So the new season premiered tonight. I'm not sure if the series is going to last not having Lex. His replacement is not interesting at all. It was an ok episode, but it didn't blow me away.

Is Michael Rosenbaum completely gone? I read he would still have guest appearances.

(This show is now a wait-for-the-complete-series-on-DVD for me ... I haven't watched an episode since Season 5.)

I am sure that they will have a shot of him here or there. If they needed to they could write up a bunch of random dialogue and have him come in for one day of filming and then just splice it into the episodes as needed.

There has to be SOME Lex going on.

I missed 90% of last season, and about 50% of the one before that.

I normally have dealt with the various twists and turns away from the established Superman lore pretty well. I get that it's not the comic, that it's a seperate world kinda thing. And it's been pretty neat in the past seeing that stuff play out differently.
But watching the premier, I almost threw things at the TV.
They should have put the fork in this thing a couple of seasons ago.
I may tune into the final episode just to see if they have the nads to actually put him in the suit in the end, but I'm not rushing to my TV chair on Thursdays anymore to watch this.

Although.....I did get a kick out of Roy Connor....
That was cute.

I've watched this show from the beginning, and for me, the last two seasons were barely watchable, and would have been completely unwatchable if not for Lex.

Michael Rosenbaum's Lex is such an amazing creation. So dark and complex and multi-layered that it amazes me at times. A stellar performance on all levels.

Smallville jumped the shark when they killed off Jonathon Kent. After that, it got increasingly ridiculous.

The addition of Green Arrow has been entertaining, and I like the guy who plays him, but I don't think that making him a series regular this season is going to save the show.

I wouldn't mind it if they spun GA off into his own series.

And what happened to Kara this season? She's not in the opening credit sequence. So I suppose she's gone from regular to guest star status this year. Which is good, because I didn't particularly like her. It seemed like a very heavy handed ploy to create a spin-off character that would appeal to young girls and horny old men.

This show would have been a million times more watchable if it had 1/3 of the sense of humor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Everything just seems so DEADLY SERIOUS all the time. Maybe it's the Mark Snow music.

I agree with much of this, except the part about the last 2 seasons being unwatchable. They weren't the best seasons but I'll take exploring the superman lore and his interaction with others in the DCU over the Freak of the Week episodes we got so often that dealt with nothing more than empowering angst driven teenagers. Those got really old fast. Kara is supposed to be back sometime this season to finish off her arc. She's currently trapped in the Phantom Zone from what we saw in the season 7 finale.

Yeah. I think that the show peaked during Seasons 2-4. To call the last couple seasons unwatchable, though...I'm sorry; I don't get that at all.

I wait for the dvd's and don't watch the show on an ongoing basis. I've found the dvd's rather addicting, though, and I've enjoyed all seven seasons so far. The show has definitely changed, as Chris notes, and the focus has shifted from "protecting Clark's secret" to being more about Kryptonian lore and introducing other DC characters, but really...what's wrong with that? I've kind of been enjoying hte changes.

The show's not perfect, mind you. I just finished Season 7, and some formulas have definitely gotten repetitive. It also seemed to me that some Season 7 plot threads were wrapped up more quickly than usual, but the writer's strike might have been a factor. Beyond that, I thought it was a good season, and I was entertained.

It's time to end the show, sure, but that's because it's getting time for Clark to become Superman. Otherwise, I'm enjoying the proceedings, and I don't really see much to complain about.

Best episode ever.

Lex is overrated.

Bring on the LSH.

PLEASE no LSH.
I really like the LSH, except the fact that it has anything to do with Superboy. Wierd, huh?

LSH is a better fit with Superboy than 90% of the DC stuff that they've brought in.

I really liked the few years leading up to the first CRISIS. I think that was one of the best long term runs ever. I just hate the way that they feel the need to blow up everything Legion every time they tweak Superman's backstory.
25 years ago they should have just cut the strings and plugged in some other teen charachter as the "inspiration" and let the LSH go off on it's own. I really never saw exactly what having them tied to Superboy and Supergirl actually brought to the table.

But that is just me.

It's a done deal. Geoff Johns has already written the episode, which will air in a couple of months.

It ties them to the past and present day continuity, which (at one time) made for some of the best stories. Hiding from Mordru in the past, Mon-el's origin, Insect Queen, Elastic Lad, Pete Ross... fun stuff.

I'll probably tune in for the finale, but I quit watching years ago. Seasons 1-3 were the peak of the show, especially the "Who Killed Lionel" episode, one of my favorites. I left with the kryptonite Gatorade and never looked back.

I'm getting around to watching the new season.

Yeah, this show has taken a major, major hit. The change in tone of the show is really, really jarring.

I understand the "no flights, no tights" rule they have - but why no glasses? He eventually has to put some on and now its kind of pointless because he has waited so long...

Maxima makes her appearance tonight.

So I'm officially caught up(except for tonight's episode, of course), it hasn't been terrible, but you can tell they're trying too hard to replace Lex. I may stick around for a few more episodes.

I enjoyed tonight's episode; the actress playing Maxima did a great job, and the "looking for love" theme was pretty good, if a bit overdone. However, I think they're hinting at a Lois and Clark relationship too soon.

Seconded.

I've long had the theory that the last episode is going to be a big ol' reset button, with maybe Chloe dying, and Clark trying to undo it. His first time flying (well, in his own psyche, that is) will be to spin the world backwards, and it will somehow cause everyone to forget who Clark is.