We recently previewed NBC’s much anticipated mid-season show, Smash, and now it looks like you won’t have to wait for its official February 6 debut to find out if the hype is legit: The network is making the full pilot episode available online!
Smash is the behind-the-scenes story of a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. The New York-centric show plays out from both the standpoint of the creative team (with Debra Messing as the songwriter and Angelica Huston as the producer) and the actresses vying for the coveted lead (Broadway’s Megan Hilty and American Idol finalist Katharine McPhee).
The pilot, which cost nearly $8 million, was produced by Steven Spielberg with original musical numbers provided by Marc Shaiman (Hairspray) and his creative/life partner Scott Wittman. NBC’s president of programming Robert Greenblatt, the first openly gay network president, is betting on the series to help revive the fortunes of the third-place network.
Is this Glee-influenced song-and-dancer the one to do it? Sing out your reviews in the comments section below.
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Adam Conway
I watched the pilot last week, something I had been greatly anticipating. If you watch any of the “making of” videos, they promote all of the talent that’s behind this series and how groundbreaking and fresh it is. My impression of the pilot, however, is that it’s a tired rehashing of every “i’ve got a broadway dream” movie I’ve ever seen. The songs are cute, and a few of the characters have an appealing energy. But based on the pilot, supposedly one of the best pilots of last year, I don’t think there’s going to be a whole lot of show-stopping going on. That being said, musical numbers or vampires seem to bring in a lot of viewers for TV shows these days, regardless of the quality of the writing. So, it’ll probably fare well.
bmocon13
I’m really excited for this show after seeing the pilot, looking forward to the rest of the season. This behind the scenes feature is pretty interesting. http://www.nbc.com/smash/video/behind-the-scenes-the-music-of-smash/1377698/
Josh
It’s like Glee, but for people with self respect.
heydrichmuller
I hated it! It’s what happens when Rachael Berry decides to move to NY to pursue a Broadway dream with bad music. Too many well-known faces: makes one feel like the show is masking its banality with famous faces…….oh wait, they are! NBC will have to keep looking because this is not a hit!
kevincorcoranjr
So stoked on this new TV show! Seems like a better alternative to some of the other music shows that have come out recently. I’ve only seen previews so far, but I really like the fact that they are tackling Broadway dreamers. Can’t wait for the first episode next week!
James
Glee is such a great gay friendly show and not many other shows besides Degrassi cover gay topics like them. I just hope they add some gay characters to Smash.