Pilot (16 Oct. 2001)

Baby Clark (Kal-El) arrives on Earth. Teen Clark starts high school, saves Lex's life after a car accident, and finds out about his past and birth parents.

Director:

David Nutter

Writers:

Jerry Siegel (character created by: Superman), Joe Shuster (character created by: Superman),

Stars:

Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Welling	...	Clark Kent
Kristin Kreuk	...	Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum	...	Lex Luthor
Eric Johnson	...	Whitney Fordman
Allison Mack	...	Chloe Sullivan
Annette O'Toole	...	Martha Kent
John Schneider	...	Jonathan Kent
John Glover	...	Lionel Luthor
Sam Jones III	...	Pete Ross
Sarah-Jane Redmond	...	Nell Potter (as Sarah Jane Redmond)
Adrian Glynn McMorran	...	Jeremy Creek (as Adrian McMorran)
Jade Unterman	...	Young Lana Lang
Malkolm Alburquenque	...	Young Clark Kent
Matthew Munn	...	Young Lex Luthor
Dee Jay Jackson	...	Bill Ross

Storyline

On October 12, 1989, a meteor shower falls in the town of Smallville, Kansas, killing numerous dwellers and destroying properties and plantations. Farmer Jonathan Kent and his wife Martha Kent are found by a baby boy in a destroyed cornfield after crashing their car. They find his spacecraft, and they adopt him. 12 years later, while in high school, the shy teenager Clark Kent has a crush on his neighbor Lana Lang, the cheerleader girlfriend of football player Whitney Fordman. Clark has two great friends, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross. He meets and saves Lex Luthor from a car accident, in which the future super-hero and future super-villain become fast friends. Lex runs a fertilizer company under the guidance of his ruthless, megalomaniac, billionaire father, Lionel, who resides in the nearby city of Metropolis. Later, Jonathan tells Clark his origins from the outer space, and Clark finds his weakness with close exposure to meteor rocks (kryptonite), especially when Lana wears a ...

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Plot Keywords:

underwear | public humiliation | bullying | hazing | boxer shorts | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

The WB [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 2001 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Smallville Films, Tollin/Robbins Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene showing Clark Kent "crucified" in a cornfield, wearing nothing but boxer shorts, was shot on such a chilly night that Tom Welling's breath can clearly be seen in the air. A tight shooting schedule prevented any delay in the shooting. Producers called Welling "a real trooper" for filming this scene under these conditions.

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Goofs

Lana rides up to the cemetery on a horse but later walks home with Clark, leaving the horse behind. However, the cut is actually directly from the cemetery to a scene showing Clark and Lana walking towards Lana's house from the stables. Obviously they walked to the stables, with the horse, and left it there.

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Quotes

Jonathan: What are we supposed to tell everyone? That we found him in a cornfield?
Martha: We didn't find him. He found us.

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Connections

Featured in Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Everything"
(uncredited)
Written by Jason Wade
Performed by Lifehouse

User Reviews

Great Start to the Origins of Superman!

When it comes to comic books, I'm not really a big fan of Superman's story. I felt the same way about the character much like Seth Cohen from The O.C., did about him; too perfect. It wasn't till I caught the eighth season of Smallville that my opinion began to change.

In the pilot of Smallville, we're brought to the aforementioned fictional town where a bunch of meteor rocks come falling down from the sky with Superman coming with his spaceship. After landing and found by the Kents, we flashforward to the present time where Clark (Tom Welling) has grown into a strapping young adolescent attending high school.

We're are quickly introduced to Clark's world of friends, Chloe (Allison Mack), Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), and Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum). Chloe is fascinated by the weirdness that surrounds Smallville thanks to the meteor rocks, Lana lost her parents in the meteor showers, and Lex has become bald.

As Clark struggles to find a normalcy in high school, he befriends Lex after being hit at sixty miles an hour and saving his life. Without the special effects, visual effects and more to add to the story, the actors are phenomenal and come into their own. Tom Welling has an amazing ability to play Clark and it shows when he has scenes of no words at all and he is forced to face-act.

However, I can't review the show's first episode without mentioning the special effects. Showing Clark using super-speed and super-strength is beyond cool. It's absolutely astounding and incredible to watch. Of course in 2001, the special effects weren't as good as they are now, but for their time they were quite mesmerizing. The visual effects are a treasure as well, such as when Clark is hit by a car and has no harm to him or when Clark shoves his hand into a tree grinder and has no scratches on him. The costumes and having Clark wear only red or blue are quite gorgeous too.

The pilot of Smallville packs just about everything into it. There's something for everyone, whether you're all about the romance (Clark being in love with Lana, or Chloe in love with Clark), action (Clark showing off his superpowers), or just plain a drama fanatic (as the plot grips on you from the start). It's the kind of show that you have to let marinate and grow on you. But just because you don't like the character of Superman or perhaps you don't like comic books, doesn't mean you shouldn't give Smallville a glance. It's supremely impressive if it can change my opinion of the character and become my favourite show.