Smallville returns next Friday – finally! Just a few tid-bits to mention so far today:

1.  Michael McKean (Perry White) tweeted the following last night:

Michael McKean
“Fun Smallville shoot today. Nice to see Tom, Erica & the crew; the Missus did a lot of hugging.”

2.  Al Septien (Smallville producer, writer) tweeted the following last night:

Al Septien
“Just got out of SALVATION special FX meeting. Headed home for some reading and watching a cut of BP’s directorial debut, CHARADE.”

3.  A few Smallville dates to remember, courtesy of “The CW’s WBNX”:

-  Friday, April 2: Smallville returns
-  Friday, May 14: Smallville season finale
-  Thursday, May 20: Smallville: Absolute Justice two-hour movie encore
-  Thursday, May 20: The CW Upfront Presentation (fall lineup announced)

4.  An article on MTV Splash titled “Michael Rosenbaum Will Not Return To Smallville” – read it here.

A few Smallville news bytes today:

1.  A new BTS promo picture from the episode, 8.13 “Power” has been added to the gallery featuring Allison Mack. Thanks to “ChloisOrg” on Twitter for the image.

2. The 2-hour “Absolute Justice” Smallville television event will air again on a special night – Thursday, May 20th (via “WBNX-TV The CW“). So mark your calendars!

3.  Check out the following Smallville articles:

- “Where is our Wonder Woman Smallville?” at io9.com
- “Remembering Early Smallville” at SciFiNow

4.  James Marsters (Brainiac) has been tapped to play Steve McGarrett’s reoccurring arch-nemesis in CBS’ Hawaii Five-O pilot. Read the article on “ScreenRant” here.

5.  Sam Jones III (Pete Ross) attended Radar Online’s one year anniversary party on March 10th. Check it out at “Life.com” here.

6.  And finally, I added a couple of awesome fanmade Smallville videos by “YouTube friend”, “SkullSkar”. Check it out on the right sidebar, and be sure to visit his channel here on YouTube.

There isn’t much going on in Smallville land today. I’ve gathered up a few tid-bits throughout the day:

1.  As I tweeted last night, we tuned into “CSI NY” Wednesday night to catch Kyle Gallner’s (Impulse/Bart Allen) guest star appearance on the show. I was surprised and delighted to see Aaron Ashmore (Henry James Olsen) also make an appearance! It was nice seeing both Smallville alums back on the tube again.

2.  Catch Alaina Huffman (Black Canary) in the new trailer for “Stargate Universe” here, which will debut the second half of season one on “SyFy” on April 2nd.

3.  Erica Durance and Cassidy Freeman are both listed on KTLA’s “The Hotties of The CW”. Check out the full photo gallery here.

4.  “Yellow Brick Road”, starring Cassidy Freeman will be playing at the Atlanta Film Festival on April 19th & 20th. For more information, go to Yellow Brick Road’s official site here.

5.  Smallville is mentioned on The CW’s WBNX site regarding season ten:

“Smallville will need only 19 episodes next season (a full order is typically 22) to surpass Stargate SG-1 as the “Longest Consecutive Running Sci-Fi TV Show in U.S. History,” a milestone registered in the Guinness World Records book. Stargate finished its ten year run with 218 episodes.”

An audio interview with Smallville executive producer, Brian Peterson, a season ten wish list, and a Smallville writer and producer tweets “Sacrifice”, and Smallville is mentioned in a LA Times article this morning.

1.  Check-out an audio interview at “EarthsMightiest.com” by Smallville executive producer, Brian Peterson which was conducted shortly before “Absolute Justice” aired on February 5th.

In the interview, Peterson discusses how this season embraces the Superman mythology, Absolute Justice, bringing back past Smallville cast/characters, introducing Amanda Waller & Checkmate, and finally when we will likely see the Superman costume.

Listen to Peterson’s audio interview here.

2.  “IGN” has a list of what they would like to see in Smallville next season – read it here.

3.  Smallville writer and producer, Al Septien briefly tweets about episode 20, “Sacrifice” this morning:

“Buenos Dias. a shout out to director Kevin Fair (ODYSSEY, TURBULENCE, ROULETTE, ESCAPE, etc) as he begins work today on SACRIFICE”

4.  “Smallville” and “Tom Welling” are mentioned in a “LA Times” article this morning titled, “Christopher Nolan Takes Flight With Superman: We Have A Fantastic Story”. Read it here.

5.  Just a reminder that Kyle Gallner will be guest starring in CSI NY tonight on CBS at 10/9c.

* Update: An article on Gateworld regarding Smallville’s season 10 renewal, and a couple of tweets from Smallville writer and producer, Al Septien:

1.  Gateworld has an article titled “Smallville will break Stargate SG-1’s world record”. Here’s a snippet:

Its crowning achievement in the award category, however, may be the Guinness World Record it holds. In 2007, SG-1 overtook The X-Files under the category of Longest Consecutive Running Sci-Fi TV Show.

Unfortunately for SG-1, records are made to be broken. In just over one year, The CW network series Smallville will do just that. The young Superman series has been handed the greenlight for production of a tenth season.

Read the full article here.

2.  Smallville producer and writer, Al Septien tweeted last night:

It’s almost 11:30 PST. After 14 hours of “Sacrifice” and “Salvation”, Turi and I are calling it a night. Manana!

Just in case you’re wondering, Septien is referring to episode’s 9.20 “Sacrifice” and 9.22 “Salvation”, the season finale!

3.  Al Septien also tweeted earlier today that he, along with Turi Meyer (Smallville writer, director & co-executive producer) and Callum Blue (Zod), will be included in the commentary for the episode, “Kandor” in the season nine DVD-set, due out sometime in August or September this year.

A Smallville writer and producer has joined Twitter, new casting info for the Tom Welling produced pilot, “Hellcats”, and an article on Cinema Blend regarding sci-fi genre shows, with a mention of “Smallville”. Read below:

1.  Smallville writer and producer, Al Septien has now joined Twitter-land! You can follow him here.

2.  The CW pilot, “Hellcats”, produced by “Tom Welling Productions” has now cast their lead actress. Read below (thanks to “SpoilerTV“):

HELLCATS (The CW) – Aly Michalka (“Phil of the Future”) and Gail O’Grady (“Desperate Housewives”) are the first to be cast in the presentation, a drama set in the world of competitive college cheerleading. The former will play Marty Berger (“wicked smart, an acerbic outsider”), a student at Memphis’ Lancer University who’s forced to try out for the Hellcats – the college’s competitive cheerleading team – after she loses her scholarship. O’Grady will play her mother Wanda who tends bar at a rathskeller type snack bar on campus that serves food and drinks. Kevin Murphy penned the hour, which comes from CBS Television Studios, Tom Welling Productions and Warner Bros. Television.

3. Check out an article on “Cinema Blend”, where the author talks about sci-fi shows showing a surprising level of success with the recent renewals of “Smallville”, as well as “Fringe”, “Supernatural” and “Vampire Diaries”. Here’s an snippet of that article:

The CW is so impressed with Smallville’s performance on Fridays, where it actually managed to grow its audience and hold onto them, that it’s been talking about changing the focus of the entire network.

Read the full article on”Cinema Blend” here.