NBC cancels The New Normal

[Jscott]

Plus, I think that even bio-pics like this one were still more of an excuse to showcase the songs than they really were meant to be about the writers. Films like the Danny Kaye Hans Christian Andersen made no bones about being entirely fictional. (And, IMO, that film would be a snoozefest without the wonderful Frank Loesser songs.)

 

Perhaps Smash should have had more songs, less plotlines, and a disclaimer that none of this was based on reality.

 

(Except for the affair between Messing and Will Chase, of course - which I wasn't initially aware was also a real-life thing.)

 

Agreed to all of above.... And oh, that Debra: One lucky lady.

[operalover21]

Well, if so, I admit I really can't blame her. ;-)

 

But hopefully she's moved on emotionally since leaving the show last season.

 

I'm sure that's true but I'm glad she got the last laugh. It is amazing that they could have made the show WORSE.

[operalover21]

Plus, I think that even bio-pics like this one were still more of an excuse to showcase the songs than they really were meant to be about the writers. Films like the Danny Kaye Hans Christian Andersen made no bones about being entirely fictional. (And, IMO, that film would be a snoozefest without the wonderful Frank Loesser songs.)

 

Perhaps Smash should have had more songs, less plotlines, and a disclaimer that none of this was based on reality.

 

(Except for the affair between Messing and Will Chase, of course - which I wasn't initially aware was also a real-life thing.)

 

My two favorites from back then were Cary Grant as Cole Porter and muscle-bound Cornel Wilde as Chopin. I mean, c'mon, really? At least Mickey Rooney got the "short" part right as Lorenz Hart which was as much a problem for him as his homosexuality.

[operalover21]

Plus, I think that even bio-pics like this one were still more of an excuse to showcase the songs than they really were meant to be about the writers. Films like the Danny Kaye Hans Christian Andersen made no bones about being entirely fictional. (And, IMO, that film would be a snoozefest without the wonderful Frank Loesser songs.)

 

Perhaps Smash should have had more songs, less plotlines, and a disclaimer that none of this was based on reality.

 

(Except for the affair between Messing and Will Chase, of course - which I wasn't initially aware was also a real-life thing.)

 

 

Who is Will Chase? I'll have to look that up. Anything with Danny Kaye is a snoozefest. I can't recall a bigger star from that era who is more forgotten or whose films feel more dated and boring ...

[+ WilliamM]

Anything with Danny Kaye is a snoozefest. I can't recall a bigger star from that era who is more forgotten or whose films feel more dated and boring ...

 

In later years, Danny Kaye was most famous for being a difficult person to work with on anything. His TV variety show, "The Danny Kaye Show" ('63-'67) is forgotten. Some people may remember his Richard Rodgers Broadway musical from the early '70, "Two By Two," but only because of his often inappropriate on stage ad libs. As years past, he worked mostly as UNICEF ambassador-at-large. That I do remember vividly, because he was beyond annoying in interviews. Danny Kaye's huge ego was beyond belief by then.

[bostonman]

Who is Will Chase?

 

Um...did you ever WATCH Smash? (I can't imagine you wouldn't know who he was if you had been watching the show, lol.)

[bostonman]

In later years, Danny Kaye was most famous for being a difficult person to work with on anything...Some people may remember his Richard Rodgers Broadway musical from the early '70, "Two By Two," but only because of his often inappropriate on stage ad libs.

 

His diva-like behavior during Two By Two is legendary. Among other things, he demanded someone's song be cut because he felt it was funnier than his own. He had a ligament injury during the run, forcing him to be wheelchair-bound in performance, and he was all the more insufferable because of that.

 

Many years before, when starring in Lady In The Dark with Gertrude Lawrence, there was sort of a song feud between the two performers as their showstoppers in the Circus scene (his pattery "Tchaikowsky" and her sexy, multi-verse "Saga Of Jenny) vied for supremacy.

[+ WilliamM]

His diva-like behavior during Two By Two is legendary. Among other things, he demanded someone's song be cut because he felt it was funnier than his own.

 

I remember the week Lucille Ball was the guest on his weekly TV show. Lucy was getting more laughs. You could tell that Danny Kaye was not pleased, but he could neither improve his lines, nor fire her (because, amongst other things, it would hurt his ratings). I confess that I enjoy watching Lucy wipe the floor with him.

[+ deej]

Um...did you ever WATCH Smash?

 

Of course not! How else would he form such hostile opinions about it?

[operalover21]

Um...did you ever WATCH Smash? (I can't imagine you wouldn't know who he was if you had been watching the show, lol.)

 

Yep, but I could tell you the actors names but not the characters, or at least most of them. The show never grabbed me enough for me to remember the name of a SINGLE character on that show.

[bostonman]

Perhaps Smash should have had more songs, less plotlines, and a disclaimer that none of this was based on reality.

(Except for the affair between Messing and Will Chase, of course - which I wasn't initially aware was also a real-life thing.)

 

Who is Will Chase? I'll have to look that up.

 

Um...did you ever WATCH Smash? (I can't imagine you wouldn't know who he was if you had been watching the show, lol.)

 

Yep, but I could tell you the actors names but not the characters, or at least most of them. The show never grabbed me enough for me to remember the name of a SINGLE character on that show.

 

Will Chase IS the name of the actor. Care to fall deeper in? ;-)

 

(And considering that the affair between Messing and Chase's characters was such a major plot point in the first season, he would have been VERY hard to miss, lol. The thing I was not aware of at the time was that Messing was also, in real life, leaving her husband for Chase.)

 

Chase was most recently seen as the lead role of Jasper in the Roundabout revival of Drood. (He also starred in the less successful High Fidelity and The Story Of My Life.) With your supposed insider knowledge of Broadway, I'm surprised you didn't recognize the name. ;-)

[+ WilliamM]

Will Chase IS the name of the actor. Care to fall deeper in? ;-)

 

Will Chash had a significant role in Season One, as Michael Swift (Bombshell's Joe DiMaggio). As mentioned, Will Chase, who is relatively well-known as a Broadway actor, was romantically linked with Debra Messing both on and off the TV show.

 

As yes, since Will Chase appeared in at least ten episodes of SMASH, he was VERY hard to miss.

[operalover21]

Will Chase IS the name of the actor. Care to fall deeper in? ;-)

 

(And considering that the affair between Messing and Chase's characters was such a major plot point in the first season, he would have been VERY hard to miss, lol. The thing I was not aware of at the time was that Messing was also, in real life, leaving her husband for Chase.)

 

Chase was most recently seen as the lead role of Jasper in the Roundabout revival of Drood. (He also starred in the less successful High Fidelity and The Story Of My Life.) With your supposed insider knowledge of Broadway, I'm surprised you didn't recognize the name. ;-)

 

I said "most of them" -- like Debra Messing and Jack Davenport. I have no idea who Will Chase is and he obviously made such an impression on me after 1 1/2 seasons of watching that show that I've made no effort whatsoever to find out a single thing about him.

[operalover21]

Will Chase IS the name of the actor. Care to fall deeper in? ;-)

 

(And considering that the affair between Messing and Chase's characters was such a major plot point in the first season, he would have been VERY hard to miss, lol. The thing I was not aware of at the time was that Messing was also, in real life, leaving her husband for Chase.)

 

Chase was most recently seen as the lead role of Jasper in the Roundabout revival of Drood. (He also starred in the less successful High Fidelity and The Story Of My Life.) With your supposed insider knowledge of Broadway, I'm surprised you didn't recognize the name. ;-)

 

And after having read this I'm still not sure I can place who the guy is! LOL. Is that the guy who appeared for about 15 minutes playing Joe DiMaggio in the musical (and was a joke as I recall as DiMaggio was tall and had dark hair and wasn't short and had blonde hair like in the show) and later got punched out on the street by Messing's husband? I didn't think of that as a major "plot point" but a pointless diversion and one of the weaker parts of the first season.

[operalover21]

Will Chase IS the name of the actor. Care to fall deeper in? ;-)

 

(And considering that the affair between Messing and Chase's characters was such a major plot point in the first season, he would have been VERY hard to miss, lol. The thing I was not aware of at the time was that Messing was also, in real life, leaving her husband for Chase.)

 

Chase was most recently seen as the lead role of Jasper in the Roundabout revival of Drood. (He also starred in the less successful High Fidelity and The Story Of My Life.) With your supposed insider knowledge of Broadway, I'm surprised you didn't recognize the name. ;-)

 

Most of my "knowledge" isn't about nobodies

[bostonman]

Yep, but I could tell you the actors names but not the characters, or at least most of them. The show never grabbed me enough for me to remember the name of a SINGLE character on that show.

 

I said "most of them" -- like Debra Messing and Jack Davenport.

 

Then you made your first statement ambiguous. I read it as "but I could tell you the actors' names, but not the characters (or at least not most of the characters)." Sounds like now you're trying to say that you meant to say "but I could tell you the actors' names, or at least most of them, but not the characters." Therefore my surprise that you didn't remember one of the main actors. As Mayor Shinn of River City would say, "you watch your frazology..."

 

Most of my "knowledge" isn't about nobodies

 

To paraphrase something you said in another thread -- everyone on Broadway is well aware of Will Chase. No problem. That's your choice. He's not a nobody when only one person has that view

 

Peace and have a nice day!

[operalover21]

Then you made your first statement ambiguous. I read it as "but I could tell you the actors' names, but not the characters (or at least not most of the characters)." Sounds like now you're trying to say that you meant to say "but I could tell you the actors' names, or at least most of them, but not the characters." Therefore my surprise that you didn't remember one of the main actors. As Mayor Shinn of River City would say, "you watch your frazology..."

 

 

 

To paraphrase something you said in another thread -- everyone on Broadway is well aware of Will Chase. No problem. That's your choice. He's not a nobody when only one person has that view

 

Peace and have a nice day!

 

I checked it out and found that "Will Chase" wasn't even listed as part of the main cast and was never a series regular, it was just a recurring characters. He is listed Number 32 in the cast list appearing in only 10 of the 32 episodes that were filmed so I'm not sure how one can call him "one of the main actors" but whatever.

 

I asked some people at a party last night and when I said "Will Chase" I got total blanks. So I guess we're all just a bunch of ignoramuses who are missing out on someone who apparently is some big player on Broadway who no one's ever heard of.

[bostonman]

To quote Ned Keene - "I'm dry. Good night."

[operalover21]

To quote Ned Keene - "I'm dry. Good night."

 

Ran out of silly arguments? ROTFLMFAO.

[bostonman]

Charles Isherwood of the NY Times on the demise of Smash:

 

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/theater-talkback-farewell-to-smash/

[operalover21]

Charles Isherwood of the NY Times on the demise of Smash:

 

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/theater-talkback-farewell-to-smash/[/quote

 

A whole article on SMASH and not one mention of that big Broadway star Will Chase? LOL.

[bostonman]

A whole article on SMASH and not one mention of that big Broadway star Will Chase? LOL.

 

I *KNEW* you were going to say that, lol. But notice he doesn't mention most of the actors at all. So I don't think your point is all that valid.

[operalover21]

I *KNEW* you were going to say that, lol. But notice he doesn't mention most of the actors at all. So I don't think your point is all that valid.

 

I bow to your vastly superior knowledge of points that are not valid

[bostonman]

I bow to your vastly superior knowledge of points that are not valid

 

I'm glad we finally agree on something.

[+ deej]

Charles Isherwood of the NY Times on the demise of Smash:

 

Nice article, but he conveniently ignores every article and every interview with everyone ever involved. And he does admit up front he's diagnosing from the outside.

 

There appear to be two schools of thought among those actually involved with the show about why this show failed : 1) Theresa Rebeck was screwed (an opinion held only by Theresa Rebeck), and 2) Theresa Rebeck screwed the pooch.

 

I'm sure producer meddling, as he said, had something to do with the show's failings (Spielberg is personally responsible for casting Katherine McPhee, for example) but when you have a show runner who refuses to work with producers, writers, directors, and cast, you have a recipe for disaster. There are stories that everyone in a position of any authority was afraid to meet with her because it would end in a shouting match.

 

The show was so far gone by the end of the first season it couldn't be saved, so I can't lay much blame at the feet of the second season crew. There wasn't much left to rescue. They weren't helped by the lead-in from that execrable "Betty White's Off Their Rockers".

 

We were all surprised when SMASH was renewed in the first place. I'm just glad the second season will get a proper finale. Although, in typical NBC "let's make sure it's good and screwed" fashion it will air on a *Sunday* night, the night before Memorial Day.