If you’ve seen NBC for more than five minutes in the past few weeks, you’ve surely seen the barrage of advertising for the show that the network hopes to turn their fortunes around, a musical drama called Smash.
In some ways, who can blame them? Smash might be one of the best-reviewed pilots from the past year… and rightfully so. I screened the pilot this past Summer and it exceeded my expectations. There are characters to root for, the music is AMAZING… if I had any complaint at all, it would be that it left me wanting more, and unlike some other critics, I’ve had to wait this long to see more because somehow I rarely get NBC screeners. So it’s been a VERY long wait.
I’m so glad to see Jack Davenport in something good again as I loved him in Coupling, although this is a very different role from his somewhat-goofy Steve. Anjelica Huston commands respect and a bit of authenticity to the show; I thought to myself “dang, they got her, this must be a good show!” And although Megan Mulally probably was the funnier female in Will & Grace, I like Debra Messing, and she’s particularly good here, not just playing “Grace in a new setting.” The musical numbers are fantastic and both Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty have amazing voices. McPhee and Hilty will end up playing rivals for the same role — the strange thing is, I don’t know who I’d want to “win” because they’re both great!
Originally, I had feared that Smash would be just “Glee for adults” but I think this show does a better job of crossing the adult demographics and steeping itself in reality, unless it’s intended to be surreal at any point. The “hook” for the show is somewhat absurd – people want to make a musical about Marilyn Monroe – but the execution of the concept is very well done. The show is good — genuinely good — just please don’t let NBC’s barrage of promos scare you away. I can understand the temptation to want to resist… but putting yourself in NBC’s shoes, they need any “smash” they can get.
Here are some images from tonight’s series premiere as well as some pictures of the cast:
