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"NBC&amp;#039;s Jennifer Salke has defended the decision to delay the return of Smash. The musical drama&amp;#039;s second season will not air until 2013, with Gossip Girl&amp;#039;s Josh Safran replacing series creator Theresa Rebeck as showrunner. &amp;quot;Josh Safran is coming in... and we wanted him to get a chance to... get in there and have an ownership stake in the show,&amp;quot; network entertainment president Salke told Entertainment Weekly. &amp;quot;We wanted him to be able to stand back and have a real creative discussion about what he wants the season to be and be a big part of that.&amp;quot; Salke also hinted that a midseason debut will allow season two of Smash to air uninterrupted. &amp;quot;If it aired in the fall, it would have so many pre-emptions,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;You could never really run more than three or four episodes straight. The midseason schedule will allow a clean run, which is important for a show like Smash, that&amp;#039;s very serialized.&amp;quot; Smash star Christian Borle (Tom) recently hinted that the show will undergo a &amp;quot;major... change&amp;quot; next season. The show&amp;#039;s first season finale, &amp;#039;Bombshell&amp;#039;, aired last night (May 14) on NBC. In the UK, Smash airs on Sky Atlantic. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/smash/news/a381744/smash-delay-until-2013-defended-by-nbc-exec/>