5 reasons we love 'Smash'

Monday's premiere of NBC's Smash certainly set the bar for a lot of Broadway drama.

For those who don't know, Smash follows a new Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe from the very beginning. Writers Julia Houston (Debra Messing) and Tom Levitt (Christian Borle) decide to play around with the idea of a musical about Marilyn Monroe. When Tom's new assistant Ellis Tancharoen (Jaime Cepero) accidentally posts a private studio video of the first song online, it becomes an instant sensation.

Meanwhile, producer Eileen Rand (Anjelica Huston) is in the middle of a bitter divorce, and her husband's stubbornness puts her entire production company in escrow, awaiting a divorce trial. With her production of My Fair Lady on pause, Eileen snatches Marilyn up before anyone else has the chance. She also pushes her Lady director Derek Wills (Jack Davenport) on Tom and Julia, despite Derek and Tom's general hatred of each other.

Then enters Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee), Iowa girl turned New York actress, and her new rival Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty), who sings the original demo song for Marilyn. We can only wonder just how dirty these girls are willing to play to beat each other out.

So, now down to why we are hooked on Smash:

1. It's not Glee. At all. Between a steamy bedroom Marilyn moment with Karen and her boyfriend Dev, and Karen stripping down in director Derek's apartment to prove she can be the sexy Marilyn, Smash is very much a grown up show.

2. Tom and Derek are going to go after each other. Between the overbearing and and narcissistic Britsh director Derek and willing to throw a punch (figuratively) but perfectly gay Tom, there is a lot of bad history and neither of them is willing to go quietly around it. Ooh fun.

3. Julia provides a strange sense of normalcy to the whole show. Despite her being a slight pushover with workaholic tendencies, her family life hasn't been consumed by the drama of Broadway. As she and husband Frank (Brian d'Arcy James) adopt a baby and raise their teenage son, viewers will get small breaks from cat fights and diva-offs.

4. This show has brought together the musical world with the real one in a brilliant way. Each scene flows naturally together without being too obvious. If the premiere is any indication, we won't see too many moments of the characters breaking into song and dancing on street corners, except when they actually fit the plot line. Exhibit A:

5. What happens after either Karen or Ivy is chosen as Marilyn. Auditions can't go on all season, and there are only so many scandals that can take place before rehearsals and live performances. We're confident that the show's writers have an excellent plan to keep things going beyond the initial plot. We can't wait to see what kind of twists and turns this dramatic world will take.

Take a peek at clips from the show below:

What were your thoughts of Monday's premiere?