First Impressions: Smash

It was a big night for NBC last night, with The Voice and Smash both officially debuting hot on the heels of Sunday’s record Super Bowl numbers.

I’ll be talking about The Voice down the line – but first up let’s chat about Smash. After months of hype and non-stop adverts (I mean seriously, how much have NBC paid to promote this thing!) did the final product actually deliver? My verdict – kind of…

First up I have to mention that I actually watched Smash last week after downloading the pilot episode on Itunes. So I’ve had a few days to think about the show now. And my overall reaction is that I liked the pilot, but didn’t love it. But then to be honest I think it’s very difficult for a debut show to totally succeed straight out of the gate There’s always so much scene setting and character establishment that needs to be done in the first place. So I always give shows a few episodes to settle in.

Now I’m not a huge musical theater junkie but I’ve certainly seen – and loved – my fair share of Broadway shows. I loved Chicago, Avenue Q and Hairspray and hated Wicked and A Chorus Line. But I’m also a gay man living in the New York area and I know my tastes aren’t universal. In fact I’ve already heard two or three people I know question whether a show about the theater world can actually succeed as a mainstream hit. Smash is certainly less accessible and viewer friendly as Glee, with its non-stop succession of chart friendly cover version. Maybe they’re right?

Smash is undoubtedly a much more grown up affair than Fox’s high school musical – which both helps and hurts the finished show. Personally I loved seeing Angelica Huston featuring in her first full time TV series – she brings the same gravitas and class that Jessica Lange lent to American Horror Story. These women have enjoyed long careers for a reason! And Huston is surrounded by a strong ensemble – Debra Messing (still enchanting post Will And Grace), Jack Davenport (seeking that signature role after flops like Swingtown and Flash Forward) and Katherine McPhee (proving that sometimes American Idol churns out better actors than singers).

On the downside some of Smash’s plotlines are already a bit of a yawn. I definitely found myself groaning over Messing’s ‘baby adoption’ plot, which felt tiresome 5 minutes into the pilot (I remember how dreary a similar storyline on Brothers And Sisters was). And some of the Smash stories are a bit of a stretch. Would a video of a half finished show tune really go viral? Would Messing’s character really force her co-writer to work with a director he hated? And the general speed and pace of the show’s development and auditions felt a tad too rushed for reality…

 

On the flipside Smash has lots of potential once it finds its feet. I enjoyed the way the show’s original songs slipped into Chicago-like fantasy (and to be fair the new songs were pretty good). Plus the pilot as a whole zipped along and set in place an interesting central battle between the two ‘Marilyns’ – played by McPhee and Broadway vet Megan Hilty. It’s obvious we’re meant to root for McPhee, who after all is the bigger name, but I wish her audition performance had had a bit more juice. Were we really meant to be blown away by a good – but not great – rendition of Beautiful, a song that itself has been karaoke-ed to death?

So those are my initial thoughts – but who knows how I’ll be feeling a few weeks down the line. Smash might soar like Revenge has done – or crash and burn, as was the case with Pan Am. But for now the show is definitely interesting enough to keep me watching…

But what do you think? Did you watch the Smash premiere and what did you make of it? Will you be continuing to watch – or are you one and done? Comment away…