Current Events > Should I watch Smallville?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I consider myself to be a moderate fan of Superman but for some reason Ive never checked out Smallville. I was 8 in 2001 so anything that wasnt a cartoon was invisible to me

I thought this show had maybe a few seasons but I just looked it up on Hulu and this show went one for TEN YEARS?? I was an adult when it ended?? People genuinely grew up with this show? >_>

Was it good? I guess it had to be if it went on for ten years..

Worth watching for sure. I wasn't the biggest Superman fan, but I really enjoyed the writing.

Michael Rosenbaum as Lex was epic.

Depends on if you like that sort of thing as it isn't some unequivocal masterpiece or anything. I would say it compares favorably to something like Buffy. It starts out doing monster of the week, very high in teen drama stuff, as the seasons move on you start to see more comic fan service, but it takes a while to get there.

Eh. Its pretty meh with a much better version available.

Unless youre extremely interested in seeing Clark not actually be Superman then its a lot of show to go through for teen versions of everyone.

And yeah its ten seasons of 24 episodes. Its long as fuck.

No, it has aged terribly and never goes anywhere.

I just started watching it for the first time. 3 eps in and im enjoying it.

Once I finished the show the first thing I thought was how much time of my life I had wasted. I dont recommend it.

It's really not good at all.

The intro alone makes it worth watching imo

i can never watch it do to allison mack and what she did

Any season with Michael Rosenbaum is good.

Any other may vary by the watcher.

(It's gonna have high points and low points, basically. It went on for 10 years after all. There are definitely more high points though.)

I'm not a Superman fan, per se, although I liked the first 2 Christopher Reeve movies. But I did enjoy Smallville for most of its run and thinks it's worth a look if you've never seen it.

The first season has Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 1 vibes, with a sort of "story of the week" pattern about how the community is affected by the kryptonite in the environment. But it shifts (kind of like Buffy did) into more of a character-driven show. Then it shifts again as it starts to explore more of the comic book lore.

ETA: Sorry, I didn't even see post #3. Obviously I agree with that.

First few seasons are good. It takes a bit of a drop in quality after Rosenbaum leaves but there's some great episodes written by Geoff Johns in the later seasons that feature the Legion of Super-Heroes, the JSA, and Booster Gold.

No.

@Smallville

The show is weird. They producers were oddly obsessed with Lana or something but they wouldnt just commit to having Clark end up with Lana, because they wanted to insist things were canon so they had to keep the ships going all weird and Lana stayed around longer than she should have because her chemistry with Clark was good and the producers were in love with her, but they made every male character fall in love with her as well, especially the villain of the week and even Jonathan Kent at one point.

Then it stalls forever and goes nowhere. A lot of the cast is really good though and better than the show deserves.

PeteyParker posted...

First few seasons are good. It takes a bit of a drop in quality after Rosenbaum leaves but there's some great episodes written by Geoff Johns in the later seasons that feature the Legion of Super-Heroes, the JSA, and Booster Gold.

Watch season 8 till it ends.

Do it for Erica Durance.

I enjoyed it. It's not amazing, but it's fun. Some of the cast are amazing though (Michael Rosenbaum and John Glover in particular). And it does have some good comic book fanservice, especially in the latter half. And this isn't going to matter to anyone here other than me, but one of my cousins was an extra in one episode, so it's neat watching it and seeing him.

John Glover is great

I was 14 in 2001 and was in the same year as Clark each season.

by the time I graduated high school, around the beginning of season 5, is when I stopped watching. I got so tired of watching filler episodes. 90% of the show is random filler, and I felt like important things only got done during season finales and season premieres. Everything else was boring ass filler for no reason.

I remember an episode where teenagers were using Krytonite to help fuel their street racing cars. It was the dumbest fucking episode ive ever seen. I felt insulted as a fan

the dumbest one I remember is when Lana joined the vampire sorority

My vote for worst was the Stride gum one.

Smallville has aged horribly, but I still love for nostalgia and theres a lot of good stuff in it. Its one of those you had to be there kinda shows imo

Watching it in 2025 its probably not gonna impress you much. But watching it as it aired as a kid was awesome

I'm watching it now, almost through season 6. It has it's highs and lows, just like any other tv show out there. More than 200 eps at an hour each does make it a slog to get through.

It was amusing how they started copying the new thing in pop culture every year for some episodes. There was one based off Saw, a Hangover parody, Buffy the Vampire Slayer etc.

I heard mixed things

The first four seasons are fine. Once most the show took place in Metropolis there really was no reason to keep calling it Smallville.

watch the show along with the talkville podcast on YouTube!

Good show great cast

It's a show with a lot of good components that it rarely is able to actually work into a good show.

Like the cast is broadly very good. In particular the Luthors and Lois. The only weak regular cast members were Lana and Pete.

The theme song is the best song-to-show match since X-Files.

Setting-wise, while it's Vancouver filming location certainly isn't Kansas (we do not have forest like that), it still nails the small town feel. And in general the show has a really strong visual identity.

But you are never coming close to peak television at any point and at times the show is just really bad.

Its first three seasons are extremely episodic "freak of the week" episodes. People frequently cite this as the shows peak and I think it's because these are very safe episodes. You don't need a lot of investment. There isn't much in the way of larger storytelling. Just watch Clark body check some meteor-rock infested person week in and week out. But there are so many better shows for this. You could be watching X-Files, Buffy/Angel, or Supernatural instead.

Season four was the first big swing at a larger narrative and it struggled hard. But it did introduce Lois and probably got Jensen Ackles his Supernatural job so it wasn't all a loss. It also marks the first foray into the broader DC universe that will later consume the show.

Season 5 was the turning point in the show where it became evident that the original premise just didn't have legs so it started becoming more and more a Superman show. There are more DC superheroes. You start getting real villains. The season arc is much improved from 4. The problem is that it isn't Superman, it's still Clark Kent. So it is just in a weird middle ground. This problem will follow the series to its conclusion. Basically the rest of the series is going to be Clark doing Superman things, interacting with Superman characters and Superman threats but never being Superman. The quality of the seasons vary. It largely steps away from the Freak of the Week stories. But it once again runs into the same issue that the earlier seasons do, there are so many better options for shows like this, especially in 2025.

Smallville was a product of its time and is probably not worth watching in 2025. There are so many options to watch better Superhero shows. There have been multiple Superman shows that have come out since then that are better. Only watch it if you are a big Superman fan who's watched everything else, but not so big that the constant changes to the Superman mythos won't bother you.

LightningAce11 posted...

It was amusing how they started copying the new thing in pop culture every year for some episodes. There was one based off Saw, a Hangover parody, Buffy the Vampire Slayer etc.

Not even the "new thing". Buffy the Vampire Slayer was already over by the time they had they had their "Buffy" episode.

rick_alverado posted...

Not even the "new thing". Buffy the Vampire Slayer was already over by the time they had they had their "Buffy" episode.

The only reason they did that episode was because James Marsters had joined the cast for that season.

Im going to go with no

creativerealms posted...

The only reason they did that episode was because James Marsters had joined the cast for that season.

The episode was also written by long-time Buffy/Angel writer Steven S. DeKnight.

Hell yes. One of the best Luthors comes from Smallville.

creativerealms posted...

The first four seasons are fine. Once most the show took place in Metropolis there really was no reason to keep calling it Smallville.

I was surprised just how close Smallville was to Metropolis.

Ok I watched one episode and lol

Its only the first episode and theyre already giving Clark x Lex yaoi fan service for the ladies??? This was ahead of its time!

Ok but for real, its very 1999 and cheesy but like that. (This isnt exclusive to Smallville but it always makes me laugh seeing teenage Clark get bullied. Tall, muscley, and insanely handsome guys always get picked on, and ladies hate them!)

Lanas Kryptonite necklace made me lol. It brought a lot of bad luck so it must have only good luck left. ????? Or maybe its just a very bad luck charm??

And then Lanas boyfriend was like Here Clark, lemme just take off this necklace and put it on you for no reason. This is so sillyyy

Episode 2, daaamn Lex is going OUT of his WAY to get his boi Clark a girl

Also how come they didnt get dis Smallville Clark guy to play Superman in Superman Returns

Yes.

008Zulu posted...

I was surprised just how close Smallville was to Metropolis.

A lot of Superman adaptations end up just putting Metropolis in Kansas for simplicity sake. Effectively taking the place of Keystone and Central City, which are traditionally DC's big Great Plains region cities.

Evolician posted...

Episode 2, daaamn Lex is going OUT of his WAY to get his boi Clark a girl

Also how come they didnt get dis Smallville Clark guy to play Superman in Superman Returns

Iirc welling wanted to play, in superman returns? Scheduling, the makers of movie, singer, did not want him? Read like a little on that. Did not like returns.

Compsognathus posted...

A lot of Superman adaptations end up just putting Metropolis in Kansas for simplicity sake. Effectively taking the place of Keystone and Central City, which are traditionally DC's big Great Plains region cities.

Were you personally a big fan of this show? I was, my username....

Smallville posted...

Were you personally a big fan of this show? I was, my username....

I literally made a large post talking about my feelings about the show in this topic. You could try reading that.

Evolician posted...

Ok I watched one episode and lol

Its only the first episode and theyre already giving Clark x Lex yaoi fan service for the ladies??? This was ahead of its time!

Ok but for real, its very 1999 and cheesy but like that. (This isnt exclusive to Smallville but it always makes me laugh seeing teenage Clark get bullied. Tall, muscley, and insanely handsome guys always get picked on, and ladies hate them!)

Lanas Kryptonite necklace made me lol. It brought a lot of bad luck so it must have only good luck left. ????? Or maybe its just a very bad luck charm??

And then Lanas boyfriend was like Here Clark, lemme just take off this necklace and put it on you for no reason. This is so sillyyy

what does that even mean though, clark x lex yaoi fan...?

Smallville gave us Lois Lane in the star spangled bikini. So not nothing.

GranTurismo posted...

what does that even mean though, clark x lex yaoi fan...?

Clark gave Lex mouth to mouth to save his life, which isnt exactly a kiss, but its enough for anime fans to ship two dudes together.

Compsognathus posted...

A lot of Superman adaptations end up just putting Metropolis in Kansas for simplicity sake. Effectively taking the place of Keystone and Central City, which are traditionally DC's big Great Plains region cities.

Wasnt Smallvilles Metropolis in Oklahoma?