Do you like Lois and Clark best before or after Lois was in on the secret?

mmm... there should be an option for "I like them before AND after"... I do. Really!!

I guess before on the show, and after in the fanfic. That sounds weird. They just had this irreplacable rapport on season one for me. But I also hated Clark dumping Lois in the middle of every other conversation to dash off and save the world. I don't mind it so much in fanfic, and after the revelation, a lot of authors still keep their personalities lively. Or at least, in the latter half of the series, their personalities got masked for me by some extremely odd villians at times. :p

JD

definately after lois knew. He had someone that he could confide in and share his life and experiences with.

This is a hard one because I liked the characters better in S3-4, but the show as a whole in S1-2. One of the big driving forces of the show in the first two seasons was Clark's need to keep his secret from Lois - once that was gone some of the tension was lost, or replaced by things like the amnesia plot which just didn't work for me.

I wanted to vote but I didn't. When I saw that we had only two choices, and not a third one to say we liked as much before than after, I couldn't decide. I would have been lying either way, because, really, I love as much before than after. Not for the same reasons, but I just couldn't decide.

Well, I voted because I wanted to see the results, but if not for that, I wouldn't have voted. There were reasons that I liked both and the reasons were different, but I'm not sure I could really explain why.

Definitely before! I'm a great fan of the secret identity problem - and the numerous funny scenes ensuing from it. Especially the first season was full of those scenes, which is why I like it best.

I definitely liked them better after Lois knew. They were able to work as a better team afterwards because Lois knew exactly what her partner could do and why. The part where she had amnesia didn't count, of course, because she was out of her mind. I guess the writers had to come up with any silly device they could to keep Lois and Clark apart a little longer but that arc was singularly frustrating. (I stopped watching until it was over.)

Of course, after Lois and Clark were married the plots deteriorated somewhat, and not, to my mind, because they were married. I think it's because Hollywood in general can't conceive of marriage being anything but boring -- which, of course is foolish. It just proved that Hollywood writers have limited imaginations and a lot of preconceived ideas. I think Stop the Presses was one of their worst creations, because Mad Dog Lane turned into Ms. Pedantic, Unimaginative Editor who couldn't see beyond the job. And in the end, she didn't learn a thing, as was obvious in the last scene. The plots started to get better toward the very end (with the notable exception of Toy Story and The Family Hour) but I think the writers were beginning to hit their stride again. If they could have gotten past the ridiculous Rapidly Aging Baby idea, and maybe tackled some of the loose threads that they left dangling from previous seasons, I think the fifth season could have been great. Unfortunately, now we'll never know.

Nan

I'm totally with Nan on this one. At last, Clark has someone from his own age-group that he can confide in. They can truly work as a team, and we're spared all that boring budding-relationship strife.

Yvonne

I probably am one of the few that loved them before she knew. I think that is because I felt the series rushed their relationship from that point on. I would have probably enjoyed it had they not gone from deciding to seriously date one episode, to getting engaged the next, to a high speed wedding (or non-wedding). I really felt they should have spent more time with her getting to know him and really should have played up the relationship a bit longer. I felt like he spent such a great season courting her and trying to win her... the engagement came as a total surprise to me and I really wish they hadn't rushed it. I enjoyed the foreplay of their relationship before she knew.

It also makes me so biased in fics that I read. I love revelation fics and ones that take place in the first and second seasons. I have learned to give the ones where they are married a chance but sometimes I just skip on those as well... cause I'm a bitter bitter soul. lol

Actually, whenever we've run polls on this in the past, the majority has always preferred pre-revelation L&C. It's interesting to see that, so far, the pendulum seems to have swung the other way.

Yvonne

Well, I'm in the AFTER group.

Carolyn

Yvonne: Really? Since I have been in the fandom everyone seem to talk about them when they were married. People seem to think that was when they were best together. I have always felt like I was in the minority on that one... not that I mind. Wouldn't be any fun if everyone felt the same.

I liked them better after they were married. And I agree with Nan, Hollywood does have trouble writing married couples. Seems they never heard of "Mr. and Mrs. North".

Wow, this is a very difficult quesion, because my favorite episodes are from season 2 and 3.
I love more episodes from season 2 so I should say I loved them more before Lois new the secret. There should have been an answer: Before AND After

I voted before, both for the show and for fanfic.

I voted after because I love seeing L&C together..and the things between them become more and more intense when finally Lois discovers Clark's secret.
I love the first episodes too, but when I see them I always think about my favourite news team loving each other

I vote for after because, I personally like the fact that in the episode where Lois asks Clark if he could warm her feet with heat vision. She says he missed and he replys no, he did not. How wonderful would that be? I love that. Kinda shallow, I know. But, for me it works.

Btw- I love your name Lolly. My name happens to be
the same !!!

But, it is spelled Lollie

Welcome, elflinn! Good to see you enjoying the playground.




LabRat

Really?? My true name is LORENZA[my parents wanted a boy named like "Lorenzo il magnifico"]..so when I was born thet put an A to "solve the problem"
I'm 20 and my mother started call me "Lolly" since I was 1 or 2 years old, so everyone know me as "Lolly" ...I know when people are angry with me because they call me with my real name

I'm not sure how to vote. So I didn't.

When I first joined this fandom, I loved the character of Lois best in the first seasons, but prefered them as a couple after they were married. I was a teenager at that point and pretty pesimistic about marriage, having seen aftermath of an astonishing amount of vicious divorces. As I grew up and got into the dating scene, their portrayal made me more optimistic about my chances of finding someone who wouldn't leave me feeling like my emotions had just beeen through a couple rounds with Mike Tyson.

BUT now that I'm married...I often prefer the before stories. I like the whole "will they/won't they" bit. The dating ritual fascinates me, especially in its many incarnations in fanfic.

Maybe it has something to do with the Greener Grass syndrome.

I liked the banter from season one, but I liked the cute little inside jokes from after.

I think I may be one of the only people alive who actually thrived on the corny cheesey and utter shmoopiness of season four. I realize all of this, and if it had been any other show I would have hated it. I don't know, I guess over all, I loved all of the seasons for different reasons. Lois and Clark is my Warm Fuzzy Blankie show, something I watch when I'm in a depressed state or low point. (Hey, I'm about to start season four for the second time in a month. This has been a Not Fun Thirty Days, indeed!) I watch it when I'm NOT blue, too, but lesigh!