Smash

If you've been loving all the theatrics on NBC's new series Smash, then you're in luck: the musical show has just been picked up for a second season! This marks the second drama that's been renewed by the network, following Grimm's renewal just last week. I've been hooked on the diva showdown between Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty, but have you been keeping up with the Marilyn Monroe mania on Smash?

Photo courtesy of NBC

NBC's Broadway drama Smash premiered this week after what felt like tons of promotion, introducing us to a group of producers who come up with an idea for a Marilyn Monroe-themed musical. We also met the two young women who want to star in it: Karen (Katharine McPhee), the small-town girl trying to make it big, and Ivy (Megan Hilty), the capable pro who seems tailor-made for the part. The first episode is definitely consuming — I'll keep tuning in to see who wins the coveted role as Marilyn, but I'm also just as intrigued by what's going on behind the scenes with the production team (thanks to talented heavy hitters like Debra Messing and Anjelica Huston). For those who tuned in, I want to know what you thought; did Smash deserve all the hype around it? And more importantly, will you keep watching?

Photo courtesy of NBC

NBC is getting in on musical madness with new show Smash, a drama that follows the production of a musical about Marilyn Monroe and the two ingénues vying for the lead. With high production value and an ensemble cast that includes Debra Messing and Anjelica Huston, the show is a colorful, splashy, and tune-filled entrant into the midseason lineup. Before you check out tonight's premiere, check out my first impressions below.

• What it's about: The first episode charts the early development of the musical Marilyn, the brainchild of a few theater producers (including Messing and Huston). As the idea germinates, the showrunners have to make the difficult decision of who to cast as Marilyn Monroe: the seasoned, Ivy (Megan Hilty), who's also a dead-ringer for Marilyn, or inexperienced Karen (Katharine McPhee) who comes in at the last minute and knocks their socks off.
• Where it works: Former American Idol contestant McPhee is an inspired choice here; we've all heard her sing, but it turns out that she can also act. She's charming and plucky as Karen, the girl who's a waitress by night so she can nurture her dream of making it big on Broadway. I also enjoyed seeing her home life with her supportive (and dashing) boyfriend played by Raza Jaffrey.
• Where it doesn't: It's unclear how much of the musical the series will be. In the opener, we hear numbers from Marilyn and familiar tunes like "Beautiful" in auditions, but when Ivy and Karen break into song at the end of the hour, it doesn't feel that organic — or necessary.
• When it's on: Mondays at 10 p.m. on NBC, starting Feb. 6
• You might like this show if: You like Glee, but this show is even more appealing to theater fans.

See a preview for Smash and photos after the break.

NBC drama Smash is about to burst onto the small screen, and the cast and producers alighted the TCA stage today to talk about how the Broadway-set series will play out. The series follows the production of a musical about Marilyn Monroe, and stars Katharine McPhee, Debra Messing, Angelica Huston, and more chatted with reporters about the characters, the fictional play at the center of the series, and how the show isn't like Glee despite its musical premise.

• The Glee comparisons were bound to come up, which executive producer Craig Zadan was happy to address. "I don't think the show is like Glee, but we feel grateful to Glee for opening that door," he said, adding that Ryan Murphy "broke a great record" and made networks believe there was room for a show like Smash.
• The producers talked about the outline for the season, saying that season one will follow the preproduction and prep of the musical Marilyn, but it wouldn't be until season two (if Smash is renewed) that we'll actually see Marilyn having its run on Broadway.
• Steven Spielberg is an executive producer, and though he wasn't at TCA physically, we got to see a special prerecorded message from the legendary director. While he acknowledged that he's not the first person you think of when you think of stage musicals, he talked about how much he liked the drama of "the exciting world of Broadway."
• Debra Messing, who plays a producer, was naturally asked about how this experience compares to working on her last NBC series, Will & Grace. She said you couldn't compare the two series because they're "like apples and oranges," and though Will & Grace was fun, but "the amount of fun I'm having on [Smash] is so ridiculously off the charts."
• Addressing a rumor that the fictional musical Marilyn could be a real Broadway show, executive producer Theresa Rebeck dismissed the idea, explaining that the showrunners are simply "aiming to write a great television show," — but that anything could happen.
• Star Megan Hilty talked about the presence of theater stereotypes like backstabbing, rivalry, and the casting couch in the series. Hilty, who plays Ivy, a stage actress up for the role of Marilyn Monroe, is a Broadway star in real life, and simply said "It happens" when asked if the stereotypes were true for her own experience. "Those stereotypes are there for a reason," Hilty said, and added that Broadway is a minefield for a TV show. "The drama that happens behind the curtain is way more interesting than what's happening onstage."

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Upfronts news means that we're finding out about what will happen in the upcoming TV season. Each network is clearing room in its schedule by getting rid of current shows to make way for new series, like NBC, which just canceled The Event and Law & Order: Los Angeles. But let's look to the future — here are the pilots NBC has just picked up, which star a host of familiar faces like Debra Messing, Will Arnett, Amanda Peet, and more.

COMEDY

• Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea: Based on Chelsea Handler's best-selling memoir about her life as a twentysomething. Laura Prepon stars in the Chelsea role.
• Free Agents: A male and female PR agent who are both on the rebound (Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn) fight their attraction to each other in this remake of a British sitcom of the same name.
• Bent: Amanda Peet plays a divorced single mom who falls for the contractor she hired to do work on her house, played by Perfect Couples's David Walton.
• Best Friends Forever: A woman moves in with her best friend, even though the best friend is already living with her boyfriend.
• Up All Night: Christina Applegate stars as a woman juggling work and motherhood. Maya Rudolph and Will Arnett costar, and Lorne Michaels is producing.
• Whitney: Comedienne Whitney Cummings headlines this sitcom as one half of a young couple figuring out their committed relationship.

To find out about NBC's new dramas, just read more