A retooled “Smash” debuts tonight on NBC and, as an insider, I can tell you that the most important change is the addition of an all-knowing, all-powerful, incredibly telegenic Broadway gossip columnist from The Post named . . . well, modesty forbids the tooting of my own horn, so here are a few other things to look for this season:
* “Bombshell,” the Marilyn Monroe musical, may have some competition at the Tony Awards. Out of the blue comes a hip new show (think “Rent”) that all of New York is buzzing about. This rivalry is based on the 2004 Tony battle between “Wicked” and “Avenue Q.”
* Derek, the sleazy, authoritarian director (played by Jack Davenport), gets his comeuppance when his personal life becomes fodder for my column. There are shades of Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz” in Derek’s plight.
* Backstage intrigue piles up, courtesy of Agnes, the stylish, stiletto-wielding press agent for “Bombshell.” The divine Daphne Rubin-Vega (the original Mimi in “Rent”) based her portrayal on real-life Broadway press agent Judy Jacksina, who once slept through an emergency landing in a field near O’Hare. “I woke up, looked out the window of the plane and saw a cow,” Jacksina once told me.
* Broadway notables continue to pop up. Look for Matthew Broderick, Liza Minnelli, Broadway producers Jordan Roth and Kevin McCollum, “Hairspray” and “Smash” composer Marc Shaiman and Harvey Fierstein, who spreads gossip almost as gleefully as I do.