A copy of the first episode of Smash—NBC's new drama series about a girl trying to make it on Broadway—sat on my coffee table gathering dust through the fall and early winter of 2011. It was my job to watch it. I did not. The thing is, I am allergic to jazz hands. When people break into song for no reason, I break into hives.
It was my wife—intrigued by the prospect of Smash's grown-up Glee-ness—who finally broke the impasse. After ten minutes, to my great horror, I knew the show would be a hit and that I would be stuck with it for years. After twenty minutes, to my great horror and even greater perplexity, I realized I liked it. It's not a musical show so much as a show about how a musical (in this case, one about Marilyn Monroe) comes together. Which, as it turns out, is pretty interesting. But mostly I liked it because of the girl up there in the tub. Katharine McPhee. Remember the hot chick who lost to the old guy on American Idol? Now she's Katharine McPhee, star of Smash, irresistible sweetheart-with-a-soupçon-of-sexpot young actress.
When I tell McPhee how hard I resisted watching Smash, she laughs. "Yeah, this sounds very familiar. Like most of the other very straight men that I've spoken with." As a penance, I tell her I want to help persuade more men to watch the show. Here's what we come up with.
Reason #1: Your lady does it for you. Now do it for her. "Listen," McPhee says, "I go see all the guy movies, so now I know I love them. But you have to be open to it. I would say to the girlfriends out there: Just nail him down, make him watch an episode with you."
Reason #2: It's not like they're singing constantly. "I can understand why guys wouldn't be into Glee. You know, that's a pretty heavy musical show. That show does, like, six songs in an episode. We'll do, at most, three."
Reason #3: "Okay, how about this: What if I tell your readers that in episode five I take off all my clothes?" Sold! But hold on—would it be true? "I mean...no." McPhee laughs mischievously. "But can't we just say that?"
It was my wife—intrigued by the prospect of Smash's grown-up Glee-ness—who finally broke the impasse. After ten minutes, to my great horror, I knew the show would be a hit and that I would be stuck with it for years. After twenty minutes, to my great horror and even greater perplexity, I realized I liked it. It's not a musical show so much as a show about how a musical (in this case, one about Marilyn Monroe) comes together. Which, as it turns out, is pretty interesting. But mostly I liked it because of the girl up there in the tub. Katharine McPhee. Remember the hot chick who lost to the old guy on American Idol? Now she's Katharine McPhee, star of Smash, irresistible sweetheart-with-a-soupçon-of-sexpot young actress.
When I tell McPhee how hard I resisted watching Smash, she laughs. "Yeah, this sounds very familiar. Like most of the other very straight men that I've spoken with." As a penance, I tell her I want to help persuade more men to watch the show. Here's what we come up with.
Reason #1: Your lady does it for you. Now do it for her. "Listen," McPhee says, "I go see all the guy movies, so now I know I love them. But you have to be open to it. I would say to the girlfriends out there: Just nail him down, make him watch an episode with you."
Reason #2: It's not like they're singing constantly. "I can understand why guys wouldn't be into Glee. You know, that's a pretty heavy musical show. That show does, like, six songs in an episode. We'll do, at most, three."
Reason #3: "Okay, how about this: What if I tell your readers that in episode five I take off all my clothes?" Sold! But hold on—would it be true? "I mean...no." McPhee laughs mischievously. "But can't we just say that?"
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