'Smash' Extended Preview Offers a Backstage Look at the NBC Drama (Video)

Go inside the staging of a Broadway musical with cast and crew including Katharine McPhee, Debra Messing, Steven Spielberg, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.

4:14 PM PST 12/19/2011 by Lesley Goldberg

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"Smash"

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Featuring former American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee leading an ensemble cast in the story of the making of a Broadway play, the fourth-place network is going all-out to promote the series, releasing a seven-minute extended sneak peek at the series.

In the clip, McPhee and co-stars Debra Messing, Megan Hilty, Jack Davenport and Anjelica Huston (among others) are joined by a "dream team" of writer-producers Neil Meron, Craig Zadan and Steven Spielberg as they discuss the concept for the series.

I've had this idea for quite a few years," Spielberg says. "I'm really interested in what happens backstage. In movies, I know exactly how to put together a story and how to put together a production but for me it's a complete mystery how they do it in theater."

Watch the extended preview below as well as clips featuring McPhee introducing her character, Karen Cartwright, and Hilty on Karen's on-screen competition, Ivy Lynn.

Smash premieres Monday, Feb. 6 at 10 p.m. on NBC. Will you watch?

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit