SteveDeKnight
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Serene
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Thanks for posting that, Riva! 
I don't get over to DTS regularly, so I'm happy for the heads-up whenever there is something worth reading.
I'm so bummed that DeKnight's left SV. He seems to really care about these characters, and he appreciates the value of Tom.
I don't get over to DTS regularly, so I'm happy for the heads-up whenever there is something worth reading.
I'm so bummed that DeKnight's left SV. He seems to really care about these characters, and he appreciates the value of Tom.
Riva
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No problem, guys! I got sent the link by a friend on MySpace, and when I read it, I thought I'd share it with everyone here. DeKnight had some really cool stuff to say about the characters, and relationships, and he gushed about Tom! Lol. I knew you guys would enjoy reading it too. It was some good insight. His contribution to the show will really be missed, especially as he's really come into his own this season. I commented on that in his blog today. 
avidreader
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nevermind.
AgentPat
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Such an AWESOME interview/article. Here's a few excerpts, in case folks don't have the time to read the whole thing:
Regarding his blog and on-line opinion:
DeKnight uses the fan responses on his blog as to gauge efficacy of certain, usually his newer, approaches, but does take into consideration that online participation is self-selecting and limited.
"It's kind of a double-edge sword because number one, it's a litmus test, to see how they're reacting to what you're doing but also, considering the five million or so people that watch the show it's still a very, very small percentage of people that get online," he said.
He and the rest of the writing crew keep in mind that specific niche and subsets of people get online in the first place. "It's people that are super-passionate and they have their own very clear, very specific ideas, and it doesn't necessarily represent the majority of ideas or even the [on screen] vision."
Regarding DC and studio restrictions:
"Every now and then DC would pop up and agitate me. I mean, overall they were great and let us do what we wanted, but it's all these little things. They popped up and said I couldn't call Bart Allen "Flash", I had to call him Impulse. It was a technicality - and it was like, "Alright, but the audience is calling him the Flash anyway. It absolutely doesn't matter," he said.
DeKnight also wrote a scene in the episode Justice where the collection of heroes - the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg - joked about naming the group, throwing out suggestions and DC references like "the Titans", the "Legion of Superheroes", or the "Doom Patrol." Ultimately, all the references had to be removed.
Some restrictions have more to do with publicity issues than rights, especially a rival comic universe is involved.
"There was a Spiderman line that they insisted I take out. Their stance was they didn't want to help the publicity on the Spiderman movie, not that he needs any. My counter was, 'didn't one or two of those Spiderman movies mention Superman?" DeKnight said that had he been sole Executive Producer instead of a Co-Executive Producer, he would have thrown his back into keeping the reference to the rival Marvel Comics superhero, but reluctantly let it go.
Death of an episode:
"Episodes are not necessarily killed for creative reasons - we were going do an episode that we had already half broken, where a movie crew comes into Smallville and they were filming a movie version of Warrior Angel and Clark was hired to be the stunt guy. The stunt guy gets killed so Clark is hired to put on the warrior angel outfit and we're trying to get Kevin Smith to come in and be the director in the [episode], because he had expressed interest in being on the show," DeKnight said.
Where it landed in the CW Network's schedule, however, it would have only been one week following an episode where Supernatural explored a movie set theme. DeKnight was particularly enamored with this potential episode and hopes it will find its way into Smallville's schedule next season.
On the difficulty in writing Clark Kent:
"And Clark is a hard character to write for, I mean, not the voice - but the problem with writing Clark, Superman, is that he is so damn powerful. Sometimes you just have to throw these obstacles in his way," he said.
Unlike the comic books, DeKnight continued, "We can't have him fight a giant robot, or Darkseid, or someone that could give him a run for his money. Every now and then we can do an episode like Combat where someone can give him a run for his money, but it's expensive to do that and we can't do it every single show," DeKnight said. "Clark is really tricky because at any moment he can bring down the house, so you have to maneuver reasons for him not to be able to."
Add to that the cultural permanence of the character, and the emotional attachment of many of the fans who envision their own set of standards within and in spite of the modern and unprecedented complexities the show explores.
The task of writing Clark Kent - a Clark Kent who is still relatable to today's teen and young adult demographic, but retains a strong superman ethical code; who is powerful and viscerally thrilling to watch, yet sensitive, grounded in relationships, and struggling with all the raw emotion young love entails; who is currently relevant, and yet a direct call-back to the boy scout conceived several eras ago - is a perpetual tightrope walk.
On killing the bad guy:
"Strangely, I was always the one in the room always yelling: 'He can't kill him! Clark cannot kill that [villain]! There were a couple of skirmishes, particularly in the episode Combat, where originally, story-wise, Clark actually deliberately killed Titan - he basically picked him up and threw him at this big jagged spike coming out of the wall. And I said 'Aah! You can't do that!'"
DeKnight, too, then has his own unshakeable views of Superman's standards and tried to transfer them to the other writers.
"That's what makes Superman different. My argument was always he's not Batman, and it's not exactly self defense there, we can't vague it up; if it was Batman, yes, maybe you can cross that line, but not Superman."
There was also a similar conundrum in the episode Wither, but the debate about that concluding battle ended with a reminder of the nature of the villain.
"We decided 'Well [the villain] is actually a plant, a phantom, not actually a human - and even then he doesn't actually kill it, so - I think we vague-d it enough there."
Praise for TW:
"Tom [Welling] has continually impressed me," said DeKnight. "Every single year he just grows by leaps and bounds. I remember when I directed the tragic episode Ageless - tragic for me I might add, because I just think it was a wretchedly bad piece of work and I have really no one to blame but myself and you learn from your mistakes - but just from that, when I worked with Tom, and with him on Justice a year later - the improvement was just incredible," he marveled.
Aside from glowing commentary about his talent, DeKnight could not say enough about Welling's professionalism. "He's a guy that just really, really strives to do his best and learn as much as he can. A lot of shows, when you get to the sixth season, your main star can be a problem. But Tom is never a problem. He's a great leader, a great guy. Everything that you'd hope Tom Welling would be, he's that times a hundred."
DeKnight could not help but quip about Welling's physical suitability for playing young Superman.
"Also - Tom's actually bigger than he looks on television. He's a big, big man. I need [to stand on] a few boxes myself when I'm talking to him. Doing the Justice League episode was hysterical because it was me and Kyle [Gallner], who played Flash - we just looked at each other, a couple skinny short guys surrounded by these guys that were huge, going 'This sucks,'" he joked.
His favorite characters to write:
"Hands down, for me it's the Clark and Lex relationship. I'm a comics guy, so it's all about the Clark and Lex stuff - which I'm sorry there wasn't a lot of this year. I just love their interaction because Smallville built them as friends. There was one point where Lex comments to Clark that he's like the brother he never had, that he's so happy to have Clark in his life. That's what makes the show interesting for me," he said.
What gives the show its unique pathos is the mutual affection the future enemies shared once upon a time and, rather than write the same unsympathetic and cartoony buffoon of past incarnations of the bald villain, the unprecedented insight into Lex Luthor's psyche and gradual downfall.
"We know where Clark going, we know his back-story, raised by the Kents, last son of a dead planet - but the really cool twist is to be able to see the rise of the villain and what made him a villain. And all those times where you think he's so close to being a good guy -" DeKnight trails off. "And Michael [Rosenbaum] just plays it brilliantly."
"It's such an iconic kind of story," DeKnight says, musing about the tragedy of the deepest hate borne of the deepest affection, and allowing Superman to witness the actual person behind his arch-nemesis.
On Superman canon:
"And the thing about the superman canon - and it always makes me twitch when fans yell 'that's not canon!' - is there are so, so many variations of the Superman legend. Some of them are horrible, some of them are great, some of them frankly I've never heard of - and we take a little bit from here, little bit from there, and stitch together what we need."
Lois and Chloe:
One early concern of the writers was that, while they were finally cleared by DC Comics to actually use Lois Lane , they had to avoid strains of characterization overlap with her cousin, Chloe Sullivan, who was aspiring to professional journalism from the start of the show. The writers kept this concern in mind according to DeKnight, but overall did not regard it as too much of a challenge. Lois, after all, had not latched on to her future career upon arrival.
"Originally there was some concern about duplication of character. I know some online fans complained that Lois is going to steal Chloe's thunder. And there was some conspiracy theory that Lois is going to die and Chloe take her identity."
DeKnight dismissed such "conspiracies", illuming some of the reasoning behind their ease with featuring two aspiring female reporters.
"It's like 'Wait a minute, now Clark's also going to become a journalist and that doesn't step on Chloe," he said, pointing out that besides Clark - who has yet to actively aspire toward the profession - there are countless journalists, and different types at that.
"I understand the concerns that her cousin is already a journalist." But just as Clark's end point is a cape and alter ego as a means to his heroic end, however, "Lois has to slowly figure it all out, too," her own means to effecting change in her world.
Clark and Lois:
"We've also run up against this issue, where, obviously Clark and Lois end up together. But it's something we can only hint at in the TV show because there are restrictions with the features department. But the hinting at is most of the fun anyway," he said, adding that all other relationships on the show have nearly exhausted the tension.
"And this year, every so often you see an interest between the two, a little jealousy, a little glimmer of something going on there that neither one will admit to. The classic thing being Crimson, where under the influence of Red Kryptonite, Lois makes Clark the Whitesnake mix tape."
The writers were all heartbroken that they could not afford to put a Whitesnake's song in the episode. They enjoy how much color they are can to add to this duo.
Clark and Lana:
"I've always said early on, that the Clark, Lex, and Lana relationship dynamics, to me were what the show was built on. I know a lot of people complain about this, but this from the beginning what the show was built on - human relationships and love."
"I think the Clark and Lana relationship has to progress, there has to be roadblocks, things going wrong - but at the end of the day they're always going to love each other," DeKnight said, citing Clark's steadfast affection for Lana in the mythology.
"Even when he's moved on - he'll always have that spot for her in his heart. We all know they can't end up together," he said, but they can still regard each other as the first loves do.
Killing major characters:
On the potential characters deaths in the finale, DeKnight was free only to say that "at the beginning of every season we talk about killing somebody. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't."
He admits that it is obvious they cannot kill Clark, Lex, Lana or Lois.
"Obviously you can't kill your leads. Everyone else, to some extent is always open. Lionel is always open, Martha despite DC wrangling is always open, Chloe is always open. There have been many and various people on the chopping block."
Part 3 has not been posted yet.
Regarding his blog and on-line opinion:
DeKnight uses the fan responses on his blog as to gauge efficacy of certain, usually his newer, approaches, but does take into consideration that online participation is self-selecting and limited.
"It's kind of a double-edge sword because number one, it's a litmus test, to see how they're reacting to what you're doing but also, considering the five million or so people that watch the show it's still a very, very small percentage of people that get online," he said.
He and the rest of the writing crew keep in mind that specific niche and subsets of people get online in the first place. "It's people that are super-passionate and they have their own very clear, very specific ideas, and it doesn't necessarily represent the majority of ideas or even the [on screen] vision."
Regarding DC and studio restrictions:
"Every now and then DC would pop up and agitate me. I mean, overall they were great and let us do what we wanted, but it's all these little things. They popped up and said I couldn't call Bart Allen "Flash", I had to call him Impulse. It was a technicality - and it was like, "Alright, but the audience is calling him the Flash anyway. It absolutely doesn't matter," he said.
DeKnight also wrote a scene in the episode Justice where the collection of heroes - the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg - joked about naming the group, throwing out suggestions and DC references like "the Titans", the "Legion of Superheroes", or the "Doom Patrol." Ultimately, all the references had to be removed.
Some restrictions have more to do with publicity issues than rights, especially a rival comic universe is involved.
"There was a Spiderman line that they insisted I take out. Their stance was they didn't want to help the publicity on the Spiderman movie, not that he needs any. My counter was, 'didn't one or two of those Spiderman movies mention Superman?" DeKnight said that had he been sole Executive Producer instead of a Co-Executive Producer, he would have thrown his back into keeping the reference to the rival Marvel Comics superhero, but reluctantly let it go.
Death of an episode:
"Episodes are not necessarily killed for creative reasons - we were going do an episode that we had already half broken, where a movie crew comes into Smallville and they were filming a movie version of Warrior Angel and Clark was hired to be the stunt guy. The stunt guy gets killed so Clark is hired to put on the warrior angel outfit and we're trying to get Kevin Smith to come in and be the director in the [episode], because he had expressed interest in being on the show," DeKnight said.
Where it landed in the CW Network's schedule, however, it would have only been one week following an episode where Supernatural explored a movie set theme. DeKnight was particularly enamored with this potential episode and hopes it will find its way into Smallville's schedule next season.
On the difficulty in writing Clark Kent:
"And Clark is a hard character to write for, I mean, not the voice - but the problem with writing Clark, Superman, is that he is so damn powerful. Sometimes you just have to throw these obstacles in his way," he said.
Unlike the comic books, DeKnight continued, "We can't have him fight a giant robot, or Darkseid, or someone that could give him a run for his money. Every now and then we can do an episode like Combat where someone can give him a run for his money, but it's expensive to do that and we can't do it every single show," DeKnight said. "Clark is really tricky because at any moment he can bring down the house, so you have to maneuver reasons for him not to be able to."
Add to that the cultural permanence of the character, and the emotional attachment of many of the fans who envision their own set of standards within and in spite of the modern and unprecedented complexities the show explores.
The task of writing Clark Kent - a Clark Kent who is still relatable to today's teen and young adult demographic, but retains a strong superman ethical code; who is powerful and viscerally thrilling to watch, yet sensitive, grounded in relationships, and struggling with all the raw emotion young love entails; who is currently relevant, and yet a direct call-back to the boy scout conceived several eras ago - is a perpetual tightrope walk.
On killing the bad guy:
"Strangely, I was always the one in the room always yelling: 'He can't kill him! Clark cannot kill that [villain]! There were a couple of skirmishes, particularly in the episode Combat, where originally, story-wise, Clark actually deliberately killed Titan - he basically picked him up and threw him at this big jagged spike coming out of the wall. And I said 'Aah! You can't do that!'"
DeKnight, too, then has his own unshakeable views of Superman's standards and tried to transfer them to the other writers.
"That's what makes Superman different. My argument was always he's not Batman, and it's not exactly self defense there, we can't vague it up; if it was Batman, yes, maybe you can cross that line, but not Superman."
There was also a similar conundrum in the episode Wither, but the debate about that concluding battle ended with a reminder of the nature of the villain.
"We decided 'Well [the villain] is actually a plant, a phantom, not actually a human - and even then he doesn't actually kill it, so - I think we vague-d it enough there."
Praise for TW:
"Tom [Welling] has continually impressed me," said DeKnight. "Every single year he just grows by leaps and bounds. I remember when I directed the tragic episode Ageless - tragic for me I might add, because I just think it was a wretchedly bad piece of work and I have really no one to blame but myself and you learn from your mistakes - but just from that, when I worked with Tom, and with him on Justice a year later - the improvement was just incredible," he marveled.
Aside from glowing commentary about his talent, DeKnight could not say enough about Welling's professionalism. "He's a guy that just really, really strives to do his best and learn as much as he can. A lot of shows, when you get to the sixth season, your main star can be a problem. But Tom is never a problem. He's a great leader, a great guy. Everything that you'd hope Tom Welling would be, he's that times a hundred."
DeKnight could not help but quip about Welling's physical suitability for playing young Superman.
"Also - Tom's actually bigger than he looks on television. He's a big, big man. I need [to stand on] a few boxes myself when I'm talking to him. Doing the Justice League episode was hysterical because it was me and Kyle [Gallner], who played Flash - we just looked at each other, a couple skinny short guys surrounded by these guys that were huge, going 'This sucks,'" he joked.
His favorite characters to write:
"Hands down, for me it's the Clark and Lex relationship. I'm a comics guy, so it's all about the Clark and Lex stuff - which I'm sorry there wasn't a lot of this year. I just love their interaction because Smallville built them as friends. There was one point where Lex comments to Clark that he's like the brother he never had, that he's so happy to have Clark in his life. That's what makes the show interesting for me," he said.
What gives the show its unique pathos is the mutual affection the future enemies shared once upon a time and, rather than write the same unsympathetic and cartoony buffoon of past incarnations of the bald villain, the unprecedented insight into Lex Luthor's psyche and gradual downfall.
"We know where Clark going, we know his back-story, raised by the Kents, last son of a dead planet - but the really cool twist is to be able to see the rise of the villain and what made him a villain. And all those times where you think he's so close to being a good guy -" DeKnight trails off. "And Michael [Rosenbaum] just plays it brilliantly."
"It's such an iconic kind of story," DeKnight says, musing about the tragedy of the deepest hate borne of the deepest affection, and allowing Superman to witness the actual person behind his arch-nemesis.
On Superman canon:
"And the thing about the superman canon - and it always makes me twitch when fans yell 'that's not canon!' - is there are so, so many variations of the Superman legend. Some of them are horrible, some of them are great, some of them frankly I've never heard of - and we take a little bit from here, little bit from there, and stitch together what we need."
Lois and Chloe:
One early concern of the writers was that, while they were finally cleared by DC Comics to actually use Lois Lane , they had to avoid strains of characterization overlap with her cousin, Chloe Sullivan, who was aspiring to professional journalism from the start of the show. The writers kept this concern in mind according to DeKnight, but overall did not regard it as too much of a challenge. Lois, after all, had not latched on to her future career upon arrival.
"Originally there was some concern about duplication of character. I know some online fans complained that Lois is going to steal Chloe's thunder. And there was some conspiracy theory that Lois is going to die and Chloe take her identity."
DeKnight dismissed such "conspiracies", illuming some of the reasoning behind their ease with featuring two aspiring female reporters.
"It's like 'Wait a minute, now Clark's also going to become a journalist and that doesn't step on Chloe," he said, pointing out that besides Clark - who has yet to actively aspire toward the profession - there are countless journalists, and different types at that.
"I understand the concerns that her cousin is already a journalist." But just as Clark's end point is a cape and alter ego as a means to his heroic end, however, "Lois has to slowly figure it all out, too," her own means to effecting change in her world.
Clark and Lois:
"We've also run up against this issue, where, obviously Clark and Lois end up together. But it's something we can only hint at in the TV show because there are restrictions with the features department. But the hinting at is most of the fun anyway," he said, adding that all other relationships on the show have nearly exhausted the tension.
"And this year, every so often you see an interest between the two, a little jealousy, a little glimmer of something going on there that neither one will admit to. The classic thing being Crimson, where under the influence of Red Kryptonite, Lois makes Clark the Whitesnake mix tape."
The writers were all heartbroken that they could not afford to put a Whitesnake's song in the episode. They enjoy how much color they are can to add to this duo.
Clark and Lana:
"I've always said early on, that the Clark, Lex, and Lana relationship dynamics, to me were what the show was built on. I know a lot of people complain about this, but this from the beginning what the show was built on - human relationships and love."
"I think the Clark and Lana relationship has to progress, there has to be roadblocks, things going wrong - but at the end of the day they're always going to love each other," DeKnight said, citing Clark's steadfast affection for Lana in the mythology.
"Even when he's moved on - he'll always have that spot for her in his heart. We all know they can't end up together," he said, but they can still regard each other as the first loves do.
Killing major characters:
On the potential characters deaths in the finale, DeKnight was free only to say that "at the beginning of every season we talk about killing somebody. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't."
He admits that it is obvious they cannot kill Clark, Lex, Lana or Lois.
"Obviously you can't kill your leads. Everyone else, to some extent is always open. Lionel is always open, Martha despite DC wrangling is always open, Chloe is always open. There have been many and various people on the chopping block."
Part 3 has not been posted yet.
mellyM
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Thanks for posting that
I didn't want to sift through the whole interview, its great he has such high praise for Tom, its nice that pretty much everyone seems to. He's not my favorite writer or director on the show but I imagine his contribution can be seen in every episode, and I'm glad he gave us some insight into the show over the last year.
I have to say though I'm glad the movie crew ep didn't get made, I can't imagine why Clark would take a job as a stunt man, much less dress up in a costume.
I wish Mr. Deknight the bestest though
I didn't want to sift through the whole interview, its great he has such high praise for Tom, its nice that pretty much everyone seems to. He's not my favorite writer or director on the show but I imagine his contribution can be seen in every episode, and I'm glad he gave us some insight into the show over the last year. I have to say though I'm glad the movie crew ep didn't get made, I can't imagine why Clark would take a job as a stunt man, much less dress up in a costume.
I wish Mr. Deknight the bestest though
Serene
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AgentPat said:
I'd be thrilled to pieces if they did an episode like that. I loved the SPN one too -but SPN was able to put in a *lot* of inside jokey comments since that's kind of their schtick. I could see SV doing the inside stuff too, but on a much more subtle level, as they always do.
Plus, Kevin Smith would be some cool stunt casting since he actually is a big comics fan. I've read some of his comments on SR, but I never knew he was a SV fan.
Awesome.
Serene
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triplet
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May I ask what's with the "nerverminds"?
Oh, nothing to worry 'bout...
Nevermind.
j/k. Had to do it.
LOL!
RakuMon
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I'd be thrilled to pieces if they did an episode like that. I loved the SPN one too -but SPN was able to put in a *lot* of inside jokey comments since that's kind of their schtick. I could see SV doing the inside stuff too, but on a much more subtle level, as they always do.
Plus, Kevin Smith would be some cool stunt casting since he actually is a big comics fan. I've read some of his comments on SR, but I never knew he was a SV fan.
Awesome.
Actually Smith has talked in the past about being approached to appear in "Arrow." Unfortunately, there was a schedule conflict and he wasn't able to do it, but he expressed how cool it would have been. I think he's professed his fandom of Smallville before, but I'm not sure.
avidreader
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Interesting. I found a post at TWOP by the girl who conducted the interview with DeKnight. I've read alot of her posts before on TWOP and not only is she an eloquent writer, but she's always impressed me on just how much "she gets" Smallville. Thought I'd share her post here, since I know alot of you guys wont even think about typing the words TWOP in to your web browser. 
These are her responses to various points that were made.
Thanks BadToad (and now you see exactly the concern I mentioned earlier about Clark’s post-DeKnight characterization; I can’t believe he had to remind the other writers of that in Combat).
I just want to clarify something though: I realize that this was posted on, quite literally, a devoted fans network. But although I wanted this to be as in depth as possible for the devoted online fans, overall I approached this as though it could be picked up and serve as an interesting read for casual or even non-fans, and so, I didn’t actually ask critical questions about Clark and Lana. I wanted to toe the line between in depth/detailed and a casual-fan lens.
So really, he didn’t gloss over anything, or any “problems” with Clana. In fact, I didn’t use the phrase “Clana” or even frame my questions in such a way that I *wanted* to address or get an answer about perceived problems with Clana. I have my own opinions on the issue, of course, and obviously I’m a part of online fandom myself, but I wasn’t going to grill him over issues that a casual fan doesn’t see as a problem.
Just about every casual fan I know has no issue with Lana or Clana, so I simply asked him for his thoughts on the dynamic and we talked in general terms, I left my opinions behind (Basically—what you see in that article is what you get question/answer-wise, all his replies are intact whether in quotes or summary).
I even felt a bit weird phrasing it as a “contentious issue” at one point—DeKnight mentioned knowing about the complaints over the Clark/Lex/Lana all on his own. So yeah, he glossed over nothing. I asked for his thoughts, then left them intact and didn’t think it was objective for me to grill him using my own issues with the relationship(s) as a spring board.
It was a casual but interesting conversation, and I stuck more with probing the overarching philosophy and perspective going into writing the show and relationships, rather than really specific complaints that a fan removed from online fandom wouldn't ask.
I needed a few seconds to recover at that story, too. I’d like it if they occasionally had moments like the end of Prototype, where it’s ethically grey (self defense, warding off a deadly blow/attack) because the more battles he fights, the more likely it is that he’ll have an occasion like that, the more unbelievable it’d get that each villain just dies luckily by their own hand…but never for him to deliberately kill. Hopefully someone picked up DeKnight’s view about that and follows it through the rest of the series.
You know, I didn’t watch Buffy or Angel so I can’t really speak to that (I did homework on the shows, but still…, but he had a lot to say about it. That’s when he first mentioned Lois. From what I understand from other fans, it’s the whole brave “laugh in the face of danger”/your crappy situation kind of attitude and the kind of wit he channels to write her in contrast to the other characters. Other people have explained it better, but yeah, I didn’t challenge that because if that’s his muse then that’s his muse.
From what I remember it was about Duncan, Lois standing and watching Duncan in the aftermath is when she decided not to write it. (She knew Ollie was connected to the situation from the beginning.) That’s how I understood that comment, and it fits with what I recall. It’s not reporting it but where she is ( a tabloid), which DeKnight also touches on in Prototype, more frustration with her tabloid setting. If writing a story about the weather is taken by the editor and spun in a ridiculous way, a mutant vegetable would be worse, someone’s actual memory/name crapped on, that’s where the ethics come in.
and
I have to beg to differ here. His assessment of what’s going on onscreen coincides with a lot of people’s judging by the responses in my inbox so far and in other corners of fandom. He surprised me a couple of times by mentioning things that I, too, had been wondering about (whether the writers were doing somethings deliberately), and mentioend them without any impetus.
The one thing that came off rather clearly--and he apologized for this actually, was that his ideas about Clark and Lex (hell, he wants to explore a forced alliance against a mutual threat) were fenced in. He was clearly excited about that but admitted the relationship on the whole wasn't explored much this season, he wasn't telling and pretending he showed it at all.
Also, there was a question/insinuation upthread about whether the interviewer inserted anything—I did not. In fact, I painstakingly transcribed this first, which is what I always do, for accuracy’s sake (though it's rarely this, over an hour long).
DeKnight mentioned distinguishing styles between Lois/Chloe organically and all on his own (starting with “And Lois approaches it with a completely different perspective…” and continuing from there. The topic was all *Lois* and Lois’ development at that point (which was directly preceded by Clark/Lex/Lois, Clark Lex, and so on), Chloe was mentioned only in terms Lois’ development and how they are approaching Lois, and that's when the contrasts naturally came up.
Even then, talking in terms of Lois and her moments, the classic mythology, undercover stuff, Reunion, tabloid frustration, etc. He, too, organically mentioned the “conspiracy theory” thing. I left what he said intact, even where I had to break up a long block of quotes and summarize phrases like, say, “full steam ahead on those kind of stories” into a succinct sentence or two, just like every other section.
What I did actually do for most of the article is take out repetitive quotes or sentiments or just boil them down to one sentence summaries. He couldn’t say enough about Tom Welling, Rosenbaum, Lionel (cut most of that), Lois, the Lois and Buffy stuff, his creative influences dating back to his college days—all interesting stuff--but I wasn’t going to regurgitate the transcript.
I got two non-fans/colleagues to just slash the redundant stuff (from their p.o.v )and then a casual fan (who loves *all* the characters) to read it for objectivity and overall comprehension. Fabricating or inserting things he didn’t say is a serious insinuation about my integrity so I just wanted to address that.
He never said she was* exclusive* in any of this. We spent a * lot* of time talking about all the major relationships, and he kept reiterating how they all affect Clark’s growth. I’m pretty sure I left that in there early on in the article, but I’ll check later. Hell, his favorite dynamic, the most interesting one in his view is Clark and Lex. He wants to explore a forced alliance against a mutual threat, if it was his show, and I left that in there iirc. And then later he started talking about the excitement of writing Clark and Lois all on his own. And how they have fun with it and Whitesnake and etc.
*I* had to bring up Clark/Lana, and people don’t chat thinking their words will be scrutinized. It's not his philosophy exclusively, but has been coded into the show's DNA from the beginning and he just reiterated that. Again, I used the casual fan litmus test. But a lot of time was spent on the major relationships, with really the only preference being the Clark/Lex stuff and I left his express quote about that.
Thank you for all those who read!
These are her responses to various points that were made.
Thanks BadToad
(and now you see exactly the concern I mentioned earlier about Clark’s post-DeKnight characterization; I can’t believe he had to remind the other writers of that in Combat).I just want to clarify something though: I realize that this was posted on, quite literally, a devoted fans network. But although I wanted this to be as in depth as possible for the devoted online fans, overall I approached this as though it could be picked up and serve as an interesting read for casual or even non-fans, and so, I didn’t actually ask critical questions about Clark and Lana. I wanted to toe the line between in depth/detailed and a casual-fan lens.
So really, he didn’t gloss over anything, or any “problems” with Clana. In fact, I didn’t use the phrase “Clana” or even frame my questions in such a way that I *wanted* to address or get an answer about perceived problems with Clana. I have my own opinions on the issue, of course, and obviously I’m a part of online fandom myself, but I wasn’t going to grill him over issues that a casual fan doesn’t see as a problem.
Just about every casual fan I know has no issue with Lana or Clana, so I simply asked him for his thoughts on the dynamic and we talked in general terms, I left my opinions behind (Basically—what you see in that article is what you get question/answer-wise, all his replies are intact whether in quotes or summary).
I even felt a bit weird phrasing it as a “contentious issue” at one point—DeKnight mentioned knowing about the complaints over the Clark/Lex/Lana all on his own. So yeah, he glossed over nothing. I asked for his thoughts, then left them intact and didn’t think it was objective for me to grill him using my own issues with the relationship(s) as a spring board.
It was a casual but interesting conversation, and I stuck more with probing the overarching philosophy and perspective going into writing the show and relationships, rather than really specific complaints that a fan removed from online fandom wouldn't ask.
I needed a few seconds to recover at that story, too. I’d like it if they occasionally had moments like the end of Prototype, where it’s ethically grey (self defense, warding off a deadly blow/attack) because the more battles he fights, the more likely it is that he’ll have an occasion like that, the more unbelievable it’d get that each villain just dies luckily by their own hand…but never for him to deliberately kill. Hopefully someone picked up DeKnight’s view about that and follows it through the rest of the series.
You know, I didn’t watch Buffy or Angel so I can’t really speak to that (I did homework on the shows, but still…
, but he had a lot to say about it. That’s when he first mentioned Lois. From what I understand from other fans, it’s the whole brave “laugh in the face of danger”/your crappy situation kind of attitude and the kind of wit he channels to write her in contrast to the other characters. Other people have explained it better, but yeah, I didn’t challenge that because if that’s his muse then that’s his muse.From what I remember it was about Duncan, Lois standing and watching Duncan in the aftermath is when she decided not to write it. (She knew Ollie was connected to the situation from the beginning.) That’s how I understood that comment, and it fits with what I recall. It’s not reporting it but where she is ( a tabloid), which DeKnight also touches on in Prototype, more frustration with her tabloid setting. If writing a story about the weather is taken by the editor and spun in a ridiculous way, a mutant vegetable would be worse, someone’s actual memory/name crapped on, that’s where the ethics come in.
and
I have to beg to differ here. His assessment of what’s going on onscreen coincides with a lot of people’s judging by the responses in my inbox so far and in other corners of fandom. He surprised me a couple of times by mentioning things that I, too, had been wondering about (whether the writers were doing somethings deliberately), and mentioend them without any impetus.
The one thing that came off rather clearly--and he apologized for this actually, was that his ideas about Clark and Lex (hell, he wants to explore a forced alliance against a mutual threat) were fenced in. He was clearly excited about that but admitted the relationship on the whole wasn't explored much this season, he wasn't telling and pretending he showed it at all.
Also, there was a question/insinuation upthread about whether the interviewer inserted anything—I did not. In fact, I painstakingly transcribed this first, which is what I always do, for accuracy’s sake (though it's rarely this, over an hour long).
DeKnight mentioned distinguishing styles between Lois/Chloe organically and all on his own (starting with “And Lois approaches it with a completely different perspective…” and continuing from there. The topic was all *Lois* and Lois’ development at that point (which was directly preceded by Clark/Lex/Lois, Clark Lex, and so on), Chloe was mentioned only in terms Lois’ development and how they are approaching Lois, and that's when the contrasts naturally came up.
Even then, talking in terms of Lois and her moments, the classic mythology, undercover stuff, Reunion, tabloid frustration, etc. He, too, organically mentioned the “conspiracy theory” thing. I left what he said intact, even where I had to break up a long block of quotes and summarize phrases like, say, “full steam ahead on those kind of stories” into a succinct sentence or two, just like every other section.
What I did actually do for most of the article is take out repetitive quotes or sentiments or just boil them down to one sentence summaries. He couldn’t say enough about Tom Welling, Rosenbaum, Lionel (cut most of that), Lois, the Lois and Buffy stuff, his creative influences dating back to his college days—all interesting stuff--but I wasn’t going to regurgitate the transcript.
I got two non-fans/colleagues to just slash the redundant stuff (from their p.o.v )and then a casual fan (who loves *all* the characters) to read it for objectivity and overall comprehension. Fabricating or inserting things he didn’t say is a serious insinuation about my integrity so I just wanted to address that.
He never said she was* exclusive* in any of this. We spent a * lot* of time talking about all the major relationships, and he kept reiterating how they all affect Clark’s growth. I’m pretty sure I left that in there early on in the article, but I’ll check later. Hell, his favorite dynamic, the most interesting one in his view is Clark and Lex. He wants to explore a forced alliance against a mutual threat, if it was his show, and I left that in there iirc. And then later he started talking about the excitement of writing Clark and Lois all on his own. And how they have fun with it and Whitesnake and etc.
*I* had to bring up Clark/Lana, and people don’t chat thinking their words will be scrutinized. It's not his philosophy exclusively, but has been coded into the show's DNA from the beginning and he just reiterated that. Again, I used the casual fan litmus test. But a lot of time was spent on the major relationships, with really the only preference being the Clark/Lex stuff and I left his express quote about that.
Thank you for all those who read!
AgentPat
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Well, there was that thing recently about him wanting to guest appear on the show (initiated with a phone call LOL). He was going to play the owner of a comic book store in Arrow, but like you said, he couldn't do it due to a scheduling conflict. He's providing commentary on the S6 DVD. He must have some fondness for the show. There's the money argument, but Smith is a self-professed Superman fan. Jason Mewes (Smith's "hetero lifemate" LMAO!) has come out and said he loves the show - even wanted Welling to be cast in that little film last year.
(Wizard #160) Mewes even auditioned for the roles of Bart and A.C. on SV, but didn't get the parts. I think we'll get a little more insight on Smith's opinion when the DVD is released. And I really, really hope they can make that Warrior Angel episode work. There's so much they could mine there. 
Eros
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Well, there was that thing recently about him wanting to guest appear on the show (initiated with a phone call LOL). He was going to play the owner of a comic book store in Arrow, but like you said, he couldn't do it due to a scheduling conflict. He's providing commentary on the S6 DVD. He must have some fondness for the show. There's the money argument, but Smith is a self-professed Superman fan. Jason Mewes (Smith's "hetero lifemate" LMAO!) has come out and said he loves the show - even wanted Welling to be cast in that little film last year.
cool, although Kevin smith is just to comic book fan who makes movies, he still is pretty cool.
The Caped Knight
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SteveDeKnight said:
I take back every bad thing I've ever said about this guy .
Whiteflag
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Interesting. I found a post at TWOP by the girl who conducted the interview with DeKnight. I've read alot of her posts before on TWOP and not only is she an eloquent writer, but she's always impressed me on just how much "she gets" Smallville. Thought I'd share her post here, since I know alot of you guys wont even think about typing the words TWOP in to your web browser.
Thanks so much for sharing that post, Avid!
The girl who conducted the interview goes by the name "juxtoppozed" on LJ. She makes some really interesting posts over there too.
Whiteflag
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triplet
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Well, there was that thing recently about him wanting to guest appear on the show (initiated with a phone call LOL). He was going to play the owner of a comic book store in Arrow, but like you said, he couldn't do it due to a scheduling conflict. He's providing commentary on the S6 DVD. He must have some fondness for the show. There's the money argument, but Smith is a self-professed Superman fan. Jason Mewes (Smith's "hetero lifemate" LMAO!) has come out and said he loves the show - even wanted Welling to be cast in that little film last year.
I hope they make it work and I would love it if he guest starred... that would be awesome. Maybe he could guest direct too.
It's probably not surprising hearing that he loves the show especially given the beautiful script he wrote for the Superman franchise a while back, I found a copy online and it was a very nice script.
I think he's awesome, although I don't always like his movies.
Steven DeKnight is a very smart guy. I think it shows in his writing, Ageless aside, he's a wonderful writer.
I think they shoulda tried harder to keep him another year...
RakuMon
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Well, there was that thing recently about him wanting to guest appear on the show (initiated with a phone call LOL). He was going to play the owner of a comic book store in Arrow, but like you said, he couldn't do it due to a scheduling conflict. He's providing commentary on the S6 DVD. He must have some fondness for the show. There's the money argument, but Smith is a self-professed Superman fan. Jason Mewes (Smith's "hetero lifemate" LMAO!) has come out and said he loves the show - even wanted Welling to be cast in that little film last year.
That's right! I forgot about the special comics writers commentary! I knew Smith had a SV connection other than his missed guest spot on Arrow.
avidreader
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You're welcome.
The girl who conducted the interview goes by the name "juxtoppozed" on LJ. She makes some really interesting posts over there too.
Okay. I've seen that name on LJ, and yes you're right she does have some interesting things to say.
Last summer I was bored so I read through the entire Clark thread over at TWOP, yeah I'm insane I know
, and she was a very dedicated Clark fan (which of course won me over straight away) but she always backed up her point of view with really strong and articulate arguments that impressed me very much.
AgentPat
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Oh... dear...DeKnight said:
http://www.zap2it.com/news/custom/p...supfronts-2007,0,6742514.photogallery?index=5
Really?
I would have much more expected to see him slide over to Heroes.
triplet
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Oh... dear...
http://www.zap2it.com/news/custom/p...supfronts-2007,0,6742514.photogallery?index=5
Really?
I would have much more expected to see him slide over to Heroes.
OMG!
I will probably only watch the Pilot out of curiosity, maybe, if it gets good reviews.
I hate musicals for the most part. There are so few good ones lately...
That's too bad. He'll probably be looking for another job before Christmas...
AgentPat
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Tragic, init? I know Hugh Jackman must be a pretty nifty talent to work with, but other than that, what in Rao's name could possibly interest DeKnight in that show?
I'm baffled and stunned.
He left Smallville for THAT? Wow. Just wow!!!
