Tonight, two days shy of my 30th birthday, the two-hour series finale of Smallville will air. It’s a bittersweet early birthday present. As silly as it sounds, I’m a bit emotionally unprepared to handle the end of this series. Most people who know me know I’m a huge Superman fan, and to have had a television show about Superman to watch every week for the past 10 years has been amazing. Even more amazing is that Smallville started just after my 20th birthday and will run until my 30th, which means I’ve been watching this show throughout my entire 20s.
The series has definitely had its ups and downs. Many people who started watching it gave up after a few seasons because of its teenage angst love stories between Clark Kent and Lana Lang, stories that made for some truly painful and slow episodes. And believe you me, there were times where even I was having a hard time dealing with the ratio of teenage drama to Superman moments. But eventually, and slowly, the show grew up. Clark Kent went from being a confused and lonely teenager to an anxious and lonely adult. The writers introduced other DC superhero characters including the Green Arrow, who ended up being a great series regular. And, most notably, they brought in Lois Lane, a character who eventually brought more gravity and maturity to the storylines.
Smallville has always lived in its own version of the Superman universe. They’ve changed Clark Kent’s path through history and made interesting updates to various aspects of the canon. At its heart, the show was always about Clark Kent becoming Superman, and so we’ve never seen him in a suit or really flying. Of course, for Smallville to be truly successful, I can only imagine the last shot of the show must be that critical moment, when 10 years of development leads to donning the suit and that first takeoff as Superman.
I’m sad to see the show go, but it has provided me with pretty solid entertainment for the past decade. During the run of the show I’ve moved three times (in two different states), held five agency jobs, started two companies, bought 3 cars, traveled to seven countries, posted nearly 5,000 photos to Flickr, lost two grandmothers and a great aunt, made an award-winning short film, got married, and planned a cross-country move to Los Angeles. And that’s not even the half of it. Sure, Smallville isn’t directly responsible for any of those things, but I watched it every week as I grew to become the person I am now and even for all of its goofy, melodramatic scenes of Clark yearning for love, it still means a hell of a lot to me.
If you’re a television fan and you haven’t heard of IntoNow, you should check it out. With their amazing SoundPrint technology they’ve basically created Shazam for television. Touch a button and IntoNow will listen to your TV and nearly instantly recognize not only the show you’re watching but the episode as well. It works so, so well. It’s like magic.
Keep track of what you watch and see what your friends are watching, comment on shows and activity, and find new shows by browsing popular shows your recent friend activity. It’s free and it’s awesome.
LX New York Live
I appeared in a live segment on LX New York on NBC Friday, June 11, 2010 to make jokes about Father’s Day gifts. Look for The Uncrate Show, coming soon.
Remix: Two and a Half Men Groan Track
I’ve seen a lot of Two and a Half Men and it’s not nearly as bad as this makes it seem, but still, this is terrific.
Creepy Host of “Just Like Mom” Fergie Olver Kisses Little Girls
I know it was the 80s and all, but I can’t believe no one stopped this from happening. When a contestant on your show calls you a “dirty old man” off camera and THEY AIR IT, you know things are bad. Pretty sure the pitch meeting for this show went something like this:
Page 1 of 2
