Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Lois & Clark Smart Kids Episode Discussion Thread

I know this episode is fairly unpopular among “Lois and Clark” fans, but I’ve never really thought it was that bad. I will say that it’s wedged between two really good episodes that are among my favorite episodes in the whole series. Perhaps that is a big reason why a lot of people dislike this one. However, I still think there are some things to enjoy in this episode.

The scene where Lois finds out that Clark stole the Mentamide 5 during the interview is very funny. It’s one of the few times early on in the show where Lois is truly impressed by Clark’s skills as a reporter. I also think the scene where Lois gets tied up by Amy after saying she could handle her is very funny.

I think the fact that they used kids in this episode was nice because Superman has always been popular with kids. “Adventures of Superman” with George Reeves featured children on a few occasions, so I think this was “Lois and Clark’s” answer to those episodes of that show.

So, overall, this episode wasn’t as good as some episodes of the show. I still think it is a fun episode in a lot of ways, though.

When studying this S1 episodes for witty banter between Lois and Clark for flashback scenes in Another Lois I discovered why I always disliked this episode. THERE WASN'T ANY. There was the one liner when Clark stole the Met. 5 (I don't think Lois saw Clark steal the shredded papers because he did that at super speed), but that was about it. It didn't further their relationship or reveal much character-development-wise, except that Lois was inept when it came to kids (no big surprise there).

This episode also had more scenes (airtime) featuring the kids than with Lois and Clark. I agree that it was the lunkheads at Network insisting that since "Superman" (not necessarily this show) is geared towards kids (since he's a comic book character :rolleyes: ) that they needed an episode with kids in it, especially kids that make the adults look stupid to make it more of a family show. They obviously didn't understand this show or it's concept at all.

We did learn more about Lex's evilness in this episode (his willingness to kill off the kids), but that was about it. How is it that Clark and Lois enter the kids' hideout, but it was Superman who found Lex tied up? Wouldn't Lois question that? Or where Clark had disappeared off to? And WHAT happened to Lois, while Superman, Lex, and brainy kid were arguing in that one room? They were there for quite a while, wouldn't she have stumbled upon them at some point? Wasn't Lex's involvement with the development of Met. 5 and 6 quite obvious to Superman as well, but somehow (unexplained) he comes out looking like the victim.

Personally, IMO this episode is a waste of space and can be quite easily skipped, for the reasons above.

Virginia said everything necessary.

There really aren't too many fanfics based on this episode.

Having a show focused around children was not in and of itself a bad idea. I actually thought "Toy Story" was a really good show, and I really liked "Season's Greetings" and both of those are very children heavy.

There are probably a lot of reasons why those shows worked and this one didn't. The biggest one is that they did not forget the show was Lois and Clark.

Smart Kids has lots of chncks with neither Lois nor Clark, and next to no development of Lois and Clark's relationship. If Lois had come in to see Clark trying to convince the kids that he was not Superman, and had joined in that interaction in any way the episode would have come close to being in some way redeemed. Hmm, actually, that might not be such a bad idea.

I was rewatching this and realized that I actually liked the dialogue in the meeting near the start. Still I go because Cat is sitting between Lois and Clark. Lois and Clark should be next to each other. Although at least Lois understands what is up enough to go and stand behind Clark and hover over his shoulder once the Smart-kids come on the TV.

We learn that Clark has a good opinion of Borneo, although he does not technically say he has been there, we learn that 12 million people live in Metropolis. The line about "3 more people are claiming to be the president's brother" definitely only works set in 1993. It is part of how Season 1 feels much more set in our world than later seasons.

Now if they had had a scene where Lois runs to Clark's place to strategize after getting the late-night call from Inez, then it would have been a much better episode.

They also should have had Lois actually kiss Clark when he tells her he got the Metamide 5. It would have made the episode much more fun.

Another thing is, if Clark is hanging out at his apartment at 2:00 PM, his co-workers should wonder where he is. They should have had Lois wander by just after the same-kids hang up on him, and yell at him for being a total bum.

The last big gripe is, what in the world possessed Lois to stay behind and watch the kids at the end. Lois should insist she be the one to go ahead and Clark be the one to stay behind and watch the children. At least she should try.

I was going back and reviewing my fanfic recommendations and came across this thread. I feel that I've disappointed the commpletists in that I don't have any recommendations for episode-related fanfics here, so I scoured the Archive Database and came up with Smart Teens by Susan Young. It asks the logical question - what happened when the Smart Kids grew up?

Kendra Prince wrote May The Best (Super) Man Win .

I haven't read either of these fics, so you're on your own.

On the other hand, I have read Paul-Gabriel Wiener's hilarious Plot Untwist fic, Really Smart Kids . Paul is always hilarious in his plot un-twists, and this is no exception. Don't miss it.

And that's all I could find in the Database for this episode.

We can't even recommend "Wrong Clark" for this one. It gets mentioned once months later, in passing, about Superman saving Luthor from the Smart kids, but that is about all we get.

Yes, this episode is one of my least favorite, so it was one of the few S1 episodes not covered in my newest epic (technically, I've mentioned it twice months later)... although, it did get a longer mention in Missing Lois.

Virginia said: Exactly! What drew me to this show from the start was the fact that it wasn't geared towards kids. It was smart and sexy and witty. It had Clark Kent dropping that "you like it on top" innuendo onto Lois soon after meeting her. So this episode is still, even after all these years, irredeemable in my eyes. Like Virginia also pointed out, there's no banter between L/C. I watched the show for that banter. I loved that banter. That's the chief reason I don't much care for anything past the second season. Their dialogue isn't as sharp anymore and neither Clark nor Lois really tease the other.

So I say "boo" to 'Smart Kids'. It was a harbinger of things to come.

One of the things that has always drawn me to this show is the fact that you could tell the show runners weren't gearing it towards kids, especially in the beginning. In a lot of ways, it's a shame that they were slowly forced to make the show more kid friendly. I'm satisfied with the show that we ended up getting, but I must admit that I sometimes wonder what might have been had the network not wanted a show that kids could watch with their parents. In the end, we ended up with a family friendly show that could appeal to adults, which still holds up as one of my favorite shows of all time, but I think the original intent was that the show would be an adult drama that young kids were less likely to enjoy.

I thought I remembered reading in a very early article that it was originally intended to be a 9:00 pm show--instead of the 'family-friendly' 7:00 pm time-slot? Can't remember where I read that, but I'm pretty sure I did. I was 13 when the show first premiered, and what drew me in was the relationship aspect of the show--initially not really any of the Superman story. Being more in that kid demographic the network was catering to, I would still have preferred more of an adult show--I loved (and still love) all the witty banter btw the two. I remember hearing advertised somewhere fairly early about the show that 'it was like Moonlighting, only Bruce
Willis can fly' (and I LOVED Moonlighting!)... So the connection that Lois and Clark were going to develop and build throughout the run of the show is what reeled me in--and kept me watching.

Smart Kids is not one of my favorite episodes--it lacks the relationship-building that I was enjoying starting to occur btw Lois and Clark...

That sounds familiar to me, too. I remember hearing something similar at some point. I may have read it somewhere, or maybe, it was said on the DVD extra features. I can't say for sure.

I actually like "Smart Kids" more than the average fan, but I'm not quite able to place my finger on why exactly that is. I've never found it to be one of the best episodes, but I don't despise it, either. Perhaps, the fact that it doesn't bother me has something to do with the fact that the first time I watched the episode, I was a kid myself. I’m really not sure.

I have to admit, I probably don't dislike this episode as much as some. I just remember the first time I watched it, it was almost jarring to see Lois. I was like "oh right, this is Lois and Clark, I almost thought we were on to some other show."

I guess it is not the show that has the longest Lois and Clark free teaser, but the show is just very different than other episodes.

Besides 'Never on a Sunday' this is the only episode in my collection I have watched once.

It was that bad.

There is one scene that redeems the entire episode for me: Clark, as Superman, discussing how hard it is to be different. I had the impression that he wasn't just spouting what needed to be said to diffuse the situation, but that he was genuinely speaking from the heart. It's a sentiment that he doesn't often express -- especially to people who don't know his secret, but to me it gives a lot of insight into his character.

It was also a speech with which I could very much relate.

Joy,
Lynn

The part that is weird to me about this episode is why isn't Lex even more curious to find out who this Superman is after hearing him talk about growing up? Does he just assume that he was sent here (like Trask thought)?

I would think he'd try to figure out if there was something more to Supes. I didn't hate this ep, but it's not one of my favorites.

That is a really good scene.

Somebody over at Zoomway's boards posted about meeting the actress that played Amy Valdez on Facebook. Since it's relevant to this thread, I thought I'd share what she had to say about “Lois and Clark” here.


http://www.zoomway.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=244907#Post244907

Ginny, what ep was it where Lex puzzles out that Superman came here as a child? He was talking to someone about it. Nigel? Asabi? Generic sycophant? Was it before or after SK?

Was it "The Foundling"? After he hears/sees the globe's message, he realizes that Superman came here as a baby.

yup it was Foundling.. after the globe gave it's 4th message. He figured out that Superman didn't come here as an adult but as a baby.

Foundling was quite a few episodes after SK & yeah it was Nigel he told his suspicion to