Smallville

[Krutch]

A Smallville thread? But it's been over for years now!

Yeah, well... sometimes... I just miss this show, okay?

I love how amazingly cheese-but-good-hearted the earlier seasons were all the way up to the sudden shift of "oh crap comic books are cool again but we designed our show to be anti-comic books so... let's just try everything!" in the later seasons.

Anyone else miss this show?

(Haters, feel free to join in. All is welcome.
I know the show got hilariously bad at times.
But I just found that all part of the charm)

[Spike Spiegel]

I think it should have ended after season 4 or so.

After that, I watched it rather sporadically.

The finale was cool, though.

[Hero]

Smallville paved the way for these other DC shows on right now.

I miss this show too, but it got a generous 10 year run and escaped cancellation many times.

I think there is another main Smallville thread from years ago here somewhere.

Season 10 thread is here
Season 11 comic book thread is here

[Slade]

Originally Posted by Spike Spiegel

I think it should have ended after season 4 or so.

After that, I watched it rather sporadically.

The finale was cool, though.

Ehh, go for 5. I love Lexmas. Don't really know why, just my favorite episode.

I love Smallville. Good all the way through the damn terrible.

I rewatch the entire series once a year. I think I hit twice one year.

And I still say Tom wasn't wearing an actual Superman shirt, but it was CGI.

[ZariusTwo]

Loved Smallville. It's sort of become the butt of jokes now in light of better DC shows, but I loved that it did'nt settle for being just a Superman show, and embraced all corners of the DC mythology, giving equal screen time to Green Arrow. Without Smallville going there with Oliver, I doubt we'd have gotten Arrow at all.

Also it had the Legion AND the League and Justice Society. Plus Booster freaking Gold.

And probably the best Lois and Clark chemistry I've ever seen. And my favourite kind of love story...two buddies who realize they're made for each other.

[Candy Kappa]

I watched up to season 3, I think. Kinda lost steam from there, but I did watch some episodes here and there.

The season 9(?) special with Doctor Fate and the Justice Society stuff was pretty nifty of what I remember.

[Krutch]

Originally Posted by Slade

Ehh, go for 5. I love Lexmas. Don't really know why, just my favorite episode.
And I still say Tom wasn't wearing an actual Superman shirt, but it was CGI.

Lexmas is an awesome episode. Sure, I'm a sucker for Christmas episodes, but I loved the way they shot that episode. "Lexmas" is on my Christmas playlist of 8 or 9 different X-Mas themed episodes I watch every year. Yay for traditions

Originally Posted by Hero

Smallville paved the way for these other DC shows on right now.[/URL]

It's hard to argue that, yeah. Even the same formula of storytelling is lifted from Smallville for the most part(which I guess was lifted from Buffy) but Smallville kept Superman conscious in the public eye for a decade. Despite the hatred the show gets, it's hard to deny its impact.

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

And probably the best Lois and Clark chemistry I've ever seen. And my favourite kind of love story...two buddies who realize they're made for each other.

I think Erica pulls the weight but they're undeniably fun to watch. I'll always be a Dean and Terri style Lois and Clark kinda guy, myself.

Funny you mention your favourite kind of love story, since I always enjoyed the Clark/Chloe relationship dynamic. A part of me was annoyed they never pulled the trigger on their relationship, but in retrospect I really like how they never dated. It kind of comes off like a Scully and Mulder kind of bond, and there's just not enough of that on TV. Sometimes people who have the strongest of affinity for each other, even sexually, aren't destined to be together. But they can still carve out one hell of a friendship.

[ZariusTwo]

Yeah, Chole made a better Lana than the genuine thing.

[TurtleTitan97]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

Without Smallville going there with Oliver, I doubt we'd have gotten Arrow at all.

At this point, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I kinda blame this show for setting the trend over at the CW that Green Arrow and Black Canary can't be together.

As for Smallville itself, never really had interest in watching it. From what I've read about and seen from clips, it doesn't look like something I'd enjoyed, based on how they interpret the characters (Looking at you, Doomsday).

Plus I've never been too big on the idea of superhero prequels before, and probably never will.

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by TurtleTitan97

Plus I've never been too big on the idea of superhero prequels before, and probably never will.

It is somewhat of an oddity, in that by the time it ended it was largely only really a prequel in the sense that he doesn't put the costume on, but he's dealt with everything that he would have dealt with if he had.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by TurtleTitan97

At this point, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I kinda blame this show for setting the trend over at the CW that Green Arrow and Black Canary can't be together.

As for Smallville itself, never really had interest in watching it. From what I've read about and seen from clips, it doesn't look like something I'd enjoyed, based on how they interpret the characters (Looking at you, Doomsday).

Plus I've never been too big on the idea of superhero prequels before, and probably never will.

Rage, rage against superhero prequels. I am right there with you.

I blame Smallville for Gotham, which I had to give up after somehow making it through the first twelve episodes.

[Krutch]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Rage, rage against superhero prequels. I am right there with you.

Remember "The Graysons"? That's still a running joke with my friends and I. Just imagining the kind of foreshadowing dialogue is amazing.

The parents always saying things like...

"Y'know, son, we won't be around to look after you forever."
"You have to get a job, Dick. You think a billionaire is just going to show up and take you away?"

And Dick saying things like...

"My parents are the worst! I wish you were both dead!"
"I used to birdwatch a lot as a kid. Robins are my favourite."

It actually could have been hilarious. Wish they'd at least shot the pilot. Or leaked the script.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Krutch

Remember "The Graysons"? That's still a running joke with my friends and I. Just imagining the kind of foreshadowing dialogue is amazing.

The parents always saying things like...

"Y'know, son, we won't be around to look after you forever."
"You have to get a job, Dick. You think a billionaire is just going to show up and take you away?"

And Dick saying things like...

"My parents are the worst! I wish you were both dead!"
"I used to birdwatch a lot as a kid. Robins are my favourite."

It actually could have been hilarious. Wish they'd at least shot the pilot. Or leaked the script.

Y'know what's REALLY sad?

The best live-action Robin we've ever seen was an empty suit after he was killed.

[Slade]

Originally Posted by Wesley

I wasn't a big fan of Smallville, but I watched bits of it from season 4 onwards. I got tired of the show and stopped watching it after a few seasons until the last season was announced. I watched bits of season ten and the finale (iit was fun to watch, but there was nothing great about it).

I don't remember much about the show, but I have no interest in rewatching the series. I think it went on for too long and should've ended after season four. The later seasons were like a completely different show.

I'm going off memory, but I'm pretty sure they changed show runners after 4.

[Krutch]

Season 6 they changed networks, but kept the same show runners.
Season 8 was new show runners.

Originally Posted by TurtleTitan97

I kinda blame this show for setting the trend over at the CW that Green Arrow and Black Canary can't be together.

That's Arrow's fault and their fault alone. Smallville did it once, its an oddity. Arrow chose to follow suit. That's on them.

Originally Posted by TurtleTitan97

As for Smallville itself, never really had interest in watching it. From what I've read about and seen from clips, it doesn't look like something I'd enjoyed, based on how they interpret the characters (Looking at you, Doomsday).

Trust me, I know where you're coming from, but David Bloom was one of the best unique additions to the Smallville lore. The resolution of his arc was handled awfully, but his inclusion was great. A lot of that has to be credited to Sam Witwer, though. The dude has chops.

[ZariusTwo]

What happened with season four is Gough and Miller stopped writing episodes, but were still in charge creatively until season seven, where they departed as showrunners

[Slade]

Ehh I was close.


I have to say, one thing I could not stand about the show was when they would take Clark's powers away and say something about his human side. It always seemed to me like they tried to come across as if he was a half human and that annoyed the hell out of me.

[ABrown]

Was Smallville perfect? Absolutely not. But I've always felt like it nailed every character, especially Clark and Lex. With the new Superman movies, I just don't feel that they've quite gotten Superman right.

[Jephael]

There's a lot to be said about this show. Overall, I enjoyed it but at the same time I kinda wish we had actually gotten to see Clark Kent don the iconic suit (at the very least in season 10). I used to have a major crush on a friend who looks a lot like Lana, though now when I go back and watch the series I can't help but chuckle at how ridiculously obsessed everybody got over her.

[Krutch]

Originally Posted by Jephael

There's a lot to be said about this show. Overall, I enjoyed it but at the same time I kinda wish we had actually gotten to see Clark Kent don the iconic suit (at the very least in season 10). I used to have a major crush on a friend who looks a lot like Lana, though now when I go back and watch the series I can't help but chuckle at how ridiculously obsessed everybody got over her.

Yeah, but... wouldn't you be?

So I've been living in an apartment for over a year now and there's still some boxes I have in the closet I hadn't unpacked. Opened it last night and lo and behold... A small box of 9 Smallville Novels that I bought on Ebay and completely forgot about. Kind of awesome. I started reading one last night before I passed out and it was adorably show-accurate.

Taking place in Season 1, Clark offers to help Lana with a school play she's working on and gets suckered into playing the lead, Cyrano. Meanwhile, the queen-bee lead actress discovers she can turn invisible with kryptonite lipstick and begins to target her former friends. Once she takes an interest in Clark, she sets her sights on Lana to eliminate her competition.

So far it's got all the hallmarks of what made Smallville so charming(and eventually, cliche). I can't wait to read all these.

It'll be like watching a whole new season