Smash: Pilot

Tonight, after months of promos and a couple weeks of it already being available online, Smash makes it's debut. Now, since it's been online for a few weeks, I've already seen it (a couple times) and so will be talking about it now. If you're reading this and haven't seen it yet, some mild spoilers follow, though nothing that major.

The Premise, Yo!:

Smash is the story of Julia and Tom, a successful Broadway writing duo who are planning on taking a break from that whole scene, when they're inspired to do a musical on the life of Marilyn Monroe. They do a demo with Ivy Lynn, a dancer (and seasoned Broadway performer waiting for her big part) from their most current show, just for fun, but it's soon leaked online and becomes a sensation. Before they know it, they have a producer, and a director (Though not everyone is happy with the choice of director) and are holding try-outs to find a Marilyn. Tom favours Ivy Lynn for the role, but Karen Cartwright, a unknown from Iowa trying to make it in the theatre world (with little success) also catches everyone's eye, and gets a callback, which goes well (Though Ivy's goes well too). Karen and Ivy are now in competition for the lead role. In addition, there's a lot of personal stuff and subplots going on, like how Julia's involvement in the musical strains her plans to adopt a child with her husband, and how producer Eileen is going through a divorce, which could have serious consequences for the financing of the musical.

I Liked This: First things first, Smash is definitely, definitely different from Glee. And that's a good thing. The world can barely handle one Glee, let alone two of them. The world of broadway is definitely a good idea to base a series on, and based on this pilot, Smash is off to a great start. The characters are all fairly grounded and easy to invest in. Karen (played by Katharine McPhee) in particular, is very likeable and easy to root for. The writing is solid. Most of the conflict introduced so far feels natural and it should be interesting to see this all play out over the course of the season. And also, the songs are great, and staged beautifully. The climax of the episode with all the characters involved in the play heading for callbacks, while Karen and Ivy sing original song Let Me Be Your Star is very powerful, incredibly cinematic, and a great way to conclude the pilot. And The National Pastime is just a delight. The pilot also does a good job setting everything up, while remaining entertaining in and out of itself.

But...: The pilot does drag in places. The adoption subplot isn't that interesting, and seems kind of superfluous so far. And Karen's parents are pretty cliche oppressive parents right now.

The Bottom Line: Overall, Smash makes a strong first impression, with a (mostly) great pilot. Here's hoping the show only improves as it goes on.

Grade: 85% (Great)

Memorable Moments

-One quick thing: I will be talking about Smash every week. Unless there's some kind of crazy unforseen circumstance of course. I love me a good musical and Smash is set up to be a good musical.