Fans of television shows featuring heavy musical content can get a fix beginning next week when NBC will premiere the first hour of hit musical comedy “Smash’s” two-hour season debut.
Online and from 35,000 feet in the air — thanks to screenings on American Airlines flights — “Smash” fans can preview the new season through several outlets, including NBC.com, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon and Xbox and on demand. It will be shown on American’s domestic flights starting Tuesday.
“Smash,” set in the world of New York theater, stars Debra Messing, Christian Borle and Angelica Huston. Guest stars this season include Jennifer Hudson. The show revolves around a group of characters creating new Broadway musicals, where everyone must balance his or her often chaotic personal life with the all-consuming demands of life in the theater.
Development began in 2009 at Showtime by then-Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt and Steven Spielberg, from an idea by Spielberg, who had been working on the concept for years. The original concept was that each season would follow the production of a new musical; if any of them were “stage-worthy”, Spielberg would make them into actual Broadway musicals. The series was mainly inspired by “The West Wing” and “Upstairs, Downstairs,” but also by Garson Kanin’s novel “Smash” (New York: Viking, 1980).
The sophomore drama begins its second season Feb. 5 on NBC. “Smash” is a nominee at Sunday’s Golden Globe awards for best musical or comedy series.