One of my favorites TV shows from way back is BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY. Starring the 70s-sexy Gil Gerard, it was a reboot of a character that had been around in comic books and serials since the 1920s. It ended up on TV as part of the post-STAR WARS push for scifi shows on the major broadcast networks. BUCK was late to the party arriving in the fall of 1979 and lasted only two seasons.
I always amaze people when I tell them the TV series theme song actually had lyrice (sorta the way I LOVE LUCY had lyrics). BUCK's pilot was originally released as a theatrical film in March of 1979 (which I saw when it came out!) and they had an elaborate Bond-esque sequence of Gerard floating around in space with co-star Erin Gray and other buxom space babes. It's a totally cheesy 70s rock pop love song about being frozen in suspended animation while traveling in a 500 year long orbit!
There's a fun piece on the TIMES City Room blog today about the growing popularity of songs from a Broadway musical that was never on Broadway. "Bombshell" is the name of the fictional show withint the NBC show SMASH, which follows the behind-the-scenes story of this fake musical's journey to the Great White Way. While there has been much speculation about whether "Bombshell" might actually be a musical some day, that hasn't stopped patrons of piano bars from singing it's praises alongside standards from SOUND OF MUSIC or LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. Marie's Crisis, one of my favorite village nightspots, gets a heavy mention in the piece as a joint where this trend is taking off.
There was a great detail in the story about the writers of SMASH's songs, Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman. They been a couple since they met in the 1970s...at Marie's Crisis! (Talk about meeting cute for two songwriters.) Now their tunes from SMASH are well, a smash. At least with the gay piano bar crowd. The songs have also not done too badly online either. In fact, later this month, there will be a real fake cast album released on iTunes for "Bombshell" with 22 tracks from the non-existent show. And the show itself starts its 2nd season tonight on NBC.
Out in Pasadena, the annual winter TV press tour is underway and yesterday SMASH got to have it's meet and greet with the critics. The Hollywod Reporter has all the details but the major news is that the new season will feature a lot more music and a brand new musical too. Jeremy Jordan, from the hit real Broadway show NEWSIES, has joined the cast and will be working on a show within the show called "The Hit List" while "Bombshell", the Marilyn musical from Season 1 will continue to develop.
There was also news that a full "cast recording" of the fictional "Bombshell" musical will be released mid-February with songs from both Season 1 and Season 2. The musical itself, however, is still fictional as it was confirmed last year that there is no book written and no current plans for an actual Bway show about Marilyn. They haven't ruled it out but it seems unlikely that it will ever happen, given the history of Marilyn flopping on the Great White Way before.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to a new season of the show which many love to hate. I'll be honest--I just love it. A show about Broadway on network television? I mean seriously...what's not to like? :) Here's the trailer for Season 2--with some serious guest stars too. It all starts Feb 5th.
Last weekend, I attended the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Marriott Marquis ballroom in Times Square. It was a very glamorous evening with lots of stars on hand too. I got to chat with Megan Hilty and Bernadette Peters from SMASH as well as Cheyenne Jackson from 30 ROCK and Carson Kressley. Carson, as usual, was hysterical and ended up being a winner too, accepting the award for Best Reality TV Series for his turn on DANCING WITH THE STARS.
Here's my report on the event that posted yesterday on NEXT magazine's nightlife blog, The Nexus. Check it out. And donate to GLAAD too...they are a wonderful group that does a lot to counter discrimination against LGBT people in all forms of the media.
So yesterday, I posted about PAN AM, which looked to be one of the more exciting entries in the new fall TV season. Well, now I have seen what is easily the most awesome looking trailer for a new show since Fox started airing those enticing GLEE promos two years ago. Apparently I'm not alone my enthusiasm as, after reading through the reviews TV upfronts last week, this was the most buzzed about show.
SMASH is a behind the scenes look at the making of a Broadway show. That alone got my interest when I first heard about this show when the pilot was announced back in January. But what makes it this truly extraordinary is the talent involved in putting it all together; Steven Spielberg is the executive producer, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (CHICAGO, HAIRSPRAY) are the lead producers, playwright Teresa Rebeck (THE UNDERSTUDY, MAURITIUS) is the writer, Michael Mayer (AMERICAN IDIOT, SPRING AWAKENING) is the director, and the music is by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman (HAIRSPRAY). Whoa.
The cast has Megan Hilty (who I saw in WICKED) and American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee as two talented ladies battling for the role of Marilyn Monroe in a musical about the icon's life. And from the looks of this 5 minute trailer, which I have watched more than 5 times(!), this is gonna be great. The show will be doing original songs each week and the two that are featured in this preview are just fantastic, especially the last number.
The only drawback is, like GLEE, there's going to be something of a wait involved before this makes it on air. The show is slated for January 2012 so that it can premiere after NBC's new hit THE VOICE. This is, of course, the same strategy employed with GLEE, premiering after IDOL. Let's just hope that ratings lightning will strike twice for this remarkable looking show.
