50 Fun Facts About Smallville

Which two writer-producers developed Smallville?

They left after seven seasons in April 2008 and were replaced as showrunners by Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson.

Smallville's famous production rule about Clark Kent was 'no tights, no' what?

Clark could not fly or wear the Superman suit; the story focused on his origins and moral growth instead.

How many episodes of Smallville were made across its ten seasons?

That total let it pass Stargate SG-1 as the longest-running North American science fiction series by episode count.

Which actor played Clark Kent?

The former Abercrombie & Fitch model directed several episodes, including the 150th, 'Apocalypse'.

Michael Rosenbaum played which character for the first seven years?

His head was shaved every day and he sat through hours of make-up; he returned for the finale 'for the fans'.

Why is Smallville's Lex bald?

The same shower that brought Clark to Earth left young Lex hairless but in perfect health.

How do Lex and the young Kent first meet in the pilot?

Lex's Porsche goes off a bridge and Clark tears the roof off underwater, starting a friendship that curdles into enmity.

Which main character was invented for the show rather than taken from the comics?

Allison Mack's Torch editor proved so popular that DC added her to comics continuity in Action Comics #893 in 2010.

What did the Torch's editor call the collage of meteor-mutation news clippings in her office?

She later took the codename Watchtower and married first Jimmy Olsen and then Oliver Queen.

Which codename does Chloe adopt when running support for the Justice League?

Her powers came and went: empathic healing, super-intelligence and technopathy.

Erica Durance joined the cast as Lois Lane at the start of which year of the show?

Lois is written as Chloe's cousin; Durance and Welling reprised the roles in the 2019 Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.

Which city stood in for Kansas throughout Smallville's production?

British Columbia locations were chosen for their 'idyllic portrait of America'.

Which band performed Smallville's theme song 'Save Me'?

The single, from the album The Golden Hum, reached number 27 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart in 2001.

Christopher Reeve guest-starred as which character, who teaches Clark about Krypton?

The season-two episode was 'Rosetta'; Reeve praised the show's writing and effects.

Which actor voiced Jor-El from the Fortress of Solitude?

Stamp had played General Zod in the 1978 and 1980 Superman films.

Which power does Clark develop in season two during a summer scorcher?

X-ray vision came in season one and super hearing in season three; the flare-ups in 'Heat' were triggered by arousal.

What does red kryptonite do to Clark in Smallville?

It was introduced in the season-two episode 'Red', and Clark puts on a red-K ring in that season's finale to run away.

Before adopting the Superman name, Clark's vigilante alter ego in Metropolis was called what?

He was first 'the Red-Blue Blur', then in season nine wore a black costume with a silver S.

Which family tragedy occurs in 'Reckoning', the show's 100th episode?

John Schneider's Jonathan collapses after winning the state senate election.

Which Buffy alumnus played Brainiac, alias Milton Fine, from season five?

Season five ends with Zod, freed from the Phantom Zone, possessing Lex's body as Metropolis burns.

Season six was the first to air on which newly formed network?

The WB and UPN merged in 2006; the same season introduced Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen.

Justin Hartley played which archer superhero on Smallville?

Oliver Queen assembled Aquaman, Cyborg and Impulse in the season-six episode 'Justice' to dismantle LuthorCorp's 33.1 project.

In the episode 'Justice', which three heroes join Oliver Queen to take down LuthorCorp's Level 33.1?

Bart Allen, Arthur Curry and Victor Stone had each appeared solo in earlier seasons.

Which two original cast members left as regulars after season seven?

Season eight moved Clark to the Daily Planet and introduced Tess Mercer as LuthorCorp's new CEO.

Which paramedic character in season eight was Smallville's version of Doomsday?

Sam Witwer played him; the season also brought in Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer.

Which DC Comics writer scripted the Smallville episodes 'Legion', 'Absolute Justice' and 'Booster'?

'Absolute Justice' introduced Hawkman, Doctor Fate and Stargirl of the Justice Society in a double-length special.

Callum Blue played which Kryptonian villain in season nine?

Season nine also moved the show to Friday nights so The Vampire Diaries could expand on Thursdays.

Which blaxploitation icon played Checkmate's Amanda Waller in season nine?

Brian Austin Green appeared the same season as the kryptonite-powered cyborg Metallo.

Who was the main villain of Smallville's tenth and final season?

The producers stressed their Darkseid was a distinct take from the comics version.

The costume Clark wears in the finale had previously been worn by which actor?

The producers acquired the 2006 film costume so the show could finally end the 'no tights' rule.

Which two DC heroes were introduced in a season-ten episode named for one of them?

Geoff Johns wrote it; Chloe left for Star City with Oliver the same season.

Roughly how many viewers watched Smallville's series finale on 13 May 2011?

The pilot a decade earlier had drawn 8.35 million, then a record for The WB.

Smallville's pilot broke The WB's record for highest-rated debut with roughly how many viewers?

The show won multiple Emmys for Outstanding Sound Editing but audiences shrank to about 2.4 million by season nine.

The Kawatche caves with their alien wall symbols were introduced in which year of the show?

They arrived in the episode 'Skinwalker' and became key to Clark's understanding of his origins.

The DC comic continuation of the show, published 2012 to 2014, was billed as which season?

Written by former story editor Bryan Q. Miller, it picks up six months after Darkseid's attack with Clark operating publicly as Superman.

Which Gotham hero teams up with Clark in the Season 11 comic arc 'Detective'?

The comic could use characters the TV series never got rights to, including Batman and John Jones.

Which season did Smallville's premiere and finale years span?

It premiered on 16 October 2001 and ended on 13 May 2011.

Which 'Dukes of Hazzard' star played Jonathan Kent?

Annette O'Toole, who played Martha Kent, had herself played Lana Lang in Superman III.

Which actress played Kara Zor-El, Clark's Kryptonian cousin?

Kara arrived in season seven; Helen Slater, the 1984 Supergirl, guested as Clark's mother Lara.

Which actor played Lionel, Lex's manipulative father?

Lex's manipulative father is a Smallville creation as much as a comics character, and Glover stayed with the show across all ten seasons.

Which record did Smallville claim on finishing its run in 2011?

It edged past Stargate SG-1's 214 episodes with 217 of its own.

Which 2019 Arrowverse crossover saw the show's Clark and Lois actors reprise their roles?

Welling appeared in the Batwoman hour of the event, showing a retired Clark on the Kent farm.

Tollin/Robbins Productions originally wanted to make a series about which young hero before Smallville?

Warner Bros. Pictures was developing a Batman origin film and did not want a rival TV show.

Gough and Millar had just developed a pilot based on which action film when they were asked about a young Superman?

Warner TV president Peter Roth liked their pilot and approached them; they then pitched to the WB and Fox on the same day.

Which composer, known for The X-Files theme, wrote Smallville's orchestral score?

He left after season six; his closing-credits music had originally been a candidate for the main theme.

Exterior shots of the Luthor Mansion were filmed at which historic residence in Victoria, British Columbia?

The interiors were shot at Shannon Mews in Vancouver, also used for the Dark Angel pilot.

To save money, Smallville's composer re-recorded which film composer's Krypton music for 'Rosetta'?

Using the original recording would have meant paying the composer's orchestra.

All three of Smallville's Primetime Emmy wins came in which category?

The wins were for the pilot, season five's 'Arrival' and season seven's 'Bizarro'.

Justin Hartley starred as which hero in a WB pilot by Gough and Millar before joining Smallville?

The new CW network passed on the pilot after the WB and UPN merged.

Before settling on British Columbia, where was Smallville's production initially planned?

Producers judged the Canadian site to have more of a 'Middle America landscape' and it sat in the Los Angeles time zone.