Earlier this year Foxtel aired the first season of Smash and very soon it will be time for Free To Air viewers to get their Smash on.
Channel 7 has picked up the sensational singing ‘Smash’ and has it listed as Coming Soon, there’s no indication when the series may air but speculation says maybe after the Olympics.
I remember seeing the trailers on Foxtel and thinking it could be worth a watch, I then never quite got around to it and still haven’t watched. Depending on the timeslot Channel 7 allocates to the show I may take a Free To Air crack; whether I actually end up watching or not I’m pretty happy to get a second chance.
Created by Theresa Rebeck, Smash is Executive Produced by Steven Spielberg and has been renewed for a second season in the United States.
Musical television is enjoying quite a fan following at the moment from children’s shows to the teen offerings on Nickelodeon and right up to adult viewing (not a 50 shades kind of adult, no need to get excited) with reality programs as well as Glee and now Smash.
Smash is a musical drama series centred around the creation of a new Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. The series follows the evolution of the musical from the concept at the first workshop through to the opening night lead up. As the musical starts coming together the characters need to juggle their personal lives with the production – cue the drama!
There is original new music composed by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and quite the star studded cast. An interesting piece of trivia about the series is that several of the cast have actually performed in Broadway musicals.
Debra Messing plays Julia Houston, co-writer of Marilyn and successful Broadway lyricist, a character based on the shows creator Theresa Rebeck.
Other notable cast members are Anjelica Huston as the shows producer Eileen Rand, Jack Davenport as director Derek Wills. Katharine McPhee, first known as a contestant of American Idol in 2006, plays Iowan ingenue Karen Cartwright auditioning for the part of Marilyn and Megan Hilty who plays her rival, Ivy Lynn.
There are some big names making guest appearances throughout the series as well and these include Uma Thurman, Nick Jonas and Bernadette Peters.
What do you think of musical drama? Will you be watching? Or did you catch it on Foxtel and want to share your opinions?
The only thing that puts me off getting invested in Smash is that the series 2 showrunner will be Josh Safran. He was responsible for the last couple of dire seasons of Gossip Girl after Josh Schwartz (The OC/ Chuck) stepped down to concentrate on developing Chuck. Honestly I’m not holding out much hope for Season 2 with his track record.
So that’s what happened to Gossip Girl!? I will keep watching until the bitter end – but it is definitely going downhill…
Season 6 got a 10 episode pick up ( which speaks volumes in itself), but Josh Schwartz and his partner Stephanie Savage have come back to help wrap it up after Safran’s departure to Smash. They’ve written the first episode and will, hopefully, give it a decent send off.