Annette O'Toole already had her "Superman" street cred -- having played Lana Lang in 1983's "Superman III" -- before joining the cast of The WB's teen-Superman drama "Smallville," but the latest effort from her husband, Michael McKean, truly makes the Man of Steel a family friend.

In "Perry," the "Smallville" episode premiering Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m. ET, McKean guest-stars as down-on-his-luck reporter Perry White, who, as "Superman" fans know, one day becomes the boss of reporter Clark Kent at the Daily Planet.

"I actually heard a rumor about it quite early on," McKean says. "I thought, 'I'd like to be part of the Superman mystique, having read and collected my share of 'Superman' comics as a kid.' And I've already done a 'Star Trek' and an 'X-Files,' so come on, I'm Mr. Genre."

Asked whether O'Toole -- who plays Martha Kent, the adopted mother of Clark Kent (Tom Welling) -- had any influence in getting her husband the part, McKean says, "You know, we try not to examine these things too closely."

Despite his personal connection to "Smallville" (and the cost-saving measure of having a place to stay at the show's location in Vancouver, Canada), McKean says producers had some reservations about hiring him to play White.

"A lot of them are fans of what I do in my day job," he says, "my silly movies with Christopher Guest and company, like 'Best in Show' and 'A Mighty Wind.' But they hadn't seen me do anything dramatic. I'm mostly comedy-ghetto guy, which is fine."

To tip the scales, McKean sent them the 2002 independent film "The 100-Mile Rule." "It's kind of a dark comedy," he says, "but it's a straight role. It's not a laugh-getter."

Apparently, the strategy worked. In "Perry," White is a hard-drinking, scruffy scribe looking for a break while researching paranormal weirdness in Smallville. When Clark saves White's life by pulling the door off his wrecked car, White starts thinking he's found his ticket back to the big show.

"He's one of those guys, I have a feeling, that could find a way to blame all his problems on other people," McKean says. "He thinks he may have found the story that's going to put him back on the A-list, but he also learns you can't pin everything on a story, because if it goes away, you're dead."

Despite the obvious temptation to pair McKean and O'Toole in a scene, the actor says, "We're in one shot together, and we're about 100 yards away, so we do not interact. But it was fun. I'm down at one end of the driveway going, 'Hey, Netty.' She waved to me, 'Mikey.'

"It was pretty sickening, generally, so I think they probably kept us apart on purpose for that very reason, because we're so nauseating. We're not, actually. We're precious."

That preciousness may stem from the fact that McKean and O'Toole have only been married since 1999, and that was one consideration when she was offered "Smallville."

"We still like spending as much time as we can together," McKean says, "especially since we didn't wind up finding each other until we were already of a certain age, as they say.

"It has now evolved to a point where everyone's pretty much on the same page as far as not having Annette stuck up there [in Canada] when she's not needed. They've been very helpful."

Since Perry White is a fixture in the "Superman" universe, will he be back?

"Yeah," McKean says, "I think so. They're planning on it. Maybe one more show later this season. But the fact is, he's on his way to Metropolis. We know eventually what he's going to do -- he's going to be editor of the Daily Planet. He's going to be Clark's boss.

"As to what tempo this proceeds at, it's not for me to know. They know what Perry White looks like now over at The WB, so I assume they'll call me when they need me, and I'll be there."