Nice read over at IGN. Here are a few excerpts:
Big Heroes on the Small Screen: Part One
Our five part look at superheroes on TV begins with DC's finest.
by Chris Carle
March 18, 2005 - With the recent explosion of super hero flicks at the box office, it can't be long until every network co-opts the strategy and has your favorite tighted-one shouting snappy dialogue at his nemesis in prime time. But that's nothing new.
Television studios have always flirted with superhero series, with various degrees of success, but there have not been many lasting romances. The reasons for this are many and varied. To do a show right, for instance, the studios would need to pony up serious resources, and that's too much of a risk.
That's why the most successful and long-running superhero shows (Lois and Clark and
Smallville are good examples) focus on the interpersonal relationships of the alter egos. Big-time hero action is reserved for either animation or the big screen. As CG effects get cheaper and more widespread, we can expect to see more and more raging superhero battles in our livingrooms. ...
...[Lois & Clark] focused on the romance between Lois Lane and a very dashing Clark Kent, and its light-hearted approach and wide appeal led to a tidy run from 1993-1997. It also marked a new and somewhat safer approach to the superhero show; a personal and dramatic take on the invincible.
This attitude continues with
Smallville, which focuses on the Man of Steel's adolescence in his hometown, before he actually becomes Superman. It deals specifically with his early relationship with his then-friend Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Lana (Kristin Kreuk), a love interest.
Tom Welling plays Clark Kent, and he's a big reason the show works, bringing freshness to the Superman mythos, and paving the way for more interesting origin tales on television...
http://comics.ign.com/articles/597/597328p1.html
I don't care how good lookin' he is.
o
