If you missedChristopher Reeve, the actor who played the Man of Steel in four SUPERMAN films, making a major guest appearance on a new SMALLVILLE this week. Fear not, most WB stations repeat Smallville on Sundays. In the episode, Clark Kent heads off to New York to meet a scientist who contacts the Kents saying he has a message for Clark from his home planet of Krypton. The episode also finds Lana & Chloe getting into another argument with each other over their shared feelings for Clark, resulting in a big change for one of them. Set your VCRs

I Hope in the Baltimore Region we can watch it this time Theres some odd Anti-Sci-fi tv people working at baltimore stations. Consider the facts:

* Last year, "THE FUGITIVE 2000" was shown on local CBS station Ch. 13 for much of the complete season - yet when it was put on hold near Feb sweeps due to low ratings - Cbs president came out and asked they we watch the show, to show him of our support. They put it back on for the last 4 episodes, and in our Area, 3 of the 4 were pre-empted by Orioles Baseball games!! Had I not had contacts in New York who could ACTUALLY WATCH IT, I would never know how it ended.

* This year, the WB does a "Second view" where you can see the rerun of some of the more popular shows on Sunday afternoon, starting at 5Pm. Great! Since THE GUARDIAN, FRASIER, 24 and every other tv show in history is on Tuesday at 9 (!) I can catch the rerun of Tuesday's SMALLVILLE on Sunday nights like the rest of america...but NO! In Baltimore, its on SATURDAY nights at 8..It took me weeks to try and locate and understand why I couldnt see SMALLVILLE!

* Worse, had you really wanted to ignore 24 and the like and WATCH Smallville or tape it on a 2nd vcr the past 2 tuesdays, in Baltimore, you cannot! There were Maryland College Basketball games on both tuesdays! I have to wait and get it this Saturday (Not Sunday).

Granted, I am not a Nielson family (Dont get me started on that outdated "Electorial College" style guideline of how many people are watching what shows..Ugh!) but Damn! The numbers for a Large city are not even included in the ratings for any of these events! How on earth are we supposed to let the networks know we are watching?

GET IT TOGETHER PEOPLE! [>:]

- Wcme Said So!

Anyway:
Even in "Smallville," one can dream big.

When executive producers Al Gough and Miles Millar were writing the pilot for The WB's hit series about Clark Kent as a teen, they thought about how wonderful it would be for Christopher Reeve, the Man of Steel in four "Superman" feature films, to guest star. In the episode "Rosetta," airing Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 9 p.m. ET, fans see the producers' dream realized.

"The first Superman film was very much on our minds," Gough says of creating the series. "And we thought, 'Wouldn't it be great to get Chris Reeve to guest star?' Then it just became a matter of, once the show established itself, we looked for opportunities. We didn't have the right character. And when we were arcing out this character, he seemed perfect for Chris. We were looking for that passing of the torch. Every hero needs a wise man."

Reeve is that wise man. He knows his role as billionaire astrophysicist Dr. Swann does not represent a return to his former alter ego, but rather a boost for the next generation, and that his place in the pantheon of Supermen remains secure.

Talking late one night from Sydney, Australia, where he's the keynote speaker at a forum on paralysis, Reeve speaks as seriously and intellectually about Superman as he does about stem-cell research and politics.

"I think he is an essential part of our culture and our mythology," Reeve says of the man from Krypton. "He is a friend, and he is an unassuming hero, and I also think the fact that he is both awkward and a shy newspaper reporter makes him like everybody else. And yet he has another identity, this larger-than-life superhero. Sometimes we feel like Clark Kent, and sometimes, if we are lucky, we feel like Superman."

"It's just been an American icon since 1938," Reeve continues. "He was an inspiration to the troops in World War II. Superman comics were issued to troops in World War II and sent over in their duffel bags by the USO. The character needs to be reinvented for every generation. Kirk Alyn was for the '40s and George Reeve for the '50s, and I was the man for the late '70s and '80s."

His influence continues to resonate. Reeve's "Superman" movies are in frequent rotation on television. His fourth and final Superman film was in 1987, and he has yet to be replaced, though a new movie is in the works and names like Jude Law, Ashton Kutcher and Josh Hartnett being bandied about to fill the tights.

Reeve, 50, is not the sort to pine, Norma Desmond-style, for his past stardom, though he certainly would be justified. After the horseback-riding accident that left him paralyzed in 1995, Reeve was not expected to do hours of exercise a day, regain limited use of one finger and some sensation, and become a leading activist for paralysis patients.

"I have always been this determined," Reeve says. "Acting is a very difficult profession. It requires a tremendous amount of self-discipline and the ability to face rejection. It doesn't come easy, and I started quite young. It is a very uncertain life, and sometimes you don't know when your next job is coming, or if there is going to be a next job. Even many established actors, when they finish a job, think they will never work again. So I lived that life for more than 30 years, and it was certainly good preparation for the life I am living now. It is true that will power and self-discipline play a key role."

The rigors of his life were revealed in "Christopher Reeve: Courageous Steps," a documentary by his son, Matthew, which ABC aired in September. It related his struggles and triumphs over the course of a year, showing Reeve without makeup and missing patches of hair. Like anyone who has suffered physical trauma, his life became divided into before and after the accident. Along with the loss of mobility, the actor also lost his identity as a horseman, pilot and sailor.

"One of the real losses is the loss of independence," Reeve says.


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- Wcme Said So!

Josh Hartnett as the new Superman? Give me a break, please. The man from Krypton with a Texas drawl. Wow! Of the actors mentioned, the one I can possibly envision playing the NEW Supe might be Jude Law. But Entertainment news says he's not interested. I guess they haven't offered him enough money as yet.

The episode has come and gone and it certainly was worth the viewing. Did you hear the strains of John Williams Superman music in the background? Does it signal a possible return of Christopher Reeve to Smallville in the future? I certainly hope so. For those of you that missed this episode, it probably will return in summer reruns.

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