History Series / Smallville

By 2001, the Creator/DCComics Franchise/{{Superman}} franchise was moving along steadily with the animated exploits of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. However, the TV side had remained in limbo since ''Series/LoisAndClark'' ended four years prior, and it would be another five years before Supes [[Film/SupermanReturns returned to the big screen]]. Thusly, and perhaps not so coincidentally, when the [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer flagship show]] of Creator/TheWB left for its [[Creator/{{UPN}} competitor]] (and future partner in Creator/TheCW), it was decided to offer ''Smallville'' as a new[[Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperboy ish]] take on the Man of Steel, specifically chronicling Clark Kent's adolescence as he comes into his powers and eventually his taking on TheCape. Created by Creator/AlfredGough and Creator/MilesMillar alongside Tollin/Robbins Productions (best known for shows such as ''Series/AllThat'' and ''Series/OneTreeHill''), the series premiered on October 16, 2001.

Whereas ''Series/LoisAndClark'' shifted gears toward a Comicbook/PostCrisis vision of Superman, Creator/JephLoeb led the way in bringing many [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ideas back into prominence on ''Smallville''. Most notable among these is the origin tale of Clark and Lex knowing each other in high school, and Lois being introduced to Clark long before their partnership at the Daily Planet.[[note]]Interestingly enough, one 1940's comic featured a young Clark/Superboy winning a high school journalism contest, with the prize being a day as a cub reporter on the Daily Planet. Guess who the other winner was?[[/note]]

The first four seasons are a SuperheroOrigin of sorts, being a TeenDrama that focuses largely on Clark Kent (Creator/TomWelling)'s life in the titular Smallville, the town where he grew up after crash landing on Earth. Growing up under his MuggleFosterParents, Jonathan (Creator/JohnSchneider) and Martha Kent (Creator/AnnetteOToole), Clark is friends with ComicBook/LanaLang (Creator/KristinKreuk), his next-door neighbor, Pete Ross (Creator/SamJonesIII), the first person to know his secret outside his parents, and Chloe Sullivan (Creator/AllisonMack), an aspiring journalist involved in a LoveTriangle between herself, Clark, and Lana. Clark also befriends ComicBook/LexLuthor (Creator/MichaelRosenbaum), the son of billionaire Lionel Luthor (Creator/JohnGlover), while his love for Lana is complicated by her boyfriend and high school jock Whitney Fordman (Eric Johnson). The fourth season introduces Jason Teague (Creator/JensenAckles), who meets Lana while she is in Paris and follows her home, and ComicBook/LoisLane (Creator/EricaDurance), Chloe's cousin who takes her cue to join the Daily Planet and, in an obvious ForegoneConclusion, becomes Clark's SecondLove after Lana chooses to leave him.

Once the main characters graduate from high school, the series focuses less and less on Smallville and more on Metropolis, where Clark eventually moves to. The sixth season sees the debut of ComicBook/JimmyOlsen (Creator/AaronAshmore), a photographer for the Daily Planet who rekindles his relationship with Chloe, his ex-girlfriend, and competes for her attention with Davis Bloome (Creator/SamWitwer), a paramedic from Metropolis General Hospital. It also properly introduces the [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]], led by [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver Queen]] (Creator/JustinHartley), a billionaire from Star City intending to bring justice to people who are outside the law. Clark's long-lost cousin, [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] (Creator/LauraVandervoort), appears in the seventh season, being used by Lex to find out about Clark's secret. Clark joins the Daily Planet in the eighth season, which also introduces Tess Mercer (Creator/CassidyFreeman), Lex's successor as CEO of [=LuthorCorp=] following his disappearance. The penultimate season has Clark facing an army of cloned Kryptonians led by Major Zod (Creator/CallumBlue), who wants to turn Earth into a new Krypton.

''Smallville'' managed to survive for a decade, arguably [[note]]''Series/StargateSG1'', while three episodes shorter, has two additional [[MadeForTVMovie Made-for-TV Movies]] and is undeniably straight sci-fi, while ''Smallville'' has explicit magic in the form of Zatanna[[/note]] beating ''Series/StargateSG1'''s record as the longest running American SciFi show (''Franchise/PowerRangers'' doesn't count, because it uses Japanese-made footage. Technically, ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' is the longest running American sci-fi show, from 2003-2019, though episode length is only 3-15 minutes). The show concluded on May 13, 2011 after ten years and 217 episodes, becoming DC's longest-running live-action series. It was also the longest-running WB/CW series until ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' beat its record on May 20, 2015.

Compare with ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', a show with a similar prequel premise for Franchise/{{Batman}}.

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In October 2012, Creator/GregBerlanti brought DC back to The CW with a new take on the Green Arrow, with the series ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. The show would become the foundation for what would become known as the Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}, which eventually featured its own Superman played by Creator/TylerHoechlin. In 2019, as a way to acknowledge its role as the Arrowverse's predecessor, Tom Welling and Erica Durance [[RoleReprise reprised]] their roles for the epic adaptation of the ''[[TropeMakers original]]'' CrisisCrossover, ''Series/{{Crisis on Infinite Earths|2019}}''; during which it was revealed that, per the Arrowverse's in-show [[TheMultiverse Multiverse]], the Smallville Earth is designated Earth-167, a reference to Alfred Gough and Miles Millar's birth year of 1967.

''Smallville'' managed to survive for a decade, arguably [[note]]''Series/StargateSG1'', while three episodes shorter, has two additional [[MadeForTVMovie Made-for-TV Movies]] and is undeniably straight sci-fi, while ''Smallville'' has explicit magic in the form of Zatanna[[/note]] beating ''Series/StargateSG1'''s record as the longest running American SciFi show (''Franchise/PowerRangers'' doesn't count, because it uses Japanese-made footage. Technically, ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' is the longest running American sci-fi show, from 2003-2019, though episode length is only 3-15 minutes). The show concluded on May 13, 2011 after ten years and 217 episodes, becoming DC's longest-running live-action series. It was also the longest-running WB/CW series until ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' beat its record on May 20, 2015.

In October 2012, Creator/GregBerlanti brought DC back to The CW with a new take on the Green Arrow, with the series ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. The show would become the foundation for what would become known as the Series/{{Arrowverse}}, which eventually featured its own Superman played by Creator/TylerHoechlin. In 2019, as a way to acknowledge its role as the Arrowverse's predecessor, Tom Welling and Erica Durance [[RoleReprise reprised]] their roles for the epic adaptation of the ''[[TropeMakers original]]'' CrisisCrossover, ''Series/{{Crisis on Infinite Earths|2019}}''; during which it was revealed that, per the Arrowverse's in-show [[TheMultiverse Multiverse]], the Smallville Earth is designated Earth-167, a reference to Alfred Gough and Miles Millar's birth year of 1967.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYdCzs5uPrI Somebody save me…]]''.]]