Second I want to thank everyone who pushed the idea of doing something like this back during the summer when the first set of spoilers started surfing, to have a way to have the fans voice their distaste toward what's about to happen with our ship or speaking in present terms, what's already happening to our ship.

Third I want to credit the idea for this operation to the Dawson's Creek fans from back in the day who started something very much like this when it came to supporting their ships and voicing their voice. The biggest one "Operation True Love" and "Save True Love" for the Pacey/Joey ship, who campaigned their asses off to show TPTB that they were the major ship who had the biggest following in the viewership.

And as any Dawson's Creek fan knows, Pacey/Joey won at the very end as a result of their support from their fans.

I'm not going to be unrealities and say we can get the same outcome as the Pacey/Joey fans did, but it's worth a try and I think we're all in agreement that we're fed up with TPTB continually belittling our ship on and off screen.

And yes we are all very aware that Clark ends up marrying Lois (at least in the comics and on Lois & Clark), but that's not what we're fighting for, we're fighting for an actual good payoff when it comes down to Clark and Lana, better writing when it comes to this ship and some respect toward it and those who've stuck around supporting this ship and the series since season one.

I think we have all suffered an array of emotions this summer that goes without saying especially looking back on all of our posts (especially over at SWEET) since the Season 3 finale. When there was still hope….to now when the grim realization of uncertainty regarding the show's future and especially regarding Clark and Lana’s so called bittersweet ending promised a long time ago, being more and more allusive and most likely non-existent.

With all this uncertainty surrounding Clark and Lana, I can't help but feel heartbroken and saddened. I know I sound pathetic talking about a TV show this way and the truth is, I don't care with all the chaos in this world and in my life Smallville was an escape from all that...

...Especially Clark and Lana's relationship, it was simple, it was innocent, it was pure, it was beautiful, .it is a recreation of how it felt to have a crush forming into friendship and ultimately developing into deep and passionate love. This is the kind of love story that is rarely seen on television anymore and that is why it was special. And then to have Tom Welling and Kristin Kreuk interpret these two star-crossed lovers made this tender love story even more amazing. Words were never needed to be able to see the absolutely breathtaking moments between these two characters and also knowing that these two actors portraying these characters were not only beautiful on the outside but also they seem have placed their souls into them. Their sweetness, friendship, openness, further connected the actors to the characters they portrayed and that was simply magic on screen!!

Yes, I am a hopeless romantic and Clark and Lana fulfilled that part of me, and I am very sad to see that relationship "possibly" destroyed without ever reaching its full potential… and I don't want to see it tarnished or at least the memories of it from its 2 seasons.

I still have “Clana” through fan's videos, fanfics, imagination, and the 3 seasons (although season 3 wasn't great it did give me slumber and relic and that is all I need to pretend it was Clark and Lana consummating their love)...it is still pathetic I have to "pretend" but that is all I've got left for now.

Yes it is very depressing when sometimes it seems like the show's own creators don't see the beauty of this tragic love story and their harsh words only tend to confirm it..."Boring" / "Tired"... I hope I am terribly wrong about this but those two words keep haunting me because if they don't see and appreciate the tragic beauty in this relationship up to this point, then they probably never will and that has been the hardest part to swallow. That just confirms that there is just no hope for this relationship becoming what it should have been. A great but tragic love story filled with love, passion, heartbreak, sacrifice, and a strong bond that lasts a lifetime…

This:

Sci-Fi Wire Jul-16-2004

Miles Millar, executive producer of The WB's teen-Superman TV series Smallville, told SCI FI Wire that the producers wanted to bring in new faces for the upcoming season as alternative love interests for Clark (Tom Welling) and Lana (Kristin Kreuk). "We were getting tired of the Clark/Lana relationship," Millar said in an interview..."We sort of, like, strip-mined that relationship. So we wanted to bring in some new faces and reenergize the romance in the show and get some new triangles going."

One of those new additions will be Clark's famous future love interest, Lois Lane, played by Erica Durance. Durance is contracted for 13 episodes, with the possibility of more if her character works well within the context of the show. Millar said he is pleased with what he's seen so far. "Erica is stunningly beautiful," he said. "She's clearly a different vibe to Lana. She's very sophisticated and very funny and sassy, energetic and urban. Clark and Erica together, they shot their first scene today, and it's just awesome, the chemistry. So it's going to be really exciting to see that relationship."

Lana, too, will be getting a new potential love interest in the form of Jensen Ackles. Ackles will meet up with Kristin Kreuk's character in Paris over the summer. "Jensen also brings a whole new element to the show," Millar said. "He's pretty sexy, and I think when Lana comes back from Paris she's a really changed person. She's come back with a new look and a new attitude, and she's put the past behind her, and she's very confident."

"It's the mythic jolt we needed," Says executive producer Alfred Gough, citing a need to spice things up between Clark Kent (Tom Wellling) and Lana Lang (Kristin Kruek). "[The couple meaning Clark&Lana ] I hope they get together to Sweet God, enough already!" While Superman movie overloads (that is, Warner Bros.) have forbidden romance from taking flight during Lois 13-episode stint. -- Al Gough speaking about Lois joining Smallvile

It ain't easy being in charge of WB's most popular prime-time series. Just ask Smallville honchos Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, who withstood some withering attacks from devoted Clark/Lana worshippers demanding to know when their favorite couple would be getting together once and for all. The answer? Not anytime soon, especially since Lois Lane is being introduced this season. Plus, as the producers themselves insisted, if Clark and Lana ever did enter into a real relationship, they would instantly become the most boring couple on TV.

I took the liberty in posting one of our fellow Sweet member's account of her experience at Comic Con on that fateful day....I hope she doesn't mind....I have always respected her posts, views, and opinions on this board...I admired her passion, her conviction, and her determination to stand up to what she believed in...Even if it meant standing up against AlMilles and speaking her mind and I truly respected her for that....Cat along with Mere thank you for taking one for the team

Write up on Comic con... posted on SWEET Jul-25-2004 Note: Has been edited to include only the Clana related aspects...I also want to say that this is one viewpoint of "her" experience there...not to be held as an "accurate" account...I will try to post "other" viewpoints as I find them.

...there were a couple of questions worth mentioning. First, Mere asked, what was the point of developing this relationship for 3 yrs, putting us thru all this, etc., if they're just going to ditch it in S4? They seemed startled by the question and didn't know how to answer it, so they just repeated the same old ish from the infamous interview. They're all like, "Well, in S1 we had Whitney, in S2 we had the secret, in S3 we had Clark's guilt complex..." blah blah. Then they're like, Lana can't date Clark b/c of all the crap with the mythos, blah blah... and they said when he's on red K he's kind of a jerk, but.... uhh, I think a lot of chicks dig Clark on red K, no? Then they sorta backpeddled and said that they were obviously going to have to get them back in S5 or some ish...but no mention of S4.

Then I went up and well, had a little too much fun up there. first of all, I said I was upset that they seem to think the only way to keep the 'ship interesting is to keep throwing in love triangles and this endless will they-won't they limbo. What we want to see his progress, how her knowing changes her, changes him, affects the relationship... what it means to develop the characters, the story, etc. What do they hope to accomplish with reintroducing basically the same issues as S1, e.g. Whitney 2.0, etc. That got a laugh from the audience. ... Their answer? Nervous laughter, followed by "well, we had them together for 2 eps in S2... and that was boring... once they get together it's boring... and then I actually interrupted them and said something like, "how can you say that? Do you really think once she knows it's smooth sailing and there are no issues? Problems are bound to arise from that." Now at this point the proctor was about ready to drag me bodily from the mike so I backed off, but i was laughing at how.... their answers were. Al basically brushed me off with, "We'll get back to you in S5." Whatever. If you have any viewers left by then.

Another girl also asked if there would be any Clana action in S4, to which she got an emphatic "No" from both AlMiles. They said some vague thing about possibly in S5, and that was it. How's that for optimism, eh?

What really surprised and disgusted me is the total lack of passion or caring in AlMiles answers.

All in all, the experience confirmed my worst suspicions and only makes me more convinced that the blind optimism at Sweet and DTS is severely misplaced….Sadly, AlMiles are likely going to chalk Mere's and my feelings up to being disgruntled Clana fans and not viewers who wish simply for good writing. It's an uphill battle we will ultimately lose. However, at least I said what needed to be said, and I can derive some cold comfort in that. I'll still write to the WB... just b/c it needs to be said. Not so much b/c I think it will make a difference. I'm a glutton for punishment, I know. Well, I took one for the team yesterday. I tried

The teen-Superman saga has had its ups and downs, but in its third season last year, a big chunk of Kryptonite seemed to sap the show’s energy. Though Smallville was never a “yuk fest,” executive producer Al Gough saw problems in January, and so did viewers. Ratings fell 25%,in part from the show’s move to Wednesday, and the Clark-Lana relationship had “gotten stale,” he says. A considerable comedown for a show that rocketed to success in 2001 and for a time eclipsed 7th Heaven as WB’s most-watched series. “We probably went a little darker than we wanted to go and got a little too mythology-heavy,” he says. “They were hanging out too much in secret labs, and that’s not any fun. Why the hell would teenagers want to watch this show anymore?”
This fall, they may have another reason: Gough promises a return to the show’s roots as a teen drama that explores the final year of high school for young Clark Kent(Tom Welling)....

The interview was probably conducted a while ago because he mentions that Mxyzptlk will be showing up, like it's a future event. And I think the Flash episode is the last episode he referred to as one that had already aired.

Anyway, here are the quotes Al Gough that I remember:

"I don't really peruse the fan sites the way I did in Season 1, but from what I hear the response has been very good. Certainly to the season opener and the episode where we introduced the Flash, and obviously the introduction of Lois Lane."

With respect to Season 5 he said:

"Hopefully, fingers crossed, we'd love to get Lois for next season, although it's still a conversation at the moment. She's been the mythic jolt we needed this year and Erica has done a fantastic job and she and Tom have great chemistry. It's everything you could want, so our hope is that we're able to hold onto her as well."

Millar on Clana in Season Three:
"We played this for 60-odd episodes," says Millar. "Enough already - let's find something else. He's always going to love her, so that for us is still the core and he can be the unrequited love for her."

Millar on a Clark/Lana union being suicide for the show:
"We had this scene in Exodus where they finally went out, with them picnicking, and horses and we thought 'well, that's boring as hell, we're not going to do that for a whole season.' That's the Moonlighting curse, the kiss of death for any of these shows. These two have to be apart and we then get all this Internet stuff saying 'they've gotta be together, when are they gonna be together?" Soon as they're together - Game over."

This latest interview from the official Smallville magazine was the last blow. They straight out said that the picnic under the tree was "boring as hell". That was a major slap on the face to all of us that really loved that scene...hence why the name of this campain "Operation Under the Oak tree".

and of course this latest blow...

Al Gough & Miles Millar In Smallville Magazine #7: March. 11 2005

On Clark and Lana having a relationship:

Millar: "If you look at the Clark/Lana relationship, it's actually extremely destructive for Lana. Going out with Clark, it's really pretty horrible for her, falling in love with someone who can't tell you the truth and you know that they're hiding something from you. There's a lot of angst for Lana that is pretty damaging. Why does she take it from him? You look at the reality of it - his lies, constantly changing personalities...."
Gough: "It's a relationship where they seem like they should be together but Clarks' not capable at this point in his life of making sacrifices that he needs to to be with her. And now, we've introduced Lois and seen the moment where he meets the woman that he will ultimately end up with, who can frankly roll with the punches of his crazy life."