Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls How many seasons do you think Lois and Clark could have lasted?

Was it doomed for four always or do you think it could still be running today? You decided.

Personally, the show could have probably done six without getting really silly. It would have been great to see what happened to Lois and Clark and that baby. Oh well at least we have the TUFS .

~L.L Wanna Be

I don't think this had enough mass market appeal to go more than five or six seasons. The A-plots also started degenerating starting in season 3. If ABC had not pulled the rug out from under them and Teri Hatcher allowed herself to work through her third trimester, I think it would have lasted only one more season, most likely. A sixth would have been possible, but a stretch. Didn't I hear a rumor somewhere where TNT offered a fifth season, but both DC and TH turned it down?

As Zoom has pointed out in the past. The show fully intended to be picked up for a fifth season. They had decent enough numbers and an understanding that they would be back. But Disney had other ideas.

Still, given the uneveness (which is charitable) of the 4th season and the especially weak ending, I have little doubt that they would never have been able to get past season five.

The introduction of the child would guarentee that. Lois and Clark would have devolved into a sitcom. There is no way they could have written interesting, adventure/romance with a child on board. The writers had a hard enough time just maintaining the marriage.

There were also rumors of discord on the set due, in large part, to the silliness of many of the latter scrips. It was a sore spot for Teri and if things would've continued as they had I doubt if she would have stayed on after her five year contract ran out.

From what little I heard about some of the writer's plans for the fifth season, the child subplots sounded awful. The only espisode I was looking forward to and am sorry we never got to see was the altClark finding his altLois which, if I understand correctly, was planned for the fifth season.

Tank (who still thinks that would make an excellant storyline for a reunion movie)

/me eeps out Third Trimester? Just goes to show how much I know, never even knew she was pregnant on the show.

Anywho, the way those A-plots were going, I don't think they would have made it past season 5. But that's not too bad of a run for a show these days, especially a sort of sci-fi one. I'm thinking about all the long running shows, i.e. Law & Order, Cheers, Friends, and I'm not even coming up with sci-fi ones.

Babies don't have to be a problem on a show...Charmed can come out with a good plot every once in a while now that little Wyatt is born. But IMHO, the last episodes of season 4 of L&C just weren't the best they could be at all. So I could see the baby being a problem in this case.

Although I think I could watch it for ever, I think it would reach only until season 5 or 6, maximum 7(although I doubt it).

I think that the child wouldn't be a problem, at first. Actually, it would be interesting. Think of how many adventures would they have to live: A-plots, like villains wanting to kidnap him/her, or B-plots, like L&C learning how to deal with a baby.
But, after two more seasons, *someone* would get bored anyway. DC, TH, the producer, the script-writers... Most people don't want to feel like trapped in one project forever, they want to try new things. So L&C would turn into a prison for them.
Lack of A-plots is not such a big problem, imho. It could be easily solved with hiring new writers (some of us, maybe??? ). There are so many crimes to commit and soooooooooooo many ways to commit them, and the good but old minds behind the scripts wouldn't be able to think of them. No offense, of course, but every mind has its limits.

I also think that we could see a few (or more) episodes about Utopia, how it was created and stuff like that.

In any case, I think cutting it in the 4th season was not such a smart move. It could have lasted longer. Maybe not much longer, but longer.

AnnaBtG.

Probably six at the most, imo. I remember thinking at the time that if I could just get one more season I'd be happy enough. I felt that the surface of them being married had only just been scratched in season four and there was still plenty for them to get up to.

Although not that sure I'd have enjoyed much of the season five that was planned. The whole idea of a baby that grew to an obnoxious teen in the space of a week filled me with <yawn> boredom and I failed to share Tim Minear's enthusiasm for plots revolving around what scrapes the juvenile delinquent would get up to.

This was borne out in a way by the fact that I absolutely loathed the idea when Tim resurrected it with Connor in Angel. I never liked the character - just about could abide him as a baby, when he came back as a...hey, a rebellious teen! <G>...I just groaned and then gritted my teeth through all the subsequent episodes involving him. Don't think I've ever been so glad to see a character written out of a show before! (apologies to Connor fans for that rant there. <G>)

I did like the idea of an episode set in the past, with Lois and Clark as teens though. And there was an episode planned to reunite Alt Clark with his Lois, I believe too, which would have been sweet.

LabRat

Yeah, what Tank and Labby said. I voted for "four" -- I would have voted for "five" if that were a separate choice, but I can't see any way they'd go as far as 7-8 seasons.

Frankly, from what I'd heard about the planned fifth season, I think I'm grateful they stopped where they did. Y'know, before they could screw it up any further... but then I've often complained about poor writing on this show. The premise and potential were fabulous, but the execution was... well, let's just say I love episode rewrites, and leave it at that.

PJ

I voted for 4 -- but I am clearly in the minority . I thought that because after the way season 4 ended and the way it was shifted around in days and times, I don't think anyone would have been watching it in the 5th season.

But maybe it would have lasted at least part way through the fifth season. Maybe I am biased because of my own feelings. I know I would have stopped watching. Even though I wanted Lois and Clark to be able to have children, I hated the fact that they just had a baby on their doorstep. So I probably wouldn't have watched for very long in the 5th season -- and I am not sure if a large portion of America would either.

Now if the writers of S5/S6 or TUFS would have written for the show . . . maybe it could have lasted 6 seasons.

- Alicia

I hadn't heard about the idea of the baby turning into a teenager. Sounds a bit like Smallville with juvenile delinquent

I would vote for five because I really don't think either Teri or Dean would have signed another contract. Maybe for lots of bucks, one more year, but I doubt the ratings would have warranted that.

I think that Dean was pretty burned out by the hours which sounded pretty brutal.

Yeah, Disney was doing everything they could to kill the show, so they could get out of the existing contract for another season.

Some of the late S4 eps seriously sucked, but some were pretty good -- if the show had been promoted instead of hidden, I'm sure it would have done a lot better.

I think the baby thing was a huge mistake. Both TUFS and S5 writers got rid of that kid as soon as possible <g> although both groups went on to start a pregnancy and end the year with the child's birth. But that's the thing -- there are fun things that writers can do with the whole infertility/pregnancy/childbirth arc -- but the baby in the Family Hour just dropped in from nowhere. It was a cheat. And then speed-growth to surly teenager??? <shudder> Thank God we were spared that, anyway. Well, okay, there was Crys Wimmer's "Hypergirl" episode in S6 <g> but that was done a lot more logically, and undone by the end of the ep!

PJ
(info on fan-produced seasons can be found on the archive )

Look at all the people that are still fans of Lois and Clark, if that is any indication of how long the show could have lasted I would say we would still see weekly eps of it

In my opinion the only thing limiting the show would be that the actors wouldn`t want to be part of one show for too long Which I need to say I can understand

sunshine

I voted for 6-8, because some shows can keep on producing interesting plots. It hadn't degenerated like some shows I've seen (Sliders is one instance) but it wasn't exactly stellar, either.

I've never heard of the plots they had lined up for S5. Can anyone explain them or point me to where the might be listed? Thanks.


Karen
Vacationing in not-quite-so-sunny NJ

Well, Stargate is well into Season 7 -- or is it 8? -- with talk about another season *and* a spin-off... but that's always been a very plot-based show. A character-driven show like L&C depends on the characters facing challenges -- the "will they, won't they" sexual tension stuff is the most common kind, and apparently the kind that Hollywood writers really prefer to write.

Umm... hadn't really meant for this to get so long! You've just touched on one of my pet peeves -- of all the standard plot devices above, the "sexual tension" one seems the most popular, with the most potential for infinite repetition. And some people do enjoy that, but I have a limited tolerance. If the third season hadn't begun with a revelation and quickly segued into romance, I probably would have quit watching.

PJ

I voted for 5-8, but I personally don't think it would have made it past 5 seasons. Especially with some of the plotlines I've heard now... Definately wouldn't want to see the whole "oh this week he's a little baby, next week he's a teen" thing. The altLois/altClark thing would be very interesting though. I know several people have written fanfic about this, but still it would have been interesting to see how things played out in the series. I think the baby at the end doomed them as well. They hadn't been married that long when the baby plopped into their laps, and I think they should have waited longer to bring the baby into things. I definately thought most of S4 was bad. Certain eps. weren't, but others had really stupid storylines. I hardly ever watch any eps. from S4 that I have on tape because of it... I mostly watch S1 & 2 because I like the early relationship better than when they are married, or even engaged.

Well, I think the show had potential for one or two more seasons. At the end of season 4 I see enough stuff to keep it going. Of course, it would have depended strongly on the actors' willingness to continue and on a change of writers. Honestly, I have read fanfic that's a lot better than what we saw at times on the show.

Also, I have read fanfic who kept the baby from 'Family Hour' and managed to continue in a very interesting way. With lots of a-plot in wonderful combinition with a b-plot. (I'm pointing here discreetly towards some of the works of a certain Nan Smith...)(Of course other authors did it wonderfully, too, but I just reread a few of hers...so they're fresh on my mind.)

Anyways, I would have kept watching I'm sure of that. Why? Cause I was raving mad at the way they left us fans hanging at the end of S4. I *really* wanted to find out more about that baby!!!

Sira

Ditto. Definitely!!

AnnaBtG.

I voted for 5-8 seasons. Yes, it would have been complicated, but it would have been so great for the show to get the real ending it deserved.

Unless the fifth season got very good ratings and reviews, I think I would have ended there.

Gotta love TUFS!
~Amanda