Why on earth did anyone ever like Smallville?

With the recent glut of superhero/vigilante shows that have come out recently (many of which are actually pretty decent), inevitable comparisons are made to the shows that came before. One of those shows is Smallville, and thinking back I wonder why anyone ever liked this show. I hate-watched my was through about eight seasons before I completely gave up on it.

The writing was some of the laziest I had ever seen in a TV show. How many times did they write in "hit and run driver nearly kills someone" as a cheap plot device to force Clark or another character to use their powers in public. I think they did that one like literally a dozen times over the course of the show. Who are all these lunatic drivers who never stop in Smallville? It's like a crazy epidemic.

The writers used "Kryptonite" as a sort of universal plot hole sealant that could literally do anything the writers decided it needed to be able to do that week. It was just a lame "monster of the week" show and the explanation for the monster was pretty much always Kryptonite. Any how do they limit Clark's abilities so he can't just always solve every problem with his powers? Also Kryptonite.

The show also borrowed liberally from other franchises in an attempt to cash in on what was popular at the time. "Hey, that Fast And The Furious movie is really popular! Let's do an illegal street racing episode! Oh, and the cars are powered by Kryptonite because apparently you can use it as Nitrous. Oh, too bad because I guess that means Clark can't escape the trunk now."

"Hey, remember that movie Saw? Let's do a Saw episode with Clark's mom! Clark lost his powers again? I guess the dungeon has Kryptonite in the walls. Bummer."

"Hey, this Pete character is about as interesting as watching paint dry. What can we do about that? I know! Let's give him super powers by having him chew some of the most ridiculously blantantly product placed chewing gum while at a warehouse party in the cleanest warehouse ever! Oh, and the gum gives him powers because... Kryptonite."

"Hey, Lana Lang is back for a cameo but have to write in a reason why she can't stick around. Can you guess why? I'll give you a hint. It starts with a K and ends with an "ryptonite.""

Kryptonite is supposed to be the rarest mineral on Earth, but to watch Smallville you'd think the entire town was actually made of the stuff.

I actually looked up the number of times that Green Kyptonite actually showed up in an episode of Smallville. According to a wiki I found, I counted at least 106 instances where Green Kryptonite actually showed up in an episode, out of a total of 218 episodes. They used it as a cheap plot device for literally half of the show, and that's not even counting the other colors of Kryptonite they got from the comic or made up.

Stack on top of that the laziest character motivations. Clark feels conflicted about something. His friends feel like fifth wheels sometimes. Lex gets mad that Clark is being secretive. Rinse and repeat for 150+ episodes.

-Byshop

The problem I had is that Superman angst dick. It's a show devoid of any joy.

Not every episode was a hit. But I loved it overall. I dunno, I guess it's hard to explain why but I just thought the characters and plot were cool. I felt it had a lot of surprises and I enjoyed seeing how all the characters evolve. And it changes a lot as you go through, the "monster of the week" thing was only for the first couple seasons. Later seasons have a single villain that they focus on through the whole thing.

And I don't understand why Kryptonite should have to be so rare when they literally had a meteor shower at the beginning of the series made entirely of Kryptonite. Of course the town would be filled with the stuff.

It was okay. They stayed true to the premise. It was the development of Superman and not all super heroes have the same personality so the atmosphere would be different. You can't compare that.

I liked Smallville. Especially, the earlier seasons.

Back in the day, I was really into Smallville. But it went on for too long and eventually I lost interest. Haven't even seen the finale episode.

I agree 100%

My favorite comic superhero is superman, and I hated that series.

They made Clark a giant a hole that doesn't even know how to fly.

Show was good the first few seasons but once they killed off Lex Luthor it went downhill. Should have ended after 5 or 6 seasons.

Same reason people like the awful show called the flash

People like garbage shows made for teenagers

kristin kreuk, that pool scene..................

I liked it but never finished watching. One thing I didn't notice the first time was how this show was very teenager oriented. Then again this was before the man of steel, you know...make him have human feelings because that's probably what a superhero would feel like if he was a teenager. Wanna party but can't cux of the powers.

I didn't mind it, but they could have ended it a few seasons before they did. I was never a real fan of "The Blue Blur"

The show never clicked with me during its initial airing, so I didn't stick with it--I was surprised it lasted as long as it did.

I actually seen episode from 2001- 2003/4.

It wasn't bad.

As a person who enjoys Smallville for what it was while I was still in High School during it's airing. I will say that the series ran waaaaaay too damn long but when other seasons started popping up, it got better as it went on, I think Tom Welling did good for the most parts but I never really look at him as Superman during the show, he was just Superboy, Lex was by far the best part in any Superman movies combine, Lex and Lionel stole the spotlight, the relationship between Clark and Lex is better than any romantic relationship on the show if you ask me cause in the comics, they were always friends before Clark dons the custom Superman. The later seasons go all out with superheroes and villains but it kind of clashes with how Clark is still very much NOT Superman yet, but there are tons of other characters who are at full power. But you get some pretty cool versions of superheroes.

All in all, Tom Welling as Clark/Superman and Michael Rosenbaum as Lex is what made the show really interesting to watch and I totally wish Michael Rosenbaum was Lex in the upcoming Batman/Superman: Dawn of Justice cause he was the best Lex Luthor I ever seen. And speaking of, did you know that in Superman: Return movie that it was basically a continuation to Smallville? The movie was supposed to be based on Smallville on because it was still popular show at the time and it's why it tried to be close to the characters as possible but that movie was horrible and this is coming from a DC/Superman fan.

I tried watching it as I'm a huge Superman fan, but I couldn't finish the first season. It just didn't hold my attention. I really wanted to like it. The guys at work raved about it, but I just don't get it.

Well they didn't know how to do a proper superhero show back then. :P

I confess that one factor that might be at play here is that I'm older than the average GS forum user (I turn 40 this year) and I didn't watch it during its original run so I'm viewing it through the eyes of an adult and there are plenty of things that I enjoyed in my teen to early 20s that I don't like today.

It was just the sheer laziness of the writing that got to me, especially when there were so many interesting directions they could have taken it. Clark and run really fast, punch really hard, and break stuff. Rather than try to for clever storylines, like problems that cannot be solved through brute force, they would create problems that can be solved by running, punching or breaking and prevent Clark from doing those things because... Kryptonite. So the solution every time is move Clark or the Kryptonite far enough away from each other so that Clark can run, punch or break the problem. Rinse and repeat...

Over...

and over...

and over...

-Byshop

I considered bringing this up earlier but decided not to spare the time. Since you reiterated the point, here goes: Even in the smaller world of Superman media, Smallville isn't alone in this.

I never read any of the comics, so I can't speak to them, but have you seen the original "The Adventures of Superman?" Even as a child, I cringed at exactly what you're talking about here. A bullet made of Kryptonite here, light shone through a Kryptonite prism there, then Kryptonite dissolved in water to envelope Superman later, etc.

This kind of stuff seems to be part of Superman's legacy. It seems hard to fault Smallville for it specifically, although I guess it's part of the problem overall.

Only Super-Man anything I watched and cared for was the Lois and Clark TV series on in early 90s, and that's mostly because I thought Teri Hatcher banging back then.

Allison Mack is the only reason.

The few episodes that I watched were quite enjoyable. I didn't watch it nearly enough to notice any major plot or repetition problems...