Cliff Simon (1962-2021)

Cliff SimonWe’re sad to report the passing of Cliff Simon, the actor who brought one of SG-1’s archenemies, Ba’al, to life.

Simon passed away in a kite boarding accident on March 9, 2021, in Topanga, California.

He was born September 7, 1962, in Johannesburg, South Africa, and began his acting career in 1991. His Stargate debut was in the Season 5 episode “Summit, Part 1” (2001) and he last appeared in the movie Continuum (2008).

Pay tribute to Simon in our comments below and share your favorite Cliff Simon/Ba’al moments with us.

Our sister site TheAlphaGate is moving to the AO3

The Alpha Gate is Moving to the AO3

The Alpha Gate archive header

The Alpha Gate (fanlore), a Stargate SG-1 fanfiction archive (TheAlphaGate site) is being imported to the Archive of Our Own (AO3).

In this post:

Background explanation

Opened in 2002, the Alpha Gate Archive is a repository of Stargate SG-1 fanfiction, and was originally composed of writers from The Alpha Gate’s active Yahoo! Group. The archive has been host to over 3,800 works for the past 15 years, and is making the move to the AO3 because its hosting software, eFiction, is no longer supported.

Open Doors will be working with Biblio, PhoenixE, Babs, Devra, Sideburns, Sallye, Imagine, and Michelle to import The Alpha Gate into a separate, searchable collection on the Archive of Our Own. Eventually the links going to the old site will re-direct to the collection on AO3 so the works can continue to be found with their old URLs.

We will begin importing works from The Alpha Gate to the AO3 after September.

What does this mean for creators who have work(s) on The Alpha Gate?

We will send an import notification to the email address we have for each creator. We’ll do our best to check for an existing copy of any works before importing. If we find a copy already on the AO3, we will invite it to the collection instead of importing it. All works archived on behalf of a creator will include their name in the byline or the summary of the work.

All imported works will be set to be viewable only by logged-in AO3 users. Once you claim your works, you can make them publicly-viewable if you choose. After 30 days, all unclaimed imported works will be made visible to all visitors. Open Doors will then set up the URL redirects, and we will permanently close down the site.

Please contact Open Doors with your Alpha Gate pseud(s) and email address(es), if:

  1. You’d like us to import your works, but you need the notification sent to a different email address than you used on the original archive
  2. You already have an AO3 account and have imported your works already yourself.
  3. You’d like to import your works yourself (including if you don’t have an AO3 account yet).
  4. You would NOT like your works moved to the AO3.
  5. You are happy for us to preserve your works on the AO3, but would like us to remove your name.
  6. you have any other questions we can help you with.

Please include the name of the archive in the subject heading of your email. If you no longer have access to the email account associated with your Alpha Gate account, please contact Open Doors and we’ll help you out. (If you’ve posted the works elsewhere, or have an easy way to verify that they’re yours, that’s great; if not, we will work with The Alpha Gate mods to confirm your claims.)

Please see the Open Doors Website for instructions on:

If you still have questions…

If you have further questions, visit the Open Doors FAQ, contact the Open Doors committee.

We’d also love it if fans could help us preserve the story of The Alpha Gate on Fanlore. If you’re new to wiki editing, no worries! Check out the new visitor portal, or ask the Fanlore Gardeners for tips.

We’re excited to be able to help preserve The Alpha Gate!

– The Open Doors team and The Alpha Gate mods

Stargate SG-1 Twentieth Anniversary!

Stargate SG-1 premiered to Showtime viewers on July 27, 1997! The show set a few records and gave its fans a decade of sci-fi enjoyment as they followed the adventures of Jack O’Neill and Daniel Jackson, joined by Samantha Carter and Teal’c, as they formed the first SG team and visited each Stargate address discovered by Daniel on Abydos.

It seemed just like yesterday, didn’t it? Did you catch the premiere or did you pick up the adventures when the show went into syndication? What were your favorite adventures? Does the show stand up to the test of time?

Visit our wiki for more about the show, and its premiere episode, “Children of the Gods.”

New Stargate Series! Stargate Origins

MGM has announced they are creating a new Stargate series called Stargate Origins. It will be a digital-only series consisting of 10 short episodes that together would form sort of a movie. The focus of the series will be on the early life of Catherine Langford and her early experiences with the Stargate.

The series will be offered on a new MGM portal called Stargate Command. Some of the content will require payment.

These articles provide the MGM press release and a trailer, which is all from the original movie:

Variety:

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/stargate-revival-origins-new-digital-show-1202501988/

Deadline:

http://deadline.com/2017/07/mgm-stargate-franchise-digital-series-stargate-origins-1202131483/

This article in Vox has a lovely description of Catherine Langford, including Daniel’s attendance at her funeral.

Vox:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/7/20/16005620/stargate-origins-new-web-series-catherine-langford

See also our wiki article about Catherine! 

Lexa Doig Wins Role on Arrow

Stargate alum Lexa Doig has been cast in CW’s Arrow as Talia Al Ghul, daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul. This is a recurring role, and Lexa appears to already be doing archery training for it! See her twitter feed for lots of reaction: https://twitter.com/lexashmexa/

For more details:

http://tvline.com/2016/11/02/arrow-season-5-talia-al-ghul-cast-lexa-doig/

http://screenrant.com/arrow-talia-al-ghul-lexa-doig/

The timing may be convenient, as her husband Michael Shanks’ show Saving Hope has just wrapped production in Toronto.

 

Michael Shanks’ Saving Hope to End After Five Seasons

Saving Hope, the medical drama with a supernatural twist, will end after five seasons. Starring Michael Shanks and Erica Durance, the show filmed in Toronto.

Saving Hope showrunner Adam Pettle discusses the decision to end the series

Michael lived there, away from his home in Vancouver, for more than half the year. The show wrapped production this week, so there were many sad goodbyes.

Canada will see Season 5 this winter. In the US, Ion TV is still showing Season 4.

Congrats to Michael on a five-year run, and welcome back to Vancouver!

 

Bridges with Emmy nomination

Beau Bridges as Tom Miller  Beau Bridges had a long film history before playing General Hank Landry  on Stargate SG-1 for Seasons 9 and 10, and his distinguished career has continued.  Most recently, The Television Academy has given him an Emmy nomination nod for his guest role as Barton Scully on Showtime’s Masters of Sex.  He was nominated for the same role in 2014.  This makes Bridges’s 16th Emmy nomination; he’s previously won 3 Emmys.  We at Solutions wish this Stargate alumnus best of luck when the Emmys air on September 20.

Stargate to Return in Reboot Trilogy!

Stargate (MGM)We’ve heard talks about a reboot or continuation of the original Stargate movie from Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin for several years, but now it appears that MGM will be going forward with it!

According to this article at Deadline Hollywood, Emmerich and Devlin stated, “The Stargate universe is one that we missed terribly, and we cannot wait to get going on imagining new adventures and situations for the trilogy. This story is very close to our hearts, and getting the chance to revisit this world is in many ways like a long lost child that has found its way back home.”

This new arrangement will not include Kurt Russell or James Spader as Col. Jack O’Neill and Daniel Jackson. Instead, MGM is teaming with Warner Bros. to produce a “re-imagined trilogy” based on the Stargate. Whether or not this includes Jack and Daniel, we can only speculate at this time, but the production’s goal is to introduce the franchise to a new generation. It would be hard to imagine Stargate without these two legendary characters.

The original Stargate movie was released in 1994 and was used as the foundation for the Stargate SG-1 television series (after which our website is named), which premiered in 1997 and ran for 10 years. Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks starred in the pivotal roles of Jack and Daniel.

As SG-1 fans we can celebrate the enduring attraction that is Stargate, but it will be hard to let go of our preconceived notions of who Jack and Daniel are and how the Stargate was discovered and used to take them on new adventures. How do you feel about the reboot of Stargate and who would you like to see portray Jack and Daniel?

Coming Soon: Jason Momoa Stars in Sundance’s “The Red Road”

Stargate star JASON MOMOA can be seen in the Sundance Channel’s The Red Road, scheduled to premiere February 27 at 9 PM (Eastern). It’s set in a small New Jersey town, where cultures collide. Momoa plays Phillip Kopus, an ex-con and Native American.

Here’s a preview. More information can be found on the show’s dedicated website: The Red Road – Sundance Channel

David Hewlett Doing “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit 1/23/14

DHewlettRedditDavid Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay) is doing an Ask Me Anything (AMA) over at Reddit at 7 pm EST on 23 Jan 2014. For those who don’t know, Reddit is a general discussion forum that often hosts AMAs by famous people, who must verify they are ‘them’ by taking a picture referencing the AMA. Any user can ask a question, and the guest answerer can choose which ones to answer.

Anyone can read the AMA, but to ask a question, you need to be a Reddit member.

The producers for State of Syn have provided a how-to for the AMA over here: Instructions

According to his twitter, David is quite nervous about the AMA. So head on over and offer some love to the man who brought us McKay!

UPDATE: THE AMA PAGE IS HERE.