Smash: Season 2

[chipso1]

God, Megan Hilty singing "They Just Keep Moving the Line" at the end was . I like Katherine McPhee too, but Megan's voice is just perfect.

I thought it was a really good start to the season! I like all the new characters so far, and I'm glad Dev/Ellis/Frank/moody teenager are all gone.

Ratings were really poor, but the show doesn't have a good lead-in at all. Maybe it will get better once "Go On" and "The New Normal" come back? On the other hand, iTunes sales of the songs from this episode have been really strong so far, so that may be a saving grace? Time will tell, but I really hope the show isn't cancelled! It's 10x more interesting than Glee these days, IMO.

[Artemis@BC]

Finally had a chance to watch last night.

God, Megan Hilty singing "They Just Keep Moving the Line" at the end was . I like Katherine McPhee too, but Megan's voice is just perfect.

Yeah, I thought it was pretty meh up to that point ... but that song, and Ivy's performance of it, were I have nothing against Karen -- either her actor or her character -- and I like how she's growing up, but Ivy had me in that performance.

I love the idea of Julia crashing at Tom's, even if it means no more of her beautiful brownstone. "It's time to retire the scarves." Too bad about no more Sam, though, he was so good for Tom.

The Eileen storyline was , but then I've thought that from the beginning. Love her, hate what they've been writing for her.

I gave up on Glee years ago, so I hope the writing, music, and ratings (!) keep up enough to keep giving me my fix. I'm pretty at why they chose to have a 2-hour season opener (that was really 2 single episodes, not one 2-hour episode) ... and then a week off. How is that supposed to help the ratings?

[manhn]

Wait--Sam is gone? Excellent. Bring back Gay Republican!

ETA: This Tuesday, Obama is giving the State of the Union Address, so no new programming on the major networks.

[manhn]

I finally watched the episode. I thought it was pretty good. I have to say, I LOVE KYLE!!!

[orbitz]

Jen Hudson sounds great when singing, but her non-singing acting is horrible. Jeremy Jordan is also not a very good actor.

McPhee - I don't buy her as MM. The JFK-MM music number was bad.

I like the Robyn's song "Dancing On My Own", so I was delighted to hear it sung on the show.

[jenny12]

Jeremy Jordan is totally charmless in Smash. The character is written horribly and I don't buy him as a potential love interest. I know he has a Tony Awards nomination, but I don't find him effective at all in this role. I don't know who is more dull on the screen-Jennifer Hudson or Katherine McPhee.

[genevieve]

I'm bummed out about the GossipGirlization of the show. New bad boy genius composer is two dimensional and boring - I'm more interested in his sidekick. And I've been a defender of Kat McPhee/Karen, but I found it annoying that 1) she's now magical muse to TWO men and 2) after exactly one trial run on a show in Boston she's completely old hat "this is what you need to do to make it in this biz". The Ronnie story was vaguely interesting, but should have been spread out over several episodes. All in one hour it strained all credibility. Way too much Julia (as usual), not enough Elaine.

the one point of real interest in the whole ep: so was Nick on Jerry's payroll the WHOLE TIME!? that's some devious shit. (((Elaine)))

[manhn]

The last twist was quite good wrt Jerry and Elaine. That was clearly a Gossip Girl maneuver. Unfortunately, there was another Gossip Girl influence in having Jimmy be Chuck Bass with some musical talent. And, yes, I much prefer Kyle, but the gay guy in love with the straight guy is beyond tiring and I don't know what Kyle actually does. Does he write? I didn't seem him contribute to that song, except fetch Chuck Bass some water. Maybe I missed something (I was watching while making and eating dinner)?

And Julia's reinvention of the Marilyn musical sounds like a ripoff of Nine, except the genders are reversed.

[Artemis@BC]

Jen Hudson sounds great when singing, but her non-singing acting is horrible. Jeremy Jordan is also not a very good actor.

I found Hudson slightly better in this last episode than previously, but I agree she's a weak link. She's also by far the worst lip-syncher in the show -- I've gotten used to the lip-synching by everyone else (or maybe they've gotten better), but when she's singing I have to close my eyes, the visual-audio disconnect is so bad. (And it can't be a good sign that I found Kyle's rendition of "Everybody Loves You Now" waaay better than Ronnie's.)

Jordon is a complete snore. I do like the "Hit List" concept, but since it would be so completely unrealistic for us to actually see any of it for years, I don't anticipate a lot of entertainment value in that storyline.

I like that Karen had a slight thawing with Ivy -- they'll never be bffs, but the bitchiness was getting tedious.

My favourite thing so far this season is how they've developed Ivy's character -- even if she isn't getting as much screen time, what she does get is far more interesting, and far more relatable, than her diva-bitch persona from last season.

[manhn]

First Ellis, now Kyle. Kyle loves straight men, is apparently untalented, and sabotages relationships. Yay, wonderful representation of gay men!!!

I can buy Uma Thurman as a movie star. I cannot buy Sean Hayes as a movie star.

ETA: I really liked Katherine McPhee's rendition of "Some Boys."

[genevieve]

Julia and her insecurities are so tedious. Bring back the scarves!

Even though Sean Hayes doesn't present as a movie star a la Uma Thurman did, his and Ivy's side story was the bright spot of this ep.

[heckles]

I like that Karen had a slight thawing with Ivy -- they'll never be bffs, but the bitchiness was getting tedious.

Eh, most women are going to be bitchy for years if another woman doinks her fiance, steals her engagement ring and lies about it.

What I don't understand about Smash is: is it a television show about a musical, or is it a musical television show like Glee? That number is which Karen was singing to nobody about her latest crush and he's just walking around her like he doesn't hear her was pretty awkward.

[nypanda]

Word from the set is that Smash has not been renewed. Enjoy while you can....

[genevieve]

What I don't understand about Smash is: is it a television show about a musical, or is it a musical television show like Glee? That number is which Karen was singing to nobody about her latest crush and he's just walking around her like he doesn't hear her was pretty awkward.

Yeah, some of the random songs last season worked ok even if they were awkward, but last night's pining for the new crush became my fridge break - I went and did the dishes during it.

Word from the set is that Smash has not been renewed. Enjoy while you can....

The GossipGirlization of the show was a complete misstep, but I think the bigger problem was the loooooong hiatus and moving it to Tuesday. There is nothing else of interest on Tuesday, hard to remember there's one show at 10pm that I want to watch. I really enjoyed last season, even though the show had some problematic moments, but this season isn't any fun at all and I can't say I'll miss it.

[manhn]

Eh, most women are going to be bitchy for years if another woman doinks her fiance, steals her engagement ring and lies about it.

What I don't understand about Smash is: is it a television show about a musical, or is it a musical television show like Glee? That number is which Karen was singing to nobody about her latest crush and he's just walking around her like he doesn't hear her was pretty awkward.

Glee is also a television show about a glee club that does musical shows just like the cast of Smash. So, both shows do stagework musical performances and non-stage performances. Smash is much less successful when it comes to their non-stage stuff (although I did like the latest one). The one thing this show has been pretty good with is the actual material of Bombshell. A lot of it is quite compelling.

Not surprised by the cancellation news. If it means Deception continues on, I'm all for it.

[chantilly]

First Ellis, now Kyle. Kyle loves straight men, is apparently untalented, and sabotages relationships. Yay, wonderful representation of gay men!!!

I can buy Uma Thurman as a movie star. I cannot buy Sean Hayes as a movie star.

ETA: I really liked Katherine McPhee's rendition of "Some Boys."

Rob Schneider would be considered a movie star as well as Adam Sandler and Kevin James. I am guessing this is the vibe they are going for with Sean.

[genevieve]

Smash is being moved to Saturdays (presumably to die):
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/03/13/sm...-to-saturdays/

A shame that it doesn't have the chance to benefit from the Voice lead-in it had last year, even though the show has faltered creatively (total haterade for the bad boy singer/songwriter). But honestly, NBC thinks a new reality dating show is a great option?!? How very 2005 of them!

BTW, I was so excited when Terrible Ellis was invoked on the show this week. I had high hopes he'd come back and slap everyone into shape with his evil ways.

[manhn]

I hate the bad boy singer/songwriter too. What a whiner.

It's probably for the best. This show never had much longevity. Do the best you can with whatever remaining episodes you got. The best thing about this stoopid show is that I actually like the two musicals (Hit List and Bombshell)--I would like to see both in their entireties.

[Artemis@BC]

It's probably for the best. This show never had much longevity. Do the best you can with whatever remaining episodes you got. The best thing about this stoopid show is that I actually like the two musicals (Hit List and Bombshell)--I would like to see both in their entireties.

I agree x2. Even if Bombshell only became the "backdrop" and the show focussed solely on the characters' personal lives , there's still limited material here. (And frankly, I probably wouldn't have watched if it went Glee like that.)

I just hope that a. they show the remaining episodes and end things properly, and b. they show us lots more of the shows and their songs.

I think the biggest challenge will be in figuring out how to work Ivy back into "Bombshell" in a meaningful way. Her fit with "Liaisons" is really good now, but it will seem anticlimactic if "Bombshell" ends without her.

[heckles]

I agree x2. Even if Bombshell only became the "backdrop" and the show focussed solely on the characters' personal lives , there's still limited material here. (And frankly, I probably wouldn't have watched if it went Glee like that.

I agree. To me, the point of this show is the preparation of getting it to Broadway. I won't be that interested once that happens.