SMASH Preview: "The Surprise Party" With Guest Star Liza Minnelli (New Night & Time)

Photo: NBC

NBC's musical drama SMASH continues its second season at a new night and time on April 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

In "The Surprise Party," with guest star Liza Minnelli in tow, Tom (Christian Borle) plans a surprise for Ivy (Megan Hilty) in an attempt to find a balance between their work life and their friendship. Relations between Karen (Katharine McPhee), Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan), and Derek (Jack Davenport) explode just as "Hit List’s" rehearsal process nears its close. While Richard (guest star Jamey Sheridan) asks Eileen (Anjelica Huston) to spend less time at work and more time with him, Julia (Debra Messing) finds herself also pulled away from "Bombshell" by an unlikely source.

Watch a sneak peek video below:

SMASH Preview: "The Parents"

Photo: NBC

NBC's musical drama SMASH continues its second season on April 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

In "The Parents," when Ivy (Megan Hilty) after Leigh Conroy (guest star Bernadette Peters) joins the cast of “Bombshell,” Tom (Christian Borle) finds himself struggling to diffuse the years of tension between her and Ivy (Megan Hilty). Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan) and Karen’s (Katharine McPhee) connection is threatened by both Ana’s (Krysta Rodriguez) newfound success and an unexpected visitor. Derek (Jack Davenport) learns more about Jimmy’s past just as the public sees their first piece of “Hit List.”

Watch a sneak peek below:

NEWS: Anthony Geary Says 'Luke Seems Yo Be The Role I’m Destined To Play'; Julian St. John Art Show; Rick Springfield On Justin Bieber

From homeless to headlining: Julian St. John's long journey through mental illness led him to art, and now to a showing in Laguna
Julian St. John, the artist (and son of YOUNG AND THE RESTLESSS star Kristoff St. John's son), who was diagnosed as schizophrenic at age 18, left home voluntarily and lived an itinerant life for more than a year. Sometimes, his family tracked him down, housed him temporarily or set him up in hotels; other times, they had no idea where to find him. But with St. John committed to his medication now and his one-man show set to open, he considers himself on an upswing.

GENERAL HOSPITAL's Anthony Geary: 'Luke seems to be the role I’m destined to play'
“The weird thing about daytime is that you live with these characters,” Geary says. “I’ve met people who have watched for 20 or 30 years. The audience and I are living life together.”

NEWS ROUNDUP: GENERAL HOSPITAL at 50, Dylan Bruce Does Sci-Fi, ONCE: WONDERLAND Casts Leads, Hilarie Burton Joins GREY'S

ABC's GENERAL HOSPITAL to celebrate 50 years of soap opera drama
GENERAL HOSPITAL changed the mold for soap operas," said Karen Herman, director of the Archive of American Television, part of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation. The archive has collected oral histories of nearly a dozen actors from the show, including Francis and Geary.

"It became one of the first soaps to go on location for shoots, they introduced younger characters and they tackled sensitive issues like cancer, AIDS and rape," Herman said.

Unlike older soaps, which were produced in New York, "General Hospital" has long been a West Coast production. The hulking hospital exterior in the opening credits is familiar to Los Angeles residents because it is an image of the landmark USC Medical Center, east of downtown L.A.

Over the years, the show helped give rise to several stars, including Demi Moore, Ricky Martin, Rick Springfield and John Stamos. Mark Hamill appeared on the show, as did Elizabeth Taylor in the program's heyday of 1981.

Exercise guru Richard Simmons still pops up on the show, lending a comedic splash of 1980s charm, said Roger Newcomb, founder of the We Love Soaps website.

"It's always been the No. 1 soap in terms of pop culture," Newcomb said.

Former soap star Dylan Bruce takes on sci-fi
"Working on a soap opera is such good training for the novice actor. No rehearsal, 120 pages of dialogue per week, and one take to get the scene right, no room for error," says Bruce, who had a blast playing Dr. Chris Hughes on AS THE WORLD TURNS. "I think sometimes soap acting gets an unfair label for being bad and over the top. The lessons I learned there were so valuable. Seeing yourself every day on television you learned what worked and didn't work, what was bad acting and what wasn't, memorizing scripts became second nature."

Today in Soap Opera History (March 29)

On this date in...

1963: NBC aired the final episode of YOUNG DOCTOR MALONE. The show was created by Irna Phillips as a radio soap opera in 1939. Betty Corday served as a producer.

1967: On DARK SHADOWS, Maggie (Kathryn Leigh Scott) began to figure out what went down between her father and Roger 10 years earlier.

1967: AFTRA members called the union’s first national strike after negotiations broke down over staff announcer contracts at owned-and-operated stations in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles and over first-time contracts for “newsmen” at networks and owned-and-operated stations. Since AFTRA adhered to a bargaining principle that no general agreement exists until all Codes and Contracts are acceptable, the 13-day strike involved all 18,000 members in more than 100 locations across the country. Agreement was reached on the outstanding issues at 8:05 p.m. ET on Monday, April 10, 1967—just in time to allow broadcast of the annual Academy Awards program live from the Santa Monica Auditorium. It established the first staff newspersons contract for network correspondents at ABC, CBS and NBC.

1979: On ANOTHER WORLD, Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) informed Brian that Elena intended to seduce both their sons.

1982: CBS aired the first daytime episode of CAPITOL. The show premiered on Friday, March 26 in a one-hour primetime special after DALLAS.

PREVIEW: SMASH ("The Bells and Whistles")

Photo: NBC

NBC's musical drama SMASH continues its second season on March 26 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

In "The Bells and Whistles," when Ivy (Megan Hilty) brings Sam (Leslie Odom, Jr.) back to town, Tom (Christian Borle) finds himself in an awkward situation. Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan) and Derek (Jack Davenport) clash over their vision for "Hit List," while both Ana (Krysta Rodriguez) and Karen (Katharine McPhee) struggle to stand up for what they want.

Watch a sneak peek below:

NEWS: Debra Messing Books Pilot, Kassie DePaiva, Erika Slezak, Jamie Chung, Michael Le Vell

SMASH star Debra Messing books CBS pilot
Though NBC hasn’t officially said Smash is dead (though really, a move to Saturdays speaks volumes), its stars are beginning to seek employment elsewhere. To wit: Debra Messing has been cast as a married mom in an untitled single-camera comedy at CBS.

In the project from Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky, which is based on an Israeli format, Messing will play Shira, a married mom who struggles to balance family, life and work. Messing is in second position on the pilot since technically, NBC still has its hooks in her for SMASH — that is, until they officially pull the plug.

Kassie DePaiva reports on ONE LIFE TO LIVE's first week back in production
"The majority of my scenes were with my family and I can't wait for you to see the excitement that surrounds Blair's life. The sets are absolutely beautiful from top to bottom. We have many of our same directors working with us and our executive producer Jen Pepperman is just amazing."

PREVIEW: SMASH ("Musical Chairs")

Photo: NBC

NBC's musical drama SMASH continues its second season on March 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

In "Musical Chairs," new circumstances give rise to conflicts as Karen (Katharine McPhee), Tom (Christian Borle), Julia (Debra Messing) and Derek (Jack Davenport) adjust to their new surroundings. Tensions at "Liaisons" are also coming to a boil, ensuring that the show will find its place in Broadway history.

Meanwhile, Eileen (Anjelica Huston) may have found the key to saving "Bombshell" with the help of her daughter, Katie (guest star Grace Gummer).

Watch a sneak peek below:

NEWS ROUNDUP: Amber Tamblyn, How Bermuda Cleaned Up With Soaps, Vanessa Marcil

Kathy Bates joins AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN
Showrunner Ryan Murphy teases, "It's a really cool story we've been talking about for a couple of years. So we're going to do that."

For the first time, the series will film on location in New Orleans, among other spots. "The fun thing is researching what are the really haunted places in America, and we have a couple doozy locales," Murphy says.

Amber Tamblyn To Star In CBS Drama Pilot ANATOMY OF VIOLENCE
Inspired by the nonfiction book by Adrian Raine, the 20th TV-produced drama centers on Raines (Skeet Ulrich), a maverick FBI Criminal Psychiatrist with an expertise in sociopaths who partners with Abby (Tamblyn), a young female FBI Agent with whom he shares a conflicted past. Abby joined the Bureau after watching her sister get traumatized at the hands of a gunman thirteen years ago.

SMASH, Anderson Cooper Among GLAAD Media Award Recipients in New York

The 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards were held in New York on Saturday night. Below is a complete list of NY GLAAD Media Award recipients:

Vito Russo Award: Anderson Cooper
Ally Award: Brett Ratner
Outstanding Drama Series: SMASH (NBC)
Outstanding Documentary: How to Survive a Plague (Sundance Selects)
Outstanding Reality Program: THE AMAZING RACE (CBS)

NBC Moving SMASH To Saturdays

NBC announced several lineup changes on Wednesday including the move of musical soap SMASH from Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET to Saturday at 9 p.m. ET beginning April 6.

The SMASH second season premiere only averaged a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49 and 4.5 million viewers. The show's most recent episode drawing fewer than 3 million viewers and a 0.9 rating in same-day viewing.

PREVIEW: SMASH ("The Fringe")

Photo: NBC

NBC's musical drama SMASH continues its second season on March 12 at 10 p.m. ET.

In "The Fringe," Derek (Jack Davenport) and Karen (Katharine McPhee) find themselves at a surprising crossroads, forcing one of them to make a difficult choice. Jerry's (guest star Michael Cristofer) uneasy partnership with Eileen (Anjelica Huston) hits a snag, as does "Hit List's" first performance at the Fringe Festival.

Meanwhile, Ivy's (Megan Hilty) last-ditch effort to save her and Terry's (guest star Sean Hayes) show has unexpected results.

Watch a sneak peek below:

NEWS ROUNDUP: Beth Maitland Visits Y&R, John McCook Crossover, DALLAS Memes

Beth Maitland's next appearance in THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS will air in late April
The Emmy-winning fan favorite posted the news on her Facebook page.

B&B's John McCook on visiting Y&R and why no one in Genoa City recognizes him as Lance Prentiss
"That was so long ago. [Laughs] Memories don't go back that far. Eileen Davidson [Ashley] was at the wedding, too. The whole schedule had been thrown off because Mel was sick. We wound up shooting the wedding in one day instead of two, which meant Eileen came at the end of a work day at DAYS OF OUR LIVES. She showed up really breathless and then pretty much sat there and wasn't given much to do. But we're all basically extras at these things. Soap weddings are all about the pageantry and the exchanging of the vows. I didn't see Peter Bergman there at all. I guess Jack wasn't invited."

On Eric Forrester's relationship with Taylor: "I was trying to keep a little dignity. I didn't want Eric jumping into bed with just any available set of boobs, but he's a horndog and he's been alone for 12 weeks. That's eons in soap time! Hey, he wasn't getting any from Stephanie. He's probably gone five years without sex. Her death freed him up to sniff around the neighborhood."

Heather Tom's son will play her son on B&B, too
THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL star Heather Tom (Katie) announced that her 4-month-old son, Zane Achor, will now be playing her TV son, Will, starting Wednesday, April 17! "He just had his first shot - my son smiled on cue!" she tweeted, adding that co-star Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy) got to hold the tot. "He's a flirt just like his TV dad!"

Why NBC shouldn't yank SMASH yet
Though the knee-jerk reaction by most network execs is that there’s always something better out there to program, replacing a low-rated show with a new one doesn’t always work.

At least SMASH won’t have to tread water for long: Beginning March 25, THE VOICE will return to help buoy the network on Mondays and Tuesdays. That development, alone, may prompt NBC to hold its breath a little longer on SMASH, which is a passion project for network topper Robert Greenblatt.

Tuesday Night Ratings: New Low For SMASH

On Tuesday night, CBS was first in households (9.5/15) and viewers (15.19 million), and was second in both adults 25-54 (3.9/09) and adults 18-49 (2.6/07). FOX was the number one network in adults 18-49.

On The CW, HART OF DIXIE earned 0.6 among adults 18-49, even with last week, and was watched by 1.44 million.

On NBC, SMASH fell to a series low 0.7 adults 18-49 rating, down 22 percent from last week’s 0.9. The show had 2.61 million viewers.

PREVIEW: SMASH ("The Read-Through")

Anjelica Huston as Eileen Rand, Thorsten Kaye as Nick —
Photo by: Will Hart/NBC

NBC's musical drama SMASH continues its second season on March 5 at 10 p.m. ET.

In "The Read-Through," Julia's (Debra Messing) fears increase when Tom (Christian Borle) airs his suspicions of Peter (guest star Daniel Sunjata). Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan) and Kyle (Andy Mientus) confront their own crisis of confidence as "Hit List" is read for the first time.

Meanwhile, Ivy (Megan Hilty) realizes her triumph might not be all she hoped when she meets her new co-star, Terry Falls (guest star Sean Hayes), and Karen (Katharine McPhee) wonders if she can trust Jimmy.

Watch a sneak peek below:

NEWS ROUNDUP: DVR Not Helping SMASH, DROP DEAD DIVA Resurrected, Rick Springfield Talks GH

SMASH Getting Only a Little Help From DVR Numbers
The most recent episode fell to 3.3 million total viewers and it barely cleared the 1 million threshold in viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, the demographic most important to advertisers. But DVR viewing was crucial to buoying SMASH in its first season. Will that be a help this time around? Probably not.

The latest DVR numbers released by Nielsen, which include the live ratings plus the next seven days of viewership, revealed that the Season 2 premiere of SMASH, on Feb. 5, gained only about 900,000 viewers in the 18-to-49 category. That total signifies an increase of 58 percent for the category, a respectable number, but the show still finished outside the Top 25 broadcast programs in both total viewers and adults 18 to 49.

Lifetime’s DROP DEAD DIVA Gets Resurrected With Fifth Season Order
A month and a half after Lifetime cancelled the dramedy series, the cable network has inked a deal with producer Sony Pictures TV to bring the show back for a fifth season.

Valerie Bertinelli Pays Special Tribute to Bonnie Franklin
Bertinelli said in a statement Friday: "My heart is breaking. Bonnie has always been one of the most important women in my life and was a second mother to me."

"The years on One Day at a Time were some of the happiest of my life, and along with Pat [Harrington Jr.] and Mackenzie [Phillips] we were a family in every way.

"She taught me how to navigate this business and life itself with grace and humor, and to always be true to yourself. I will miss her terribly."

In her own statement, Phillips adds, "I am so saddened by the loss of our dear friend. She was just full of light and love. Bonnie will be very much missed by all the people she touched ... We all loved her very much.”

TV Couples Who Dated in Real Life
While lots of couples have played couples in movies, there are also lots of real-life pairs who also fell in love on TV.

NBC Affiliate Replaces THE OFFICE With MATLOCK in Response to Andy Griffith Oscars Snub
Pushing repeats of the outgoing comedy and LAW & ORDER and an original 1600 PENN to Saturday, the Cleveland station's GM tells THR they wanted to give the actor due after he was left out of the "In Memoriam" segment.

There's a Facebook app for that: ABC soap opera GENERAL HOSPITAL turns 50 on April 1
ABC Entertainment has announced a Facebook app that lets fans share their memories of the long-running soap opera.

The app is available on the show's Facebook page and lets fans post to Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, Google+, and Twitter using #GH50.

Rick Springfield, Son Liam Springthorpe Talk GENERAL HOSPITAL
"I haven't seen a script," Springfield told ACCESS HOLLYWOOD. "I have no idea if I'm, Eli Love or [if] I'm Noah Drake or [if] I'm Rick Springfield. I have no idea what I'm gonna be this time, but I'm open for - 'cause the 50th -- open for whatever you guys want."

He said he does expect to perform at the upcoming Nurse's Ball, the big GH charity event that the character Sabrina Santiago is reviving.

CORONATION STREET actor in court on child sex offenses
The 48-year-old actor has been charged with 19 offenses, comprising six counts of raping a child, six allegations of indecently assaulting a child, and seven counts of sexual activity with a child. :

Anjelica Huston: On SMASH, Growing Up, and Finding Love

Born of Hollywood royalty, longtime grist for the tabloid mill, and no stranger to tragedy, at age 61, Oscar-winner Anjelica Huston has found a new inner confidence. Following the sudden death of her husband four years ago, Huston was looking for something to fill the void in her life which she found in NBC’s SMASH—her first venture into series television.

In the March/April issue (on newsstands now), Huston opens up to The Saturday Evening Post contributor Jeanne Wolf about her career as “a great observer,” citing that she never “fit in” or had any single type of character that she preferred to play. Outside of the set of SMASH, Huston can be found looking for good times – opting to skip the drama of her earlier years – and working on her upcoming memoir.

On how Anjelica relates to her SMASH character, Eileen: “I would like to be as scrappy as Eileen. I can certainly wrap my brain around her scrappiness. But sometimes I’m a wimp, and other days I think I can conquer the world. I wish I could plan it out a bit better.”

PREVIEW: SMASH ("The Song")

Anjelica Huston as Eileen Rand, Thorsten Kaye as Nick —
Photo by: Will Hart/NBC

NBC's musical drama SMASH continues its second season on February 26 at 10 p.m. ET.

In "The Song," Derek (Jack Davenport) calls in help for a special event, but Jimmy's (Jeremy Jordan) pride might get in the way of a huge opportunity Karen (Katharine McPhee) orchestrates for him and Kyle (Andy Mientus). Peter (guest star Daniel Sunjata) challenges Julia's (Debra Messing) pride as they continue to work together.

Meanwhile, Ronnie (guest star Jennifer Hudson) struggles to assert her independence from a powerful mother (guest star Sheryl Lee Ralph), as Eileen (Anjelica Huston) finds herself at a moral crossroads with huge ramifications for "Bombshell."

Watch a sneak peek below:

SMASH Returns To Disappointing Ratings

Sophomore Broadway drama SMASH returned with a two-hour premiere Tuesday night averaging 4.5 million viewers and a 1.1 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic.

It took a 71% dive from its debut last year, which fetched a 3.8 rating (it premiered with a strong lead-in from THE VOICE). The dip was less drastic -- but still significant-- when compared to its May season finale, down 39%. Its lead-in on Tuesday night, BETTY WHITE'S SECOND ANNUAL 90TH BIRTHDAY SPECIAL, outperformed SMASH, drawing 6 million viewers and a 1.5 rating in the demographic.

PREVIEW: SMASH Two-Hour Season 2 Premiere

NBC's musical drama SMASH makes its much-anticipated return with a two-hour episode on February 5 at 9 p.m. ET.

Back from a successful run in Boston, Eileen (Anjelica Huston), Julia (Debra Messing) and Tom (Christian Borle) are blindsided by both personal and professional obstacles as they seek to take "Bombshell" to Broadway.

Karen (Katharine McPhee) consults her new mentor, Broadway star Veronica "Ronnie" Moore (guest star Jennifer Hudson), as she finds herself on the brink of fame, but her success may come at cost to Ivy (Megan Hilty).

A new talent (Jeremy Jordan) is discovered in an unexpected place.