Since the late 1980’s, Superman and characters related to him have not stayed off the small screen for very long. The Adventures of Superboy was swiftly followed by Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which eventually had its red boots filled by Smallville, a show that many say paved the way for Supergirl, among other superhero series.
Smallville’s influence on the current renaissance of superhero shows is not lost on Tom Welling, who played Clark Kent on that very series for ten mighty seasons. He’s also aware that many of the same crew members from his series carried over to some shows that viewers currently can’t get enough of, including directorial powerhouse Glen Winter.
Here’s what Welling had to say regarding those subjects in a recent interview with BirthMoviesDeath:
“You know, the success of Smallville is directly correlated to The Flash or Arrow – that genre that Warner Bros has been able to do. I do feel proud that it started with us, but it wasn’t just because of us. I think technology and timing – we were suddenly able to do things in television that were, until then, only available in film because of how expensive they were. So we were lucky to be able to have that timing.
A lot of the people who worked on Smallville, it’s a lot of the same crew on Supernatural, The Flash, Arrow. Glen Winter is now the god that we all knew he was, and it all started with Smallville. He’s a genius, and he’s earned everything that he has. He’s so creative, and such a great guy. Glen Winter is somebody who hasn’t been singled out yet by anyone, but if you look at what he did on Smallville and then Flash and Arrow, he’s the throughline.”
He then went on to say he thinks Smallville and Supergirl are two different beasts:
“I do enjoy it. It’s got a different angle, a more comedic angle, of course. It’s telling the story in a different way, and I don’t think it’s a world that I ever existed in with Clark because they’re two different shows. There’s really nothing in common, there are no parallels at all. I say that being a fan of what they’re doing. I think they’re doing a great job.”
Speaking of Supergirl, be sure to tune into CBS on Monday, February 22 at 8:00 pm EST when it returns with new episodes.
