Smash: "The Fringe"

When I first heard the title of the new Smash episode was "The Fringe" I was all 'grrl, whaaa?' since Smash is safe and exceedingly polished (the show has always looked great and well funded whatever you want to say about the writing and acting) whereas most Fringe shows are kind of the ultimate clichés of scrappy underfunded hot messes. Surprised I am but I report that this week's episode turned out to be the best of the season thus far.

2.6  "The Fringe"
What's the buzz ♫ tell me what's-a-happening? Eileen has opted for the more commercial version of "Bombshell" and Julia is horrified that her favorite song "Never Give All The Heart" might now be cut. Derek in a petulant fit quits the show. Jimmy in a petulant fit quits his show (for like ½ a day). Karen in a dead-eyed fit (there are no other kinds for her) sneaks out to perform in "Hit List" which is kind of a back-door way of quitting her show. Julia in a sulky fit vaguely suggests she might quit her show. (Ivy is too much of a professional to quit her show but it's so bad you know she wants to...) Is all this quitting brilliant self parody and meta commentary on the episode by episode erosion of Smash's audience? more

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Linkology

Details our friend Kurt interviewed Stoker baddie Matthew Goode
Salon on the depiction of Hitchcock's misogyny and voyeurism in recent biopics
Yahoo I missed this incredible make you feel super old news: Ralph Macchio is now as old as Pat Morita was inThe Karate Kid (1984). 

Guardian celebrates the worst mothers in film history from Now Voyager through Suddenly Last Summer to The Others - pretty solid choices among this collection of 10
Cinema Blend Danny Boyle apparently not interested in being the next James Bond director
/Film collects reactions to the first 30 minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness, shown in rough cut format
Awards Daily the press release for Black Nativity, a new Kasi Lemmons picture starring Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker. Ooh, I hope it's good. On other note: how weird is it that Angela Bassett is the only member of that trio without an Oscar? 
NPR interview Rita Moreno on her career in musicals, movies and tv and her Oscar win...

I was sure that Judy Garland would probably win, because she was up for Judgment [at] Nuremburg. It was a straight role, not a musical. And I was so amazed and so surprised. Never even dreamed of doing a just-in-case little speech — 'and I want to thank Robert Wise and Jerry Robbins' — nothing! I didn't even work on anything like that, so when I got up there I did this memorable nonspeech. I said, 'I don't believe it!' And there's this pause, and then I say, 'Good lord.' And then I'm trying to think of something, and then I finally say, 'I leave you with that!'

I ran into the wings and I started to cry."

Hemlock Grove trailer

There's a lot of horror-themed tv shows on the way (this, Psycho-inspired The Bates Motel, and Hannibal) are you a Yes on any of them? Or perhaps a No or Maybe So

Smash: "The Song" & "The Read-Through"

What's happening on SMASH: They're trying to make Jennifer Hudson happen.Sometime last week between episodes four and five of Smash's ill-fated second season I had an unhappy epiphany: I was no longer looking forward to new episodes of "Smash". Last season, when everyone else was 'hate-watching' I was actually unironically enjoying. Yes, it had issues but where else were you going to see showtunes on TV? And besides, MANY shows have troubled first seasons as they find their voice. Bunheads, for example, recently leapfrogged from 'who-is-this-for?' curio to must-watch in the final episodes of its first season.

Yet, for all of my "Support the Musicals!" blog fervor, Smash is now a chore. They've basically cut the staged musical numbers and all we're left with is solos on bare stages or by pianos, usually by Jennifer Hudson. "The Song" as an episode was, and I couldn't believe it, a Jennifer Hudson concert. That was the plot! She's a fine singer but not a good actress and therefore hardly worth tuning into as the lead of a serialized scripted television. (I'm as surprised as you that the show suddenly thinks of her as the lead. I thought it was a guest arc!). Smash already fell on this sword in season 1 whilst trying to make Katharine McPhee happen. 

Ivy & Karen are reduced to back-up singers... wth showrunners?

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Bunheads: They Dreamed A Dream

SusanP here, with thoughts on the season (series?) finale of Bunheads. A lot is at stake in the episode, but as in real life, not much is fully resolved. I’ll be disappointed if this turns out to be the last episode. Not because it was a bad, but it was anticlimactic for a finale. I’m anxious to spend more time in this world with these characters. I’d hate for this to be the last hour I get.

This Week on Bunheads…
A couple of weeks ago, TFE commenter Denny noted  that Bunheads is in many ways a show about what happens when an extremely talented person doesn’t catch a break and make it big. Denny wrote:

I like to think of Michelle as an alternate universe version of Sutton Foster - one in which she's almost exactly the same (except for focusing on dancing more than singing) but somehow always manages to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to make it the way Sutton has. And this feels very true to me. Growing up in the theater world, I cannot tell you how many supremely talented people I know who have just never made it, and not through lack of trying. This thread of "what does a talented person do when they just don't make the big time?" is one of my favorite parts of the show.

Potential can only get a performer (or a person) so far in life. The show tackles this idea head-on in “Next!” [more after the jump]

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Bunheads: Gimme Shelter

Bunheads is back with the winter season’s penultimate episode. At this point, the series has built a great foundation with likeable and interesting characters. Here’s hoping the show has enough backing from viewers and ABC Family to be renewed for a summer or fall return.

"It's Not a Mint"

This Week on Bunheads…
I found this week’s installment, “It’s Not a Mint” inconsequential when compared to some of the earlier episodes of this half season.  It had the feel of a set-up episode, moving characters (and relationships) into their proper place for the winter finale. That said, there was still fun to be had and ideas to be explored, like the need for shelter and protection. The episode’s title is referring to this idea since the object that’s “not a mint” happens to be a mysterious condom that Sutton Foster’s Michelle finds hidden in the girls’ dressing room.

In what amounts to a "bottle" episode most of the action takes place at the dance studio... [more]

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