Friday, April 3, 2026

Why I never liked Smallville/ Why I'm a big fan of Eric Johnson

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 BuffyThey were both good in school and did research.



The Flash is a derivative of SmallvilleThis 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.





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.  Th 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:

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.




Replying to 


Wow!  That girlfriend BTW is now my wife:) please send my best!


"As gas prices rise, ride-hail drivers feel especially pinched at the pump"/ "Rising gasoline prices are a double blow for drivers who use their own vehicles for work"

Mar. 18, 2026 "As gas prices rise, ride-hail drivers feel especially pinched at the pump": Today I found this article by Abby Hughes on CBC:


For Kuljeet Singh, a ride-hail driver in Vancouver, every stop at the gas station is nerve-racking.

His heart starts beating, Singh says, watching the dollar amount climb each time he has to gas up. "Sometimes I feel like I'm going to get, like, heart attacks," he said, half-joking.

Gas prices worldwide have soared since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, 

and the widening war has pinched tanker traffic in the crucially important Strait of Hormuz shipping route.

Ride-hail drivers, 

many of whom are on the road for hours a day, say they're being hit hard by the extra expense 

— and experts worry that will lead to burnout as it gets harder to make ends meet.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Gasbuddy.com showed the average price of gas across Canada hovering around 168.1 cents per litre. 

In British Columbia, the cost was higher at 187.3 cents per litre on average on Tuesday afternoon, 

and on Monday gas prices crept past the $2-per-litre mark at some gas stations in that province.

Singh, who is also the director of the Ride Hailing Driver Association of B.C., says he's paying an extra $20 to $25 each time he fills up his car, 

which he has to do every three to four days when he's driving for Uber and Lyft. 

In a month, he estimates that means he's shelling out an extra $150 to $200 to be on the road in downtown Vancouver.

"You feel like … how am I gonna survive? 

What should I do? 

Should I put more hours [in]? 

Should I work, like, 14, 15 hours? 

It's a very hard decision," 

Singh said. 

He says he already works seven days a week — something many of his fellow drivers do, too 

— so upping his daily hours would be the only solution for him.

While Canada is a major oil producer in its own right, 

and there is no shortage in what's being pumped domestically, 

the country still feels the fluctuation of oil prices 

because the global crude market is so interconnected, 

according to Joe Calnan, vice president of energy at the Canadian Global Affair Institute.

"When you have a big supply disruption like this, 

it goes around the world, including in Canada," 

Calnan told CBC News Network.

Calnan says gas prices will continue to go up as the conflict in the Middle East drags on and production there remains stalled.

"The longer we see this disruption, 

the higher prices are going to get."

That's bad news for ride-hail drivers who were already struggling to make ends meet due to low margins, 

says vice president of the Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario, Earla Phillips, who has also been driving for companies like Uber and Lyft for nearly a decade.

She says she's heard from many drivers who were already struggling to 

make car payments 

or pay rent 

before the cost of gas surged. 

Many others have also turned to food banks to feed themselves, 

according to Phillips.

And while governments in Ontario and B.C. have introduced legislation to help protect vulnerable gig workers providing services like driving for ride-hailing companies, 

both have been criticized, 

with workers and experts alike saying those rules fall short of ensuring better pay and safety. 


Who should cover cost?

Personally, Phillips says she's not even sure what a full tank of gas would cost these days — she says she hasn't filled her tank all the way up for quite a while due to the high cost.

"I'm putting in the bare minimum that I need to be able to drive for a day or two," Phillips said. 

She says $20 used to fill her tank halfway, 

but now it's taking $30 or $35 to move the needle past the half-full mark.

To try and curb the extra costs, 

Phillips says she's been more picky about which trips she accepts. 

Sometimes that means more sitting than driving, she says, 

in order to avoid "deadheading" 

— making trips where she only has a passenger one way, 

but her car is empty on the way back.

Phillips says she worries about safety for drivers and passengers, 

as drivers might feel the need to drive for longer hours to make ends meet. 

Uber and Lyft both limit drivers to 12 hours of work at a time, 

but Phillips says there's nothing stopping drivers from switching from one app to the other when they've hit that limit.

Companies like Uber and Lyft could automatically add fuel surcharges for riders when the price of gas goes above a certain amount, 

Phillips suggests, so that drivers alone aren't shouldering that burden.

In 2022, Uber added a fuel surcharge to the cost of a ride, 

acknowledging that the increased cost of gas at the time due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine was hurting ride share drivers "more than most." 

Gasoline shot to record-high prices in the summer of that year, with the average price of gas Canada-wide reaching 207.2 cents per litre in June of that year, according to Statistics Canada.

The company added a 50-cent surcharge to all rides 

and adjusted consumer fees on Uber Eats orders 

to add the equivalent of a 35-cent surcharge to those deliveries, 

saying 100 per cent of the charge would go to drivers and delivery people.

CBC News reached out to Uber and Lyft asking whether or not they were considering adding surcharges to rides because of the increased cost of gas, but none replied by deadline.

Ride-hailing company Hopp, which operates in the Greater Toronto Area, 

said it is assessing 

pricing 

and driver earnings 

and "preparing to introduce targeted measures to help drivers manage the short-term cost pressures where needed."

"Our priority is to maintain the balance between 

driver costs 

and rider pricing 

to ensure that our platform remains fair and sustainable for all parties," 

a Hopp spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

If nothing changes, drivers like Abdul Jaber say they might look for other streams of income because operating as a ride-hail driver just isn't worth it. 

He only drives part time, but says he might start looking for a different side hustle, as will other drivers.

"They're going to find maybe other jobs, such as drywall, construction, restaurant, fast food, whatever. 

They're going to find something else just to [maintain their] life," Jaber said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/gas-prices-rides-hailing-drivers-9.7132355


Mar. 30, 2026 "Rising gasoline prices are a double blow for drivers who use their own vehicles for work": Today I found this article by Dee-Ann Durbin And Matt Sedensk on BNN Bloomberg:


Leslie Sherman-Shafer, an Uber driver in the San Francisco Bay Area, likes to start each shift with a full tank of gas.

It used to cost her around US$25 to fill up her Toyota Corolla. 

She’s spent closer to $40 since the Iran war began 

and pushed up the average U.S. price for a gallon of regular gasoline by $1.

Sherman-Shafer, a retired dental office assistant who picks up Uber passengers five days a week, said she’s putting in extra hours to cover the difference.

“We don’t get reimbursed for gas. 

We rely on the generosity of the tip,” 

Sherman-Shafer said. 

Some passengers have tipped more to compensate for higher gas prices, 

but most don’t tip at all, 

she said.

Driving a car, van or truck is a big part of many Americans’ workdays. 

Nearly 27 per cent of civilian workers cited driving as a physical demand of their jobs last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Millions of drivers use personal vehicles for their work, 

from delivery and ride-share providers like Sherman-Shafer 

to self-employed 

electricians, 

nannies, 

home health care aides 

and real estate agents.

As the war enters a fifth week and continues to disrupt global oil supplies. many of those workers are now scrambling to make ends meet. 

The national average price for gas reached $3.99 per gallon on Monday, up 34 per cent from a month earlier, according to AAA.


“With everything going up, it’s impossible to save a dime,” Sherman-Shafer said.

Some companies compensate employees for using their own vehicles, 

including the cost of gas. 

In the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service sets a standard mileage rate every year that businesses and private contractors can use to calculate tax deductions. 

Alpine Maids, a housekeeping company based in Denver, pays cleaners the 2026 federal reimbursement rate of 72.5 cents per mile for the distance they drive to clients’ homes.

But with gas prices spiking, that money is not going as far, saida former geologist who now runs Alpine Maids.

“Our maids drive their own cars, so it’s kind of like their paycheck got smaller,” 

Willatt said. 

“They’re all upset.”

Willatt said he reduced how often maids must report to the office, from daily to once a week,

and rejiggered cleaning assignments so employees aren’t driving as far between clients. 

If gas prices climb further, he said he might increase what he charges customers so he can pay workers more.

Molly Kenefick, the owner of Doggy Lama Pet Care Inc. in Oakland, California, said she recently raised her gas reimbursement rate to 80 cents per mile for 15 employees who use their own vehicles to pick up dogs and take them for hikes around the Bay Area. 

The rate increase will stay in place until gas prices in their area drop below $5 for at least a month, she said.

Kenefick said she planned to raise prices for the company’s services in May. 

But she doesn’t want to increase them too much because she’s worried she’ll lose clients. 

So Kenefick is also dipping into her savings to pay for gas.

“The economy is hard for people. Everybody’s under strain,” she said. 

“I can take some of the load 

and the company can take some of the load, 

provided this doesn’t go on too long.”

Ride-hailing and food delivery platforms that rely on gig workers don’t reimburse drivers for gas, 

but some are offering temporary incentives in response to rising gas prices.

DoorDash, 

Uber, 

Lyft 

and Instacart 

are providing more than the usual cash back on gas purchases 

for drivers who use company-branded debit cards. 

DoorDash and Instacart are giving a weekly fuel payment to 

drivers who travel 125 miles 

or more making deliveries.

Sarah Noell, who spends about 20 hours a week making deliveries for DoorDash in Lynchburg, Virginia, said the measures help somewhat. 

But she said she’s noticed more customers declining to add tips to their orders as gas prices have increased.

Noell has started refusing any order that won’t average out to $1 per mile, 

including the $2.50 per order she gets from DoorDash. 

That cancels out many users who aren’t tipping or give only small tips.


“It takes nearly double the cost to fill my tank,” 

Noell said. 

“Ten dollars used to get me a decent amount. 

Now it only gets me 3 gallons.”

Owners of diesel-powered vehicles have seen even steeper fuel price increases since the war started on Feb. 28, affecting drivers around the world.

Drivers of diesel-powered “jeepneys” in the Philippines, went on strike for two days last week to protest their higher costs. 

In France, dozens of buses and trucks drove slowly on the Paris ring road Monday to demonstrate their concerns about rising diesel prices. 

Drivers and businesses want the French government to provide aid to mitigate the impact.

“The major difficulty right now is finding our balance on our business since we sold services with the vehicles at a certain price for diesel that was much cheaper. 

And we’re not going to ask customers to pay that difference,” 

Sarah Bahezre, manager of the bus transportation company Ulysse Cars, told The Associated Press.

Average U.S. diesel prices climbed 44 per cent over the last month, according to AAA.

A few weeks ago, Rachel Hunter paid $3.62 a gallon to fill the single diesel truck used by Cactus Crew Junk Removal & Thrift Store, a Phoenix business she and her husband co-founded. 

The same fuel now costs $6.09 per gallon in Phoenix, according to AAA.

The truck carries all kinds of heavy cargo, from slabs of solid maple bowling lanes to loads of concrete paver tiles. 

So fuel costs quickly add up, Hunter said, particularly with a truck that only gets 12 or 13 miles to the gallon.

Hunter has started quoting prices that reflect the jump in prices. 

She worries she’s in a “vicious circle” that could hurt the business if oil prices remain high.

“We don’t want to get a bad name for being overpriced,” 

she says. 

“I’ll be able to explain it where people can understand, but it doesn’t mean they can afford it.”

Dee-ann Durbin And Matt Sedensky, The Associated Press

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/2026/03/30/rising-gasoline-prices-are-a-double-blow-for-drivers-who-use-their-own-vehicles-for-work/