Thursday is going to be a ridiculously busy night. All the networks have new episodes, including the powerhouses Grey’s Anatomy and CSI. Lost is back, as is Ugly Betty. The NBC comedies are all brand new and FOX, well, they should just write off the night.

Somewhere on that unknown and practically invisible network, The CW, their two top scripted shows, Smallville and Supernatural, will be airing all new episodes as well. The pairing of these shows couldn’t be more perfect, since in many ways they are kindred spirits. Both shows are part of the sci-fi genre, are work horses for their network after being established on The WB, and have heavily loyal and established fan bases. As reward for their contributions, these shows haven’t gotten any type of a promotion budget. Despite that, they produce consistent ratings for The CW each week against impossible competition, and at least earn the reward of huge love from their fans for a job well done.

It’s up to bloggers like me to get the word out when new episodes start airing, so here’s my best stab at generating enough hype to get them a look, or at least get people to realize they still exist. Before I get started, I’ll give the SPOILER ALERT warning for those who find episode plot summaries too revealing. There’s also a small look at next season too, so stop reading now if you want to remain in the dark.

Smallville

Smallville actually came back with new episodes last week, but it seems not a lot of viewers got the memo judging by the ratings. For those who missed “Descent”, it was a pivotal episode for this season, setting up the whole inevitable “arch enemy” thing between Clark and Lex. This episode isn’t on the CW website yet, and for some reason iTunes doesn’t carry the series, so I guess this in depth episode recap is all you’ve got. There are four episodes left for the season. Dates, titles, and summaries are as follows (courtesy of the CW and SpoilerFix):

April 24 – “Sleeper”: Clark desperately searches for Kara and Brainiac (guest star James Marsters), as Brainiac is the only one who can reverse Lana's condition. Clark asks Chloe to check any large power surges in the area, so she breaks into several government computers, setting off alarms. Jimmy is caught between the Department of Security - who threatens him with jail time unless he helps them arrest Chloe - and Lex, who offers to help clear Chloe if Jimmy agrees to be in his debt.

May 1 – “Apocalypse”: Clark discovers that Kara sent messages from Krypton in the past that indicate that Brainiac (guest star James Marsters) wants to kill Baby Kal-El so Clark will not exist in the future. Clark is torn because he thinks the world would be better off if he had never arrived in Smallville. Jor-El arranges for him to see what life would have been like if Clark hadn't existed - Lex is President of the United States, Kara is raised by the Luthors, Jonathan is alive, Lana is happily married, and Chloe and Lois are ace reporters. Aaron Ashmore also stars.