The awesome news is that the NBC drama, Smash, has been renewed for a second season. The maybe-not- so-awesome news is that Theresa Rebeck is stepping down as the newbie series’ showrunner. According to Deadline “Rebeck will keep her executive producer title and may write scripts but will not be involved in the day-to-day running of series, returning to her theater career.”
While the pilot of Smash was universally praised, there have been some qualms about the creative direction of the series — chronicling the creation of a Marilyn Monroe Broadway musical — which became increasingly soapy. Additionally, Smash, which started off big and broad, sometimes meandered into niche territory by focusing too much on the insider Broadway stuff over the human drama of the two singers, played by Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee, battling it out for the role of their career. Rebeck, a playwright in addition to being a screenwriter, will have a continuing presence on Smash — the female lead on the show, Julia (Debra Messing), half of a successful Broadway writing team, was based on her.
I won’t be happy if the “insider Broadway stuff” is eliminated to make the show more accessible to folks who don’t care about Broadway. If that happens, what’s the point of the show? The behind the scenes material is the best thing about Smash. DON’T SCREW IT UP NBC. PLEASE. (Deadline)
