Yeah I actually started watching the show again this year for the first time in a while. I’m a big Superman fan, but for some reason this show just couldn’t hold my interest for long.(Kryptonite powered baddie of the week was part of it) Its been improved greatly with Lois being a more compelling character than Lana was.

I saw an episode this year were they did a high school reunion episode, Brainiac 5 (played by James Marsters) was a guest star and was great. The seasons are on for fairly cheap too, you can find all but the most recent ones on sale for $20 or less at most stores. I may eventually get them and see when exactly the show made the uptick to the quality I saw this year when tuning in. (last year’s LSH guest was better than I expected)

I tend to be in the Comics Alliance camp…a show about Superman who has none of the qualities of Superman. Their odd reliance on the films drove me nuts (certainly the guest spots by folks like Terence Stamp, Christopher Reeve, Margo Kidder, Teri Hatcher were all fun)… especially the rather ongoing ease with which Clark could lose his powers. It was more like magic than alien physiology. And that he and his parents often put keeping the secret above helping people? Ack.

I have stuck with Smallville since day one. Yeah, it had some sucky seasons and sometimes the acting could be cringe inducing. But over all I loved the show and will miss it when it’s gone.

And I have to hand it to them to sticking to the shows original vision. As a comic fan, I never thought that I would get to see live action versions of Legion of Superheroes, Darkseid, Granny Goodness, The Justice Society, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Aquaman, Mera, Cyborg, Maxima, Vandal Savage, Doom Patrol, Checkmate, Amanda Waller (played by Pam Grier in an inspired moment of casting) Slade, Speedy aka Mia, Cyborg, the Wonder Twins, Earth 2 and countless other DC characters. Its really pretty astounding.

And I have to go with Johanna on this one. Lana Lang all the way! But my favorite character had to be John Glovers “Lionel Luthor”.

:-P I like Lana the first season or so, then she became Ms. Victim of everyone around her and got
so annoying. Lex kind of went the same way for me, when he was a misguided guy who things kept going bad for, and wanted to be Clark’s friend he was great. When he became maniacal bad guy, out to get everyone… not so much.

And yes the idea that I’m supposed to feel bad for Superman, is what kept putting me off the show at various times. Superman is a power fantasy character, I should want to BE Superman, not feel bad for him. (to be fair its something the comics, outside of Morrison’s All Star run, don’t get either)

I’ve never really been able to get into comic book Superman. The Siegal/Shuster golden age stuff being perhaps the one exception. My first exposure to the character was in the old tv show and more importantly in Superman The Movie. And for the last decade, Smallville (which contains and expands upon much of the first films mythos). I find the superman in the medium of film and television more believable and easier to relate to. Not so much because the stories are any more or less fantastical or better than the stories in the comics. But because I’m more engaged with the character when he’s portrayed by a living, breathing actor whom you can’t help but see as human.

@James

“And yes the idea that I’m supposed to feel bad for Superman, is what kept putting me off the show at various times”

Can’t you have both? I can want to be superman and still feel bad for him when his father dies or when his relationships get screwed up because he has a secret that he can’t tell people. You sort of have to be able to feel bad for a character otherwise there is no connection at all.

For all my criticisms…I have all nine previous seasons on DVD. :)

Yes. I own the entire first nine years of a series I define as terrible. :)

Grant, I probably didn’t really phrase that right. I think you do have to challenge the character, and given his powers the best way to do that is emotionally I guess. Yet there comes a point where it gets to be a bit too much.

I expect Spider-Man to never really be happy, he and Batman are tragic human characters. Superman, I expect to overcome his problems and lead by example, but there were times on Smallville where he just threw pity parties a bit too much. Its fine to be hurt, and I can feel empathy for the character, but I also expect him to get off his butt and do what’s right because its the right thing to do.

Then add in the really dumb, I need to find America story that JMS planned out in the comics.

Yes, the teen angst got a bit thick at times. But when you’re a show inspired by the popularity of things like Dawsons Creek, what can ya do?

One story arc I wanted to bring up was the one with the girl that could teleport that had a fatal attraction for Clark. I really liked that character. They did some interesting things with her. Where she started out as a baddie and then reformed and Clark fell for her but it ended tragically. I really like characters that do crazy things, good and bad, for love. Like bronze age Catwoman (I really miss bronze age Catwoman) or like Maxima.

Well, I’ve enjoyed many a episode of Smallville over the years. The season finale was not one of them. The first hour was practically unwatchable. It wasn’t until the 55 minute mark when Michael Rosenbaum as Lex returns that I remembered what a terrible loss to the show it was when left. He was really the one and only thing worth watching in the finale and he really didn’t have much to do. The showdown with Darkseid couldn’t have been any more anticlimactic. The same goes for Green Arrows face off with Granny Goodness. And this is the final episode yet the JL and JSA were no where to be found! And no Lana?! Seriously?! This made Superman Returns look good. Really disappointing.

I’m teaching a few short courses in script analysis (comics to TV) at a local university in the fall and “Smallville” is going to be one of them. I’m actually looking to “Booster” to be what I essentially treat as the finale.

Comics Alliance has a pretty funny review of Smallvilles final season including the finale. It’s long but it’s pretty spot on and funny…

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/05/16/recap-smallville-finale/