The CW Network has announced that it has renewed the DC Comics-based Smallville series for an eighth season, making Smallville, which began on the WB network, the elder statesman on the CW's slate.  While audiences have dwindled somewhat since Smallville's record-setting WB debut during which 8.4 million viewers tuned in, Smallville remains a potent TV franchise that has spawned a popular series of young-adult novels, soundtrack releases featuring the show's hip alt-rock playlist, and a DC comic book as well as Inkworks' popular season-by-season series of trading cards.

While the Smallville spin-off Aquaman pilot was not picked up (bad timing was at least partially responsible, since the decision against picking up the show was made during the merger and downsizing of the UPN and the WB into the CW network), the Web-based Smallville: Chloe Chronicles and Smallville: Vengeance Chronicles have done well online and Smallville has forged successful promotional tie-ins with Toyota, Verizon, and Sprint.