By Scott Weinberg
Suffice to say that while Superman was taking a vacation from cinema after "Superman IV," his spirit was alive, well, and very profitable in the realms of comic books, cartoons, video games, and toys, toys, toys.
But in September of 1993, ABC debuted a fairly clever new TV serial, aimed to infuse an early-'90s sense of romantic comedy with the well-admired exploits of everyone's favorite steel-man, called "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." Starring Dean Cain as Supe, Teri Hatcher as Lois, and Lane Smith as a particularly cool Perry White, the show was a surprise hit for the network, running a strong four seasons and racking up five Emmy nominations and 88 episodes along the way. The gals dug the romance angle, the guys dug the action stuff, and together the couples were suitably entertained... even if this wasn't the exact Superman we'd come to grow and love.
Live-action Superman took a few years off after "L&C" went off the air, but he returned in October of 2001 in the form of a teen-centric television serial on The WB. "Smallville" took the story back in time to Clark Kent's high school years, while always being careful to include a ton of colorful "villains of the week." As the teenage Superguy, Tom Welling does a fine enough Supercoming-of-age job, even if he's not the most expressive apple in the tree. Fans seem to have a love/hate relationship with Kristen Kreuk's ever-teasin' Lana Lang and Allison Mack's ever-inquisitive Chloe, but hey, they keep tuning in to see what's up next!
As usual, the highlights reside in the realm of villainy. Michael Rosenbaum's performance as a young, slick, and perpetually conflicted Lex Luthor is the series' highlight, as are the frequent appearances by John Glover as Lex's decidedly evil daddy. When "Smallville" focuses on its small nuggets of Supermythology, it can be a lot of good, geeky fun. On the other hand, it often seems to be aping shows like Buffy and (insert hot teen drama of the week here), and that can get pretty old after a while. But the show's still going strong after five full seasons, and it looks to be ramping up for another.
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