Ephemerality

This pilot implicitly urges us to believe that fresh-faced McPhee and her small, breathy voice are actually superior to Hilty’s singing-to-the-back-row style – not just for the sake of the narrative conflict, but for the sake of the show’s overall style. From High School Musical to Glee, musical theater in contemporary media has become a punchline, its songs and traditions reworked into airy pop confections that disdain their origins.

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NBC’s SMASH: Not Exactly Smashing | Antenna

This. This was my biggest problem with the SMASH pilot, and will probably continue to be my biggest problem.