Smallville

I'm wholeheartedly convinced that what makes Smallville work so well is the virtually flawless casting/direction on this show. Tom Welling and Kristin Kreuk in my personal opinion are **sinfully** (and seemingly effortlessly) attractive individuals. They were the "bait" that initially had me interested in Smallville (after seeing them in fall previews for the show in 2001), as evolutionary biology compels us to naturally pay more attention to beautiful people. Then there was the Chloe Sullivan character, whose quirky and cerebral personality I was instantly drawn to. Allison Mack seems perfect for the role - she plays it with sass, intelligence, vulnerability, and a dynamic form of bubbly charisma. And I keep rooting for Chloe and Clark to make it happen (although I imagine something tragic might eventually happen to her character - guess there's always cousin Lois). I absolutely *adore* John Glover as Lionel Luthor...the cold, refined way he speaks, and the manner in which he carries himself is essential to the role. It was/is cool to see Annette O'Toole from Superman III show up as Clark's mother. And John Schneider really is the perfect dad for Superman in my view. Initially, I wasn't sure what to think about the adjustment to the Pete Ross character (it does wreak of "tokenism"), but as a person of color myself, I nevertheless *enthusiastically* applaud the show's efforts at more accurately reflecting our world by including Sam Jones III, and the multi-racial Kreuk. I just wish they gave poor Pete more to do. Let's not forget Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor. What I like about his involvement with the show is that in actuality he seems to be a science-fiction/action guy in real life with his voice-over work. And I respect that immensely.

Tom Welling turned down the Clark Kent role twice -- but the show's creators knew that Smallville wouldn't fly (pun intended) the way it needed to without Welling; and that speaks volumes about how important casting decisions were to the show's creators. And it wouldn't be working as well without Michael Rosenbaum. Or Allison Mack. Or John Glover. Or John Schneider and Annette O'Toole. Kristin Kreuk is an incredibly refreshing presence on television, and I hope to see more of Sam Jones in the future - maybe in a role that will allow him to shine more than can as Pete Ross. Not since "New York Undercover" have I been as enthusiastic about a television show as I am about Smallville. I am now a huge fan of Brian Robbins and Michael Tollin, and was thrilled to learn that they have been behind some pretty slick productions, including the 1995 Russell Simmons-affiliated Rapumentary, "The Show." I feel enriched and invigorated with youthful energy every time I catch a new episode of Smallville (I'm a now "ancient" 27 years old), and I can only imagine how special it must be on that Vancouver set. Smallville is a great show that has assembled a nearly flawless cast, features great music, notable guest stars, fantastically fun plotlines, and a fearless approach to taking chances. Bravo.

A.K.

As a fan of the superman legend for many years, I waited in anticipation for the new TV series , ‘Smallville'. I have been richly rewarded by it, as we now get to see how difficult life must have been for ‘Kal-el', as an American teenager. Although we never get to see the ‘super-being' fly around in his tights and cape, he is a fascinating character to watch, as he comes to terms with who he is and what he can do. This is the tale of a teenage Clark Kent in the days before he was Superman.

A huge meteor shower destroyed most of the town of Smallville, Kansas. It killed a lot of people, and brought Jonathan and Martha Kent what they have always wanted: a son. In 2001, Smallville has somewhat recovered from the horrible blast. However a popular yet awkward teen Clark Kent, attempts to decipher the meaning of his life and his clouded past. As he struggles with the transition from boyhood to adulthood, his strength and strange abilities set him uncomfortably apart from his peers. Clark must deal with a variety of individuals given powers by mysterious green rocks from the meteor shower, keep his powers a secret, cope with his friendship with a young Lex Luthor, and balance the two girls in his life, Chloe and Lana.

This show, although it is touching on an old and celebrated story, still has very original aspects to it. The storylines that have been presented in ‘Smallville' are of the finest quality, with some pushing the boundary that could reveal ‘what' Clark Kent really is. While it is strange to see it, the friendship that has developed between Clark's future arch-enemy, Lex Luthor, is fascinating. I am looking forward to seeing how Lex keeps turning into a criminal mastermind, while the shows has touched base on this a little. I also like the way that the story integrates seeing that not all of Smallville's individuals have not escaped the dangerous affects of what we get to know later is ‘ Kryptonite', the one thing that can hurt Superman. All of the stories have kept me interested enough to want know what will happen next.

The cast of this show, while it is somewhat unknown, is impressive. The lead role of Clark Kent/ Kal-El, is done perfectly by Tom Welling. In fact the resemblance between Welling and the junior Clark performed in the first Superman movie, Jeff East, is incredible. The other young cast members include the gorgeous Kristen Kruek, who plays the charming innocent Lana Lang. I like most people hope that Clark does end up with Lana, as for some reason, she does not deserve someone as good as Clark is. Michael Rosenbaum plays a quality Lex Luthor, with the two newer characters in this story, Pete and Chloe, performed by Sam Jones III and Allison Mack. I do like the two older cast members who were given the roles of Martha and Jonathon Kent. Martha is played by Annette O'Toole, who if you can remember appeared in the third ‘Superman' movie, as a grown up Lana Lang. I really like her as Clark Kent's mother, but for what reason I don't know. While John Schneider is a likeable Jonathon Kent.

I like the soundtrack that this show has been given. The show's main tune of `Save me', suits it very well. That song is performed by Remy Zero. While the other bands that have been used in Smallville include The calling, with their great hit ‘wherever you will go', and Eve 6's ‘Rescue'. While Enrique Inglesia's smash hit of ‘Hero' also appeared in one episode. The soundtrack this show has really helps keep my interest and gives the program a ‘youthful' feel as well.

All in all this show has given back more than what I excepted. I guess my only criticism of it has to be the corny and contrived love story theme that it continues to bring up, especially between Clark and Lana. I wish they would either be lovers or just friends. Swapping from one phase to the other starts to become confusing and frustrating, well does for me anyway. It will be fascinating to see what happens once Clark Kent realises he has to leave Smallville and pursue what and who he was meant to be, that of course is being Superman. I have found it hard to accept that Clark Kent is growing up in the ‘present', that being the new millennium, as it does not seem to fit the ‘Superman' genre. Perhaps that is a good thing, as Superman might have a different feel in the future. Whatever happens, I will continue to watch ‘Smallville' hoping that it is original in every aspect.

Set in the fictional town of Smallville, the show charts the growing up of our hero Clark Kent (Tom Welling) during his teenage years as he tries to deal with his alien powers by attempting to lead as normal teenage life as possible; complete with all its typical problems.

Lana Lang (Kirsten Kreuk) plays Clarks lonely, independent, ideal women and friend, Chloe Sullivan (Alison Mack) plays another of Clarks closest friends, a lady who as a school journalist is fascinated by all the weird events that have occurred in Smallville.Add into the fold, Lex Luther (Michael Rossenbaum) as a troubled, unlikely close friend to Clark and Lionel Luthor (John Glover) as the mean calculating father of Lex Luthor. Martha Kent (Annette O'Toole) and Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) play Clarks doting and dependable parents.

Tom Welling does an outstanding job playing Clark Kent. He brings a human-like quality to the show and the way he looks is exactly how you would imagine a young Clark Kent to look like. He is a very likable character and Tom also helps to put some of himself in the character and was basically born for the role. Michael Rossenbaum is the real star of the show though, because he plays a character that has so many depths who can be nice and pleasant most of time but has a hidden menace at the same time and the fact that he pulls it off is a testament to the quality of the actor.

John Glover, Annete O'Toole and John Schneider also do great performances in their respective roles. You can actually imagine these characters as the parents of Lex and Clark, as they bring so much to their roles. Kirsten Kreuk is basically the eye candy of the show and I would not say she is the best actress in the show. The big times she has been asked to perform big scenes she has done a good job overall.

The acting on the show is genuinely superb and of a great standard. The characters on the show are written extremely well, and they have so many different dimensions. The scripts are good and generally they try and reveal things about the characters that the viewer did not realise and this is a big plus point.

The viewer will really warm to the show because the characters are so easy to identify with. When Clark has the same problems that every teenager faces, it helps to make the show seem realistic and relevant to the teenagers today.The paramount way that this show works so well, is because the viewer KNOWS Clarks future and this is showing his past and therefore the viewer never knows what to expect. We are always aware of big things that happen to Clark in the future and the cause and effects of these problems are being explored in the show.

The writers of the show are always thinking up new story lines that the characters face that tie in with the original Superman comics and this is great. I love the fact that characters who have been in other Superman shows (from Clarks future) are constantly written into the show, and this means that the viewer knows what that character is about; as they have seen them and recognise them from before.

I have bought the DVD box-sets of this show and I would recommend it to anyone. Every episode is memorable because they all have big moments in the show that the viewer will remember and think about for ages. The amount of themes this show covers is huge and the relationships between the characters is very believable.

This is one of Warner Bros best TV shows in a long time and an absolutely brilliant television show. This show works on so many different levels and it will appeal to not just Superman fans but to fans of entertaining and exciting plot-driven TV shows. This show easily beats the other Superman competition and is an ideal addition to any Superman fans collection. This is essential viewing for Superman fans.

10/10 Go and watch this now!!

I have to admit that I'm a big superhero fan and love the majority of the superhero shows that I've seen, even some of the ones most consider bad I've still enjoyed. Having said that, I love Smallville. I think most people who've watched this still loves it. While some seasons were better than others, they're all good in their own right and definitely worth watching. Smallville is about the early years of Clark Kent (before he became known as Superman) and how he learns to control his powers and fight against different villains each episode. The entire cast was terrific but Tom Welling is definitely the star here. He was just brilliant as Clark Kent. He's still considered one of the best Clark Kent/Superman characters ever on a tv show. I just watched it all the way through recently and it's still just as good today as when it first came out. Do yourself a favor and go watch this! You won't be disappointed.

I cannot believe that I didn't catch this outstanding show when it first aired, I am really disappointed in myself for that.

About 16 months ago a friend of mine lent me his copy of the first season to check out, he told me he had watched it already and that I could take my time with it. I had it for a week without touching it, then I decided to pop it in and watch the first episode, I was thrilled! When I first heard that the WB was doing a teen drama about the young life of Clark Kent, I thought "Hell No!!" they wouldn't dare take a legend like Superman and cross it with Dawson's Creek! How wrong I was. This show is intelligent, moving, intriguing and just plain fun to watch!

I am also in the fortunate position to have only experienced the show on DVD on my 96" front projection system, so the show has taken on a cinematic element for me that most people won't get. Because of this, I do not watch the show on television at all, it's strictly a DVD event for me. This of course means that I cannot catch up with the show as it run's on the WB, but i'm committed to watching it only on DVD. For wide-screen purists like myself, the show being open matted from 1.78:1 is the only deterrent I need to abstain from the WB runs of the show.

Sadly, Tom Welling will not be Superman in the up-coming film, that's a real shame, he embodies that character so much. The episode entitled 'Rosetta' with the late Christopher Reeve is perhaps one of the most riveting hours i've witnessed on television since 'The Body' episode of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Clark's struggle against the wishes of his birth father Jor-El are very mysterious and somewhat disturbing to watch.

Micheal Rosenbaum as Lex Luther brings so many multi-dimensional elements to this iconic (eventual) villain that he even manages to make Gene Hackman's Lex seem downright flat and cardboard-ish. We all know that he will become Superman's arch-enemy, but how and why? This show dares to explore those questions with surprising freshness and intrigue. Though I suspect that he will be Superman's enemy, not Clark's. They have a brotherly bond that I would hate to see broken, but have prepared myself for that.

John Shneider and Annette O'Toole as Clark's Earth-bound parents are so warm and caring that it creates a strong emotional foundation for the show. The Kent farm is ground zero for the show and for Clark's eventual life as Superman. All of his values begin their, the man of steel we all come to know was forged with the guidance of two simple farm folk in Kansas. This show captures that so richly that it makes the short 10 minute sequence in Richard Donner's film seem woefully insufficient.

Yes, the weakest character is Lana, but it's not the fault of Kristin Kreuk (she's so hot, I could stare into those gorgeous eyes of hers all day), it's in our knowledge that she WILL be cast aside, we know this to be true, we have seen Clark's future and Lana has no place in it. So all of their scene's together have an undercurrent of futility about them. Although to Clark and Lana, at those moment's, they don't know what tomorrow brings for them, so I can tolerate them pursuing their relationship.

I read one very distressful thing in one of the user comments, it said that Tom Welling only agreed to play Clark Kent, not Superman. We NEED to see him become Superman on or about the last episode of the series, it is CRUCIAL! That, after all, is the payoff, to see him in the suit and ready to tackle the world and embrace the destiny we have all seen him struggle to realize and reach. Without that moment, the series will seem anti-climatic with no payoff.

I give this show 10 out of 10 stars. If your a Superman fan, you must see this show!