SummarySongwriters Julia Houston (Debra Messing) and Tom Levitt (Christian Borle) create a musical about Marilyn Monroe and must decide whether the veteran Broadway actress Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) or newcomer Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee) should play the blonde legend.
SummarySongwriters Julia Houston (Debra Messing) and Tom Levitt (Christian Borle) create a musical about Marilyn Monroe and must decide whether the veteran Broadway actress Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) or newcomer Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee) should play the blonde legend.
Smash got the memo from viewers. I don’t think they read all of it, necessarily, but at least they got it, and they’ve changed just enough to raise the series from a C+ to a B. So: progress.
in the first episode, they answered questions concerning what happened to characters that were cut from the show-Dev, Michael Ellis --this needed to be done! they introduced us to some new cast members who just might steal the show. LOVED ALL the musical numbers as this is what SMASH is ALL ABOUT!! anyone who bad mouths the talent on this show is crazy! every cast member is incredible! i think the 'new show', Hit List with Karen Jimmy is gonna be the best part of season 2!!!!
I love watching Smash. My daughter and I could not wait each week for the next episode and we are dying to find out when season 2 will be starting. Please hurry. Every single cast member is great and I look forward to seeing Jennifer Hudson on Smash.
If what you want from Smash is what the pilot promised--a consistent, network-TV equivalent of mainstream Broadway--season 2 takes the first steps toward being that. The story feels better focused and, with help now from new cast member Jennifer Hudson, the show’s musical moments can deliver the passion and concentrated dream-power the scripts haven’t.
While it's easy to forget the show's shortcomings whenever McPhee or Hilty belt out one of Bombshell's stellar original songs or Jimmy croons a heartfelt power ballad, that's ultimately not enough to absolve the series from failing to let its most tenable narrative take center stage.
Cast changes and additions (a la Jennifer Hudson's new diva) can't obscure a skein whose soapy doings drown out its tunes, and where even the music often comes across as flat.
Season 2 is a remarkable improvement over the first, with actually worthwhile characters being introduced while the lousy ones are gone. There are still issues with the tone and some of the acting, but I think the change of showrunner was a very good decision. I hope it lasts at least one more season.
I don't know why Smash got cancelled in the first place, but NBC should've renew the series because of the disappointment of Season 2. It was a very bad move for the network putting the show from Saturdays and now on Sundays. With mediocre ratings sliding, who's gonna fill in the series for the new Fall lineup? At least they still got The Voice and America's Got Talent up and running. Yeah, Season 2 was a disappointment for me, but that doesn't mean that I still like the series. I hope another network could save the series like Netflix or something.
Smash becomes an incoherent soap opera like so many with this second season. With its wealth of guest stars, new characters, artificial rivalries and cliffhangers. If it wasn't written on the ground laid down in the first season, it would a manual of what not to write for a drama. In fairness, some ideas (the dramaturg) and tunes are good, but it's not enough.
Season 1's shockingly bad writing did not get fixed at all, though new showrunner Josh Safran improved the pacing. Kat McPhee is still the weakest link, and the show's emphasis on Karen as 'the most amazing talent ever' isn't evident in her performance, which makes a central element of the show ridiculous. Megan Hilty is the breakout star of this show, a show that should have been great, and she's the only reason left to watch.