap plans for the musical.

In an earlier sketch, U.S. talk show host Seth Meyers noted that the telethon was an "American show" now, and insisted he "didn't want any of the Brits doing anything in front of the camera, mostly because they're famously terrible actors".

A montage showed famous U.K. stars working backstage, with Orlando Bloom running the sound board, Eddie Redmayne wishing pals good luck backstage, Benedict Cumberbatch marking up cue cards, Dame Helen Mirren making tea, and Robert Pattinson as a valet who managed to crash a car as he parked it. In addition, Ed Sheeran teamed up with Kermit the Frog to sing the Muppets classic Rainbow Connection.