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I heard a few days ago on the news that the CW network has renewed Smallville for a 10th season. I was really surprised to hear that, as I thought the 9th would be the last season for sure. Apparently, Smallville has been getting excellent ratings this year, and that led to a decision to renew it for yet another season. 10 seasons is a HECK OF A LOT of seasons for a TV show, and I think it is safe to say Smallville has been an incredible success.

That being said, I have grown to dislike the show’s new direction. I will list my criticisms of the show below.

My Problems with Smallville As of Recent

I am an avid fan of Smallville, and I have watched every single episode. I mean, I used to be fanatical about this series! However, my enthusiasm has died down dramatically this season. Actually, it probably started mid-way last season. But here are my problems with the series (as of recent):

1. Smallville Should Be Renamed: “GreenArrow-Ville“– Seriously, the show is about Superman (or at least, Clark Kent becoming Superman). Yet week after week I am seeing a significant amount of attention given to the Green Arrow. No offense to the guy who plays him, he does a decent job and everything, but Green Arrow is about as boring a superhero as I can imagine. So I really am so tired of the show spending so many episodes about the Green Arrow. Enough already! We get the point–A guy knows how to shoot arrows really really well. Can we get back to the point of the whole show…Clark/Superman?
2. Smallville Should Be Renamed: “Other Superhero-Ville”–This expands on my first point, but Smallville is spending so much time on other superhero’s that it is almost boring watching it. I mean, it seems every other episode is about the Justice League, or a new superhero. Who cares? It would be great if they had 1 or 2 episodes about that per season. But every other episode is about yet another superhero (or the Green Arrow). Smallville used to be 90% about Clark Kent’s journey, and 10% Lex/Lana/bad guys, etc. Now, it is about 20% Clark’s journey, and 80% Green Arrow/Justice League/Zod/bad guys/etc.
3. Zod’s Character is Completely Unbelievable–No offense to the guy playing Zod, but that is terrible casting. The guy who plays Zod simply isn’t believable as a “bad guy.” He just doesn’t fit that character, and it throws off the whole mojo of the show. Contrast that with Lex–Michael Rosenbaum did a phenomenal job and NAILED that character. I actually believed that Lex was like that in real life (manipulative, genius, evil, struggling with good vs evil)–that is how good  he was. When I saw Michael’s personality in real life, I was blown away. He is a goofy cut-up. Yet he was able to understand his character and interpret Lex in an believable and unique way. Not so for Mr. Zod, and considering he is such a huge part of this story, it is harming the show.
4. Superman is Now Officially Stupidman–I love Tom Welling, and I think he is the best Superman/Clark yet. However, I have grown impatient with Clark’s consistent “screw ups.” He let Doomsday kill Jimmy. He saves his worse enemy (Zod), (a guy who is going to take over the planet mind you) and gives him his powers in the process. He constantly does the most ignorant things, all in an effort to “save everyone-including those who want to kill mankind.” Well I am sorry, but this saving business is going way too far. Even God himself doesn’t save those who reject him, and yet are we to believe that Superman is better and more “holy” than God? Absurd. It comes off as a totally unbelievable act of ignorance when Clark does these things. So much so, that I know view Superman as an idiotic fool who can’t learn from his mistakes, and wants to save even the cruelest psycho-killer, all in the spirit of goodness. Get real. And stop ruining Superman/Clark.
5. Lois & Clark Have ZERO Chemistry–I am sorry, but Lois and Clark have zero chemistry, and I actually hope they don’t end up together. Lana and Clark–now that was believable (especially in the first few seasons). I secretly found myself rooting for Clark to get with Lana back in the old seasons when he had a crush. But each time Lois and Clark are together, it just doesn’t feel right. I feel no chemistry. I feel no connection. I have difficulty seeing how a guy with Clark’s character (honest, dependable, modest, quiet) could be attracted to Lois’ character (obnoxious, rude, outspoken, etc.). What they should have done is hired Erika to play Lana, and Kristen to play Lois. Now THAT would have been great. But Lois is terribly miscast in my opinion. It didn’t affect the show when Clark didn’t date her, but now, it just doesn’t work. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want Lana to come back at this point (that storyline is dead). But she would have made a perfect Lois.
6. Learn to Fly Already–Okay, I can totally understand why Clark didn’t fly in the other seasons. But I think it is high time (pun intended) that we see Clark learn to fly once and for all. Zod gets powers and flies immediately. Clark’s cousin, Kara, flies. Green Martian Guy flies. Everyone flies but Clark. I think it is well overdue at this point to give him wings.
7. Martha Kent Still Exist? You gotta love how they give Green Arrow and other silly superheros all of the play time, but we hear virtually nothing on Martha Kent. It would be nice to see her, or at least hear Clark talk to her every once in a while. Oh well.
8. No Intriguing Story Lines–Smallville used to have me hooked with story lines that kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t wait to tune in week after week, to find out what would happen. Not so now. It is the same boring stories week after week. There is no mystery. There is no excitement.  There is no suspense. It seems the writers/directors/producers/whoever have forgotten how to do that. They used to build incredible story lines and wrap them up in an amazing way. Now, it is just dull. I don’t really care about anything going on. It is all just boring. I just feel like I am going through the motions each week as I tune in.
9. Corny Outfits–The superhero outfits have gotten ridiculously fake/plastic looking. Like on the Justice League (or American League, or whatever it was). The magical ice wand thing looked like something I could pick up at Walmart. The dude with the helmet also looked like something from Walmart. Absolutely no realism whatsoever. The Green Arrow wears sunglasses at night. I am amazed that doesn’t harm his ability to shoot arrows… See what I mean? Just corny and unbelievable outfits/costumes. I do realize they may have limited budgets, but come on…
10. Plot Holes Galore–The writers need to clean up these giant plot-holes they are leaving everywhere. The way they ditched Lana was just absurd. She now has Kryptonite in her so Clark can’t be with her? Well why couldn’t he have used one of those nifty red or blue rocks that makes his powers (and reaction to Kryptonite) go away? Or why couldn’t he have used the magical ring that makes him go back in time? Hmm. And week after week we still see plot holes large and small. I think it is time to clean up the writing for this show-because I imagine the serious fans are getting a bit frustrated at this point.

In Conclusion: Smallville Used to Be Great, Not So Now

As Clark finally discovered the mystery of the caves, and threw the stone to make the fortress, chills when down my spine.  Now, I just watch week after week hoping to feel even the slightest bit of intrigue, suspense, or anything. Unfortunately, nothing.

Smallville seems to be getting excellent ratings. I have no idea why in all honesty. The reason I think the ratings have gone up is this: The old avid fans are tuning in expecting it to be the last season, even though they aren’t enjoying it like they used to. They want to see the finale. That is the only logical reason I can find. Either that, or the world has incredibly low standards for writing.

Sadly, I find myself looking more forward to shows like Dexter, and even more sadly, American Idol. Oh well. My only hope is that perhaps someone may see this who works there and take a hint and fix some of the stuff they keep screwing up. It probably won’t happen though. Smallville will probably die a slow and painful death next season. Oh well. It was great while it lasted.

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Posted under Smallville, TV Shows

Last night (March 10, 2010), something hilarious happened on American Idol. Kara DioGuardi was critiquing Aaron Kelly for his song choice. Aaron chose, “I’m Already There” by Lonestar.

Simon Calls Kara’s Critique on Aaron Kelly Utter Rubbish: Kara Vs. Simon

Kara went on some absurd semi-rant about how Aaron should have chosen a different song because he was only 16 years old. She said he shouldn’t have been singing about children or having a son because he was so young. I was thinking to myself, “What is she talking about?” If singers now must only sing songs they have personally experienced, then I guess the music industry is going to come to a stand-still. Artists reinterpret songs all the time, many of which have never experienced what the original writer experienced.

Thankfully, and this is the funny part, Simon Cowell interrupts her at the end of her rant and says, “That was utter rubbish.” I started laughing hysterically. He goes on to say that a song is a song, and it doesn’t matter whether it applies to the singer or not “sometimes a song is a song.” What matters most is how they sing it. He also added that she is going to confuse the poor contestants by saying “do this, don’t do this”! Go Simon.

Here is a quick summary of what Kara & Simon said,

Kara (to Aaron):  I love you. You come out on the stage every week, and you give it your all. You really do. You’re in it and I can feel that. But hunny, that song…first of all, it was written in the 3rd person and its about a man calling home to talk to his kids on the phone. And you’re 16 years old, and it isn’t relative to your life. That was my problem with it. Is that how can you feel the connection to it? 

Aaron then tried to explain how he was merely telling the story, when Simon interrupted by adding:

Well look…If it’s any help, Uh Kara, I think what you just said is complete and utter rubbish. You can’t keep saying he’s too little and he’s only 16 and he shouldn’t be doing this. It’s a beautiful song. It was the right type of song for you to do, uh, compared to last week. It wasn’t a great vocal, but what it did have was emotion and I could tell you were trying hard. But (to Kara), if we keep going down this road with you can’t do this and you can’t do that, we’re going to confuse these people so much, uh, its just a nice song. 

I was really glad Simon spoke up, because Kara really needed to hear that. I am not “anti-Kara,” and I think she is fine on the show. However, recently she has been a little condescending and contradictory in her critiques. She speaks as if she invented music or something. Rather than giving constructive criticisms, I feel that she is speaking in a tone which suggests her opinion is a literal fact. In reality, it is only her opinion.

While Simon started calling Kara’s review rubbish, she was just sitting there like a deer in the headlights with a blank look on her face. I think he surprised the crap out of Kara by doing that. He really put her on the spot. You could read her face that she was so embarrassed, and also felt really stupid. Simon really pawned Kara in front of millions of people last night. I was so shocked-and it was so funny.

And while I am on the topic of Kara, what is up with her trying to be all flirty and all over Simon like Paula was? It seems like she is trying to fill Paula’s void  now that she is gone by flirting and hanging all over Simon or something. It just doesn’t feel right. And wasn’t that a bit odd how she was crying? I thought Mike did a good job with the song, but it certainly didn’t strike any emotions for me, but hey.

How Did Aaron Kelly Do Last Night?

I thought Aaron Kelly did a great job on the song. He also made a great point: He was singing the song from a  narrator’s point of view. I think that was a clever response to her criticism, and it makes perfect sense. You don’t have to literally have a child to understand and connect with the love a person feels. I think he will go quite far in this season.

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Posted under American Idol, TV Shows