Producer David S. Goyer says he fought to keep it, but it looks like John Constantine's trademark chain-smoking will not make it to the TV adaptation of DC's Constantine.
Said Neil Marshall, who directed the show's pilot, in a recent interview with Collider:
...it's the one thing you can't smoke on network. That's one of his character traits. We're working around that. We're trying to get aspects of it in there as much as possible. We'll see.
...the smoking is very frustrating. Who knows where it will go; where the story will go; where the character will go? There's still lots of options.
Frustrating, of course, given the grislier aspects of the show itself (to say nothing of the vice-ridden nature of prime time television in general), but also for the sake of plot. As fans of the comics will recall, Constantine's nasty smoking habit winds up being more than a minor character detail. Curious to see how the writing team works its way out of this one.
[Collider]