Dean Cain was always an idiot. Even back then.
No one watched the show because of him, they watched it for Lois

I did but in my defense I was in elementary school when the show was on.

I didn't watch Smallville, mostly because they advertised it like it was a generic teen drama sitcom. Had no idea it had anything to do with Superman till after it went off the air.

Had they advertised it as a Superman show I might have watched it.

(Remember this was before fandoms met on the internet)

Edit: Apparently Dean Cain was not in Smallville, but a different Superman show

The leads in Smallville seem to be good guys (lex and Clark) in real life.

Cain was on years before, in the show Lois and Clark. No one liked him back then either.