Monday Ratings: The Voice Down Slightly, Smash Falls More

No second season for Smash…poor Kat.

The Voice had good ratings last night. However, ratings keep falling. Battle rounds will be here soon & those episodes usually don’t do as well in ratings as the blind auditions. I guess we will see if the battle rounds will effect ratings like they did last season.

Smash isn’t a bad show. I think NBC needs to move it to a different night. It doesn’t fit with The Voice. If ratings don’t improve, I could see it getting canceled. Even though NBC has many shows with the same ratings, I think Smash takes more money to make the show considering there’s many stars that need to be paid their salaries. I wished this was Kat’s big break, but it looks like this won’t be it.

Oh no. Smash is becoming my guilty pleasure. This show was always going to be a tough sell. I think the show needs a mini overhaul and it could do okay.

The Voice’s ratings having some drop off is to be expected, but these drops are very small so it’s actually holding up well IMO. It’s also acting like a 2 hour show is supposed to act by pulling in significantly higher ratings in its second hour. Idol hasn’t been doing that at all, which may say something about the public’s willingness to check out the show beyond its hardcore audience. I don’t think it’s a good long term sign for Idol, though the Wednesday episodes will probably still end up the number 1 show, since the Voice is unlikely to keep these ratings this high after the auditions are over.

Smash is tanking fast. It is a question of where it stops falling at this point. I like the show! I hope it stops dropping soon.

Wow, huge difference between 8 and 9. But huge drop-off at 10. Funny thing is – the competition was higher at 9 as well, so I guess more people were watching TV in that hour, or only watching cable at 8?

As for Smash, I guess maybe 10 pm is not a good place for it? What about 9 pm on another night of the week (such as Thursday)? NBC needs a LOT more new shows, maybe it is time for them to totally revamp?

I agree the drops are small. I’m just saying the blind auditions usually have the best ratings & the battle rounds are where ratings drop. Battle rounds last season dropped about 2 million total viewers after the last blind audition episode. One battle round episode was 4 million total viewers down from the blind auditions episodes. The Voice can’t have that happen this year. So hopefully, they improved their battle round episodes to keep viewers watching.

I agree it’s not a good sign for Idol in the long-run that it’s not getting more people to tune in. I think it depends on the contestants that are in the top 12 like any year. I think if there are contestants like Adam or Cook that are interesting the buzz will get the casual fans to tune back in. I think the hardcore fans will keep watching no matter if the talent isn’t interesting or talented. However, the contestants are very talented so far. I’m unsure if they have any buzz or are interesting to get casual fans to tune back in & that’s partially the problem.

Geez, if they judge those ratings on whether to cancel or not, guess my favorite show Castle is in BIG trouble!

It is kind of like a poor production of Ugly Betty – but missing humor or drama.  The best parts are the imagined broadway stage bits – like the Mr and Mrs Smith number. I initially thought it just needed time to create a story line but I am beginning to think that it is too disjointed and all over the place. 

Can’t help it – I like Kat McPhee and tried to get into SMASH, but I find it incredibly boring.  Sorry Kat.

Idk, ratings were weird last week and seem to be a little more normal this week. I think on a normal week idol would have went up it’s 2nd hour. But again, ratings were weird last week, so we will see what happens this week. Idol has still consistently been beating it on Wednesday demos and both Thursday and Wednesday in total viewers. Not trying to take anything from the voice’s numbers, because they are great, just pointing out the weird ratings last week. Of course, I could be 100% wrong lol.

I wonder what it will look like when DWTS starts? Both competition shows. Especially when DWTS starts when they are doing those battle rounds.

I’m a singing/theater addict, and even I have no desire whatsoever to watch SMASH after the big dose of The VOICE.  I watched Episode 2 on Sat., and will do similar this week.  The time slot could be a large part of the problem.

Yeah I agree. If the cast is buzzy the casual viewers could tune back in. I don’t know if this group can pull it off but I suspect they will. They really just have to keep enough people watching to keep the show number 1 to avoid awful headlines for Idol. But still, I think Idol might have some real problems next year.

I wonder what it will look like when DWTS starts? Both competition
shows. Especially when DWTS starts when they are doing those battle
rounds.

I think The Voice will take a hit, but hopefully it won’t be too big of one.

The thing is The Voice leads with its most compelling phase (the auditions) while Idol tends to get exciting during the actual voting rounds if the cast is good. So while they are tied now, Idol could be in the better season-long position with a good cast IMO. It also helps that Idol’s setup allows people to be really really invested in the contestants by the time the voting starts. On The Voice you’ve only seen the contestants twice when the voting starts. I think that’s part of the reason things sort of slowed down by that point last year.

Watched Smash for the first time last night.  Characters are dull as dirt, acting is no better than if I watched a high school production - except for Angelica Houston who was pretty much the only one with any personality at. all.  The script was lame/insipid/boring/uninteresting and the editing was choppy and disconnected.  The only thing it was good for was to make me sleepy to head for bed. Just horrible. Is this what TV drama has become lately?  Sads.

I love Smash and so hope it isn’t cancelled and I’m no Kat fan, but think shes doing a really good job in this.  I too think its the wrong time slot.   I really didn’t dislike the battle rounds last year on voice, although I agree the blind auditions are the draw.  Their talent is much better this year too.  I really liked Mathai last night.  She’s saucy, as my great grandfather would’ve said, lol.

Idol will take a hit next year if the voice goes on twice a year, but it will spell even bigger problems for the voice. The voice going on twice a year will be overkill and suddenly their ratings will be down.

I haven’t watched a single episode of Smash but just by looking at the ratings since the season premiered, if things for the show don’t start to improve soon, then I think NBC may pull the plug in just a matter of a few episodes.

I think the Voice is doing pretty well at the moment but lets see what happens when they try the DWTS formula of two seasons a year.  I still think that’s a horrible idea since the show will be going up against DWTS in the fall.  It will be interesting to see which show ends up surviving when the dust settles.

I like Smash, but mainly for reasons other than Kat.  Like Megan Hilty, Christian Borle (Tom) and love Jack Davenport (Derek).  Debra Messing is a favorite actress, but her character has issues.  Unfortunately, I find my interest waning when Kat is on screen, even though she’s a good singer, actress and dancer, IMO she just seems to lack that “star” quality to carry a show.

Some TV series seem like they’d make a really good two-hour movie rather than a drawn-out week-to-week, month-to-month affair.  Such is the case with Smash.

I love Smash but do fear it is going down the same road to cancellation as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, also a cerebral drama on NBC on Monday nights which I loved. More proof that I tend not to have the same viewing tastes as that of most of America’s TV viewing public I guess.

I don’t find it slow, and I do find it well acted.  It is strange to think that so many Tony, Emmy and (1) Oscar winners are said to be doing a poor job acting. (Kat McPhee is certainly the weakest link here by far) A step above the procedural crime dramas which basically retell the same murder mystery with the same faux tension between the leads/love interests each week. Look for the big name or familiar face and you have the criminal before the first commercial break, and know nothing is going to happen between the leads until sweeps. That to me is boring!

Interesting point about it being too much singing and dancing for audience members who also watch The Voice. I don’t watch anything other than recaps the next day so I hadn’t even considered that.

Smash is losing because it is up against the hottest show on Monday nights-Hawaii Five-0.  That show has crushed anything on Monday night at 10PM since it started airing. Smash will need to be moved if it is to survive.

Agreed. I hope its simply moving the the fall instead of airing twice a year. :(

Some TV series seem like they’d make a really good two-hour movie rather than a drawn-out week-to-week, month-to-month affair.

^^This!^^  I looked forward to Smash before it started, even for more reasons than Kat’s presence in it.  But the show is starting to wear thin and lose me.  With efforts to keep things at least somewhat realistic, there is a lot of boring here.  Even if it held my attention for now, I can’t see where it could go.  The musical would open on Broadway at some point.  What then?  It either flops or is a hit.  The worst thing that usually happens if it gets a long run is somebody gets a cold.  To have a strong continuing story line, they would almost have to depart from reality.  Or maybe the musical would close after abysmal reviews result in too many empty seats and everybody could start all over again, working on the next “smash.”

Face it, this is a chick show.  Without the men, they can’t get the ratings.

I agree. 10 is too late for SMASH. 9 is much better for the audience they want–young people fantasizing about makin it big.

Also, I agree with people about the writing. The people are so realistic that they are dull. Example–that scene in which the blond asks her friend if she thinks she got the part by sleeping with the director? What a waste of 2 minutes! That’s a question that should be asked during a scene about something else as a surprise left turn. The acting seems good–I believe the people–but the writing needs to be tighter and jam-packed with action. Example–someone needs to get fired from their day-job, and getting foreclosed on, and a dancer needs an injury. Things that really do happen but more condensed action than real life because it’s only one hour per week.

I definitely couldn’t take twice a year.  That would be too much.

Oh, to have the perfect televised singing talent competition, with Idol’s versatile talent, X-Factor’s $5 million prize, the intellegence and constructive criticism of The Sing-Off’s judges’ panel, and the judges’ chemistry of The Voice.  Sigh.  Dreams….

The original concept was to start work on a new musical after this one was on the boards.

I guess I need to tell my husband he can’t watch it anymore.

I have found Smash to be dark and unpleasant.  I really like Kat but the best character is Angelica Hueston.(sp?)  I usually run a tape while I’m watching because it puts me to sleep.  Then I watch it later in the week.  

I said before, I thought the time slot would kill SMASH. But the real killer is the show itself, its dreadful outside of the musical numbers. 

Are the ratings pretty much back to normal this week for the shows? Last week almost all the shows were down.

As I said, I really like Smash and think it’s a brilliant show. I do think 10pm is a hard time to get high ratings. Right now they’re just depending on people that watch The Voice to keep watching Smash, but the truth is that a lot of the audience probably want to go to bed after watching The Voice. Moving to a different night with a different time will definitely boost the ratings a bit.

Kat is hanging in there with some big names/stars.   So if the show doesn’t make it, I wouldn’t blame Kat.  I would wonder why these big names didn’t carry it.  So something is wrong there.  :(

Oh, to have the perfect televised singing talent competition, with Idol’s versatile talent, X-Factor’s $5 million prize, the intellegence and constructive criticism of The Sing-Off’s judges’ panel, and the judges’ chemistry of The Voice. Sigh. Dreams….     

This has to be the post of the day!  What a GREAT summary!!!

Oh I hope people aren’t comparing SMASH  to Studio 60 — Studio 60 was soooooo pretentious and over acted and frankly just plain BAD.    I don’t get that impression from Smash at all.  It’s smart, accessible, real.   But I missed it last night b/c it’s on too late for me.

McPhee is spot on with her character.  She doesn’t seem like she’s acting at all…very natural.

It’s opposite land over here. LOL. I think McPhee is irritatingly bad as an actress because she doesn’t act.  She sits there and poses.  And I loved Studio 60.  The characters were smart and witty and alive. 

Smash already feels dead to me. Deadly boring, IMO. 

In my opinion Smash’s main problem is that the production numbers are far more interesting than the plotlines or most of the characters. 

My sense is that Katherine McPhee seems natural onscreen (which would be a plus in any other production) whereas Messing and some of the others are overacting painfully. Bad direction too. Take Messing’s teenage son. He’s never given anything to do in a scene. He sits around the kitchen eating bananas. He apparently has no friends, no teen life of any kind other than to hang to forward the plot. At one point Messing has a scene with him in an impossibly big and immaculate backyard. Hey, this is NYC–the most expensive real estate on the planet. Nobody has that big–or grit-free–a yard in Manhattan. You’d never guess it watching Smash. Or take Kat’s bf. He blows up because she’s late meeting him at a restaurant. Where did that come from–except again to forward the plot? And who’s paying for that big NY apartment she shares with him? Not Kat since she’s a low-paid waitress who earns just about enough to cover the groceries. So why the finickiness about her bf supporting her for a while–he has clearly already been picking up the tab for awhile. Nothing at all real about the acting or the writing or the show in general. 

I agree that Messing’s acting has not been the greatest.  I do love Jack Davenport though.