As the second and final season of NBC's Smash comes to DVD, Smash co-stars Sean Hayes (Will & Grace ) and Broadway veteran Megan Hilty are preparing for the Oct. 3 premiere of Sean Saves the World, a new series which will also air on the Peacock network.
On Smash, Hayes was seen as Terry Falls, a comic TV actor making his Broadway debut in an ill-advised musical adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons. The five-episode story arc co-starred Hilty (one of Smash 's top-billed stars) as Ivy Lynn, a Broadway chorus girl who might or might not get her big break in this production.
Smash was sometimes described as Glee grows up. For two seasons, it followed the lives and loves of an intertwined group of Broadway professionals, some at the top, some at the bottom, and some in-between. The series could easily have been the lives that the Glee kids might live 10 years after high school.
Smash premiered on Feb. 26, 2012, to great reviews and strong ratings. Its first season focused on the efforts of a theater company to mount an original musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Naturally there was enough backstage drama to rival the tumultuous life that Monroe endured. There were also openly gay characters and fabulous musical numbers. Though the ratings dipped as season one progressed, they remained respectable. The show maintained a huge cult following comprised mainly of musical theater fans, including a sizable gay viewership. The series won a few Emmys and a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series.
Season two of Smash, just released on DVD, began on Feb. 5, 2013. Bombshell, the Marilyn musical, was still struggling to get off the ground. Ivy lost, won, lost again, and won the role of Marilyn several times over.
In-between Ivy's various Marilyn gigs, Hilty co-starred with Hayes in the Dangerous Liaisons story arc, in which the onscreen storyline was played for broad comedy. Other Bombshell alumni became involved in a small, off-Broadway theater company in a new show that unexpectedly became Bombshell 's competition. Viewers claimed to be confused by the overlapping story-lines, and the ratings plummeted.
But Smash remained a highly likable show for many. The musical numbers remained dazzling. High-profile guest stars included Liza Minnelli and Rosie O'Donnell as themselves, Broadway legend Bernadette Peters as Ivy's self-absorbed but loving mom, and Jennifer Hudson as fictional Broadway diva Veronica Moore. When it was announced that Smash would not return for a third season, the fan base cried foul. In a number of polls, Smash was named the show that most deserved to be saved. It wasn't.
"I'm grateful that we got two seasons onto TV," Hilty said in a phone interview with the B.A.R. "It's a miracle to get anything on TV. We got people to think about Broadway theater again."
Now the actress is preparing for her role as Liz on Sean Saves the World. In the new series, Hayes plays Sean. He's a single gay dad trying to raise his teenage daughter while he navigates the gay dating pool, deals with the boss from hell, and spars with his overbearing but loving mom (Linda Lavin).
"I hope it runs for a million years, or at least seven," says Hilty. "Sean Hayes is magical, incredibly funny, and a nice guy. Liz is kind of a mess. She's Sean's best friend, and she talks before she thinks. But she has the best intentions. They met at his wedding to a woman. She was the caterer, and she outed him!"
Hilty sees Sean's sexuality as incidental. "It's just another detail of who he is. It's not 'OMG, he's gay!' He just is. That says a lot about where we are now."
Look for Megan Hilty and Sean Hayes in Smash, season 2, currently out on DVD. Hayes and Hilty return in Sean Saves the World, Thurs., Oct. 3, 9 p.m., on NBC-TV.