The CW Source

Happy 36th birthday to Michael Rosenbaum, the man behind one of our favorite charismatic villains on the CW. His Lex Luthor is all snaky charisma and off-kilter charm. We know he's evil, and even so, we can't help but be swept away by him. We've seen Lex kidnap innocent people, perform experiments on the meteor-infected, lie, steal, shoot people, attempt to create his own army, and oh yeah, throw his own father off a building and to his death. But despite all of that, Lex just leaves us weak in the knees.

Alas, we're not going to have Lex to swoon over next season on Smallville. We were a bit shocked when Michael announced he was leaving Smallville. Of course, he was his usual sweet, funny self in his note to fans on his web site: "I hope that I gave you some enjoyment over the years, and that you found my portrayal of Lex Luthor to be satisfying. I am truly grateful, as Smallville fans are the best fans out there. I sincerely hope that you will continue to follow my career through my hair growth period and beyond."

That's one of the only upsides we can see about Michael leaving Smallville -- poor Michael can finally stop shaving his head!

Much as we'll miss Michael's Lex, we're looking forward to seeing him take on his post-Smallville career. Will he go the hero route? After all, he already provided the voice of the Flash in the Justice League cartoon. Or will we get to see more of Michael's comedy chops, like what we've seen in Sorority Boys or Kickin It Old Skool? Whatever role he chooses, we'll be watching!

Until he figures out his next step, we bet Michael will be kicking back and enjoying life. We hope he spent his birthday doing something he loved, like playing hockey or listening to some serious 80s rock. Or maybe he combined both loves, and played hockey against the members of Journey while Foreigner sang! Rock on!

Happy birthday, Michael, and thanks for giving us seven years of Lex. We can't wait to see what's next.

Leave your birthday wishes for Michael in the comments!

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Smallville hottie Erica Durance has a big birthday coming up – the actress, who plays Lois Lane, turns 30 on Saturday. Happy birthday, Erica!

Erica started out in a real-life Smallville – she grew up on a turkey farm in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada. Since she’s said she has a phobia of birds, we can’t imagine that was a lot of fun for her! After school, she jumped to Vancouver to test out acting, and she’s never looked back. After a series of roles in some pretty cheese-tastic horror flicks (think “The Untold, aka Sasquatch,” “House of the Dead” and “Devil Winds”), Erica started landing guest roles on TV shows like “The Chris Isaak Show,” “Tru Calling,” “Andromeda” and “Stargate SG-1.” Then came the role of Lois Lane on Smallville, and the rest is history.

It’s a role that Erica relishes – she’s said that Lois Lane was her favorite comic-book character even before she’d landed the show – and she’s made a splash with it. Comic writer and former consulting producer Jeph Loeb lobbied for Erica to get the role, and the two remain good friends even though Jeph has left the series. In fact, Erica co-hosted a charity auction at Wizard World: Chicago to raise money for a scholarship set up to honor Jeph’s son Sam, who died of cancer at age 17. Erica donated the $15,000 fee she was offered to the charity and did the gig for free.

Of course, Erica does have some fans who are just as interested in her smokin’ bod as in her good heart and her acting talent. She was voted one of TV Guide’s “Most Physically Fit Stars on Television,” and has appeared on FHM’s list of “World’s 100 Sexiest Women” three times: She made her debut on the list in 2006 at number 38, then hit number 20 in 2007 and showed up at number 15 in 2008. She’s also been a Maxim cover girl, appeared in the 2007 Women of Sci-fi calendar, and was named by Netscape as one of the "Sexiest Sci-Fi Babes.” That fame has spread to other arenas – a poster of Erica can be seen in Superboy’s bedroom in the Supergirl comic. Sorry, guys – Erica has been happily married to actor David Palffy since 2005.

We hope Erica has a great time for her 30th birthday. Leave your birthday wishes for Erica in the comments!

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We here at CW Source central just received a press release from The CW itself, reporting that Smallville has found its Doomsday – Davis Bloome, who played Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo on Battlestar Galactica. Also joining the cast is Cassidy Freeman (“Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee”), who will play Tess Mercer. From The CW press release: "Handpicked by Lex Luthor to succeed him before he vanished, Tess arrives in Smallville as acting CEO of LuthorCorp. Beneath her mysterious allure lies a cunning ruthlessness to match her mentor’s."

We love that this new lass has a similar name to the glorious Miss Tessmacher of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies -- who could forget that slinky villainess who was happy to sink California, but she balked at dooming Hoboken because her mother lived there? That's the way to incorporate a previous Superman villain!

But back to Doomsday. Here’s where the geekier denizens of CW Source Central run into a problem. There’s nothing wrong with Davis Bloome – he’s seriously hot, he’s got a great sci-fi pedigree, and did we mention he was seriously hot? Yowza! But… why Doomsday? Yeah, yeah, we get that Smallville runs in a different universe than the rest of the Superman canon. We understand that they can go in different directions than the comics and the movies. But why even bother using the name Doomsday when that Smallville character won’t have anything to do with the comic-book villain?

Here’s what we mean: In the comics, Doomsday was a mindless killing machine who just lived to destroy. He massacred planets, devastated entire galaxies, and killed Superman himself. Lex Luthor described him as an “intergalactic soccer hooligan,” for cryin’ out loud. So why take the name form this very specific, very iconic character and give it to some good-looking bartender? Why not chose a name from any of the gazillion other villains Superman has faced, or – and here’s a concept – come up with something completely original to the show?

We'll take a moment to note that nowhere in the press release do they dub Bloome "Doomsday" -- instead, they note that Bloome must contend with "burgeoning darkness inside of him that just might be a harbinger of doom." But the producers have previously trumpeted the rise of Doomsday in every other release, so what else are we supposed to think?

What do you think? Are we taking things too seriously, or do you agree that using the name Doomsday is a mistake? Vote in our poll and talk about it in the comments!

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Eonline reports that Gossip Girl received a whopping 14 Teen Choice nominations, including Best Drama, Best Breakout Show, and Choice TV Actor/Actress.

It's true that GG is everywhere on the list of nominations. All three female leads (Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, and Taylor Momsen) are up for Best Breakout Female Star, and we were especially excited to see Ed Westwick's Chuck Bass nominated for Choice TV Villain along with Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum. But One Tree Hill also earned its fair share of nominations, including Choice TV Drama, Hilarie Burton and Sophia Bush for Choice TV Actress and Chad Michael Murray for Choice TV Actor. Our complaint: where are James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Galeotti? They deserve some noms, too!

Other shows represented include America's Next Top Model (Cycle 10 winner Whitney is up for Choice TV Female Reality Star, Tyra is up for Choice TV Personality, and the show itself is in the running for Choice TV: Reality Beauty and Makeover), Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious (for Reality Music Competition), and Smallville (Choice TV Show Action/Adventure, Choice TV Actor/Actress Action/Adventure for Tom Welling and Kristin Kreuk). Even Beauty and The Geek made the list with a nomination for Choice TV: Reality Beauty & Makeover.

Notably absent from the list: Supernatural and Reaper. And what about Everybody Hates Chris, Aliens in America, Girlfriends, and The Game? We think these shows were seriously overlooked -- do you agree?

Let us know what you think of the nominations in the comments!

Posted by Jackie at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (21) | TrackBacks (0)

The CW has a sizzling new lineup coming to us this fall and we couldn't be more excited! Not only are some of our favorites back, we've got new shows that are sure to have us talking.

Monday Nights

The winning combo of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill will be back and filled with drama.

Continue reading "Get Ready for What's Coming Your Way at The CW" »

Posted by Mia at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

We're back with the final Jason C. recap for this season of Smallville. What a great episode, we can't wait until next season to see what happens next.

For a full recap, click HERE

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Smallville pulled out all the stops for this season finale: Lex discovers Clark's secret! Brainiac is defeated for good! Lana does a runner! Jimmy proposes to Chloe! We can hardly keep up with all the developments!

Last week, Kara was suddenly incapacitated. Apparently she recovered, because she's feeling good enough to track down Edward Teague on a chartered plane - and then cause that plane to crash, killing everyone on board. Has Kara gone evil? When Clark confronts her, she says she's merely trying to make sure that Lex doesn't gain control of Clark. So why is she showing up at Lex's lair, telling him that it's he destiny to use the device to save humanity and defeat the Traveler?

Clark and Chloe decide they need to take Kara down, and that means deploying Kryptonite. Clark agrees that he's got o be far away when Chloe whips out the glowing green rock. That turns out to be a mistake - the Kryptonite has no effect on Kara. That's because it's not Kara at all - it's Brainiac! He tries to do the same sort of mind-whammy maneuver that he pulled on Lana, but Chloe's meteor-freak powers apparently make that difficult Brainiac needs to refuel after that encounter.

Continue reading "Smallville: The Truth Revealed!" »

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On last week's episode of Smallville Clark was held captive by a monk who threatened his life. Check out the recap with Jason C.:

Click here to read the entire recap of Quest

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Good news from TV Guide's Michael Ausiello -- Chloe will be back for all episodes of Smallville in season 8! Apparently those tough negotiations paid off for Allison. We're relieved!

Here's what Ausiello has to say: "[S]pecifics of the new contract -- which was signed just hours ago -- are being kept under wraps, [but] I'm told it calls for Mack to appear in all episodes produced next season. As I reported earlier this week, the actress' reps were (wisely) using the imminent departure of Smallville vet Michael Rosenbaum as leverage in the negotiations. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the strategy paid off."

Does this news make you feel better about Smallville's return? Talk about it in the comments!

Posted by Sarah at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (20) | TrackBacks (0)

Another day, another bit of unsettling Smallville news. TVGuide's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Allison Mack may not be coming back to the show for season 8. Apparently, Michael Rosenbaum's departure is spurring some heavy talks: "Allison's camp used Michael leaving as leverage in the negotiations with [Warner Bros.]," a Smallville source told Ausiello. The source added that Kristin Kreuk's decision to only return for a handful of episodes as Lana only strengthened Mack's bargaining position. "They need Chloe now more than ever -- and Allison's people know it."

The insider isn't optimistic that negotiations will turn out well. Does this mean we'll be saying goodbye to Chloe as well as Lex and, for most episodes, Lana? And will you tune in if so many major players are gone? Talk about it in the comments!

Posted by Sarah at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)

Boy, everybody was having a rotten week on Smallville: Lex got attacked and carved up with Kryptonian symbols, Clark got ambushed by one of his self-appointed guardians, and Chloe had to try to keep her boyfriend from digging into all the Kryptonian secrets around town. In fact, Jimmy may be the only guy having fun -- at least he sold an article.

Let's start with Lex. He's trying to figure out what the little encryption doohickey he got from the bank in Switzerland does, but he's not having much luck. His luck gets even worse when the same guy who attacked him at the bank turns up again. This time, he beats Lex to a pulp and then carves Kryptonian symbols into his chest. Talk about adding insult to injury - the guy wasn't content with pain, he also had to turn Lex into a walking billboard!

When Chloe sees the symbols (courtesy of Jimmy), she tells Clark, and they set about deciphering. The symbols lead Clark to a church in Montreal, where he meets Edward Teague -- the sole surviving member of Veritas. Teague is happy to serve The Traveler until he finds out that Clark knew how bad Lex was, but didn't do anything to stop him. But you were supposed to be the savior of the world! How can you be our savior if you don't stop bad people from doing bad things! Dude, there are countless philosophy courses about that topic alone.

Continue reading "Smallville and the Downside of True Believers" »

Posted by Sarah at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week on Smallville, Clark saw what life might have been like if he were never born! Jason C. gets into the spirit of things by moving through time and space on his own. Get Jason C.'s Smallville recap!

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Alas, we're losing Lex! E!Online is reporting that Michael Rosenbaum and the Smallville Powers That Be have announced that Lex won't be back for the show next season -- not even in the recurring role that they'd been hyping.

Here's an excerpt from Michael's letter to fans: "It is time for me to start the next chapter of my life and career. I hope that I gave you some enjoyment over the years, and that you found my portrayal of Lex Luthor to be satisfying. I am truly grateful, as Smallville fans are the best fans out there. I sincerely hope that you will continue to follow my career through my hair growth period and beyond."

Sounds like he's definitely through, doesn't it? The folks on the production side are holding out a bit of hope, however: "It has been an honor and pleasure to work with Michael for the past six seasons. He is one of the best actors on television and has never failed to bring a new layer to the character of Lex Luthor in every episode. While Michael won't be a series regular and we won't have the pleasure of working with him on a weekly basis this fall, we like to think that we haven't seen the last of Lex Luthor. Stay tuned."

But while they're hoping to get Lex back for a visit, they're not slacking in the villainy department. Season 8 will see the debut of Doomsday, the only villain that has ever been able to kill Superman. (He got better.) We're looking forward to that storyline, although we're a bit concerned: Will this be the mindless killing-machine Doomsday of the Death of Superman storyline, the "jokerized" Doomsday of the Last Laugh storyline, or something else entirely?

There's also an unspecified female villain who the producers aren't spilling much about. They promise "she will be familiar to many fans and will set her sights on Clark in ways Lex never could. Intelligent, brilliantly manipulative, and dangerously sinister, our gorgeous new villain has one more weapon in her arsenal: Her mutual attraction with Clark may prove to be as deadly as Kryptonite for him." Who could this new villain be? Blaze? Maxima? Faora/Ursa? Silver Banshee? Or someone else from the DC universe, or further afield?

What do you think of this news? Will you watch with no lex? Are you excited about the new villains? Talk about it in the comments!

Posted by Sarah at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Smallville plays the "It's a Wonderful Life" card, which every television show that's lasted more than four seasons is apparently contractually obligated to do. Clark gets to find out what the world would be like if he'd never made it to earth. Answer? Good for a while, but not for long...

Since we've seen about 80 million takes on the "what if I were never born" plotline, we were actually impressed with how well the conceit worked here. For one thing, it actually fits organically into the storyline - Brainiac has traveled through time and space to the point where Krypton dies, and he's trying to prevent baby Kal El from getting launched. If Clark does nothing to stop Brainiac in the past, it'll be just like he never came to earth.

We could see how Clark would feel that he's done more harm than good on earth - " Ever since I arrived all I brought is death and suffering!" And his initial exploration of the alternate reality seems to confirm that: Jonathan is alive, Chloe is just about to get married to a hunk, and Lana is healthy and living in Paris with a French philanthropist. Heck, Lois even has a couple of Pulitzers! That's got to mean not saving his infant self is the right choice, right?

Continue reading "Smallville: What Might Have Been" »

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Jimmy showed off his rather impressive spy moves on last week's Smallville -- but they weren't enough to fool Chloe. Meanwhile, Clark received a warning from Kara and Lex opened the Veritas box... but what's that gizmo inside? Jason C. has the recap of "Sleeper!"

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Best birthday wishes to Tom Welling, who turns 31 tomorrow, April 26. We hope he has a great time celebrating with his wife and friends.

Tom is, of course, Clark Kent on Smallville, and we can’t think of another actor who could embody the future Man of Steel in quite the same way. Tom’s got it all: The chiseled looks, the killer body, the boy-next-door charm, and the determination that oozes out of every pore. We’ve loved watching him portray the man who will be Superman – the greatest hero the world will ever know.

Tom has taken Clark through a lot over the past seven seasons: He’s been a naïve country boy who moons over the girl next door and can’t tell anyone about his secret life; a high school student who wants to show off what he can do; a kid wanting to rebel against his family; a young man coming to terms with – and fighting against - his destiny; a guy who tries to balance doing the right thing with protecting the people he loves; and even a quasi-father-figure to Kara, the rebellious girl from Krypton. He’s lost his father, seen his best friend go into exile to protect his secret, found and lost and found and lost and found and lost some more the girl of his dreams, and started meeting the people we know will play a big role in the rest of his life as Superman. Through it all, Tom has been a thrill to watch.

What’s more, Tom has stepped behind the camera – he’ll be directing next week’s episode, “Apocalypse,” where we get to see what the world would be like if Kal El had never made it to earth.

We’re thrilled we’re going to see Tom-as-Clark for at least one more season. Happy birthday, Tom!

Posted by Sarah at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

With so many big stories in the works on Smallville -- Kara kidnapped! Lana incapacitated! Lex on the cusp of controlling Clark! -- you'd think any detour from the main plotlines would be frustrating. Surprise! We adored this week's Smallville, a Jimmy-centric story chock full of great quips, quick thinking, double crosses and a fair amount of action. Who know Wholesome Olsen had it in him?

We knew we were in for a treat when the episode opened with a ninja-like spy infiltrating some forbidden lair. After several Bond-worthy moves, our superspy revealed himself to be Jimmy Olsen. Poing!

Of course, there's an explanation:

Continue reading "Smallville: Spy Games" »

Posted by Sarah at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Smallville returned last week and kicked things off with a murder! Lex killed Lionel -- and that was just the beginning. Jason C. has the recap!

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Smallville came back with a bang -- or rather, a sickening thud. When they start the episode off with a murder and things get even more tense from there, you know you've got a good hour of TV!

Poor Lionel -- he could be evil, he could be scheming, he could be completely crazy, but we have to admit we kind of loved him. Yeah, yeah, he destroyed his son's life and may or may not have been bent on taking over the world, but he was always interesting. We have to appreciate him for that. Rest in peace, Lionel!

Of course, the manner of his death was pretty nasty: tossed out of a skyscraper by his own son! That had to hurt, both on a literal and a metaphorical level.

But Lionel had the last laugh -- for a while, anyway.

Continue reading "Smallville: Welcome to the Dark Side" »

Posted by Sarah at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

An all-new Smallville is back tonight, and we're psyched. Jason C. catches us up on the drama of "Veritas" -- Lionel's unheeded warnings, Kara's sacrifice, and Brainiac's control of Lana. Get the recap!

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