What is there to like about the show? The "writing" is grade-school level and most of the acting isn't even equal to that a high school drama club.
Moreover, Clark is an incompotent moron who 9/10 has to be lead on to the plot by Chloe or Lois. He stills listens and obeys the disembodied voice who wants him to conquer the planet, that killed several people, and is only slightly less ruthless than Zod.
Lex's motivation for evil comes right out of Star Wars: Episode 3. He goes down the dark path to attempt to save Lana from dying in child birth.
Bo Duke, the most entertaining character on the show, is brilliantly killed off just to echo what happened in a movie that was released 30 years ago.
That's a little harsh.
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.
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.
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?