NBC's SMASH, Season 2 -- Discussion- Page 56
NBC's SMASH, Season 2 -- Discussion
#1375SMASH
Posted: 4/4/13 at 3:35pm
I don't think the show is *that* concerned with making Derek's vision so different from Tom, or rather, it's not attention-detailed enough to have those conscious decisions about how the lanterns are Tom's vision and Derek would never do that. Not at all.
The whole thing with Karen is just the kind of dumb crap you can expect from network shows, networks are freaked out by the idea that a female lead (especially this female lead) could be sexual and comfortable with it. It was so dumb that Jimmy leaves through the back, it's not like she lives in a townhouse, she could have easily waited to buzz in her dad and then let Jimmy leave through the front door. Does the dad think she leaves in a girls-only apartment building? Like whatever guy is in the building must have slept with his daughter? It's just such a silly show.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#1376SMASH
Posted: 4/4/13 at 3:39pmI get not wanting your parents to be able to realize that you probably had sex within the past few hours, but yeah, I agree that the thing with the dad was kind of dumb. But everything with the dad was kind of dumb - like AV Club was saying, the way he rode her for leaving Bombshell for Hit List. Updated On: 4/4/13 at 03:39 PM
#1377SMASH
Posted: 4/4/13 at 5:22pm
" I think the moral of the story is you just need to kick someone out after you got want you want from him and not allow him to spend the night. You might actually have to learn his name in the process and that just ruins the whole thing. "
LOL Well, yes, but Karen is NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL. She obviously thought this was the start of a beautiful thing with Jimmy. Or maybe she is, and the fact that apparently they passed out from all the bunny loving at 6 or something and got an hour of sleep (I think that was the line) and then woke meant she didn't have time to send him packing. Reagardless, while completely silly (when my dad would visit *me*on conferences in Montreal and wake me up--and it did happen--I'm sure he met a few of my, err, friends) I think it's kinda nitpicky, like it or not, it seems completely within character for Karen.
#1378SMASH
Posted: 4/4/13 at 5:27pm
"What's most fascinating about this thread is that I'm discovering a lot of people don't pay attention while watching this (or possibly any other show). People are asking question after question about the simplest plot points that are explained by single lines of easily digestible dialogue. "
I agree--even some of the (multitude of) bloggers seem to miss dialogue that seems to be shoved in there, and made obvious just to clear things up. But I think it is partly how many people watch tv (full disclosure, I devote all my attention to Smash I hate to admit, but many other shows I sorta half watch while doing class work or online) and the fact that many people seem to be "hate watching" Smash which is more just watching for or waiting for something ridiculous to come on screen (and if something appears ridiculous, but was explained--albeit half assed--they jump on that plot point as well.)
I do agree with Ray though--it seems Karen's easiest solution would have been to send Jimmy out to the hall so he could leave and her dad wouldn't really know what apartment he was coming from. But Karen loves to fret and not make a decision about even important things, so I'm not too surprised (and at least they didn't go as far as the usual TV thing where she pushes him out on the fire escape in just his underwear and there's much business with her trying to hide his clothes, him trying to get home in his drawers, etc, etc cue the Smash "cute" background music--which they did use anyway.)
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#1379SMASH
Posted: 4/4/13 at 5:57pm
I'd like to be more snippy about people missing plot points, but I'm the man who hallucinated an entire murderous "Hit List" subplot that wasn't there so I'll save my stones.
I dunno, though, the show pulls me back to the "oh, it's not that bad" place here and there still, but week after week (those two episodes a few weeks back that were fun and not as brainstab-worthy as others not withstanding) this show just gets messier and more frustrating.
#1380SMASH
Posted: 4/4/13 at 6:17pm
Reading your post just got the "You envy the famous Benjamin Stones" bit from Follies stuck in my head...
I actually think the last two weeks (and the week before the week before that--I think :P ) have been more consistant, even if that consistancy has been mediocre. the structure of the various stories and the flow seems to be better done. Again, it's all faint praise, but... 8 episodes left, I dunno if they can consistantly stay more--well consistant or it will all freefall again.
#1381SMASH
Posted: 4/4/13 at 6:43pmOne of my biggest sources of irritation is when someone (usually Derek, who did it again this week) says about Karen: "She's a star". I really hate that they try to ram that down our throats when nothing we have seen her do supports that (unless singing blandly with her eyes closed and her arms over her head counts). It's like they think if they just repeat it enough we will buy it. I guess it's minor, but, man that bugs me.
#1382SMASH
Posted: 4/4/13 at 7:23pm
That's probably the worst example, but a lot of Smash storytelling (under both headwriters) has worked that way. They don't seem to trust the audience to either figure out or decide for themselves. Maybe that's the fault of some network exec thinking non theatre people might not get aspects--though since it seems to be true of the non theatre elements as much as the theatre ones, I doubt it...
Phyllis--I think your murderous subplot hallucination at least made the story of Hit List sound a bit more compelling. I don't usually give Shaiman and Wittman a lot of credit, but... to their credit, they obviously really thought out and constructed Bombshell song wise.
I suppose the Hit List composers didn't have the luxury of the time they had, and probably have never interacted with each other--but it seems obvious the songs were either just chosen from what various teams submitted or, were composed to a vague request like "We need a sorta modern Broadway, but still pop power ballad here about two people vaguely in love with each other trying to find each other--oh, don't worry we don't have the story figured out anyway so we'll just perform the song wherever we think the episode needs it."
beautywickedlover
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/07
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#1384SMASH
Posted: 4/5/13 at 1:28amTwice in one week is like a gift. I'm not tired of it, I don't give a **** what other people say. I would watch an endless marathon of Smash before I would ever watch another episode of Girls or The New Normal. There's craziness and nuttiness and dumbness and then there's a beautifully written duet for Hilty and Peters. I can live with it.
Twitter @NamoInExile
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#1385SMASH
Posted: 4/5/13 at 8:21am
I'm dumbfounded by discussions and statements like "but she COULD have sent Jimmy out into the hall and the father wouldn't have known. Of course, she COULD, but then there'd be no way the father could make the mistake of thinking Derek was the guy sleeping with his daughter. So maybe the idea of the fire escape was not necessarily the ONLY choice Karen could have made, but it was the most likely and possible one which allowed the story to continue the way they wanted it to. Big deal. While I'll agree that such plot developments have to be possible if not the most logical, who can deny that Karen also COULD have sent Jimmy out through the window. Some of this nitpicking is just plain silly.
By the way, I wish I had a nickel for every show I've seen where the "nearly discovered" lover hides in a closet awaiting his getaway. In most of those cases, he (or she)could have just as easily gone out into the hall as well -- but then there wouldn't have been that extra element of tension -- sort of like escaping via fire escape.
Oh, and by the way, Jimmy was just getting out the window when the father actually came into the apartment. Before that he was still busy putting on his pants. Tell us again how he could have gone out the apartment door instead and the father wouldn't have seen him coming out that door?
Updated On: 4/5/13 at 08:21 AM
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#1386SMASH
Posted: 4/5/13 at 12:37pmI would like to propose several more posts thinking about ways Jimmy might have gotten out of the apartment. I think the angel from Angels in America should have dragged him up through the ceiling. Then, when the father saw the The Diva up in the air on the silk ropes during the performance from Hit List, he could have mistakenly assumed Katharine was a vagetarian.
Twitter @NamoInExile
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trixigold
Understudy Joined: 12/24/12
#1387SMASH
Posted: 4/5/13 at 1:58pm
I dunno, Karen is a girl, not a guy. And her father is not her mother. It makes perfect sense to me she'd not want her dad to see Jimmy. We live in a society with a double standard for women vs. men, and also, it's a little weird for her to share that kind of info with her father. Her mother, maybe, but not her dad.
Besides which, she introduced her parents to Dev, whom she was living with but not married to. So it's not like she's completely ashamed to admit to having a relationship with a man she's not married to. However, Jimmy is a fling, not a relationship. It also is revealing that she doesn't think much of the potential of Jimmy to ever develop into the type of serious relationship she had with Dev.
yankeefan7
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/12
yankeefan7
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/12
#1390SMASH
Posted: 4/5/13 at 6:57pmPhyliss Rogers Stone - IMO it makes perfect sense that Karen's father gave her a hard time about leaving "Bombshell" for "Hit List'. A man of his age and background is probably more comfortable with his daughter doing a more typical Broadway show about somebody famous that he knows.I think from a parent perspective Karen's chance of becoming a "star" (and getting a steady paycheck) would be better in a show like "Bombshell" which has more money behind it and experienced writers.
jacobsnchz14
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/06
#1392SMASH
Posted: 4/6/13 at 9:08pmI have a question. Since Ivy has the lead role of Marilyn, who is her understudy? It's possible that she will get into a diva snit and walk off, at some point. I mean, the producers should have their bases covered. Just wondering....from RC in Austin, Texas
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
Tag
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/19/05
#1394SMASH
Posted: 4/6/13 at 9:24pmI liked Karen's outfit for her Hit List number a lot, and I don't think she's every looked better. I can't say something nice about McPhee without something bad, so the lip syncing was terrible tonight. I don't know if that's her or the sound editing guys, but it was very off. It was the first Hit List song I've liked though.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#1397SMASH
Posted: 4/6/13 at 9:39pmI felt so bad for Tom when he realized that he wasn't invited to Ivy's birthday party. Talk about awkward! from RC in Austin, Texas
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
mc1227
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/07
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