'Dancing With the Stars,' 'Smash' given GLAAD Media Awards

The first phase of the GLAAD Media Awards were handed out in New York City on Saturday night, with winners named in 27 of 35 categories. The rest of the awards will be handed out at additional ceremonies in Los Angeles on April 21 and in San Francisco on June 2.

Among the winners in the TV realm were "Smash" producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who were awarded the Vito Russo Award for outstanding work promoting equality for the LGBT community. In "Smash," musical writer Tom Levitt (Christian Borle) is gay, and his love life is an important part of the show.

During his acceptance speech, Zadan spoke about his experience producing another work for TV, "The Reagans." "When we did 'The Reagans,' we had death threats for telling the truth about that president's outright refusal to acknowledge the growing AIDS crisis in America," he said. "We would not have survived that ordeal, I must point out, without the help of GLAAD. They got us through the political firestorm leveled against us by the Republican National Committee. So we got to see firsthand what GLAAD's capable of accomplishing when they mobilize the troops, and thank God for them."

"Dancing With the Stars" took home the award for outstanding reality program. The ABC dance competition show was previously recognized by GLAAD last fall when it featured transgender advocate Chaz Bono as one of its contestants. The award was accepted by Carson Kressley, the openly gay TV host who also danced in the competition last fall.

The HBO movie "Cinema Verite" was named outstanding TV movie or miniseries. It featured the story of Lance Loud, the gay son of parents who agreed to have their lives filmed during the 1970s, in what became an early precursor to reality TV. Thomas Dekker portrayed Loud, who died from complications of AIDS in 2001.

In the world of TV journalism, reporter Josh Elliot picked up the award for outstanding TV journalism segment for his ABC World News report on the battle against bullying. "Anderson Cooper 360" won outstanding TV journalism - newsmagazine for a story on the "Sissy Boy" experiments. And "The Oprah Winfrey Show" won outstanding talk show episode for its show on people coming out of the closet on the her show.

Other big winners included Lady Gaga, the film "Pariah" and gay high school student Katy Butler, who has pushed to have the MPAA change its R rating for the documentary "Bully."

The awards were hosted by "Glee's" Naya Rivera and Cory Monteith.

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— Patrick Kevin Day

Photo: GLAAD Awards hosts Naya Rivera and Cory Monteith. Credit: Fernando Leon / Getty Images.

The show must go on: NBC renews 'Smash'

NBC's theatrical drama "Smash" is getting a curtain call.

The show, which follows the production of a musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe, has been renewed for a second season.

"Smash" made its debut in early February and is averaging about 7.7 million viewers. However, it is the network's highest rated drama among adults 18-49 and attracts a desirable audience for advertisers.

The show's stars include Debra Messing, Katherine McPhee and Jack Davenport.

Given that the show's producers include Steven Spielberg and that it is a pet project of NBC Entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt, the renewal was not really a surprise.

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— Joe Flint

Photo: NBC's "Smash." Credit: NBC.

'Smash' recap: Workshop through the pain

“Smash” is quickly dividing itself into two shows, splitting like a set of conjoined twins who once worshiped at the altar of the Great White Way into separate beings that pray to competing gods -- that of Broadway and, well, that of “Glee.”

On the one hand, you’ve got your total theater nerd wish fulfillment, what with Bernadette Peters swanning in to drop some Momma Rose on us for basically no reason other than that being the fantasy of every Tom and Jenny who went through puberty at drama camp. On the other, you’ve got a madcap melodrama with no real consistency in which the stars belt Top 40 hits with invisible backup singers and an Auto-Tune dial and everyone is plotting against everyone else. The “Glee” bug has finally crept into the foundations of “Smash,” and it’s not the best development. 

What the show promised to us, in its subtle way,  was that it would be the anti-“Glee,” the grown-up alternative to seeing teenagers angry-sing Adele at each other. This is the epilogue, the world after Rachel and Kurt move to New York and are inevitably weeded out by superior talent -- this was supposed to be the tale of that talent. (Side note: Don’t you love imaging Kurt and Rachel as the token ensemble friends of some ingenue someday? It’s their destiny!)

But “Smash” is getting scared of being too insidery, too tailored to show people, and so the producers drop in radio hits and “OC”-level soapsuds. And at the same time, it doesn’t want to lose the small-but-necessary core audience of theater obsessives. So what I’m saying is, this is a show that has Katharine McPhee covering Colbie Caillat in one scene and Bernadette Peters giving Tony Award realness in the next. It’s a little bipolar. But as Eileen might say, “I know from bipolar -- I work in the theater. Now pour me another $7 martini, you handsome barkeep!”

So, the workshop. Deep breaths, everyone, this is an important day. And like all important days on television, everything is going wrong. The boiler is overheating all those Nederlanders and Shuberts, who arrived in the wooliest of suits, for maximum discomfort. Julia is dumping Michael Swift yet again, after his toddler turned her cuckolding ovaries to mush. Ivy is a quivering ball of insecurity because her grande dame mother is a master underminer, and Eileen is trying to juggle breaking into the building’s innards and a hot flirtation session with her vodka pusher.

All things considered, the workshop isn’t a total failure, though there are too many slips and crashes. I actually liked this part of the episode, because it felt like a real Broadway moment; workshops really do happen in dance studios with couches for props, and they aren’t perfect. All the musical has to do is show potential.

After hearing all the songs we’ve heard before in one place (along with the addition of Michael/Joe’s tearful kiss-off number), I can see how producers could suggest that “Marilyn” needs some more work before hitting the stage. There are some beautiful moments in the songs, but the book is wobbly, and there isn’t a number that feels fresh and new enough to dazzle. Of course, maybe that’s because Ivy fizzled like a bath bomb once her mother arrived to steal her energy, or because Karen was backstage, secretly sucking the sparkle out of Ivy’s eyes like a vampire. Why go to a meeting with Mr. Raskin when you can subconsciously sabotage a low-stakes workshop instead?

'Smash' recap: Broadway or bar mitzvah?

Mazel tov, Smashers! In a way, the Long Island bar mitzvah that took over way too many scenes of “Smash” Monday night is in its own way an apt metaphor for the show itself: In both there is a lot of insecure voice cracking and an awkward rehearsed performance before everyone dances and pretends they are having a good time. At least in a bar mitzvah (and I know from bar mitzvahs) the vocal break is an accepted part of the routine; a boy is not a man until he goes through puberty on stage in front of his great aunt Esther. In the “Smash” world, a vocal chord blip means a full-on nervous breakdown and a burgeoning drug addiction. Strap on your yarmulkes, folks, this show is going down fast.

What happened this week? I feel like at one point this show was supposed to be about the making of a Broadway show. That’s what the promos sold us, right? I can’t be the only one who came into this whole thing expecting more dancing and less cuddling on a bed talking about minimalist decor. But where we once thought we were getting a story of Broadway, we are just getting a lot of background D-rama about the way of broads, and let me tell you, all the broads on this show are train wrecks right now. And not in the “hey, it’s fun to watch the crash” way. We’re talking such messiness that I don’t know who to root for anymore.

Ivy may have had her triumphant moment of girl power, but it was also as self-destructive a career move as she’s ever made. Karen is possibly getting a record deal from a Jewish fairy godfather, though in general she’s so unprepared for every opportunity life throws at her that she doesn’t know her hava from her nagila. Julia is wandering through Manhattan in just a pajama top.

And Eileen. Don’t get me started on Eileen and the fact that she is now BFFs for life with Ellis and his slimy email-stealing sidekick (do those two belong to a secret brotherhood of smarminess?). Or the fact that she loves a dive bar so very much that she visits it twice in a week, mostly because she has become addicted to playing Big Buck Hunter. I’m just stating the facts here. That’s where they went with Eileen: Big Buck Hunter.

Now, I don’t know what kind of person I would be if I said I hadn’t dreamed of seeing Anjelica Huston, the goddess of class and elegance (and acting her age), pretend to be a hipster. The thought is just so funny and bizarre; it’s an "SNL" parody waiting to happen. And my wish was granted! Unfortunately, this is no sketch. I am supposed to take Eileen’s desire to get wasted on well-vodka and flirt with bartenders half her age at a place called Bushwack’s very seriously (side note: Does the name imply that this beloved dive exists in Bushwick, Brooklyn? This show has no sense of New York geography at all, if so. Eileen doesn’t do Brooklyn).

This is her post-divorce Rumspringa; you see, she has had an awakening. Some women go to the Bahamas, others buy a Porsche. Eileen is moving to the daring Lower East Side (where most hipsters were priced out years ago; she will be living among other millionaire divorcees, but that’s besides the point) and shooting at fake deer. I think the show wants us to see her folly as liberating -- an aging woman takes on the town, to hell with everyone above 50th Street! -- but I am mainly depressed by it. As a girl who spent much of her early 20s standing around Big Buck Hunter in bars like Bushwack’s, I was always told that one day “it gets better.” Apparently, it does not.

'Smash' recap episode 5: What would Marilyn do?

OK, “Smash,” we get it. Marilyn Monroe -- in the minds of your creative team anyway -- was a sultry slinky sex kitten who was eaten alive by her own deep insecurities, revealing cracks in the otherwise vavoom veneer that led to alcohol, drugs, and likely suicide. She was a blinding talent who couldn’t feel safe, a screen gem who lost her way. She was undercut not only by the men who refused to see her as anything but a toy, but by herself, every day. Every mirror she looked into became her enemy; Norma Jean morphed into Marilyn, who morphed into a gorgeous fragile harbinger of heartbreaking self-destruction.

Wait a minute. We could be talking about Ivy, right? Or Karen? Jig's up, “Smash” screenwriters, we know what you are up to. Thanks to the powers of overwriting, we now know that the two ladies vying for the part of Marilyn are Marilyn. Ivy and Karen are slowly becoming wedded to Norma Jean’s psyche for the sake of a meta-storyline that happens to be both the laziest and best thing about the show at the same time. Without the whole Monroe’s ghost energy buzzing between the starlets, the show is just Debra Messing yelling and kissing and Angelica Huston forgetting how to use a computer. We need the Marilyn drama; it is “Smash’s” raison d'être, the covenant we signed when we agreed to devote a few months of our lives to this thing. And yet ... it’s only episode five and I find myself feeling bombshell fatigue. Aren’t you? Let’s have some real talk.

Marilyn Monroe is fascinating to us because she was so enigmatic; a tough nut to crack. The nut also happened to be stunning and clever, and taken together, the combination was almost lethal. Filtered through the “Smash” machine, however, the grand legend of Marilyn starts to taste as weak as deli coffee.

Ivy and Karen -- and everyone else in their orbit -- are constantly chattering about what Marilyn “would do”  in any situation (note to NBC: make WWMMD bracelets immediately), and this familiarity they feel with her, as if they are taking her very place in the pantheon of stars, diminishes her essential mystique. It’s kind of like talking about "Fight Club." When Ivy Lynn stands in front of Karen and tells her Marilyn had a certain pizazz that couldn’t be taught, it just sounds embarrassing coming out of her mouth. Real stars don’t stand around talking about what real stars do. They just command a stage, fill a room, make themselves impossible to ignore.

That both of the candidates for the leading role feel they need to “become” Marilyn so much as to constantly rock a near-suicidal inferiority complex doesn’t feel like a tribute to Monroe’s glory, or even to her real-life problems. Just as Tom and Julia are fictionally exploiting Marilyn to write their opus, so “Smash’s” producers are constantly invoking her spirit simply to make us feel something for the main characters, and it’s getting old fast. If this sounds cynical, so be it. Play with iconic Hollywood matches, sometimes your show is going to get burned.

All that over-thinking aside, we can now proclaim episode 5, “Let’s Be Bad,” as the episode where everything got really dark all of a sudden (and Ellis didn’t even have to be evil!). To wit: Ivy has now completely melted down to a masochistic puddle, Karen is doing one-boob flashdances to her own reflection while her boyfriend possibly shags a reportress with an unpronounceable name, Tom and his dreamboat lawyer have bad chemistry, Derek reveals himself to be the worst kind of misogynist (one who claims to be dating his work), and Julia, when she is not delivering shrill mom speeches or arranging Frank’s 1,000 flights to teacher camp, is having an affair right in front of her teenager. And spurred by the sweet stylings of Leon Russell, no less. When all it takes for a forbidden ex to lure you back is to sing some tepid white-guy soul on your stoop, you didn’t really want to resist this person. In fact, it would have been easier to dismiss Swifty within seconds of that cheesy noise, but Julia preferred instead to snog in front of her entire neighborhood. The smart choice.

'Smash' recap: Let's have a Broadway intervention!

Well, that is more like it! And by that I mean, this episode was the very smashiest of “Smash” episodes that we’ve gotten so far, in that it delivered on all of the glitzy promises that the promos running for six months before the show aired dangled before our faces.

We got two original songs (OK, one and a half), we got a celebrity guest star (who also happens to be on Broadway! Revel in the cross-promotion, Nick Jonas’ agent!), we got the inevitable Adele cover out of the way, we got Anjelica Huston staring at Degas in a room by herself, and most importantly, we got the return of the very thing this whole shebang was sold on, the battle for the Marilyn crown.

Sure, Ivy has the mantle now, but if she keeps doing that thing she loves to do involving pointing out all of her shortcomings in front of everyone who matters, then belty-blatty Karen will surely get a shot at top billing. Don’t you just love seeing two deeply insecure women clawing at each other? Which is to say, congratulations, “Smash,” you have returned to form, or whatever it’s called when a show that has only been on for four episodes and took a huge nosedive early on slowly starts to make a comeback. The bitchy froth is what people signed on for -- bitchy froth with a soundtrack. And Steven Spielberg gives the people what they want.

What Spielberg & Co. are not delivering is an accurate picture of what the development of a Broadway show is really like -- let’s be clear about this. “Smash” takes place in a fantasy world where actresses who have no credits are seriously considered for principal roles and cater waiters suddenly know the lyrics and dance moves of shows in secret development.

'Smash' recap: A Bruno Mars musical and a new Joe DiMaggio

Welcome to Episode 3 of "Smash." Many critics believe it is around a show’s third episode that the whole thing sinks or swims; the big hype has died down but the writing energy is still new. The actors have relaxed into their parts, the writing team is used to staying up all night together to make a plot work. We’re ready to judge. If a show feels old or grating by week three, it’s likely that it’s not going to reboot itself in time for a back-end pickup. If it feels fresh and shiny new, then there’s hope yet. Episode 3 is the Groundhog Day of new programming.

I think that one should give a show an entire season to find its voice -- there are so many moving parts in making television come together that it's a shock when anything feels coherent right away -- but I see the point of the exercise. The first two weeks of a show run on pure adrenaline and whatever fumes are left over from the marketing campaign. The third is for satiating the new fans, the bright eyes who are just hooked enough to come back for more, the willing souls who punched “Smash” into their DVRs and pressed “record season” as an act of faith.  The doubters have departed for "The Bachelor" (or let’s be honest, for "Drag Race"), and the faithful remain.

But the third episode is also for snaring the latecomers, who just heard about this zazzy show about Broadway that has that one girl from "American Idol" and that woman from "Will & Grace" in it.  So, a lot is riding on this thing.

Here’s what I have to say about that: Get it together, “Smash.” I know there was a lot of pressure going into this, but there was no reason to drop the ball in an episode titled “Joe DiMaggio.”

'Smash' recap: They cast Marilyn Monroe in Episode 2?

Hello, you wild Magnolias. How has it been a week since we met strivy Ivy and clueless Karen and their closets full of adorable Danskin leggings? I feel like we just heard the “Pick Me Please” belty refrains of “Let Me Be Your Star” just yesterday. Oh, wait. What’s that you say? We did hear it yesterday? They used the song in both the first and second episodes? But I thought "Smash" was going to deliver us at least two completely original 11 o'clock showstopping numbers every week! Well then. This could be a long season. 

All repetitions aside, this week did offer one surprise. They up and cast Marilyn. And you thought the McPhee-Hilty claw-down was going to last another 13 episodes.

No, only on "RuPaul’s Drag Race" does one have to wait three months to see a woman in a platinum wig lip-synching for her life crowned queen. On "Smash" they give you the satisfaction in Week 2. (Sidenote: Pitting those two shows against each other is a scheduling mistake of epic proportions. Know your demo, NBC.)

Turns out all it takes to land the Broadway role of a lifetime is a library card, a dressing room mirror in which to practice creepy lip-stability tricks, and some overwrought scenework culminating in a Freudian breakdown of your character’s deeper motives (the Raquel Welch Memorial Award for pout-acting goes to Megan Hilty this week). Oh, and bonking the director. Never forget bonking the director.

NBC wins Monday ratings with 'The Voice' and 'Smash'

Here's something you don't see often: NBC had a very good Monday in the ratings.

Coming off a record-breaking Super Bowl on Sunday, the network roared back Monday night with the second episode of its singing contest "The Voice," which led directly to the premiere of its new Broadway drama, "Smash," starring Katharine McPhee. NBC easily won the night in key ratings categories.

The two-hour "Voice," continuing the blind-audition process, scored big, averaging 17.7 million total viewers overall and a big 6.6 rating/16 share among viewers ages 18 to 49, according to Nielsen. The numbers were so good they appeared to pressure the ratings for CBS' popular sitcom block, including "Two and a Half Men." "The Voice" grew throughout the evening, winding up with 19.4 million total viewers in its last half-hour.

That provided a powerful lead-in for the 10 p.m. "Smash," which averaged 11.5 million viewers and scored a 3.8 rating/10 share in 18-49. "Smash" drew the highest rating this season so far for any regular episode of a 10 p.m. drama on any network -- which shows, if nothing else, how depressed that time slot has become.

However, there may be some trouble ahead for "Smash," which didn't quite live up to its title. The show lost nearly one-fifth of its total audience from the first half-hour to the second, usually a fairly reliable sign of cool viewer reaction. And it retained just 54% of the 18-49 lead-in from "The Voice"; typically, network executives are looking for a show to keep at least 70% to 80% of the audience, even from a big hit. So it will take another few weeks of ratings to get a clear sense of how "Smash" will do.

What did you think of "Smash"?

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-- Scott Collins (twitter.com/scottcollinsLAT)

Photo: Katharine McPhee costars in NBC's new drama "Smash." Credit: Will Hart / NBC

'Smash' premiere recap: Curtain Up

 

Well, melt your eyeliner on the dressing room light bulb and polish your Capezios, because "Smash" is finally here. Doesn’t it feel like we’ve been living with this show (or at least the bright lights marquee promise of it) for months now? I’m pretty sure I have been “introduced” to Katharine McPhee in over 500 promos since Thanksgiving.

"Smash" has been sold as the Great White Way Hope, the spectacular spectacular that can save NBC from its ratings slump and challenge "Glee" as that-TV-show-that-also-makes-a-ton-of-money-on-iTunes. We’ve got Steven Spielberg! We’ve got Debra Messing! We’ve got Anjelica Huston! We’ve got a whole bunch of Broadway stalwarts that the American public has never seen before, but God love 'em, they are going to adopt into their homes like so many stray puppies.

Like most opening nights, this premiere is 90% high-energy fun, and 10% mess-ups that the actors are awkwardly trying to cover with smiles and high kicks.

REVIEW: 'Smash'

Debra Messing on 'Smash': Don't have to like musicals to enjoy it

The curtain will finally be raised on NBC's behind-the-scenes look at Broadway with the Monday debut of "Smash."

The heavily hyped musical drama has a lot riding on it as the network struggles to find its way back to its glory days under the direction of new NBC chairman of entertainment, Bob Greenblatt. The pilot episode cost more than $7 million to make, with subsequent episodes costing as much as $4 million each, as reported in Friday's Calendar story. These days the peacock network finds itself in last place among the four major broadcast competitors. It's something the stars of the series, which premieres Monday, are certainly aware of but don't express any concern about.

"It's not a secret," said Debra Messing, who stars in the series as half of a Broadway composing team, on the network's troubles. Messing had witnessed part of NBC's glory days, appearing for eight seasons as neurotic, flame-haired Grace in the sitcom "Will & Grace." 

Marilyn Monroe gets the musical treatment on 'Smash'

A star is born ... again.

Marilyn Monroe — with her plump lips,  signature mole and vixen-like innocence — continues to be a source of intrigue and exploration. Film recently set its sights on the icon with the release of “My Week With Marilyn.” And soon viewers who tune in to “Smash” — a behind-the-scenes look at Broadway that NBC is hoping will help them inch back to its glory days — will see the blond bombshell become a source for a fictional musical on the show.

Though, if creator and executive producer Theresa Rebeck has her way, the musical might have been an adaptation of a Victorian novel or some production that involved swords and feathers, she joked Friday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena.

The idea came from Scott Wittman, an executive producer (one of many on the series, which also includes Steve Spielberg) and co-lyricist, who said it was important to start with source viewers were familiar with.

Rebeck echoed those sentiments: “The things that she represents … are so immediately accessible. “