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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: February 6, 2012
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: Smash, “Pilot” (Season 1, Episode 1) [Stream on Amazon Video]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: Can it already have been five years since the world of television was changed forever with the premiere of Smash. NBC’s Broadway-meets-TV series followed a group of theater professionals through the creation, development, production, and ultimately handsome reward of a brand new smash (get it?) hit musical, “Bombshell,” based on the in-no-way-over-discussed life and times of Marilyn Monroe. NBC was massively high on Smash, presenting it as the jewel in its crown to journalists and advertisers alike. And given a look at the supertease they put together, it’s not hard to see why:
The description of Smash on Amazon’s site reads, “Smash is a musical drama that celebrates the beauty and heartbreak of the Broadway theater as it follows a cross-section of dreamers and schemers who all have one common desire – to be a ‘smash.'” Which, yes, that is nominally what that show was about. But it was about so much more! Smash was about:
- Blondes versus brunettes
- the Bruno Mars show at La Mama and how none of us will ever forget it
- martini attacks
- scheming assistants
- beleaguered assistants
- sullen children
- Bernadette Peters being your mom
- peanut allergies
- baseball numbers
- bad boyfriends
- tech
- Jennifer Hudson somehow and then never again
- Bollywood numbers you’re almost certain you shouldn’t be enjoying and yet you do
- workplace sexual harrassment both implicit and explicit
- downtown
- casually forgetting to read Tony nominees’ names off a prompter
- the dangers of jaywalking
- scarves on scarves on scarves on scarves
Some might remember Smash today for failing to live up to that outsized initial promise. Some might remember Smash as a disastrous flop. But some saw Smash for a dunderheaded yet wholly unique show that didn’t just slip on Broadway as a costume but rather lived Broadway in its bones. No matter how many details it got wrong. Which is why every third theater professional you’ll ever meet in your life has some strong opinions about this show in one way or another. And why it’s a disaster that many hold close to their hearts.
