Smallville: Back From the Brink
January 11, 2010 by Matt DeGroot
Filed under Feature, Television, feature overlay
If someone had told me way back in 2001 when it premiered that I would still be watching new episodes of Smallville at the turn of 2010 I probably would have laughed in their face. Television series based on comic book characters rarely last more than a couple of seasons (if they’re even that lucky) and this one in particular featuring Clark Kent discovering and embracing his Superman powers while in high school with Dawson’s Creek-style love triangles, certainly didn’t seem likely to break that mold. But then something strange happened. It actually turned out to be good! Sure, there were cheesy moments and formulaic elements to the first season but the characters were highly likeable, the show was incredibly well made, and it only got better over the first few seasons.
As with any show, there have been storylines that fall kind of flat and characters that run out of interesting things to do but Smallville keeps marching on with occasional moments of brilliance that are sure to please any comic-reading geek or an average viewer just the same. Each year new rumors abound that the current season would be its last, but nine years later the show keeps going strong and even survived the dismantling of the WB Network when it merged with UPN to become The CW.
Fans rejoiced last year when they learned that Smallville would be renewed for a ninth season but were quickly dismayed to learn that the network was moving the show from its plush Thursday night timeslot to Friday nights where most shows go to die. To observers it seemed like The CW was finally giving up on one of its most popular shows ever.
Nonetheless, the ninth season as it has played out so far is a clear indication of how much the show has changed over the years. The high school drama is gone and Clark (Tom Welling) is now working in Metropolis at The Daily Planet with Lois Lane (Erica Durance who outshines even Margot Kidder in the role) and saving lives in his free time as the mysterious hero known to citizens of the city as The Blur. Clark’s best friend of all time, Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) has taken on the role of sidekick by coordinating and running the home base for the Justice League led by The Green Arrow (Justin Hartley). And on the bad guy front, Lex Luthor is history but his empire has been taken over by the cunning Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman) who has become friendly with a time-traveling younger version of one of Superman’s greatest villains, General Zod, played by Callum Blue.
With the switch to Friday nights everyone had been patiently waiting for the hammer to fall and confirm that this would indeed be the last season, but even now at the halfway point that word hasn’t come and many are speculating (with hush-hush confirmation from network insiders) that the series will actually be back for a landmark TENTH season! And there is a good reason why. The producers, writers, and directors have really stepped up to the plate this year and are putting out better episodes than we’ve seen from the show in years and frankly, some have been among the best ever. The actors are turning in superb work and the special effects continue to dazzle despite a reduced budget. And despite the fact that the show now only pulls in about half of the audience of its ratings peak in the second season, nearly each successive episode this season saw an increase in viewers despite being on Friday nights when most of the target audience is out doing something else.
And now with some strong momentum from the first half of season nine the Smallville producers seem poised to continue bowling viewers over with a massive two-hour episode set to air on February 5 featuring a bevy of big name DC Comics characters making their filmed debut including the classic Hawkman. A brief teaser following the show’s fall finale literally got fans’ tongues wagging in anticipation along with the news that Pam Grier (Jackie Brown) will be joining the series for several episodes as classic villainess, Amanda Waller.
It is certainly refreshing to see that the network has some restored confidence in one of its strongest assets. The commitment of more money for epic, movie-length episodes and big name guest stars is a sure sign that when they booted Smallville to the Friday night graveyard, they didn’t abandon it completely. This is such a rare gesture for a show that appeared to be on its way out and with word that additional soundstage space has been purchased for building more sets, a tenth season now appears all but certain and I personally couldn’t be happier about it. It is not a perfect show and will never win an Emmy for Best Drama but it’s fun, exciting, occasionally witty, and features some of the most enjoyable characters on primetime television. I, for one, could continue to watch the adventures of Clark becoming Earth’s greatest hero for another ten years but I’ll take what I can get. And if you were once a viewer who lost interest or have never seen even a single scene, I couldn’t recommend setting your DVR to record anything more.
Smallville returns to Friday nights at 8:00 with all new episodes on January 22.
Fuente:http://poptimal.com/2010/01/smallville- ... the-brink/ 
Yo veo la WB (vivo en Argentina, así que aquí se ve la WB y no la CW) y te digo que la propaganda que le hacen a SV es casi nula. Es siempre lo mismo, es más te muestran a Clark siempre en medio de convertirse en Superman aproximadamente desde hace tres temporadas y... no Super todavía 
(latinoamerica)
) hace... ya ni me acuerdo
, o alhomejor es que esa mujer no es humana y está hecha de piedra 
no se han dado cuenta que todos sonrien menos tom jajajajaja