Because there are over 7 billion people alive on the planet and only 3 basic options (-/+/0)!

The creators were ashamed of the character from the get go. Its basically a soap opera. Its made for the tween girl audience, much like Twilight.

No matter what they did, it was inevitable that some faction of the fanbase would be infuriated by the writers' interpretations of the Superman comics. Inevitably, fans would accuse the writers of "not being true to the source material"...never mind the fact that the comics themselves have changed continuities/canon drastically over and over again. In general, the Smallville writers seemed to be going for a sort of mixture of ideas from all eras/versions of the Superman mythos (Lex living in Smallville was from the Silver Age, the Fortress of Solitude design from the Chris Reeve films, Brainiac being from Krypton was borrowed from Superman: The Animated Series, etc.). The thing is, fans of one era/version of the mythos would always be angered when another era/version was used as inspiration.

Thanks to TvTropes for this.

I really hated that it was on the CW. DC should never put their shows there! I'm sorry, how they suppose to take them seriously when they on that network?!

The love relationship between Clark Kent and Lana Lang spanned on for way too long

it wouldn't be so bad if it was every once in a blue moon but it was every god damn episode all the way up to season 8 it got annoying really quick they should have killed off Lana permanently and besides Lana was useless in the show going to the hospital every episode she was there to take up space honestly.

Also some episodes of smallville were piss boring and some were just filler n othing having to do with the show i mean who cares about Chole's mom or Lana's parents?

Also Jor -El was OP as hell he could send Clark to a universe where doesn't exsist and bring the dead back to life but he can't stop his planet from blowing up lol

Too much teen romance was the main reason i didn't like it as much the Lois lane and Clark kent relationship was great it was short sweet and to the point. Not this she loves me she loves me not clark and lana had for each other

Smallville gets a 7/10 from me

im on episode 4 now,

TIME FOR BACKSTORY: (just started watching it, I avoided it because the few times I tried, it sucked, plus I was a big hater of superman, between the awful movies and the bad smallville episodes there wasn't a reason for me to give him a chance, JLU changed my mind, that superman was amazing, from his assertive compassion, (as opposed to reeves stoic indifference) to his ability to become emotionally injured. he was awesome, his "world made of Cardboard" speech sealed the deal, IM A SUPES FAN NOW. so, took me a while, but after reading a bunch of superman comics, I decided to queue Smallville onto my Netflix, first disk came in yesterday.)

okay, first, its got some of the same problems I hated before when I tried, its superpowered Dawson's Creek (or is it 90210?) mixed with bad puns contrived into the badly written plot and poor costume design, (haven't even seen any supersuits yet and the costumes are bad. and I have seen some of the bad costumes from later in the series, like Green Arrow and Aquaman) there are definitely some moments I REALLY LIKE, not just a little, I think Lex has the cake on most of these good scenes.

wait is Kent fighting a bunch of Spiderman comic characters? first its a shoe in for Elektro, then we have Spiderman himself, and two generic villains that probably have a dozen copies all over.

so episode 4. great individual scenes, but mostly a bad Dawson's Creek. does it get better ?

does it get better ?

Practically all first season were dedicated to dealing with meteorite freaks, so no.

First three or four seasons were masterpiece comparing to what would be next, so, if you are already don’t like it, don’t bother. I’m Supes’ fan since 1995, and still the latest Smallville seasons nearly killed all my admiration for his character.

@sanohibiki: I didn't particularly like Smallville, however the latter seasons made an effort to make him Superman. The last shot is basically Christopher Reeves Superman (which was a stray away from the early seasons).

@frozen:

Respectfully disagree.

Immature behavior, emotional turmoil, teenage drama, etc. – all that was ok in the earliest seasons, after all, they were supposed to be teenagers back then. But later… Oh Rao, make me forget it.

Despite growing, despite moving in the big city, Clark didn’t show an inkling of maturation. His behavior and response pattern didn’t change for entire show, he seldom was proactive, when he tried to be proactive, he constantly screwed up, in 6 and 7 seasons Clark even managed to became character of second plan IMO plus all his shifting from “my humanity gives me strength” to “I’m alien, I should listen to Jor-El and my human’ side is a weakness” made him look as emotionally stable as Superboy-Prime was.

Add to that self-contradicting storylines, WTF changes in characters (Chloe and Marta, nuff said), overabundance of conspiracies and filler episodes, everyone and their parents meeting and knowing each other since childhood, all “This is your destiny, son”-stuff, lack of any chemistry between Welling and Durance, etc.

the latter seasons made an effort to make him Superman. The last shot is basically Christopher Reeves Superman

I think it lasted for all 5 minutes in the show’ finale and that’s it (though Smallville comic series written surprisingly well ever since).

when i was little watch the legion of superheros, as a little kid i thought it was pretty awesome and then, unfortunately ... it got cancelled so still waiting for the next episode to come it never came, and then i ended up waiting for anything remotely to do with superman and i found....krypto as a kid i was not satisfied so kept looking and kept looking and kept looking (more like waiting) and i found nothing, and gave up. years later i would come to find a smallville collection in the library which i thought was pretty cool but...it had so many damn sex seines it disgusted me so much i could stand watching it so decide not to, i later relized that show was popular, i mean really, really, popular! i got sick to my stomach realizing this is the reason i never got to watch anything with superman SO TO THIS DAY I HATE THAT F*CKING SHOW

I've been recording the Smallville reruns on TNT recently, and after watching it for about 2 months, I gotta say that the show definitely was a let down. I could only watch a handful of episodes without fast forwarding through a chunk of it.

Tom Welling wasn't the best actor, he didn't really have the skills to offer much in the way of emotion. You really noticed the difference in acting ability in the scenes with Lex who was played by Michael Rosenbaum. Tom did get better in the later seasons and I thought he actually shined more playing Clark Luthor. His interpretation of Clark Kent was bland to say the least.

I actually don't hate it at all. I liked it enough to buy the entire series on DVD. Still, there were a few things I absolutely HATED about the show and those things kept me from loving it, as opposed to just liking it.

1. The excessive overuse of kryptonite. They had it in like almost every episode and that was SO annoying. As smart as he is, you'd think Clark would realize that the crap is EVERYWHERE in Smallville and he would take measures to protect himself. But no! The writers want to be lazy and make it so that he has to be saved by one of the girls so that he doesn't seem invincible. All they had to do was just invent some bad guys that were on his level and have him stuck in a challenge (no Kryptonite-related) that will keep him from what he is doing.

2. The Clark/Lana rollercoaster romance was EXTREMELY aggravating and infuriating. Mostly because I found that version of her uninteresting. I wouldn't have minded if they killed her off, really. Shoot, some of Clark's other girlfriends Alicia Baker and Kyla Willowbrook (my personal favorite) had more chemistry and interesting storylines than she did and I wish they stuck around for a little bit longer.

3. Clark's questionable intelligence. You'd think that with him being as smart as he is, he would stop running across Smallville like he forgot that it is infested with Kryptonite so that he doesn't end up in a jam and saved by one of the girls. I hate the fact that Chloe was there figuring stuff out for him, because it made him look like an idiot; even if he isn't one. I would have liked to see a handful of episodes where he figures things out and gets out of jams himself with or without his powers. But no! They had to go and make him seem like a moron and glorify the usefulness of Chloe and the other girls. Him getting helped by other heroes isn't a problem for me, as Superman gets help from his allies a lot in the comics.

So while I didn't hate it, I didn't love it either. Only liked it. Enough to buy the entire series, yes. But still. It could have been WORLDS Better. Heck. With all that Kryptonite, you'd think they would have introduced Clark's childhood rival in the comics Ken Braverman, who became the Kryptonite-wielding Conduit. Shoot, instead of having Chloe there, they could have also brought in Clark's childhood friend from the comics (aside from Pete and Lana), Sharon Vance, AKA Strange Visitor. That would involve more creative storytelling, but it would have improved what we were given dramatically.

Because

It was good until season 5 and then jumped the shark and Welling's SM...seriously the guy did nothing to detract from the fact Superman is a bit of a not quite smart and pretty boy vanilla type. And the comic series got cancelled so assume it was not selling enough to see it out. That too was rather ...meh.

What really pissed me off was the fact that they kept teasing the superman costume and what clark will become, only to take ten mother fu5king seasons.

Agreed. I think it was like in S1 with a character who can see people's fates and it showed the Superman cape, not seen for 9 seasons which was like 9 years. Way to drag that out.

@titanbreaker: That was actually the season 3 episode "Hereafter". Where this metahuman kid Jordan Cross had the ability to see the deaths of others via touch. Though when Clark touched him, he didn't see his death. He saw him wearing a big red cape and flying for eternity. But there was also the Season 9 two-part episode "Absolute Justice", where Dr. Fate saw the same thing. Either way, I see your point.

@johnqestion: Uh...where do you get that Superman isn't smart? Man's a genius. He's just a nice guy with a sense of morality and the belief that most people can change. I say most because he knows darn well that the likes of Luthor, Darkseid, Metallo, and Parasite will NEVER change.

I enjoyed it

@kryptonian24 I rather liked Dr. Fate seeing the cape as that was much further into the series where Clark was actively being a hero against threats. So I figured he had earned that destiny. (Plus I loved how Dr. Fate was around him.)

Smallville started off great, but then lost sight of what it was.

I liked it

The people hate Smallville? I didn´t know... it have 10 tv seasons and 11 season of manga..

Show was amazing until Clark left College. It should have ended there as it lost It's strength (the whole origin story). It was supposed to end there but the show was so popular that they kept it going.

Cause it's 2edgy4them and they need saving from Remy Zero.

I liked all of them but Lana.

Cry baby Lana just got on my nerves.

Chloe and Clark made the show along with Lex and Clark.

The Scooby team was very well done and not over the top overboard.

I stopped watching shortly after Lois showed up just not a Lois fan but Chloe was a better Lois then the real Lois.

I'd say that the first few seasons didn't really give it a good name but there were moments that were capable of showing the true superman in all his glory. It's also (in my opinion) a really good show for those who are into broadening their horizons in terms of different aspects of particular superheroes.

*shrugs* idk. People love the comic though

the reason i hate the show so much and hear me out is why before? why before he becomes Superman and waste a decade?

1.which i understand we need a backstory ,but why not have a backstory like The Flash?

2. My point is we need a Superman live action tv series its been decades, how long do we have to wait?

3. Smallville does not count it can't there is no way its a superman show thats why its called smallville not superman

4.they ruined the character from left to right and made him a prince charming then man of steel

5.that show did not do superman justice.

6.Blur? really producers? thats the best you could come up with? and let Jimmy Olsen and Doctor Fate die?

to wrap this up the show would had been better if they could called the series Smallville Superman and make superman in the last five seasons like the photo below (this is the smallvile superman)

I did not hate it I just could not stand Lana. She destroyed the show for me.

A few awesome sides however that made it work with Lana was not destroying it.

Chloe was a beacon of hope and a truly awesome part of the show she should have become Lois.

She was such a great writer and such a good Lois that when Lois did show up you just thought she was a brain dead bimbo no offence to the actress.

Lex Luther wow over the top awesome and played by a great actor as well.

Clark was held back to much he truly shined with Chloe and Lex but the actress that played Lana was horrible and she messed up every scene she was in with others.

They need to redo the show for it had great potential.

Pa Kent should have mentored Lex and Clark should have traveled more and they should have had story lines for the season not just the episode. Make it last a season and give the villains depth.

If they do this and they do another smallville It will be great.

Make Lana the pain in the butt she was in the comics always trying to figure out what Clark was up to.

Give Johnathan a bunch of ranch hands and none of that poor rancher crap. Farmers can make good money and with Clark there is not reason they did not.

Clark is not Peter Parker he is allowed to shine.

He truly does become a great leader and great leaders do not look good if they come from dirt poor when they should not be dirt poor.

This crap is one reason

yeah I stopped watching it at season 5 because of mainly Lana and her having to ruin every single story line and Lois just horrible. They had one writer they did not need another and Lois was so not needed they had Chloe. I said it before along with so many others that they should have made her Lois and failed. Also Lex and Clark the friendship that would make history never happened and they had lame fights over nothing with Clark pretty much just one second being friends the next second stabbing Lex in the back and lets face it Clark had not known what we knew they dropped the ball on that one because it was way out of character.

So Two things that had you watching the great friendship trashed and waiting on Chloe to take the pen name of Lois Lane also trashed.

So that pretty much killed the show for me.

Its a very well done comic.

I just read the first two volumes. Less soap more heroic.

@kenshima15 said:

This crap is one reason

Ugh...First time I see this.

It was a crappy Teen Soap on the bottom of the barrel TV Networks. If it was on ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX. It would have been cancel by Season 3. The show was on for a 11 season and all we got was The Blue Blur. Its not so much that it didn't follow the comics. Even tho it didnt do the character any justice. But Also nothing it added was really all that good. Smallville fans kept on wanting things added to the comics like Chloe. But then DC Realized that they already had a Lois Lane. Not to mention that the writing was not exactly Shakespearean. Most of the time i watched it. I just winded up laughing at what was suppose to be serious. The best thing about it was the guy who played Lex. But Frankly i didn't think it was any better than that Superboy show in the 80's. It was just as Silly. Just with more Teen Angst.

I liked it, but only the first three odd seasons.

I love it. Just wanted them to:

1) Kill off Chloe

2) Kill off Lana

3) Stop making it seem like everybody is suspicious and nosy as hell. I mean, it seems like every episode, somebody wants to know Clark's secret.

4) Kill off Green Arrow

5) Keep Pa Kent alive

I think that's it. The best part of the show was definitely Lex and Lois.

I don't hate it, I actually really love the show.

But the overuse of kryptonite, and the constant Lana Lang arcs were annoying beyond belief.

My childhood memories tell me Superboy was awesome, so you take that back. You take that back right now.

Seriously, though, Smallville was simply awful on all accounts, and did absolutely zero for Superman's franchise, despite being on air for a decade.

They fked up Deathstroke and lana is hot as fk.

@superbat420 The fights were either ok or just plain bad and they were short like 2 minute fights. Clark was always getting the beat down until the last sec. Just adding this in here but Lana is hot.

@moywar700: Because it sucked...

Until I saw Smallville I hated Superman. So I loved the show because it gave me a new perspective on Superman. The Man before her put on the cap. If you are watching Smallville to see Superman then you probably won't like it but if you are watching it to see Clark Kent then you will love it.

I thought the show was great and it was one of my favorite shows, especially the first 3 seasons, but after season 7 when Lex left it just got horrible.

After 10 years the bugger couldn't put on the costume.

It's one of those shows you know is terrible but you watch it anyway. You could describe every CW show that way.

I'm not one of the many

Yes, first season was quite boring, just the "monster of the week", but the rest was really good, expecially Lex and Chloe [and Green Arrow... still thinking he is a better GA than the actual CW Arrow... and I'm a fan of CW...]

Corniness, annoying romantic subplots, Lana being an obnoxious b*tch, and Superman not being very Superman like.

I like it though.