This is from my May 2023 blog post:
TV and movie comparisons/ Angel season 3 ep 1 "Heartthrob" question
This is my Jul. 2022 blog post:
Should I continue into TV production? (Part 4)/ Why do you want to be a TV writer?
I want to ENTERTAIN people as a TV writer.
Now I want to EDUCATE and INFORM people as a blogger.
Sept. 4, 2022 My life purpose: It seems like I'm not going to be able to become a TV writer and producer.
My life purpose is to entertain and make people happy, educate, and inform people as a writer/ blogger.
When you read these "TV and movie comparisons" about creative writing and screenwriting, I hope you are entertained by this and learn about writing.
Why I never liked Smallville:
Dec. 22, 2025 Smallville:
"A young Clark Kent struggles to find his place in the world as he learns to harness his alien powers for good and deals with the typical troubles of teenage life in Smallville, Kansas."
I was 16 yrs old when this show came out. I watched season 1 and season 2. I watched some of season 3. By the middle of season 4 I had stopped.
This is my review of the show for the first 3 and a half seasons.
I watched this from 16-19 yrs old. This is my opinion back then, and my opinion has stayed the same.
I was kind of bored of the show after 3 episodes.
This show is made for teens, and I was a teen.
I was in the target audience.
I didn't like it even like when I was a teen.
I never actually liked watching the show.
There are some of you who are like:
"Then why did you watch this much of a TV show that you didn't even like?"
As a kid and teen, I will usually watch anything. I love TV. I loved TV so much that I wanted to be a TV writer and producer and entertain people with my writing.
I watched nearly the whole first season because the Edmonton actor Eric Johnson was in it. I wanted to be an actor as a teen and I was like supporting him by watching this show.
In a way he was a like a role model. Here is a guy from my hometown Edmonton, and he went to Victoria Performing Arts School and he is successful actor.
This was in 2001-2004. There wasn't "peak TV" back then with all your streaming platforms. However, there are some of you who are saying "There is a lot of TV and movies, and the internet where you can get entertainment."
As a kid and teen I watch these TV shows and movies. As an adult, I look back and may re-watch some video clips on Youtube and then think they're not that good, or I don't really like it.
The cases are like Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I watched that show when I was 11-14 yrs old when it was on ABC and I had access to it. I used to like sitcoms. As an adult, I don't. I'm not criticizing Sabrina.
Here are the reasons why I never liked Smallville:
The bad writing:
1. The freak of the week: This is the number 1 reason why I disliked the show. Someone who is usually a teen gets infected by kryptonite and then they start hurting or killing people.
Clark Kent has to stop him or her.
The Freak usually hurts or kills himself by accident.
The Freak can kill himself on purpose (which is suicide.)
The Freak can also land in the mental hospital.
I know with TV shows like mystery crime dramas where every episode they have to:
-solve a murder
-solve a kidnapping
-solve a bombing
-solve a robbery
However, I don't find that boring and repetitive.
2. There is too much fawning over Lana Lang: It's okay to have a likeable character, and have other characters like the character. However, there is too much fawning over her.
These are the things people point out on the internet (and that I didn't notice and I also didn't like):
3. The characters who get infected by kryptonite act all sexy:
It's like acting sexy is bad and wrong.
4. There are too many car accidents on the show:
There is a lot in the first season. Whitney gets into a lot of car accidents out of all the other characters.
5. Smallville is a derivative of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but more mediocre:
5A. The lead character has to fight and kill: I find this show was kind of similar to Buffy, but instead of vampires and demons, it was "the freak of the week" like humans infected with kryptonite.
Smallville was worse, because Clark can't exactly kill humans. That would make him a murderer. So that's why most of the time the Freak usually hurts and kills himself by accident.
There are some who would call Clark a murderer.
Buffy kills vampires and demons, and they're not humans. This doesn't make her a murderer.
5B. A teen and his friends live in a small town where crazy things happen: Clark living in Smallville is like Buffy living in Sunnydale.
5C. The season 2 finale on both the shows has the lead character leave the small town.
5D. Chloe on Smallville is kind of like Willow on Buffy: They were both good in school and did research.
The Flash is a derivative of Smallville: This is just like Smallville with this big event happening in the pilot and with "the freak of the week."
When I saw The Flash pilot, I was like: "This is Smallville." I then stopped watching after the pilot.
Later on, I went to imdb.com and read the episode descriptions of season 1. They have metahumans which are freaks of the week.
Buffy and Smallville are on the same network WB.
Later the WB turned to the CW.
Then Arrow and The Flash aired on it. A whole slew of other superhero TV shows came on.
2. The casting:
Tom Welling as Clark -he's good looking and his acting is average. However, I thought he looked like he was 30 yrs old when he played a teen.
He was 24 yrs old when he started on the show.
The others looked like teens playing teens.
Kristin Kreuk as Lana.
Allison Mack as Chloe.
Sam Jones III as Pete.
Eric Johnson as Whitney.
3. Eric Johnson has a very small part on this show: He got written off the show after the first season, because there wasn't much use of his character besides being Lana Lang's boyfriend and obstacle for Clark to date her.
When he was on the show, he was in for 1 or 2 scenes. In some eps, he was there for 1 scene and his character doesn't say any lines.
I get to watch him every week, but it was minimal.
At least after this show, he did steadily get on more TV and movies.
Pros:
1. Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor. He was a good actor and the role is good and strong.
2. There are a lot of guest -stars to play the Freak of the Week.
Shawn Ashmore: I have been a fan of his since he played Jake on Animorphs.
Adam Brody: I have been a fan of his since he was on the TV show The Sausage Factory. The show is also called by Much Ado About Whatever. He then got on The OC.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281482/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_0_in_0_q_the%2520sausage%2520factory
Kyle Gallner: He played Bart Allen/ The Flash on the episode "Run" in season 4. He was in a few more episodes on the show, but I never watched them.
He did get on Veronica Mars and I have watched him on a lot of TV shows and movies.
I met this guy named Mark at the Soup Place #1 when I was working there in Jul. 2009. He was a customer and I told him he looked like Kyle Gallner.
Mark: That's a new one. A lot of people tell me I look the guy from the Dell commercials.
Tracy: Yeah.
Actually we didn't know who the other one was talking about.
I went on YouTube to find the Dell commercials, and then later found the actor's name:
Ben Curtis:
These are the interactions I had with Mark and telling him who Gallner is.
This is from the Jul. 2009 blog post:
news/ crazy meeting/ Harper's Island
writing/ Kris Andrews/ look alike
Ben Curtis/ The Listener/ Fighting
3. Ethnic diversity - Kristin Kreuk is mixed. Her dad is Danish and her mom is Chinese.
Sam Jones III is Black.
My opinion: I would say this is a mediocre show. The first and main reason I watched this was for Eric Johnson.
The second reason was that as a teen I love TV and willing to watch anything.
Apr. 2, 2026 Why I'm a big fan of Eric Johnson: I have been a fan since Jan. 2001 when I saw him on the TV movie Scorn. I was 15 yrs old and in gr. 10. I read that he's from Edmonton.
I wanted to be an actor when I was a teen and he was like this role model and inspiration that if he can be a successful actor than so can I.
Here's his imdb page:
I saw that we had things in common:
1. He's from Edmonton, specifically Bonnie Doon. I'm in a neighborhood by there.
2. He went to Victoria Performing Arts School, and I wanted to go there, but my parents wouldn't let me.
3. His birthday is Aug. 7 and mine is Aug. 11.
This is from the Mar. 2020 blog post:
Quickbooks/ How to make decisions/ Tracy giving away her magazine clippings (Work from Home Part 1)
My opinion: When my friends and I were teens we were obsessed with celebrities (and I'm sure there are adults who are obsessed too.)
I was reading, watching, and listening everything about Eric.
I helped Eric get a magazine interview in 2002:
Youthone.com: I was 16 yrs old and in gr. 11. This magazine for Moz was launched and they had a booth at my school. I got the magazine. The editor Leo Wong was there and he said: "If you have anything you want to read in this magazine, you can email us."
I then emailed them this:
I think you should do an interview with the actor Eric Johnson in your magazine. He plays Whitney Fordman, the popular jock and Lana Lang's boyfriend on Smallville. He's from Edmonton.
I have his Edmonton agent's office address and phone number so you can contact him.
(It's Darryl Mork because I was reading an article about Eric and they mentioned his agent's name.)
Youthone emailed me back:
1. How old is he?
2. What high school did he go to?
3. Is there anything interesting you would like to tell us?
Tracy:
1. He's 23 yrs old.
2. Victoria Performing Arts School
3. My sister's co- worker and her friend bumped into him and his girlfriend Adria at Jacob clothing store in City Centre mall.
My sister came home and told me about it: Co-worker Karina her friend TIm.
Tim: Hey, aren't you like Whitney from Smallville?
Eric (blushes): Yeah, you're the first person to recognize me since I came back to Edmonton.
Tim: I heard you're not on the show anymore.
Eric: Yeah, I am.
Tim: That's not what I heard.
Eric: Who do you believe more, me or the internet?
There is a clarification here: Eric wasn't a regular on the show anymore. He was going to be there for 1 more episode.
Tim goes downstairs to buy a camera and takes a picture with him.
A few months later I checked the website www.ericjohnsonweb.com and there was news that there was an interview.
I emailed Youthone.com and thanked them for getting the interview.
2003: Youthone.com was at West Edmonton Mall. I went there with my friend Leslie. I picked up the new issue and was flipping through it and the interview wasn't there. I went and asked Leo.
Tracy: Hi, I heard there was going to be an interview with Eric Johnson, but he's not in here.
Leo: We decided not to publish it because he got booted off the show.
Tracy: He's going to be there for 1 more episode.
Leo: We're not going to publish it.
2004: I then emailed them and then I was able to read the unpublished interview.
I tried to help him get a role on a TV show:
2003: I was 17 yrs old and in gr. 12. There was going to be a TV show written and acted out by teens and it's called LMAO (Laugh My Ass Off). It was about teens who attend a performing arts high school.
Of course I attended it because I wanted to be a TV writer and producer, and also as a teen. I didn't want to wait to be an adult to become one, I wanted to be one now.
One of the producers is Conni Massing.
Here's her imdb page:
Then in like 2009, she was the Edmonton Public Library Writer -in -Residence and she did read the first 25 pages of my script The Vertex Fighter.
There was also this white guy in his 30s and was short, and had some weight on him. He had brown hair and a beard. He was an actor. I think he was the same actor who came to my gr. 9 drama class to teach us improv. I know he did the Centre High introduction video when I was in Centre High.
At the end of it:
Tracy: Hi, I think you should have the actor Eric Johnson on your show. He's from Edmonton, and he was on the TV show Smallville. I have his Edmonton agent's office address and phone number if you want to contact him.
Guy: Is it Darryl Mork?
Tracy: Yeah.
(I thought: How did you know that?)
Guy: Yeah, well he's my agent too. Anyway, he's too old. Not to mention he's like 6'5".
Tracy: No, he's 6'2".
Guy: Yeah, well after he got on Smallville, he just got too big. Look, he's too old.
Afterwards, my friend Tamara was there.
Tamara: Smallville?
You have to send in your submission. I wrote some of my funny short sketches. It was about 3 teens like Robert, Alli, and Garret "RAG." As I look back, the writing wasn't very good.
I got a rejection letter. Also, the show LMAO never got produced.
2014 The Office Assistant program at MacEwan: I was in the Business Communication class and were to do a presentation on any topic we wanted. The teacher Matt was in his 40s and he had to approve of it first.
I did the presentation on Eric and I got 65% (B) on it.
Matt: Why did you do a presentation on this actor and not any other actor?
Tracy: I wanted to be an actor when I was a teen and he was like this role model and inspiration that if he can be a successful actor than so can I.
This is from the May 2018 blog post:
"Office romance"/ Woman with no arms turn social change/ Eric Johnson tweet
Eric Johnson tweet: He is one of my favorite Edmonton actors. I tweeted to him:
@EricJJohnson79 My sister's co-worker and friend bumped into you back in Jun. 2002 (after season 1 Smallville). You & your GF were at Jacob clothing store. They took pic with you.
Wow! That girlfriend BTW is now my wife:) please send my best!
