SMASH - Ellis and Dev are leaving!

[kyl3fong2]

According to EW, their characters will only return for one or two episodes in the second season to wrap up their storylines.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/05/22/smash-ellis-dev/

[ucjrdude902]

Smart move. Now get rid of the kid.

[dramamama611]

If they could get rid of Leo. Maybe Ellis can have a car accident bringing him home.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Ellis didn't grate on me nearly as much as he seemed to grate on everyone else. I kind of liked the idea of the cute, bitchy, ambixsexual antagonist.

I like the actor who played Dev, but I never really got his character, or why he and Karen were together.

[broadwaydevil]

The actor who played Dev was fine but his whole storyline was really taking a nosedive. A good idea to get rid of him.

Everything was horrid about Ellis. Very good idea to get rid of him.


Looks like things may be moving in the right direction.

[everythingtaboo]

I knew Dev would be leaving, he served his purpose. Now Karen will be free to enter a love triangle with Chuck Bass - oops, wrong show.

[tazber]

I was just gonna post this in the SMASH thread!



Good riddance. I think season 2 is really going be a huge improvement.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

I thought Ellis was just way too campy and I agree wholeheartedly with his mention in EW's Top 20 Most Annoying TV Characters list. I just felt they never knew what to do with him, he got a lot better towards the end (I enjoyed his confrontation scene with Anjelica Huston) but it was too little, too late.
The actor who played Dev was good (and super hot) but he had a terrible role and like most of you have already said, he had no purpose and it made no sense that he would be with Karen.
I truly hope they re-conceive the show, I think both Leo and Brian D'Arcy James need to go, I don't think James and Debra Messing have any sort of chemistry. They also need to figure out how to write Karen as an interesting character, I got the whole Norma Jean thing that they were going for with her character, but they seemed to have forgotten that Norma Jean always had it in her to become Marilyn, something I don't think Katharine McPhee or the writers were ever able to portray successfully.

[broadwaybabytn]

Good that they're getting rid of Ellis. I really like Raza Jaffrey, but his character was really annoying me. How soon can they send the kid to college and write him off?

[darquegk]

Count me in the group that didn't LOATHE Ellis. I think he was INTENDED to provoke this kind of reaction from people- he clearly wasn't intended to be a multi-layered, humanized character like the rest.

He was just a creepy little cipher- ambiguous sexuality, ambiguous race, and ambiguous motivations or goals. By the middle of the season, we found out what his goal was- become a producer by sleazing and schmoozing his way to the top. And in the final episode, we find out that he was willing to kill to get what he wanted, and he is effectively banished from the production. End of character arc, end of character!

It's telling that in the Metaphorical Bollywood Fantasy, Ellis's one appearance was as a pickpocket in cameo. Even the show's creators know he's a one-story character, and we weren't intended to think much about him, or miss him once he's gone.

[everythingtaboo]

So does this mean that there are now no contract players of color on the show? Well Leslie Odom and Ann Harada are there, so much like most Broadway shows, they've met the minimum.

[tazber]

Well they'll have to find some sort of replacement characters. I'd wager that they will write in some more non-Caucasian characters.

And yea, I agree with broadwaybabytn, get rid of the kid too.

[adamgreer]

They're also casting three new series regulars, per an earlier press release. It's entirely possible some of those roles will be played by non-Caucasians.

[mikem]

For me, the main problem with Ellis is that he was supposed to be this devious, manipulative character you love to hate, but he wasn't very good at it. No one seemed to like him except Ivy, no one seemed to be fooled by him or respect him, he had no actual power, he didn't really seem to have any kind of master plan, and he got smacked down pretty regularly.

That's not a character you love to hate, that's an annoying character whom nobody wants to watch.

[Wicked Fanatic]

^One of them is, Courtney is African American

[beautywickedlover]

Thank goodness Ellis is leaving, he just brought noting to the show. I am not upset with Dev leaving because he doesn't deserve Karen after what he did to her. Dev was never a good boyfriend for her.

[Back Row]

Might be fun to speculate on the casting of the new characters.

[Gothampc]

I heard two of the new regulars are Lea Michele and Chris Colfer

[rjm516]

I hope one of the new characters is a villain. I didn't like Ellis at all, but this kind of soapy show does need a good antagonist (and not Hilty! Please please redeem her character!).

[JP2]

Hope they keep some of the ensemble kids. Bobby and Jessica >>>

[broadwayman17]

Michael Ausiello is reporting Will Chase and Brian D'arcy James are leaving as well

https://twitter.com/MichaelAusiello/status/205055168008568832

[Wynbish]

Two words, Smash: Boarding School.

I was listening to The Wild Party recording the other day, and lamented how wasted Brian's talents are on the show. He has a strong voice, great talent, and expressive eyebrows. All they have him be is angry, mopey, and salad-choppy.

[gcal]

The Hollywood Reporter says Brian d'Arcy James and Will Chase are out, too.



THR link

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I'm guessing Julia's either going to turn out to not be pregnant or lose the baby (I seriously doubt we'd allow a prime time network character we're supposed to like to have an abortion) since both possible baby daddys are going.

[Wynbish]

Maybe they are actually listening to the fans who want the action and drama of the show to focus on the aspect of mounting a Broadway show. Leave the Chinese baby talk at home and off-screen.

[strummergirl]

So that has to mean no Leo, right?