NBC’s ‘Smash’ on Brink of Cancellation in New Saturday Timeslot

NBC’s “Smash” is on the brink of cancellation. Maybe.

When it was announced about a month ago that the network was moving the show from its Tuesday night timeslot to Saturday, it was largely seen as a move to kill off the show, which has seen declining ratings since a highly anticipated premiere. The New York Times put it bluntly at the time: “Saturday night is now where networks send failing shows to die.”

And though NBC hasn’t released any official announcements about the future of the show, there have been a plethora of rumors that stars Debra Messing and Katharine McPhee are ready to jump ship regardless of the future of the show. Rumors also speculated that there was tension between many of the cast members on the show.

Though McPhee and Messing quickly countered those rumors, it still seems that the future is up in the air for both them and their show, which has yet to deliver on the promise of its pilot after a season and a half.

It was reported that Messing was leaving the show to star in a CBS comedy, and she said that though she is committed to a pilot, her first priority is “Smash.” Additionally, if she knows anything about the behind-the-scenes rumors, she wasn’t letting on in a recent E! interview.

“Oh my gosh, I haven’t heard any of those rumors!” she said. “It is a glorious place to work and everyone really gets along fabulously, so you might have insiders giving you information that I’m not privy to.”

She also spoke of the timeslot change, though it seemed largely just a way to let people know when they could actually tune in to the show.

“Obviously we were saddened that it was being moved to Saturday, but understood why it was happening, and are just really excited about seeing the rest of the season air on Saturday at 9 p.m,” she said. “Now waiting to see if we have a season three coming.”