On the surface, “Smash” is a new backstage musical about the making of the fictional Broadway musical “Bombshell: The Marilyn ...

Boop!” makes a fresh star of the classic cartoon, while “Smash” banks on the rhythms of background television.

Once a deliciously hate-watchable prime-time NBC drama with a killer pilot and a steep drop-off in quality, Smash has gone through more than a decade of reworking, including attempts to stage the ...