Line #41 Series/Smash


1	[[quoteright:236:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smash_9963.jpg]]
2
3	->''She'll do all she can''\
4	''For the love of one man''\
5	''And for millions who look from afar!''\
6	''I'm what you've been needing''\
7	''It's all here and my heart's pleading''\
8	''Let me be your star!''
9
10	A 2012-13 musical drama on Creator/{{NBC}} from executive producer Creator/StevenSpielberg and the producers of ''Film/{{Chicago}}'' and ''Film/Hairspray2007''.
11
12	When duo songwriters Julia Houston (Creator/DebraMessing) and Tom Levitt (Creator/ChristianBorle), director Derek Wills ([[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Davenport]]), and producer Eileen Rand (Creator/AnjelicaHuston) put on a Broadway musical based on the life of Creator/MarilynMonroe, small town girl Karen Cartwright (Creator/KatharineMcPhee) and veteran actress Ivy Lynn (Creator/MeganHilty) audition for the star role. But things won't be easy when both women are favored for the role and must compete for it.
13
14	The second season switches direction by having half of ''Bombshell''[='s=] production team defect for off-Broadway, where they launch a competing musical titled ''Hit List''.
15
16	Both [[http://www.amazon.com/The-Music-SMASH-Cast/dp/B007P6VM04/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1357906993&sr=8-3&keywords=smash the show]] and [[http://www.amazon.com/Bombshell-Smash-Cast/dp/B00AWQEKVM/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1357907037&sr=1-1&keywords=bombshell the show within the show]] have soundtrack albums.
17
18	Not to be confused with the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, the unrelated ''Smash'' miniseries, ''VideoGame/SmashTV'', or [[Series/FridayNightLights Smash Williams]].
19	----
20	!!This series contains examples of:
21	* AllGaysArePromiscuous: {{Subverted\|Trope}}. In the pilot, it seems like they might go that route with Tom, but he turns out to be more of a serial monogamist.
22	* AllGaysLoveTheatre: The show does nothing to dispel the trope, given it's a show about Broadway with a CastFullOfGay. And the gay characters and usually the ones most passionate about the "art" aspect.
23	* AllThereInTheManual: Of a kind. Though plenty about the plot of ''Hit List'' was given throughout the second season, the media website Vulture [[https://www.vulture.com/2013/05/smash-hit-list-plot-revealed.html published a complete synopsis of the show]] (complete with song list) after the season finale aired.
24	%%* AndStarring: Anjelica Huston (see also BillingDisplacement).
25	* AscendedFanboy:
26	** Julia and Ivy are both big fans of Marilyn Monroe so this is a dream project for them
27	** Michael is a big baseball fan so it is a big deal for him to play Joe [=DiMaggio=]
28	* AwardBaitSong: "[[https://youtu.be/2qvwq8ecDwM Don't Forget Me]]", the finale song.
29	* BackForTheFinale:
30	** Lyle, Leigh, and Jerry all return after extended absences to attend ''Bombshell'' in the [[SeasonFinale season one finale]].
31	** In the [[GrandFinale series finale]], [[spoiler: Michael]] pops up in the final where-they're-all-headed montage.
32	* BadassLongcoat: Derek likes to stalk around wearing one on occasion.
33	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Ivy (Blonde), Karen and Eileen (Brunette), Julia (redhead).
34	* BrokenPedestal:
35	** Leo is a big friend and fan of Michael Swift until he finds out that he's [[spoiler: having an affair with his mom Julia.]]
36	** Katie feels this way about her father Jerry, no longer expecting him to be a decent person.
37	* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Karen's the gentle girl to Jimmy's brooding boy. She's sensitive and open with her feelings, while he wallows in his past mistakes and history of addiction.
38	%%* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler: And how. Kyle, oh Kyle, we hardly knew you.]]
39	* TheCameo:
40	** Creator/LinManuelMiranda in one episode.
41	** Tom bumps into Harvey Fierstein on the street, as one does.
42	** Liza Minelli sings a birthday song to Ivy.
43	** If you're a person who knows their Broadway stars, there's plenty of these to keep you entertained, including (but not limited to): Norbert Leo Butz, Marc Kudisch, Analeigh Ashford, and Seth Rudetsky.
44	* CastFullOfGay: Most of the main male characters are gay or implied to be gay (which makes sense since it [[AllGaysLoveTheatre centers around the Broadway community]]).
45	* CastingCouch: This is how Derek operates. He hints Karen should sleep with him so she gets the part of Marilyn Monroe in the musical, but she rejects him. But then he ''does'' sleept with her rival for the role, Ivy and it's implied that Derek gave Ivy the role because she slept and got has a relationship with him. Ivy herself spends a lot of Season 1 subsequently worried that it's the sole reason she got the part of Marilyn over Karen - and several of the ensemble members make it no secret that they believe this to be the case. In season 2 this trope backfires on him when an actress sues him for sexual harassment and multiple other women come forward to accuse him of doing the same to them. He settles the lawsuit but it permanently damages his career as a director, since fewer productions will risk giving him any power over casting.
46	* CentralTheme: What would you sacrifice to make your dream come true?
47	* CharacterCelebrityEndorsement: A InUniverse example where Ivy films a commercial for Ford. Who not coincidentally ''is'' a sponsor for the ''Smash'' series.
48	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Veronica Moore, a broadway star, is introduced in the second season and inexplicably disappears after the fourth episode.
49	* CreatorCameo: Series songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman cameo as themselves in the episode "Opening Night."
50	* DarkerAndEdgier: Starting with "The Coup", Derek tries to apply this to ''Marilyn: The Musical''. After butting a few heads such darker elements make it in. It even gets a new name: ''Bombshell''. Ultimately this [[spoiler:backfires when the DownerEnding turns to be too depressing for a preview audience]].
51	** In Season 2, "Hit List" is this compared to "Bombshell."
52	* DawsonCasting: InUniverse, when Rebecca Duvall comes on board - it's noted that she's several years older than Marilyn Monroe was when she committed suicide (as is Creator/UmaThurman, who plays Rebecca).
53	-->'''Sam:''' Yeah, um, isn't she a little old to be playing Marilyn?\
54	'''Julia:''' No, she's perfect.\
55	'''Sam:''' Yeah but wasn't Marilyn, like, 36 when she died?\
56	'''Tom:''' Yes, and Rebecca is 36…ish.\
57	'''Sam:''' "Ish" being the operative word.
58	* DidTheyOrDidntThey: [[spoiler:Ellis and Rebecca Duvall's (male) assistant.]]
59	* DiegeticMusical: An odd case in that it features characters performing in InUniverse musicals, characters spontaneously bursting into "real-life" choreographed numbers, characters singing in neither context and "mind palace" choreographed numbers.
60	* DreamBallet: The "A Thousand and One Nights" song is actually Karen having a daydream while Dev and Rebecca have an argument while they're in an Indian restaurant. And because Karen is staring at a UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} movie while she daydreams, the dream ends up being a Bollywood dance number.
61	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Ivy]] in the season 1 finale. [[{{Cliffhanger}} Maybe]].
62	* DownerEnding: In "The Producers", Kyle finally gets angry enough at everything Jimmy's done over the past season to kick him out of his apartment, so he packs up all Jimmy's things at his apartment and drops them off at Jimmy's old house... [[spoiler:and gets hit by a car on his way home.]]
63	* FaceHeelTurn: Throughout Season 2, Scott is presented as a genuinely good person and BenevolentBoss, offering his theatre to stage ''Hit List'' and, despite having an early (and not entirely unwarranted) argument with Julia, he gets on well with pretty much everyone he interacts with - even to the point of acting as a mediator between Derek and Jimmy several times. That all goes out the window after [[spoiler: Kyle's death]] when he is suddenly apparently fine with exploiting the tragedy hours after it happened purely for the sake of ticket sales.
64	* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor: Derek is pretty much the king of this. In Season 2, Jimmy joins him. [[spoiler:They both end up on the "face" side by the end]].
65	* FailedAuditionPlot: Zig-zagged when at first it seems like Karen will get the part, then she doesn't, but she continues to work as a chorus girl.
66	* FictionalCounterpart: [[spoiler: Ellis posts a video of Ivy singing Tom and Julia's demo of "Never Give All The Heart" to "[=YouLenz."=]]]
67	* FoodSlap: Eileen throwing her Manhattan in Jerry's face becomes a RunningGag, to the point she does it in the second season title sequence.
68	* GayConservative: Tom's boyfriend John Goodwin is a conservative lawyer. Tom finds this out when he has a fundraiser for a conservative state representative.
69	* {{Gaydar}}: {{Averted\|Trope}}. Ivy is incredulous that Tom apparently ''doesn't'' have a gaydar and couldn't tell that her sports-loving friend Sam is gay.
70	-->'''Tom:''' He's gay?!\
71	'''Ivy:''' Where have you been?\
72	'''Tom:''' Why didn’t you tell me?\
73	'''Ivy:''' Who knew your gaydar was so stupid?\
74	'''Tom:''' My gaydar is not stupid. I do not have stupid gaydar. Ugh, I hate that word.
75	* GilliganCut:
76	-->'''Derek''': For me to audition, Marilyn herself would have to pop out of that envelope and do me right here.\
77	(Cut to Derek directing a musical number.)\
78	'''Derek''': Five, six, seven, eight...
79	* HardWorkHardlyWorks:
80	** {{Averted\|Trope}}. Ivy is more experienced and skilled than Karen, and gets the part because of it. Though the CastingCouch might have played into it as well...
81	** And later played straight when [[spoiler:Ivy loses the role to Karen in the SeasonFinale, despite knowing the part better. When various characters confront Derek with the fact that Ivy is better prepared, he rebukes them by saying that while Karen is green, she just ''has something'' that Ivy lacks.]]
82	** And again in Season 2, when [[spoiler: Karen is being directed by Tom]] and just doesn't seem to get what he wants no matter how hard she works.
83	** [[ZigZaggingTrope At the end of the zig-zag,]] this is finally averted at the end of the second season: While playing Marilyn does take its toll on Ivy, she has lots of success, and [[spoiler: wins the Tony Award for Best Actress]].
84	* HollywoodPudgy: {{Invoked}} with Karen, but handwaved with Ivy (the actress playing Ivy is of a healthy weight for any reasonable person, yet no one discusses how she's bigger than the rest of the chorus girls).
85	-->'''Karen:''' Why do I have to be sexy all the time? I wish I was fat. Plus, I'm hungry. I'm gonna start eating more.
86	* IncompatibleOrientation:
87	** Kyle's rather blatantly in love with Jimmy. Jimmy, who is ''not'' ObliviousToLove knows this, and publicly announces in a fit of anger that nothing would ever happen between them.
88	** In the series finale, it looks like this may be the case with Tom and [[spoiler:Patrick Dillon]]. Then Tom kisses him.
89	--->'''Tom:''' (smirking) Yeah. That's how all my straight friends kiss me.
90	* InformedAbility: Many viewers wondered how Karen could ''possibly'' be considered an equal contender with Ivy for the role of Marilyn Monroe. While Karen isn't ''un''talented it's clear from very early on that Ivy is better suited for Broadway than Karen's pop-music performance style. The frequent statements, especially from Derek, that Karen has "a quality" did little to convince the viewing audience.
91	* InstantSeduction: When Derek and Ivy first begin their affair, it starts with them sharing a HeldGaze moment. Then it immediately {{Smash Cut}}s to them having sex.
92	* IWantSong: This series looks like it will be FULL of them. It already has "Let Me Be Your Star", the title of which speaks for itself.
93	* InJoke: When Eileen, Derek, Tom, and Julia are discussing which direction to take the show in after the workshop, Eileen mentions that 'Joe Machota from CAA' was there, who represents such stars as "Scarlett Johansson, Michelle Williams, Sutton Foster..." At the third name, Tom says "Stop!" Actor Christian Borle and Sutton Foster were married from 2006 to 2010.
94	* ItsAllAboutMe: With so many egos, it's no surprise this happens a lot, such as Ivy acting like any problem with the show is a personal attack on her.
95	** Most notable is how Ellis honestly seems to think that if not for his comment on Marilyn Monroe back in the pilot, the musical would not exist and insists on being made a producer, oblivious to his utter lack of experience.
96	* JewishComplaining:
97	-->'''Tom:''' Jews don't sing and pray. They complain. And eat.
98	%%* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler:Kyle Bishop.]]
99	* LetsWaitAwhile: Sam says this to Tom after the composer tries to make a move on Sam on their first date. Tom is leery, but tentatively agrees to go along with it.
100	* LetsDuet: "Tech" opens with a montage of the main characters packing up and traveling to Boston for their out of town previews. During the montage, we see Tom and Sam at Tom's apartment around his piano, playing around and singing 'Another Opnin', Another Show' which eventually becomes the music for the montage.
101	* LighterAndSofter: The direction Eileen's ex-husband demands Bombshell must take when he temporarily gains control of it. He believes that the DarkerAndEdgier version Julia wrote the script for with a dramaturg's help would be a huge critical success, but not a money-maker. Eileen, somewhat surprisingly, backs her ex's decision. Julia and Derek both get angry (Derek always wanted a DarkerAndEdgier version) to the point that Derek quits as director.
102	* LoveDodecahedron: [[spoiler: Karen is with Dev who slept with Ivy, who is dating Derek who is also involved with Rebecca.]] In Season 2, they've added Jimmy, Kyle, and (eventually) Blake and Tom to the mix.
103	* MalevolentMaskedMen: In the "Touch Me" song, Marilyn is surrounded by Paparazzi who look like sinister-looking men dressed in black and wearing creepy masks.
104	* MirrorCharacter: Jimmy and Derek have this [[LampshadedTrope lampshaded]] about the two of them several times in Season 2: both are highly temperamental artists who believe that their way is the right way and are incredibly poor at taking any kind of criticism (personal or professional). Several characters even hypothesize that the similarities between them are why they fight so much, and the few PetTheDog moments that occur between them are usually accompanied by one of them (mostly Derek) admitting they fit this trope.
105	* ModestyBedsheet:
106	** In the Pilot, both Karen and Dev have a sheet wrapped around when we see them post a SexyDiscretionShot. Notably, the sheet is down to his waist while high on her shoulders.
107	** Ivy and Derek often make use of a bedsheet to cover themselves during their sex scenes. Although notably the sheet usually remains at their waist, though Ivy still [[ToplessnessFromTheBack keeps her back to the camera]] and when she's seen from the front she pulls the sheet up to cover her breasts. In "Let's Be Bad" Ivy wraps the sheet around herself before going downstairs to find Derek.
108	** Used InUniverse for the "Bombshell" musical, with Marilyn Monroe often making use of it during her post-sex scenes with Kennedy. In the "Touch Me" song, Karen has a sheet wrapped around her during the entire performance while she dances on a bed while dancers playing paparazzi swirl around her. . The sheet noticeably ends up resembling a dress, as it even has a [[SexySlitDress slit just to show off Karen's legs]].
109	** In "The Bells and Whistles", after Karen and Jimmy sleep together, we see them both sleeping in bed with bed sheets up to their waists. Karen still keeps her breasts covered by sleeping on her stomach, thus only showing ToplessnessFromTheBack.
110	* ModestyTowel:
111	** The pilot's SingingInTheShower scene with Karen shows her stepping out and wrapping herself in a towel, while still singing.
112	** [[ShowWithinAShow Bombshell's]] "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talking" number takes place entirely in a steam room filled with towel-clad executives.
113	* MoodWhiplash:
114	** In "The Producers," the episode ends with Kyle [[spoiler:getting hit by a bus and dying]]. Cue the upbeat end credits music.
115	** Averted in the next episode, after Tom tells Derek and Karen that Kyle [[spoiler:died]], the opening title lacks it's usually upbeat track.
116	* MsFanservice: Both Megan Hilty and Katharine "[=McPheever=]" [=McPhee=] supply plenty of this even when not playing Creator/MarilynMonroe (where it kind of comes with the territory).
117	* TheMusicalMusical: The series is a musical about the conception and production of a Broadway musical.
118	* NaiveNewcomer: Both Karen and Ivy have elements of this. Karen is introduced as a small-town girl from Iowa trying to make it big in New York but is realistic about how show business operates. In contrast Ivy is a ten year Broadway veteran but still has a lot of naivety about things like the CastingCouch. The other characters lampshade the fact that this makes them a great fit to play the part of Marilyn Monroe.
119	* NotWearingPantsDream: In "The Dress Rehearsal", Tom is so nervous about the opening of Bombshell that it manifests as a nightmare where he's naked on the stage in front of a crowd. The audience only sees him with ShouldersUpNudity and from the back with [[CensorShadow his butt covered by convenient shadows]].
120	* OneSceneWonder: InUniverse, Ivy in ''Liaisons''. She has small part in a show that's rapidly coming off the rails, but (on Derek's advice) she goes gloriously OTT in her big solo and instantly becomes the best and most memorable thing about the show for everyone who sees it. It even earns her a Tony nod, despite the show itself ending after just a few runs when the bipolar lead actor stops taking his meds and nearly dies on-stage.
121	* OneWordTitle:
122	** The show title itself: ''Smash''.
123	** The InUniverse ''Bombshell''
124	* OppositesAttract: Tom and Sam. It's a SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan type thing.
125	* PlatonicLifePartners:
126	** Tom and Julia. Observe the automatic, synchronized leg-crossing in [[EstablishingCharacterMoment their first scene in the pilot.]]
127	** In Season 2, Jimmy and Kyle, despite some [[IncompatibleOrientation unrequited longing]] at first on Kyle's part.
128	* PrettyInMink: Part of the Marilyn costumes include a white fur wrap.
129	%%* PutOnABus: Ellis and Leo, and some other minor characters, for Season 2.
130	* TheReasonYouSuck: After Ivy has enough of Derek's mean and snide comments she explodes at him with a big speech in front of the whole cast, exposing the fact [[CastingCouch he slept with her and other actresses]] and punctuating by saying he's an average-looking {{Narcissist}} who's [[LousyLoversAreLosers not that good in bed]].
131	* RedOniBlueOni: Ivy and Karen. Ivy is prone to emotional peaks while Karen is far calmer.
132	* ReTool: Season 2 introduced a second musical and got rid of some of the less popular minor characters from the first season.
133	* RunningGag: For a time, when Eileen's soon-to-be ex-husband Jerry approaches her in a restaurant she throws her drink in his face. Lampshaded when they have dinner together and he orders her a Manhattan ahead of the conversation so she has something to throw.
134	* {{Scapegoat}}: When the workshop presentation fails to attract investors, Tom blames Michael for the failure and Julia and Eileen agree with him. The real reason Tom singled out Michael is [[spoiler: because he wants to stop Michael's affair with Julia]].
135	* SerenadeYourLover: In episode 14, The Phenomenon, [[spoiler: during Tom's flashback, he sings Billy Joel's 'Vienna' to Kyle to distract him from working on new ideas for Hit List.]]
136	* SexyDiscretionShot:
137	** In the pilot, we see Karen and Dev kissing in bed while the scene [[FadeToBlack fades to black]]. The next time we see them they're cuddling in bed post-sex.
138	** When Julia and Michael first start their affair, they both strip their shirts off and he picks her up bridal-style and brings her to the nearby couch where they start to make out and the scene cuts way.
139	* SexySilhouette: The "Touch Me" song begins with Marilyn Monroe (played by Karen) dancing nude behind a curtain where we only see her silhouette, before she grabs a ModestyBedsheet and steps out from behind the curtain.
140	* ShowWithinAShow: ''Marilyn: The Musical'', later renamed ''Bombshell,'' as well as ''Hitlist'' in Season 2.
141	* SingingInTheShower: Karen's singing in the shower in the pilot, she even continues doing when she's done.
142	* SpecialGuest: Creator/NickJonas as Lyle West in "The Cost of Art".
143	** Grace Gummer as Katie Rand in "The Coup"
144	** Creator/UmaThurman. This example was particularly noticeable, as she only appeared in the last minute or so of the first episode she was credited for.
145	** Creator/BernadettePeters as Leigh Conroy, Ivy's mother.
146	** Season Two is shaping up to have even more of these, including Liza Minelli, Rosie O'Donnell, Jennifer Hudson, Sean Hayes, and Nikki Blonsky.
147	* SoBadItsGood:
148	** {{Invoked}} InUniverse. One of the plays Tom and John go to see.
149	--->'''John''': Shouldn't we go in? It's supposed to start soon.\
150	'''Tom''': Meh, I heard it's a train wreck.\
151	'''John''': Then why are we seeing it?\
152	'''Tom and Sam''': Because it's a train wreck!
153	** Also ''Liasons'', in the second season. [[spoiler: Ivy gets a Tony nomination for her role in it anyway.]]
154	* TakeThat: Dig Deep. Tom and Julia add the song after Rebecca Duvall suggests a scene with Marilyn in the Actors' Studio. She's also been complaining that there are too many songs as opposed to scenes. Guess what the song's about? A whole awesome-sounding number, that lampoons Lee Strasberg, method acting, Stanislavski and the entire naturalistic school of acting. Funny that Rebecca didn't pick up on that.
155	** In Season 2, the reviews of the Boston preview say that the songs and cast were good, but the show was undermined by Julia's writing ... a slap at Theresa Rebeck, on whom Julia is based but was no longer involved with the show at that point.
156	* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Ivy vs. Karen, respectively. Ivy is a Broadway veteran who has all the technical skills for a stage production, and knows how to navigate the culture to get the role. Karen is a newcomer to the theatre scene who's learning the ropes but has a "quality" that wins over the crew. [[spoiler:After a ''lot'' of back and forth between them it's Ivy who ends up taking home a Tony award for ''Bombshell''.]]
157	* ThirdLineSomeWaiting: Partway through the second season there end up being ''three'' musicals vying for the viewer's attention: ''Bombshell'', ''Hit List'', and ''Literature/DangerousLiaisons''. The last is given a bit less focus than the first two.
158	* TimeTitle: The musical number "A Thousand and One Nights."
159	* TitleDrop: The song "Smash!"
160	* ToplessnessFromTheBack:
161	** Both Karen and Ivy have post-coital scenes where they have a ModestyBedsheet only going up to their waist, but still preserving their modesty by having their backs to the camera.
162	** When Julia strips off her shirt when she first sleeps with Michael, we see her from the back, with shots from the front using a ShouldersUpNudity angle.
163	** When Ivy repeats her WardrobeMalfunction stunt on stage by [[DressHitsFloor dropping Marilyn's modesty bedsheet]], we only see her naked back, while the InUniverse audience sees her front.
164	* TragicBromance: [[spoiler: Jimmy and Kyle]]. The latter's death prompts the former to clean up his act and take ''Hit List'' seriously in his memory.
165	* UnequalPairing: Tom and Sam, because Tom is part of the creative staff of Bombshell and Sam is an actor in Bombshell.
166	** Also, Tom and [[spoiler: Kyle have a whirlwind romance during the second half of the season. Kyle is both young and a massive fan of Houston and Levitt, and Tom is down after getting lukewarm reviews for his direction and after fighting with Julia.]]
167	** Also Derek and pretty much everyone he's paired up with. He even gets called out on it early in Season 2:
168	--->'''Daisy:''' You don't get it. You're a bigshot director. You're in a position of power from the minute you wake up in the morning, and you don't treat that power with respect. [[CastingCouch Or did you really think women say yes because they actually]] ''[[CastingCouch like]]'' [[CastingCouch you..?]]
169	* VocalRangeExceeded: Rebecca when she first shows up. However she does convince Tom to lower the key, and also hires a vocal coach, so at least she's aware of her limits.
170	* WaitingForABreak: Karen is working as a waitress at the beginning of the series. Fortunately for her, it happens early enough that she can quit by the second episode.
171	* WardrobeMalfunction: Ivy suffered a Wardrobe Malfunction during a play while playing the part of Marilyn Monroe and her entire outfit accidentally came down and pooled at her feet, with her co-star awkwardly attempting to cover her via HandOrObjectUnderwear. The audience thought it was part of the show as a DressHitsFloor scene and it ended up being such a hit that they made it part of the play, though Ivy incorporates it as a DefiantStrip where Marilyn drops her ModestyBedsheet in defiance in front of Kennedy, rather than him causing it.
172	* WhatTheHellHero: Katie has a moment of this with both parents in episode 8 - Her father Jerry's comes via confronting him of the underhanded ways he hid money from Eileen when she needs it most and she has another later in the episode with her mother Eileen after [[spoiler: realizing the showcase she experienced was done in without Julia and Tom's prior knowledge and sees their angered/hurt expressions, begging her mother not to stoop to her father's level]]. Unlike with Jerry, it works almost immediately with Eileen.
173	* YoYoPlotPoint: Who will play Marilyn. [[spoiler: First Ivy, then Karen, then Ivy again, then Karen, then Rebecca, finally Karen. And then back to Ivy.]]
174
175	!''Bombshell'' (The first ShowWithinAShow, previously titled ''Marilyn: The Musical'') contains examples of:
176	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bombshell_poster_4663.jpg]]
177	* ActorIsTheTitleCharacter: The Bombshell poster proudly reads "IVY LYNN is MARILYN MONROE".
178	* AllMusicalsAreAdaptations
179	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Marilyn dies alone and sad, but the good in her life outweighed the bad and she will be remembered forever as a star.]]
180	* CastingCouch: In the song ''Smash''
181	** Also referenced directly in ''I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl''.
182	* DeathSong: The DarkReprise of "Second Hand White Baby Grand."
183	* DumbBlond: Marilyn notes herself how she is type cast as one "Here she is boys, Marilyn Monroe in the flesh. All ready to film another [[SarcasmMode ''thrilling'']] movie about a dumb blond."
184	* GhostSong: The finale, "Don't Forget Me."
185	* GriefSong: [=DiMaggio=]'s DarkReprise of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."
186	* ItWillNeverCatchOn: In one of Zanuck's lyrics in "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talking" he comments "that television just won't last".
187	* IWantSong: '''Tons.'''
188	** "Let Me Be Your Star", which speaks for itself.
189	** "Mr and Mrs Smith" is all about how Monroe and [=DiMaggio=] want a normal life away from publicists and TV Cameras.
190	** "Smash!", about all the young women just like Marilyn who are willing to do anything for fame.
191	* LocationSong: "On Lexington & 52nd Street," named for the intersection where Marilyn's infamous subway-grate scene for ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'' was shot.
192	* OdeToFamily: "Second Hand White Baby Grand," which is about Marilyn's only fond memory of her mother.
193	* ParentalLoveSong: "Hang the Moon," in which Marilyn imagines her mother saying all the loving things she never said in real life.
194	* PatterSong: "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talking"
195	* SanitySlippageSong: "[[BadGirlSong Let's Be Bad]]," in which Marilyn, who has taken a copious quantity of pills, can barely see straight through an in-universe musical number shoot.
196	* {{Sexophone}}: In "History is Made at Night"
197	* ShirtlessScene: "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talking" takes place entirely in a steam room filled with [[ModestyTowel towel-clad]] [[YesMan executives]].
198	* TitleTheAdaptation: ''Marilyn: The Musical''. They change it after the workshop to ''Bombshell''.
199
200	!''Hit List'' (the second ShowWithinAShow) provides examples of:
201	* DownerEnding: Amanda is dead, the Diva has suffered a complete nervous breakdown (and will probably at the very least be arrested for murder) and Jesse is left devastated by the death of his girlfriend.
202	* EvilDiva: The Diva, who kills Amanda in a FlashForward at the beginning.
203	* HowWeGotHere: The show starts with the Diva shooting someone at a concert - the rest of the show is a flashback showing the sequence of events that led to it.
204	* IWantSong: "Rewrite This Story" is all about Jesse and Amanda's desire to...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin rewrite their destinies]].
205	* LoveMakesYouStupid: There is absolutely no reason for Jesse to keep supplying Amanda with music and allow himself to be exploited after she's already stolen his songs once...except for the fact that he's in love with her.
206	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: In-Universe: Written by Jimmy and Kyle, it follows a young struggling songwriter and recovering drug addict coming from a hard life, falling in love, and accompanied by his best friend and roommate. Sound familiar?
207	* SanitySlippageSong: "Haddonfield, 15 Years Later" (in the defictionalised concert version of the show), which is sung by the Diva after she returns home to find no one remembers or recognises her.
208	* ShoutOut: The song "Original", which is directed at Music/LadyGaga. Ana, who originally played the Diva before Daisy took the role, even resembles Gaga a bit.
209	* VillainSong: "I'm Not Sorry" is arguably one for both Amanda and the Diva.
210	** Though it was never performed in the series, JB also got one in the defictionalised concert version of the show called "The Guide To Success", which he sung to Jesse to convince him to keep writing songs for Amanda.
211	* WaitingForABreak: Both Amanda and Jesse before they meet each other, as expressed in "Rewrite This Story".
212	* YesMan: JB (Sam's character) is constantly surrounded with these.
213	----
214	->'''Ivy''': C'mon, Karen Cartwright!\
215	'''Karen''': Where are we going?\
216	'''Ivy''': The show's over!

Context Series / Smash