SMASH

I don't usually review television here, but since SMASH is supposed to be a depiction of the making of a Broadway musical, I think it is worth some attention. I have to admit I watch the show, though I record it and watch it later so I can speed through the dull bits as well as the commercials (we do that with every tv show). Here's my list of problems with the show:
1. A musical about Marilyn Monroe is simply a bad idea. No sane producer would take it on.
2. The two women vying for the starring role aren't star quality. Megan Hilty is homely and charmless and her singing is generic. The brunette, whose name I can't recall, is bland except when she sings.
3. The songs for MARILYN are really awful -- they sound like songs out of some 1950s flop. Ditto the musical staging. Get better songwriters for season 2. Robert Lopez, perhaps? And a better choreographer.
4. There are two male leads, Brian D'Arcy James (who plays Debra Messing's husband) and Raza Jaffrey ( who plays the brunette's boyfriend) who really are star quality musical performers (both have starred in musicals). Yet they're never allowed to perform. They're a heck of a lot more charismatic onstage and onscreen than Will Chase or the two Marilyns.
5. What is the problem with Debra Messing's character's son? He look eighteen but acts like he's 8.
6. So few gay people involved with a Broadway musical?? Really???
There's a lot of major talent involved with SMASH. One expects that they could turn out an edgier show. I'll continue watching it -- for a while.