NBC's SMASH, Season 2 -- Discussion — Page 42

"Yeah, I HATE the Hit List songs. They sound like bad 90s alt (or at least the one from this week did). "

I hate them too. I suspect the new showrunner thought he could attract a younger audience with this type of stuff rather than the classic musical numbers of BOMBSHELL.

The idea seems to be the contrast not only of generations but of approaches- I'm frankly surprised they haven't made this a plot point or even brought it up on the show. Tom and Julia are classicists, writing in a deliberately "outdated" style: tap dancing, jazz harmonies, big band sounds and old-school song genres (rather like Shaiman's own signature sound and style of choice). The songs of Hit List seem to be consciously crafted by two contemporary-mainstream pop songwriters with stage aspirations but no real background in the genre- it's made clear that the songs exist way more than the show, and they are still learning how a book "comes together."

I find the intersection of "real" mainstream music and the theatre fascinating, because after the late-Sixties schism there have been hints of a reunion but it never comes together. Can contemporary songs written authentically in the styles du jour carry dramatic weight, or must they be "theatre songs first, genre songs second" always?

I don't mind the Hitlist songs, though I think they're a bit too generic (I don't hear 90s alt-rock there whatsoever, but more rock style power ballads like Googoo Dolls' Iris type stuff--and wouldn't mind them being a bit more edgy or distinctive.) I think I like the two Pasek and Paul ones best. But I do think they were made to contrast and maybe sell on iTunes better than the SHaiman songs (Shaiman and Whittman did do the incredibly bland power ballad Can't Let Go that the two boys were meant to have written.)

As for the music not being as as strong--it might also being the writing time--S/W wrote the Bombshell score with some time to get through it, the other stuff seems to be written more quickly.

I don't feel as strongly as you, but they are generic (and show nothing of the bizarre Hit List storyline we're told they're all about--and poor little Kyle, why doe he even bother to attend rehearsals anymore except to feebly attempt to calm Jordan's character down--I mean he's not really involved creatively anymore...)

Yeah, exactly agreed about Liaisons. Did everyone basically quickly "get" what Terry was doing and instantly adjust theior performances? Dangerous Liaisons has always been a comedy of sorts, but a dark and fairly serious social comedy--and that seemed to be the point Ivy was making about his performance style, but the two songs we've seen (the Glitter and be Gay pastiche and much more this Pas ma Fautte song) seem to show it was always a bawdy farce. ANd furthermore... it's not likehis performance of the song was all that outlandish or shocking (it seemed to be similar enough to that number in Heaven on Earth that Ivy stumbled through last season which is meant to be a big hit musical.)

I guess they needed a story for Hayes' 3 episodes, and something for Ivy to do until she could go back to Bombshell but in these kinds of soapy shows it's always a bad idea to isolate characters in their own storyline with no interconnection.

Nothing about Liaisons made sense.

That last Hit List number reminded me of (what I've seen of) Ghost. - People marching around a stage screaming generic rock music.

Yes!

And I was happy this week Derek didn't fantasize an awful wig for Karen, even if he still dreams of that wind machine.

Well we apparently know that Rebecks based Julia on her, down to the scares and wanting to adopt a baby...

I dunno, I think most of them are more just "theatre people" tropes--I get what you mean about Steve Martin but I doubt he would be clueless that he signed up for a play not knowing if it was a comedy, etc.

LOL I knew you meant Martin Short, and I meant to type Martin Short, but Steve Martin came out instead lol

Katharine will have her first major post-'Smash' performance next week on the program where she was discovered.


Katharine McPhee to Appear on American Idol Next Week

To me the only thing that Smash needs to improve is their sound. Am I the only one who thinks the music too loud for the vocals?

I just got around to watching last week's episode. This was a show I couldn't wait to see and now I'm getting bored halfway through the episodes.

I agree with Whizzer about a lot of the ridiculousness of the proceedings especially the wonky timelines for the three shows. That's probably part of the reason they focused only on Bombshell in the first season.

My biggest problem this season stems from Jeremy Jordan. Watching him on this show makes me confused as to how I loved him so much on stage. Maybe it was because there wasn't such a close-up of his face in a constant snarl. The other issue is with The HIt List itself. I don't find the music to be horrible but it definitely doesn't sound like it's from a Broadway musical. Nor do I even understand what the hell that show is even supposed to be about.

I'm not even going to get into that Liaison debacle or try to understand why they think people would ever buy that Sean Hayes song on iTunes.

The writers are making the inevitable cancellation much easier to stomach if they keep this up.

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I've never really understood what the network was thinking when they cooked this idea up. GLEE for adults, maybe? I watched about half the first season, then gave up. It was like watching a show in production as filtered through a DYNASTY lens.

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