Why The CW Canceled Smallville

By Season 6 of “Smallville,” the show had outlived its original network PB. The CW was formed by the merger of the WB and UPN, so the last half of “Smallville” aired there. After season 7, Rosenbaum, Kreuk, and series creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar left the series. (For the last three seasons, the previous writing team was Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer, before Kelly Souders and Brian Petersen were promoted to showrunners.)

In the 2021 “Smallville” oral history The Hollywood Reporterall four said they felt it was time to move on. Gough said:

“(Millar and I) had done seven seasons of the show. They (the network) wanted to continue indefinitely. We knew it would go beyond Season 8. We had told the stories we wanted to tell. The show would go on. We had trained everyone the people who continued to run it.”

Rosenbaum said, “I didn't leave the show. I had a six-year contract, and I ended up doing seven years. And so I felt like I'd done enough and (Lex's) character had done enough.” Kreek also added that she started “Smallville” when she was 18, and when she left, she was 26. “('Smallville') was my whole young adult life. I didn't know what the stories were going to be about Lana. I didn't want to live in a love triangle in the future, I hate love triangles, and I just wanted to explore other aspects of my life.

Gough and Millar, on the other hand, have acknowledged they probably dragged out the Clark/Lana story too longwhich in itself could be a symptom of a show lasting longer than they expected. About the episode Rosenbaum's “Inside Of You” podcast. with Gough and Millar, they all reiterated that by “Smallville” Season 7, they were burned out. Then at the beginning of “Smallville” season 10 the entire original cast besides, Tom Welling himself was gone. (Allison Mack, who played Clark's friend/Louise's cousin Chloe Sullivan, remained in a minor recurring role in the final season.)

Despite the departure of Gough and Millar, “Finale” ended the show as they had planned. in a 2011 interview with Collider a few months before “Smallville” ended, Millar said, “The last moment of the show would be for (Clark) to put on the (Superman) suit and go on his way to his future and his destiny. That was always in the back of our minds. to be the ultimate ending to the show.”

That's right, “The Finale” ends with Clark ripping off his shirt, Christopher Reeve-style, to reveal a Superman suit underneath, and then flying off to help people in need.