Even though Smallville has been stuck in the death slot of Friday nights, (thanks, CW), the ratings for the Tom Welling-starring fantasy series are improving.

Now admittedly Smallville is not capturing 8 million viewers like NBC’s Law & Order or 7.9 million viewers like Ghost Whisperer on Friday nights, but it is picking up.

Smallville drew in 2.76 million viewers in overnight numbers from last night.  But more importantly, the show won the demographic of adults between 18-34 & men 18-34.

It also hit a new season high and their best performance in these categories in over a year, since September of 2008.

With November sweeps and the World Series both starting last week, it causes a strange effect in television ratings. While November sweeps is supposed to bring in high ratings, the World Series always cuts into their usual audience as we’re seeing with ABC’s much touted drama, FlashForward. The new series created by David S. Goyer and Brannon Braga saw its lowest ratings last week and conversly, this past week Smallville saw their highest ratings since the ninth season began.

Still, can the World Series really account for all these ratings fluctuations? As a fan of Smallville, I make sure to always tune in, but even with the show being able to pull in 2.6 million viewers; it’s still down over 1 million viewers from last season. When Smallville made the move to Friday night, The CW was putting their veteran series up against the powerhouse that is CBS’s Friday night line-up. Since the Kryptonian visitor has been able to hold its own on the toughest night of the week, I have a feeling that Mr. Kent may receive another season order.

Happy Friday everyone! For our last Friday of October 2009, Halloween weekend! And you know what that means… we’ve again gathered the latest posters to come out for this week’s poster round-up.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes new one-sheets for Sherlock Holmes, The Box, How To Train You Dragon, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Fourth Kind, The Graves, Psychosis, Old Dogs, The Blackout, Smallville, Cracks, V.A.m.L. and Altitude.

In addition to that, we have some hints as to the meaning of the Lost poster from two weeks back and a little bonus for Tron Legacy.

Let’s get to it.

Friday nights used to be the graveyard for television programs. If you were scheduled to air on Friday night, you were doomed.

Though that might still generally be the case, modern times are changing perspectives on how ratings are looked at by the advertisers. Now-a-days, ratings are considered by many to be the live viewing plus 7 days to be a growing statistic, and if you really think about it, it might even go longer.

But ads have a certain amount of relevant, useful time to their message. So for now, we’re sticking to 7 days. With that said, it’s interesting to see that of the top 5 shows in the top of the DVR tables, 3 of them are Friday night shows.

With Geoff Johns (The Flash) scripting an episode Smallville, folks are in anticipation of which characters from the Justice Society would actually show up.

The recent news breaking on the street is that Hawkman, Doctor Fate and Stargirl will be showing up.  So we can now add these three to the other cast of heroes that will be gracing the episodes of Smallville, such as Green Arrow’s sidekick, Speedy (Appearing October 23rd) and the Wonder Twins.

Green Arrow will be getting a sidekick on this season of Smallville and we now know the actress who will be playing the part. Elise Gatien (In the Land of Women) will be Mia/Speedy, a street urchin who Oliver (Justin Hartley) will train to be his bow-and-arrow-toting partner in the fight against crime.

I think my version of the synopsis sounded pretty good, but you’ll probably want to check out this official statement from the CW anyway:

We here at Screen Rant are here to cater to you, the reader. Now, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to be bringing over any freshly baked ice cream cone cupcakes (remember those? Awesome.), but that does mean that we like to hear from you about what you like, what you don’t, what you watch and what you’d like to see more coverage about.

Over the past few weeks of the fall season premiere, we have played around with reviews and discussions on a variety of television shows – and while some received the expected responses (Stargate, Flashforward, Smallville), others did not (CSI, CSI:NY, Criminal Minds, MythBusters). And then there were some shows that nobody expected to receive the amount of response it did (Ghost Whisperer).

As we all know, Brian Austin Green will be playing Metallo in this Friday’s episode of Smallville.  The following clip is from this Friday nights’ episode titled “Metallo.”

Two things about the preview clip that follows after the break:

The overnight ratings numbers are in for the premieres of Dollhouse and Smallville and they’re not as rosy-looking as we’d like.  Then again, it is Friday night and our favorite returning shows are up against some heavy hitters.

CBS dominated Friday night with their shoe-in season premiers of Ghost Whisperer and Medium.  Both shows raked in over 8 1/2 million viewers.

Even the encore presentation of FlashForward dusted our favored shows by bringing in an additional 4.6 million viewers.

Last night’s premiere of Smallville started out with a recap of various scenes from season 8 to help catch up viewers to the big events that concluded last season’s storylines.

It has felt like forever since we’ve seen Clark take down Doomsday, watched Jimmy die and saw Clark walk away from Chloe. So, it was quite a rush to watch the teaser lead into the 9th season of Smallville as we were treated to several details for the upcoming season.

Join us to recap and discuss the premiere of Season 9 of Smallville.

Ghost Whisperer, Law & Order, Smallville, Dollhouse, Medium & Numb3rs are all returning tonight… and then we have the premiere of a FOX comedy with a retired football player?

Friday hasn’t been this popular for television since ABC was in its hay-day with TGIF and Boy Meets World (Feeny!). With seven hours of new and returning programming stuffed into a three hour block, you’re either going to have to make some tough decisions on what to watch, or be a DVR master.

Let’s take a look at tonight’s lineup.

If you need something to tide you over until Smallville premieres on the CW, Friday night, September 25th, the CW just released this Smallville clip today.

Check it out!

As September 25th crawls ever closer, The CW is starting to work a little harder on generating some attention for their TV series Smallville.  Which as you know, was moved to Friday nights.

Tom Welling, Erica Durance, Allison Mack & Justin Hartley amongst others will be reprising their roles and we’ll have some guest spots & villains played by Brian Austin Green, Callum Blue, Julian Sands & others.

Is it me, or is anyone worried that the pics we’re seeing of Clark in his Neo-looking outfit are only from one episode?  Maybe I’m just being a bit gun-shy after that 3-hit fight with Doomsday.  Regardless, Smallville is looking to be a fun season… if done properly!

Season 9 of Smallville is piling on the guest appearances and classic characters.

Entertainment Weekly has let us know that Julian Sands has been cast to play the role of Jor-El and will show up in that role in a November episode.

Apparently he showed up on Earth when Zod and the other Kandorians popped in during that very last scene we witnessed in the season 8 finale of Smallville.

Yesterday we found out that Warner Bros. has created DC Entertainment Inc. (DCE) to better expand the DC Comics into a multimedia brand of steel . Now comes the inevitable question of “What’s the game plan?”

MTV Splash Page posted a nice piece declaring which DC properties should be put on fast-track under the DCE banner, and this being Friday and all, I thought I’d once again do a little call-and-response on the topic (I now consider Splash Page’s Josh Wigler to be something of a pen-pal).

So in response to the call, here’s my take on the DC Entertainment venture and what paths it should be considering…

After the Disney/Marvel merger DC Comics and longtime-partner Warner Bros. had to be shaking in their boots. “The House of the Mouse” is already looking like a force that few will likely be able to reckon with.

Well, in an effort to become one of those few forces able to take on Disney/Marvel, Nikke Finke reports that Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. has launched a new division, DC Entertainment Inc., in order to better expand the DC Brand.

Marvel fanboys have already been having heart palpitations wondering what the fate of their favorite characters will be in the hands of Disney. Now DC fans can officially share in that anxiety.

Season 9 of Smallville has a lot of changes coming up:

Tom Welling will be directing a few episodes of Smallville this season, the pesky (lack of) flying will be addressed, Geoff Johns will be writing an episode and we’ve all heard how Clark will be dealing with issues on trying to be only a hero, leaving the personality of Clark behind.

We’ve also got Metallo, General Zod and (shudder), the Wonder Twins showing up in season 9.

On top of that, Clark Kent will have a new look in the upcoming 9th season of Smallville. Check it out after the page break.

It’s a new week and today your TV news includes a look at Fringe’s second season; Superman will be teaming with Chuck; The Alien Nation is rising again; True Blood takes a big bit of DVD sales; Patton Oswalt talks life on Caprica; and could Supernatural rise from the grave?

Let’s get to it:

FRINGE

Got a few pics from Fringe’s upcoming second season. The pics include The Bishops (Joshua Jackson, John Noble) and Astrid (Jasika Nicole) up to their usual hijinks in the lab, as well as guest star Meghan Markle, who will play junior FBI agent Amy Jessup – I’m guessing while Sr. Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is hanging out with Leonard Nimoy in alternate dimensions.

Hollywood is funny to me. They moan and groan about new technology when it first comes out, mainly because it allows people to “rip them off”; but afterward, once the technology has been around and they have spent millions fighting it, Hollywood finally embraces it, claims it as their own and purports it to be the best thing since sliced bread.

The music industry shutdown Napster because the RIAA refused to embrace the newest format of digital music, only to “introduce” it as the latest and greatest thing ever with Apple and the iTunes store years later. Then YouTube came along a few years later and allowed people all over the world to enjoy video clips of their favorite shows that otherwise they would have missed. The movie and television industry tried to shut them down because the MPAA refused to conform and adapt its business model to a new format, one the consumer really wanted. Now, again years later, they show back up with Hulu, Veoh and other streaming video websites and try to make consumers think they came up with it first.

Just a brief update on this Monday: Plan your prime time with the 2009 TV Fall Schedule; Smallville is getting another new guest star; A certain “Foxy” lady might be kicking off SNL this year; Learn how to catch up on all the NBC shows you missed last year (for free!); and speaking of NBC, how about a first-look photo of Jim and Pam getting married on The Office?

And as a bonus (because I love you) I let you know about the government’s “Cash for TV Clunkers” program.

Let’s get to it!

Smallville fevers continues to run high this week. Already we’ve gotten a first look at Brian Austin Green as Metallo and then word on which actors would be playing the Wonder Twins. Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, now we have the official promo trailer for Smallville’s upcoming 9th season, featuring a look at the “Dark Superman” uniform.

If you’re one of those Smallville fans that has been patiently waiting eight seasons for the show to kick into super-powered high gear than you are at the end of your wait! Take a look:

Today we have some info about the ongoing cast additions to Caprica, some scary character add-ons to Smallville, A little tidbit about NBC. I also point something out about that tiny little paltry convention called Comic-Con.  LOL.  You’ll see what I mean.

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Caprica

First up, some interesting Caprica casting tidbits. The last two roles I saw James Marsters in was Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Smallville.

Now, we will be able to add Caprica to my list.

Smallville fans I don’t know if you’re into SPOILERS or not, but today TV Guide nabbed a first look at Brian Austin Green as Superman foe Metallo, a role he’ll play in a two-part arc during the Season 9 premiere of Smallville this fall.

Be fairly warned that once you go any further you’ll be spoiling the surprise for yourself, so be sure you’re sure you want to know before you proceed.

Still wanna see how Smallville is going to pull off Metallo? Take a look:

In today’s Weekly TV Wrap Up, we’re going to talk about Fringe realities, Supernatural & Smallville news & True Blood setting records.

We’re then going to touch on some news from Fox’s House, and wrap things up with an NCIS tidbit and some more summer time ratings.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

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Fringe

Despite the possibility of there being multiple realities, the showrunners for Fringe are only going to torment the viewers with one alternate reality at a time.  Thank god.  I have enough trouble with my own reality as it is!

As they put it, there’s “over here” and the alternate reality referred to as “over there,” where William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) lives.

Panel attendees included Justin Hartley, Erica Durance, Kelly Souders, Tom Welling, Brian Peterson, Allison Mack, Cassidy Freeman & Callum Blue.

Smallville will be premiering season 9 on Friday, Sept 25th.  The DVD for season 8 will be coming out on August 25th.

Writing alum Jeff Loeb moderated, and did a great job,

We then saw the season 9 preview.

In this weeks TV Wrap Up, I’ve found  casting news about Stargate Universe, Supernatural, Psych, Friday Night Lights, Smallville, Criminal Minds and Stephen King’s book-turned-tv-series, Cell!

As usual, I have a ratings recap at the bottom, but it’s the Summer Lite edition being as how we’re in repeat mode for the Summer (except for the reality drabble that is intertwined throughout the chart).

Let’s “git ‘er done“, shall we?

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Stargate Universe

Stargate Universe is looking to cast a “name actress” to play the wife of Robert Carlyle’s character.

These will be flashback scenes since she will be dead by the time we see her.

Today’s Weekly TV Wrap Up covers information about ABC on Hulu, a new developing tidbit on Smallville, NCIS casting bits, CSI Miami does time travel and some Lie To Me & The Mentalist casting news.

We also have a trailer for season 2 of Sons Of Anarchy, a bit about David Tennant’s next acting role and some information on 2 new shows coming at us, The Forgotten and Gravity.

There’s also a bit of a change up to the Ratings table this week.  I apologize ahead of time.

The debate goes on and on as to whether Smallville is going beyond the upcoming 9th season.  In fact there are many things that are up in the air as far as what we know about the show.

The few things we do know:

• Tom Welling, who plays Clark Kent, has signed a 2-year contract renewal with the CW network.
• Allison Mack’s contract ends next year.
• Callum Blue & Brian Austin Green are hopping on board to play a few characters.

Things have been up in the air ever since Al Gough and Miles Millar left the show to the supporting showrunners Darren Swimmer, Todd Slakin, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson.  They’ve proven themselves, more or less with season 8, despite the emptiness of the season finale.

UpDated 7-2-09

Last year at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, the event was ruled by several big named movies that ranged from youthful vampires to illegal vigilantes.  TV was more a side-note than anything else.

This year at the 2009 Comic-Con, things will be a bit different as television programming seems to have a bigger presence than last year.

For instance, the Warner Brothers Television Group will have 11 different panels for their shows.  That’s a studio best for them.  ABC Studios will have 7 panels.  20th Century Fox will have 9 panels.

Do you think your favorite television show will be represented?

Can it be true?  A rumor is starting to drift about the web-i-verse that there’s a movie on the horizon that will culminate Smallville’s run on The CW.

In the working theory, it will be called “Metropolis”, and it could be slated for a Christmas 2010 airing on the small screen.