How NBC's "Smash" wasn't meant to last

Ouch. It makes sense though. It is too much of an insider show. Would have been better on cable.

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• I haven't see it but the ads certainly made it seem like it was about McPhee's character.

• [quote]Julia is unlikable in so many ways that you have to wonder whether that the very reason Messing--a good comic actress who radiates likability--is in the part in a futile attempt to change this leopard's spots. Radiates likability??? Holy fuck.

  tear-laden blind orphan in Darfur.

• I thought last night's episode was the best so far.

• I thought last night's episode was better than the second episode even though critics seem to think last night's was the worst they've seen so far. Personally, I think the stuff about it being too "inside" is ridiculous. What about it is "insidery?" Nothing is difficult to follow or understand. You don't need to be a theater expert to get the show anymore than you needed to be an expert on politics to enjoy the West Wing. The problem with the show is that it's just not that great.

• That stupid bellowy broadway singing by that blonde actress is what I don't like about it. Sorry... too much of that and I hope that style of singing goes away. And I felt betrayed that the supposed Black gay assistant is straight. Whatever!

• Couldn't agree more. Nails it.

• Last night, they held last week's audience and gained a few viewers. The demo wasn't horrible. This is not a hit at all but it's definitely good enough to get a second season pickup, especially on NBC. I'm happy for it.

  Anonymous

• It's on NBC. Nothing is meant to last there.

• R7, you're joking, right? Nobody expects "Smash" to be picked up. It costs a fortune to shoot in NY and the ratings are totally out of proportion with what they spent to promote it. Jonas got some young girls to watch this week. They'll disappear next week.

• The show sucks.

• Nick Jonas was awful. The kid acts like he's in a coma, I really don't know how he can be a Broadway star. Plus he's now ugly. They should have kept McPhee's character as the outsider who is having a hard time fitting in which would have made an interesting sub-plot but no...they had to make the dancers become cozy friends and do a makeover on her which looked completely phony.

• It wasn't meant to last cause it's an adults version of Glee on a network with the worst demo's around.

• [quote]Messing--a good comic actress who radiates likability HAHAHAHA HAHA HAHAHAHAHA HAHA HAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHA!!! *wipes tears away* Ooh that's a good one! But seriously, now...

• I thought Monday night's episode was pretty good, but I agree that Nick Jonas was awful. His solo was an obvious lip sync job, and nothing about it screamed the star he was supposed to be. Even worse, he's a terrible actor. Just really bad. Looks? I've never seen Nick Jonas look less than cute as hell. SMASH did that.

  Anonymous

• R9- you have to compare it to what else they have. The comedies, including NYC based 30 Rock, only bring in 4-5 million viewers and they're brought back year after year. Also, Smash is doing better than Harry's Law did in the same spot last year. What's important is that the show find an audience. And it did. A 6.5 million audience which is good enough to get a second year on NBC. Now, if Smash were to take a big dive next week, you might be right, but I think it's found it's audience now. Jonas wasn't that big of a draw in the 10pm hour.

  Anonymous

• Agreed, R15. If these ratings hold, I don't think NBC has any choice but to renew SMASH for a 2nd season. They badly need a drama pulling over a 2.0 in the 18-49 demo. I also read that SMASH is pulling in the most viewers making over $100K in that 10 pm slot, which would also help its case for renewal.

  Anonymous

• Hotly is wonderful. McPhee's character is a poorly performed cliche. The last episode was the worst with stilted dialogue and soap opera plots. I really want this show to be good. I want more new broadway type music and clever dialogue.

• The problem with that scenario is that McPhee isn't talented enough to be realistic as a Broadway star. She's blandly pretty and has a pleasant singing voice but she's not much of an actress and did nothing to convince anyone she should have gotten the Marilyn part. You build a show around her and you've got nothing. And for supposedly being "the talented one," Nick Jonas was incredibly bland and forgettable on the show. But why would anyone be surprised? Anyone who saw him in the Les Miserables special saw how he single-handled brought down the production with his tortured singing and constipated emoting.

• Using such a boasting title is a straight path to cancellation. It really riles up the critics and haters.

• Jonas and Hilty were on WWHL and Jonas looks well groomed but is boring as shit and somewhat homely. Hilty was very cute and funny. I think that NBC will renew it because the prestige level with the Spielberg connection etc is too much for them to let go. As someone pointed out NBC renews 30 Rock and Parks and Rec even though the rating SUCK but they are their prestige shows and without them they basically have ...oh let's see....Fear Factor?

  Mary Kate and Ashley

• Jonas might not have been that big a draw but it still pulled a larger audiences than the week before. "Smash" has the added problem of the huge location budget. It follows "The Voice" which is NBC's biggest show. "Voice" is leaving the popular blind auditions, meaning that show's ratings could also drop. "Smash" will have its biggest test next month when "Dancing with the Stars" returns. Although there will be only a few minutes overlap, they have the same audience. Will they switch over to NBC at "Dancing's" conclusion? I wouldn't bet on it.

• If Smash makes it to a second season, what would be the lead-in? Would they wait and start in January, or start it with the rest of the shows in the Fall?

• Just looking at Angelica Huston's waxworks face is worth the price of admission.

• Smash surged to 7.9 million viewers (over a million more than last week) and 2.7 in the demo last night, winning it's time slot! So happy for them.a second season pick up should be announced soon.

  Smash%20fan

• Oh, look, it's lasting! Too bad snarky poster.

• How are they going to plot a second season? That fucking play needs to open at some point, right?

• R26- the season will end with the workshop. Next season will be about mounting a B'way production of Marilyn. God knows what they will do if this series gets s=picked up for a third season (which I doubt) Marilyn.. the tour?? Marilyn, the bus and truck?

• This POS show will be on as long as SVU. NBC doesn't have a fucking thing to put on in place of it.

• They could have kept it more interesting by changing the theme or story eveery show like glee, a new topic, instaed of same occuring story it has made the show less interesting I think.

• Thi season ends with the Boston opening and the second season would end with the Broadway opening. If there is a season three, it could how they all follow up on the show. It could turn out that the Marilyn musical is good but not selling well which could impact all the characters. Hilty and McPhee could have to decide on staying with the show or looking into other opportunities and so on.

• ..0r the Marilyn show could never make it past workshop and something new and fresh could inspire the plot.

• I'm still watching, thought I'm not sure why. Hope, I guess. NBC has tried to compare the show to The West Wing, saying that's it's giving an insider's look at something that hasn't been accurately seen before. So many problems there. The stakes are not the same -- no one is living or dying because of a Broadway musical. Show business is not as broadly interesting to the public as politics is, and it can't be taken as seriously (Studio 60 already tried to do that, and flopped). I really think that the show would be better if they tried to have more fun with it and stopped treating the subject matter as if they were curing cancer.

• R32 has never been a theater worker. It IS life or death.

• R32 knows that it's only life or death to the 50 people putting on the production. There are no wider implications to what happens in that theater.

  R32

• This show is amusing but the main girl is fucking annoying and is a stuck up bitch. No one on this show can actually sing (in real life). Overall i give it a 2 out of 5 stars.

• [quote]Nobody expects "Smash" to be picked up. Was everyone wrong, or just r9?

• No matter how much fun "Smash" is to look at and laugh at as "train-wreck" tv, its characters and situations are so improbable its downright laughable to anyone with a working knowledge of theater.

  Edga