Mark Verheiden

The Superman-inspired TV series "Smallville" is one of the small screen's quietest success stories. It ran for 10 years on the WB and CW networks, engendering a rabid fan following along the way. It's also the show that gave Mark Verheiden his start as a very smartly focused TV producer. He began in the guise of supervising producer from 2001 to '03 before graduating to executive producer level for a number of '03 and '04 episodes. From there, Verheiden moved on to the syndicated sci-fi remake "Battlestar Galactica," an equally unlikely hit. His run lasted from '05 to '09 and encompassed 60 episodes. Ironically, it was only when Verheiden made it to the network TV level that he encountered a truncated show run. By the time he joined NBC's "Heroes" in '09/'10, the superhero mash-up was already tail-spinning from previous ratings and hypes highs. But Verheiden has smartly kept up a sideline career as a writer--in '11, he wrote the feature film "Bruce Vs. Frankenstein," a vehicle for cult horror legend Bruce Campbell.