With no end in sight to the Hollywood writers’ strike, we’ve got six new episodes of Smallville to savor—and they’re so full of exciting surprises, we hardly know where to begin.  First, Grant and Chloe’s bomber were both clones of Julian Luthor, one successful (Grant) and one not so much.  Zowie!!  Lionel will discover the truth about his supposedly long-dead son next month.  In that same episode, airing January 31, another legend from the Man of Steel mythos comes to Smallville: Marc McClure.  While not a household name, he played Jimmy Olsen in all four Superman movies with Christopher Reeve, as well as the Supergirl film.  And yes, that black ooze roaming the set is Milton Fine (aka James Marsters), who’ll finally materialize in this blockbuster hour.  Next, the Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) and Black Canary visit the sweet corn capital, a prelude to the much-anticipated return of Clark’s confidante, original cast member Pete Ross (Sam Jones III).  Pete’s last sighting was on May 12, 2004 toward the end of Season 3…and he’s not too thrilled that so many others now know the secret he’s been guarding.  Finally, Jane Seymour will revive the villainous “Genevieve Teague,” presumably in flashback-mode.  Then again, with this season’s mega-twists, who knows…?

A chubby guy in a red suit climbs down your chimney in the middle of the night, eats your cookies, tracks soot on the carpet, and leaves an ugly tie under your Christmas tree—isn’t that creepy enough?  Tomorrow night, Supernatural explores an even darker side of Santa, based on the urban legend with roots in both Appalachia and Pennsylvania Dutch country.  There, older folks can still recall mysterious “Belsnickels” going from house to house with coal and a swat on the britches for kids who’d been naughty.  In Europe, this anti-Claus is called “Krampus,” and looks even scarier than the hobo-like visitors who patrolled Steeler nation as recently as the 1940s.  Sam and Dean’s evil prey is a killer, of course, building upon holiday mythology unearthed by series creator Eric Kripke.  This eerie episode will stick with you long after the needles have fallen from your pine.   The yuletide spirit also comes to Smallville tomorrow, at least until Chloe and Jimmy become trapped with a bomb.  Who wants Lex brought down?  Will Clark reveal his secret to rescue his friends?  And will we learn more details about Grant/Julian plot?   Don’t miss this night of chills…You-Know-Who is making his “list” and checking it twice…

How creative are you?  We live in a techno-era in which seemingly every young person has offered up their aspiring filmmaker skills on YouTube.  But now, for the second year, The CW is giving college undergrads the chance to compete for a network internship in its Making the Cut editing contest.  You’ll be supplied with great footage from Supernatural, Smallville and Gossip Girl, and challenged to create a promo or trailer using imagination—plus whatever visual (or audio) tools you like.  Students can submit multiple entries, incorporating only one show in each video.  This program is a joint-educational effort between The CW and Promox/BDA, the premier national on-air promotion and broadcast design organization.  For young people looking to get their foot in the door, the competition is a unique and awesome career opportunity…so spread the word around your college campus!  The winning entry will be featured on both television and the web.  Click here for more details, and have fun working with three of our most buzzworthy series.

Coolest news of the fall: Last weekend on Veteran’s Day, Supernatural stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki were cited by General David H. Petraeus, Commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, for the popularity of their CW drama among the military service members, Mediaweek reports. Seasons one and two of Supernatural are the most requested DVDs among armed forces personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 3,000 sets are being shipped to the troops by Warner Bros. Entertainment. Jensen and Jared were honored during their appearance at the “Salute to Supernatural, Smallville and Buffy/Angel” convention in Schaumburg, IL. Master Sergeant Kevin Wise was also on hand to present the boys with a coin from his Special Forces Group, a gesture rarely given to civilians. Click here for awesome photos and comments, plus details on the Supernatural event planned for 2008.

Smallville and Supernatural take a Thanksgiving break this week for the Hilary Duff flick, Raise Your Voice. But the most-recent episodes gave us a lot to ponder, especially (SPOILERS AHEAD) the explosive revelation that Daily Planet editor Grant Gabriel (played by Michael Cassidy) is, in fact, Lex Luthor’s supposedly-dead brother, Julian. Wow!! The Luthor backstory has always been shrouded in mystery: did Lex accidentally kill baby Julian, how did Lex’s mother die, what is Lionel hiding…and what about that “other” brother, Lucas, from Season 2? All we know is, Lex and Julian are in cahoots with a major plan concerning Lionel, and it sounds dark. On Supernatural, the Winchesters won’t have to worry about that maniac-turned-vampire Gordon hunting them down, after Sam…well, popped his noggin off. Most chilling, though, was Gordon’s assertion of who Sam really is…

Among all networks, The CW may be the most equipped to endure the current work-stoppage by film and TV writers. Everybody Hates Chris began taping early this year due to its young star’s growth spurt, and they’ve completed all 22 episodes. The other Monday comedies are also far ahead in production, says Variety, and new sitcom Eight Days a Week—with Justin Hartley, Mario Lopez and Christina Milian—has 13 episodes ready for midseason. On the drama side, One Tree Hill has a good portion of its 22 episodes (or scripts) ready to roll in January; Smallville will have seven new stories to air after tomorrow night; and Supernatural has four more in the can—with another five scripts ready to shoot, according to the LA Times. Gossip Girl producer Josh Schwartz says the hit soap has five fresh hours completed, following tonight’s jaw-dropper, while Friday Night SmackDown is new every week and not affected by the writers strike. Where The CW is especially strong, however, is in popular reality series…five, to be exact. New cycles of Top Model and Beauty & The Geek are in the works, along with season two of Pussycat Dolls, in which they’ll be assembling a brand new group. The mother-daughter beauty pageant show, Crowned, looks hilarious (click here for a preview); and you can scroll down a bit to read about Farmer Wants a Wife—a must-see for NE Ohio cowpokes. Nobody likes a strike, especially the talented folks carrying picket signs in freezing temperatures, but we’ll get thru it on-air…hopefully without missing a beat.

Exactly five years ago today, I got my first and last look at Black Canary…until now. Comic book geeks need no explanation, but on that autumn night in 2002, Lori Loughlin (Full House, Summerland) portrayed the legendary crimefighter on an episode of Birds of Prey, a semi-spinoff from Smallville. That underappreciated series lasted only 13 weeks, but introduced us to Oracle (Batgirl, after The Joker paralyzed her); Huntress, the daughter of recluse Batman and murdered Catwoman; and their protege, who learned she was the offspring of Black Canary. Loughlin’s renowned “Canary Cry” was a unique weapon, sort of a high-pitched, sonic scream that obliterated most anything in Black Canary’s path. Very cool—well, until Canary became trapped in a fire, quickly ending her guest role. Flash forward to January 2008. We’ve now learned that Black Canary is alive and coming to Smallville, along with Green Arrow, who she romanced in the comics. Bird lady will be played here by Alaina Huffman, with Justin Hartley dusting off his green leather. And, yes, Lex is hatching an evil plan for this nest of super-duper visitors!

For those who can’t get enough TV spoilers, here are a few plot previews and guest-stars we’ll see over the next few weeks on The CW.  America’s Next Top Model will fly the girls to China and also to Mexico, where they’ll star in a music video with Enrique Iglesias.  The Nate/Blair fiasco is about to explode on Gossip Girl, which may pale in comparison to the revealing Thanksgiving episode!  Clark meets his Kryptonian mother—played by big-screen Supergirl Helen Slater—on Smallville.  Mercedes McNab (Harmony on Buffy and Angel) will guest-star on both Reaper and Supernatural.  And in the casting coup of the year, Melinda Clarke (The O.C.’s Julie Cooper) is the devil’s girlfriend on Reaper!  Erykah Badu, Eva Marcelle and Lil’ Kim visit the Monday comedies, while Justin and Raja outdo themselves with an outrageous school prank on Aliens in America.  Even the animals are turning up the heat on Life is Wild, where a hippo chases two stars up a tree, and an elephant falls in love with a giraffe.  Sweet.  And trust me, that’s just a small sampling of what’s to come.  Stay tuned…

Some mental notes I made while watching the Season 7 Premiere of Smallville: Are there any better special effects on TV? The dam burst and aftermath were just awesome…. Tom Welling obviously works out a lot…and can we say enough about this guy’s acting? He was a male model who only crossed over into speaking roles in 2001, the year Smallville debuted, and here he is playing “Good Clark” and “Bizarro Clark” convincingly. Kudos to the production team for that work, as well. Lex nearly drowned again; I get queasy watching that scene. Chloe’s dead, then alive…but what’s up with her refusal to share with Clark? Lana’s in Singapore with a blonde wig—not a great disguise in the Orient! For a billionaire’s mansion, sure seems like a lot of folks are able to just walk in to Lex’s place unannounced. Who dragged Lionel away, and to where? Supergirl arrives—but more importantly: Our Supernatural boys are back next week. Yea!

If you missed last night’s season finale of Smallville, you missed the most captivating hour of any show I’ve seen in a long time. Get this, it had Lana finally leaving Lex, Martian Manhunter flying around with his glowing red eyes, the temporary death of Lois, Chloe’s power is finally revealed and the birth of Bizarro! It was more like a two hour movie crammed into a one hour episode. It left me wanting more. Was I the only one saying, “I hate finales like this.” They leave me in limbo all summer. Who will live? Who will die? I mean, come on, are they trying to torment us? I can really have fun imagining what everyone’s fate will be. Of course, I don’t think I’m alone in thinking Lana surely couldn’t be dead. She might have had time to jump into the truck that so convieniently drove by seconds before the explosion. We can only hope. And what about Lionel! We finally find out that he doesn’t have a secret evil plan after all, but he’s an emissary for Jorel. Deep down I wanted to believe he had changed. Now that Clark knows the truth about him, he just can’t die. And what about Chloe’s new power!! Very cool!! I’m guessing she takes on the illness, or whatever, of the person she’s healing and then she can regenerate. There is no way that they can kill off Chloe. In my opinion, it will just ruin the show. We all love her character. I’ve had such sympathy for Lex in the past because he’s never had real love in his life, but after seeing his dark side last night, I’m just not feeling sorry for him anymore. How will Clark defeat Bizarro (the phantom who stole some of Clark’s DNA and said he was like Clark, only a little bizarre)? Will Martian Manhunter get there in time to help Clark defeat Bizarro? How will Lex get out of this one? So many questions…so little time. Hope you enjoyed the episode as much as I did.