I just purchased the 7th season of Smallville, and am enjoying it for the most part. I just finished the fourth episode, which had Dean Cain in it; this brought my mind back to...Lois and Clark: the New Adventures of Superman. I don't know if anyone reading this has seen that show recently, but it was horrific. The acting, the writing, the music, everything about the show was way below standard. I believe that the television shows in the early 90's were generally horrible, but not as bad as L&C. So why did it last so long (it lasted 4 seasons, and actually would have kept going if the sexual tension between them hadn't been released by them getting married)? It was the same reason that Smallville has done so well: good looking people and riding on the coat tails of the greatest superhero of all-time, Superman.
As I watched some of the special features on the DVD set for L&C, it seems that the major reason that they cast Dean Cain as Superman was because of his looks; when he auditioned, there a huge crowd of screaming women waiting to get a peak at the best looking actor on "Beverly Hills: 90210". And let's face it: Teri Hatcher is the best looking Lois Lane EVER. The Smallville people are just as beautiful, but younger. This certainly helped the rise of both these shows.
But, the main reason for this post, and my ranting, is that they ride on Superman's wonderful following and wonder of the Man of Steel that has attracted so many people in past years. Superman is most definitely the most recognizable superhero of all time. So, Smallville and L&C used that to their advantage; but, they botched the rest of it. I think back on my favorite episodes of both shows, they are the ones that had to do with the sincere mythology of Superman. Episodes like Justice, or the one where Lex split into two (a good Alexander and a bad Lex) had that flare that I look for in a Superman show. Anyways, I guess what I'm saying is that Smallville isn't that great of a show, and it wouldn't be able to hold its candle if it didn't already have the rich base that Superman already has. That is the only explanation that I can give as to why it's so popular. The show is getting better; season 6 was great because it had less do to give the drama and more to do with the comic book roots it came from.
Cheers.
