Well, Smash fans, I’ve got some good news — and some great news: comic-book villain Ellis (Jaime Cepero) and no-good cheater Dev (Raza Jaffrey) will be much less visible in the show’s upcoming second season, EW.com reports.

There’s no word yet as to whether the two fan-hated characters will get a chance to wrap up their respective story lines before departing the series, but based on the events of the finale — Ellis got fired and Dev got dumped — I’d say there aren’t any loose ends left to tie up.

“Karen will always love Dev…or at least this Kat will always love @RazaJaffrey !” Katharine McPhee tweeted at her on-screen ex May 23. ”I will miss you! Can’t wait to see you back in NY!”

Raza responded, “Dev will always love Karen even if had funny way of showing it! Will continue to enjoy watching you soar @katharinemcphee -see you in NY!”

Meanwhile, HollywoodLife.com chatted with Jaime a few weeks ago about what was in store for Ellis — and season two definitely still in the cards then.

“Maybe he’ll get some redemption later on in the future,” Jaime told me. “But you’ll probably still hate him in season two.”

Fans definitely still hate Ellis — and unfortunately, so does new showrunner Josh Safran.

UPDATE: Our sister site TVLine.com has learned that Frank (Brian d’Arcy James) and Michael (Will Chase) will also have dramatically reduced roles in season two, potentially being axed altogether. Needless to say, Julia (Debra Messing) will soon be looking for a few good men.

How do YOU feel about Dev, Ellis, Frank and Michael’s departures? Are you glad to see them go, or would you like them to return in some capacity to stir up trouble? Drop a comment with your thoughts on both exits.

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

Ellis may have come off plucky and naïve on the Feb. 6 premiere of Smash, but Jaime Cepero says we shouldn’t write off Tom’s (Christian Borle) new assistant just yet. ”You will definitely see more of his cunning side,” Jaime told HollywoodLife.com during a recent visit to our NYC offices. “As the show goes on, you’ll see the lengths he’ll go to in order to be a part of the [Marilyn] production.”

“I think he knows he’s cute and what his assets are,” Jaime admitted. “He’s going to play on those as much as possible whenever he can.”

Of course, there is one person on the show unfazed by Ellis’ “cuteness” — Tom’s wrtiting partner, Julia (Debra Messing)!

“Our characters really don’t like each other,” Jaime said, adding that his drama will be mainly with her. “You’ll see a lot of tension. It’s all about the drama.”

More of my interview with Jaime:

What’s it like getting to work opposite such huge people like Debra Messing and Anjelica Huston?

“It’s so crazy. I get to work with them every day. It’s like 16,000 dreams rolled into one. I’m learning so much as an actor, and so much about the screen world. It’s a whole other ball game.”

Do you feel like you’re ready to make your Broadway debut now?

“It’s always been a goal of mine. It’s still a goal of mine, so hopefully that’ll happen in the future.”

Moving forward, will most songs

“There are a lot of covers that happen in each episode, depending where the story is going. But it’s all in context. It’s never, like, all of a sudden we’re doing a musical number.”

And what about you? Any chance we’ll see an Ellis number?

“At this point, I don’t know. They know I can sing, and we’ve had some conversations about it, so it’s a possibility.”

If you could choose a genre of music to perform, what would it be?

“I like all kinds of music, but I love R&B and I love jazz. I’d just hope Mark and Scott would write me something cool. I think they’re fantastic and they write some incredible songs.”

Well, since Ellis is so ‘cunning,’ maybe he could just steal the lead in Marilyn.

[Laughs] “Right…”

— Andy Swift

Follow Andy on Twitter for more Smash scoop

Plus, watch Jaime’s sit-down interview with our reporter Chloe Melas to find out more about the Smash star:

Click here to view the embedded video.