Hello again, everyone! Welcome back to "Entertainment on Jeff's Terms" and what is quickly becoming the "JEFF IS NO LONGER AS DEPRESSED AS HE WAS AND NOW THIS IS HAPPENING AGAIN TOUR 2012"! Some brief catch-up...
In case you missed my last entry, per the urging of one of my new college professors (yes, I've re-enrolled), I'm back to writing fairly regularly. This will encompass the usual material you saw last year, along with some class-assigned pieces dubbed "Class Act".
It is in that spirit that after almost six months, I return to my most recurring sub-series "Pilot Inspektor"!
FUN FACT: This was originally intended to be my first-ever EARLY REVIEW last week, but academic obligations and (SPOILER ALERT!) a growing disinterest in this show quickly quelled that.
So, with a heavy heart and a hasty mind, I bring you this look at NBC's new hit musical drama Smash!
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THE GIST OF IT
Fresh off the mild success of a musical about angels (I think; like I said, I've put a lot of this show out of my mind), Broadway scribe Julia Houston (Debra Messing) and her writing partner Tom Levitt (Christian Borle) set off to create a brand new production about the life of legendary Hollywood starlet Marilyn Monroe. With the help of newly-divorced producer Eileen Rand (Anjelica Huston), a smarmy British director (Jack Davenport) and their assistant Ellis (Jaime Cepero), they begin the search for their star. Vying for the part are starry-eyed part-time waitress Karen Cartwright (American Idol's Katharine McPhee) and one of Julia and Tom's regular performers Ivy Lynn (Broadway starlet Megan Hilty).
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MOVING FORWARD
If the "This Season on..." teaser that aired after the pilot is any indication, the question of who gets the lead in Marilyn is not something that will be answered quickly, if even by the end of the season. All we know for sure is the rivalry between Karen and Ivy will heat up considerably, pushing Ivy to some shameless extremes and Eileen's divorce will threaten the production budget. Also, people will sing...a lot.
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IN ESSENCE, MY FRIENDS...
As I let slip above, my interest in this show has waned considerably since my initial viewing. While I think it's novel to present the long process of creating a Broadway production as a television drama, I can already see some major cracks.
The most prominent of my issues is, for all intents and purposes, the very crux of the show; that being the battle between McPhee's Karen and Hilty's Ivy for the part of Marilyn Monroe. It's already abundantly clear that the writers want us to root for Karen, and on a fundamental level, this is wholly understandable. She's the classic underdog up-and-comer, getting by on pure (albeit, distressingly auto-tuned) talent and not resorting to underhanded, typical show business tactics to get ahead. However, Ivy isn't all that different. She may already have an in with the show's creators, but she's still the girl who dreamed of performing on the Great White Way.
Let me state the obvious. Katharine McPhee is bone-skinny. Megan Hilty is not, and neither was Marilyn. The show makes a point of noting the difference in size of our two would-be Norma Jeans, and by doing so, tacitly admits that it wants us to root for McPhee because it finds Hilty to be too big for the part. It's offensive, not just to plus-sized women, but anyone of intelligence in the home viewing audience.
Call it opinion (to be fair, that's what you're here for), but Megan Hilty IS Marilyn. I knew this even before the plot made itself evident; way back in the summer of last year when swoon-worthy production stills began to hit the internet. To suggest otherwise, and especially for such a transparently shallow reason, is troubling if not outright disgusting.
Also causing me concern: the musical numbers. While the pieces we're treated to in the pilot (all written by beloved Broadway songsmiths Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman) are all believable stage hits, the sultry techno performance by McPhee that NBC has been promoting so heavily in the past week looks just...terrible, and if that's what we'll be getting when we're off-stage, as it were...I have a bad feeling about this.
On the plus side (and rest assured, I've avoided making this comparison as best I could), at least (as far as we've seen), Smash will handle the task of grounding the musical numbers in reality FAR better than the overrated Glee ever has. Thus far, the more sensational elements of the performances have been clearly denoted as daydreams and fantasies and if this show wants to be treated as anything more than kitsch entertainment, it should stay that way.
On the plus side (and rest assured, I've avoided making this comparison as best I could), at least (as far as we've seen), Smash will handle the task of grounding the musical numbers in reality FAR better than the overrated Glee ever has. Thus far, the more sensational elements of the performances have been clearly denoted as daydreams and fantasies and if this show wants to be treated as anything more than kitsch entertainment, it should stay that way.
Another plus: the cast. I could go on and on about McPhee and Hilty who--despite all my handwringing up there--are both pitch-perfect, but I want to talk about the surprise in all this: Debra Messing. I never watched Will & Grace regularly, but whenever I errantly settled on part of an episode while channel surfing, I found her wildly off-putting. Here, she's warm, charming, and exudes a passion for the stage that hits me right in my former theatre actor heart. Of course, it's always wonderful to see Anjelica Huston on my screen, and the idea of her presence being a regular weekly fixture on television is irresistible. The remainder of the cast is serviceable to enjoyable, and will certainly evolve as the show progresses.
...
...You know, I have to be honest. Typing all this out has rather reinvigorated my want to see the next episode. I suppose it couldn't hurt to give it a shot. I only wish Jack Davenport's Derek Wills felt the same way about Ivy. I sigh.
...
...You know, I have to be honest. Typing all this out has rather reinvigorated my want to see the next episode. I suppose it couldn't hurt to give it a shot. I only wish Jack Davenport's Derek Wills felt the same way about Ivy. I sigh.
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THESE ARE BLURBS
Some wayward thoughts about Smash...
- May this show be the last time Christina Aguilera's maudlin "Beautiful" looms large in the American consciousness. I was done with that song after hearing it performed at every high school graduation and funeral I attended in 2003. (For some reason, there were a lot of them that year.)
- Uma Thurman recently signed for a five-episode story arc as a third potential candidate for the lead in Marilyn. I won't lie; my outrage about this news made me a bit more forgiving of the show's assertion that Karen deserves the part...but only a bit. (Too skinny and WAY too tall.)
- SMASH AIRS MONDAY NIGHTS AT 10pm ON NBC!
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...and now, the curtain call! (Puns.)
I'll return within the week with further attempts to get back to regular posting, including (but don't hold me to this) a special preparatory entry for a potential "Entertainment on Jeff's Terms" podcast(!).
Until then, one of my fondest memories of the past five years is the night I did some impromptu backup dancing to a karaoke performance of this song. For that, I thank her.
