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SMASH, the ambitious musical drama that was intended from the start to be NBC’s new signature series (even if for some of us, it’s become a bit smudged) has officially been renewed for a 2d season.
This was pretty much an inevitability. Not only is a huge amount of the network’s struggle for renewed identity resting on Smash (the PR hit if it had been canceled after only 1 season would have been severe), but by NBC’s standards, the ratings haven’t been half-bad.
The sad fact is that even with the season-low 2.2 Smash received this week (3rd place in its timeslot), it’s still the 2d highest-rated scripted show on the network, behind only The Office, and far more successful than anything else NBC airs at 10PM. It also draws an extremely unscale audience for whom advertisers will pay a premium. Of course, Smash is also a hugely expensive series, and given its genre and serialized nature, it’s not clear how much value the show will have in syndication or overseas. But at NBC, beggars truly can’t be choosers, and even a limited success is better than none.
And, of course, this means SMASHWatch will go on! Of course, as any audience feels as the orchestra starts to play the entr-acte and the curtain prepares to rise for the second act, it would be nice to think the show’s quality–and especially its writing–will improve. But that’s now a question for intermission.
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