Smash.

[Temis the Vorta]

Thank spud the nonsense with Rebecca is over, but it simply makes everyone look idiotic that they couldn't anticipate that she'd be a flop. Uma Thurman's voice is too weak and reedy for her to be a Broadway star, and I have a hard time believing that people will fork over theater ticket prices just to see a movie star they can see for less in a movie theater, especially if it's a painful experience.

If she's some megastar whose fan clubs can pack the theaters, then there should have been a standing ovation, regardless if she sang like Miss Piggy. The whole plotline was idiotic.

I guess the show will blame Ellis for the peanuts since Ivy didn't seem to have the opportunity, but the only person who could have done it, logically, is Rebecca. She's the only one who could judge how much of the smoothie to drink and not die from it. Is Ellis insane enough to risk a murder rap just to save some dumb show?

It would be cool if Eilleen did it, in order to get rid of both Rebecca and Ellis.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I guess the show will blame Ellis for the peanuts since Ivy didn't seem to have the opportunity, but the only person who could have done it, logically, is Rebecca. She's the only one who could judge how much of the smoothie to drink and not die from it. Is Ellis insane enough to risk a murder rap just to save some dumb show?

I expect that will be the big "twist."

And that last scene with Rebecca... "I'm not coming back... I knew the peanuts were in there..." Blah blah blah. Heavy handed and right on the nose.

And it felt like the whole episode was for nothing... no tension... no show that night... just people hanging out and wondering... and their wondering wasn't particularly interesting.

And that scene between Debra Messing and Tom... god, Debra's character was so particularly annoying and self righteous. She fucked her family over TWICE because she was horny.

I do hope that Ivy will find that she's pregnant with Dev's baby. I think that would be suitable for their season finale.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The twist in the season finale will be Karen finding her engagement ring in Ivy's hotel room - what possible explanation can there be for that?!? Was Dev practicing his proposal on Ivy just to make sure he got it right?

That missing ring is Chekhov's gun.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Don't forget the bartenders broken arm.

Morticia is going to get a visit form the heavies next.

The mob is going to wind up owning Bombshell.

You see, and there's one thing that only the mob and the CIA know best, what really happened and where all the bodies were buried...

okay.

Got it.

It wasn't a suicide.

JFK maybe accidentally strangles Marilyn.

he's on so much smack that he thinks she is a dragon.

Imagine a panicked musical scene with a lot of brass and a bare chested JFK wrestling one of those huge Chinese dragon puppets.

And he wakes up the following morning next to her corpse!

So a couple months later, Dimaggio is the second Gunman on the grassy knoll.

it's really quite obvious when you think about it.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I think the broken arm is foreshadowing for next season. I do like Morticia and her scruffy beau...they're the only couple in this show I care a flip about.

JFK maybe accidentally strangles Marilyn.

Brilliant! But the more likely ending is that Dead Marilyn goes to heaven and meets up with all the other characters in the show, including her "shadow selves" so they can all hold hands and have a happy ending.

 

[Guy Gardener]

In the 80s, some kid lit himself on fire because he wanted to be just like his cartoon superhero idol The Human Torch from the Fantastic Four.

(Yes I know, shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.)

America has not become less litigious in the last 30 years since Judas Priest's subliminal messages in their music got blamed for a kid whacking himself. It's really dangerous, legally, to glorify suicide and other really bad things with out becoming ostensibly liable.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I think the broken arm is foreshadowing for next season. I do like Morticia and her scruffy beau...they're the only couple in this show I care a flip about.

REALLY? I find it one of the more disturbing relationships. But, then it might be Morticia's near catatonic performance and bad plastic surgery that's putting me off.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

They seem like they're right for each other, and if the bartender doesn't mind that his girlfriend looks like Hermann Munster, then who am I to quibble with true love?

The other relationships are bad, screwed up, and/or involve characters I don't really care for (Julia and Karen topping the list).

 

[Guy Gardener]

Now I'm imagining Herman and Gomez knocking boots.

Thanks.

 

[DigificWriter]

I finished episodes 5 and 6 and, although the writers were still trying to push this antagonistic rivalry between Ivy and Karen in both episodes, it wasn't as detrimental towards her overall characterization in either episode, which was a definite improvement. There's still some uneveness associated with Ivy's characterization in relation to how she's characterized in Episodes 1-3 and 13-14, but they did start to balance things out a bit.

I've liked the musical elements that have permeated the series from the beginning, but they didn't really factor into my enjoyment of the series until episodes 5 and 6 (especially episode 5).

I saw a review of episode 6 that was rather critical of Julia giving into her baser impulses and rekindling her affair with Michael Swift in episode 6, saying that the development ruined her character, but I disagree because it was pretty clear to me that they were going to be headed in that direction the moment that she had an adverse reaction to the mention of Michael's name in episode 3, and would've been clear even if I hadn't already seen episodes 13 and 14 (where the subplot is revisited) prior to watching the first episodes of the season. I'm not condoning what she did, as I think it was incredibly irresponsible and is going to have significant consequences, but the development itself doesn't in any way adversely affect her character, at least not IMO.

I really liked episodes 5 and 6, and think they're the strongest of the early episodes that I've seen thus far. I also think they only serve to cement what I said earlier about the series being very reminiscent of The West Wing and Studio 60 for me, although I did want to clarify that just because I compared Smash to those two series, I was in no way comparing them qualitatively.

I do think that Aaron Sorkin is better at doing these types of 'behind-the-scenes' dramas than the writers and production team currently associated with Smash, and given that I am enjoying the series, I want to see it get better and continue to be renewed, and think that Aaron Sorkin's involvement would help in that regard, which is why I suggested that the producers of Smash ought to try and get him involved.

 

[propita]

I think the broken arm is foreshadowing for next season. I do like Morticia and her scruffy beau...they're the only couple in this show I care a flip about.

I really like Frank--but Julia's a frickin' idiot. She cheats once with Michael, years ago. Then, she's all over him in the present. Doesn't care about anyone else (her family or his) or the trouble she knows it will cause the show, which is how many other people? Then she has a hissy fit and blames Tom (right name? Her partner) for her stupidity--what was he supposed to do, shackle her knees together?

But Frank? He's a good guy who's doing his best when confronted with something he thought was impossible. He actually looked beyond his own needs and wants, and realized that the show needed Julia there to succeed. And he's very nice to look at.

Ivy can do a lot more than sing and dance, too. Derek was fretting about some stage setup, and Ivy was all, "Just do this and it's taken care of." Ivy could probably direct if she put her mind to it--she knows what's needed for singing and dancing, and she's ah own promise at understanding staging. As Marilyn, she's the closest in looks and personality--more than Karen or Rebecca, Ivy just wants to be loved. Which is what they're saying Marilyn was all about.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Now I'm imagining Herman and Gomez knocking boots.

Thanks.

Well, there's a slash scenario that I can honestly say would never have occurred to me, unaided.

As Marilyn, she's the closest in looks and personality--more than Karen or Rebecca, Ivy just wants to be loved. Which is what they're saying Marilyn was all about.

The original idea seemed to be that Ivy has Marilyn's sexiness and Karen has her vulnerability, but Ivy has been portrayed (and written?) as so vulnerable that there just seems to be no need to even think about Karen. Who is also too tall and thin for the role, really. You might be able to get away with having the wrong face or being too old, since it's theater, but even at a distance, you can tell body type.

As for Julia, my objection is that she's such a Mary-Sue character. Here's this fairly ordinary looking woman who has some hot guy chasing her all over the place, but OH NO she must be strong for her FAMILY! Begone temptation. Oh give me a break.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Don't you dare make me your aid woman.

Light typing and phone banks give me the dry heaves.

 

[Professor Zoom]

As for Julia, my objection is that she's such a Mary-Sue character. Here's this fairly ordinary looking woman who has some hot guy chasing her all over the place, but OH NO she must be strong for her FAMILY! Begone temptation. Oh give me a break.

Yeah, SO strong... she basically fucked the guy because she was horny. I can't think of such an unsympathetic character who we have been asked to sympathize with so much.

 

[Danny99]

So 45 minutes away from the finale, any predictions?

 

[Guy Gardener]

it's 3 minutes till the episode finishes for me.

edit...

Ann..d SCENE!

I may be a littlle more bloody thirsty than most, but I thought watching ivy stroke out and foam at the mouth ODing while Karen was singing her big number...

Gods.

imagine the headlines?

Second-rate Starlets Suicide!

What a waste of a suicide?

If Ivy was going to top herself she could have done it on stage.

They are going to pike out so bad next season.

 

[DigificWriter]

There were some conflicts with scheduling yesterday, so I didn't get to see the finale until this morning, and I really liked it.

Ellis is gone for now (although he'll be back), things worked out vis a vis the show, and the writers finally decided to stop trying to turn Ivy into a bitca, and instead wrote her as a vulnerable, screwed-up girl with a ton of insecurities, which is a facet of her character that was lurking under the surface, but sort of got shunted aside every other episode. I liked that they didnt actually show her taking the pills because it gives them some room to play with the chronology of things and leaves open the possibility that she doesn't actually take the pills.

Julia remains one of my favorite characters on the show, and this pregnancy storyline, while somewhat cliched, should be interesting, especially since there's a lot of different ways they can play it out in S2.

I'm looking forward to seeing where they go next with all of the characters in S2, which is going to make the wait until next midseason kind of hard even though, as I've noted, I think NBC made the right decision in holding the season off until next spring.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

If they want to bring Ellis back as the resident villain, they need to write him smarter. That scheme of his was the stupidest thing ever. Did he think Eileen would be grateful to him for making her an accessory after the fact to attempted murder?!? Ellis has no idea how bad Rebecca's peanut allergy is, or whether it would KILL her. What would he have done if she'd died, or called the cops? He doesn't strike me as the kind of person who does well in prison.

When Eileen has had time to think, I sure hope she's on the phone to her lawyer with what Ellis told her. Just for her own legal defense, she probably needs to inform the authorities of Ellis' confession. Maybe the ensuing scandal will scare investors, but hey, it could put butts in seats! Ellis, you were useful after all. Have fun with your new roommate, Bubba. (Dammit, he probably will.)

In general, the biggest problem with this show is the way the characters are being written as idiots. Nobody could see that Rebecca would sink the show, except for Ellis, who came up with a solution that was even stupider than letting her sink the show.

Derek's belief that Karen has "something" Ivy doesn't is belied by the bad casting - clearly, Megan Hilty has what it takes to be a Broadway star (no huge surprise since that's her day job) while Katharine McPhee should stick to the recording studio. Derek ends up looking like a lovestruck idiot who is making bad casting decisions rather than a great artiste whose instincts will pave the way to Broadway success. That will happen anyway, but only by writer fiat, not because the show has earned it.

I'll give the show a chance next season - if nothing else, the actual show numbers are still great - but if it returns to the 10pm Monday slot in midseason, that means its predecessor will be Revolution, a show that will attract a large straight male sci-fi/adventure audience that definitely is not the core audience for Smash. NBC will loose that audience and who knows whether the current viewers will find the show again? The ratings have gotten pretty sketchy.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Finale ratings flat with previous weeks.: 1.8/5 6.06M.

Not good for a season finale. But the show is Greenblatt's pet, so a full second season is assured. And that's more than I need to see on this particular topic.

By this time next year, either those ratings will look anemic by NBC's resurgent standards or Greenblatt is going to be looking for a new job anyway.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Just watched the finale. Oy.

I'm going to watch the first episode of the 2nd season, to see if it was all a dream, or whatever they are going to do to "salvage" the show and then I'm gone.

It's been quite a journey... these 15 episodes, to the dark side of bad network TV writing. I'll miss you Ellis... and your crazy as shit plans... I'll miss you Debra Messing's Character whose name I keep forgetting... and you endless supply of scares. I'll miss you Derek and the way you schizophrenically switch from episode to episode, I'll miss you all...

Meh.