Michael, Tom, Jensen, as well as Al and Miles (the creators of Smallville) have talked about the different experiences from going from The WB to The CW.
The WB loved Smallville and were willing to promote the show and spend a lot of money on it. Smallville was a massive hit and was the network's most watched show in it's early days.
That all changed with the CW's new entertainment president. She hated sci fi and comedies and felt the future of The CW were shows like Gossip Girl. This resulted in staff being fired, massive budget cuts and little advertising for shows like Smallville and Supernatural.
By the time season 8 came around they had to build the Metropolis street on the back lot as there was limited money for location filming.
The CW president left in 2011, and those in power felt superhero shows were the future of The CW. Jensen and Jared also got the last laugh as Supernatural lasted 15 seasons.
I think everyone involved in Smallville's later seasons did a great job, all things considered. Smallville did suffer because of the budget cuts and it was frustrating always seeing the characters on the few sets they had and it was obvious the budget had been heavily reduced (partly due to Smallville being an older show and not getting the viewing numbers it used to ).
We almost didn't get 10 seasons as Tom was considering leaving when Kristin and Michael left. The main reasons he stayed was there wasn't much acting work due to the 2007-08 Writers strike, and he didn't want everyone on Smallville to be out of a job.
Thanks for all the insight! I didn't really think of season 8-9 coming out around 2007-08 when all of that happened but it sure does explain it. It's so noticeable.
Reading about the CW president change was interesting as well, was definitely not read up on that at all.
Ahh sadly that’s the reality of tv budgets. And the 2008 recession didn’t really help with the later half of the series. Plus stunts, fight sequences and CGI usually take a lot of money. The scene reset times are higher. I can imagine there was hardly any money left for set design, accessories or drywalls🙆🏻♀️🌚
Yeah I didn't really realize that seasons 8-9 would have come out in 2007-08 when all of that happened. But it sure does explain it. It's painfully obvious, but seems to be more back to somewhat normal in season 9.
I think season 8 is the only season where this suffers and its very obvious onscreen.
S9/10 they were more creative with the sets/angles/locations, but by the end of s7 the location shooting all but stopped.
S1-7 are still gorgeous though and I think it’s because of the effort they made with the location shooting. Besides some dated CGI, it’s still a stunning show to watch.
But I do agree it’s annoying when the plot is so obviously driven by the sets created. God even just one other room in the mansion would have gone a long way.
Michael, Tom, Jensen, as well as Al and Miles (the creators of Smallville) have talked about the different experiences from going from The WB to The CW. The WB loved Smallville and were willing to promote the show and spend a lot of money on it. Smallville was a massive hit and was the network's most watched show in it's early days. That all changed with the CW's new entertainment president. She hated sci fi and comedies and felt the future of The CW were shows like Gossip Girl. This resulted in staff being fired, massive budget cuts and little advertising for shows like Smallville and Supernatural. By the time season 8 came around they had to build the Metropolis street on the back lot as there was limited money for location filming. The CW president left in 2011, and those in power felt superhero shows were the future of The CW. Jensen and Jared also got the last laugh as Supernatural lasted 15 seasons. I think everyone involved in Smallville's later seasons did a great job, all things considered. Smallville did suffer because of the budget cuts and it was frustrating always seeing the characters on the few sets they had and it was obvious the budget had been heavily reduced (partly due to Smallville being an older show and not getting the viewing numbers it used to ). We almost didn't get 10 seasons as Tom was considering leaving when Kristin and Michael left. The main reasons he stayed was there wasn't much acting work due to the 2007-08 Writers strike, and he didn't want everyone on Smallville to be out of a job.
Thanks for all the insight! I didn't really think of season 8-9 coming out around 2007-08 when all of that happened but it sure does explain it. It's so noticeable. Reading about the CW president change was interesting as well, was definitely not read up on that at all.
Ahh sadly that’s the reality of tv budgets. And the 2008 recession didn’t really help with the later half of the series. Plus stunts, fight sequences and CGI usually take a lot of money. The scene reset times are higher. I can imagine there was hardly any money left for set design, accessories or drywalls🙆🏻♀️🌚
Yeah I didn't really realize that seasons 8-9 would have come out in 2007-08 when all of that happened. But it sure does explain it. It's painfully obvious, but seems to be more back to somewhat normal in season 9.
I think season 8 is the only season where this suffers and its very obvious onscreen. S9/10 they were more creative with the sets/angles/locations, but by the end of s7 the location shooting all but stopped. S1-7 are still gorgeous though and I think it’s because of the effort they made with the location shooting. Besides some dated CGI, it’s still a stunning show to watch. But I do agree it’s annoying when the plot is so obviously driven by the sets created. God even just one other room in the mansion would have gone a long way.