10 TV Shows You Didn't Know Shared The Same Sets
5. The West Wing And Smallville
Now this one is hard to spot. The West Wing, to the surprise of no one, was a political drama television series that followed the fictional President Bartlet and his staff as they go about their business and their personal lives while running The United States of America.
It predominately took place in the west wing of The White House, and although it looked extremely realistic, it was actually a soundstage created especially for the show in Burbank, California; not Washington, DC. It was the obvious choice, as there would have been no chance that the show could have filmed all their episodes in the actual White House; although the exterior shots of the show had been shot in DC.
So when the teen superhero show Smallville, based on the high school versions of Superman and Clarke Kent, featured a subplot that sees infamous villain Lex Luthor predestined to become President of The United States, it made sense for them to borrow The West Wing's set. You know, instead of spending tons of money to recreate a set that already existed.
It was during the season 1 episode Hourglass that Lex Luthor saw a vision of his future as The President. So, the actor was put on a plane from Vancouver, Canada to Burbank, California to film his scenes on the West Wing set. Not a bad work trip, if you ask me.