What Does Smallville Do Really Well?

[Christopher]

They needed to keep the barn and the Talon apartment (which has been variously Lana's, Chloe's, and Lois's home) in order to save money by avoiding new set construction, and also to justify continuing to call the show Smallville. (Although these days I think of that title as a reference to Lois's nickname for Clark.)

It seems that in this show's universe, Smallville is on the outskirts of Metropolis, evidently less than an hour's drive.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I think they've mentioned in the show that's it's just under three hours. Pretty much like going from Vancouver to Seattle, and yes I agree that's exactly why they've kept the barn. They barely show the actual Talon, just Chloe's apartment from time to time. I'll be passing by the set on the Sky Train later today...going to be sentimental that it will be one of the last times lol.

 

[Warped9]

I've watched Smallville sporadically over the years. I see tantalizing things in it, but I also get turned off by all the teen angst and soap opera. I like what they've done with Lex and Green Arrow. I really like Erica Durance's Lois Lane for the most part---for me her portrayal of Lois stands alongside Phyllis Coates and Dana Delany ('90s animated Superman). I like the show's f/x for the most part. And generally I think they get good acting performances from most everyone.

Smallville is a series that I just can't seem to come back for regularly. But I can imagine myself trying again by picking up the first season set and beginning again like that without the interruption of commercial breaks and week long breaks between episodes---that might make it easier to get into.

 

[DarthPipes]

In the beautiful women department, Smallville has few in any competitors.

 

[Christopher]

I think they've mentioned in the show that's it's just under three hours. Pretty much like going from Vancouver to Seattle...

I'm sure they've mentioned that, but in practice it's treated like it's much closer. I mean, Clark, Chloe, and Lois have all been shown as living in Smallville (at either the Kent farm or the apartment above the Talon) and working at the Planet in Metropolis. I can't believe they'd spend six hours a day commuting to and from work. They'd have no time for all the melodrama they get involved in!

 

[FordSVT]

Well, it wouldn't be a six hour commute for Clark.

 

[Christopher]

Well, it wouldn't be a six hour commute for Clark.

If he wanted to maintain his secret identity, then yes, it would be.

 

[RandyS]

It bends over backwards to go out of it's way to fall all over itself to NOT show Superman.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yet Clark hasn't had a secret identity until recently with the Blur. It's easier for him to zoom back and forth using super speed than taking the truck, he doesn't even have an apartment in Metropolis for crying out loud. You'd think that Ollie would have offered him a place in his penthouse or something like that. Even Chloe's apartment in the Talon is a little useless now since Jimmy intended Watchtower to be their home. Like Christopher said it's just an excuse for them to keep things that would justify them keeping their name.

 

[Gaith]

most of us watch it and enjoy it

As in most of the SF/F board? I don't think so.

 

[Gojira]

I've watched Smallville sporadically over the years. I see tantalizing things in it, but I also get turned off by all the teen angst and soap opera. I like what they've done with Lex and Green Arrow. I really like Erica Durance's Lois Lane for the most part---for me her portrayal of Lois stands alongside Phyllis Coates and Dana Delany ('90s animated Superman). I like the show's f/x for the most part. And generally I think they get good acting performances from most everyone.

Smallville is a series that I just can't seem to come back for regularly. But I can imagine myself trying again by picking up the first season set and beginning again like that without the interruption of commercial breaks and week long breaks between episodes---that might make it easier to get into.

I agree pretty much with what you have said. I began watching it 10 years ago with season 1. I stopped watching somewhere in the 3rd or 4th season because of the teen angst and soap opera nature of the show. In guess I am not for having things too drawn out because I start getting impatient. However, I am watching the last season and I am enjoying it, although I hope we do get to see a couple of episodes of Clark as Superman, although I am not holding my breath.

Once the series is over I may buy a couple of season on DVD maybe the first two and the last two.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Unfortunately the teen angst/soap operish facets of the series are what happens when you're on a network like CW/WB and your main target audience is teen girls and boys. I have always thought that they're very lucky to have been on so many years.

 

[Christopher]

Yet Clark hasn't had a secret identity until recently with the Blur. It's easier for him to zoom back and forth using super speed than taking the truck, he doesn't even have an apartment in Metropolis for crying out loud.

Okay, "secret identity" was a poor choice of words on my part. What I meant was that, if he wants the people around him to remain unaware of his superpowers, he has to commute the slow way like everyone else. If he raced everywhere at superspeed, people would soon catch on that he was getting around impossibly quickly. Naturally there are situations where he has to move superfast, but for everyday commuting, he has to limit himself to normal human methods if he wants to pass as a normal human.

This has been addressed in Superman stories in the past. For instance, I recently reread the anthology The Further Adventures of Superman from 1993, and in one story there's discussion of how Clark has to travel to assignments by normal passenger transit, because if he flies under his own power and doesn't pay for airline tickets, it raises questions about his expense reports, not to mention his travel time.

You'd think that Ollie would have offered him a place in his penthouse or something like that.

As much as I'd like for Clark to move to Metropolis, I don't think he'd be happy taking charity from Oliver. Although reusing the penthouse set would've helped them save money the same way that reusing the barn and the Talon apartment has done.

Even Chloe's apartment in the Talon is a little useless now since Jimmy intended Watchtower to be their home.

Well, the Talon apartment is Lois's now. Even if Chloe moved to Watchtower full-time, the apartment set would still have use for Lois.

Like Christopher said it's just an excuse for them to keep things that would justify them keeping their name.

Well, what I said was that saving costs by continuing to use standing sets is probably a larger consideration. If, somehow, it were cheaper to set the whole thing in Metropolis regardless of the title, that's absolutely what they'd do without a second's hesitation.

 

[Gaith]

I can't imagine that adding a modest apartment set for Clark would break the bank, especially compared to the costs of doing all the natural lighting and upkeep that goes along with the farm. It's not hard to see why they're keeping the barn around for special episodes/moments, but an apartment in a beginning reporter's salary price range shouldn't be undoable either.

 

[Admiral_Young]

For once I wasn't arguing with you Christopher, was just trying to point out some observations just in case it didn't come out that way Again though why does Lois need an apartment in Smallville? She doesn't work in Smallville, she works in Metropolis, her entire life now is in Metropolis. There is realistically no reason for them to be in Smallville. As for the barn they could have had a throwaway line where Clark asked Ben Hubbard to take care of things (in fact I think he did say this to Martha when she first left for Washington...and for that matter why is Martha always in Washington? It's not like the Senate sits for 365 days of the year, I know now she's been active of the Red Queen but they could easily mention she's come home a few times). My theory has been that Clark has felt responsible for the barn because of his guilt over his dad's guilt and taken up the manner of the house. Interesting difference between him and the movie Clark is that movie Clark KNEW when it was time he left home and that there was nothing left for him in Smallville.

 

[Christopher]

Nobody's disputing that it would be more logical if both characters lived in Metropolis. My point is that TV shows are often forced to do illogical, contrived things by the demands of a tight budget. And it should be fairly clear to anyone who's watched Smallville regularly, or noticed what network it's on, that it's not exactly a megabudget show.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yes and it's my job as a fan to point out those illogical and contrived things

 

[Dream]

Smallville is great at disappointing me whenever I happen to watch an episode.

 

[O'Dib]

As for Erica Durance's Lois...at first I thought that she was fantastic, until the writers decided to turn her into Chloe and Chloe into Lois and give them both the same "witty" quick dialogue akin to "Gilmore Girls" (i keep forgetting who first brought this up) but it has really bugs me now to the point where I cringe at times at her devliery of lines.

Moi

http://trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=4003965&postcount=163

I'm rarely ever around, but somehow always show up in time to claim credit for ruining smallville for you.

http://trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=4061135&postcount=180

I disagree with what I said before though, about the chemistry between Lois & Clark. Now that they're in a relationship, I love watching them together, even more so after the fast forward to their married life.

Most "destined to be an item" TV couples, including the 90s Lois & Clark, and more recently Chuck and Sarah, suck once they actually end up going steady, despite of how well their dance getting to that point worked on camera. Here we have the reverse of that situation, where I couldn't understand what Clark saw in this iteration of Lois, until now. So yeah, I guess that's one thing they're doing right, but not exactly what's kept me around for 10 years (minus second season, which I still wanna catch up on at some point), obviously.

I think the key is in the OP, the english answered his own question by calling the show fluff. For some of us that's a positive. It's a non-committal show that one watches to shut off his brain. When I came by some free time and was looking into catching up on a bunch of shows I hadn't seen in a while (nuBSG, Lost, 24), the first show I massively gulped down by several seasons-long chunks was Smallville, paradoxically because I thought it wouldn't engage my interest as much, and tie me to the couch for too long at a time, but I ended up being incredibly entertained by it. It's basically just light, good fun.

 

[Admiral_Young]

O'Dib yes...thanks for reminding it was you! I blame your absence. I agree with your assessment and I believe that is why Clark and Lana ultimately failed as well because everyone knew they got together but the writers needed to play up the drama aspect of their relationship and make into a soap opera relationship where it drove fans crazy. Now they have done the same thing with Lois and Clark but we know they'll get back together.