Warner Bros Tv/Kobal/ShutterstockAs the ‘90s ended with the success of gripping teenage dramas that amassed hordes of devoted audiences such as Dawson’s Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, television executives had their noses to the ground in pursuit of the next big thing for the coveted 18-34 age demographic. At the same time, Warner Bros. was attempting to figure out a way to revitalize their most popular superhero properties in the wake of the successes Marvel was achieving with their Blade and X-Men films. In came Alfred Gough and Miles Millar with their pitch that changed the landscape of television.“No flights, no tights” was their idea for a show about Superman, a controversial refrain to say the least given that these two aspects are what the character was most known for. But Gough and Millar wanted to tell the story of how Superman came to be, stripped down to his bare essence of who he is as a person. And with that in mind, 25 years ago, Smallville arrived on television screens.Focused on the teenage upbringing of Clark Kent and his development into the man who would become Superman, Smallville blended the villain-of-the-week storytelling audiences came to know and love from genre shows like Buffy and The X-Files, with the emotional and relatable storylines that teenagers and young adults had come to expect from their teen soaps like Dawson’s Creek, Freaks & Geeks, and My So Called Life. It wasn’t enough to just have a show with Superman developing his powers and beating up bad guys, there had to be an emotional core — and for the first few seasons, it’s Clark’s acceptance of his alien heritage and how that impacts his relationship with his parents. Season 1’s storylines were full of problems that young adults could relate to: the impacts bullying and hazing can have on one’s psyche, the damaging effects of disordered eating and trying to keep up with societal ideas of beauty, dealing with unrequited love, figuring out the difference between platonic and romantic emotions, feeling that your parents don’t understand your development into the adult you want to be — these issues were the heart of Smallville’s first few seasons. And week after week, more people tuned in to witness the adventures of our favorite big blue boy scout.Tom Welling as Clark Kent feels like the prototype for what you’d expect from Superman: equal parts unbelievably handsome, equal parts boy next door, you believe he’s just a young man from a farm who wants to do what’s right by people. The show isn’t afraid of painting Clark as a work in progress; we see him give in to his negative emotions often, reflecting the reality of what it is to grow and discover yourself as a young adult. As the series progresses and the cast shifts, you see him progress in his role and feel this truly is someone who is worthy of the mantle bestowed upon him.The arc of friends-to-rivals for Clark Kent and Lex Luthor is one of Smallville’s greatest innovations. | Warner Bros Tv/Kobal/ShutterstockA hero is only as strong as their supporting cast, and Smallville understood this in spades. His parents Martha and Jonathan Kent assist in giving emotional weight to the show, both serving as the voice of reason for Clark as he develops, but also showcasing negative characteristics that gave them depth as individuals. Instead of immediately making Lois Lane his primary love interest and Jimmy Olsen his best friend, the underutilized characters of Lana Lang and Pete Ross are given these roles, allowing the show to explore a world before this iteration of Clark Kent meets and falls in love with Lois. Chief among these stories is the love triangle between Clark, Lana, and Lex Luthor that lasts for the majority of the show’s tenure. Smallville is as much Lex’s story as it is Clark’s, and by painting a story where these two fated rivals begin as best friends, Gough and Millar created a tragedy that made audiences feel that Lex was as worthy of being his arch-rival as Clark is being Superman.The impact of Smallville was immediate for The WB, as it overtook Gilmore Girls in popularity. There were even attempts to capitalize on its success, and years later, its DNA can be traced to other successful shows on the network that eventually became The CW: The Vampire Diaries, Riverdale, and of course, the entire Arrowverse slate of shows owe their existence to the runaway success of Smallville. Smallville showed that there was an audience for these fantasy shows that peeled back layers of who these characters are beyond their powers, allowing us to get a greater peek into them as people than films could ever allow.Smallville is streaming on Hulu.