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NBC's Smash can be the next Glee – by not being the next Glee

The new musical-based series Smash made a charming debut as a grown-up Glee
Smash pilot still
Christian Borle as Tom, Debra Messing as Julia in a scene from Smash. Photograph: NBCU / Rex Features

If NBC's new Broadway drama Smash is a failure, it won't be because of lack of exposure. The perpetually beleaguered network blanketed its airwaves with so many promos touting the show's pedigree (Steven Spielberg is an executive producer) and solid cast, Smash ran the risk of meeting a backlash before it even premiered last night.

But was there any other way? NBC is to television networks as Job is to the Old Testament – anything resembling a stroke of good luck is bound to be blown out of proportion. Smash isn't going to change the face of television, though anyone bombarded with commercials for it while innocently watching 30 Rock could be forgiven for thinking it was supposed to. It is, however, a charming and auspicious debut featuring an elegant mix of nighttime soap, musical extravaganza and the kind of emotional meltdowns creatives are known for. That is to say, it's a grown-up Glee.

It's unavoidable that Smash will be compared to Glee, since musical formats haven't typically caught fire on American television (see: Cop Rock, Eli Stone, the dismal Blackpool remake Viva Laughlin.) It's a comparison that will favor Smash though, if the pilot is any indication.

Smash centers on the production of a new musical, in this case, one based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, from its initial concept through to opening night. It's a creative procedural of sorts, interested in digging into the talent and passion it takes to create a spectacular Broadway musical as well as the egotism, infighting and financial wrangling that threatens to capsize it.

The pilot briskly sketched out its conflicts, the main one between Karen Cartwright (Katherine McPhee), an Iowan ingénue long on talent but short on experience, and Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty), a seasoned theater performer whose extensive resume positions her as the safe but boring choice. There can only be one Marilyn, and the 15-episode season will ostensibly explore the women's ever-shifting fortunes in their pursuits of the role. (Given that McPhee and Hilty's respective backgrounds echo that of their characters, if Smash breaks out the way NBC hopes it will, be not surprised when tabloids start playing up a real-life rivalry.)

The rest of Smash's world is filled out by temperamental creative types: the songwriting duo bringing Marilyn to musical life (Debra Messing and Christian Borle), a prickly director trying to bring out the sex kitten in Karen (Jack Davenport) and a stony producer trying to secure funding for the show while navigating an acrimonious divorce (Angelica Huston.)

The battle between Karen and Ivy will quickly radiate through the creative team, straining their relationships and making every step of the process harder. A pilot has to do a lot of work in a short period of time – introducing lots of characters, framing central conflicts and laying out enough of a blueprint to keep an audience coming back each week. Smash certainly met all those requirements, and seems to have all the ingredients of a television obsession du jour.

That is to say, Smash can definitely be the next Glee, so long as it can avoid being the next Glee. Glee, too, started out promisingly with an excellent cast and an unexpected perspective on small-town life and teenage identity. But Glee became a victim of its own success, as season two wobbled narratively and Glee merchandise spread across retail shelves like kudzu.

At some point, Glee stopped being a television show and became an infomercial, for its music (now available on iTunes!), its characters, its world, anything that could drive revenue beyond the advertising the show brought in. And in a flash, the breakout hit became an also-ran. Admit it, when was the last time you had, or heard, a conversation about Glee? Smash seems to want to avoid those pitfalls by focusing on character and story, and making everything else secondary.

That includes, to a certain degree, the music. Of course there's plenty of that, the originals penned by Messing and Borle's characters Julia Houston and Tom Levitt, as well as the occasional cover, like Karen's take on Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" that played in the ubiquitous promos. But on Smash, the music is there to complement the story, rather than the story existing to drive the musical performances. Maintaining that balance will be key to the show's success and keeping its audience into a second season.

It's not presumptuous to assume Smash will go into a second season, if it can hold onto the promising audience that tuned in for the premiere. It's a major win for a hit-starved network in need of one, as well as for despondent Glee fans in search of a new musical story with its head and heart in the right place.

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