Smash.

[NCC1701MF]

From what I've read the casting is not final. Later in the season, Uma Thurman comes in as a movie star that wants to play Marilyn.

 

[Professor Zoom]

As a person in the theater: I really wanted to like this show. But, it's already getting kinda silly.

"I don't know if we can cast her, she's got to much EXPERIENCE..."

Yeah. Right. You wouldn't want to cast the person with the most experience... It's not like a Broadway show costs MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of dollars, you defiantly would go with the person who learns dance steps slower, doesn't seem confident, you would want to put the show on THAT person's shoulders.

It's drummed up drama.

Either two things are going to happen: either Blondo gets booted for whatever reason, or Scarf Wearing Cast Member (you decide which) has the idea: Blondo plays Marilyn, American Idol Girl plays Norma Jean.

Bleh.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Why Smash's ratings might not be so bad after all. The show is responding well to take-over-the-world promo plans that Comcast has - they'd want to keep the kind of shows that synch well with their future plans.

CEO Brian Roberts offered this interesting statistic in a conference call with analysts to explain why he’s optimistic about NBCU’s performance in 2012: NBC’s new show Smash had 20% higher ratings in markets with Comcast cable systems than it did elsewhere due to the company’s aggressive cross promotion efforts — which it calls Project Symphony. This was part of Roberts’ larger effort to persuade investors that his investments in NBCU should start to pay off this year. He cited, for example, increased spending on new shows, sports rights including the Olympics, local stations, and theme parks.

And Broadway shows derived from TV shows?

Anyway, when the CEO trots out your show to investors as a shining example of why they should give him more of their money, that's about as good a sign as you could hope for.

 

[sojourner]

On the fictional show front, I haven't been impressed with the musical numbers we've seen intended for the show. Though the baseball one was a bit of raunchy fun.

 

[Samurai8472]

And Broadway shows derived from TV shows?

It's just inevitable "Smash: the musical" will be made with Spielberg overseeing production

 

[sojourner]

Spielberg seems to be slapping his name on a lot of stuff lately.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Old men worry about their legacies.

Consider.

As far as his greatest accomplished go, Indiana Jones no longer counts.

One bad movie flushed away 31 years of good will.

 

[CaptMurdock]

Calling it now. Ivy will play Marilyn. Karen will be called back to play Norma Jean when it's realized Ivy can't pull off innocent.

Yeah, that's my thought too. Mind you, they did an HBO movie called Norma Jean and Marilyn with Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino with this in mind. They switched "real" and "imaginary" roles after the nose job.

Of course, they could still derail things with the pregnancy things with Ivy, but...

 

[Kestra]

Ivy isn't pregnant. If they were going to do that plot with her, it would have been with the director, who she hasn't hooked up with until later. So I guess she could still get pregnant but that first scene had nothing to do with it, if she is.

I actually didn't like the last episode at all, which is disappointing. It felt like I was watching people act, and when the karaoke thing happened I felt like I was watching a bad improv show.

 

[Starbreaker]

Boy... this show derailed fast. They obviously invested a lot in the pilot and then just gave up or something.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The personal drama is just too vanilla and broadcast-y. This concept would have worked far better on Showtime, which it was originally developed for, where everyone could have been bitchy and conniving, like Entourage, but lots gayer.

I'm still finding it fun to watch, but I'm not too concerned that the ratings are falling fast.

Smash is falling hard and fast, with the third episode down 40% from the premiere two weeks ago based on preliminary ratings. Some critics and anti-fans are calling it a colossal failure for NBC (due to how heavily NBC promoted it), but make no mistake it could fall a ways further and still be renewed. It's still too soon to know if and where [i/]Smash[/I] will stabilize, but for now it's still on the bubble.

Was that comment about a workshop taking "five years" to get to the stage a hint about what they planned for this show? Yikes. I don't want to see five seasons of this stuff, I want to see them get to Broadway by the end of this season, and then spend the next season on the actual production (speaking theoretically of course - there won't be an S2 - even NBC isn't that desperate).

 

[Guy Gardener]

maybe a member of he cast could get murdered ever week, and a different procedural cop show arrives to solve the crime and save the day.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

CSI: The Musical.

Guy's a marketing genius! Put him in charge of NBC, he'll turn that Titanic around...

 

[Guy Gardener]

I'd move mountains to backdoor a new episode of Columbo or Murder She Wrote.

Unfortunately, Columbo saving the day would be like that less than final Pink Panther movie were we just saw a lot of unrevealing shots as they Weekend at Bernies Peter Sellers corpse in the back ground, obscured by scenery like a latter day Mr Snuffleuffagus... Of course that wouldn't stop the wife from getting her nose right in there...

Who played Mrs Columbo again?

All said and done, I'm really enjoying Smash, it's totally feeding my inner girl.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I was going to say something about most guys stopping at duct tape and hidden basement, but I'd be flirting with at least a one-day ban...

 

[Guy Gardener]

Hidden?

I suppose if you didn't know the code words it would seem hidden?

But it's not hard to find directions to small locally maintained petting zoos of girls in cages within any great metropolitan newspaper's personal ad section.

Or did you just think that they were fucking around in Desperately Seeking Susan?

 

[Professor Zoom]

that[/I] desperate).

That's the thing that bugs me about the show. What do they imagine it will be like in 4 years? The reality of Broadway theater is YES it takes YEARS and YEARS to get a show to Broadway. So, in reality, five years of workshopping and try outs is... a reality. However, that will be boring as shit to an audience that doesn't know, and doesn't care.

So, then, do they get to Broadway at the end of the season? Then what? The drama behind a show with 8 shows a week? You don't need the writers and the director anymore... And THAT would be boring as well.

And that would also mean seeing the musical over and over and over again. Is anyone really pumped about the Marilyn musical?

As a limited run show, SMASH isn't a bad idea, but, where can it go in three years? Five years? 20 episodes a year? That is the demand of network TV, and I don't see how it's going to work.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Katherine McPhee's character doesn't get the role and Ivy ends up with it after all. S2 is the two writers starting work on a new musical, for which she's perfect: Jackie Oh!

Speaking theoretically of course - this concept would work if every season is a new musical and the cast members would change over time.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Katherine McPhee's character doesn't get the role and Ivy ends up with it after all. S2 is the two writers starting work on a new musical, for which she's perfect: Jackie Oh!

Speaking theoretically of course - this concept would work if every season is a new musical and the cast members would change over time.

Yeah, see, that would work if the cast isn't popular. But take away popular characters... ooh boy.

 

[Beagleman]

Yeah, see, that would work if the cast isn't popular. But take away popular characters... ooh boy.

Exactly. New characters every season was the plan for Heroes and we all know how that ended...