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READ AT OWN RISK. I just skimmed, but there is possible spoilers. (as always) Could someone please let me know if there is after they read this? Thanks.
Exclusive Interview: Alfred Gough, Creator/Executive Producer of Smallville
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December 7, 2006
SmallvilleSmallville creator and executive producer Alfred Gough recently gave BuddyTV the opportunity to sit down with him for an exclusive interview. We discussed the evolution of Smallville, how comic books have taken over mass media, and his upcoming projects.
Smallville airs every Thursday at 8PM ET/PT.
How did you get into the TV business and eventually end up creating Smallville with Mile Millar?
How did we get into the TV business? Well, Miles and I kinda fell into it. We were (and are) feature writers and our agent suggested we do some TV specs. This was like 10 years ago. So we did that and staffed on some short-lived shows, one was "Time Cop" on ABC and the other was "Martial Law" on CBS. We were story editors, sort of low men on the totem pole for both of those shows, and then we created our first TV show called "The Strip," which ran on UPN in '99 and we did that with Joel Silver who we had just done "Lethal Weapon 4" with. And that led to an overall deal with Warner Brothers Television, which eventually led to Smallville. That's sort of how it all happened.
Were you a big comic fan growing up?
No, not a comic book fan at all.
At this point in the middle of your 6th season, how much of your work at Smallville comes naturally, or is it still new and different everyday?
Um, you know, there's a certain rhythm to a television show and I think ultimately every television show finds its own rhythm. But you still have to come up with 22 new stories every season, and also season arcs for everybody and making sure that you're progressing your characters and moving everybody forward. So, it definitely remains a day-to-day challenge, creatively, and in a good way. And then the production and business side of it sort of finds its own rhythm.
Have there been any noticeable changes moving from the WB to the CW?
Um, besides the crappy green...no, not really. We're lucky because the people we deal with day-to day in the current department were pretty much our executives at the WB and the network's been great. They've been supportive of the show and, quite honestly, for the most part they leave us alone to make it. So we don't really have any complaints at all.
How much interaction did you have with Bryan Singer and Superman Returns last year?
Yeah, that was last year. It was the beginning of season 5, so summer of 2005. And before that, it was sort of while they were writing and making the movie and it was just sort of keeping each other in the loop so that there weren't any egregious mythology clashes. It was a good process, since obviously we are fans of Brian and know Mike and Van very well, and they were all fans of the show. We could all work together and keep the suits out of it. I think that was the biggest blessing in that whole process.
How do you think that film turned out?
I think it turned out really well. I think Brian made a terrific movie and reintroduced Superman and now I'm curious and excited to see what they decide to do in the sequel.
Since you guys started Smallville, the comic book landscape has pretty much exploded, especially on a cinematic level. What do you think started that and how much do you think Smallville was a part of it?
Well, I definitely think Smallville was a part of it. I think it was sort of a combination of the first X-Men movie coming out of nowhere and surprising everybody and showing Hollywood that there is a definite fan base and if you have people that treat the material with respect, you can not only make commercially successful movies, but also artistically successful movies. And then I think it was a combination of the X-Men and the first Spiderman, and then Smallville as well, where I think people really set up and took notice that, like I said before, you can do big commercial movies that are also artistically successful. I think even on television, it was demystifying the sort of, comic book characters, the fears of costumes and stuff, which obviously we don't deal with on the show until this year, but certainly the movies had to deal with. And, quite frankly, certainly the fact that CGI had evolved to such a point that you could realistically do these things, and it keeps evolving to the fact that what we can do on the show every week, some of these things we couldn't do five years ago. So, I think it's that evolution and the fact that these movies came out and did very well.
I know you were involved in the production of Spider Man 2, but were you involved with the third one?
No, we weren't. We were involved with Spider Man 2, but were not involved with Spiderman 3.
Are you working on anything else? Anything else on the pipeline besides Smallville at the moment?
We've just done the third Mummy movie for Universal, and that one looks like it's gearing up for production, and we just signed on to write a movie based on Jungle Cruise for Disney. So, those are sort of our big projects at the moment.
Knowing that a lot of fans are rooting for Lana and Clark, why did you decide to pair Lana and Lex this year knowing that it could make some fans mad?
Again, I think the Lana, Lex, Clarke triangle is always the key triangle of the show and, quite frankly, something that we couldn't play until season 5. And, you know, it seems to us that the natural evolution, whether she'll end up with Lex, or back with Clarke, that remains to be seen. But again, I think if you're going to keep moving the show and characters forward, you need to explore all these different relationships.
What will Lana's answer to Lex's proposal be?
(Laughs)...I'm not telling you.
Will Jonathan Kent pop up again in one form or another?
Probably not. No.
Seeing that fans have really responded well to the Green Arrow, are there any plans to expand on this or spin him off?
There are no plans to spin him off. We may bring him back...we sort of have an arc, and he may pop up again, but that's going to be determined upon whether or not Justin gets a pilot, and my guess is he will. So, he's definitely a character that we can certainly revisit, and if not later this season, perhaps next season.
You're hinting that Lionel and Martha will become a couple, is this something that will truly materialize?
Ultimately, no, because I think that Martha is too good and pure and sees Lionel for what he really is, and the question really being - when is Lionel going to really show his stripes again, which we'll see in the latter half of the season.
Do you expect a 7th season and if so, do you have any idea where the show will be headed next year?
(Laughs) We certainly have our fingers crossed for a seventh season, and I think given our ratings on our network versus the other shows on the network, I think it's a pretty good call that we'll come back. And, again, next year it's hard to say. We'll just keep moving his journey towards Superman further and introduce other DC comic characters. I think that's sort of the fun as we get toward the end of the series that we're able to introduce all of the elements from later in his life, you get to see them earlier, like the other Justice League members, and some of these villains like Zod and the Brainiac. So, we'll try to keep the story as compelling as we can until the end.
t:
- plain and simple
