MovieChat Forums > Smash (2012) Discussion > Does anybody else find the Jimmy Collins...

Does anybody else find the Jimmy Collins character super annoying?

posted 10 years ago by rebecaro80
20 replies | jump to latest

Everybody discusses whether if the decrease Karen/Ivy conflict was what sent Smash into an early grave, but every since I started Season 2 I just can't stand Jimmy! He is one of the less likable characters I've ever seen!! The guy is just annoying from moment 1: throwing tantrums, emotionally blackmailing everyone around him, being super rude (not even in a fascinating sophisticated Dr. House way, no) and just being no attractive at all.
These rude, horrible, annoying characters are extremely overrated. Every TV show now intends to introduce dull copies that seek resemblance to brilliant characters such as Dr. House or Dr. Cox (Scrubs) and they fail! These search for the misunderstood irritating instant-genius is getting so boring!

[–] writegirl1-2 10 years ago

Karen was more annoying to me than Ellis, but I agree Jimmy wasn't conceived well. Originally he was supposed to be worse as-written and into hard drugs, not dabbling in them or whatever chickeny answer they came up with after the fact. Though at least that might have been interesting!

[–] richard-879-474393 10 years ago

He almost made the show unwatchable. The petulant artist schtick got so old and the fact that they included it in every scene he was in was ridiculous.

[–] SuperCore 10 years ago

I'm watching Season 2 now and I've been wondering if he was supposed to be autistic or something. Anytime he doesn't get his way his little pitch-a-fits are ridiculous. "I can't believe someone would choose their job over me!"

Get a clue dude. It's New York. If they don't keep their job they don't live.

By the way how did those two pitiful bartenders make so much that they could afford one of the coolest apartments I've even seen on TV?

"They have a grill, it's this grill. Now you have it...it's called America."

[–] highschoolkiller 10 years ago

i can't stand that annoying smudge of his. he's such a pompous dochebag.

I hated Jaws, it had too much shark, and dont get me started about King Kong, waaay too much gorilla

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] cookiela2001 9 years ago

I was hoping he'd stolen all of his songs from the old house he used to live in...and that's why he was so defensive.

But as it turned out, (I'm only on S02E07) he's just grating. And his music isn't as good as what we got in Season 1.
.

[–] LittleMissSunshine1993 10 years ago

Agreed. The Karen-Ivy conflict was not the problem. It was one of the things that made the show good (although I did like Ivy more when she wasn't being quite such a bitch to Karen). For me it was definetely Jimmy that crashed and burned the show. I loved S1. It was only in S2 that I grew to dislike the show. The character of Jimmy ruined it.

[–] hannonle 9 years ago

He is both annoying, AND a bad actor. I'm 1.5 episodes into season 2, and this is my verdict.

[–] cmtlshem15 9 years ago

Agreed. Just finished this series for the first time, and I thought season 1 was far superior to season 2 due to the annoying directional shift that centered on Jimmy and Kyle. I found Jimmy to be obnoxious, childish, and completely unlikable for at least 85% of his screen time. He was a caricature of the "poor tortured artist" and I struggled to understand why anyone (Karen, Kyle, or us as an the audience) would ever want to give him the time of day. He was just miserable. Kyle may have been more likable, but I felt his character was a bit one-note as a sensitive fanboy. He bored me. Actually, he bored me so much that I fell asleep midway through the episode where all of the other characters were learning of his death (I'm awful, I know). It would have been more tolerable if their presence on the show hadn't been so domineering. They weren't as interesting as anything that Smash already had going on, and yet they took up at least half the content for season 2. I was majorly disappointed with that decision.

And as you referenced, I never had a problem with the Karen/Ivy conflict. I was afraid that they would do the stereotypical thing where Ivy is a total B and always came out as a villain, but fortunately they struck a balance with that and made her someone I could root for as well. I very much enjoyed the teeter-totter relationship with her and Karen.

[–] twee-de-bourg 9 years ago

Yeppers. And I guess (apart from fanfic) the only balm we get is known that Safran (at least temporarily) retired from TV after this.

Honestly I don't think the issue was even so much the characters as it was the obsession with Rent2. AKA Hit List. It's like the writer's team was so focused on trying to tell the story of the Hit List that it forgot the characters. Who are the heart of a week-to-week drama and what connects the audience. Trying to force the sell with Jimmy and Kyle only made is worse, since it ended up looking like a new team trying to reinvent the show with almost-entirely-new characters, Derek and Karen re-entering as backdrop and everyone else guests on a show they helped build...

[–] cmtlshem15 9 years ago

Yes, it was like Jimmy and Kyle were automatically elevated to main roles even though the show was into it's second season and had pre-established characters. A lot of shows introduce new characters as the plot develops, and I know it isn't unusual for those characters to become just as important as the existing characters, but this one did not happen organically. It was obvious that Safran wasn't content with the current dynamic, and from the very beginning, he wanted his own characters to have the spotlight. I agree that Karen and Derek did become secondary to Rent 2.0 and it was just too much for me...especially when Jimmy and Kyle were less interesting than all of the originals. I also found Karen's new roommate to be obnoxious and whiny, but at least they never kept the attention on her for too long. She was treated like an actual side character, which is where they should have kept Jimmy and Kyle.

[–] SamandDeansgirl 9 years ago

Wow I guess I'm the only one who liked Jimmy then....? Maybe it's because I like Jeremy Jordan as an actor but I didn't think Jimmy was that bad. Yeah, he had his d*ck moments but I thought he was good. I mean, he wasn't just a d*ck, his character changed and developed. And come on, Jeremy Jordan is awesome.

[–] cmtlshem15 9 years ago

I only finished this series like what...4ish months ago? And I already miss it so much! It's a true testament to how good Smash was in spite of some of the choices that I did not care for.

So anyhow, I've been listening to Smash songs 24/7 lately, and that took me through the Youtube rabbit hole (you know, where you snap out of a daze and realize you've been watching videos for 3 hours straight when you were supposed to be cleaning your room!). And ya know what, you're right, Jeremy Jordan is awesome. Have you seen the video where he sings 7 minutes of "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" by Celine Dion?? I think I'm in love. The guy is mad talented, can sing his face off, and is hilarious. I'd looooove to see him on Broadway someday. And I'm watching Supergirl now, and his character on there is really sweet and quirky and lovable. I have nothing but respect (and attraction) for Jeremy. He wasn't the problem, that's for sure.

If I rewatched Smash right now, I think I would tolerate Jimmy a bit more than the first go around (thanks to Jeremy's real life charm), but that being said, I still think the character was written as too one-dimensional in his role of 'difficult but brilliant and creative.' Another issue with his character may have been the timeline. Perhaps the writers intended to have more of a slow burn between Jimmy and Karen, and Karen's little moments with Derek throughout season 2 seem to reinforce my belief on this one...perhaps setting up more of a love triangle to emerge in the future? If there had been a season 3, they would have probably taken the end of season 2 in a different direction, thus giving Jimmy more time to straighten himself out and become more deserving of Karen's attention. When they had little-to-no chance of being renewed, they had to slap things together more quickly I would assume, thus not taking his character fully toward their end goal, whatever that may have been.

That's a lot of speculation of course. And by the way, my mom always liked Jimmy more than I did and thought I was too harsh, so you aren't the only one!

[–] SamandDeansgirl 9 years ago

I do get your point as well. He did come off as a bit too much at times, for sure. But then of course your brain goes "Oh hey look, Jeremy Jordan is singing woooo" lol. But no seriously, I do see your point. I think they kind of crammed everything into season two perhaps knowing that it wouldn't be going forward. So I definitely can see how it was a bit rushed. I'm fairly easy to please though so maybe that's part of it. It was entertaining. And I definitely miss watching it. They had a lot of good characters and of course the songs were great.

I have no seen that video and I think I must now!! I have been listening to the Smash soundtrack which, by the way, is phenomenal. The closest I've come to him on Broadway is listening to the Newsies soundtrack. Which is amazing and you should totally. I have seen videos of him in it. I saw the National Tour cast last year. Anyway, that was a tangent--Supergirl is so good too. I love his character. The last episode was pretty intense for his character too.

 J.Lennon G.Harrison R.Phoenix B.Renfro 
The Beatles = Life

[–] cmtlshem15 9 years ago

I tried to link up the vid from youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TppJMa8apkc

If that doesn't work, all you have to do is search "all coming back to me celine dion jeremy jordan" and it is the first video to appear. You will love it. He's amazing! It's hilarious, but the quality of his vocals does not waver one bit, even when he's really hamming it up for the laughs. Seriously, I'm obsessed.

If/when he returns to Broadway, I would be in line for that show no matter what the story is. He's just so good!

I loved the last episode of Supergirl because it was finally something Winn-centric. Apparently he has a some haters on that show too, which I totally DO NOT get at all. He's like... the exact opposite of Jimmy Collins from Smash, and yet he gets negative feedback for being "douchey friend zone guy"..? That criticism is not at all warranted on Supergirl in my opinion...Winn is really sweet!

[–] SamandDeansgirl 9 years ago

Ooh I will definitely watch that when I'm not at work lol. Trust me, I'm tempted to watch it right now.

I would love to see him on Broadway and not just a video of him on Broadway. Not that I live anywhere near Broadway but that's besides the point.

Have you seen the movie The Last Five Years? It was really good and he was really good in it.

Yeah it was good to see him get to do more in an episode. And then this last episode he was only in it for a bit. But the episode was really good regardless. There seems to be haters everywhere, no matter what. But his character is really sweet and cute and all that. Though I do get why people are saying what they're saying. I wouldn't go as far as saying Winn is a douche but he may be a tad unreasonable in thinking that Kara has to like him just because he likes her. But like you said, the negative criticism isn't warranted.

 J.Lennon G.Harrison R.Phoenix B.Renfro 
The Beatles = Life

[–] cmtlshem15 9 years ago

I really want to see The Last Five Years!! I watched the trailer recently and it looked good. I'll probably purchase it on demand or something.

I haven't seen this week's Supergirl yet. I guess I've never taken Winn as thinking that Kara has to like him, but more so that he just lets his feelings/jealousy get the best of him every now and then. The only time that I could understand the dislike for him was when he was upset with Kara for the moment she had with James in 1x07, but he bounced back and got over it. Like you said - he can be a tad unreasonable, but it isn't anything appalling to me.

[–] SamandDeansgirl 9 years ago

Definitely check it out. I know it's on American Netflix. Which was no help to me because I'm in Canada lol. I ended up downloading it but then purchased the DVD anyways.

Yeah exactly. I don't see the need for all the hate.

 J.Lennon G.Harrison R.Phoenix B.Renfro 
The Beatles = Life

[–] SamandDeansgirl 9 years ago

Can I just say--oh My God. Lol that video killed me!! He is just too amazing. And so adorable and hilarious. That video was just too perfect haha.

[–] telavivid 8 years ago

He's extremely boring. And I don't get why the writers thought it'd be a good idea to create a character, who thinks everyone owes him the time of day. Bleh.