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Watercooler: Can Uma Save Smash?

The ads teased that Uma Thurman "was the star who could save the show." We're just not sure if they meant Smash or "Bombshell."

Damian Holbrook

The ads teased that Uma Thurman "was the star who could save the show." We're just not sure if they meant Smash or "Bombshell."
Thurman hit the Great White Way running last night when her movie-star alter ego Rebecca Duvall took over the lead role in Smash's fictional musical-within-the-musical. And we're not gonna lie, she was pretty damn entertaining. Thurman and Duvall, that is. Sure, the arrival of a celebrity usually smacks of desperate stunt casting, but Thurman's Duvall is the kind of catastrophe we welcome: She's off-key, over-the-op and intent on pulling rank to tweak the production to suit her skills. Plus, she brought some needed sass to a show that was collapsing beneath divorce, drugs and debilitatingly hateful characters (Leo/Sam/Ellis/Dev).
Will she be our star? Doubt it. Either the already hallucinating Derek will develop a full-on obsession with Karen-as-Marilyn and give her the role, or Ivy will dispatch her wicked chorus gays to clear away any and all competition. But she's got star power and at this stage of the game, we'll take anything that could amp up Smash's dwindling wattage.
Did you like Uma Thurman's turn on Smash?
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