Smash – “The Cost Of Art” – Recap

This episode has been pretty darn good so far! I am so entertained!
Hope people are watching. I am impressed tonight.

im really excited for the episode tonight!! i’ve heard nothing but good things.
curse living on the west coast!! 

This episode was good but next weeks looks even better! The competition heats up.

I really enjoyed it! The show is getting better with time, still not perfect but i’m hooked.

I got home late, hubby had already taped the show (without me asking) so we could watch together! At least two people consider this appointment TV!

I love this show.  Still don’t like the Hilty girl but  I adore the rest of the cast except the assistant that annoys Debra Messing so much lol.  He annoys me too  :)

Much better epi that last week. Really enjoyed it. I love Megan Hilty! She lights up the screen and big time talent.

It is too bad that this show started out so slow because they lost a lot of viewers.  It has really picked up and I hope it can get good ratings

 I think things can actually start to turn around for this show after tonight.
It really was an impressive episode. At least for me and many others on twitter. It trended most of the hour the show was on. I really loved it!
The drama is getting so good. I was entertained every minute of it. Loved the pacing of this episode.

best episode yet!!! so amazing!!!!! 

I’m really becoming a fan of this show. I do see it as a form of Glee for grown-ups, and that’s not a bad thing.  A show with this type of production value is desperately needed. I love the NY locals of warehouses, studios, clubs and restaurants. The plot is just picking up and looks to be getting good. I think Jonas should join the Marilyn cast. And how is Ivy not the super villain yet? Twice, in one night?

I understand why people are pulling for this show, but I think it’s too little too late.  This show is sunk.  Kat McPhee is very weak, and with Megan Hilty blowing her right out of the water vocally and as an actress, it just makes no sense, IMO, that she’d be competing with Ivy in any world. 

I understand why people are pulling for this show, but I think it’s too little too late.  This show is sunk.  Kat McPhee is very weak, and with Megan Hilty blowing her right out of the water vocally and as an actress, it just makes no sense, IMO, that she’d be competing with Ivy in any world. 

For me Kat is the real star of the show. The show just hasn’t got there yet. It’s the underdog story. Ms. Iowa will (hopefully) beat out the short-cutting former Chorus Girl in the end.

Now this was an amazing show tonight!  I’m really hatin’ on Megan’s character Ivy– what a @#$$ 
Kat is a triple threat–sings, dances, & acts!  WTG Kat!

I get that, but there’s no texture in the character to get me to root for her. She’s dull. She’s pretty but she doesn’t grab my attention. I mean, she has a perfect boyfriend, a perfect family – I don’t get her struggle. JMHO and all. 

This show is getting better and better, and I see and hear more and more ppl talking about it now. YAY SMASH

Mcphee haters? That’s so 2000-late! I don’t understand people that are still saying Katharine can’t sing, or can’t act, now THAT doesn’t make any sense. Megan is a great co-star and definitely got chops, though.

Love this show!  I especially enjoy the singing and dancing parts!  And the story line is good too!  Can’t wait for more cat fighting next week! 

McPhee and everyone are doing a fantastic job!  I don’t care for the Assistant character.  Annoying!

I think Kat is great in the show

I’m really enjoying Smash, and I hope more people start to tune in. I actually think that Kat McPhee is doing a great job with both the singing and acting. However, I also agree that Megan Hilty is amazing as Marilyn and the concept of Kat’s character as competition seems like a stretch . I’m thinking (hoping!) that this is the intention of the writers; After all, Kat’s character Karen, is supposed to be the inexperienced performer who becomes more seasoned with time.

By the way, Nick Jonas did a terrific job (wasn’t expecting that!). He has a lot of charisma. The whole birthday party scene was just perfect. 

On a superficial note: Karen’s newfound friends really shouldn’t be giving her fashion advice…. 

I stand by my statement from last week that Kat McPhee is the weakest link. It isn’t that she can’t sing or dance or act, its that the others can do it so much better. The idea that she could do a better job as Marilyn than Megan Hilty is unimaginable.
Perhaps she could play a Jackie Kennedy character to Hilty’s Marilyn, but she just doesn’t fit the Marilyn personna in size, talent or aura. Casting directors usually look for a certain type when casting a role and these two are the polar extremes in physicality, acting style and singing. Its like casting Elphaba and Glinda for Wicked. Kat would be considered for Elphaba, but she is not the right type for Glinda. Megan played Glinda, but she wouldn’t be cast as Elphaba. It might be different if they were worskshopping an unknown or newly created character, but here, Hilty has McPhee beaten is all aspects.

Unfortunately we know that McPhee is ultimately going to win the role and that Hilty, if the show survives, will be off doing a real Broadway show next year. Perhaps if this show ever does make the boards like the producers hope, Hilty will be there to take the part.

I think it was my favorite episode yet. The storylines are really starting to take shape. I’m firmly in Kat’s camp, though.

Jonas will be on for four episodes this year but has let it be known that he would love to be asked back next year if the show is picked up.

See for me, I find the Ivy character completely unlikable, and I have a hard time imagining why someone would want her as the star of their musical.  The only thing she has in common with Marilyn is the harshly dyed hair. 

Also, I think Megan is hamming it up a bit too much for tv.  I didn’t know of her before this show, so she’s totally new to me.  Therefore, I don’t have any history of seeing or liking her stage performances.  Maybe that’s why it’s not so implausible to me. 

By the way, Nick Jonas did a terrific job (wasn’t expecting that!).

I agree.  He underplayed his character very effectively.  That’s a technique more often used by seasoned actors, and it rarely fails to draw audience attention to them when it’s done well.

Just finished watching the show and I must say that it has begun to reel me back in.  This episode didn’t drag, the scenes were much more pithy, and the characters have begun to be more three dimensional.  Jonas was terrific…very understated…and he really is proving to be handsome guy.  I’ll keep on watching!

Yeah, I gotta give it up to the Jonas kid – he’s loaded with talent.  How many instruments does that kid play anyway?  And, he is adorable (funny, since he was so goofy-looking when he was younger).  It appears that since the Jonas Bros. had their heyday, he’s consistently found work in the entertainment business.

That’s not any easy feat for a former Tiger Beat pinup.  So, I have to give him lots of credit for that. 

I agree it was a really strong episode and I hope that enough people are still watching or will give it another look.  For me, the show can not spend too much of each episode on who is going be play MM.  It has got to make all of the other members of the cast interesting the process of getting a musical on the stage compelling and last night was a great step forward.  

The assistant is the over the top villain.  I would like him to get hit by a bus, is that too much to ask?

Apparently, according to early reports, it had an increase in ratings!!

I am also getting hooked on “Smash” and wonder where they are going with this script.  I really enjoyed “Rumor Has It” and thought this was a strong episode.  I know there had been complaints about Nick Jonas appearing in Les Miserables” but he did such a nice job tonight.  Good show!

LOL FEB! Even by villain standards, Ellis is unusually creepy and annoying! 

Don’t get the Kat hate. 

I think that has been going on since season 5 and people tend to have very long memories.  

Just as an aside, I don’t hate Kat at all. LOL. I didn’t vote or watch AI much back in the day. Plus – never met the girl, don’t care. I’m talking about her performance.  She’s a weak actress [her pipes are fine, just kind of generic].  Mostly though – there’s nothing that ‘sparks’ about her.  And that’s a problem, because we are meant to believe that she is in competition with a powerhouse.  Which is why I say that even though they’ve stacked the deck, Megan Hilty is CLEARLY a better choice for Marilyn.  

She comes across – on the show – as petulant and dull. JMHO and all that. 

I don’t hate Kat McPhee either. I didn’t watch AI back then and I haven’t ever seen her in anything besides Community. As I said before, its just that everyone else is just soooooo much better. They have stage presence, they invest in their characters. I haven’t seen that in McPhee.

It will probably come with time and experience. She is working with some real pros here. I am sure she will use it as a learning experience.

(I mean Hilty has starred in at least two Broadway shows and ensembled in others. Of course she is going to bring more honestly and verge to the role. Her experience and training at least, is making her a better actress at the moment)

I know there had been complaints about Nick Jonas appearing in Les Miserables” but he did such a nice job tonight.

I think people basically complained about Nick playing Marius because he wasn’t Michael Ball.  I saw it on PBS and thought he did a very good job.  His reactions to Samantha Barks as Eponine when she was singing “Little Fall of Rain” with him really grabbed my attention.

I feel just the opposite. Actually, I started out rooting for Kat, because I know her from idol. Not knowing Hilty at all, I didn’t want to like her. But even tho she is playing an unlikeable character, I’m finding what a really great singer, dancer, and actor she is. And I also think in real life, she would have been the best selection for Marilyn, and Kat is too much of a reach.

Eh. I think Hilty is talented but I always though she was a little too much for the role.  In the sense that her Marilyn is all sex sex sex and I don’ see any of the vulnerability and/or yearning for love that’s supposed to underline the character. Ironically, I see that more in her portrayal of Ivy than I do her portrayal of Marilyn. I think McPhee’s Marylin came off more vulnerable.  I figured that is intentional, I think that’s the way they are supposed to play it.

Is it Hilty, or the real life director who is directing Ivy to play up the sexy Marilyn? Also, the RL director who is directing Kat to be the more vulnerable Marilyn.

I think Kat is a great singer, but her dancing doesn’t seem as natural as the other dancers. I guess Megan has a lot of dancing experience too, so her dancing looks more natural.

I think Kat and Megan will both be breakout stars from Smash. As I mentioned, I didn’t think I was going to like Megan, and even tho her character is unlikeable, I’m actually liking her (not her character). I still like Kat. I think she is beautiful and a great singer.

Is
it Hilty, or the real life director who is directing Ivy to play up the
sexy Marilyn? Also, the RL director who is directing Kat to be the more
vulnerable Marilyn.

Yeah, that’s what I mean. I think they are being instructed to play it that way, not that Hilty can’t do it. I actually like Ivy the character because I think it’s interesting how much she’s like Marilyn. Sexy and talented but needy, insecure and constantly looking for male validation while chasing fame.

I just saw that the ratings are up for this episode!  I love the theatre and Broadway and really hope this show lasts.
Kat is beautiful and has a lovely voice, but she is surrounded by much better actors. She just doesn’t seem believable as a starry-eyed dreamer from the Midwest. Maybe I’d sympathize with Karen more if she were sharing a tiny apartment with three other waitress/actresses like most aspiring performers. Even when the rest of the ensemble shuns her, that lasts about a minute and suddenly they are her new best friends. Oh well, the script is not Kat’s fault.
I agree about the annoying assistant-I want to fast forward every time he appears.
Megan Hilty has so much warmth and charisma, I can’t hate her even when we’re supposed to. She is vulnerable, a quality she shares with Marilyn.
I’m also loving Derek Wills as the evil director.
I thought Nick Jonas was really good. They should bring in more guest stars in the future to help the ratings.

Thanks for the recap Julian.  I hope you and the show will stick around for a while.   

Thanks Julian you’re wonderful, just like this show!