There was chemistry between lex and clark, just not that kind lol hehe. Although now adays even that would be a possibility (I wish I could quit you Clark!).
And yeah, the show would still be about superman, just a darker superman, and lex has always been a darker batman in a way, so you could in effect have a real batman vs superman show going on.
Also lex could end up recruiting all the others to battle/fight the more dark superman.
Could be a freaking awesome spin on the whole story to be honest, especially with the Lex from smallville as the hero/leading role. Too late now sadly, but It would have been freaking epic if they did that back in 2004 or so.
No duckies, just drowning.