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Old Headlines
Planet Krypton and KryptonSite have been following the development of Smallville since the original announcements of a "teenage Clark Kent project" in September 2000. KryptonSite was the first-ever site devoted to Smallville, and with constant updates, it just hasn't been possible to keep everything on the main page.

Here's some of the news from September 11-20, 2001....

SFX Magazine Featuring Smallville Hits The U.S.
(9/19) The latest issue of SFX magazine features a short interview with Smallville executive producer Alfred Gough as well as a very well-written, favorable review of Smallville's pilot episode. This issue, featuring Steven Speilberg's A.I. on the cover, first hit newsstands in the U.K. last month, but is finally arriving in American bookstores now.

As an added bonus, the magazine's "Spoiler Zone" pullout features a photo of Tom Welling on the cover, which shows that British fans are looking forward to the series as well. (Hello to all of the British KryptonSite readers!)

Media Roundup!
(9/19) More positive reviews of Smallville have hit many more newspapers in the past week. You might want to check your local library for back issues of the papers to see what exactly these papers had to say. Here's where Smallville was most recently sighted:

From Last Saturday: Cleveland Plain Dealer * Salt Lake City Desert News (called Smallville the 2nd second best new show after 24 - "This is one of the best new pilots of the year - a fresh twist on a familiar story")
From Last Sunday: Boston Herald * New York Newsday (calls Smallville "promising") * Chicago Tribune (named one of "six to click this fall")
From Last Monday: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (named Smallville "Best New Drama")

Two More Positive Mentions Of Smallville!
(9/18) MSNBC and E! Online are two of the latest to feature positive mentions or reviews of Smallville.

MSNBC includes Smallville in their Fall 2001 TV Preview; and E! Online lists Smallville and Kristin Kreuk individually in their "Back to Cool" article.

Thanks to Karen for passing this along. You can read their reviews/articles by clicking here:

MSNBC * E! Online

Comicon.com's Newsarama Features Smallville Review
(9/17) The Smallville pilot was recently screened by comic book retailers, and Mike Sangiacomo's "Journey Into Comics" column at Comicon.com's Newsarama has done a piece reviewing the pilot and its response from the comic book vendors.

The response seems overwhelmingly positive, but you can read the article yourself by visiting Newsarama and checking out the latest "Journey Into Comics." Be warned, there are spoilers inside. Sangiacomo's column also is syndicated in many newspapers.

Special thanks to Ryan Pratt for bringing this to our attention.

Smallville Fourth & Fifth Episode Credits!
(9/16) We have learned who will be writing and directing episodes #4 and #5 of Smallville, which should be airing in November.

The fourth episode, "Hothead," is written by Greg Walker and directed by Greg Beeman (talk about a Greg-patrol!). Walker wrote several episodes of The X-Files, including the episodes "Brand X," "Surekill," and "Empodocles;" Beeman has directed for Martial Law and Nash Bridges.

Episode #5, "X-Ray," is written by Mark Verheiden and directed by James Frawley. Fans may recognize Verheiden's name -- he was the creator of the Dark Horse Comics character Timecop (and was a writer and producer on that TV series as well as the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie). Frawley has directed for almost any TV show you could think of, from Ally McBeal to the recent Fugitive remake and even Melrose Place.

You can find episode spoilers by clicking here.

Congratulations To Tollin-Robbins: "Hardball" Hits #1
(9/16) This week's projected box-office totals are in, and the new Keanu Reeves film "Hardball" hit a home run to first place with over $10.1 million dollars.

This is noteworthy to Smallville fans because Tollin-Robbins Productions, who produced "Hardball," is also producing Smallville. TRP also had a big hit with the sports-related film "Varsity Blues."

Congratulations on making first place! The movie has gotten some good reviews, and high ratings from those coming out of theaters, so you may want to check it out!

A New Promotional Poster!
(9/15) Apparently some very large promotions for Smallville have shown up in major metropolitan areas, and one of the latest Smallville promotional items sighted may be what is showing up everywhere.

This latest Smallville poster is very "movie-like," and features Tom Welling as Clark Kent in an unfortunate situation from the show's pilot episode.

Unfortunately, with the closing of many of the Warner Bros. Studio Stores, it is unknown how one could go about getting one of the new posters. Some have popped up on EBay for astronomical prices (that's actually where we obtained this picture), and there was also a variation of the poster listed there that was very wide but short (unfortunately the seller put their name very largely on the picture of the item, so we can't show you a copy). If anyone knows where fans can order or buy this poster at a reasonable price, please send in some e-mail.

Smallville Mentioned In Several Newspapers With New Quotes From The Cast & Crew
(9/15) The L.A. Daily News was one of many newspapers to feature Smallville in the past few days, with a very entertaining article with what might be the most candid and enjoyable quotes to come from the cast and crew.

Their article features what may have been the first printed Smallville-related interview with actor Sam Jones III, who will be playing Clark's friend Pete Ross on Smallville. Sam talked about the longtime Superman fans and how they have reacted to the potential altering of a legend. "It's funny; there are Web sites up, and it's funny to read what the think -- 'Who is this Electric Boy (a character in the pilot)? He was never in the comic' and 'We like Michael Rosenbaum, but what's this about Lex and Clark Kent being friends?' and 'Pete Ross wasn't originally black -- I'm no racist, but what is this?' I'm, 'Uh-oh, are they gonna like me?' and then someone types back in my defense." (Don't worry Sam, we think you're great!)

Michael Rosenbaum, who will be playing the young Lex Luthor, also got a great quip in, when asked about what makes Smallville different from its WB-alien-teen-angst predecessor, Roswell. "There's no bald guy in Roswell," he joked.

Finally, executive producer Alfred Gough talked about another important element that was missing from Roswell that is very prevalent and important to Smallville -- the relationships between the main characters and their parents. "As good as Clark's relationship is with his father, you'll get to see how twisted Lex's relationship is with his father. And that feeds into the guy he's going to become."

In other newspaper sightings, USA Today on September 14 listed Smallville as one of the five new fall series "most likely to stick around" (click here to read the full article). The Kansas City Star mentioned some of the familiar faces we'll see on TV this fall, and cited Annette O'Toole's casting as Martha Kent (click to read). The Chicago Tribune did an article about Smallville for their September 13 paper (click to read). Finally, the Washington Post TV Week magazine for the week of September 16-22 has a Fall TV Preview this week. It reviews all of the new series, and of Smallville it said for pluses "There should be some neat special effects," but for minuses it says "The kid is strong, but he never flies." Whoever designed the cover of the TV Week must have done it with this Fall's duds in mind -- John Stamos' Thieves was on the cover, as was Emeril. But no Smallville -- what gives?

Special thanks to the people who wrote in with leads on where to find these great articles. If you come across any articles yourself, please send in some e-mail!

Smallville Reviewed In FHM Magazine
(9/15) The latest issue of the U.S. version of FHM Magazine (the one with Nikki Cox on the cover) has a feature on the new TV series for Fall 2001, with columned comparisons between it an the other new fare for the fall.

They said that "big-budget effects and The X-Files plot lines make this Kid of Steel soar" but the "teen-friendly take on Superman might not work for diehards." They did, however, deem that Smallville will have a "long and happy life." It might also be noted that Smallville is only one of two new series to get that distinction (the other being Enterprise).

We also hear that Smallville is mentioned in the latest issue of Men's Health.

Smallville Promo Available At WBKansas.com
(9/14) Jeff "Kal-El" Burns tells us that WBKansas.com now has a fall preview up at their site, and while there you can download one of the show's video trailers.

We at KryptonSite haven't downloaded the trailer yet, but we're assuming it's one of the longer ones.

Here's a closer link to check it out: WBKansas.com

Cincinnati Post Says Smallville "Looks Like A Hit"
(9/14) The Cincinnati Post, like many newspapers lately, has done a feature on the new Fall TV season and has listed the shows they think will hit or miss this year. "This could be a sleeper hit of the season that plays as both sci-fi fun and wholesome family viewing," they said.

You can read the entire article by clicking here, and thanks goes out to EmotionalHermit for the lead.

USA Today Lists Kristin Kreuk Among Their "Faces to Watch"
(9/14) Kristin Kreuk (Smallville's future Lana Lang) was listed in USA Today as one of the "faces to watch" for the new Fall season.

The article mistakenly says that Smallville will be the first time viewers in the United States will see Kristin; of course, fans know better, that Kristin has been seen on episodes of Edgemont on the Fox Family Channel.

You can find *that* complete article by clicking here.

Sad News...
(9/11) Unfortunately we don't live in a world where a Superman (or a Clark Kent for that matter) can avert disaster in a single bound. KryptonSite would like to extend its sympathy to the friends and families of those who were lost or injured as a result of the terrible terrorist attacks of September 11th.

Big New Smallville Updates At TheWB.com
(9/11) Warner Brothers' official site now has a ton of new material up for Smallville, including many new pictures and biographies of the cast. There are also "The Art of Being..." features on stars Tom Welling and Kristin Kreuk.

You can find the WB's new stuff by clicking here.

Return to the Old Headlines archive

Song Yet To Be Sung
Curious about what that song is that is played in the background of the promos for Samallville? Wonder no more! It's "Song Yet To Be Sung" by Perry Farrell, and you can order yourself a copy and help support KryptonSite!

 

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