TV Guide: Smallville's season finales always leave all the characters in very bad situations.Al Gough: It's become a tradition on the show and it harkens back to what was always fun about comic books. You can tell these stories that are spread out over a number of issues, but you always have a couple of points with great cliff-hangers where you didn't know what was going to happen next. We loved the idea of keeping people hanging, both the audience and the characters. It's sort of like the feeling we all had at the end of The Empire Strikes Back — "What, we have to wait three years?!" We also find that painting ourselves into these corners gives us a lot of energy going into the next season. It helps propel everything forward, rather than starting from a dead stop and trying to wind up again.
TV Guide: Do you know now how you are going to get yourself out of those corners? What is the challenge in writing a cliff-hanger?Gough: We always know what we want next season to be. We even know what the end of next season is. But if you were to ask me today how do we get out of what you saw last night, I couldn't tell you. The writers finish in March, and we start back right after Memorial Day — that way you can sit on it and think about it. Generally, the ideas you have in March or April aren't necessarily as good as the ones you're going to have in June. When we do come back, we spend the first week figuring out how we're going to get ourselves out of the corners we've painted ourselves into, and also how those events are going to propel us into the next season. [A year ago] the crystals propelled us into the fortress, which propelled us into this season. That's always the challenge of the show. Once the season-openers are done, we always go, "Well, of course that's what it would be!" [Laughs] I'm already starting to have some ideas about how Clark gets out of the Phantom Zone and what Zod does. But we definitely went to an extreme place this time.
TV Guide: What was the thought process behind ending the finale this way? Did you always know that Clark would end up in the Phantom Zone?Gough: A lot of times when you look at our seasons, what happens at the end of the opener has consequences for the finale. In Season 3, it was Jonathan's deal with Jor-El, which came at the end of the first episode; the ship with Brainiac played itself out through this season. We knew that we had a lot of big cards to play this season. As the characters are getting older, we're getting closer to the actual Superman mythology. We introduced the Fortress of Solitude and the Daily Planet and other DC Universe characters, including Brainiac. This was the first year we could play the Lex-Clark-Lana triangle because obviously everybody was legal. How many shows can say they can't play their major love triangle until Year 5? [Laughs] So we had a lot of ammunition going into Season 5, because with the move [to Thursdays at 8] we thought we were dead in the water. We knew we had a great season arc planned and we were hoping people would show up to watch it! Our storytelling was much better [this season]. We didn't drag the Brainiac stuff out — we told the first story, put it aside to tell the election story and the death of Jonathan Kent, and then came back to Brainiac. That way it didn't feel like last year's crystal story, where you just got sick of Jason and Lana. I think we acquitted ourselves well with Lana and Lex, which has given us a lot to play with in Season 6. And reader feedback always helps. We peruse the message boards, and a lot of times it echoes what we're already feeling.
TV Guide: What exactly happened when Clark threw the dagger at Fine?Gough: This was something that got cut out of the episode for various reasons: Remember when Clark impaled Fine on the Fortress console [in the November-sweeps "Solitude" episode]? Basically, Fine infected the console. Fine is a computer and is all about probabilities, so he knew that if he went after Lex, that would lead Clark back to Jor-El, and Jor-El would tell Clark to get rid of the vessel, and Clark would never do that. Fine sort of calculated what Clark would do based on what Clark had done previously, which is always to protect humanity and not kill anybody. That was his endgame.
TV Guide: Zod said that Lex is dead. Is he?Gough: No, of course not! [Joking] There's some alien technology that can repair the situation. But [the finale twist] won't be without consequences for Lex, either. We wanted it to be interesting and compelling, but we didn't want a guy in spandex to come jumping out of the Phantom Zone. We came up with the idea that his body had been destroyed and he was in the Phantom Zone in spirit only. That keeps the focus on our people and put them in the most extreme danger.
TV Guide: One thing that struck me was when Jor-El told Clark that Zod destroyed Krypton. That seems a departure from traditional Superman mythology. Gough: The idea was that on Krypton — and we'd like to explore some of this in Season 6 — Zod was the ultimate terrorist. He and Jor-El were once friends and became enemies. As a result, there was a breakaway. It has more to do with political intrigue rather than that the planet started spinning too close to the sun, which has always sort of been the traditional story.
TV Guide: What about Clark and Chloe? That was some kiss. She's had a rough time of it already — you can't make him break her heart again! Might they be a couple next season?Gough: I think there's always that possibility. That was to show the potential that that could happen. Or, it could just be a Hawkeye-Hot Lips "in the heat of battle" thing. [Laughs]
TV Guide: Well, if it doesn't work out with Clark, then give her a boyfriend next season!Gough: That's in the cards. That is definitely in the cards.
TV Guide: Anything else you can tease about Season 6?Gough: The theme is the rise of Lex Luthor. You're definitely going to see the more ruthless Lex Luthor you know from the comic books really start to emerge. The season will also be about the corruption of good — not only Lana, but Martha. Will she get involved with Lionel? And when Clark does come back from the Phantom Zone, what will it have done to him? We never really explored what happens to somebody inside the Phantom Zone, which is really the ultimate incarceration.

TVGuide.com: As someone who gets an idea or two along the lines of "Someone should invent a...," I have to say this show has been interesting. I like it.Peter Jones: Do you? It's quite interesting because some people say, "I really love the show," while others say, "It's crazy. Do those people really exist?" [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: As a cocreator and executive producer, what were your expectations for the show versus what you got?Jones: I was a little trepidatious going in. It was a bit harder in my mind to make the show mega-successful because the producers got [fellow executive producer] Simon Cowell to front the show as if it was his, and I think that was probably a mistake for a couple of reasons. One, a lot of America wants to see Simon fail, and two, it isn't Simon's show and it wasn't even his idea. It was mine, and I don't think it's a good idea to try to kid America. We started like a rocket and then slowly started to decline because of those reasons. Also, some of the content in the show was a bit repetitive.
TVGuide.com: Were you unexpectedly impressed with the sort of inventions that you saw?Jones: No, we struggled to get some really great "wow" ideas, but I think that was more due to the fact that it was the first season and I don't think many people knew about the auditions. That's where it will change next year. The show has been recommissioned, and that's great news. I'm very excited about it.
TVGuide.com: Do you think American Inventor might motivate folks to get off their duffs and act on bright ideas they get? For example, back in college I had the idea for merging Walkman headphones with earmuffs, but didn't do a thing about it. Next thing I know, someone else has them on the market.Jones: Oh, my goodness! I hope it does motivate people, because it has captured certain hearts in America. It offers that emotional roller coaster and a lot of tears, although I haven't cried on camera yet.
TVGuide.com: We'll leave the misty eyes to judge Mary Lou Quinlan.Jones: [Laughs] We are going to make some changes for next season to make the show better and more dynamic from the opening, starting with the auditions.
TVGuide.com: Let's go through the final four inventions, and you offer me your qualified pros and cons. First up: Janusz's spherical car seat for infants.Jones: OK, this product has bugged me from the start. The way in which the show has edited the heartfelt story of Janusz, who lost his 17-year-old daughter, is emotional moving, don't get me wrong, but [judge] Doug Hall picked this from the start, and that surprised me because Doug is the man who stood for "invention in the real world" and dismissed any backstory for the person. He ended up picking a product that has only got a backstory! The fact about the product is that technically it's deficient.
TVGuide.com: When I first saw it, I was like, "Couldn't the top of the baby's head get lopped off?" Jones: I actually said that on camera and it was edited out. It's an emotional winner if it wins, but you're not going to see it in the market. It's not going to be possible to make, and even if you did, you'd need a juggernaut to get it in, it'd be so large.
TVGuide.com: And even then, Britney Spears wouldn't use it.Jones: [Chuckles] It's not going to come to market.
TVGuide.com: Next is Francisco 's bike with the second seat on the handlebars. Seems to me like the rider in front is cruisin' for a bruisin'.Jones: Absolutely. The big problem I have — and I've said it from the start — is that for it to sell, you'd have to make a separate component that you attach to existing bikes. Nobody is going to spend thousands of dollars on a new bike, at least not just to have a seat on the front of it. It's good, but it's not good enough, is it? It may sell a few, but it's not America's next great invention, that's for sure.
TVGuide.com: Erik's football receiver's training aid, "The Catch"...Jones: It's a good training aid. I've seen the product, and it is a good training aid. At schools and colleges, I can see this product on the playing fields, I really can. It's clearly not going to sell in huge volumes, but people will buy it.
TVGuide.com: Last, we have Ed's Word Ace.Jones: I've wanted this product from the start, and we've made it fairly competitive amongst the judges, so how can America believe that I have an unbiased view? But the bottom line is, and it's an absolute fact, Word Ace is the only product in the final with the potential to be in every home, without question. Word Ace will become America's best-selling educational game regardless of whether it wins or not. Out of all of the products, this has generated more inquiries from manufacturers of major brands than any other product in the final. The sad part is that I don't think America got to see the game properly to make a proper judgment. The producers' view will be, "A game? If that wins American Inventor, is it exciting enough?" The reality is that the winner should be the best invention, the best product, so I'm slightly saddened that, unless Ed wins, I think we've done him a bit of an injustice here. But Word Ace is a five-letter word beginning with G — great.
TVGuide.com: Are you second-guessing the decision to leave the final vote up to viewers? Jones: No, I truly believe that America's got to decide. Otherwise, because it's my show, I'll end up picking the winner on Day 1, and that's not as exciting. We've got to let America decide. I'd like to see them decide on the final 12, actually. We might see that happening next season.
TVGuide.com: Now as far as contractual terms, who actually stands to financially benefit from the winning invention?Jones: The inventor themselves get a very large proportion of everything going forward, which is really important, with the million-dollar grand prize on top of that. That gives [potential contestants] an impetus to come along for next year. We also need to sharpen the contract terms to make it easier for everybody to think, "I'm happy to give something away in order to get my product into the marketplace."
TVGuide.com: You have other shows in the works. Anything you can talk about?Jones: I've got something I'm filming next month for the U.K., a show called Business Class. It's basically a big search in Britain for the next teenage tycoon. We're talking to networks in the U.S. [about developing an American version], and one is very interested. I think you'll see that come to the States early next year.
TVGuide.com: Aside from the teen angle, how different will it be from The Apprentice?Jones: Completely. You're going to have Peter Jones going back to school to teach entrepreneurism, and we're going to choose about 60 people, through an audition process, who will then create a business idea. Instead of the winner just getting a job, that person will actually get their business, in the real world, supported by me with over $1 million worth of my money.

TVGuide.com: Before we get started, I want to make sure that you're in a good mood. You know, I've been attacked by models before, and not in the fun way.Sara Albert: [Laughs] Yeah, I heard it got a little bit saucy with Furonda! I promise not to bite your head off... unless you give me good reason!
TVGuide.com: I'll try to ask only relevant questions for a change. Now then, let's talk about your Betty Grable-esque discovery. The other girls acted as if it was a crime to be spotted by a talent scout at the mall.Sara: I think it is! It's like models don't get discovered in malls or something. Or it makes them really not want to be [a model]. Watching the show on TV has been strange for me because I didn't know how central a part of my character that would be. I counted and in the last episode, [how I was discovered] was mentioned about 15 times.
TVGuide.com: Don't knock it — you could end up doing a lot of catalog work after that! Sara: [Laughs] Who knows? But being discovered in the mall was both a blessing and a curse. Yes, it got me in the door, but from that point on I had to pretty much defend the fact that I wanted to be there despite the fact that I never gave anyone any reason to think otherwise.
TVGuide.com: You tried as hard as any of the rest of them, wherever they came from.Sara: Yeah! I felt as if I was probably one of the hardest-working girls in the house, because I didn't know what I was doing! I had to work harder just to keep pace.
TVGuide.com: When you were approached at the mall, did you know it was legitimate, or did you think, "Oh, this is a scam. They want me to do Girls Gone Wild."Sara: At first I had no idea what this random woman was talking about. She came up to me and asked if I was lost. I looked at her as if to say, "You're crazy. I'm in a mall. Where are you?" But then she told me she was from Top Model. She was very nice and said, "Just come and try out. It'll only take 15 minutes." It was one of those things where you think at the time, "Oh, this is funny. I have to do this. It's obviously not going to go anywhere." Two weeks later, I was in Los Angeles for the semifinals, and a couple of weeks after that I was on a reality-TV show! It was so strange how fast and unexpected this whole experience was.
TVGuide.com: You were planning on a career in law. How did your parents react to the news that you were going to take a little time off to walk the runway?Sara: Well, to clarify that one point, which also was brought up in the last episode — how I was "almost a lawyer" — I don't know how that could be when I haven't taken the LSATs or gone to law school.
TVGuide.com: Apparently, you're just that good.Sara: I guess so. I should go out and take the bar exam right now! No, I graduated from Georgetown last year, and law school was definitely one of the things I was considering. I felt that my life could go in a million different directions. As for my parents, I know they would be supportive of everything I do. They know that they raised me right and I can make my own decisions. But when I told them [about Top Model], they were definitely a little apprehensive. For a long time, they tried to keep me out of modeling because they didn't want my identity to be about what was on the exterior. But this is the first time in my life that I have a strong enough sense of self where I can do this and come out of it unscathed.
TVGuide.com: Had you tried to get into modeling before?Sara: Never really seriously. I was approached by a couple of people in the past....
TVGuide.com: In malls?Sara: [Laughs] You bet! But it was the sort of thing where I didn't really know how to get into it, and I was a little bit wary of people trying to rip me off, so I'd never really considered it. Also, I've always had a lot of commitments to other areas in my life — like my education and the fact that I've always been an athlete, so I have a commitment to my team — so this was really the first time in my life when I could realistically go after it.
TVGuide.com: Now that you have modeling on top of those million other options in life, is it something you're going to pursue?Sara: You know, I think I am going to. I was actually really excited for the episode to air, because I really want to see how far my potential can take me. [Contestants aren't allowed to seek or accept modeling work until after their elimination episode has aired.] I didn't know that I was going to like modeling as much as I do. So I hope that finally puts those "Does she really have a passion for this?" questions to rest!
TVGuide.com: So there! Besides, you can be a lawyer at 60. There probably won't be quite as much demand for you then as a model.Sara: Exactly! I feel like this is a time-sensitive opportunity that I would be crazy not to take. And I do have a great base of education. I have a degree that I can fall back on if in six months, five years or 10 years this doesn't work out. I'm grateful for that.
TVGuide.com: Do you think too much was made of the fact that you copied Joanie's elephant pose?Sara: I was kind of surprised when I heard Joanie say, "She doesn't deserve to be here." By that point in time, I thought that Joanie and I had started to become friends, so it kinda stung. But Joanie and I are really good friends — we've gotten a lot closer since we finished the show — so I don't have any hard feelings about anything she said. She had those feelings then, and that's that. Anyway, to answer your question: The whole "copycat" thing is kind of frustrating for me because I did come into this competition with no experience and a very steep learning curve. I had to absorb as much as I could in a very short period of time, and part of that was drawing from other people and trying to make it my own. In that one instance with the elephant, I got caught up in the fact that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and, "Wow, that pose looks like fun!" So I did try one pose that Joanie had done before me, which was standing on the elephant's leg. But I only did it for a very short time. And at the end of the day, the picture that the judges chose was me doing my own pose. And let's be honest — how many poses can you do on an elephant?
TVGuide.com: I was surprised that Tyra came down on you for it when she's up there teaching you what expressions to make and teaching you to recognize the difference between a good pose and a bad pose. So if you see a good pose, you're not supposed to try it...? Sara: Yeah! And I was the last model to be shot that day, so if I didn't do any of the poses that the other girls had done, I would have just been left there standing on the elephant without anything to do! So the whole copycat label frustrated me because it took away from everything else that I did. It makes it sound like somehow none of the pictures I'd done throughout the competition were mine.
TVGuide.com: The judges made a big deal about your height, too. I didn't think there was such a thing as "too tall" for a model!Sara: I thought that, too, but now I know. But I don't think they told me that I was necessarily too tall — [it was] more that I didn't know how to use my height.
TVGuide.com: OK, I saved the best question for last. Are you ready?Sara: Bring it on.
TVGuide.com: What's it like being in a room with Jade? Is it hard not just to laugh in her face?Sara: [Laughs] Well, there was lots of laughing. You couldn't help it! She is an incredible person. And you know what? Whenever I've been recognized, people say, "Oh, you're Sara from Top Model!" And the next thing out of their mouths is always, "Is that how Jade really is?" or, "When is she getting kicked off?" And you know what? That in itself is an amazing quality. People love to love her, they love to hate her, but they're still tuning in to see her. That shows what a big personality she has.
TVGuide.com: A big something, anyway.Sara: [Laughs] I mean, you've got to give her credit. She has undeniable confidence and a sense of self. That girl is not making any apologies for what she is, no matter how many times I was absolutely doing triple-takes at what she said. "Did you really just say that?" But at the end of the day, you have to just say, "That's Jade," and love her for it.
TVGuide.com: I still can't figure out if her sense of self — if that's what you want to call it — is enviable or scary. Sara: It's both, to be truthful. I've never met anyone like her in my life. I do respect her.
TVGuide.com: So Top Model taught you a valuable lesson: Take a little bit of Jade into every modeling audition! Sara: Exactly! We could all learn a little bit from the challenge [in which we were criticized by an actor posing as a potential client], where Jade said, "Yes, I am amazing!" That's respectable. She's quite a character. There were very, very, very unique girls in the house, and I feel lucky that I got to meet all of them.
Are you addicted to shows like America's Next Top Model? Find out the real reason reality TV is a hit.