Debra Messing Glee Style in SMASH

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Debra Messing is returning to NBC, according to TVLine, and if that’s not enough to bring back fond memories of Will & Grace then maybe the fact that she’s squaring off against a male character who happens to be gay will connect those dots for you.

Messing is putting the finishing touches on a deal to star in Smash, which sort of sounds like Glee on Broadway. The show follows a group of characters that work at putting a Marilyn Monroe musical on the Broadway stage. Messing will play Julia, a lyricist who isn’t totally on-board with the commercialism of a musical based on the classic sex goddess. This point of view tends to put her at odds with Tom, the musical’s gay composer.

The script for Smash was written by Theresa Rebeck, who is also an executive producer alongside DreamWorks TV’s Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey. Craig Zadan and Neil Moron, who produced Hairspray, are teaming up with Grammy and Tony-winning songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman to create original songs for the show.

Are you ready for another musical-based series on network TV? Think Glee has anything to worry about?