Update: Mack Gets the Moola

Need I say more? Yes, Allison Mack got her pay hike, but no word on how much, though apparently it’s for a full 22 episodes as usual, at least according to Mike Ausiello (again) from tvguide.com. Translation? They couldn’t turn this teapot into a tempest and so no sooner had they announced her plight, than it was over. It seemed to be mainly a publicity stunt that didn’t pan out. That’s not really a surprise considering the buzz turned to blah for Smallville a long time ago, but what impact does her pay raise have on the rest of the cast and show?

For example, will Lois Lane be in every episode finally, or does bringing Chloe back at a higher price relegate Lois to only half the season again? How about Jimmy Olsen? The cast is still light when it comes to regulars. Lana will be back for only a few episodes and Lex will be gone for good, not to mention Lionel and Martha are already gone.

Hopefully characters who exist in Clark’s future won’t be shortchanged and Smallville will drift towards the Metropolis side and away from the farm. As mentioned previously, introducing Perry White, even if the original actor is unavailable, would be a huge step in the right direction. This is particularly true if they finally launch Clark’s journalism career because he has been running towards his destiny in granny low far too long. He doesn’t have to go into overdrive, but even third gear would be refreshing.

Mack Maneuvering for More Moola

Stick 'em Up!

Chloe Sullivan may not be a returning character in Smallville’s final season next year unless Allison Mack’s price is met, at least according to tvguide.com’s Ausiello. He said, in part, “sources confirm to me exclusively that Allison Mack, arguably Smallville’s most popular heroine, may be the next [referring to Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor] to go.”

Rosenbaum’s departure, however, didn’t seem to be over money, just a desire to move on after playing young Superman’s arch nemesis for seven years, which is pretty much a standard reaction for most actors on hour drama format shows that survive more than four seasons. The hours are grueling and the actors feel they have no social life outside the characters they play. Yet those who become accustomed to the steady income and are fearful of future prospects, tend to cling to an established role. It becomes a monetary security blanket.

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Who Really Inspired Lois Lane?

Most Superman fans know that Jerry Siegel’s wife Joanne was the model for how Lois Lane looked in the early comics, but Lois’s attitude and personality were often mistakenly attributed to a classmate from Siegel and Shuster’s Cleveland high school.

However, Siegel himself set the record straight with a letter to the editor of Time Magazine, a publication that also printed the erroneous classmate story. Siegel stated that a fictional reporter named Torchy Blane, featured in a series of B movies from the 1930s, was his true inspiration.

Glenda Farrell was the actress who portrayed Torchy in the bulk of the movies, but an attractive brunette named Lola Lane (above), who obviously inspired Lois’s name, played her in one of the better films.

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You Said It

Since, as mentioned, I turned off the comment feature due to way too much spam getting through even with filters, I asked you to send me your comments to my e-mail address at guardian@redboots.net and you did. Thanks!

I’m going to post and comment on some of your e-mail. I’m not posting all of the e-mail since many are simply one liners like “I agree” or “I disagree” or “Loved your post” type of comments. Believe me, I love getting them, both positive and negative, but in this column I’ll be addressing comments, questions, critiques, etc. so let’s get started.

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Translating the best selling Death of Superman saga into a 70 minute animated movie is a daunting task. Of course in that time frame not everything will be covered, which might upset purists, but unless you have the money to produce a story on a Peter Jackson scale, that’s inevitable.

The other purist constituency who might quibble over details would be fans of the Superman animated series, disappointed that different voice actors are being used and the look of the characters will be different. However, for the rest of us, this should be a very intense and entertaining movie.Read the rest of this entry »