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Pilot (Smallville)

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The pilot episode of the television series Smallville premiered on The WB on October 16, 2001. It was written by series developers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar , and directed by David Nutter . The Smallville pilot introduces the characters of Clark Kent , an orphaned alien with superhuman abilities, and his friends and family who live in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas . It follows Clark as he first learns of his alien origins, and attempts to stop a vengeful student from killing Smallville High School students. The episode introduces many themes that were designed to run either the course of the season or the entire series, such as the triangular relationships of the main characters.

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110-466: Production was set in Vancouver , Canada , used for its "middle America" landscape, with five months devoted to casting the right actors in the lead roles. Filming for the pilot officially began four days after the last actor was cast for the series. When time constraints would not allow the production crew to physically create the sets, computer-generated imagery was used to digitally insert set pieces into

220-529: A scarecrow pole, using Lana's necklace, indirectly, to subdue Clark. This image of Clark, in just his underwear and a red "S" painted on his chest, stretches back to Gough and Millar's foundation for the series, which was about taking Clark down to the basic elements of the Superman character. In the second strand of the story, Lex Luthor ( Michael Rosenbaum ) and Clark develop a " yin and yang " relationship. Clark first saves Lex from drowning when they get into

330-449: A "preeminent pilot director". David Nutter joined the project because he wanted to make a pilot that respected the audience but that was still fun and smart. Nutter also believes in creating shows that appeal to a wide variety of audiences. He wanted the final scene for the pilot, in which Clark fantasizes about dancing with Lana, to express the show's essence. According to Welling: "It brings them close—not as close as Clark would like, but at

440-411: A car accident; at the end of the episode, Lex saves Clark when he is strung up in the cornfield and immobilized by kryptonite. Jeremy Creek (Adrian McMorran)—who was mutated by the meteor rocks, gaining special powers—puts the three former jocks, who tied him to a scarecrow pole during the meteor shower, into comas. He sets out to kill everyone attending the school's dance, after witnessing Clark experience

550-503: A change of 4.9% from its 2016 population of 631,486, making it the eighth-largest among Canadian cities . More specifically, Vancouver is the fourth-largest in Western Canada after Calgary , Edmonton and Winnipeg . With a land area of 115.18 km (44.47 sq mi), it had a population density of 5,749.7/km (14,891.6/sq mi) in 2021, the most densely populated Canadian municipality with more than 5,000 residents. At

660-464: A cheaper shooting location, and was in the same time zone as Los Angeles . Filming began in March 2001; Nutter spent sixteen days on main unit filming and an additional five days for second unit filming . Time constraints forced Nutter to film strictly from Adrien Van Viersen's 150–page storyboard when filming the opening meteor shower scene. Much of the look for Smallville came from Millar, who wanted

770-505: A darker blue denim shirt. The character of Bo was best known for his rebel yell exclamation of the catchphrase, " Yee-Haa! "; cousin Luke sometimes also performed such a yell, but on a less regular basis. (Actor Tom Wopat had trouble mastering the high-pitched yell early on, and in the opening credits and many examples within the episodes, it is actually a recording of John Schneider's version used twice to represent both Duke boys' yell). Most of

880-418: A few times, most prominently in the feature-length/two-part story "Carnival of Thrills". Bo was the only Duke to perform a "roof slide". The character was nearly always seen wearing the same style of clothes, with a yellow shirt (with a blue T-shirt underneath for the first two seasons and some of third; this T-shirt is brown in the pilot episode), and light blue jeans. The exact hue of the shirt varied across

990-510: A few times. Bo was a superior driver to his cousin Luke, probably the reason he drove most often and was the first Duke to jump the General Lee. Although Bo was not professionally trained in boxing like Luke was, he was entirely capable of taking care of himself, even saving Luke in a fight on occasion. As with his cousins Luke and Daisy, Bo's tendency to fall in love easily led the Dukes into trouble

1100-427: A greenhouse for the pilot, but they only grew two feet high, which was not usable to the crew. The day the crew was filming the scene for Clark's landing there were no cornfields in the surrounding area. The cornfields had to be digitally added. Digital corn was a common substitute for the undersized corn that was grown, but for scenes where digital corn was not an option, six hundred stalks of fake corn were flown in from

1210-588: A leading force in the city's society and economy until the rise of anti-German sentiment with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Today the Chinese are the largest visible ethnic group in Vancouver; the city has a diverse Chinese-speaking community with speakers of several dialects, notably Cantonese and Mandarin . Neighbourhoods with distinct ethnic commercial areas include Chinatown , Punjabi Market , Little Italy , Greektown , and (formerly) Japantown . Since

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1320-504: A manufacturer in Arizona . Other digital effects include the flattened cornfield where Lex was caught in a meteorite blast. Some scenes required physical effects, instead of computer imagery. When Lex drives his car off a bridge and hits Clark, the stunt performer, who doubled as Wolverine in the film X-Men , was literally hit by the car as it went over the bridge. "Pilot" premiered on The WB on October 16, 2001. 8.4 million viewers watched

1430-598: A population density of 918.0/km (2,377.6/sq mi) in 2021. Approximately 75 percent of the people living in Metro Vancouver live outside Vancouver itself. The larger Lower Mainland-Southwest economic region (which includes also the Squamish-Lillooet , Fraser Valley , and Sunshine Coast Regional District ) has a population of over 3.04   million. The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 274,365 persons or 42.2% of

1540-440: A scene. When the series premiere was broadcast, it broke several of The WB's viewership records. It was generally well received by critics, and was nominated for various awards, winning two. The episode begins in 1989 when a meteor shower hits Smallville; at the same time a small spacecraft, containing an alien boy, crashes in front of Jonathan and Martha Kent 's (played by John Schneider and Annette O'Toole ) truck. They adopt

1650-589: A typical coastal British Columbia mix of Douglas fir , western red cedar and western hemlock . The area is thought to have had the largest trees of these species on the British Columbia Coast . Only in Elliott Bay , Seattle , did the size of trees rival those of Burrard Inlet and English Bay . The largest trees in Vancouver's old-growth forest were in the Gastown area, where the first logging occurred and on

1760-483: A very solid start to the series, and one of the better pilot episodes I've seen in a while". In The Futon Critic 's 50 best episodes of 2001 rankings, the pilot was placed 31st, with Brian Ford Sullivan stating that " Smallville opened us to a surprisingly fresh take on the Superman myth-this time showing us the humble beginnings of a young Clark Kent". The CW re-aired the pilot on Friday, April 8, 2011 in preparation for

1870-682: A warm-summer Mediterranean ( Köppen: Csb ). While the city has the coolest summer average high of all major Canadian metropolitan areas, winters in Greater Vancouver are the fourth-mildest of Canadian cities, after nearby Victoria , Nanaimo and Duncan , all on Vancouver Island. Vancouver is one of the wettest Canadian cities. However, precipitation varies throughout the metropolitan area. Annual precipitation as measured at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond averages 1,189 mm (46.8 in), compared with 1,588 mm (62.5 in) in

1980-564: Is 38.1 cm (15.0 in) but typically does not remain on the ground for long. Vancouver's growing season averages 237 days, from March 18 until November 10. Vancouver's 1981–2010 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone ranges from 8a to 9a depending on elevation and proximity to water. As of 2021, Vancouver is the most densely populated city in Canada. Urban planning in Vancouver is characterized by high-rise residential and mixed-use development in urban centres, as an alternative to sprawl . As part of

2090-574: Is a modernist high-rise, now converted into the Electra condominium. Also notable is the "concrete waffle" of the MacMillan Bloedel building on the north-east corner of the Georgia and Thurlow intersection. A prominent addition to the city's landscape is the giant tent-frame Canada Place (designed by Zeidler Roberts Partnership Partnership, MCMP & DA Architects ), the former Canada Pavilion from

2200-637: Is also the site for the LuthorCorp pesticide plant, which Lex was sent to Smallville to manage. The crash site of Clark's ship was shot at the sandpits where Mission to Mars was filmed. Smallville's Main Street was filmed in both the town of Merritt , which is three hours east of Vancouver, and in the town of Cloverdale . Most of the filming took place in Cloverdale, since the town had a long stretch of vacant buildings that could double as Smallville's Main Street. When

2310-709: Is currently located was referred to by the Stó꞉lō in the Upriver Halkomelem dialect as Lhq’á:lets , meaning "wide at the bottom/end". Speakers of the Island dialect of Halkomelem referred to the region of Vancouver as sqwx̌wam̓ush or skwóm̓esh , referring to the Squamish, or as Pankúpe7 , a transliteration of the English word "Vancouver". Archaeological records indicate that Aboriginal people were already living in

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2420-641: Is the Paradox Hotel Vancouver at 188 m (617 ft), followed by the Private Residences at Hotel Georgia , at 156 m (512 ft). The fourth-tallest is One Wall Centre at 150 m (490 ft) and 48 storeys, followed closely by the Shaw Tower at 149 m (489 ft). In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada , Vancouver had a population of 662,248 living in 305,336 of its 328,347 total private dwellings,

2530-413: Is the origin of the name that eventually became "Vancouver". The indigenous Squamish people who reside in a region that encompasses southwestern British Columbia including this city gave the name K'emk'emeláy̓ which means "place of many maple trees"; this was originally the name of a village inhabited by said people where a sawmill was established by Edward Stamp as part of the foundations to

2640-586: The 1986 World Exposition , which includes part of the Convention Centre , the Pan-Pacific Hotel , and a cruise ship terminal. Two modern buildings that define the southern skyline away from the downtown area are City Hall and the Centennial Pavilion of Vancouver General Hospital , both designed by Townley and Matheson in 1936 and 1958, respectively. A collection of Edwardian buildings in

2750-454: The 2021 census Vancouver has been called a "city of neighbourhoods." Each neighbourhood in Vancouver has a distinct character and ethnic mix. People of English, Scottish, and Irish origins were historically the largest ethnic groups in the city, and elements of British society and culture are still visible in some areas, particularly South Granville and Kerrisdale . Germans are the next-largest European ethnic group in Vancouver and were

2860-605: The British Columbia Parliament Buildings and the Empress Hotel in Victoria, and the lavishly decorated second Hotel Vancouver. The 556-room Hotel Vancouver , opened in 1939 and the third by that name, is across the street with its copper roof. The Gothic-style Christ Church Cathedral , across from the hotel, opened in 1894 and was declared a heritage building in 1976. There are several modern buildings in

2970-546: The Canadian Pacific Railway . The Canadian Pacific transcontinental railway was extended to the city by 1887. The city's large natural seaport on the Pacific Ocean became a vital link in the trade between Asia-Pacific , East Asia , Europe , and Eastern Canada . Vancouver has hosted many international conferences and events, including the 1954 Commonwealth Games , UN Habitat I , Expo 86 , APEC Canada 1997 ,

3080-469: The Cumberland coal mines on Vancouver Island . Following a lull in the 1920s, the strike wave peaked in 1935 when unemployed men flooded the city to protest conditions in the relief camps run by the military in remote areas throughout the province. After two tense months of daily and disruptive protesting, the relief camp strikers decided to take their grievances to the federal government and embarked on

3190-684: The General Lee evenly between them. After Bo graduated high school in-and-around 1976 he became a stock car driver (though he joined the NASCAR Circuit for most of season 5 with his cousin Luke), and he was typically the one known for taking the General on most of its legendary jumps. Because its doors were welded shut, Bo and Luke always had to climb in and out of the car through the windows. Actors John Schneider and Tom Wopat have admitted that, on occasions that

3300-555: The Kitsilano area. Vancouver also has a significant aboriginal community of about 15,000 people. Bo Duke Beauregard "Bo" Duke (born circa 1958) is a fictional character in the American television series The Dukes of Hazzard , which ran from 1979 to 1985. He was played by John Schneider . Bo and his cousin Lucas K. "Luke" Duke ( Tom Wopat ) live in an unincorporated area of

3410-511: The On-to-Ottawa Trek , but their protest was put down by force. The workers were arrested near Mission and interned in work camps for the duration of the Depression. Other social movements, such as the first-wave feminist , moral reform, and temperance movements , were also instrumental in Vancouver's development. Mary Ellen Smith , a Vancouver suffragist and prohibitionist , became

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3520-736: The Pacific Maritime Ecozone . Until the city's naming in 1885, "Vancouver" referred to Vancouver Island, and it remains a common misconception that the city is located on the island. The island and the city are both named after Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver (as is the city of Vancouver, Washington , in the United States). Vancouver has one of the largest urban parks in North America, Stanley Park , which covers 404.9 ha (1,001 acres). The North Shore Mountains dominate

3630-541: The Port of Vancouver is the fourth-largest port by tonnage in the Americas, the busiest and largest in Canada, and the most diversified port in North America. While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second-largest industry. Major film production studios in Vancouver and nearby Burnaby have turned Greater Vancouver and nearby areas into one of

3740-561: The World Police and Fire Games in 1989 and 2009; several matches of 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup including the finals at BC Place in Downtown Vancouver , and the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics which were held in Vancouver and Whistler , a resort community 125 km (78 mi) north of the city. In 1969, Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver. The city became the permanent home to TED conferences in 2014. As of 2016 ,

3850-445: The census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the metropolitan area referred to as Greater Vancouver had a population of 2,642,825 living in 1,043,319 of its 1,104,532 total private dwellings, a change of 7.3% from its 2016 population of 2,463,431, the third-most populous metropolitan area in the country and the most populous in Western Canada . With a land area of 2,878.93 km (1,111.56 sq mi), it had

3960-535: The colonial government surveyed the settlement and laid out a townsite , renamed " Granville " in honour of the then–British Secretary of State for the Colonies , Lord Granville . This site, with its natural harbour, was selected in 1884 as the terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway, to the disappointment of Port Moody , New Westminster and Victoria , all of which had vied to be the railhead. A railway

4070-452: The moonshine business among other interests. Bo and Luke had both been sentenced to probation for illegal transportation of moonshine. As a result, neither was permitted to use firearms, instead preferring to use bow and arrows , which they sometimes tipped with dynamite . The terms of Bo and Luke's probation included staying within the boundaries of Hazzard County (unless given special permission by their Probation Officer, J.D. Hogg). Bo

4180-461: The most livable cities in Canada and in the world. In terms of housing affordability , Vancouver is also one of the most expensive cities in Canada and in the world . Vancouverism is the city's urban planning design philosophy. Indigenous settlement of Vancouver began more than 10,000 years ago and included the Squamish , Musqueam , and Tsleil-Waututh (Burrard) peoples. The beginnings of

4290-484: The 1930s onward by the government of Japan. These flower for several weeks in early spring each year, an occasion celebrated by the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival . Other streets are lined with flowering chestnut, horse chestnut and other decorative shade trees. Vancouver's climate, one of the mildest and most temperate climates in Canada, is classified as oceanic ( Köppen: Cfb ) bordering on

4400-512: The 1980s and 1990s, recent immigration has been comparatively low. However, growth in the Latino population – which largely consists of Mexicans and Salvadorans  – rose in the late 2010s and early 2020s. African immigration has been similarly stagnant (3.6% and 3.3% of total immigrant population, respectively). The black population of Vancouver is small in comparison to other Canadian major cities, making up 1.3 percent of

4510-592: The 1980s, immigration increased substantially, making the city more ethnically and linguistically diverse; 49 percent of Vancouver's residents do not speak English as their first language. Over 25 percent of the city's inhabitants are of Chinese heritage. In the 1980s, an influx of immigrants from Hong Kong in anticipation of the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to China, combined with an increase in immigrants from mainland China and previous immigrants from Taiwan , established in Vancouver one of

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4620-552: The British settlement later becoming part of Vancouver. In hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (the Downriver dialect of Halkomelem) spoken by the Musqueam , there is no specific term for Vancouver. Rather there existed names for specific villages and landscape features that the people knew intimately in the area Vancouver exists in currently, as opposed to larger geographic features. The region where Vancouver

4730-549: The Empire's tallest commercial building by the elaborate Art Deco Marine Building in the 1920s. The Marine Building is known for its elaborate ceramic tile facings and brass-gilt doors and elevators, which make it a favourite location for movie shoots. Topping the list of tallest buildings in Vancouver is Living Shangri-La , the tallest building in BC at 201 m (659 ft) and 62 storeys. The second-tallest building in Vancouver

4840-590: The Fraser River, on their way to the Fraser Canyon , bypassing what would become Vancouver. Vancouver is among British Columbia's youngest cities; the first European settlement in what is now Vancouver was not until 1862 at McCleery's Farm on the Fraser River, just east of the ancient village of Musqueam in what is now Marpole . A sawmill was established at Moodyville (now the City of North Vancouver ) in 1863, beginning

4950-942: The Kent home. All the exterior shots of the farm were taken at the Andalinis farm, owned by a local couple who also gave the crew permission to paint their forest green house yellow . Since the Vancouver farm already had a barn, the production crew only had to build a loft with stairs leading up to it. Exterior shots of the Luthor Mansion were shot at the Hatley Castle in Victoria , two hours west of Vancouver by ferry. Time constraints forced scenes, which were shot from multiple angles, to sometimes be shot at separate locations. A scene involving Whitney (Eric Johnson) and Lana (Kristin Kreuk) sitting on her porch

5060-581: The Pacific. Examples include the monkey puzzle tree , the Japanese maple and various flowering exotics, such as magnolias , azaleas and rhododendrons . Some species imported from harsher climates in Eastern Canada or Europe have grown to immense sizes. The native Douglas maple can also attain a tremendous size. Many of the city's streets are lined with flowering varieties of Japanese cherry trees donated from

5170-538: The Vancouver area from 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. The Squamish , Musqueam , and Tsleil-Waututh (Burrard) peoples of the Coast Salish group had villages in various parts of present-day Vancouver, such as Stanley Park , False Creek , Kitsilano , Point Grey and near the mouth of the Fraser River . Europeans became acquainted with the area of the future Vancouver when José María Narváez of Spain explored

5280-521: The airport was 34.4 °C (93.9 °F) set on July 30, 2009, and the highest temperature ever recorded within the city of Vancouver was 35.0 °C (95.0 °F) occurring first on July 31, 1965, again on August 8, 1981, and also on May 29, 1983. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city was −17.8 °C (0.0 °F) on January 14, 1950 and again on December 29, 1968. On average, snow falls nine days per year, with three days receiving 5 cm (2.0 in) or more. Average yearly snowfall

5390-495: The building of high-rise residential towers in Vancouver's West End , subject to strict requirements for setbacks and open space to protect sight lines and preserve green space. The success of these dense but livable neighbourhoods led to the redevelopment of urban industrial sites, such as North False Creek and Coal Harbour, beginning in the mid-1980s. The result is a compact urban core that has gained international recognition for its "high amenity and 'livable' development". In 2006,

5500-544: The city its name in honour of George Vancouver . The Great Vancouver Fire on June 13, 1886, razed the entire city. The Vancouver Fire Department was established that year and the city quickly rebuilt. Vancouver's population grew from a settlement of 1,000 people in 1881 to over 20,000 by the turn of the century and 100,000 by 1911. Vancouver merchants outfitted prospectors bound for the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. One of those merchants, Charles Woodward, had opened

5610-409: The city launched a planning initiative entitled EcoDensity , with the stated goal of exploring ways in which "density, design, and land use can contribute to environmental sustainability, affordability, and livability". The Vancouver Art Gallery is housed downtown in the neoclassical former courthouse built in 1906. The courthouse building was designed by Francis Rattenbury , who also designed

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5720-476: The city population belonged to a visible minority group; at the same time, this proportion was roughly 14 percent for the entire metropolitan area . By 2016, the proportion in the city had grown to 52 percent. Prior to the Hong Kong diaspora of the 1990s, the largest non-British ethnic groups in the city were Irish and German , followed by Scandinavian , Italian , Ukrainian , Chinese, and Punjabi . From

5830-582: The city's long relationship with logging. It was quickly followed by mills owned by Captain Edward Stamp on the south shore of the inlet. Stamp, who had begun logging in the Port Alberni area, first attempted to run a mill at Brockton Point , but difficult currents and reefs forced the relocation of the operation in 1867 to a point near the foot of Dunlevy Street. This mill, known as the Hastings Mill , became

5940-640: The city's old downtown core were, in their day, the tallest commercial buildings in the British Empire . These were, in succession, the Carter-Cotton Building (former home of The Province newspaper), the Dominion Building (1907) and the Sun Tower (1911), the former two at Cambie and Hastings Streets and the latter at Beatty and Pender Streets. The Sun Tower's cupola was finally exceeded as

6050-544: The city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Metro Vancouver area had a population of 2.6   million in 2021, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada . Greater Vancouver, along with the Fraser Valley , comprises the Lower Mainland with a regional population of over 3   million. Vancouver has the highest population density in Canada, with over 5,700 inhabitants per square kilometre (15,000/sq mi), and

6160-399: The city. Hogan's Alley , a small area adjacent to Chinatown, just off Main Street at Prior, was once home to a significant black community. The Black population consists of Somalis , Jamaicans/Caribbeans, and other groups, including those who descended from African Americans. The neighbourhood of Strathcona was the core of the city's Jewish community. In 1981, approximately 24 percent of

6270-556: The city. While some manufacturing did develop, including the establishment of the British Columbia Sugar Refinery by Benjamin Tingley Rogers in 1890, natural resources became the basis for Vancouver's economy. The resource sector was initially based on logging and later on exports moving through the seaport, where commercial traffic constituted the largest economic sector in Vancouver by the 1930s. The dominance of

6380-538: The cityscape, and on a clear day, scenic vistas include the snow-capped volcano Mount Baker in the state of Washington to the southeast, Vancouver Island across the Strait of Georgia to the west and southwest, and Bowen Island to the northwest. The vegetation in the Vancouver area was originally temperate rainforest , consisting of conifers with scattered pockets of maple and alder and large areas of swampland (even in upland areas, due to poor drainage). The conifers were

6490-554: The coast of present-day Point Grey and parts of Burrard Inlet in 1791—although one author contends that Francis Drake may have visited the area in 1579 . The explorer and North West Company trader Simon Fraser and his crew became the first-known Europeans to set foot on the site of the present-day city. In 1808, they travelled from the east down the Fraser River, perhaps as far as Point Grey. The Fraser Gold Rush of 1858 brought over 25,000 men, mainly from California , to nearby New Westminster (founded February 14, 1859) on

6600-535: The downtown area and 2,044 mm (80.5 in) in North Vancouver. The daily maximum averages 22 °C (72 °F) in July and August, with highs rarely reaching 30 °C (86 °F). The summer months are typically dry, with only one in five days receiving precipitation during July and August. In contrast, most days from November through March record some precipitation. The highest temperature ever recorded at

6710-508: The downtown area, including the Harbour Centre , the Vancouver Law Courts and surrounding plaza known as Robson Square (designed by Arthur Erickson ) and the Vancouver Library Square (designed by Moshe Safdie and DA Architects ), reminiscent of the Colosseum in Rome, and the recently completed Woodward's building Redevelopment (designed by Henriquez Partners Architects ). The original BC Hydro headquarters building (designed by Ron Thom and Ned Pratt) at Nelson and Burrard Streets

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6820-444: The economy by big business was accompanied by an often militant labour movement . The first major sympathy strike was in 1903 when railway employees struck against the CPR for union recognition. Labour leader Frank Rogers was killed by CPR police while picketing at the docks, becoming the movement's first martyr in British Columbia. The rise of industrial tensions throughout the province led to Canada's first general strike in 1918, at

6930-401: The end of [this] episode, he imagines that he's with her and can really see it happening". Production was initially slated to take place in Australia, but Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada had more of the "middle America" feel for which the creators were looking. The area offered a site for the Kent farm, including their barn, and the city itself doubled as Metropolis. Vancouver provided

7040-431: The epitome of "Smalltown, USA". Construction coordinator Rob Maier explained: "It had to be cleaner than clean, nicer than nice, more beautiful than it would be in the real world. All of the people in Smallville are beautiful; all of the colors are bright and sharp". For the Kent farm, Nutter wanted to have "an old world sensibility and tone". For the pilot, the production crew only built a kitchen and dining room to represent

7150-558: The fictional Hazzard County, in Georgia . Bo and Luke own a 1969 Dodge Charger , named The General Lee , which is painted orange, with the Confederate flag on top, and 01 painted on the sides with the name "General Lee" inscribed above the doors that were welded shut for safety. Bo and Luke evade the corrupt officials of Hazzard County, Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and usually end up putting an end to Hogg's latest crooked scheme. The Dukes (including cousin Daisy Duke and Uncle Jesse Duke) were well known for their role in

7260-433: The first Woodward's store at Abbott and Cordova Streets in 1892 and, along with Spencer's and the Hudson's Bay department stores, formed the core of the city's retail sector for decades. The economy of early Vancouver was dominated by large companies such as the CPR, which fuelled economic activity and led to the rapid development of the new city; in fact, the CPR was the main real estate owner and housing developer in

7370-418: The first woman elected to a provincial legislature in Canada in 1918. Alcohol prohibition began in the First World War and lasted until 1921 when the provincial government established control over alcohol sales, a practice still in place today. Canada's first drug law came about following an inquiry conducted by the federal minister of Labour and future prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King . King

7480-422: The fourth highest in North America (after New York City , San Francisco , and Mexico City ). Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada: 49.3 percent of its residents are not native English speakers, 47.8 percent are native speakers of neither English nor French, and 54.5 percent of residents belong to visible minority groups. It has been consistently ranked one of

7590-443: The fourth-most expensive real estate market in the world in 2019. Vancouver has also been ranked among Canada's most expensive cities to live in. Sales in February 2016 were 56.3 percent higher than the 10-year average for the month. Forbes also ranked Vancouver as the tenth-cleanest city in the world in 2007. Vancouver's characteristic approach to urban planning originated in the late 1950s, when city planners began to encourage

7700-440: The graveyard scene, from the pilot, with Kristin Kreuk; the network thought they had "great chemistry". No one could agree on which actors had the best audition for Lex Luthor. Michael Rosenbaum auditioned twice, and, believing he did not take his first audition seriously, outlined a two-and-a-half-page scene from the pilot. He indicated all the places to be funny, charismatic, or menacing, and performed so well that everyone agreed he

7810-561: The greater good of humanity, and Smallville shows us how he comes to accept and embrace that role. Elizabeth White of Media Life believed the show had potential to be a big hit for The WB but felt it needed to survive not only its time slot—Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ( EST )—but also the audience's expectations of "what Superman should be". USA Today ' s Robert Bianco was a bit more mixed in his criticism. Bianco stated: "For all its innovations, there's also something rehashed and repetitive about Smallville ... shows often look more familiar at

7920-450: The highest concentrations of ethnic Chinese residents in North America. Another significant Asian ethnic group in Vancouver includes South Asians , forming approximately 7 percent of the city's inhabitants; while a small community had existed in the city since 1897, larger waves of migration began in the 1950s and 1960s, prompting new Punjabi immigrants to establish a Little India (known as Punjabi Market ) and preside over much of

8030-551: The larger Metro Vancouver region, it is influenced by the policy direction of livability as illustrated in Metro Vancouver's Regional Growth Strategy. Vancouver ranked high on the Global Liveability Ranking and stood at number 1 on the list for several years until 2011. In recent years, it has dropped, ranking as low as 16 in 2021. As of 2022 , Vancouver was ranked as having the fifth-highest quality of living of any city on Earth. According to Forbes , Vancouver had

8140-506: The largest film production centres in North America, earning it the nickname " Hollywood North ". The city takes its name from George Vancouver , who explored the inner harbour of Burrard Inlet in 1792 and gave various places British names. The family name "Vancouver" itself originates from the Dutch "van Coevorden", denoting somebody from the city of Coevorden , Netherlands. The explorer's ancestors came to England "from Coevorden", which

8250-682: The mass construction of the Vancouver Special across the southeastern quadrant of the city, notably within the Sunset neighbourhood prior to the suburbanization of the community to outer suburbs such as Surrey or Delta. Other Asian-origin groups that reside in Vancouver include Filipinos (5.9%), Japanese (1.7%), Korean (1.7%), West Asians (1.9%), as well as sizable communities of Vietnamese , Indonesians , and Cambodians . Despite increases in Latin American immigration to Vancouver in

8360-497: The meteor blast. The episode jumps forward twelve years to when Clark ( Tom Welling ) is trying to find his identity. He is unable to handle being told of his alien origins and runs away from home. Although he is attracted to Lana Lang ( Kristin Kreuk ), he cannot get close to her without falling over in pain because she wears a necklace made of meteor rock ( kryptonite ), which is a radioactive fragment of Clark's destroyed homeworld. This

8470-464: The mid-1950s until the 1980s, many Portuguese immigrants came to Vancouver, and the city had the third-largest Portuguese population in Canada in 2001. Eastern Europeans, including Russians , Czechs , Poles , Romanians and Hungarians began immigrating after the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe after World War II . Greek immigration increased in the late 1960s and early '70s, with most settling in

8580-403: The modern city, which was originally named Gastown , grew around the site of a makeshift tavern on the western edges of Hastings Mill that was built on July 1, 1867, and owned by proprietor Gassy Jack . The Gastown steam clock marks the original site. Gastown then formally registered as a townsite dubbed Granville , Burrard Inlet . The city was renamed "Vancouver" in 1886 through a deal with

8690-492: The nucleus around which Vancouver formed. The mill's central role in the city waned after the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in the 1880s. It nevertheless remained important to the local economy until it closed in the 1920s. The settlement, which came to be called Gastown , proliferated around the original makeshift tavern established by Gassy Jack in 1867 on the edge of the Hastings Mill property. In 1870,

8800-468: The outset than they do as they progress. There's talent and intelligence at work in Smallville . Given time, maybe they'll find a more distinctive voice". Jeremy Conrad, from IGN , swore to himself that he would never watch Smallville , because he was a "huge Superman fan" and he did not like the idea the creators would be making changes to the Superman mythology. After viewing the pilot, Conrad said: "It's

8910-487: The pilot were done by Thomas Special Effects. Certain scenes, because of time and money, had to be created digitally. The opening sequence showing the destruction of the water tower by a meteor was created on the computer. A persistent problem during production was the lack of cornfields. As realistic corn was a necessity for a show based in Kansas , this became a problem for the filmmakers. Over 10,000 stalks of corn were grown in

9020-425: The pilot's debut, breaking The WB's record for highest ratings for a new series. The pilot broke The WB's ratings record for the 18–49 male demographic, with 3.9 million viewers; it became the third-highest rated debut for the overall adult 18–49 demographic, with an average 3.8 million viewers. The premiere also finished first with viewers age 12–34, leading Warner Bros. President of Entertainment Jordan Levin to credit

9130-586: The pilot. Allison Mack toyed with the idea of auditioning for the role of Lana Lang but chose instead to audition for the role of Chloe Sullivan . The character was created just for the series and was intended to add ethnic diversity to the cast, but part of the reason Gough and Millar chose to cast Mack, against their initial intentions to give the character an ethnic background, was because they were impressed with Allison Mack's "rare ability to deliver large chunks of expositionary [ sic ] dialogue conversationally". Sam Jones III , who plays Pete Ross ,

9240-561: The pilot. The pilot was nominated for two Golden Reel Awards , one for Effects & Foley Sound Editing and one for Music Sound Editing. Peter Wunstorf was also nominated for an American Society of Cinematographers Award for his work on the pilot. The pilot, along with the second episode "Metamorphosis", was released in Canada as a special pilot movie. The episodes were altered on the DVD, formatted in 1.78 widescreen, and presented with no opening segment and an alternate closing. It also contained

9350-599: The population of the enlarged Vancouver was 228,193. Located on the Burrard Peninsula , Vancouver lies between Burrard Inlet to the north and the Fraser River to the south. The Strait of Georgia , to the west, is shielded from the Pacific Ocean by Vancouver Island . The city has an area of 115.18 km (44.47 sq mi), including both flat and hilly ground and is in the Pacific Time Zone (UTC−8) and

9460-536: The probation conditions in place was never revealed; Bo's cousin Coy ( Byron Cherry ), who was very similar in both appearance and nature to Bo, replaced Bo until he returned to the series a few months later (Yet another cousin, Vance, replaced Luke during the same time frame). According to the 1997 film The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! , Bo left Hazzard again to pursue a successful NASCAR career, this time without Luke. Shortly before his return to Hazzard, he crashed his car, and

9570-534: The production crew came to film the opening teaser, they had to decorate the town with ribbons and balloons, as well as paint some of the buildings to attain Millar's idea of "Smalltown, USA". Two sets were built just for the pilot. The Kent storm cellar was built as a cover set inside the farm's barn. For the cemetery scene between Clark and Lana, production designer Bernard Hides built the entire cemetery from scratch in an empty field. On-set computer-generated effects for

9680-451: The role of Clark Kent, eventually accepted the opportunity to be part of the show. It was David Nutter who finally convinced Welling to read the script for the pilot, after finding Welling's picture in a photo album at the casting director's office. Welling's manager did not want him to take the role because it could hurt his feature film career, but Welling liked the script and agreed to come in for an audition. Welling's reason for turning down

9790-410: The role was because the producers were keeping quiet on what the show was really about, which left him with the impression the show was going to be "Superman in high school", something he did not want to do. Nutter promised to let Welling read the script if he came in and auditioned. After auditioning, Welling was given the script to read, which he thought was "amazing". For one of his auditions, he read

9900-469: The roles were reversed and Luke drove, they found it much more difficult to climb in and out of the opposite window to which they were accustomed. Bo later left Hazzard County, along with his cousin Luke, to join the NASCAR circuit (coinciding with Schneider's and Wopat's decision to walk out of the show during the fifth season over a dispute over royalties owed to them), although how they managed to do this with

10010-417: The same hazing he did, but Clark is able to arrive in time to stop him. Gough and Millar had five months for casting, but their primary focus was on finding an actor to play Clark Kent. They received Kristin Kreuk's audition tape for the role of Lana Lang and liked it so much that they immediately showed her to the network. Tom Welling, after twice turning down the producers' attempts to get him to audition for

10120-559: The same special features present in the DVD box set of the first season. The DVD was released in a snap case . The pilot received favorable reviews upon its release. Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette thought it was a "respectful addition to Superman lore" and had "all the markings of a super series". Owen noted the Christ-like imagery of the scene, stating, "is it any wonder Clark gets tied up there since Superman, too,

10230-411: The seasons - early on it was a deeper yellow; mid-run it was more of a cream color, and late examples saw it being more of a grey tone. The second episode produced and broadcast, "Daisy's Song", is notable for Bo instead wearing a red shirt for much of the story. A sequence in the fifth episode, "High Octane", sees Bo dressed in a light blue shirt, and many early publicity shots see the character dressed in

10340-460: The series finale. The episode was watched by 1.55 million viewers and achieved a 0.5 Adults 18-49 rating, despite only 92% coverage. Footnotes Bibliography Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada , located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia . As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in

10450-419: The series with invigorating the network's Tuesday night lineup. The pilot won an Emmy Award for Sound Editing; it had also been nominated for Visual Effects but lost to UPN's Star Trek: Enterprise . The special effects team won a Leo Award for Best Visual Effects in a Dramatic Series. Casting directors Deedee Bradley, Coreen Mayrs, and Barbara Miller were nominated for an Artios Award for their work on

10560-459: The southern slopes of False Creek and English Bay, especially around Jericho Beach . The forest in Stanley Park was logged between the 1860s and 1880s, and evidence of old-fashioned logging techniques such as springboard notches can still be seen there. Many plants and trees growing throughout Vancouver and the Lower Mainland were imported from other parts of the continent and points across

10670-428: The superhumanly powerful child and name him Clark . Gough and Millar use this opening scene to establish that the three lead characters of the series, Clark, Lana and Lex, share a common bond—they are all without one or both parents: Clark is the only survivor of his homeworld; Lana's parents are killed in the meteor shower; and Lex is alienated from his father, Lionel Luthor ( John Glover ), after being rendered bald by

10780-419: The time, it was Bo who drove The General Lee , with his cousin Luke riding shotgun (although these roles were swapped more regularly in later seasons); very early episodes suggested that the General belonged solely to Bo (Luke is said to have had a car that was wrecked very shortly before the start of the first episode, "One Armed Bandits"), but by mid-first season, it was implied that both Bo and Luke owned

10890-523: The total population of Vancouver. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were mainland China (63,275 persons or 23.1%), Philippines (29,930 persons or 10.9%), Hong Kong (25,480 persons or 9.3%), India (14,640 persons or 5.3%), United Kingdom (12,895 persons or 4.7%), Vietnam (12,120 persons or 4.4%), Taiwan (9,870 persons or 3.6%), United States of America (9,790 persons or 3.6%), Iran (8,775 persons or 3.2%), and South Korea (6,495 persons or 2.4%). Pan-ethnic breakdown of Vancouver from

11000-408: The war, these Japanese-Canadian men and women were not allowed to return to cities like Vancouver causing areas, like the aforementioned Japantown , to cease to be ethnically Japanese areas as the communities never revived. Amalgamation with Point Grey and South Vancouver gave the city its final boundaries not long before it became the third-largest metropolis in the country. As of January 1, 1929,

11110-417: Was "the guy". John Schneider was brought in to play Jonathan Kent. Schneider was already well known as Bo Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard , and Gough believed Schneider's experience from The Dukes of Hazzard added believability to the idea that he could have grown up running a farm. Cynthia Ettinger was originally cast as Martha Kent, but during filming it was generally agreed—Ettinger included—that she

11220-429: Was 'sent to save us'?" Echoing Owen, DVD Verdict noted the same symbolism: Superman is, in a way, the secular pop culture stand-in for Jesus Christ, a messiah figure for our generation. The series makes this theme explicit in its pilot episode, in which Clark is symbolically 'crucified' in a cornfield. That striking bit of symbolism becomes the central preoccupation of the series; Clark is the savior who sacrifices all for

11330-518: Was a concept Gough and Millar devised to establish a reason for Clark's clumsiness. In other media, it is usually portrayed as an act he puts on to deceive people of his true identity. Clark and Lana do share an intimate moment at a cemetery, where Lana is visiting the grave of her parents. In such scenes, Gough and Millar created a theme of loneliness through the life stories of Clark and Lana. Lana's boyfriend, Whitney Fordman ( Eric Johnson ), becomes jealous of Clark and Lana's friendship and ties Clark to

11440-654: Was among the inducements for British Columbia to join the Confederation in 1871, but the Pacific Scandal and arguments over the use of Chinese labour delayed construction until the 1880s. The City of Vancouver was incorporated on April 6, 1886, the same year that the first transcontinental train arrived. CPR president William Van Horne arrived in Port Moody to establish the CPR terminus recommended by Henry John Cambie and gave

11550-533: Was not right for the role. Annette O'Toole, who previously portrayed Lana Lang in Superman III , and who was fresh off the recent cancellation of her television series The Huntress , was cast in Ettinger's place, reshooting the scenes Ettinger had filmed. Eric Johnson, after auditioning for the roles of Lex and Clark, was cast as Lana Lang's boyfriend Whitney Fordman. Johnson only spent one day filming his scenes for

11660-487: Was sent to investigate damages claims resulting from a riot when the Asiatic Exclusion League led a rampage through Chinatown and Japantown . Two of the claimants were opium manufacturers, and after further investigation, King found that white women were reportedly frequenting opium dens as well as Chinese men. A federal law banning the manufacture, sale, and importation of opium for non-medicinal purposes

11770-457: Was shot at two different locations. Close-ups of Whitney were shot under a football stadium, while close-ups of Lana were shot in a potato-processing factory. Unable to shoot at the house being used as the Lang residence, the crew built Lana's front porch inside a sewage processing facility for the final scene of the episode where Lana walks up the stairs to her house. The local sewage treatment facility

11880-518: Was soon passed based on these revelations. These riots, and the formation of the Asiatic Exclusion League, also act as signs of a growing fear and mistrust towards the Japanese living in Vancouver and throughout BC. These fears were exacerbated by the attack on Pearl Harbor leading to the eventual internment or deportation of all Japanese-Canadians living in the city and the province. After

11990-624: Was the blond, younger of the two Duke boys (according to the episode "Happy Birthday, General Lee", Bo was getting out of high school around the time that Luke was wrapping up his enlistment in the United States Marines), and the more impulsive one of the pair. He often reacted to situations on impulse without thinking, sometimes with an "act/speak now, think later" attitude. This trait was an advantage at most times, since it made him willing to dive into dangerous situations without any regard for his safety, however he bit off more than he could chew

12100-493: Was the last of the series regulars to be cast. Gough and Millar saw Jones four days before they began filming for the pilot. In the comics, Pete Ross is Caucasian , and the producers chose to cast Jones, who is African-American , against the mythology. Once Warner Bros. Television secured the rights to the show, Gough and Millar set out to write the script and find a director for the pilot. Gough and Millar were fans of director David Nutter's previous work; they considered him to be

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