"Smash," the show viewers loved, then loved to hate-watch, saw behind-the-scenes drama as it ended Season 1. Series creator, executive producer and showrunner Theresa Rebeck stepped down and was replaced by "Gossip Girl" veteran Josh Safran.
"Actually, I’m moving on," Rebeck said in May 2012. "I have other things to do. I feel like it is what it is and I’m really proud of the work I did, and it was time to do some other stuff," which includes a play starring Katie Holmes.
Rebeck remained relatively mum on her departure, but in a new interview with "The New York Observer," she's opening up about what caused her to say goodbye to her Broadway baby. According to Rebeck, the network sent notes about character behavior she deemed absurd.
"One of the points of contention last year was that the network thinks they have the right to say to the writer of the show, 'We don't want her to do this. We want her to do this,'" Rebeck said. "And I would sometimes say back to them, 'She would never do that.' And they’d look at me like I was crazy, and I’d be like, 'Nope, it's not crazy, it's just who the character is.' You have to respect who the character is. It has its own internal truth and you can’t betray that. And if you don't betray that, it will not betray you. There is this sort of sense that if you don't f--k with the muse -- if you don't f--k with the muse, the muse will stand by you."
Rebeck's departure wasn't the only change made to "Smash" for Season 2. Actors Jaime Cepero, Raza Jaffrey, Brian d'Arcy James and Will Chase are not returning for Season 2 and Jeremy Jordan, Krysta Rodriguez and Andy Mientus have joined the cast. Jennifer Hudson, Sean Hayes, Liza Minnelli and Bernadette Peters will guest star.
"Smash" returns for Season 2 on Tuesday, February 5 with a two-hour premiere starting at 9 p.m. EST.
