Welcome back to Eugene and the new school year and blah blah blah. This column will be a place to read interesting factoids and ramblings relating to the worlds of music, television and movies. To maintain my sanity, I will end up favoring one of the three false idols in each column. But rest assured, balance will be maintained in the big picture.
It’s the start of the year and everyone is busy putting their lives back together. The basic necessities of life must be taken out of storage and reconnected — which is why, as a work-related necessity, I’m getting cable. That is, when AT&T has the time to do it.
Plugging in the ol’ coaxial was a tough call because I try to stay away from TV during the school year. We’ve all caught ourselves watching “The American President” for the 20th time on TNT just because it’s on, and I take extreme steps to prevent that. In an act of unprecedented restraint, last year I was devoid of even the local broadcast channels — until I went to London.
See, London is one of the most expensive places on earth to live so I ended up watching lots of TV. It started because after 10 p.m., the British broadcast channels are havens for soft porn such as the disturbingly erotic David Cronenberg film “Crash.” But as couch potato mode kicked in, I was up for watching pretty much anything — which brings me to “Smallville.”

One of my flatmates was really into The WB’s adolescent Superman spin-off and I ended up watching along, pint in hand. When I first heard about the show, the premise of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor being friends as teenagers just didn’t jive with what I know about the Superman mythos. And everybody knows Superman is going to end up with Lois Lane, but Smallville has us rooting for Clark and Lana Lang to make super babies. You understand my reservations.
So how did I get hooked? Well, it started when Lana stripped down to her panties. The episode involved plants mutated by kryptonite that remove people’s inhibitions before they slip into comas. Stupid plot? Yes. But Lana is too sexy for me to complain.
After a few more episodes, I found the show has impressive character complexity in addition to Lana’s hot, hot body. Teen-Lex is played extremely well by Michael Rosenbaum with enough innocence to make his frequent generosity toward Clark seem genuine, while always hinting at the evil within that will make him Superman’s nemesis. And surprisingly, Clark’s adopted father, Jonathan Kent (formerly Bo Duke from “The Dukes of Hazzard”), has a dark side that hasn’t been portrayed in past Superman-related shows and movies. But I’m just making excuses.
So now I’m plugged in every Tuesday at 9 p.m., for good or bad. Last week’s season premiere (which I had to shamelessly ask to watch at an understanding friend’s house) was sorely disappointing, but this week’s episode improved greatly when a sexy new biology teacher seduced the town using her kryptonite-altered pheromones. As a result of all the, ahem, excitement, Clark’s as-yet-undiscovered laser eyes kicked in and started a fire in class. The clichéd innuendo was glorious.
Following on the heels of “Smallville,” The WB will launch a new comic-related show on October 9 called “Birds of Prey.” Get this: Batman and Catwoman had a daughter who has teamed up with the former Batgirl (now a paraplegic computer-wiz) to fight the Joker’s former sidekick Harley Quinn, who doubles as the protagonist’s psychiatrist.
It sounds eye-gougingly dumb. But unlike “Smallville,” “Birds of Prey” has credibility rooted in a DC comic of the same name. With Sarah Michelle Geller’s contract as Buffy expiring at the end of the season, the world could be ready for another super-powered heroine.
And Mia Sara of “Legend” fame playing the villainous Quinn certainly makes the show worth one skeptical viewing.
Of course, it’ll have to wait until I get my cable. No friend is that caring.