I actually think Lois did bring in bigger ratings at first. I know I was excited. I mean, Lois Lane was coming onto SV! I still probably would've been watching the show in season four. But I know a lot of people who had stopped watching, and only came back because because of this iconic character being introduced.

And I loved her in her first episode. And in a few of her following episodes. Then...well, she met the same fate as any other SV character (thanks to bad writing), and her "Lois Lane glossiness" sort of wore off.

Now, I definately think the character has her fans. But I just don't see new (or some old) viewers tuning into SV just because Lois is heavily featured in it.

Considering the fact that it's a steady drop in the ratings, with no spikes for certain episodes featuring certain episodes, I think it's pretty obvious that it's not a character specific thing, but more general disatisfaction. Like I have said before, there's plenty of suck to go around. Why try to pin it on just one thing?

That is some much faulty reasoning. There was more sunshine or cars in this or that episode, therefore We NEED more Yaris and Toyotas on the beach.

Also, the ratings were better in the first half of the season, but they weren't good. They were down by about a million viewers from the start of season five, which was itself at around the same numbers as the start of season four, and which was very shortly doing better than season four, at least until spring, when it, like both seasons four and three, slumped. Unlike those seasons, though, season five had only an anemic recovery in its last episode. In the first half of this season, I saw nothing to make me believe that either Green Arrow or Lois was helping the ratings; I thought that by pulling the focus away from Clark and his story, they were probably hurting, at least slightly. I thought they seriously overused Green Arrow; they needed him to set up "Justice," but that was all.

I would like furthermore to suggest an alternate explanation for the sinking ratings that does not place the blame on any single character or 'ship, but in a way on all of them. Let us suppose that fandom was more or less evenly divided amongst the supporters of any given character or 'ship. So long as the show hadn't committed to any one character or 'ship, it keep everyone more or less satisfied. For example, Clanarchists were definitely happy with early season five because Clark and Lana were finally together, and they attribute the ratings success of that period to that 'ship. On the other hand, Claroëphiles were also very happy at that time because of how close Clark and Chloë were getting. Likewise, so long as they were dropping EDLois and Chlois anvils, both sides of that dispute were pretty happy. The problem with that is that situation was not, and indeed could not have been, really stable. As soon as the writers broke one way or the other, some people were going to leave. If this analysis was correct, then the writers probably made the damage worse by dragging things out and then not committing to the decision.

I feel strange making this argument, because I don't really believe it. The truth is that I think Chloë is the most popular female character on the show, and that Claroë is the most popular 'ship, and that they've been consistently spitting in the eyes of the majority of their fans, first for Lana/Clana, and now for Lois/Clois too. But I can't prove this, because they've never really given Chloë/Claroë her/their day. The end of season five made it look like they were going to do that in season six, but they didn't. So it's possible that there is no predominantly popular character/'ship, and they were going to lose viewers no matter which way they broke.

That's a good all-things-being-equal argument. I think BadToad and some others have argued that the lack of focus on Clark may a primary factor. I was okay with most of S6 until Promise.

Well, aside from everything I mentioned earlier, here’s the other half. For me, the season kind of went like this:

The season started out slow and kind of built a bit to an epic episode in Justice. Since then, instead of building on that epic storyline, we’re back to Clark and Lana déjà vu.

There’s nothing epic about this. It’s a soap opera story about a tepid love triangle where all the player’s actions make no sense in any reasonable framework.

Even tonight with a Phantom that somehow duplicates Clark’s powers and is evil, the main driving focus of the show still seems to be our love triangle. It’s less about saving the world than winning Lana.

Maybe some people like that, but when you start a character on a path, build to something that’s far more epic than anything else you’ve done, and then throw the transmission into reverse, you’re going to give your audience whiplash.

I was thinking more like neutral rather than reverse, but that's sums up my feelings.

I know a lot of comic book fans that had abandoned the show came back in the first half for Green Arrow. I can't imagine that any of those people stuck around.

I agree that the general suckage of the show is to blame for the drop in ratings. But, as someone who has lurked on the boards for about a year now, I can say I have seen a marked decline in Chlark/Chlois fans on a couple of sites. In general, our numbers seem to be dropping. And, yes, the boards may not indicate the views of the general public but I do think they reflect the opinions of committed fans. Committed Chlark and/or Chlois fans had every reason to tune in after Vessel. I know I was excited. But now? Well . . . many may be admitting defeat and tuning out. And I do think this has had a big effect on the ratings. By alienating a fan group that has been around since the beginning (unlike Clois') it is hardly surprising that the numbers are dropping.

Well, I'm one of those alienated Chlarkers, so I agree with you to a certain extent. I must say, though, that the fact that the fan group "has been around since the beginning" probably doesn't matter from a ratings standpoint. It's possible we have more to be mad about (especially after the big dramatic "Vessel" kiss that led nowhere), but no matter what TPTB do, they're bound to make some group mad. As RichardAK points out above, their only option for not ticking anyone off is to play us all. And they did that pretty well for the first half of the season. But that's a house of cards that's bound to come tumbling down eventually, because you can't have a hero who's always apparently on the verge of romance with three different women at the same time. It's a stalling tactic, and it doesn't work in the long run.

Now if I were writing the show and trying to figure out the way to keep maximum numbers of shippers watching, without any concern for the story as a whole (AlMiles, please don't read this!) I think I'd set up the next season with a Clark/Chloe/Lana triangle. This would keep both Chlark and Clana shippers engaged (not all of them, perhaps, but many). Most Clois shippers figure Clois won't happen till after the show, and anvils and the occasional mind-whammied or "accidental" kiss are probably enough to keep them watching. I'd also toss in a lot more mythological elements to keep the comics fans happy, and to keep the focus off romance for the most part. This way they keep the plot moving forward, AND they play us all for the foolish viewers that we are:-).

Am I saying I want them to do this? Oh, heavens no. I'm a hardcore Chlarker, as I'm sure everyone has noticed:-). But if I were trying to keep ratings up on the show, I think that's the tack I'd take.

The Clark/Chloe/Lana triangle was done in s2. Unless somehow the outcome was different there's no point in doing that again. Now if Clark is after Chloe and Lana is left out, Clana fans will cry foul because Lana is Clark's twu luv. I personally don't want to see another triangle, rectangle, or geometric figure on SV.

Not really. The important person in a triangle is the main character, and by s2 Clark really wasn't interested in Chloe (after the first episode). She just moped after him all the time, but he was entirely focused on Lana. Really, the only time they ever fully did a Clark/Chloe/Lana triangle was in the very last couple of episodes of s1. I think they could do a lot more with it, and not necessarily make all the characters look like complete asses in the process, the way they did with the Clexana triangle.



Me neither. I never want to see the word "triangle" again as long as I live. But I'm just talking about what I think might be a good way to keep all the shippers engaged. That's all. I'm not saying it's the best way to write the story, because it's not. I'm merely contemplating ways to avoid excessively ticking off any portion of the fanbase:-).

Maybe if there's a different outcome, it might be interesting, but in truth, this is Her Holiness, Lana Lang. No one is going to outdo her in any capacity as this show has proves. Too add insult to injury, we'll still have to endure Pod!Chloe and Jimmy *cringes* While adding more Crimson episodes to the season. Yeah, there are going to be many geometric figures next season, IMO.

I just sat down to watch "Phantom" and it's pre-empted in my part of Canada for a three year old Jake Gyllenhaal movie! ("The Day After Tomorrow.") I guess Canadian viewership must be down too, if they're pre-empting the finale.

Ditto. We're getting it tomorrow night instead. Bah.

...although it appears I may be able to see the West Coast feed at 11. If you're that interested, Durq and have timeshifting, you might want to check that out.

Gosh. You know a network isn't doing really well when its affiliates preempt the finale of one of its top-rated shows for a movie. That pretty much says it all.

Thanks for the info, PolarB! I didn't know it was airing tomorrow so I'll catch it then.

Oh no, the last thing I'd ever want to see is another SV triangle, even if the primary is Chloe and especially not CK/CS/LL. I agree with nzs, its already been done and, imo, is a large part of why Chloe experienced so much heartbreak in the early seasons. Lana was most definitely a backstabbing bitch then, though they made sure to try and portray her glorious innocence. No, they certainly don't need anymore recycling. Plus, isn't Lana history after tonight? One can only hope. In fact, I'd prefer that Chloe have nothing romantic to do with Clark at all at this point; and it really, really pains me to say that. But being the idiots the writers/producers are, if they took this particular triangle route, I think it would only be another bone to pacify CS/AM fans (by giving them a little Chlark) because of the eventual continued sabotage to Chloe's character as the focus of S7 shifts to that fantastically intrepid reporter Lois, Lois Lane; daughter of a General Lane. Though certainly not the only reason, I think they really shot themselves in the foot by trying to cater to every ship. Crimson is a splendid example of that foolishness. While I understand that they can't just suddenly eliminate all romance (cuz TW is entirely too smoking hot for that nonsense),perhaps they can improve their ratingsby focusing on Clark's actual freaking journey to becoming Superman and Lex's descent into evil.

Wow, Durq, Polar B, the A-channel really sucks doesn't it. I'm lucky enough that the Rogers in my area has the CW (WNLO - from Buffalo I think) and I watched that. I'm beyond bitter into the hysterical laughter - the crack monkeys were really on fire.

Smallville was preempted where I live too.

Given that the episode sounds completely horrid, I should possibly be thanking the A channel for depriving me of it!

Durq, while The Day After Tomorrow isn't SV, it's good for some snark. Like the weather systems changing from clock-wise to counter-clockwise, the ridiculousness of the tornados in Los Angeles (a billboard hits a guy and when it flips over, whoops! no body), and, one of my favorites, people fleeing to Mexico. NASA refused to consult because they stated that the events in the film were too ridiculous to actually occur.


I hate all the triangle stuff, but I'm still waiting for that day when Al/Miles try to pimp "the hexagon," featuring Clark, Chloe, Lex, Lois, Jimmy, and Lana's dead body, and then upping it to "the heptagon" to include Lionel, and finally "the octagon" to include any guest star. "There's enough love for everyone! Plus we can have triangles within the hexagon!"

Fast nationals for Phantom courtesy of pifeedback.com

Dang hc 8 you are fast....Yeah they actually went up a lot. That's a 600,000 increase. It's still pathetic for a finale, but at least the slide was stopped.

Oh and Supernatural got crushed last night. 2.7 million viewers..Good thing it was already renewed.

Very poor, for a finale.

I was kind of hoping it would be lower.

But better than the last few weeks....The fact that 5th grader wasn't on last night probably helped them.

Do you think that it went up only because is the season finale??? I always wonder what factors are involved in the ratings ups and downs

It went up because it was the finale, and also because "5th Grader" wasn't on last night. That show has been hurting them since it debuted.

Me too. Not because I am one of those people who was rooting for the show to fail. I don't care, since it's coming back next season anyway. I just thought it would be interesting to see the reaction if the finale did even worse than "Prototype."

I'm not surprised there was an uptick for the finale. I would have been more surprised if the finale had drawn even fewer viewers than Prototype, which would have been a series low on an "event" episode. But right around 4 million isn't great either.

To me the bigger question is whether those 4 million saw anything to bring them back in the fall.

Lower than that? Correct me if I'm wrong but it's actually much lower than previous finales. SV finales have always done very good, in the ratings.

I think the slide is far from stopped. I consider it a "brief pause" (like Lana's milk truck) that more than likely reflects a great number of fans (like myself) that gave this show up post Promise, but were curious about the finale and expecting the goods. I did just that and can't believe how horrible it was.

I agree. I don't think the slide stopped. I think people were curious how bad it was going to be, heard rumors about Lana death and poked their head in. It doesn't mean that the series is going to start climbing again or has stabilized. Because few people loved it except maybe Clana fans.

I would have liked it not to break the 4 million mark - just so that maybe, just maybe, AlMiles would realize they are doing something terribly wrong.

How does it compare to other finales?

There are some Chloe fans that liked it too, so I don't know.

Absolutely. I knew the finale's rating would be higher than "Prototype" because it's the finale and people are curious.

Also there's the whole "how few/many episodes does KK really have next season?" thing. And I think there's also just plain burnout. There's also the fact that people have an alternative to SV

I don't think that we can rule anything out of the finale ratings. That's the final episode and lots of extra people were watching. And I agree with MsPersnickety that they must have had a pretty crappy surprise.

I think that unless TPTB will start some serious work on their mistakes, season 7 will do even worse.

Why are they so stupid? It's absolutely clear that as soon as they try to put something Lana-centered on air, people run away in horror. They had a ratings drop in 'Trespess' and the great downslide started right after they made us a horrible 'Promise' to keep it all about her. Much like other males on this show, they seem not to realise where all the trouble comes from.

I think they also tipped their hand in showing that Clark is never going to progress. If this was a speedup of the story arc because they really thought KK was going to leave them high and dry then we end up with saint!martyr Lana no matter what happens, then there's no pay off. I think that's what hurt the show. They said it loud & clear that the only people who will get dirtwad out of the show ultimately are Lana fans just like them.

Does Jeff Foxworthy own Superman that badly? :)

I haven't kept up with 5th Grader's numbers, but I have heard that a lot of people have latched onto it.

I expected the SV numbers to go up because people tune in for finales and I think the tease of Lana's "death" would draw people in just to see if she really DOES blow up so they could throw confetti and eat cake.

Saw a couple questions on how it stacks up to other finale's.

I had a hard time finding past seasons ratings although you can find a graph anlysis (of entire seasons) here http://www.smallville-twist.org/Ratings.htm

It's not updated past Noir but safe to say S6 is officially the lowest rated season.

For exact numbers I could only find "Vessel" ratings for comparison

Phantom............4.01

5-22 "Vessel" 4.85

So yeah if that 4:01 sticks it will be the lowest finale ever. Vessel was lowest rated before that.

ETA: I think they've overcounted a few times this year. It's still entirely possible to get below 4 million for Phantom.

Given that there were apparently some significant preemptions, I think it's fairly likely that the finals will be lower than the overnights. But that doesn't really matter; the overnights were bad enough. And while some 700,000 or so people came back for the finale, compared to "Prototype," I don't think they gave those 700,000, or most of them, at any rate, a reason to stay for next season, nor did they give the 680,000 or so viewers who left after "Promise" and did not come back for the finale a reason to come back next season. If they had killed off Lana in a way that made it clear that she really was dead, then things might be different, but by leaving the door wide open for her to return, they essentially told the viewers who hate Lana and all she stands for that things aren't going to change.

As for me, I've said previously that I would watch the season seven premiere, and give them that one episode, and only that one episode, to show me that they had learned their lesson from the ratings debacle of "Promise" and what followed it. Depending on the spoilers I see over the summer, I may not even do that. And I doubt I'll be alone.

What could they do to get people back? I don't think anything would help now. As I pointed out elsewhere the pattern is give non-Lana fans something in the first half than piss on it by going back to Lana in the 2nd half. Goughlar are lying liars who lie with bad taste.

Totally cutting loose KK would've showed they were going to HAVE to do something different but with hearing a rumor she's back for 15, nothing's going to change. Lana is the one true love, the only person Lois gets to stomp on is Chloe (even if you hate Chloe and like Lois, I still have to point out that 1) it's reminiscent of the strategy of S2 which made me personally HATE Lana and 2) it ain't dinging Lana's pedestal at all so your gal is screwed as well).

And if KK whined about wanting out, fracked the writing for the 2nd half THEN agreed to fifteen, the ACTRESS is dead to me.

I so agree with this. Hopefully, the PTB will be so ticked off they'll give KK the Pete/Martha treatment next year.

As tempting as that is I can't say that I would feel that way about KK. I doubt when she wanted out she said "Oh and while you're at it wrap up all my plotlines in this manner".

No I would hold management responsible for this. This started as early "Labyrinth" according to rumors so it's not extremely short notice. The problem here is that TPTB didn't make a decisive move and might possibly compound that error with a serious backtrack too.

Exactly. When I thought KK was only coming back for a couple of episodes, I was genuinely excited and thought the show might improve drastically. I think a lot of people were (excluding, of course, Clana fans). But fifteen episodes? And in the end of the season? No, thanks. We've seen this pattern before, in seasons four AND six. The first half of next season might give us the promise of Chlark, Clois, Clori, or some romance we haven't heard of yet, or might show Clark developing his powers and saving strangers-- but the minute KK walks back onstage, it'll all be tossed aside for the Glory That Is Lana Lang.

If she's back for fifteen episodes, I really can't imagine sticking with this stupid show next year. It just makes my blood pressure shoot up too drastically.



I have to agree with this. They could have just let her go without making her the centerpiece of EVERYTHING. KK might have wanted out, but she didn't hold a gun to their heads. The fault lies with the writers and producers for changing everything so dramatically.

It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall in the writers' room right now. I wonder what they think has been the cause of the ratings decline? And whether they will attempt to respond to it in S7, or just continue on the crash course they've been on?


mobius, ITA that this is the Goughlar's MO. This is definitely what I see happening next year as well. I think they will do interviews/release spoilers over the summer playing up the mythology and comic book aspects of the show. Maybe they will even try to replicate the (relative) ratings success of S5 by introducing another big arc for a major villain. But we all know that the writers will screw up a long-term arc, and the storyline always comes back to Lana, so what does it all matter?

Oh, nzs, you don't really believe that that could ever happen, do you? But while I'm no fan of Kreuk, mobiusklein, I can't really agree with you. If were a writer of a television show, and a member of the cast said she wanted out, I would give her less screen-time, keep her out of the important plot-lines, and generally write her into the background, so that when she leaves, it's not such a big deal. The producers and writers of this show deliberately chose to do the opposite, all the while doing everything they could, apparently, to get Kreuk to come back. So I don't blame Kreuk for the fiasco that was this season, storytelling-wise or ratings-wise. I blame the writers and the producers.

As for what they might do, mobiusklein, I don't know. Massena1 suggested over in the "Phantom" thread that maybe they've done all these terrible things deliberately this season because the Bizarro-phantom's mere presence in this reality threw everything askew. It's an interesting idea, although I doubt the writers were deliberately going for that. So I think it would be a massive retcon, but there are times when that can be a good thing.

If I see spoilers over the summer that indicate that Lana is, at long last, going to get called on her bad, even outright evil, behavior, that Lex is going to become competent and dangerous as a villain, that they are going to bring back real-Chloë next season, and make it very clear that she is the reporter of the show, and move her partnership with Clark (I'm perfectly happy with it remaining a Platonic partnership) to center stage, while also indicating that Lois is going to be back to being comic relief, and that they are going to give up on these ridiculous efforts to have her take Chloë's place, and that, above all, they are really going to focus on Clark becoming the young Superman, then I'll probably watch, and I think others will too. I think these things are all very unlikely, to say the least.

On the other hand, why say you want out in the first place? Why not just say "I'd like a reduced schedule and willing to take the resultant paycut." God knows how accommodating Goughlar was regarding Partition and to be fair also for ED regarding her movies though it still pisses me off they were total jackasses toward SJ3 regarding a part in one of the Blade movies. Why stink the place up in the first place? Of course, she's not responsible for the writing but if she really hated the character, really wanted out then wimped out I don't want to hear her complaining about Lana anymore because she had a chance to leave then didn't.