It's a little too early to call the CW's Smallville the Titanic, but there are definitely some icebergs on the horizon, and those lifeboats are looking awfully comfortable.
The show is currently in its seventh season and has been renewed for an eighth, but next season will look a lot different. The latest crew member rumored to be on the way out is Allison Mack, the fan favorite who plays Chloe Sullivan.
A recent rash of defections from the show has Mack thinking she should do the same, unless producers make staying worth her while, according to TVGuide.com, which cited "inside sources."
"[Smallville producers] need Chloe now more than ever--and Allison's people know it," the source told TVGuide.com. Mack's people are allegedly in negotiations to sign her for next season, and the actress has a ton of leverage on her side.
Smallville producers need her character because two major cast members have already given notice. Michael Rosenbaum, who plays Lex Luthor, officially declared his departure last week, and Kristin Kreuk, who plays Lana Lang and happens to be Mack's best friend in real life, reduced her status to recurring and is moving on to other projects.
And it isn't just actors who are flying away. Early last month, Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar said that this season would be their last. Their roles as show runners and producers were replaced by executive producers Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer, Kelly Souders, and Brian Peterson.
Representatives for Mack aren't commenting on the situation, so take the news with a grain of salt. But if Mack does jet, expect Doomsday for Smallville to come a little earlier.
What do you think, Smallville fans? Can Clark, Lois, and Supergirl keep the show soaring?
Comments (119)
this show has been long dead
i honestly don't really care & i'm surprised that those 2 people actually said they will stop watching hahaha
If she leaves they might as well just let the show go. I'm no Lois fan, never liked her, never got used to her after they shoved her in our face so for her to have an even bigger role along with Super-can't act-girl, I don't think I'll be able to take it!
A FURTHER question: why would creators Gough and Millar leave the show right before the climax (next season?)???!! Makes no sense, unless they're clearly unhappy w/ something... any ideas/info, folks? Smallville clearly won't be the same w/out their creative genius...
Oh my gosh -- I had no idea! It's bad enough (indeed, perhaps fatally crippling) to lose Lex, but the incredible Chloe and the two amazing creators Gough and Millar, as well? The show won't last another full season...
(Heck, I've been feeling bummed that "Mom" hasn't been shown at all this season, not to mention 'losing' Lionel Luthor, also an incredible asset to the show... But now THIS???)
It will be VERY SAD for me, as this has been my favorite show! :-((
Wow, just wow. This show is going to tank if you take away Allison Mack, and Lex Luthor. Lex Luthor is like Shredder to the Turtles, or Darth Vadar for Star Wars. With no Lex Luthor, how can the show continue? Sure, they have other villians, but Lex is the main villian that I see in the Superman empire.
Keep Alison Mack pay her for gods sake. put her on a level with welling. she's an excellent character. get diana prince into the show. Make her recurring like ollie queen. noone is using wonderwoman at the moment. it can be done. and for godsake get annette o'toole back. Michael rosenbaum is a loss alright but Superman has a big rogues gallery out there. It can survive on that. Lana hasn't had a point since season 4 so we can live with less of her
Just give her a pay rise already
thats not fair, there wouldn't be anyone left for the show. just clark, lois, jimmy and kara. who is going to be clark's human friend, i mean who knows his secret. i just won't watch anymore.
The show has officially jumped the shark!
I really enjoyed seasons 1-5, But somewhere along the line the story has gotten off course with the "Traveller" storyline. Nothing ever happens anymore. Its as if the writers dont know which direction to take the show with all the uncertainty with which actors are leaving next season.
smallville should have ended in its 7th season, as buffy did.valuable actors are being wasted for too long now in this show.Perhaps a brand new show with other actors, called "Metropolis", with a less "frodo look" actor to play superman.
Chloe is Smallville. She's what makes it so new, fun and with a possible super twist ending nobody sees coming. If she leaves, lots of us won't be watching or buying anything SV related, anymore.
What are you all thinking? There are more criminals in Supermans history then just Lex Luthor. If Lex leaves, then bring on the other villians and let Clark mature into the SuperMAN. It's time he move to the city anyway.
chloe leaves.. and I leave too... no more smallville for me!
The show should have ended with season 7. Season 6 was the last GOOD season. Ever since then the episodes have pretty much been the same: nothing really new. Lana leaving should be good, but Chloe and Lex leaving leaves the show pretty much...dead.
She can't leave. No lana for a last half of season 7, and realized i don't miss her. With no Lex they had better bring back Lionel. Doomsday can't quite fill in their shoes.Calling All Justice League!
She has to stay. Smallville without her won't be the same. It's bad enough not having Lex anymore.
If chloe leaves I'm just not watching anymore. Its that simple.
Lana, maybe. But Smallville is nothing without Lex Luthor.
If the Chloe character was to leave to become the "Watchtower" for Green Arrow's team, then I could accept it. It would also allow Clark to move past his Smallville roots and move on to becoming Superman.
I hope they keep chloe.:(She is one of the best people in there.
She's not leaving. She just want some more cash, and she will likely get it, too.
I still want Lois to be killed off, and I wanna see how they get Chloe to take her place
Chloe can't leave, She is the best thing about Smallville. It won't be the same without her, She is great I nearly stopped watching the first time I thought they'd killed her off. IMO the whole cast other than Clark and Chloe are expendable but those two hold it together.
I think this is great news. Her character lost her wit and intelligence and has ceased being an asset to Clark. The fact that many old characters are leaving could be a good sign that Smallville is finally moving forward . While the loss of Michael Rosenbaum is a big one, losing Chloe and Lana is insignificant to the main plot. We knew Lana would be leaving the picture eventually and Chloe hasn't been helping Clark much lately, to the contrary she's been more of a hindrance. While this is more the writers fault than Mack's, it doesn't diminish the fact that Chloe's death/departure wouldn't be as monumental as it once would have been. While I loved the approach that Smallville took to the Superman story, I think they are stuck in the past and need to realize that Clark, now being in his 20s , is not the teen that he started off as and needs to start becoming more of Superman. The old cast and crew departures could be just the shake up this show needs to get its quality back. However, it was that cast and crew that created a show that has had me watching for 7 seasons, so if they can find a way to keep her on the show and have things work out, it would be nice because with the departure of Lana, O'Toole(Mrs. Kent), and Lex it would be nice to have some link to Clark's past.moreless
I won't be tuning in if Chloe leaves. She's the only person other than Clark worth watching.
What's going on in Smallville? Everyone's leaving... Is it worth one more season?
I thought Superman didn't fly until he was 30 years old. Didn't he spend 11 years at the fortress of solitude and then he flew?
I love Chloe, but I'm not too bothered if she goes. A new start for season 8 could be agood thing.
The show is one of my favorites... and I don't like what is happening to it....Michael Rosenabaum is leaving ... Kristine too.... I don't want o see that happen with Alison Mac. The show started going down hill and I don't know will it keep up with expectations. It is really better to have one more season of 10-16 episodes and finish it properly. Otherwise I don't think it will be worth watching with so many characters off the show! I just wanted to add that it would have been good thing from the artistic point of view if in the end some of the main characters died....but not only bad ones...the good ones as well.
Smallville is coming to the point where things need to change. In all other superman stories, lana left to start a new life(in the Animated Series she returns as a clothing designer-LL). IF chloe leaves, it would give clark a reason to start his cover at the daily planet. If doomsday is written in, clark will need to become superman and do super stuff before doomsday makes his first golden smile, and start a relationship with lois. It would be sweet to have them bring to reality the 'reign of supermen'. So in closing, smallville needs to change as clark changes his whole entire motto of hiding his gifts. At some point he'll need a huge motivating point to fly around in red flannel underware, and i do hope the show doesn't change too much.moreless
its about time. smallville had too many boring characters who out stayed their welcome and seemed pointless in the grand scheme of things, maybe with new characters and new people at the helm the show can be good again like it used to be.
If Michael Rosenbaum leaves the show can't go on. What is Clark Kent without Lex Luthor?? We've already lost one Luthor (Lionel) and the show can't afford to lose another.
i am quite happy to see the back of lana lang, but chloe has to stay. she has some great one liners. i agree her relationship with jimmy plays out badly. i also think its time smallville merged with superman, lets get clark flying, lets get him saving the world like superman does and lets get him working at the daily planet. but does anyone else think that there is no way clark would ever fall in love with lois?
Hopefully the producers are going to realize how much of a useless character she has become in the last few seasons. The same thing happened to Lana. When she became useless, the writers had no idea what to do with her so they gave her the stupid witch storyline, after that she married Lex and then the baby fiasco followed. Chloe got meteor-powers instead, got kicked out of the Daily Planet just to take over Isis and work her magic from there. Give me a break. Her relationship with Jimmy feels unnatural because these two people have nothing in comon and they lie and hide from each other all the time. So seriosly, what do you expect the storyline to be for this mary sue martyr type of character?
i don't want her to leave! she was awesome. smallville is losing everyone now! :o
The only characters on "Smallville" with flavor were Chloe and Lionel, and the only actors worth more than minimum wage were Mack and Glover. I've been wondering why they didn't leave a long time ago. They deserve better.
Hopefully she'll stay on. I dislike the idea of having too many new cast members especially when season 8 will most likely be the last
No Chole u can't go I love u so!!! I need you yo keep Clark on track He still doesn't think he can be Superman but you keep him in somewhat the right direction.
i agree that Chloe is needed more so than the other two because she's the one clark comes to with all his dilemmas, who is he going to turn to if not her?
Calm down soccer moms. She's negotiating for more money. If you were carrying what's left of Smallville on your shoulders, you would too. To negotiate, you have to let it be known that you are going to quit. It's too bad Kristin left. You could tell Mack and Kruek were buds, but money is what decides careers- not a gal pal. Chill out folks. Let's be honest, where are these people going to go besides the Sci-Fi network on a good day.
looks like what happened to charmed is slowly happenning to smallville.unless they use the 8th season for superman purposes. and not as a final year of normal smallville and only the finale he becomes superman. they need to use the entire season!
1st Lex now Chloe?!?!? noooo!!!
smallville is not going to be the same
Allison Mack cant leave....what is she thinking???
This is just insane!
:(
NOOOOOOOO.....not my beloved Allison! They can't let her leave. Two reasons she is my favorite person on the show next to Lex (who is already gone) and she has got to be one of the cutest girls I've ever seen. I will confess that I am a bit biased about her but she does carry alot of the show. Tom Welling is good but with out someone to balance his character there is no show and Lois and Kara are not gone be able to do that.Show to make things short:- Chloe can't quit (I love her!)- The show needs Chloe because Lex has left( If perhaps someone affiliated with the show reads this site please pass along to Allison and her 'people', DON'T QUIT! We need you. Then hug and kiss her lol and see if I can get a headshot signed that would be cool :) )moreless
If Allison were to leave, it would be a shame. Tom Welling would be the only cast member left from the beginning of the show.Since Smallville had its own plot/timeline, it initially had appeal to old and new Superman fans. But like any other show, producing episodes that everyone will enjoy becomes more and more difficult as the show matures.That being said, it would really be nice for the CW to make sure that some character other than Clark runs the duration of the series (if season 8 is to be the last) for diehard Smallville fans.I think that Chloe and her powers can still provide some interesting twists and turns to season 8 and its new characters.