History Series / Smash

* GriefSong: DiMaggio's DarkReprise of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."

** "Mr and Mrs Smith" is all about how Monroe and DiMaggio want a normal life away from publicists and TV Cameras.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Ivy vs. Karen, respectively. Ivy comes out on top.

''I'm what you’ve been needing''\\

!This series contains examples of:

'''Sam:''' “Ish” being the operative word.

* UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}}: The musical number "A Thousand and One Nights."

* DidTheyOrDidntThey: [[spoiler: Ellis and Rebecca Duvall's (male) assistant.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Ivy]] in the season 1 finale. [[{{Cliffhanger}} Maybe]].
* 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.]]

** In the series finale, it looks like this may be the case with Tom and [[spoiler: Patrick Dillon]]. Then Tom kisses him.

* JewishComplaining

%%* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler: Kyle Bishop.]]

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: Rebecca Duval seems to not realize that you need ''music'' in a ''musical''. She gets better, though.

* NotSoDifferent: Karen and Ivy are both noticeably out of their respective leagues and comfort zones when playing Marilyn - albeit in different ways. They only begin to get along when they admit it.
** 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.

** "Mr and Mrs Smith" is all about how Monroe and Dimaggio want a normal life away from publicists and TV Cameras.

* SanitySlippageSong: "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.

* ShirtlessScene: "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talking" takes place entirely in a steam room filled with [[ModestyTowel towel-clad executives]].
* TitleTheAdaptation: ''Marilyn: The Musical''. They change it after the workshop though, to ''Bombshell''.
* YesMan: An entire steam room full of them.

* YourCheatingHeart:
** Eileen's husband liked to sleep around with blondes until Eileen had enough and filed for divorce.
** Julia cheated on her husband Frank with Michael at some point before the series began and [[spoiler: they sleep together in episode 6. To complicate things since their last affair, Michael is now married with a kid too]]
*** In episode 7, [[spoiler: Julia breaks it off with Michael]]. In episode 9, [[spoiler: Frank finds out about the affair and leaves Julia, but they later get back together. In the season one finale, Michael tells Julia that he told his wife, resulting in her(the wife) leaving him]]
** Derek [[spoiler: on Ivy, with Rebecca.]]
** [[spoiler: Dev and Ivy.]]
** [[DidTheyOrDidntThey Possibly]] [[spoiler:Ellis on his girlfriend, with Rebecca Duvall's assistant.]]
** Kyle on his boyfriend Blake the Lighting Designer [[spoiler: with Tom.]]

Not to be confused with the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series. Or [[Series/FridayNightLights Smash Williams]].

** [[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]].

* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler: Kyle Bishop.]]

* 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.

** 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 hypothesise 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.

* PlatonicLifePartners: Tom and [[Series/WillAndGrace Julia]]. Observe the automatic, synchronised leg-crossing in [[EstablishingCharacterMoment their first scene in the pilot.]]

* 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 a dinner together and he orders her a Manhattan ahead of the conversation so she has something to throw.

** {{Invoked}} in-universe. One of the plays Tom and John go to see.

* TragicBromance: [[spoiler: Jimmy and Kyle.]]

* ShirtlessScene: "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talking" takes place entirely in a steam room filled with towel-clad executives.

* [[YesMan Yes Men]]: An entire steam room full of them.

* [[YesMan Yes Men]]: JB (Sam's character) is constantly surrounded with these.

''It's all here and my heart’s pleading''\\

-->'''Sam:''' Yeah, um, isn’t she a little old to be playing Marilyn?\\
'''Julia:''' No, she’s perfect.\\
'''Sam:''' Yeah but wasn’t Marilyn, like, 36 when she died?\\

-->'''Derek''': For me to audition, Marilyn herself would have to pop out of that envelope and do me right here.
-->(Cut to Derek directing a musical number.)
-->'''Derek''': Five, six, seven, eight...

* SoBadItsGood: {{Invoked}} in-universe. One of the plays Tom and John go to see.
-->'''John''': Shouldn't we go in? It's supposed to start soon.
-->'''Tom''': Meh, I heard it's a train wreck.
-->'''John''': Then why are we seeing it?
-->'''Tom and Sam''': Because it's a train wreck!

-->'''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..?]]

-->'''Ivy''': C'mon, Karen Cartwright!
-->'''Karen''': Where are we going?
-->'''Ivy''': The show's over!

* EvilDiva: The Diva, who kills Karen's character in a FlashForward at the beginning.

** Also referenced directly in ''I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Like to Howl''.

* FaceHeelTurn: Throughout Season 2, Scott is presented as a genuinely good person and BenevalentBoss, 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.

* TheCameo: Creator/LinManuelMiranda in one episode.

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 ([[Series/AmericanIdol Katharine [=McPhee=]]]) and veteran actress Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) audition for the star role. But things won't be easy when both women are favored for the role and must compete for it.

* CastingCouch: This is how Derek operates. Karen manages to both reject him and [[CrowningMomentofAwesome deliver a brilliant audition for the part. At the same time.]]