That's a little harsh.
No, it isn't. Smallville always dumbed the writing and character development down in order to maintain the status quo and appeal to the lowest common denominator.
It's an entertaining, watchable show, but its lost its way from its original premise. Now its all about fan 'ships (Clark/Lana, Clark/Chloe, etc) having former Superman media actors as guest stars (although I thoroughly enjoy this idea) and various other Superman characters making appearances (Aquaman, Green Arrow, Supergirl, etc) too, yet again, prematurely.
I've only found the show to be watchable after consuming a considerable quantity of alcohol. Did it have potential? Yup. It had a ton of it, but the dolts running the show squandered each and every opportunity they had to reinvent the show after Gough and Miller left.
However, Smallville manages to do what the Superman movies refuse to do; have a villain other than Lex Luthor! I have to agree with you about John Schneider. Its almost like everything Superman has to obey allegiance to the pre-crisis canon. We've seen [for the first time in live action] Brainiac, Doomsday, etc.
It also manages to portray the lead character as an imbecile to the point where you would believe that he's brain damaged.
But at the end of the day, whether you like Smallville or not, its the only thing right now keeping Superman alive. We had Superman Returns, a rehash of a 30 year old movie sequel, that barely made a dent into the general public's conscience. I've ran into many people who didn't even know a new Superman movie had came out. The two decades we've seen various versions and interpretations of Batman on film, and yet people can't let go the Donner/Reeve interpretation that its almost embedded into everyone's mind sight that Superman MUST be played that way. George Reeves never played Clark Kent as the extremely goofy, bumbling fool to further to depart himself from Superman. In fact, it wasn't until Christopher Reeve that [Superman] was portrayed that way. I still maintain that Reeve is the best Superman by far, but the whole ridiculous Clark thing got on my nerves. The best reporter of the Daily Planet get through a revolving door without bumping into the ceiling or needing Lois' help?
I don't celebrate mediocrity. Smallville may have been the only thing in the public's eye for a while, but the point remains that it can be done better. Superman may be my favorite character, but I'm not going to pretend that I like sub-standard material.