Smallville
(The CW) |
Channel: The CW
Genre: Action/Adventure Sci-fi
Creators: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Running time: 42 minutes approx.
Started: October 16, 2001
Status: Running
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Smallville
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Smallville is an American television
series that follows the adventures of a young Clark
Kent (Tom Welling), as a teenager living in Smallville,
Kansas, during the years before he becomes Superman.
Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, Smallville
debuted on October 16, 2001, on the WB Network,
though it now airs on The CW (following the merger
of The WB and UPN after the respective networks
ceased operations) and is currently in its sixth
season. Also, it is shown in syndication on ABC
Family. Smallville is filmed in Vancouver British
Columbia, Canada.
The series inspired a spin-off pilot episode (Aquaman)
that was never aired. Promotional tie-ins have included:
several sets of online web series, two of which
were produced by Verizon (Smallville: Chloe Chronicles
and Smallville: Vengeance Chronicles) another by
Sprint (Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles)
and another by Toyota Yaris (Smallville Legends:
Justice & Doom). In other media, the show has
spawned a series of young-adult novels, a DC Comics
comic book and soundtrack releases. The show broke
Charmed's record for highest rated debut for The
WB, with 8.4 million viewers tuning in for its pilot
episode. Viewers will often observe lines of dialogue,
guest stars, character wardrobe, musical scores,
and scenic design used as allusions to the Superman
comic books and films.
The series follows the life of a teenage Clark
Kent living in the town of Smallville, Kansas at
the beginning of the 21st century. Clark Kent copes
with adolescence while his superpowers (super strength,super
speed etc.) develop, explores his extraterrestrial
origins and struggles to discover his destiny.
The series often deals with the people in Clark
Kent's life: the trials and tribulations of his
adoptive human parents, Jonathan Kent and Martha
Kent, friendship with his peers, his relationship
with his sometime love interest Lana Lang, and especially
his friendship with Lex Luthor as it decays into
their mutual enmity of legend.
Established powers of Clark Kent
Smallville has established a number of Superman's
powers throughout its history. The Pilot introduced
Clark as being familiar with his super strength,
super speed and becoming aware of his invulnerability,
after being hit by a car. Over time, Clark learns
new abilities and powers that Superman will possess
in the future. A new ability is generally introduced
in one episode that centers around Clark discovering,
learning to understand and then ultimately controlling
the new found power. As the series progresses, Clark
exhibits, and learns to control, super vision in
the episode "X-Ray", heat vision in the
episode "Heat", super hearing in "Whisper",
and super breath in "Sneeze". His super
hearing developed as a consequence of an injury
rendering Clark temporarily blind. Clark's abilities,
namely his strength, invulnerability and speed,
have continually grown in intensity throughout the
series. Many early episodes chronicled his body's
reaction to being shot, at first becoming bruised,
and later showing few if any marks. Clark does not
yet understand how to control his powers of flight.
Kryptonite
The element of kryptonite is used as a recurring
plot device throughout the series. Kryptonite is
shown to have bizarre and lingering effects on human
physiology and the young superhero often encounters
mutated villains who have developed bizarre powers,
such as psychic abilities, shapeshifting, and other
paranormal abilities. For this reason, the show
is often criticized as being predominantly a "villain
of the week" series.
Kryptonite has very different effects on Kryptonians
like Clark. The general premise is that Clark is
virtually invincible except when around it. Different
colors affect Clark differently: Green kryptonite
physically weakens him and could possibly kill him
if he is exposed to it for too long. Red kryptonite
causes him to set aside moral compunctions and act
out on his impulses and dark desires. Black kryptonite
splits Clark into (and merges him back together
from) two separate beings exhibiting two personalities
(Clark Kent and Kal-El). Silver kryptonite has appeared
once, in the episode "Splinter"; its origins
are unspecific but its effect apparently include
hallucinations and severe paranoia.
[ PRODUCTION
]
Originally, Tollin/Robbins Productions wanted to
do a show about a young Bruce Wayne. The feature
film division of Warner Bros. had decided to develop
an origin movie for Batman, and, because they didn't
want to compete with a television series, had the
television series idea nixed. In 2000, Tollin/Robbins
approached Peter Roth,the President of Warner Bros.
Television, about developing a series based on a
young Superman. That same year, Alfred Gough and
Miles Millar developed a pilot based on the film
Eraser. After watching the pilot, Roth approached
the two ment about developing a second pilot, based
on the young Superman concept that was brought to
him. After meeting with Roth, Gough and Millar decided
that they didn't want to do a series where there
was lots of flying, and a cape. It was here that
they developed a "No Tights, No Flights"
rule, vowing Clark would not, at any point, fly
or don the suit during the run of the show. Gough
and Millar wanted to strip Superman down to his
"bare essence", and see the reasons behind
why Clark became Superman. Gough and Millar also
felt that the fact that they were not comic book
fans played into their favor. Not being familiar
with the universe would allow them an unbiased approach
to the series. This didn't keep them from learning
about the characters; they both did research on
the comics and picked and rearranged what they liked.
Clark Kent, Lex Luthor,
and Lana |
|
Roth, Gough, and Millar knew the show was going
to be action oriented, but they wanted to be able
to reach that "middle America iconogrpahy"
that 7th Heaven had reached. To help create this
atmosphere, the team decided the meteor shower that
brings Clark to Earth would be the foundation for
the franchise of the show. Not only does it act
as the primary source behind the creation of the
super powered beings that Clark must fight, but
it acts as a sense of irony in Clark's life. The
meteor shower would give him a life on Earth, but
it would also take away the parents of the girl
he loves, and start Lex Luthor down a dark path,
thanks to the loss of his hair during the shower.
Roth loved the conflict that was created for Clark,
in forcing him to deal with the fact that his arrival
is what caused all of this pain. Another problem
the creators had to address was why Lex Luthor would
be hanging out with a bunch of teenagers. They decided
to create a sense of loneliness in the character
of Lex Luthor, which they felt would require him
to reach out to the teens. Gough and Millar wanted
to provide a parallel to the Kents, so they created
Lionel Luthor, Lex's father, which they saw as the
"experiment in extreme parenting". Chloe
Sullivan, another character not originally from
the comics, was created to by the "outsider"
that the show needed. Gough and Millar felt the
character was necessary so someone would notice
the weird happenings in Smallville.
Michael Rosenbaum was cast as Lex Luthor, Kristin
Kreuk as Lana, and a young construction-worker-turned-model-turned-actor
named Tom Welling as Clark. Also cast were Allison
Mack as Chloe Sullivan, Sam Jones III as Pete Ross,
Eric Johnson as Whitney Fordman, John Glover as
Lionel Luthor, Cynthia Ettinger as Martha Kent and
John Schneider as Jonathan Kent. After the pilot
for the series had already been finished, for unknown
reasons, Cynthia Ettinger was replaced with Annette
O'Toole (who played Lana Lang in 1983's Superman
III), and Cynthia's parts were reshot with Annette
O'Toole.
The concept of Smallville has been described by
Warner Brothers as being a reinterpretation of the
Superman mythology from its roots. Recently, since
the November 2004 reacquisition of Superboy by the
Siegels, there has arisen contention regarding a
possible copyright infringement. The dispute is
over ownership of the fictional Smallville, title
setting of the show, and a claimed similarity between
Superboy's title character and Smallville's Clark
Kent. The heirs of Jerry Siegel claim "Smallville
is part of the Superboy copyright", of which
the Siegels own the rights.
Filming and location
Smallville is filmed at various locales in the
Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The
show is produced at BB Studios in Burnaby, a suburb
of Vancouver.
However, "main street" Smallville is
Cloverdale, British Columbia. Cloverdale is particularly
proud of being a filming site for the show; at its
entrance is a huge sign which reads "Home of
Smallville." When filming started, the high
school exteriors were shot at the Vancouver Technical
School, interiors at Templeton Secondary School.
The Kent farm is a real farm located in Aldergrove.
A movie house, the Clova Cinema in Cloverdale,
is used for exteriors of The Talon, (the show's
coffee house), which is co-owned by Lex Luthor and
Lana Lang, who also manages it. In the show, before
being turned into a coffee house, The Talon was
formerly Smallville's movie theater.
Music
Most episodes feature a song or songs by an alternative
rock act. Two soundtrack albums were released, with
the second following two years after the first.
As yet, none of Mark Snow's Americana-flavored original
scores (which at times incorporates John Williams'
iconic themes from Superman: The Movie) has been
released. On February 25, 2003, Smallville: The
Talon Mix was released. The Talon Mix featured a
selected group of artists that supplied music for
the show. Following that release, on November 8,
2005, Smallville: The Metropolis Mix was released.
It followed the same format, featuring selected
artists from the show's music.
[ PLOT
]
Clark Kent |
|
Season 1 saw the introduction of the cast and storylines,
including the introduction of a villain (or outcast
classmate) deriving a power from kryptonite exposure
and appearing in only one episode, in a plot device
that becomes known as the "freak of the week".
Season 2 has fewer "freaks of the week"
episodes, focusing more on character development
and relationship building. Several key plot points
include Lex becoming more entangled in conflict
with his father, Chloe digging into Clark's past
while dealing with Lionel, Martha and Jonathan Kent's
financial troubles, and Lana and Clark's vacillating
relationship though they end the season apart. The
main story arc, however, focuses on Clark's discovery
of his Kryptonian origins. The disembodied voice
of Clark's biological father Jor-El is introduced,
communicating to Clark via his space ship, setting
the stage for plots involving the fulfillment of
Clark's earthly destiny. Christopher Reeve, who
portrayed Superman in the 1970s and 1980s film series,
appears as Dr. Virgil Swann to provide Welling's
Clark with information regarding his heritage.
Season 3 focuses on further character development,
loyalty, betrayal, and new revelations involving
Jor-El. Early in the season, Michael McKean, Annette
O'Toole's real-life husband, portrays Clark's future
Daily Planet editor Perry White; from this point
on, other characters present in the Superman mythos
and the DC Universe are introduced to Smallville.
Pete Ross' inability to deal with keeping Clark's
secret causes him to move to Wichita, Kansas with
his mother after his parents' divorce. As of early
2007, Sam Jones has not made any return appearances
as Pete Ross.
Season 4 ventures further into the Superman mythos
by creating a story arc that runs the length of
the season; it involved Clark seeking out three
Kryptonian stones (at the instruction of Jor-El)
apparently containing the knowledge of the universe.
The majority of this season revolves around Lex
trying to rekindle a strained friendship with Clark,
Lana dating Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles), a young
man she meets in France, Clark and numerous other
characters vying with one another in attempts to
obtain the stones, and Lionel's ambiguous transformation
into a good father and person. This season also
introduced Lois Lane (Erica Durance) as Chloe Sullivan's
(Allison Mack) cousin and the Flash.
Season 5 introduces several elements of the Superman
mythos, including Jonathan Kent's death, the Fortress
of Solitude, the Phantom Zone, and Zod. The villain
Brainiac, in the guise of Professor Milton Fine
(James Marsters), becomes a recurring antagonist.
The season's central plot revolves around Clark
using the knowledge contained in the Fortress of
Solitude to train for an impending doom that will
befall Earth: the release of Zod from the Phantom
Zone due to Fine's machinations. Clark and Lana
finally begin a relationship with one another. As
with Season 4, season 5 featured a gradually unveiling
storyline in conjunction with multiple minor story
arcs running in parallel, mid-season and season
finale cliffhangers, and cameos from two other notable
DC characters, Aquaman and Cyborg.
Season 6 took Clark inside the Phantom Zone, inhabited
by a society of exiled criminals from the "28
known galaxies". The destinies of Lionel and
Lex play out in the aftermath of Lex's possession
by Zod and Lionel's adoption as the "oracle"
of Jor-El. Several prisoners escape the Phantom
Zone with Clark. DC Comics characters Jimmy Olsen,
Oliver Queen (and his superhero alias Green Arrow)
and Martian Manhunter are introduced this season,
and many of them unite in Smallville to fight a
common threat. Clark appears more prepared to accept
the greater responsibility and destiny in store
for him, by promising to continue his training,
at the Fortress of Solitude, once all the escaped
Phantom Zone criminals are either returned or destroyed.
One of the key storylines involves Lana's pregnancy,
and her marriage to Lex.
[ CAST
]
Annette O'Toole, John
Schneider, Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk,
Michael Rosenbaum, Eric Johnson, Allison
Mack, and Sam Jones III |
|
The opening season featured eight major roles.
Tom Welling was selected to portray a young Clark
Kent. Annette O'Toole and John Schneider portrayed
Clark's adoptive parents Jonathan and Martha Kent.
Michael Rosenbaum became the billionaire heir Lex
Luthor. Kristin Kreuk portrayed Lana Lang, and Sam
Jones III played Pete Ross. These cast members represented
characters that were taken directly from the Superman
mythologies, while the rest of the cast would be
comprised of characters that were created directly
for the show. Allison Mack portrayed the investigative
school journalist, and one of Clark's best friends,
Chloe Sullivan. Eric Johnson played the part of
Lana's boyfriend, Whitney Fordman.
Since the end of the first season, several main
cast members have left the series, with a few earning
spots as regular cast members. Also, the series
has brought in several new recurring guests to help
expand certain story arcs. By the end of the first
season, the character of Whitney Fordman had been
written out of the show, having left for the Marines
at the end of the season. When season two began,
John Glover, who had been a recurring guest on the
show in season one as Lionel Luthor, Lex's father,
became a part of the regular cast. Season two saw
the character of Jor-El, Clark's biological father,
brought in as a main story arc that has expanded
for the entire series. Jor-El is portrayed by Terence
Stamp, who once portrayed General Zod in the 1978
film Superman and its sequel Superman II. Emmanuelle
Vaugier was brought in as Dr. Helen Bryce, a love
interest for Lex and for a short point his wife.
Lana Lang, whose parents died in the meteor shower
that brought Clark, was given a long lost biologicial
father, Henry Small, who was portrayed by Patrick
Cassidy. Christopher Reeve was introduced as a special
guest for seasons two and three, as the Dr. Virgil
Swann, the man that would provide Clark with the
knowledge of where he actually came from.
Season three saw the start of introductions for
other major comic characters from Superman's mythology.
Michael McKean guest starred as Perry White, although
this Perry White had not yet become the editor of
the Daily Planet. Ian Somerhalder was cast as the
mysterious Adam Knight. The character of Adam Knight
would serve as a small story arc involving both
Lana and Clark. Sam Jones III's Pete Ross was written
out of the series at the end of season three. Season
four saw the introduction of Erica Durance as Chloe's
cousin Lois Lane. Durance's Lois Lane would serve
as recurring guest for season four. Jensen Ackles
portrayed Jason Teague, who was a new serious love
interest for Lana. Jensen received top billing for
season four, but he was written out of the show
in the season's finale. Season four also began introducing
other supernatural characters from the comics. Kyle
Gallner was selected to portray Bart Allen; Bart
Allen eventually becomes The Flash in the comics.
Also, Trent Ford had the duty of playing one of
Superman's comic book nemesis, Mikail Mxyzptlk.
Erica Durance was given top billing at the start
of season five, while John Schneider was written
out of the show on the series' 100th episode. In
a season long story arc, James Marsters was brought
in to play Milton Fine, the alias of comic book
villain Brainiac. Season five also introduced 3
additional superheroes from the comic books: Alan
Ritchson was cast as Arthur Curry, Denise Quiñones
portrayed Andrea Rojas, and Lee Thompson Young was
selected to play Victor Stone. Season six introduced
2 recurring characters, Jimmy Olsen and Oliver Queen.
Jimmy Olsen was portrayed by Aaron Ashmore, while
Justin Hartley played Oliver Queen. Another comic
superhero was given recurring guest status, but
in a lesser form. Although his identity has only
been revealed through interviews with the creators,
Phil Morris was selected to play Martian Manhunter.
[
AWARDS ]
Smallville's first accomplishment was breaking
Charmed's record for highest rated debut for The
WB, with 8.4 million viewers tuning in for its pilot.
Since debuting in 2001, Smallville has been nominated
and won a number of awards in a number of categories.
Smallville has been nominated for numerous Saturn
Awards. In 2002 the show was nominated in six categories,
including Best Network Television Series, out of
the nominations, Michael Rosenbaum took home the
Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series. Tom
Welling, Allison Mack, Kristin Kreuk, Erica Durance
and John Glover have also received numerous nominations
in their respective acting categories as well. Smallville
has been nominated for Best Network Television Series
five times in a row (2002-06). Most of the cast
has been nominated for one or more Teen Choice Awards;
in 2002 Welling won the award for Choice Breakout
Star and in 2006 Mack won Choice Sidekick. Rosenbaum
also won a Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance
by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series. Smallville
also won a Casting Society of America award for
Best Casting for TV, Dramatic Pilot in 2002.
The show received two nominations for American
Society of Cinematographers awards for the Pilot
(2002) and Scared (2006) and a Canadian Society
of Cinematographers award for Temptest (2003). In
addition to numerous Leo Awards nominations, the
show won Best Visual Effects (2002), Best Make-Up
(2005), Best Cinematography in a Dramatic Series,
and Best Production Design in a Dramatic Series
(2006). The show has also received six Motion Picture
Sound Editors nominations. At the Visual Effects
Society Awards, Smallville has received four nominations
and two awards: Outstanding Compositing and Outstanding
Matte Painting in a Televised Program, Music Video
or Commercial. Smallville has also been nominated
for four Emmy Awards, winning two for Outstanding
Sound Editing for a Series in 2002 and again in
2006. On January 24, 2006, it was confirmed Smallville
would be part of the new The CW's Fall 2006–2007
lineup once The WB and UPN ceased separate operations
and merged as The CW in September 2006. Season 6
began on September 28, 2006.
