The concept for Smallville was derived after a potential series chronicling a young Bruce Wayne's journey toward becoming Batman failed to generate interest. 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. After seven seasons with the show, series developers Gough and Millar departed without providing a specific reason. Smallville is predominantly filmed in and around Vancouver, with some of the local businesses and buildings substituting for Smallville locations. The music for the first six seasons is primarily composed by Mark Snow, who incorporates elements of John Williams's musical score from the original Superman film series. In season seven, Louis Febre—who had worked with Snow from the beginning—took over as primary composer. The song played under the opening titles is "Save Me" by Remy Zero; several episodes also contain songs written and performed by other bands.
The series received generally positive reception when it began broadcasting. Former Superman star Christopher Reeve voiced his approval of the series, and the pilot episode broke the record for highest rated debut for The WB, with 8.4 million viewers. nine seasons completed, Smallville has averaged approximately 4.47 million viewers per episode, with season two averaging the highest ratings at 6.3 million. Since its first season, the series has earned distinctions ranging from Emmy Awards to Teen Choice Awards. In other media, the show has spawned a series of young-adult novels, a DC Comics bi-monthly comic book and soundtrack releases, as well as Smallville-related merchandise. Currently, nine seasons of Smallville are available on DVD in regions 1, 2, and 4.
On May 19, 2010, it was announced that Smallville would end its run after the tenth season, which premiered on September 24, 2010.
Contents
* 1 Series overview
* 2 Cast
* 3 Production
o 3.1 Development
o 3.2 Crew changes
o 3.3 Filming
o 3.4 Music
* 4 Broadcasting
o 4.1 Reception
o 4.2 Nielsen rankings
o 4.3 Accolades
* 5 Other media
o 5.1 Literature
+ 5.1.1 Young adult novels
+ 5.1.2 Comic books
o 5.2 Chloe Chronicles
o 5.3 Promotional tie-ins
o 5.4 Spin-offs
* 6 Home release
* 7 Merchandise
* 8 References
* 9 External links
Series overview
Main article: List of Smallville episodes
Season one sees the introduction of the regular cast, and storylines which regularly included a villain deriving a power from kryptonite exposure; the one-episode villains were a plot device developed by Gough and Millar. The first season primarily dealt with Clark trying to come to terms with his alien origins, and the revelation that his arrival on Earth was connected to the deaths of Lana's parents. After the first season, the series used fewer villain-of-the-week episodes, focusing more on story arcs which affected each character and explored Clark's origins. Main story arcs include: Clark's discovery of his Kryptonian heritage; the disembodied voice of Clark's biological father Jor-El is introduced, communicating to Clark via his spaceship, setting the stage for plots involving the fulfillment of Clark's earthly destiny;Clark seeking out three Kryptonian stones, at the instruction of Jor-El, which contain the knowledge of the universe and form his Fortress of Solitude;Clark battling Brainiac in his attempts to release the Kryptonian criminal General Zod; other escaped Phantom Zone criminals Clark must either capture or destroy; the arrival of Clark's biological cousin Kara; and Lex finally discovering Clark's secret. The eighth season features storylines involving the introduction of Davis Bloome, who is Smallville's interpretation of Doomsday, and a woman named Tess Mercer to replace the exit of Lex Luthor from the series. Justin Hartley reprises his role as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, being upgraded to a series regular. With the ninth season, "Major" Zod (Callum Blue), along with other members of Zod's military group, are revived by Tess Mercer, though without their Kryptonian powers. Their efforts to obtain those powers become the central conflict for the season's story arc. The tenth and final season revolves around Clark's attempts to get rid of his doubts and fears in order to become the hero he is meant to be while also confronting his biggest challenge in the coming of Darkseid and the return of Lex Luthor.
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