‘Smash’ Creator Theresa Rebeck Slams Season 2


Smash creator Theresa Rebeck is not a fan of the series’ second season.

Rebeck, who was removed from the show last March in what she called “an explosive situation,” responded to a January Buzzfeed article that outlined what went wrong with the first season and how NBC attempted to rectify those problems. The article, titled “How Smash Became TV’s Biggest Train Wreck,” placed a decent amount of blame on Rebeck, saying that she didn’t want to be surrounded by writers and citing former employees who said Rebeck resented executive producer David Marshall Grant.

Rebeck didn’t take too kindly to the article and emailed the writer about its inaccuracy.

“If in fact Theresa Rebeck was the problem with Smash and the train wreck it became, wouldn’t things have gotten better — rather than worse — once she left,” Rebeck asked. “It has surely occurred to you that your unnamed source was not strictly telling you the truth.” Rebeck also requested that the article be taken down “in the interest of fairness.”

The writer, Kate Aurthur, responded and said that she wasn’t going to take the story down, but that she would publish Rebeck’s email in its entirety “without any commentary, other than to point out that Smash has fared poorly in its second season in the ratings.”

Rebeck quickly replied to Aurthur, and her response was a scathing condemnation of the show she created.

“I think that your phrasing — ‘Smash has fared poorly in its second season in the ratings’ is a little disingenuous, Kate,” Rebeck wrote. “Are you sure your reporting is accurate? Most media reporters would agree that the second season is a complete disaster, and that the troubles with a once promising show go far beyond faring poorly in the ratings.”

Smash‘s second season debuted to 4.48 million viewers on February 5, 2013. Episode 2, which also aired on February 5, drew 4.45 million viewers. The series failed to break more than 3.3 million viewers over the subsequent episodes, with the most recent episode on April 27 drawing only 1.89 million viewers (the season — and series — low was the April 13 episode, which drew 1.80 million viewers).

The first season of Smash boasted a series high of 11.44 million viewers for the pilot. The second episode drew 8.06 million viewers, and the rest of the season averaged between 5.34 and 7.76 million viewers.

What do you think of the second season of Smash?

Share this article: ‘Smash’ Creator Theresa Rebeck Slams Season 2
More from Inquisitr