Yes it has Boss. The exchange is not as good as it once was. SDK said it was one of the factors for the lack of special effects like they use to.

More specifically, on the day the pilot aired, the Canadian dollar closed at 0.6389 US dollars. On the day "Noir" aired, it closed at 0.9024 US dollars. So the rather substantial savings they realized in the earlier seasons by shooting in Canada have now all but evaporated. In effect, the show has gotten much more expensive to produce. That the show's price-tag is increasing even at its ratings are declining can't thrill the network.

It doesn't dismay me in the least, though, at this point. I agree with those who have said that the show deserves to be suffering after "Promise." And I think it's pretty clear that it's suffering because of "Promise."

The funny thing is, things could have been much different. First of all, given the success of "Justice," they really ought not to have cut the conversation between Clark and J'onn from "Labyrinth," and they ought to have promoted that conversation, or J'onn's presence more generally, very heavily (what they should have cut was the "I still love Lana" line). They then should have aired "Freak" immediately after "Labyrinth," and then aired "Progeny" immediately after "Freak." And it goes without saying that they should have heavily promoted Lynda Carter's presence in "Progeny." That would have enabled them to build from the momentum from "Justice," and would have left them going into the hiatus with viewership probably comfortably above five million, and maybe even higher. It further goes without saying that they shouldn't have aired "Promise" (or "Crimson" or "Trespass") at all. The ratings would be in much better shape today.

Wow. Maybe they could take a cue from the Flanders' "imagination Christmas" and start having "imagination special effects." Also "imagination music" and "imagination guest stars."

It might not be a bad idea for them to schedule SV on Mondays at 8 as a sort of trans-network lead-in for Heroes. But I guess it would be up against DWTS in the spring. Never mind. Whatever happens, I'd just like to see SV and SPN separated. Did they air together last year? For some reason I remember Gilmore Girls being a lead-in to one of them but I'm not sure now.

Yes, they did Cyb. But I think Supernatural was moved into that spot during the season.

The only thing that could make them stretch this past one more year would be the DVD sales and syndication. The DVD sales for Smallville are very profitable for them, and if they were smart they would offer up Smallville into syndication on other channels besides ABC Family. I think SCiFi would take their repeats, and since Supernatural is going into syndication after next year they could both team up on SciFi again.

I think this is exactly right, Richard. (And if "Crimson" had been a pure comedy episode, without the stupid soapy stuff in the second half) it could have fit in there too as a "light relief" episode.

There was such good will among fans, post-"Justice", it's a shame to see it all dissipated :(

Supernatural aired its first 16 episodes Tuesdays at 9 out of Gilmore Girls, and then moved to Thursdays out of Smallville for the final six episodes of the season.

Durq, the more I've thought about it, the more I think that what they should have done with "Crimson" was use it to show just how much Clark has grown as a hero by having him continue to act like a hero even under the influence of Red K. They could still have shown him as being completely irresponsible about keeping his secret, and they could have shown him acting like a total horndog, while also showing him as going out of his way to use his abilities to protect people. That could have been a lot of fun to watch, while at the same time showing that he has reached the point in his character development where it's his reflexive impulse to help people, which would have reflected well on him as a character. And I think it would have done a lot more to help the ratings; viewers have typically responded well to red-K episodes in the past precisely because the rest of them, unlike "Crimson," have been a lot of fun to watch, but at the same time, I think viewers are looking to see that Clark really is becoming Superman. I think a storyline like the one I've described would have satisfied both desires and generated good ratings going forward as a result.

Pulling this from several days ago, but I had to comment.

I thought "Labyrinth" regressed the heck out of Clark. After it ended, I felt like someone had hit a reset button, and all the progress Clark had made was gone.

But what I remember from the many boards, including this one, was a lot of posters hoping, and half believing, that Clark was going to have a real wake-up call after "Labyrinth". That he'd realize how much he'd been willing to give up for Lana, and how screwed up that was. As a result, he would start to change, and get his act together. In fact, I remember that last scene between Clark and Lana being interpreted as Clark starting to say good-bye, and gearing up to start growing up.

But the following episodes showed that, no, "Labyrinth" wasn't some turning point. "Labyrinth" was Clark embracing the wacked out epiphany he had in that episode. (Being willing to give up everything for Lana wasn't a sign of how screwed up he was as far as she was concerned. It was a sign of how much he loved her and should be with her.) And "Promise" seemed to really set Clark's regression in cement. Not only that, but all of the other characters seemed to hop on board the "Lana is all that matters" train right along with him.

I'd like to hear Gouhlar's explaination for the drop in ratings. If they do acknowledge it at all. IIRC, they said the drop in ratings for season 3 was because it was too dark and teens didn't like to watch Chloe and Clark Scooby around in secret labs.

Exactly right. "Labyrinth" didn't kill the ratings, because even though it set Clark back, people still had hope, thanks to the scene at the end. "Promise" killed the ratings because it finally killed our hope that Clark would grow up and stop focusing on Lana to the exclusion of all else.

"Promise" was really scary to watch, though I thought TW was good in that episode. One of the serious problems that I've always had with the Clana is that Clark has always been willing to spill the beans to Lana as a pathetic last minute attempt to hold onto this ridiculous relationship....where as he hasn't otherwise been willing to directly share his secret. "Promise" was yet another episode where Clark decides that he needs to reveal his secret to break up an engaged couple about to be married. While Tom did a good job conveying the emotion of the moment, he comes off like a whimpering puppy pissing all over the floor in a desperate attempt to stop the marriage. Now, we have Lana being characterized as Clark's obsession in the new radio ads.

Will the boy never learn?

I'm slightly OT for the thread, but Clark makes it clear that his reasons in "Reckoning" are exactly the same, a last minute effort to hold onto the relationship. In "Reckoning," he says, "Lana, the way you've been... I can tell by the way you look at me that I'm losing you." And in response to Chloe's question why he did it, he explains, " It was only a matter of weeks before she broke it off." Subsequent events proved that he was quite right, although he misjudged the "matter of weeks" a bit.

I recalled the way "Reckoning" started, and I had to go back and revise my comments a bit, Elly....so, I caught that a little after the fact. But, the bottom line is that Clark's never really been "seriously" willing under any normal circumstance to reveal his secret to Lana.

In all fairness though, Clark has never really been willing, under normal circumstances, to tell his secret to anyone. With Pete, it was after something happened to back him up against a wall. With Chloe, she already knew quite a bit though he did fill her in totally. And the other people that have known have usually found out under extraordinary circumstances. No one, Lana included, has ever gotten the truth about Clark b/c he just woke up one day and decided he wanted to be honest with them.

True.

This is all so true, BadToad.

Clark has a destiny,...a theme repeatedly made throughout the series history. He has to be very discreet with his secret not only for his own safety but the greater good of the entire earth, because the world will need him. Revealing his secret to Lana under the circumstances that he's considered doing so would be a foolish and reckless move to make with his own destiny. Clark was never seriously inclined to share with Lana until he believed that he was going to lose the relationship. It's pathetic for the writers to place him in the position of seeming so weak and indecisive about his feelings for Lana, if he really does love her. So, everytime Lana starts heading for the door, Clark whips out the idea of sharing his secret with her.....or, he breaks it off, and she gets engaged to another man, marries said man, and then meets her after the ceremony to share his darn secret...to what friggin' end? It's ridiculous. "Promise" just made Clark look weak in my eyes.....he comes out looking like an emotionally beggarly element who needs to have his head checked.

Here's a simple formula that I wish the writers would consider.

Clark looking like a pitiful bitch =
Unhappy viewers =
Lower ratings.

Seems like many think the only ratings problem is that there isn't Clana and it was ruined by Lexana.

The problem is that people EXPECT to cringe during SV not just mindlessly enjoy it. You can't make people cringe, that's what work and real life and creepy politicians & Fred Phelps is for, damn it.

LOL. I seriously laugh everytime I read people saying the lack of Clana is what brought the ratings down. Don't they notice that exactly when that nasty virus came back is when the ratings started going down again?

I'm amused when people say the Lexana marriage in "Promise" was what killed the ratings. "Promise" was about as anti-Lexana as you could get. That's why Clana fans were so pleased with that episode.

Yeah, Lana married Lex. But only to protect Clark, who she really loved. To Clana fans, that episode prooved, once and for all, that Lana never really loved Lex after all. It was Clark. Always Clark.

After "Promise," there wasn't a Clana fan around who didn't know that the Lexana marriage would end sooner rather than later, and Clark and Lana would finally be together.

Marriage or no marriage, "Promise" affirmed the glory of Clana, and ickiness of Lexana, in every way possible, and most Clana fans loved it for that reason.

The real criticism for that episode came from non-Clana fans. They were the ones who, right after that ep aired, seemed most likely to give up on the show. And it wasn't the Lexana marriage that drove them away. It was, basically, the Clana, and what was done to all of the characters in service of the Clana (and Lana).

Only now, with the ratings plunging right after that episode, are the fans who loved it at the time suddenly convinced that the episode sucked, and ratings are falling because the Lexana marriage drove the loyal Clana fans away.

It's so true, NOW that Clana came back and non-Clana folk ditched the show, NOW they're panicking at the idea this proves that their OTP crapped all over the show. Sorest fucking winners ever.

Word, Bitterswete, just word. That explains sooo much.

On the CW Lounge site, one Clana fan is wondering whether the PTB are shying away from episodes like "Justice" because they're afraid of finding out that it wasn't the JL that brought in viewers but the media campaign.

How does that make any kind of sense? Promise got an insane amount of promotion, only scored average ratings, and every episode since has done worse.

Justice got fair (but not great) promotions, and scored the best ratings of the season.

HAHAHAHA. What media campaign? And the nonstop blast of promotion for Promise?

I think the Clana fans are grasping at straws trying to justify why "Justice" had the highest ratings and Clana/Lana wasn't even in the eppy.

Btw, I did respond to that comment.

And this is why I don't have it in me to defend/criticize the characters as vehemently as I have in the past. What was done to Clark sucked the love of SV right out of me.

You're all following this better than me. We're sure that "Noir" was the lowest-rated episode in the show's history? Curious for a mention in the recap.

'Fraid so, boss. There's a graph of the ratings of each episode here.

Media campaign? I'm sorry, but I don't know what these people are smoking.

So, what about episodes like "Cyborg" or "Aqua" last season? Both episodes had very little to none Clana.

Personally, I believe shippes are NOT what determines if the show gets ratings or not. The ratings started going downhill when they decided to regress the main character of the storyline (e.g. "Promise") and make him look incredibly bad all in sake of Clana/Lana. The ratings go down when there's baffling inconsitencies in the story and in the characters. That's when people start pulling away from the show, in my opinion.

Well, I have many problems with Smallville, starting with the hero, villain, and love interest, but on a more basic gut level, I don’t really care about Clana or no Clana, what I want is a hero I can root for and even more basic than that, I want to see the good guy win one.

Heroes go through trials. Heroes have miserable shitty times in their lives. Heroes have hardships. But if all you show me is misery, angst, wearying moment after moment of pain, then I don’t want to watch anymore. You have to balance out the misery with moments of character triumph. A triumph without a dead skunk attached to it. Real, honest to God happy moments, people.

I probably would have liked Clana if they let the actors and characters just relax and have fun together. Not act as if every. Scene. Was. The. Most. Important. Moment. In. the. History. Of. Love.

No, the most successful romances I know are ones where the people genuinely like each other, are comfortable enough to be themselves, and are thrilled that they get the opportunity to be happy, goofy, flawed human beings with one another.

But no. It’s always whispery, stupid, miserable, romantic ‘love’. And every triumph Clark has is weighed down with some fucking future misery he has to endure.

And then there’s the lack of character development, our hero wanting to fill the role of homewrecker and generally being a dick, and our villain who is so pussy-whipped and pathetic that he had to blackmail a girl with a faux baby into marrying him.

If it weren't for Omar's recaps, I'd stop watching too.

Curse you and your sparkling wit, Omar! ;)

OMG I just looked at the longer string of ratings numbers. WHO in their right mind CANNOT see the precipitous deathly drop in the ratings right.after.Promise!?!? Everything else was floting plus minus .3-.6 of 5.0 mil viewers. Since Promise it had hit rock bottom and not come back up for air at 4.0 mil or less. And these later shows after Promise weren't all that bad versus things like Subtarranean etc. People have flat out left and gave up on this show the minute the Clexana story was promoted and unleashed in full force. It was shocking just to see the numbers so stark and real like that.

Well that's because Lexana meant the death of Clana and the only reason people watch this show is for Clana.

That's a fairly broad overstatement IMO. Count me as one who does not watch for the Clana (and I became a fan post-Promise...no kidding).

Perhaps a better statement: Many Clana fans are being driven away by the Lexana, which may account for the ratings drop.

I'm not saying that I necessarily believe that, I'm saying it's better than a broad overstatement.

I'm pretty sure that was intended as sarcasm. It's an argument being used by the Clana fans to explain why the precipitous drop in the ratings occurred once Clana raised its ugly head again. Some of the Clana fans really do believe everyone watches for the Clana, but I think most people on this site recognize that shippers break up into three more-or-less equal groups-- Clana, Chlark, and Clois. And there are plenty of other people who watch for the more mythological aspects, and don't really care for ships at all.



Really? Seriously? Why??? I'm honestly surprised to think the series could actually pick up new fans in the wake of "Promise." I guess it can't be picking up many, or the ratings wouldn't be doing their precipitous decline thing.

At any rate... glad you've joined us. Hang in there-- hopefully it'll improve:-).

That surprises me as well. Even worse, it actually makes me sad because I've seen worse (*cough* Relic *cough*).
I do think the Clana resurgence has had a HUGE effect on the ratings going down and the decline of the show. It's interesting to see how the moment you take a hero who was so awesome in an episode like "Justice" and turn him into a pathetic mess who proposes to his dog, people lose interest (as they should).

"Noir" was a fun episode and one, I feel, is meant to foreshadow future events. It's sad to me that it, of ALL episodes of SV, would be the lowest-rated. But, then, again, what was one of the last things we were left with in the episode prior to "Noir"? Clark smelling the hair of another man's wife and the angelic music of tormented lovers (i.e. the Clana).
They tried to end "Nemesis" with "ooh, Lex is doing bad, evil things", but by then, it was too late for me to care because I was already hating that episode because it made Clark look like an idiot, AGAIN.

Perhaps a better explanation for the ratings drop:

Where did all the viewers go?

and EllyF...I can't really explain it but I picked up on the end of a repeat of Labyrinth in mid April and was intrigued. HDNet, ABC family, and CW runs some form of Smallville several times a day it seems and after watching a few episodes it kind of grabbed me big time. I actually like Lexana, woobie Lex, early Clana, Chlark, Clex, evil Lana, and the whole good-guy Clark Kent thing. Don't care for whiny Clark, the MB, and not much for Papa Kent. I must be schizo.

Thanks for that, SueB. It explains some of it, perhaps, but not all of it, because as I recall "Supernatural"'s ratings have remained fairly steady. So I honestly think SV could hold onto more audience if they were doing a better job engaging their audience.

This amused me: "The networks argue that viewership is changing, not necessarily declining." My guess is that almost as many people are continuing to watch as ever, but many of them are turning to illegal downloads on YouTube, and you can't blame the advertisers for not wanting to pay for that. I also wonder how many people record it and watch it later, like me, thus cutting out advertisements entirely (although I will confess I watch the "Justice and Doom" segment, so there's one advertising technique that actually manages to keep me watching). The problem is that many, and perhaps most, people don't just sit in front of the TV and watch what's on-- they record and watch later, download, channel surf, and in general do a lot of stuff that pretty much defeats the purpose of advertisers spending money on buying commercials. It's a growing issue for commercial television, and one that I think will eventually kill TV as we know it.



Well, "Labyrinth" was pretty good, for the most part. And if you started watching reruns right away, that explains it, too, because a lot of the older eppies are really enjoyable. I started watching last year, during one of the show's strongest stretches (early fifth season) and the reruns and DVD sets helped reel me in for good:-).

The ratings for the Lexana episodes (ie "Wither") are higher than the "Return of Clana" eps (post-Promise.) Plus, a lot of Clana fans claim to have boycotted the entire first half of the season and have only returned post-Promise. Evidently, their numbers are not significant enough to affect the ratings much in either direction.

While not impossible I disagree. The Lexana was a lot stronger in the first half of the season prior to Tresspass when Clana started coming back yet ratings for the first half of the season are decent/steady. Therefore the big dip following Promise indicates the opposite to me...that Clana drives folks away.

It was Elly.

On the same token, true as that might be, Clana fans don't exactly seem... ... ... (god, how do I put this nicely), blessed with enhanced powers of foreseeability. Some of them might even have thought that because Lana married Lex, despite the blackmail, that means they must be 2gether 4ever. Thus tragically ending the bestest romance their hearts ever did see. And knowing about the stupidity of Goughlar and network suits, they might even take the events this was as well.

...Did I just contradict myself?

Actually, I think one could argue that it isn't Lexana that drives away viewers, and its not Clana that drives away viewers, its Clexana. Lexana alone, without dragging Clark into it, is probably acceptable. Clana alone, without endless angsting about "secrets and lies", and without Lana being engaged or married to Lex, is probably fine too. But dragging the 3 main characters into a boring, soap opera-ish, melodramatic, aggravating...did I mention boring?...love triangle is just this huge weight dragging the entire show down. Not to mention that the way this has been written, all 3 of them end up looking bad in some way, shape or form. And *that* is why I think ratings are dropping post-"Promise". Not the return of Clana perse, but b/c it seems to guarantee that this stupid triangle will be front and center for the rest of the season, and frankly I don't think most viewers give a shit about it. Not when there are so many other things this show should be about at this point.

I'd agree. I'm just going through the motions to finish out the season, regardless of who "dies".. Take a much needed break over the Summer and wish for the best this Fall.

I don't think I could phrase an answer to that nicely either =). I will say that anyone who thought Promise was heavy Lexana (or foreshadowed anything remotely positive in regards to it) must have been watching a different show than I was. Promise was 100% resurected, resucitated, rotting Clana in all it's glory along with every reason we've ever been given that it shouldn't work. Namely that despite 6 years they still don't trust each other. The "she's leaving I better tell her or lose her forever" plot is just so overused at this point.

The second half of this season (except for "Freak" and "Progeny") has been a huge disapointment for me. To date it's been the only season that I've even considered not purchasing the DVD's for. It started out pretty promising but the Clana reset after definitive moving on steps being presented in the last half of Season 5 + early Season 6 is close to unforgiveable for me.

The whole thing just makes it really tough for me to empathize with Clark and if I can't identify with the protagonists problems what's the point?

Perfectly said, BadToad. To me, it's not a matter of Clana or Lexana. In fact, the Lexana during the first episodes of the season didn't bother me. It was all about the heavy promotion of the freaking Clexana triangle, and all the unnecessary drama it brought into the show. Add to this, how incredibly bad Lex, Clark and Lana came out looking from this mess.

I agree. And I'm seriously considering not buying the s6 dvd set. The "extras" that will be included and the Clana reset are really not worth my time and money at this point.

What are the extras?

Considering that the "extras" included on the DVD sets continue to dwindle in numbers, I wouldn't be suprised if we get only deleted scenes. I can't recall if anyone has posted of late as to if episode commentaries will be included.

The fan documentary. Had a big contest to find fans. Interviewed them. Interviewed Omar and a bunch of other people. It's the only reason I'll be buying a set.

SN's ratings haven't suffered as much as SV's ratings have, so I do think it is a show content issue at play for some of the drop.

Promise seems to be the big turning point and I think the triangle was off-putting to viewers. I also think Lex, Clark, Chloe and Martha fans were very disappointed and upset by how they behaved in that episode. As a Chloe fan, I've never liked her pimping Clana, but I can see the reasoning behind it. However, for Chloe to lay a guilt trip on Clark on the wedding day for not stepping in and saving Lana from a bad marriage when they believed Lana to be pregnant with Lex's child was complete character assassination. It made no sense. I won't go into how bad Clark and Lex look because I don't want my head to explode.



angry dwarf - I think a lot of people feel that way unfortunately. :(