Also liked that he told her to stop wearing the effin’ scarves.
Not surprising. It should have been limited run and ended with Bombshell premiering on Broadway.
So does dramaturg mean “script doctor” now? That’s quite different from the way it’s used at most theaters.
Haven’t seen this week’s episode yet, but reports indicate that ratings were down from the dismal low of the first week of this season. I don’t know if NBC will want to hang on much longer. Is there any precedent for quick cancellation of such a big budget, star-filled, high profile TV show?
I thought this was by a good margin the best episode of the season. Still not a great show, but I’d happily watch a show this good every week. The music was quite good, and the various story lines, if mostly predictable, were at least generally well acted.
I dunno, I’m not caring for the asshole songwriter. Whatever his tortured genius/abuse victim/drug addict backstory is, he’s an asshole.
And speaking of assholes, Debra Messing’s character (Julia? that doesn’t sound right but I can’t think of her name) needs to lighten the fuck up.
Loved that Ellis helped Jerry take over the show, though. Will be interesting to see how that plays out.
I am kind of surprised the ratings have sunk so low, so fast.
Yes, it is just a soap opera with music, but if Glee can still find an audience, I don’t know how this show can’t.
I agree the tortured young songwriter is a royal pain in the ass who really should be a failure and go work at McDonalds.
Will be kind of sad to see this show disappear, but short of a miracle, I think the writing is on the wall. The only question will be if they show all of this season’s episodes. They were pricey to make, and I believe the new head of NBC really loves this show, so maybe they will just air the rest of the season and call it quits then?
I actually thought that was one of the worst episodes. It didn’t seem to have any kind of flow, the timing and emotions of the scenes didn’t work, and it was disjointed. It feels like they are shoehorning this storyline with Jennifer Hudson in as a timefiller while they (the writers of Smash, not the characters) figure out what to do with Bombshell. Julia’s indignant attitude over the dramaturg is going on too long- if you’re really a professional, man up and accept a little advice on how to fix things. Even the best authors have their work edited, princess. Jennifer Hudson’s lip synching is really obvious- when she’s belting out a note to the cheap seats, her body language doesn’t match the power in her voice, like she’s just standing there with her mouth open during playback. Most of the episodes have some elements of these, but I thought they (and others) all came together as something of a perfect storm last night.
Just looking at the meagerness of this thread is an indication of how little watched “Smash” is. I know it’s unscientific, but compare this thread to the activity of “The Walking Dead” on this forum.
Hey! That’s it. This show needs zombies. Zombies on Broadway!
Rats. Already been done. Zombies on Broadway - Wikipedia
Glee is a soap opera with music set in a high school.* Everyone went to high school, and there are plenty of high school students around to be fans of the show. Smash is about Broadway. Only a tiny, tiny percentage of people have even seen a show on Broadway, and the number who enjoy musicals and stage productions in general is not all that much larger. I think the subject matter probably doomed it – how many successful T.V. shows have there been about live theater? I also think that the producers greatly overestimated how many Americans in 2013 still care about Marilyn Monroe.
That said, I’m still watching it, but not with any great enthusiasm. I think Jennifer Hudson is currently the best thing about the show.
*Which has branched out considerably this season.
I gave up on it right before this last episode. I went to watch it and realized that not only didn’t I care about these characters, I didn’t much like any of them either. Maybe if this had been on when I was a drama geek in high school or had a different lead… nope, it’d still be toast. But Ivy had potential.
Agree on all points. Apparently “Nashville”, the other music oriented drama besides “Glee”, is doing very well. Lots more people listen to country music than to show tunes.
Although presumably the fact that the ratings used to be better indicates that a fair number of people are potentially INTERESTED in a show about broadway, but were just turned off by the general crappiness…
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I also think that the producers greatly overestimated how many Americans in 2013 still care about Marilyn Monroe.
[/QUOTE]
I don’t understand the limited fascination there still is with her. From all I’ve read and seen she was not only a total train wreck but she used people as much as they used her, was a nightmare to work with, and while tragic due to her mental illnesses and early death she wasn’t on par with Anne Frank. Plus, you generally know most of the details: married Dimaggio and Miller, shagged JFK and many others, wanted to be taken seriously, wasn’t, died, got an Elton song. Tah-dah!
I think a musical based on Clara Bow or Jean Harlow would be better- great sets and fashions and less well known. Though I’d probably keep shopping for tickets to another show first before going to any of the above.
That said, the decision to rewrite the play from the p.o.v.s of the men in her life would probably be an improvement.
… ** Both!**
Yeah, the next word is going to be “both”. That way, one is an entirely new musical that Angelica Houston can produce, they get to move Tom over and have him discover that Julia’s been holding him back, Julia can work with Dramaturg guy and fall in love, and Ivy can be the star in the dramatic role she’s always wanted.
I’ll bet you a dollar.
Yeah, it’s clear that’s what they’re going to do. Competing Marilyn musicals. Ivy vs Karen again.
I wonder how much of it we’ll get to see. This show isn’t going to be renewed. The question now is if they’ll even air all of this season’s episodes.
I think they will. They’ve spent way too much money on them to just dump them.
One problem: they use the same songs.
Then again, why not have “Marilyn: the Musical” run on Broadway, while “Bombshell” is the version licensed for other public performances?
It’s a little late in the season to pull the show. If it’s that big of a problem, NBC would just move the remaining episodes to Saturdays.
Whoops! Looks like I was wrong. 
I still like the way this is going, though. I thought for SURE that Karen would call Ivy to replace her in “Hit List”, but I was wrong again!
LOVED Ivy’s zone-out into bawdy humor. Its one of the things Smash does well - show what going on in the Actor’s head when they get into the zone.
HATED Karen’s hair and outfit in the Hit List dream sequence.
And I think nerd-writer-boy is going to get smacked down hard, as Music Boy becomes an actor, and he’s left behind in his unrequited-ness.
I’m not even going to predict what’s going to happen next – all of a sudden, they’re having actual plotting, instead of Mad Libs cliches. I think the show has really improved this year.
Agree, though, that Karen’s hair and gown looked du merde in Jack’s daydream of the Hit List number.