I think there's a difference, primarily in intent. If the intent is to split Lex into his good and evil instincts, that has very different plot implications from splitting him into...I don't know..scientist Lex and Businessman Lex.

I'm betting on good and evil, though

There's a difference in execution depending on how you split them, but I don't think that Buffy didn't rip of Star Trek any more than Smallville would be ripping off Buffy. It's quite possible that sentence doesn't parse. And it may have happened before then, I'm not familiar enough to say.

Want to bet one of the Lex's finds out about Clark ?

Have we ever even seen Scientist!Lex on Smallville? I don't seem to recall it. I mean, I suppose his investigations into Clark could possibly count but that was mostly other people doing the work for him.

Also, what a shame they don't go for the Farscape option instead and keep two Lexes around for a while .

There's been the implication that he's knowledgeable in the field, but not that much hands on, I think.

Frank, do you know that they don't? I don't know how it wraps up -- I thought it might play into the sudden yet inevitable betrayal, if they wanted.

I think Buffy was certainly riffing on Star Trek, but that's different, to me, from un-attributed, apparent ripping off of plots.

Frank, do you know that they don't?

Nope, I don't know anything I haven't read here. I just figured that the Farscape gambit would be both riskier, and more creative than Smallville usually gets.

Although, now that I think about it, soap operas keep evil twins around ad infinitum, so who knows.

eta Granted what was risky and creative about the two Crichton saga was that it wasn't an evil twin scenario or a constituant part scenario.

Who knew? Wayne Brady can actually act. And he's almost as tall as Chris Judge.