Never allow direct, compelling evidence to get in the way of preconceived theories.

"[Don's] pushed back into this life he once so optimistically made for himself, and he’s feeling increasingly isolated. But [Megan] can’t even see that."
She can't? Then what was Megan's conversation with her mother about in the previous episode when she indicated she was becoming disconnected from him? Does anyone…

"…while Teddy is barely aware of the fight. "
It's Don who doesn't realize Ted is fighting. Ted was advised on the matter by his partner in the hospital room, and probably added a touch of turbulence to the takeoff (if his knowing, self-satisfied smile is any indication) to scare the shit out of Don and control the…

Those continually ragging on the hapless McPhee do not seem to realize she was deliberately chosen, BECAUSE of her lack of talent, to portray a character in an Emmy-worthy dark satire obviously meant to bury Broadway, not to praise it. How else can one account for the ghost of a real iconic figure performing the final…

There are reasons professionals with their own money on the line gave Lea the lead over Megan in the Oz movie. Hint:It involves both singing and acting. And while your ear is on the ground, keep an eye on the charts when Lea's album is released and see how it compares with Megan's. (BTW, "It's a can't lose …" is irony…

I can't in good conscience ask that you hang on any longer, but keep an ear to the ground for the inevitable of Rachel being cast in a major role in a Broadway musical. Then you'll have Smash being done by Glee.  It's a can't lose, if approached with clear eyes and a full heart.

There is no evidence Don forgot anything. That scene achieved its incredible tension in part because the audience could see that Don knew he was trapped and couldn't escape without losing something important. BTW, Suzanne (named primarily after the free-spirited muse of the Leonard Cohen song, not after the ballerina)…

"Think back to that trip to California the two characters took in season two: Don wandered off with a bunch of young romantic types…"
There was nothing romantic (or young) about those decadent, parasitic lotus eaters that a modern-day, craven Ulysses met on his odyssey to knowwhere [sic].

It's official - Rachel does NOT get Fanny. How do I know? Fox just announced Glee has been renewed for TWO more years. (Noooooo!) So it would be too soon for her stardom.

It would make the most sense if Rachel were given Fanny as an understudy. Of course, a life or health insurance underwriter who issued a policy to the lead would soon come to regret their decision.   And if there's a witches' coven operating in a nearby loft, expect a knock on the door from one of two goofy guys or a…

I know of no musical that is as overwhelmingly dependent on a single female character as is "Funny Girl". It would be considered an enormous risk to give Fanny to someone with zero stage experience when so much is on the line, and it's inconceivable that there wouldn't be other candidates with considerable experience…

The Ohio State University at Lima.
4240 Campus Drive, Lima, Ohio, 45804

When the CIA guy says "couple" during his debriefing, Stan suddenly turns his head to gaze off into the distance. Just sayin'.

@CaptainChakarate Of course Megan can act; she just isn't doing Marilyn Monroe and hasn't gotten a sufficient number of the initial audience to feel much about Ivy. (Love, hate - doesn't matter - but indifference kills.) Her performance is some inseparable combination of her own acting skills and of those with whom…

Yeah, I'm as crazy as the panels that nominated Lea for Emmys and Golden Globes, the producers who chose Lea over Megan for the lead as Dorothy, and the untold tens of thousands who were moved by her Wendla. "SMASH" died because too few people gave a damn whether or not Ivy succeeded, whereas millions came to root for…

Precisely. It required a dress drop to save it because she certainly was utterly incapable of doing it with her acting, in which posture, movement, and facial expressions can, with a truly great actress, overcome the lamest lines. (Yes, the JFK was even worse.)

The point of the flashback was to suggest that Don was actively reflecting on his sexual relationships as being analogous to what he saw thought the keyhole: a man of power taking advantage of a vulnerable woman. The whore house symbolism was capped with the offer of money to Sylvia.

McPhee is a decent pop singer and actress, and doesn't deserve the constant attacks. In any case, it is not she who is the at the root of the show's problems. That responsibility rests on the shoulders of (the superior) Hilty, and her (and the writers') fundamental inabilities were on stark display in the one minute…

Only diva wannabees sing on bars. A character plausible as a diva exudes charisma wherever she is, and sings better than everyone else in the cast. Directorial genius Derek first wants for the diva an actress of a type he could never get, then hires someone totally unfit, thereby violating a golden rule of theater…

The fundamental problem I have with "Smash" is that very little in it matters to me. The creators/directors/producers have achieved success (sufficient wealth and Broadway fame to last a lifetime) by putting on shows for tourists. (The only newbie, Jimmy, is someone I want to see fail as badly as possible.) Nothing…