Steven Spielberg struggled to find takers for 'SMASH'

London, Jan 18 (ANI): Critically acclaimed director, Steven Spielberg has revealed that he spent five years trying to bring his new TV drama 'SMASH' to the small screen because the concept failed to win over network executives.

The 'Jaws' director had initially come up with the idea of a series set behind-the-scenes of a Broadway show, and teamed with his Dreamworks Television company and writer Theresa Rebeck to turn his vision into a programme.

According to 'Access Hollywood', despite Spielberg's power in Hollywood, it took years to persuade TV executives to take on the show - until NBC entertainment boss Bob Greenblatt agreed to commission the series.

"I came up with the idea for the series. I'd been flogging it for about five years. It took Bob Greenblatt to step forward, because he's done musical theatre with 9 to 5. He really responded to the material," the Daily Express quoted him as saying.

"I couldn't get anybody else to buy it. Bob stepped forward and took the show for NBC. So, I hired myself and my... two TV partners at DreamWorks Television... We then hired Theresa Rebeck to really create the show.

"She wrote a wonderful play called, The Understudy. She had done a lot of writing for theatre and I wanted theatre. I wanted writers from theatre to write about theatre," he added.

The show stars Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston and Katherine McPhee and will premiere in the U.S. in Feb. (ANI)