Update: SMASH Picks New Broadway Songwriters for Season 2

In an interview with Variety, NBC's Robert Greenblatt revealed that he intends to increase the drama and shake up the music featured in the show by recruiting "up-and-comers" to compose new original music. Greenblatt confirmed that Smash composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman are in the process of recruiting compsers and lyricists. They will be searching for composers with experience who have not yet had a show on Broadway. "I love the idea that out of this show we'll be able to give some new composers a huge break," Greenblatt said. "We thought it was a great way to open up the sound of our show too."

Next season will also see the addition of a new musical in town that will be competition for the fictional 'Bombshell' musical of the first season. The exec revealed that some of Bombshell's stars will "defect" to the new production. 

In an updated statement, Bob Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment has revealed that the songwriters have been chosen, noting "While all of us at NBC are grateful for the tremendous interest from the music community for ‘Smash,’ the creative direction for season two of the show has been largely determined and we narrowed down the composers that we and Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman are considering for the show a few weeks ago. Regretfully, we’re not seeking additional composers at this time."

In its freshman season, SMASH averaged a 3.3 rating in adults 18-49; which put the series in a tie with CBS' "CSI" and "Hawaii 5-0" for No. 1 among 10 p.m. dramas last season.  In total viewers, Smash's average rose to 9.3 million. The show drew an "upscale" viewership and was primetime's most-watched drama with family who have annual incomes above $100,000. Said Greenblatt, "Getting all the live-plus-7 numbers just reinforced the degree to which it's been a success for us. I would have been surprised if the (DVR) lift wasn't as big as it was. I knew this show was going to be challenged running at 10 p.m., but we wanted to give it the best possible lead-in from 'The Voice,'?" 

Greenblatt says he would consider moving the show's timeslot to 9:00 pm when it makes its return midseason. He also plans to make some changes to the characters and their storylines. "We weren't consistent enough in how our character arcs were playing out," Greenblatt said. "We needed to smooth out those arcs, and Josh (Safran, Smash's new showrunner) is really suited to doing those kinds of stories."

Photo credit: Eric Liebowitz/NBC

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