Seasons : 10
Episodes : 215
Premier : October 16, 2001
Final Ep : May 13, 2011

Origins

* Derived after a potential series chronicling a young Bruce Wayne’s journey toward becoming Batman failed to generate interest [feature film division of Warner Bros, did not want to compete with a television series]
* After meeting with the president of Warner Bros. Television, Gough and Millar pitched their “no tights, no flights” rule, which would break Superman down to the bare essentials and look at the events that led Clark Kent to become Superman
* They returned and pitched their idea to both The WB and FOX on the same day. A bidding war ensued between FOX and The WB; the latter won out with a commitment of thirteen episodes to start
Interesting Points

* The pilot episode broke the record for highest rated debut for The WB, with 8.4 million viewers
* By the end of its run, Smallville became the longest-running comic book based series and longest-running North American science fiction series in television history beating Stargate SG-1
* The interiors of Templeton Secondary School were used for Smallville High’s interior; the production team repainted most of Templeton in Smallville High’s red and yellow colors, and stuck large Smallville High Crows logos everywhere.
-The team painted over so much of the school that the school eventually adopted them as their official school colors

Spinoff could-have-been’s

Aquaman

-Was to be played by Justin Hartley [Smallville’s Green Arrow]
-Expected debut fall 2006, but following the merger of the WB and UPN, the resulting CW Network opted not to buy the series.
-Made available online through iTunes in the United States and became the number-one most downloaded television show on iTunes

Green Arrow
During sixth season , “talking” was as far as the spin-off idea ever got

After ‘Smallville’ Is Over, What’s Next? Here Are Four Spinoffs We’d Love To See!

Guest Stars from Superman Past

Christopher Reeve
Smalville : Dr. Virgil Swann [1st translated Krypton-ian language
Superman I/II/III/IV : Clark Kent / Superman
Margot Kidder
Smallville : Bridgette Crosby [liason of sorts for Dr. Virgil Swan]
Superman I/II/III/IV : Lois Lane
Annette O’Toole
Smallville : Martha Kent
Superman III : Lana Lang
Terence Stamp
Smallville : Voice of Jor-El
Superman I / II : General Zod
Marc McClure
Smallville : Dax-Ur [Krypton’s scientists, created machine later dubbed Brainiac]
Superan I/II/III/IV : Jimmy Olsen
Dean Cain
Smallville : Curtis Knox :immortal doctor, stealing ‘meteor freak’ organs for his wife
Adventures Lois & Clark : Clark Kent / Superman
Teri Hatcher
Smallville : Ella Lane [ mother of Lois Lane

SMALLVILLE Producers Feel the Pressure of the Series Finale

–Interview Lex returns

Jeremy’s Rants:
Smallville is not Superman!
The whole series felt like a psuedo-superheroey ripoff with the names and places from Superman legends randomly thrown in to spice up an otherwise unrelated story. Sometimes as things that made sense, other times … not. (Brainiac comes to mind)
– The stupid ‘creature of the week’ meteor junk in early seasons.
– Can’t fly?!
– Long, drawn-out romance with Lana Lang.
– And then, romancing Lois Lane before he’s even Superman!
– Lex Luthor. All of it.
** (Caveat: I actually loved what they did with Lex in Smallville, and the actor was phenomenal. But it wasn’t really Lex.)