Smallville Smallville Underappreciated

[BH/HHH]

This is something I've wanted to get off my chest for a while now. Smallville to me is the most underappreciated show in Comic Book TV history.

People often say Arrow and The Flash is miles better and you know what there's a truth to that but far to often people use the quality of their shows to put Smallville down. It's a ridiculous statement to say the least, were it not for Smallville testing the waters we wouldn't even have these shows.

I've even seen comments like the trailer for Supergirl was more worthwhile than anything we saw in ten seasons of Smallville. Yet again were it not for Smallville we would not have this new Supergirl show to look forward to.

Smallville tested the waters, it tried things, some of which worked, some of which didn't. But it left a template for the future shows to follow. It's very much shown a lack of appreciation by many for not been as good as it could have been. But again it really had nothing to go from, previous Superman shows Adventures of Superman, Superboy & Lois & Clark were not valid templates for a modern take on the Superhero. Smallville's no flights no tights rule eventually went out the window itself and by the final seasons it was a fully fledged Superhero show with costumes. Whilst Superman himself didn't ever really show up in a full costume the likes of Hawkman, Dr Fate and Stargirl all did.

People who say it ran away from the comic book roots probably have a valid point for the early seasons but later seasons proved it embraced them. Clark started to wear the S on his chest, other DC heroes were introduced and we even got to see Krypton many times.

If anything the show should be embraced and appreciated for what it did for the comic book TV show. I'm not saying you have to like Smallville but you sure as hell should appreciate it.

 

[Indy Flash]

I've enjoyed it and my brother and I have the complete series.

 

[\S/JcDc\S/]

I'd still put up the first season of Lois and Clark against anything from SV. That was a well done modern Superman take. Obviously subsequent seasons degraded the quality some. Still there was some groundbreaking stuff. The idea of Superman being his job, and Clark Kent being who he is... pretty cool change from the bumbling Reeve days.

 

[Prison Mike]

I also enjoyed Lois & Clark during the first season. At the time, it definitely felt like an updated version of the character although now it feels dated. Same with Smallville. The early seasons had the same modern yet innocent feel as Lois & Clark season 1. I also don't like it when people put Smallville down to raise their favorite shows up. I saw the Supergirl pilot and while I found it boring, I also felt a Smallville vibe to the show (by vibe I mean that lighter tone that the early seasons of Smallville had and The Flash currently has). I'm getting tired of the dark serious tone...cough*Arrow*cough.

 

[ZIPBAGS]

My biggest beef was the whole no flight...no tights rule. This made sense if the show was only on a couple of seasons. But, when the show is 5 plus years going. It was getting ridiculous.

Speaking of that rule. You hear that it was Tom who was against the suit and flying. Has anyone actually heard him say that? Whenever it came up in an interview he was just parroting what the producers said. Never that HE was against it.

 

[BH/HHH]

My biggest beef was the whole no flight...no tights rule. This made sense if the show was only on a couple of seasons. But, when the show is 5 plus years going. It was getting ridiculous.

Speaking of that rule. You hear that it was Tom who was against the suit and flying. Has anyone actually heard him say that? Whenever it came up in an interview he was just parroting what the producers said. Never that HE was against it.

They actually weren't contractually allowed to turn it into a Superman show. I think they weren't even allowed to go full on with the suit which might explain the way it ended.

 

[ZIPBAGS]

They actually weren't contractually allowed to turn it into a Superman show. I think they weren't even allowed to go full on with the suit which might explain the way it ended.

The stupidity of Warner and their prohibitions are stupid and make no sense whatsoever.

 

[BH/HHH]

The stupidity of Warner and their prohibitions are stupid and make no sense whatsoever.

I know, the Bat embargo and the current restrictions on TV are frustrating. I think they may worry that people won't pay to go see something they can get on TV for free.

 

[farrah]

Watching it for the first time and really enjoying it. Don't know why I didn't give it a chance the first time round.

 

[Micromind]

I think the first two seasons were good, third was alright then the quality started declining..

I have the season-2 DVD box set, which I watch sometimes.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

I think the show making it to 10 seasons at all stops it from being classed as an under dog in my book.

People love to rag on what's come become. It happens whenever there is a remake of something people had a few issues with, it happens whenever something new and different comes along.

And The Flash & Arrow learned from some of Smallville's mistakes, so of course there are things they have managed some things a bit better. However, there are also things that Smallville did a lot better too (I think the Luthor household dynamics in the first few seasons are better than any villainy on either show).

Smallville will always be a huge legacy of a show.

 

[Batsfan1]

They actually weren't contractually allowed to turn it into a Superman show. I think they weren't even allowed to go full on with the suit which might explain the way it ended.

I believe the head writers of the last three seasons said that they had the go ahead and didn't.

 

[STARMAN]

I liked the original concept of the show. But that concept was automatically limited in scope and could only be explored for a handful of seasons. One it drifted away from that I felt it lost its appeal.

 

[Micromind]

I liked the original concept of the show. But that concept was automatically limited in scope and could only be explored for a handful of seasons. One it drifted away from that I felt it lost its appeal.

I stopped watching Smallville in the beginning of season 4 (I think).

I watched the entire season 10, which was just OK, i guess you could tell that the budget of the show had been reduced.

Also, in some episodes, you can see that Welling was not really giving his best, his heart was not there, not his fault, either after-all, he was stuck in the same show for 10 years.

 

[LuciferLSX]

Is my favorite show. Never started watching it until last summer. On season 9 now, I took a nice break in between.

 

[BH/HHH]

I believe the head writers of the last three seasons said that they had the go ahead and didn't.

I'd love to know where you have heard that cause I've heard differently.

 

[Slade W]

I agree that Smallville is certainly underappreciated and that without it we probably would not have Arrow or Flash. In regards to people saying that Arrow and Flash are better, I agree with them, but context is needed. The people behind and Arrow and Flash were able to see where Smallville struggled and improve on that and they could also see what Smallville's strengths were and improve on them too. For example, the pacing is an example of something that was a weakness of Smallville that Arrow and Flash improved on. Arrow and Flash's stories move forward much quicker and I think most fans appreciate that. In a few years there will be more superhero TV shows and I am sure they will be better than Arrow and Flash after learning from and improving on their strengths and weaknesses.

 

[BH/HHH]

I agree that Smallville is certainly underappreciated and that without it we probably would not have Arrow or Flash. In regards to people saying that Arrow and Flash are better, I agree with them, but context is needed. The people behind and Arrow and Flash were able to see where Smallville struggled and improve on that and they could also see what Smallville's strengths were and improve on them too. For example, the pacing is an example of something that was a weakness of Smallville that Arrow and Flash improved on. Arrow and Flash's stories move forward much quicker and I think most fans appreciate that. In a few years there will be more superhero TV shows and I am sure they will be better than Arrow and Flash after learning from and improving on their strengths and weaknesses.

Great post

 

[Thundercrack85]

I feel like the show was rather unambitious. Clark Kent is not Bruce Wayne. Superman was born with his powers, and in the comics, he is often already saving the world before he graduates high school. Even if he is not yet officially Superman.

Yet Smallville's Clark Kent apparently did nothing of note until he was a young adult. Though this also bothered me – along with many more things – in Man of Steel.

I think the silly rule that he can not fly is really representative of the problem.

 

[BH/HHH]

I feel like the show was rather unambitious. Clark Kent is not Bruce Wayne. Superman was born with his powers, and in the comics, he is often already saving the world before he graduates high school. Even if he is not yet officially Superman.

Yet Smallville's Clark Kent apparently did nothing of note until he was a young adult. Though this also bothered me – along with many more things – in Man of Steel.

I think the silly rule that he can not fly is really representative of the problem.

But I think that's you're own personal problems with the show, they had a no flights no tights rule from the get go. So many wanted him to basically just be one Superman by the later seasons so what they did was push the rule as far as they could while still staying in the realms of a pre Superman show. This was never going to be another Lois & Clark (obviously with a lot less more comedy). I think that was the key thing about Smallvilke you had to accept its premise and that he was never going to wear (in any form) the actual costume or take off in flight (properly) before the finale.

I get what you're saying about ambition but the budgets weren't there to really do that stuff and for a drama series you need to gave a core group of characters.

This isn't the thread for Man of Steel but how did he do nothing of note until he was a young adult? He was constantly saving people. Also look at the comics, the adventures he had as Superboy were often very small compared to those as an adult. In the Byrne reboot he didn't even develop his powers until he was in his mid to late teens. I find this a really unfair criticsm given both the show/film very much followed the comics and even the Donner films in that aspect.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

is this the upcoming sequel to the show?

"Smallville Underappreciated"


Personally I think the show was sub par for modern television. I don't think Arrow/Flash are much better either. They tend to go through the same tropes that have been rehashed on every other CW series since its inception.

I dont think its underappreciated. I think it's aptly appreciated.

 

[BH/HHH]

is this the upcoming sequel to the show?

"Smallville Underappreciated"


Personally I think the show was sub par for modern television. I don't think Arrow/Flash are much better either. They tend to go through the same tropes that have been rehashed on every other CW series since its inception.

I dont think its underappreciated. I think it's aptly appreciated.

If you don't like those shows then fair enough but the show by many fans if those shows is very under appreciated. I'm not saying people have to like it but respect what it did.

 

[SV Fan]

Personally I think the show was sub par for modern television. I don't think Arrow/Flash are much better either. They tend to go through the same tropes that have been rehashed on every other CW series since its inception.

My take on it is the show had it's good points and bad points. They definitely could have cut out a lot of the relationship drama and as somebody pointed out above Clark Kent is not Bruce Wayne, many times it felt like they were trying to writ for a young Bruce Wayne or Peter Parker(basically as you put it, the show suffers the problems of it being geared towards a WB/CW audience). I also think the show totally mishandled Jor-El/Fortress of Solitude. I also think the show could have used a minor reboot after Season 4(those middle seasons(5-7) were probably my least favorite). I wish the show had Clark be more active in High school, as opposed to it being a backdrop for him to talk to his friends or meet the FOTW. Sure you have a few episodes like Clark joins the football team or Clark runs for President, but the show didn't have enough of that kind of stuff.

On the bright side I thought the action was entertaining for a television show and the show had many great moments(it's just when you view it as a whole it was underwhelming)

I think the silly rule that he can not fly is really representative of the problem.

Personally I have 0 problems of no tights and in the case of no flights it doesn't really bother me much except when they go out of their way to shove it in our faces he can't fly

 

[BH/HHH]

The show is and never was perfect that I an agree with. When I say it's under appreciated I'm talking about by people who are fans of current live action superhero shows who love to ***** on it. I'm not saying people should like it but maybe just respect the good it did do because it certainly did plenty of that.

I will also agree that they took the piss a bit with the flying thing. They certainly backed their self into a corner at times with that but like I said I understood that the premise was always no tights, no flights so I wasn't to bothered by it.

 

[SV Fan]

I will also agree that they took the piss a bit with the flying thing. They certainly backed their self into a corner at times with that but like I said I understood that the premise was always no tights, no flights so I wasn't to bothered by it.

I am guessing they came up with that rule when they thought the show would last 4/5 seasons. Once they got to a certain point they should have said screw it in regards to no flying