Vulture: NBC’s musical series Smash was widely panned and only lasted two seasons, but two years after its final episode, its small but devoted contingent of fans are just as invested in its future. Earlier this month, the Actors Fund announced it would put on a Broadway benefit concert performance of Bombshell, the Marilyn Monroe musical workshopped over the course of Smash’s season that gave stars Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee space to catfight and belt to the rafters
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It is interesting to see how internet funding sites, and social media can now shape a show's longevity, and trajectory, even after a show is well off-air. So much of a show's "success" is measured in terms of viewership, and ratings. These quantitative means of evaluating shows inherently discount audience "commitment" to a show. But through methods like Kickstarter, audiences become a much more three-dimensional phenomenon. While in cases like Smash, the enthusiasm seen on Kickstarter seems like too little too late for the actual TV show, this indicates that new measures could be implemented to factor in audience enthusiasm for a show.
As for this particular extension of Smash, it is particularly intriguing how the musical-within-a-show has taken on a life of its own. This represents growing demands by audiences to be able to interact with a show and the content created. The desire for theme parks, and set tours, and - as in this instance - the actual production a show is created around indicates the blurring of the line between the fiction of a show and the reality the audience lives in.
Smash was a show that had all of the right elements excepted for the one that counted-- the plot. It had a great cast, an interesting premise, wonderful songs and high production values. It is a shame that it was stuck with such a lackluster and weak plot line to thread the entertainment elements together. However, I think it is amazing that one of the truly stunning elements of the show (the songs) was able to have life beyond the two seasons.
This is one of the awesome things about the age we live in. The audience is able to have a large part in the success or failure of a show. Like in the case of the cult show Firefly, audience demand can revive a dead show from its grave. The great thing about the internet and Kickstarter is that it allows the audience to give immediate opinions and support on the outcome of a venture. Fans won't let a thing they love die if they have the power to do something to stop it.
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