Will Smallville beat SG-1’s longevity record?
Stargate SG-1 fans have been holding their heads high since the show entered the Guiness Book of World Records a few years back (story), boasting the title of the longest-running science fiction show in North America. (Only the original Doctor Who ran longer.)
The series produced 214 hours over ten seasons (1997-2006).
Meanwhile, however, another Vancouver-made genre show has been quietly creeping up on Jack O’Neill and his team. The CW’s young Superman supershow Smallville is currently finishing up its eighth season, and has already been renewed for a ninth (EW.com). That will bring it up to a tie with The X-Files (in the season count), and hot on the heels of SG-1 for the record.
So is Smallville going to tie or beat SG-1’s record?
Stargate SG-1 produced 22 episodes per year for seven seasons, then 20 per year for its last three. Smallville has stayed at 22 episodes per year, with Season Seven shortened to 20 only because of the writer’s strike.
After Smallville’s 2009-2010 season, then, the show will have produced 196 episodes. If it continues on to a tenth season, it will tie SG-1 in the season count and surpass it in episodes — 218 if the network orders a full, 22-episode season.
Future prospects for the CW show rely heavily on signing lead actor Tom Welling. The eighth and ninth years have proven that the show can lose major cast members (Michael Rosenbaum and Kristin Kreuk, a.k.a. Lex Luthor and Lana Lang) and even its executive producers and keep going strong.
Smallville airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. (7 Central) on The CW in the United States. Season Nine begins this fall, and future contract negotiations and a tenth season renewal decision should come next spring.
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Quality > Quantity imo. When Smallville first came out I was so excited about it, but over the years its just been this ‘when will they get together / who will get in the way this time’ series. I think it’s a feat in itself that Smallville has lasted this long and I congratulate them but I think the writers were just randomly writing in storylines because they were short on ideas. Im a sucker for when the guy gets the girl, but this show has based itself on meteor freaks and Clark getting together with Lois. Let the ninth be its last and let the Man of Steel live on through future movies and comics.
Valaur | May 7 @ 1:47 amSmallville is so worthless. I think I’ll cry if it out runs SG-1
TwiceBorn | May 7 @ 1:47 amThis is absolutely ridiculous. A show like Smallville should never be compared to SG-1. How is that show still running? This pisses me off.
Uschi711 | May 7 @ 2:29 amIt’s not that Smallville is better than SG-1 if it surpasses it. SG-1 could very well have continued much longer had Sci-Fi channel, pardon me, Syfy(lis), not been the bitch that it is, just like with Farscape.
If MGM had their own channel, like WB does, and didn’t have to deal with all the idiots at SciFi channel who somehow thing ECW:Wrestling is somehow sci fi, then Stargate SG-1 would likely still be on TV. Along with Atlantis. And we’d still have Universe on its way.
alteran1 | May 7 @ 3:17 amThis is so trivial… what matters is quality… not quantity!
Puddle Splasher | May 7 @ 3:18 amI hope Smallville will beat the record of Stargate SG-1 it’s a great show!
MrBlueEyes | May 7 @ 4:11 amBut that record matters nothing. Stargate SG-1 was an awesome show! No matter what.
Nooooo! Please don’t. I want my SG1 to stay in the book of records! xD
caramelmonkey | May 7 @ 5:22 amforum thread on the topic:-
madwelshboy | May 7 @ 5:38 amhttp://forum.gateworld.net/showthread.php?t=66424
i love smallville i seen every episode i hope that it will contniue but i dont think it will cause latley the series rating was going down and SG1 is a serious that shoudnt ended i love both of them best series ever
SG1FAN | May 7 @ 6:07 amI did not think Smallville was Sci-fi!
gatetrek | May 7 @ 7:22 amI think it could. these ruomers about TW signed a 2-year contract when he signed for season 9.
@SG1FAN tho the last few episodes the ratings have gone down a little, season 8’s average is well about the season average for seasons 4-7
madwelshboy | May 7 @ 8:07 amI like smallville so quite happy that it’s getting another year.
dreadtech | May 7 @ 8:29 amAs for whether it will go beyond the 10 years Stargate SG-1 did, who cares grow up.
Damn you Mark Stern, we could have had fourteen seasons of SG1 man!!!!! On a brighter note, I’m just as much a fan of Smallville, So: Yea!!!!
Coremae | May 7 @ 8:50 amSmallville and SG-1 are two completely different genres. SG-1 is sci-fi in concept and focus while Smallville is teen drama on focus with the sci-fi aspect of the Superman mythos in the background.
Not to mention that Smallville has utterly distroyed the who Superman ‘verse by coming up with very stupid story-lines and trying to bring in every DC comic character that they can while the show is running, no matter if that character’s time-line fits or not.
EB | May 7 @ 9:27 amEB’s right.
Siba | May 7 @ 9:32 am@gatetrek, don’t worry Stargate is not even scifi either.
lordball | May 7 @ 9:56 amSmallville is a great show. I love the hypocrites on this site that bash it, but yet cried when that craptastic fest called Atlantis was cancelled. Sorry. Atlantis was a bad show. The original Stargate and Smallville are great shows. AND YES BONEHEADS it is consider Science Fiction.
Christopher | May 7 @ 10:35 amThat would be brilliant if my two fav shows tied with 10 seasons each. However, they shouldn’t be compared to each other as they are entirely different shows. The thing with Smallville is that it gets better every season, where as SG-1 started to go down hill after season 7 when Rick (O’Neill) was cut down, Teryl (Fraiser) killed off and Don (Hammond) was reduced to a reccurring character. I think beyond 10 seasons might be pushing it though for Smallville because of the becoming Superman aspect. Anybody that badmouths Smallville should be shot and to say it’s not Sci-Fi is rubbish. If people are saying that, they don’t understand the concept of Sci-Fi. It’s a great show and deserves to go another couple of more years even if it is just to shut those up that slag it off.
Philster1972 | May 7 @ 10:47 amI like Smallville, though, I feel like it’s running out of air lately. I think this next 9th season may be it’s last.
Mana | May 7 @ 12:09 pmI’ve been a Smallville fan since my roomates got my hooked on it around season 5. Its had good and bad moments, and I’ve been enjoying this season, even without Lex Luthor. I think it helped that Lana Lang left so we don’t have the stupid on again off again Clark/Lana relationship.
I hope they sign Erica Durance on for a full (or close to full) 22 episodes next season because this season proved that its not as good when Lois isn’t around. I will say though that I’m surprised the show has lasted this long, by all rights and means it should have ended last year. Had this year taken a different direction and been more like last year I would have said it definitely should have but this year has proven to be a fairly strong year, what with new showrunners and all. Hopefully next year will be as strong, if not stronger (and maybe see the return of Michael Rosenberg for at least the finale)? My biggest complaint with Smallville is that there has been a lack of overall cohesivness between the show’s seasons and main direction, in fact sometimes to get a story to fit (like Doomsday) they have to go back and retcon it into the shows mythology. Its still one of the best live-action superhero shows on, and Tom Welling IMHO is the best Superman since Chris Reeves.
Browncoat1984 | May 7 @ 12:38 pmSmallville, much as I once loved it, hasn’t been worth watching since the Luthors made their respective exits. I wish they’d just let it die already.
sheenabeena123 | May 7 @ 1:27 pmJust goes to show they should’ve let SG-1 run for another 2 seasons.
benwahballboy | May 7 @ 1:44 pmI like Smallville almost as I like Stargate. One thing bugs me about it lately tho and has been bugging me for a while… “Would he ever get over his damn fear of heights and learn to freakin well fly already!!”… Talk about dragging it out! lol.
Orion2 | May 7 @ 2:23 pmYes it probably will. Not sure why so many people would care though, it’s not like SG-1 was the longest running scifi anyway.
Jenks | May 7 @ 2:46 pm@Jenks True, when Guinness made that claim they had to keep changing it to keep it true, it ending up being called “The longest consecutive running US Science Fiction show” or something like that.
kzap333 | May 7 @ 4:16 pmAlthough I wouldn’t say either Doctor Who or Smallville are sci fi come to think of it neither is Heroes.
They never explain anything with science, both Heroes and Smallville are superhero shows plane and simple (still good though) and Doctor Who is just fantasy just because it has time travel and aliens doesn’t make it sci fi, I thought it had to have Science as well as Fiction.
Still good shows though.
BTW I don’t think Star Wars is sci fi either I would call it space drama or fantasy.