I've never seen SMALLVILLE. I've heard so many good things about it that I decided to give it a try. I just picked up Season One, and I've watched the pilot.

So far, so good. I like how they approach this from a different angle but still get much of the lore in there. Superman's origin has been done in many different ways, and the changes here don't strike me as radical at all.

I like how the pilot include a couple fun "bonuses" for fans without overdoing it. A good example is the newspaper headline that references Green Arrow's origin. If you get it, then it's fun, but if you don't, then it won't distract you or make you think that you're missing something.

The pilot didn't necessarily make me go "Wow," but it's a solid beginning. The show could go in a lot of different directions from here, and I'm curious to see what they'll do.

Now, on to Episode #2!

Okay, I don't think I really say anything spoilerish here. I suppose there might some minor spoilers, but I don't think they're of any consequence. (Is it a spoiler to note that several episodes include kryptonite? That's the sort of thing I'm talking about. If you think "yes," then you might want to bail now. I ain't using the #$%@! black box!)










(Still here?)












(Okay, then.)













Just finished the first disk.

So far, these are all standard X-FILES "monster of the week" episodes. That's not bad, necessarily, but I do wonder how many people in SMALLVILLE were affected by kryptonite. They're dipping into that well pretty frequently here. I also wonder how Clark manages to keep his powers secret when he uses them pretty overtly in every friggin' episode. What happens to all those monsters he defeats? Do they just quietly go to jail and not say anything?

It's the soap opera that's the real draw here, though, and I'll admit that it's sucking me in. I like all the characters and the roles are well cast. (Okay, there's maybe one exception there: Kristen Kreuck as Lana. Yeah, I know a lot of people like her. All she does, though, is flash that same "popular girl smile" over and over, and I find that a little annoying. If I were Clark, I'd go after Chloe.)

I really like how they're handling Lex Luthor. In the first three episodes, he seemed basically a decent guy with a bad father. Then, in the fourth episode, we see some shades of grey. Very interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing how that develops.

I did a little imdb surfing, and here's some trivia:

*Annette O'Toole, who plays Martha Kent, played Lana Lang in SUPERMAN III (Yeah, I'm sure that many of you knew this already, but hey - humor me.)

*X-FILES connections: Sarah-Jane Redmond, who plays Lana's aunt was in a couple X-FILES episodes. (In one, she played a woman who had telekinetic power over tree roots...or something like that. It wasn't a great episode.) In fact, she was one of Chris Carter's stand-by's and also appeared in MILLENIUM and HARSH REALM. I also see that there's a writer named "Greg Walker," and I'm assuming that this is the same Greg Walker who wrote a few X-FILES episodes during the latter seasons. (As many of you know, I'm an X-FILES fan, so I just naturally notice these things.)

*I was surprised to note that another one of the writers is Mark Verheiden, who's done a lot of comics work. He wrote some issues of Dark Horse's ALIENS series. I believe that that includes the late 1980's ALIENS VS. PREDATOR mini series, but I'm not positive. I mostly remember him as the writer of Dark Horse's very cynical comic, THE AMERICAN. I have a complete set of those (All twelve or so issues!). It was a good book, but it didn't last long.

Gohnny Gardner also tells me that Verheiden will soon be writing the SUPERMAN/BATMAN comic. I believe everything that Gohnny says.

While they never rid themselves of the Kryptonite Baddies (along with Clark being exposed to it almost constantly), they do tone it waaaaaaaaaay down in subsequent seasons. The Kryptonite-fueled baddie to episode ratio is pretty much 1:1, but that's counting each villain seperately (sometimes they have four or five in a single episode).

Back when I was on the Warren Ellis Forum, they had one of the writers of the show posting, and he took to heart the persistent criticism that they were over-playing the Kyrptonite too much.

And have fun watching the Kent truck. It gets totalled about twice a season

I'm not too much of a fan, myself. Sometimes I feel like Smallville's a show I really would have dug in 1994, but Buffy and now Veronica Mars and Battlestar Galactica have greatly, greatly increased my estimate of what makes a good genre show in 2006.

But the cast is pretty good, I think, and I really like their effects and stunt crews. It's a handsomely mounted production. Plus, stories about Superman are just basically great, you know?

So I've talked myself into it: I love Smallville. Someday we'll be wed...

That's interesting. I don't know if I've ever seen anyone change his position mid-post before!

So, Smallville is Dawson's Creek meets X-FIles?

I've never seen DAWSON'S CREEK, but I guess that sounds about right.

When I say it's part X-FILES, I'm mainly thinking of the "monster of the week" theme. I guess you could call the monsters "super villains," but I'd argue that they're played more as monsters. (Remember the X-FILES villain Eugene Tooms, a mutant "super contortionist" who was over 100 years old? That's the sort of character you'd see Clark face on SMALLVILLE.)

The DAWSONS CREEK part, I assume, would be the teen angst/soap opera moments. Those are certainly there. There's a typical tv love triangle between Clark, Lana and Lana's boyfriend. It's explored every episode, but of course, it never really goes anywhere. If it were resolved, then the drama would be over. Instead, we just get "the illusion of character development."

Ohhhhhh, Bob.

Hrm. When I first watched Smallville, it reminded me of Buffy, but without the funny. So, you just had the angsty hand-wringing of Buffy without the pop-culture references.

I was not impressed.

However, as it went along, and I caught the occassional episode here and there, I began to think it was becoming a better show.

Then I would try and watch two episodes in a row, and be really dissappointed.

So, as long as I don't try to make watching it a regular thing, I tend to more-or-less enjoy it. Mostly. But I'd never bother buying the DVD's or anything.

I think SMALLVILLE is a terrific show. Enjoy, Bob!

That's how I've seen the show, Ian. If I catch it by accident, I have enjoyed it. If I try to watch it on purpose, as in schedule some time to see it, it hasn't worked.

I do want to watch the Arthur Curry episodes though.

I for one couldn't agree more.

I love Smallville, absolutely love it, I came in late, really wish I wouldn't have though, it's a great show.

The problem was, Clark couldn't go after the real Lana. She's his mom!

I'm about halfway through Season One now, and I feel more and more that Kristen Kreuck is the weak link in an otherwise excellent cast. She seems to have about three facial expressions...and she repeats them constantly!

Otherwise, I have to say that the show's getting better as it goes on. I think I'm going to go watch another episode.

Well, by Kryptonian law and custom, marriage between cousins was okay. So, maybe he really coulda....

And she's only his adopted mom, it may be a tad creepy, but it's not illegal.

And most importantly, Annette O'Toole... er... Ma Kent is hot.

In general, I love watching tv shows on dvd!

I watched eleven episodes of SMALLVILLE this weekend - and I often watched several in essentially one sitting.

I felt like a kid going through a big stack of comics!

Kewl. I do like that feeling.

"Last night at the soap opera, a super hero fight broke out."

That's pretty much SMALLVILLE in a nutshell. Above, Mark asked me if it was "X-FILES mixed with DAWSON'S CREEK." I only thought of X-FILES because of the "monster of the week" theme, but that gradually takes up less and less of the show. By the end of Season One, it's mostly just a soap opera. When a super villain/monster actually shows up, it's almost a "Where did THAT come from" moment?

Okay, I'm exaggerating a little. There's still science fiction/fantasy elements. The soap opera definitely predominates, though. Certainly, it's not new to mix soap opera with super heroes. I'm just not sure that I want this much soap opera. SPIDER-MAN 2 was sudsy, but it still provided a good balance between melodrama and action. At SMALLVILLE, the "Monster of the Week" plots are mostly forgettable. It's the relationships you remember.

That's not altogether a bad thing, I guess. The writers do a really good job at keeping the soap opera interesting. The characters are well written, and the individual relationships can be pretty compelling.

The most compelling is the Clark/Lex Luthor friendship. I'm amazed at how well written it is. Lex seems to be a basically good person, despite his obvious dark side. Still, the writers give you plenty to ponder. Why is he so interested in the Kent family? Is it really just friendship....or something else? I love the exploration of trust. Clark and Lex both have secrets. Both hate that the other doesn't fully trust him, but neither is fully ready to trust the other, either. Those writers are pretty clever!

I just finished the last episode of Season One. I like SMALLVILLE but am not fully enamored with it. I'd say that I'm hooked enough to pick up Season Two tomorrow, though. I do want to see where it all goes, so....call me a sucker.

(Incidently, I'm thinking of watching the first couple seasons of LOIS AND CLARK and ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN after I finish SMALLVILLE. That would give me a Superman marathon to match my Batman marathon of a few months ago. We'll see if I have the stamina!)

Loved, absolutely LOVED the last 5 minutes of the episode where the old lady could read a person's future by touching them
Fanboy buzzers went off like crazy when she took Lex's hand (hell when she took Clark's hand earlier as well!)
Love that kind of stuff!