NBC's SMASH, Season 2 -- Discussion — Page 15

Yeah, I don't get the point of having Matt there either. And they didn't even let him say anything...which means they didn't have to pay him much. I also agree that they made him look unattractive. So disappointing.

Whizzer, yes! That was another moment I ranted about to my boyfriend last night. And throughout that conversation Messing's character acts like a 14 year old trying to make her case and we're supposed to think that she just can't see the "truth" about Marilyn and that Sunjata's character is just telling it like it is.

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Like I said, the show better have some closure planned for this season.


'Smash' slouches lower

^ The second season of 'Harry's Law' had ratings like these and it was able to have a complete second season. I think the best thing to do is to just have this season be the final one. I'm not sure if a cable network will want to pick it up afterwards.

Updated On: 2/20/13 at 11:49 AM

I don't think Harry's Law had the network support SMASH does, though; they also didn't have the backing of people whose credentials are as stellar as the likes of Steven Spielberg. SMASH is a series that I honestly think has a chance - small though it might be - of remaining on the air despite tanking ratings simply because of network support.

We'll see, though.

Just leaving this here.

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"Cousin Debbie, predictably, is unconvinced and acts all paranoid and defensive and clings to her terrible ideas and basically performs an interpretive dance to that BuzzFeed article we all read about how Theresa Rebeck is a monster who is single-handedly responsible for the war in Afghanistan, the melting of the polar ice caps, and, most unforgivably, a Chinese adoption plotline so dramatically dead on arrival that little Jeremy Lin–Manuel Miranda is still languishing in overcrowded orphanage somewhere in Hunan Province, while her teenage son Carpet weeps linty tears of woe on the floor of someone else’s dorm room at Bowdoin..."
The Shukert Recap

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Networks don't show episodes that they've already paid for all the time. I'm not saying that will be the case for Smash, but it's not uncommon. Just this season 666 Park Avenue was canceled with 5 unaired episodes that had already been paid for.

Same thing with Made in Jersey, although that received a Saturday night burn off for a couple weeks. Still, CBS new they could get better ratings (and ad revenue) with NCIS reruns than with new episodes of Made in Jersey.

It's not foolish to not air filmed episodes at all- granted the reruns (which have already been paid for obviously) can generate more ad revenue.

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I'm really annoyed by Daniel Sunjata's character pretty clearly being prepped as a new love interest for Debra Messing. Yes, he is very attractive, but he's also a raging jackass misogynist who was incredibly condescending to Messing's character this episode.

Actually, all the straight men on Smash are pretty much total jerks, even the "nice" ones. And yet all the women wind up sleeping with them anyway when they seemingly have no redeeming qualities, it's incredibly stupid.

666 was strongly supported and promoted by ABC. I'm pretty surprised they didn't let the final episodes air, only to be replaced by Don't Trust the B-- and Happy Ending repeats. (Last week the reran the pilot of Zero Hour in that slot for Christ's sake!)

Made in Jersey had some behind the scene drama that aided it's early demise, but it did fairly well initially given the Friday night time slot.

Networks can go on and on about how much they believe in a show all they want, but lip service doesn't mean a thing when it comes to the bottom line.

The BWW headline is very missleading- Smash Ratings take dip against tough competition?! Vegas and Body of Proof are NOT tough competition. CBS can pull in the total viewers for their hour long crime shows/dramas, but they struggle in the 18-49 market shares, which are the only numbers that matter.

Vegas and Body of Proof are two extremely weak shows, and both look to be canceled by CBS and ABC respectively by year's end. Smash should be trampling them in the rating shares, but instead they wind up in third place.

These are very, very grim facts that no network exec can argue with, no matter how much he or she believes in the show.

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But just because an episode has been shot doesn't mean it's done. They started filming in July, right? Six months before the first episode aired, five months before they sent out critic screeners?

Aside from the usual work on a TV show (editing, color correction, etc), Smash has a lot to do in the sound/music editing department. They may be shooting the last couple of episodes now, but they still have a ton of work ahead--and expense to incur--to get them ready for prime time.

I'm rooting for Smash: they've certainly piqued my interest with new characters, conflicts, musical styles, and a couple of fantastic musical numbers this season alone. But last night's exposition-laden hour was about as much fun as being a deck hand on the Titanic.

Edited to include the fact that no matter how misogynistic, reductive, or imperious Daniel Sunjata's character may be, MY. GOD. THAT. MAN. IS. GORGEOUS.

Updated On: 2/20/13 at 01:48 PM

ABC IS going to air the remaining eps of 666 Park Avenue as a 'summer series'. 666 PA also didn't have the production talent associated with it that SMASH does.

I have to say this season so far is much better, it feels like it flows and it's lightening up a bit.....and not in a camp way (though it will always be camp in nature). It's a shame that the ratings are so low but NBC will air them all. The show has only had 2 episodes so far, let's see what happens (it was just off for a week which I'm sure did not help). Also NBC need to move it, it's lead in shows (NBC disastrous comedy block) scored very very low (around a 1.1 on average), Smash needs a good lead in to rebuild faith in the show after a shaky season one that saw many Jump ship. NBC is a disaster of epic proportions at the moment.

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