I've never personally understood why "Smallville" receives more praise than LNC. It doesn't even prominently feature "Superman" - Tom Welling has yet to wear the suit.
I’m not sure that it gets more praise. Does it really? I think a lot of the popularity is because it is more geared toward teens and young adults, whereas, that wasn’t so with LnC. I like Smallville, but I sometimes find it so far away from any Superman canon as to be unbelievable. I mean, with all that Clark has done on that show and as many people who know about him, how is he ever going to be expected to really have a secret identity?
I also think that some of the networks are starting to see the value of keeping shows around longer because the fans want it that way. I read or saw a Tom Welling interview where he said he doubted that the show would go into a 5th season (or it could have been ‘beyond’ a 5th season) because everything had already been done. Well, now they are in the 6th season.
And weren’t the producers of Smallville somehow involved in Look Up in the Sky?
I think that most of the Superman fans who don’t like Routh’s portrayal (or Dean Cain’s for that matter) of Superman are the fanboys who think the Christopher Reeve reigns supreme. (And I don’t want this to sound rude or mean, but until he had the accident, a lot of people thought his Superman wasn’t all that great, either.)
L&C has a depth and believability that I just haven’t encountered in the superman mythos. I find it strange that not more people think like me. Ah well.
I think that’s because a lot of people haven’t given it a chance. I mean it originally ran on Sunday nights (not the best time slot) and the reruns here in the States were in the early, early morning. There couldn’t be a huge amount of folks out there who have had the chance to watch and learn to love LnC. I kept hoping that with the movie, LnC would once again go into reruns, but that doesn’t seem as if it will happen. Of course, the Smallville folks might be doing something to block LnC reruns.
as was the Superboy series.
No great loss with them glossing over
that series. Sure John Haymes Newton and Gerard Christopher were pretty to look at, but the series was bizarre. (Or at least I thought it was.)
The superman returns movie, seems very dark. All supermans values seem to have disapeared. Spying on lois in her house, having a child out of wedlock etc. Dean cains version of superman was much more endearing.
Hmm… I didn’t particularly think the movie was that dark. But Dean Cain’s version is definitely more endearing. But the idea of having a kid out of wedlock or having an affair type of thing is not completely out of line from the comics. I mean, good grief, Superman had an affair with Wonderwoman in the comics (and wasn’t he involved with Lois when it happened?) Mind you, I’m not saying I like it. I think some of the things that happened in SR showed a more human side of the character. (And the kid out of wedlock was set up in Superman II, and that came out in 1980.)
"Spying on lois in her house" part. Let's not forget that our gorgeous, sweet, "endearing" Dean Cain/Clark Kent, did the exact same thing in the LNC series.
Yep, he sure did.
Maybe it's because it's written darker but in SR he seemed just like the creepy ex-boyfriend. Especially since he does his level best to wreck her relationship with Richard.
Oh, I didn’t think this at all. I thought he was full of sorrow because he was no longer really a part of her life. I never saw any huge indication that he was trying to wreck her relationship with Richard. He just gave into his desire (and maybe he shouldn’t have) to see her.
In SR it doesn't seem to be a big deal, all he says is that "he is always around"
Clark also said this in LnC. In the pilot he told Lois: I’ll be around.
DJ, I loathe this scene with an absolute passion, and I totally agree that it was creepy and stalker-like and completely out of character for L&C's Clark.
That just goes to show that all of us (even Clark) sometime do things that are out of character. I never thought that he was watching her to be creepy or stalker like. I just took it that he was worried and concerned about her. And hey, if any of us were worried about someone, and could take a little peak, I’d bet a lot of us would do it. Of course, there is peaking and then there is
peaking if you get my drift and I don’t think Clark did any of the last type. He always turns away before he sees anything that he really shouldn’t.
I'm sure I'm probably the minority on this one - but - stalkerClark doesn't bother me... and further more, he doesn't feel out of character for me either. Well, okay, a little out of character in the pilot - since he didn't know Lois that well yet.
No, he doesn’t bother me either because he’s not doing it for nefarious reasons.
How is Clark using his abilities to listen in on Lois's conversations any different from Luthor recording her conversations in BatP/HoL?
Because Clark didn’t have it on tape and he wasn’t doing it for the evil reason that Luthor was.
The current incarnation will almost always get the bulk of screentime.
Yes, that is probably true.
or have a problem with his physical appearance.
I can see this for sure. Dean Cain had to win me over. When I first found out he was playing Clark Kent / Superman, I was mortified. Superman was supposed to be bigger and he was supposed to have pretty blue eyes that you could drown in. (But he did win me over - in the first episode, and I think he is the best of all the people who have played Superman / Clark Kent.) I didn’t particularly think much of Teri Hatcher’s Lois Lane, either, and it took a lot longer for her to win me over - especially since the Lois Lane character was so darn mean to Clark in the first season. (But that all said, I still loved the show from the beginning, and I never missed an episode.)
From the things I've seen Arawn post, he feels like the reason he's attracted to LNC rather than other incarnations of Superman is because in LNC, Clark is "real". He is a real guy, with real feelings, emotions, and... issues.
Exactly. LnC Clark is real. He makes mistakes. He gets hurt. He has feelings.
Lois wasn't above spying on people either. Remember the Mayson/Clark kiss that she spied on? Oh, and then there was the time she followed him to the jewelry store to spy on him robbing it
Lois made a science out of spying.
It's the same way with Lois - I excuse her for some of the idiotic things she did - because they made her seem like a real person. Real people make mistakes and do stupid stuff.
Yes, she did some stupid stuff. But I really had a hard time getting over the way Lois treated Clark in the first season. She didn’t even give him the courtesy of treating him like a co-worker. She treated him like a doormat - like dirt under her feet.
But was that really why he watched their engagement? If so, if he was really concerned for her safety, why didn't he just swoop in there and get her out? Why didn't he offer her Superman, as you pointed out?
Might make an interesting story if he had flown in and offered himself to her as Superman.
Squicky? What’s that mean?
I saw the eavesdropping as an expression of how desperate he was in finding a solution.
Yes, I agree. He was desperate.
