Smash

NBC

Movies are kind of dull right now, so let’s talk TV.  I caught the premiere of “Smash” this week and I felt underwhelmed. Pretty white people sing pretty songs about a pretty white woman and they all live in cool New York apartments even though most of them seem to be making just over minimum wage.  Well, except for the big wigs, who live in elegant Manhattan penthouses that a hedge fund manager might envy.  Do Broadway directors/producers/writers make as much money as hedge fund managers?


Never mind.  “Smash” marks the television acting debut of Katherine McPhee, best known for American Idol (she came in second in 2006); her signature Idol performance was a moving, nearly acoustic rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  The folks behind “Smash” seem eager to remind us of that, so the show opens with McPhee belting out the Judy Garland standard, dressed in an odd, glittery, girlish dress and surrounded by some kind of cloud. It was jarring and strange.  I was reflexively hoping that the camera would cut to Simon Cowell looking bored, or aghast. 

With that start the writers signal that there is nothing new to see here, just a re-hash of old tropes, and that’s exactly what we get.  Two young ingénues compete for stardom, Debra Messing spars affectionately with a gay guy, Angelica Huston plays the evil queen (she may have a soft heart) and the whole thing seems like Glee Grown Up without the welcome, acerbic wit of Sue Sylvester.


The one bright spot in the show, the only reason to tune back in, is Megan Hilty, who plays Ivy, a Broadway vet looking to escape the chorus line. Her nuanced, smooth-as-silk vocals and her genuine, touchingly vulnerable performance as Ivy makes Katherine McPhee’s Karen seem flat and predictable.  And if message boards, tweets, and the young people in my living room are any indication, this is a widely shared opinion.  Hopefully the producers of the show will take note, and resist the urge to turn Ivy into some sort of back stage villain in order to pump up McPhee’s profile.  “Smash” is a big, fluffy bit of entertainment, highly produced and good escapist fun for musical theater geeks.  I will watch the next episode, but if I don’t tune in for round three, well, it won’t be because the show is bad – just a bore. Mondays at 10/9 Central.  NBC