08.Feb.10
Posted in News, Press, SG-1, Universe at 1:56 pm by DeeKayP
Michael Shanks told SCI FI WIRE that he’s beginning to believe that the third SG-1 DTV movie Stargate: Revolution will probably not get made. He reasoned, “Given the amount of time lag that’s gone on between us doing the movies, I suspect that we might be very far away from, if ever, doing another DVD movie. This might be the closing of the book on that particular [chapter of the] franchise.”
He explained further, “Never say never. It’s always a possibility. But I think everybody’s moving on to a certain point, and with the new show doing well, everybody’s focusing their attention on that. The SG-1 idea is somewhat on the back burner, which is a little bit unfortunate, because I think one more story would have been a great way to bring Rick (Richard Dean Anderson) back in and really go there. But you know, business is business.”
In the article, Shanks talks about his moving on to other projects, although he does reprise his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson in two more episodes of the first season of Stargate Universe. Fans have seen him in Sanctuary and Smallville: Absolute Justice recently, and he has a brief appearance in Supernatural coming up.
But one project that is of great interest to the actor is the possibility of winning the role of Danno in the remake of Hawaii Five-O. “I don’t know what to say about that. I haven’t read the script yet, so I’m going, ‘Really?’ I’ll have to wait and see.’” If cast, he’ll co-star with Lost veteran Daniel Dae Kim, who’ll be portraying Detective Chin Ho Kelly.
This is pilot season, so there may be other opportunities coming his way, but Shanks added, “I’ll tell you one thing, to go to Hawaii to shoot a series would be a dream come true, that’s for certain. Not a bad gig there. … I don’t feel too bad for the people on Lost. Oh, you’re on Lost. Poor guys. Yeah. Boo-hoo. Go back to your cabana and have another mojito [laughs].”
Make sure to visit SCI FI WIRE: Why Michael Shanks thinks Stargate SG-1 is history for the full interview.
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05.Feb.10
Posted in Fandom, SG-1, Views at 5:44 pm by DeeKayP
We’re looking back at the ten-year run of Stargate SG-1 in our Thirteen Weeks for Thirteen Years (13-4-13) series, and now we’ve arrived at Season Six. There were changes both on screen and behind the scenes after MGM’s Hank Cohen saved the show from its cancellation from Showtime at the end of Season Five by selling it to the US’ Sci Fi Channel for Season Six. In addition, the Sci Fi Channel got the rights to show reruns of older seasons, so a new audience was opened up to them. The move from Showtime to the Sci Fi Channel turned out to be a boon for both the cable channel and the production.
Another major change for the show was the introduction of a new member of the SG-1 team: Jonas Quinn, played by Parker Lewis Can’t Lose lead actor Corin Nemec.
The return of Daniel Jackson as an ascended being also played into three pivotal stories of the season, one of which was “The Changeling,” Christopher Judge’s first script for the show.
At the beginning of Season Six’s production, plans were in place to end SG-1 with this season and go on to a feature film that would act as a bridge between the adventures of SG-1 and the non-military team in the spin-off. At the time that Season Six was starting its principal photography in February 2002, Brad Wright said, “In a perfect world, which this isn’t, we would roll into the feature after a relatively short hiatus immediately after the end of the series. So, we would wrap season six, take a very short break, then go into prep for the feature. You have to get the feature ready so that you can then roll into a spinoff series.” By June 2002, the spin-off had a name: Atlantis.
And then something unexpected happened late in 2002: they were renewed for a seventh season!
SG-1 Season Six
Are you rewatching at home on your DVDs or through Hulu? However you’re doing it, once you’re done, come back here for our poll:
Brad Wright
From “Perfect 10″ in Stargate SG-1/Atlantis: The Official Magazine, issue #17 (Jul./Aug. 2007):
“I respect good notes. I listen to good notes—but I’m not changing the series just for the sake of change. [Sci Fi] didn’t want to do that. To their credit, they knew what they were buying. And obviously, at that point we had done over 100 episodes of it. We seemed to know what we were doing, so they were very hands-off and quite respectful of the show for what it was. And at that time it was doing very, very well for them in re-runs. So it had a significant value for them.
“Season six was the first season that we thought was likely our last, but it wasn’t. Who knew that resurgence of season six [would happen]? Basically, the show found an audience that had never seen it before. That’s one of the reasons we were able to grow, to expand the show even more. It was a watershed year.
“‘Abyss’ I would have to call my highlight episode. There was a lot of fun scenes in that and it was nice to see the spark between Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks on screen.”
Richard Dean Anderson
From “SFX Profile: Richard Dean Anderson” in SFX (Jun. 2002):
“Given that there was a request of six years for me to do the show, and I’d done a series before for seven years, I was kind of…well, not running out of gas, but… I have a three-year-old daughter, and I wanted to spend some time with her. That was my only requirement about doing a sixth series: I needed more time at home. I didn’t need more money or anything like that, I needed time.”
From “Stargate SG-1 Goes Even More Sci-Fi” at Zap2It.com (Feb. 22, 2002):
“I couldn’t be greater, except that I twisted my knee yesterday carrying my kid to ballet class. I’ve been aggressively skiing since December, not an incident, then I’m carrying my baby … . Anyway, I have to go have it looked at. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.”
From Live with Regis and Kelly (Jun. 7, 2002):
“Listen, we had General Ryan come on and do a little cameo for us, and he’s a real live four star, one of the big guys, and he came on. And I had to ask him point blank, because there’s a certain irreverence that I bring to the character, and denseness, but while we were doing this scene, I just looked at him and said, ‘Do you have guys like me in…?’ and he stopped me and said, ‘Yes, and worse, and you’re doing a fine job, son.’ So I guess that was license to misbehave. You gotta have fun.”
From an interview in TV Zone #158 (Jan. 2003):
“I’m very happy with how this year went. We dealt with the introduction of a new character [Jonas Quinn, played by Corin Nemec] as well as the loss of an old one [Daniel Jackson, played by Michael Shanks]. Everything just seemed to fit. It was a comfortable transition and, I felt, a credible one, too.
“I got to work with Michael Shanks a couple of times this season, even though he wasn’t a regular ‘employee.’ We had the opportunity to do some fairly intense scenes where they threw our two characters together in a paper bag and shook them up. I really enjoy acting opposite Michael, partly because of his awareness of rhythms coupled with his propensity for speed and reaction. The relationship between Jack and Daniel has, I think, found a really nice levelling off place this season.
“I thought it [Jack's relationship with Jonas] unfolded nicely. Certainly, the seed was sown for conflict and distrust between the two of them. However, throughout the season, Jonas proved himself to O’Neill, who also had some revelations about Jonas’s relative innocence in regard to Daniel’s death. Oddly enough, we’re shooting a scene today that I think further proves that O’Neill has come to accept Jonas. My character actually says something complimentary to him such as, ‘Get well soon, we need you out there.’ That’s O’Neill’s mid-western way of saying ‘You’re OK, kid.’ [Note: 'Prophecy' was the last episode to film for Season Six, even though it was the penultimate episode.]
“Martin [Wood] did a wonderful job with ‘Full Circle.’ It was a big production and we wanted to make sure that it was in the hands of somebody who’s used to doing our show. I really enjoy working with him and Peter DeLuise [writer/producer], who also directs several of our episodes each year. Along with being great human beings they’re also very talented and innovative people. Both Martin and Peter aren’t afraid of exploring new ways of doing things and I truly appreciate as well as admire that.
“I’ve received so many compliments about the sixth year. The Sci-Fi Channel really lucked out and got qualitatively a wonderful season’s worth of work. Hopefully, we’ll be able to give them that again and more in Year Seven.
“I have some pressing issues on a personal level as well as career-wise that I have to deal with that will affect my future on Stargate. In fact, last night I jotted down some points in an effort to clear my head as far as what my objectives would be with regard to a career move. Because I tend to write honestly to myself, I concluded that the ideal situation for me would be to stay on this show for a seventh season, albeit in an abbreviated form. I’d rather do that than the alternative, which would be to say goodbye and look for something else down the road. Honestly, I’m not interested in doing that, and with good reason. In this cast and crew of Stargate I’ve got a spectacular sense of community and virtually a family. There really is a warm feeling on our set. So it would be great to somehow work out an arrangement in which we do a seventh season.”
Amanda Tapping
From “The Carter Command” in XPosé (Oct. 2002):
“It’s all gone to Hell in a handcart—the whole show. Honestly, it is so much fun. This is probably the most fun we’ve had in the show since Season One. Not to say that the others haven’t been great. I mean every season had its own personality and it’s always been fun but this year… maybe because we know it’s our last… we’re just digging it. We’re loving each other, we’re laughing our asses off. We’re having a great time.
“It’s been a good season actually. There’s a lot more humor in Carter this year. She’s cracking a lot of jokes, or at least she’s attempting to and we get to see a lot more humor in Teal’c too. Part of it is that we’ve got this new team member in Jonas Quinn and we’re all still a little wary of him. He, maybe, in some ways has bonded the three of us together more. It’s kind of like ‘Watch out for this guy!’ because, you know, he makes mistakes based on his naiveté and we’re all rolling our eyes.
“For Carter it’s been a cool season. For example, Richard and I got sunk underwater in one episode ['Descent']. Actually, we nearly drowned in this set that goes underwater. The set was meant to go underwater but it flooded. However, aside from the near drowning experience, the episode had a major cool factor for us.
“Richard had an episode off whilst he went down to Chile so Carter led a mission. It took place on Earth so Teal’c, Jonas and Carter got to wear real clothes and, I swear, we were like the Men in Black. We got to wear these long, black coats just like MiBs and that was very cool. We have all these little aliens on Earth and was such fun to do. It was one of those episodes where Christopher and I are finding ways to make the relationship between Teal’c and Carter lighter. Especially with Jonas in ‘Nightwalkers,’ you’ll see a lot of looks between us that just sort of show how solid the relationships are.
“Then, of course, my dad [Carmen Argenziano as Jacob Carter] has been back and is coming back again—which is a huge treat—and we’ve been to the Antarctic ['Frozen']! So yeah! All in all it’s been a really cool season so far.
“It’s kind of like being in your very last semester at school. It’s like everyone has grown up and now we’re like—wow—we can just sit back and enjoy. Plus the episodes seem bigger. The scope of that seems bigger. The sets are bigger and we’ve been on lots of locations. I can’t stress how great it’s been so far because when all is said and done, all things come full circle and we’re back to how we were in Season One which is—’This is it! Let’s just have blast and enjoy each other.’ One thing that’s always made working on Stargate SG-1 such a pleasure is that we really are a family. It’s the one thing that I so appreciate about our show. I adore the way that not only does this apply on set, but in the way that our producers and our writers foster that. For instance, Brad Wright and Robert Cooper and Michael Greenburg are never too busy to listen. Our producer John Smith is on set first thing every morning and he’s the last face you see here at night. It’s full on for him. I get my hug in the morning, then he’s around for the remainder of the day and like the rest of us, he really does enjoy what he’s doing.”
From “Amanda’s Army” in Starburst (2003):
“The season as a whole I thought was fantastic. I thought that it was such an interesting dynamic bringing Corin in, or bringing this Jonas character in, and it changed the relationships of everyone and it sort of infused the show with new life. It was a really strange season for us, but I think that it was a really good one.
“[For] Sam’s development, no, but I’m not complaining. Her job in Season Six was to help move the story forward, doing a lot of explaining or taking us to places. She facilitated stories, but she didn’t have a huge emotional mark in Season Six. She was the go-to girl. You need the information, go to Sam. You need something explained, go to Sam. You need some back-story, go to Sam. There wasn’t a lot of character development for her. There were certain episodes that I thought were fun to play, like ‘Nightwalkers’ and ‘Smoke and Mirrors,’ which were sort of Earth-based stories about ‘Who do you trust and who don’t you trust?’ I certainly had a great time shooting Season Six, but I don’t feel that the character of Sam had a huge amount of development.”
From “Amanda’s Q&A with Fans” (Oct. 30, 2002):
“We’re all cautiously optimisitic about a seventh season. It’s a double edged sword in terms of feeling the need to move on creatively and loving the family and security of Stargate. But, the show is still great fun and the character is still interesting to play so I guess we wait and see what happens. If there were a seventh season I would like Sam to expand her emotional base. She is much warmer and nurturing than she was in the beginning but there is always room to grow. I would like more stories that show us as a team in real peril.”
Christopher Judge
From “Passion of the Chris” at Blockbuster.co.uk (Aug. 2008):
“The first years of the show, you’re just so giddy about getting something like a Stargate, it’s all about having a good time…and I wasn’t alone. Oh no—I had some knuckleheads with me! It’s just when you get to the point that you don’t ever grow up, that’s when it becomes a problem. But I was very fortunate. Our producers were very patient with me for a number of years and, frankly, had more faith that I would come around than I did. I had a talk with [series co-creator] Brad Wright and told him of my desire to write, and he not only facilitated that but encouraged me as well. From that point on I started to see the possibilities of a future writing, producing and things like that, and I pretty much owe that to Brad.”
From “This Alien Warrior” in Starlog #308 (Mar. 2003):
“We’ve had a great year, but I had my doubts going into it, because Michael Shanks left, and he’s one of my best friends, and Teal’c had such a good relationship with Daniel Jackson. It ended up that the stories were good, Michael came back a few times and Season Six was one of our best years ever. And as for Teal’c, I had always said I wanted him to have a slow and steady evolution, and in Season Six he evolved even further. Now my only worry is: Where do I go next season?
“There’s so much going on with this guy. I wanted him to have this slow evolution, and now that we’re in Season Six, we’re starting to see that pay off. This year, we’ve seen him finally have some resolution with his wife and some closure with his son, Rya’c. He had left his family and now he finally got his son to understand the ‘why’ of it. That was definitely a defining moment.
“For me, personally, ‘The Changeling’ was the most important show. I wrote it, and Brad did such a brilliant rewrite on it. And what [director] Martin Wood brought to the table just far surpassed my own personal vision of the script. Every department had suggestions and input. I felt that on that episode, everyone and every department just went above and beyond the call of duty. It was so touching to be a part of it. And not only that, but my girlfriend and two of my sons were in it. We had a bunch of old friends in it, too. Tony Amendola was there as Bra’tac, and so were Peter Williams [Apophis] and Musetta Vander [Shan'auc]. It was a fantastic experience on every level, just so satisfying to me personally and professionally.
“Storywise, I got to touch on some things I had wanted to see for a while. Many people had forgotten that the Jaffa were originally taken from Earth, so they’re actually descended from humans. Teal’c is very much like a human man. Yes, he has certain advanced physical abilities and healing and recuperative powers, but in his heart and is his mind he’s very much a man, and he dreams and aspires to things just like human men do. I wanted to make him human for a bit and go into his mind and see some of the things that he has been thinking and dreaming and wondering about. And I think we did that.
“Several people have said to me—and I agree with this—that Season Six has been about taking Teal’c forward, whereas Season Five was about exploring his past. It’s the furthering of his journey. It’s even more about his evolution and getting back to his humanity, if you will. It really continues on down to the season’s end. Whereas in the past Teal’c used to kind of sit on the sidelines while everyone else made decisions, he has now become a part of the decision-making process. He’s an active part of the group and not an observer anymore.”
Corin Nemec
From interview in TV Zone Special #46 (Jul. 2002):
“The casting people from the Sci-Fi Channel just happened to be walking through the courtyard [at MGM's Santa Monica offices while I was preparing to audition for a feature film]. I’d worked on two projects last year for the USA Network. They own the Sci-Fi Channel, which now airs Stargate. Apparently the Sci-Fi people were looking for an actor to play Jonas Quinn, a new character being introduced into the show to fill the void being left by the departing Daniel Jackson. So they came over to me and introduced themselves. We started talking and they briefly mentioned something to me about Stargate. I didn’t give it a second thought. That afternoon my manager called and told me that they were interested in me for Stargate.
“I met with Hank Cohen [President of MGM Television Entertainment] along with several other people to find out a bit more [about] the part because I’d never seen the show. I was familiar with the Stargate film but not the TV programme. They picked out videotapes of four episodes that they liked and gave them to me to watch. I remember enjoying the movie a great deal but obviously I didn’t know what to expect from a spin-off series. Well, I was blown away. The production design, the cinematography, the acting, etc, were all top notch. That truly impressed me as I love Sci-Fi and action-adventure types of shows. I was also fascinated with the mythology they’d come up with. I thought it was neat how it weaves right in with our Earth mythology and supports Stargate’s overall story arc.
“Having watched the tapes I called MGM and said, ‘This is definitely a project I’d like to become involved in.’ After a couple of more meetings I was cast as Jonas Quinn in the episode ‘Meridian.’ As far as my long-term involvement with the programme, we agreed to wait and see how the character looked on film and how everybody worked together in that one episode. Once the final edit had been done on ‘Meridian’ and it looked like everything had turned out OK, I got a call from MGM saying, ‘We’re very pleased. If you are, too, then let’s more forward.’ So we did and here I am.”
From video interview conducted by Movie Geek Feed at the Trek Expo in Tulsa, OK (posted on YouTube on Jun. 27, 2009):
“But coming to the show, you know, replacing [Daniel Jackson], it could have been harder. Because everyone was so cool—all the cast, the crew, the producers—everybody was just really welcoming and really laid back, so it made the transition for me really easy. The actors, the entire crew, all the directors—everybody on Stargate was like a big family, and just like a family, they were very welcoming.”
From interview conducted by “Fist Full of Comics” at the Mid-Ohio Comic Con (posted on CorinNemec.com Dec. 19, 2006):
Well, [there was] not necessarily any training [to prepare for the role] really, except only for my own workout regimen, because I had to put on a lot of weight. For myself, personally, I wanted to put on a lot of weight—a lot of bulk—in order to be able to fit in with the look of the entire group, especially with Chris Judge. He’s such a big guy, you know, and if you don’t bulk up, you’re gonna disappear on screen next to a guy like that. And Richard Dean Anderson is like 6′3″, so the fact that he’s so tall it’s also easy to lose youself on screen with someone like that, even though I’m six feet. So I put on about 20-some-odd pounds in muscle mass, really, and a little fat, to be able to [fit in]. So I did that for the show in order to—just for myself—in order to get the look I wanted.
“[By] the time that I started on Season 6, I did watch every single episode of all of the first five seasons within like two-and-a-half to three weeks of having started up on the show. So, like by say the second or third episode, I was completely familiarized with everything that was going on storyline-wise.”
From “Nemec Previews ‘Stargate’” in Sci Fi Wire (Jun. 6, 2002):
“‘Redemption, Part I and II,’ is a really wonderful show. Essentially what it does is it introduces the audience to Jonas Quinn, to his abilities, and it gives you a glimpse of what he has to offer, what he brings to the table. [It] shows his enthusiasm about wanting to do all he can to assist the SG-1 team. It’s also like a trial period for him, because he’s trying to convince the rest of the team that he’s a good candidate to be on SG-1. He’s got to prove himself to O’Neill and the others. Over the two episodes he achieves most of his goal. They finally say, ‘OK, we’ll give you a shot.’ But that’s only the beginning. He’s got to keep proving himself and proving his credibility and prove that he’s actually got something to offer. It’s exciting and a little scary, because I think the audience will be watching him just as closely and going, ‘Can this guy really be worked in? How can he help?’”
From interview conducted by “Fist Full of Comics” at the Mid-Ohio Comic Con (posted on CorinNemec.com Dec. 19, 2006):
[There's] only one [acting challenge] that developed over time, which is kind of funny because I really don’t talk about it too often, but the use of props as a character became an issue close to the end of Season 6. It came from somewhere on high that they no longer wanted me to use any props and that, to me, was really disconcerting as an actor and confining because suddenly I was not allowed to explore as an artist in the scenes and find what’s organic and natural to me in the beats and moments. I felt that the allowance of that previous to the last like maybe…three episodes of the season where they put that rule into effect, the character had developed these interesting quirks because of the use of props: the eating of things, the experiencing of all of the new and the interesting kind of items that exist in this new world.
“For instance, there was an episode ['Descent'] early on in Season 6 where me and Teal’c are in outer space and I produce a banana partway through the scene and we have this alien-on-alien conversation in outer space while I eat this banana. That was purely just an idea I came up with at the craft service table because the scene to me lacked—it was just two guys talking, which is fine, but there was nothing really happening for me that was of interest outside two guys talking. So, when I saw the banana, I was like, ‘Now that’s interesting.” And Pete DeLuise, the director of that episode—who is Dom DeLuise’s son and, you know, he’s a brilliant comedian in himself and he really understands humor—and he loved the idea and it turned into one of the most memorable moments. In fact, out there in the web world and fandom, there’s a group of young fans called The Order of Jonas’s Banana—The OJBs and they’re mostly European—but there’s a whole group of them and they go to the European cons and they wear these banana-colored capes and stuff, and it’s all because of that one moment. That came out of having the freedom to explore and discover moments, so that [the restriction concerning props], to me, was very, very strange and confining at the tail end there.”
From “Stargate – Interview with the cast and crew of Stargate SG-1″ by Cyberex Online (Jan. 2003):
“It was fun to swim on the set and hold my breath a minute and a half. I’m enjoying the action aspect of the show. Jonas has become a contributing member of the team. It’s just a balance around background, so as the storyline develops more, the character becomes more involved in the storylines. It’s becoming more exciting for me as an actor.
“Jonas is absolutely based on a part of me. He has a number of attributes true to me. I’m bringing those aspects of myself to the character because it works with him. Of course he’s an alien, but I just imagine myself in those fantastic situations and act accordingly, whatever they are.”
From interview in TV Zone Special #46 (Jul. 2002):
“Carter is the first character that the producers had warm up to Jonas quicker than anyone else. Jonas and Teal’c end up bonding because they have similar backgrounds. Both are aliens who left their worlds as well as their lives behind to join SG-1’s cause. As for O’Neill, the nice thing about him is he’s a loyal guy. He’s loyal to his team mates, his mission and he was and still is loyal to Daniel Jackson. They went through a lot together, so he can’t just blindly accept this new guy taking Daniel’s place. Jack is the person that Jonas has to prove himself to the most, and even when he’s allowed on the team, the colonel doesn’t automatically accept him.
“As I said before, Jonas still has to get out there in the field and pay his dues. So his relationship with O’Neill is a bit strained but I like that because it makes things all the more interesting.
“I have a feeling that by the time this season ends we’ll have a pretty refined character in Jonas and one that’s in a position to develop further. If I get the chance to do that with him, cool. If not, I’ll be grateful to have at least walked in Jonas’s boots for 23 episodes.”
Solutions
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Posted in Press at 5:45 am by DeeKayP
The day that Michael Shanks’ Carter Hall/Hawkman takes flight has arrived! Make sure to tune in tonight (Feb 5) at 8 PM ET on The CW for the two-hour special movie event of Smallville: Absolute Justice!
Leading up to tonight’s event is a four-part audio interview fans should not miss! Shanks is careful not to give away too many spoilers, but instead, concentrates on the challenges of bringing a comic book superhero to life in a dignified way. And of course, no interview with the actor would be complete without a mention of his many years as Stargate’s Dr. Daniel Jackson. Links to all of the parts to this interview can be found at our LJ Companion HERE. If you’d like to revisit Solutions’ many articles about this role, make sure to click HERE for our Solutions Blog and HERE for our Live Journal entries for articles about Michael.
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31.Jan.10
Posted in Merchandise, News at 1:19 pm by michelle
Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment has announced that their new PC-based on-line Stargate game, Stargate Resistance, will be released on February 10, 2010. The existence of the game was only announced on December 8, 2009, so this is an incredibly fast development, especially by comparison with the years of development on the not-yet-released Stargate Worlds game. It’s assumed Stargate Resistance is a less ambitious endeavor that will earn much-needed capital for continuation of Stargate Worlds development.
From the website, the game is described as:
Stargate Resistance is a fast-paced and deadly 3rd person shooter for control of the entire galaxy!
The arrogant System Lords believe they are the true masters of the universe, and have begun a savage campaign to dominate and enslave the known worlds.
Stargate Command operatives are the first line of defense against this menace. Small teams of brave agents use the Stargate to travel about the galaxy and parry the thrust of these alien overlords.
Whichever side you choose, each battle will be one of wits, skill, and reflexes that can decide the fate of the entire galaxy!
Playing the game will require a broadband internet connection and the following minimum computer specs:
- Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista
- 2.0+ GHZ Single Core Processor
- 512 Mbytes of System RAM
- NVIDIA 6200+ or ATI Radeon 9600+ Video Card
- 8 GB of Free Hard Drive Space
For more information, including wallpapers, videos, etc, visit Stargate Resistance.com.
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29.Jan.10
Posted in Fandom, SG-1, Views at 6:33 am by DeeKayP
Next in our Thirteen Weeks for Thirteen Years (13-4-13) series is Stargate SG-1 Season Five, one of the most shocking of the seasons for long-time fans as they suffered through the death of a team member. Dr. Daniel Jackson began his year-long journey as an Ascended Being after dying from radiation poisoning saving a world. The team had up to this point been solid and extraordinarily fortunate to still be intact after this long, and after losing Daniel, they had to deal in the only way that they could during a time of war: by moving on.
The show itself also had to move on after being effectively cancelled by Showtime at the end of this season. Why? Brad Wright stated in a chat with fans at that time, “I suppose it was because Stargate appears so much in syndication that Showtime thought the series was no longer identifiable with them. I was surprised because we were still among their highest rated shows. But the Sci Fi Channel has been very welcoming to us and we’re happy to have a home.”
So at the end of this season, the producers were aware that they’d be moving to the Sci Fi Channel and getting Season Six, which they then thought would be their last, with the hope that a movie, or even a movie franchise, would follow close behind.
SG-1 Season Five
After watching Season Five’s episodes, make sure to come back and vote in our poll below!
Brad Wright
From “Perfect 10″ in Stargate SG-1/Atlantis: The Official Magazine, issue #17 (Jul./Aug. 2007):
“['Wormhole X-Treme'] was a highlight of that year, [but] I think all of the actors felt a little bit as though the 100th episode should have been about their characters. At first I thought, ‘that’s silly’—because we were trying to put the entire crew into the story, and to laugh a little bit at ourselves. That was the goal. I think that was a good idea, [but] I think Michael and Amanda were right in pointing out to us that it would have been nicer to be a little bit more front-and-center, because it was the 100th episode. Who knew then, of course, that we would get a chance to fix that in the 200th!”
From “Brad Wright on Michael Shanks’ Departure” in Cult Times #74 (Nov. 2001):
“It’s not an easy thing just to say goodbye to a character who in many ways is the heart and soul of your series. Richard (Dean Anderson) is the name above the title but Michael Shanks’s Daniel character carried the morality of the show and that is something we will simply have to struggle to replace…ultimately it will be up to the fans to decide how successful we are. Of course, the method by which Daniel is leaving completely leaves the door open, and if things work out he will return.”
Joseph Mallozzi
From interview at SF Signal (Oct. 2, 2009):
“At the beginning of each year, we would sit down and discuss a general arc for the upcoming season. One of the great things about SG-1 was that it lent itself [to] a variety of stories – arc-driven vs. stand-alones, off-world vs. Earth-based, dark mythology vs. comedic outings, etc. The sandbox was wide open. We just had to find a spot and dig.”
From “Joseph Mallozzi’s Weblog” (Feb. 4, 2007):
“As much as I’d love to take credit for Ba’al, he’s a character that owes as much to Cliff Simon’s portrayal as he does to all of the writers who developed him over the years. When I wrote ‘Summit,’ I did so with a mind to making it a try-out of sorts for the various system lords. Ba’al certainly stood out amongst them.”
From “Joseph Mallozzi’s Weblog” (Apr. 15, 2008):
“In SG-1’s ‘Summit,’ I introduced about a half dozen system lords and used the episode as an audition of sorts to find out which of the characters would pop—and have potential to come back. Cliff Simon’s turn as Ba’al was great and, based on his performance in ‘Summit,’ we brought him back. Many, many times.”
Favorite Moments and Episodes from Season Five in “Q&A” with sg1_hc Yahoo! List (Jan. 12, 2002):
“Moment #9: Watching the dailies of ‘Threshold’ and seeing Chris lying, shirtless in the snow, solemnly delivering his lines, then, the second the director yells cut, seeing him jump up and ‘eloquently remark’ how cold it is.
“Moment #10: Michael pokes his head into my office and informs me Jelly [Mallozzi's pet pug] ate his tuna sandwich.
“Episode #4: ‘Summit’: One villain is cool. A whole host of villain is just indescribable.
“Moment #11: Going down to check out the set of ‘The Tomb,’ taking a wrong turn and briefly getting lost. Now THAT is an impressive build!”
Richard Dean Anderson
From “Jack of All Trades” in Cult Times #75 (Nov. 2001):
“O’Neill has looked to Daniel for the greatest camaraderie and certainly [Michael] and I have had a lot of fun with the banter for which we’ve become famous. As actors we do have fun in the little snippets of scenes that Michael and I have been able to play with. He’s very quick and I enjoy that. But for O’Neill it will have to be life as normal without him. Life goes on.
“In fact, in the script we’re shooting right now ['Revelations'] there’s a reference where Carter brings up Daniel’s departure and O’Neill is very pragmatic about it. That’s not to say there won’t be moments of reflection or of sentiment, but O’Neill is a soldier. He’s been through this. He’s been through this stuff with his kid, which is the most emotionally wrenching. With Daniel, it’s a comrade in arms that’s gone down. If you can remotely make a correlation with what’s going on in the world now [with 9/11], I’m sure that the guys who are dealing with the aftermath of the devastation have all shed tears within their personal families and within their ‘other’ families—their teams—but they pick themselves up and get on with it. That is what O’Neill has to do.
“I talked to Brad Wright quite a bit about the future and how we should proceed with the franchise. The thought was that after the fifth year we could possibly have developed a feature film. Brad approached MGM about that but they dragged their heels and weren’t real forthcoming because what they ultimately wanted was a sixth season of the TV series in order to raise as much capital as possible and then they would consider it.
“The major focus of my life is my daughter, Wylie. She’s three years old now and in the last year I’ve been away from her so much that it’s very important that I re-establish a stronger bond with her, especially now when the groundwork of our relationship is being done. She truly is the light of my life and if any interesting projects come up I will have to work them around Wylie. If it’s the Stargate movies, great, if there isn’t anything for a while, even better. I’m actually putting some serious thought into the time management of my career and for the rest of my life. I can actually tell you that I’m informally retiring after Season Six. It’s time to pursue the things that interest me and that is first and foremost Wylie, then the Rivers Project and the Sea Shepherd Society—two non-commercial ventures I hope to become more involved with. It’s the right time for me to do this. I’ve been working my ass off for years and now it’s time to reap the benefits of the life I’ve been leading.”
Michael Shanks
From “Through the Gate and Home” at Stargate SG-1 Solutions (Mar. 2003):
“Daniel is a kind of loner. He was an adopted kid and probably was very disappointed in what he saw around him. I think that over time he decided to make up his own set of rules, to trust himself. At the same time he is very anti-social. He’s not very good at expressing himself without stepping on toes. So he is very ethical because I think he doesn’t know quite how he fits in with humanity.
“I think his job with the team itself operates like his conscience. He is the person who, when dealing with a military organization, is bent on resolving that organization’s agenda. He’s in the back row reminding them of the human factor, reminding them that they are ambassadors of their people. We have to operate in terms of how we can mediate and dispel the differences between us, to recognize what we want and what is best. Each member of the team shares that responsibility, and Daniel thinks he has to be that voice reminding them not to wave flags. He has to be the one to suggest that maybe there’s a better way.
“He’s the team’s squeaky wheel. And I think he’s a bad dresser! Daniel’s sported a lot of different hairstyles throughout the series, too. His taste is improved, though. He’s a very sensitive New Age guy. Most of my friends probably say I’m not! But there’s a certain shyness and sensitivity within him that’s also in me. He has passion and idealism, and I like to think I do, too. Maybe together we make one good parallel.”
From “Problem Solved” in TV Zone (Aug. 2001):
“Last year, whether by design or not. I’m not quite sure, Daniel became a voice of morality for the SG-1 team. His is a non-military viewpoint, and I think that’s very important given the nature of the military hierarchy. If an officer says, ‘Jump,’ a soldier will ask, ‘How high?’ However, a person who doesn’t fall under that hierarchy or who can’t be court-martialled may ask, ‘Why am I jumping?’
“So in the SGC, Daniel tends to be the voice of morality. However, there are some moral dilemmas that have no right or wrong solution and this is true in ‘Beast of Burden.’ My character has to face the fact that his way is not always right and people don’t always have to accept the ‘right’ way. Some things aren’t going to change no matter how hard you try. I think you’ve got to take a stand, though, when it comes to an issue. It may not necessarily be the most popular one, but it’s what you believe in at the time for whatever reason. Daniel is forced to do just that here. There are some ramifications that follow from the action SG-1 takes in this episode and I hope we have the opportunity to revisit this planet in a future story to see what’s happened.
“The episode we’re shooting now ['The Tomb'] is a great one for Daniel. As the archaeologist on the show he gets a big charge out of being in his element, and for me as an actor, the character is the most fun to play when he’s feeling that way. So this story plays perfectly into that. Our heroes are sent on a mission to investigate an ancient Babylonian temple or ziggurat. In order to uncover the mystery surrounding the tomb, they first must decipher an archaic Earth language. This is where Daniel’s problem-solving skills come in handy. Even the door to the place itself is a puzzle and one that my character is able to solve. Of course, once he and the others eventually get inside they find a surprise or two waiting for them.”
From “So long, Daniel Jackson, until we meet again…?” in TV Zone #146 (Dec. 2001):
“Because we’d work together for so long, the four of us—Richard, Amanda, Christopher and myself—had become a squabbling, playful family. If you came in off the streets and saw us you’d think, ‘They’re so unprofessional,’ but we were just having a good time. When you’re with the same group of people so much you have to tease each other like that, otherwise you’d go crazy. Luckily for her, Teryl Rothery [Dr Janet Fraiser] wasn’t with the rest of us all the time. So she’d come in every now and then and be this wonderful professional. It was great to have that sort of grounding or calming influence. At the same time, it was fun to throw Teryl off every now and then and watch her sweat it out because she was so concerned about doing a good job. She always had a good sense of humour about it, though.
“I enjoyed playing Daniel. I think what I liked most was his excitement whenever he discovered something new. We saw this in the episode ‘The Tomb’ with some of the discoveries he made. Certainly they were less important to the story once we got through the front door of the ziggurat but it was fun for a while to see the character in his element. It was the same in ‘2001′ when he put together the pieces of the puzzle to solve a mystery. Daniel never lost his passion for exploration and I’ll always be grateful for that.”
Amanda Tapping
From “Tapping Talks New SG-1″ with Sci Fi Wire(Jan. 15, 2002):
“I actually issued myself a challenge at the beginning of season five, because I knew the character had developed so much over the four years, and I didn’t know what was going to happen to her in season five. And so I sort of issued myself a challenge of finding a new way into the character. Which meant everything from the way she walks to rediscovering her whole physicality to rediscovering her love of certain things and what makes her tick. … It helped me to reinvent her in my own mind, which made it interesting then to play her.”
From “Who’d Live in a House Like This?” in Cult Times (Jun. 2001):
“['Ascension'] is a huge, huge episode for Carter. We get to see where she lives. I get to wear normal clothes. I drive an amazing car. It’s sweet. You know what? I think Carter is very cool. She has a 1940 Indian motorcycle; a 1961 beautiful, mint, vintage Volvo and she’s got a Harley in her garage that she’s working on, too. How great is that?
“I have a man. Of course, at first nobody believes he exists. He’s a bit like ‘my imaginary friend’. Actually it’s a great episode for me because everyone thinks I’m crazy and plays into the fact that Carter has no life outside the SGC. They play into the fact that she never relaxes, so they keep saying things like ‘take it easy’, ‘rest’ and ‘go home’. So you get to see her house and see that she does have a normal life. It’s not like she’s a complete loser, you know. Well, she might be a little bit of a loser, but not totally.”
From “Amanda’s Q&A with Fans” (Dec. 5, 2001):
“We laughed our fool heads off [during 'Wormhole X-Treme']!! There was a great sense of joy on the set because our crew was so involved in it. Many of our crew were extras and they had a blast. Michael and I, unfortunately, were not in a lot of the show. We shot most of our scenes separately from Rick and Chris. The briefing room scene when we were watching the promo for the show was a lot of fun.
“More now than at the beginning [my personality is in the character Samantha Carter]. I think it’s impossible to play this character without putting some of myself in her. She is much more serious than me, though. I laugh way easier than she does. But the line is definitely blurrier than when the show started. I’d like to think we have the sense of loyalty and the same level of commitment.
“My biggest strength, I guess, is my commitment. I am a workaholic and will spend a huge amount of time doing research and homework. I commit 110% to any project I’m involved in. My biggest weakness is my lack of self esteem. I don’t always fight hard enough for my ideas and I am easily bullied by directors. That is the thing that has changed the most since Stargate started, but I have a long way to go.”
From the interview in Starburst #284 (Mar. 02):
“There are times when you feel creatively frustrated, and I guess that I’m feeling it a bit at the moment. This year has been very mixed. In this season, we’ve had a lot of emotional episodes for Carter, and some great stories. But, there’s also been a lot of techno-babble that I’ve had to speak, and if that’s all this character is going to be next year…”
Christopher Judge
From interview in Xposé reprinted at Jaffa Kree (Aug. 2001):
“Five years down the line I am more enthusiastic about the show than I have been for a long time. During the third and fourth seasons I was kind of looking forward to the gig being over, but with season five it seems that everybody has come back really fresh and excited. I know I was looking forward to coming back more than I had for ages. It really is fun again. It’s a lot lighter and everyone is getting along really well.
“Seasons three and four were like the dog days of summer when you just wanted to get through it. Seems now there’s a real vibe, a real sense of adventure again. It’s a bit like a relationship between two people. You start off and everything is wonderful and then you get into a deeper understanding and things aren’t always that great but then you rediscover what it is that brought you together in the first place and it’s fantastic again. We’re really going for it this year.
“Daniel and Teal’c are spending more time together, which is great because really, the only relationships that have been fleshed out previously are Teal’c’s relationships with O’Neill and Bra’tac. Teal’c’s relationships with everyone else were pretty unsubstantial. But the writers are spending more time actually getting into his relationships with Daniel Jackson and Carter, which is something that we welcome very much. The whole relationship between the entire group is getting more attention and focus. I don’t just talk to O’Neill.
“The first two episodes of season five are really tremendous for me as an actor and for Teal’c as a character. ‘Enemies,’ which was the first episode we shot when we came back, was the continuation of the cliffhanger from the last season and also the first part of the second episode called ‘Threshold.’ Combined, the two really deal with my character’s whole back-story and lead in from and tie up directly with the show’s pilot episode. In ‘Children Of The Gods’ there was basically no development as to why Teal’c chose to help SG-1. So what ‘Threshold’ really does is kind of deal with my life and how I came to feel like I did about the Goa’uld; why I was teamed up with Bra’tac and about my training with him. It also focuses on my life as a young warrior before I was Apophis’s First Prime.
“['Threshold'] really was a fun episode to do and I got to work a lot with Tony Amendola [Bra'tac], who is a delight to work with. We had to shoot this thing in the snow, which was interesting, especially as I had my shirt off again. However, there are no photographs because none were taken. Our publicist didn’t think it was important enough to have a photographer on set that day so there are no photos of me, near naked, freezing my ass off.”
Solutions
Permalink
28.Jan.10
Posted in News, Universe at 3:22 pm by DeeKayP
MGM’s Official Stargate website is sponsoring a Stargate Universe graphic novel contest in which you can present your story about what will happen to Dr. Rush after the events of the mid-season finale “Justice.” The winner’s four-page graphic novel will be featured on the official website.
Click on the image above to get to the contest page where you can read about how to submit your story. Below is a portion of the Contest Rules:
DESCRIPTION: The Stargate Universe Graphic Novel “WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO DR. RUSH?” CONTEST (the “Contest”) begins at 12:00:01 p.m. Pacific Time (“PT”) on January 26, 2010, and the submission period ends on 11:59:59 a.m. PT February 23, 2010 (the “Submission Period”). The Contest provides you with an opportunity to submit artwork answering the question “What Will Happen to Dr. Rush?” during the Submission Period for consideration for display on the Stargate Universe Website (as defined below) (each, a “Submission”), which will then be voted on during the Submission Period by visitors to the Website (defined below). By participating in the Contest, you unconditionally accept and agree to comply with and abide by these Official Rules, the submission form (the “Submission Form”), the Terms and Conditions of Use of the Website, and the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final and binding in all respects. To the extent the Terms and Conditions of Use of the Website and of these Official Rules conflict, the terms and conditions of these Official Rules shall prevail.
SUBMISSIONS: Submission Requirements: (1) The Submission sample provided by Sponsor on the Website is for your reference only. (2) You must complete the registration form including username, first name, last name, email address and check the box agreeing to these official rules and terms & conditions. (3) You must submit a Story Name. (4) Submission must be in a jpeg format. (5) Submissions must consist of at least two (2) components – one image for the cover and one image for the story page at a minimum. (6) Submissions maximum file size limit is 2mb and can only be a maximum of five (5) pages. (7) All pages must be 6 5/8″ x 10 1/4″ at 72dpi. (8) Your Submission must be entirely your own work. (9) You cannot take any elements from any other artist’s creation, work or pieces. (10) You agree that once you submit your Submission, it becomes the property of Sponsor and MGM.
ELIGIBILITY: Open to legal residents of one of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (excluding Puerto Rico) who, as of January 26, 2010, are 18 years of age or older. The Contest is void in states and/or jurisdictions where prohibited or otherwise restricted by law. Employees of Sponsor, MGM and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, distributors, retailers, sales representatives, advertising and promotion agencies and each of their respective officers and directors, or any persons or entities directly associated with the Contest and members of their immediate families and/or persons living in the same household as such persons (collectively, the “Promotion Entities”), are ineligible to enter the Contest.
Make sure to visit the Contest website for all of the details. Good luck!
Permalink
27.Jan.10
Posted in News, Universe at 5:57 am by DeeKayP
Are you watching Stargate Universe? Do you wish for certain characters to be developed more or for there to be more ‘gate travel? Do you wish that someone in the production office would just ask you what you want? Stargate fans, here’s your opportunity! Executive producer Joseph Mallozzi has opened his weblog to fans for them to submit their wishes for SEASON TWO based on the following:
So, as we prep for the show’s second season – and keeping in mind you haven’t seen the more action-oriented back half of season one – I’d like to know:
1. Which character would you like to see explored more?
2. What aspect of the show would you like to see exploited more?
3. What aspect of the show would prefer to see minimized?
4. What was your favorite “story moment” from the first half of SGU’s first season?
5. What element (I’m leaving this one wide open) would you like to see added to the series as a whole?
How to submit your answers:
- Go to this link – January 26 entry
- Scroll down all the way to the bottom where you’ll see a comment section.
- Type in all of the necessary fields (use HTML tags if you want). Make sure to proofread your submission since there isn’t an edit function in the comment section.
- Click on “submit comment” when you’re done.
Mallozzi moderates all of the comments, but yours will be published as soon as he’s reviewed and approved it.
Best of luck that what you’d like to see makes it to the screen!
Permalink
26.Jan.10
Posted in Atlantis, Merchandise, News, SG-1 at 11:57 am by DeeKayP
SCI FI WIRE has announced, “Propworx, who was also behind 2009’s Battlestar Galactica auctions, has launched a series of Stargate Artifacts auctions this week. Fifteen seasons of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis memorabilia will be up for sale through eBay and two huge live auctions.”
The twenty items listed in the article include Working Jaffa Serpent Head, Horus (Falcon) Head, MALP, Goa’uld Hand Device, Jaffa Staff Weapon, Thor, Jack O’Neill’s Sunglasses, Hero Zat Gun, Hero T.E.R., Hero Replicator Pistol, Hero Anti-Replicator Gun, The Ark of Truth, Daniel’s Glasses, Ori Prior Staff, Ancient Drone, Zero Point Module, Ronon Dex’s Blaster, Ancient Communications Terminal, Ancient Lifesigns Detector, and Teyla’s Bantos Rods.
This auction is not for the faint-of-heart. Most of these items are valued starting at $1000!
Sci Fi Wire tells us, “You can find out more at www.propworx.com and join the conversation there. You can also follow Propworx on Twitter.”
Permalink
22.Jan.10
Posted in Fandom, SG-1, Views at 5:28 am by DeeKayP
Let’s continue down memory lane in our Thirteen Weeks for Thirteen Years (13-4-13) series as we cover Stargate SG-1 Season Four!
During this season, co-creator and executive producer Jonathan Glassner stepped down to creative consultant, while Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie joined Brad Wright and Robert Cooper as staff writers. Of the two new writers, Joseph Mallozzi had the most interaction with fans due to his online presence, so a new level of fan involvement with the show began and has continued to this day.
Two other events of note were the directorial debut of Michael Shanks for the episode ‘Double Jeopardy’ and the story contribution of Christopher Judge for ‘The Warrior,’ the screenplay and direction coming from fan favorite Peter DeLuise.
The production was given a fifth season on Showtime, so in Stargate tradition, the fourth season ended with a cliffhanger.
SG-1 Season Four
Brad Wright
From Creating the Gate” in TV Zone #123 (Feb. 2000):
“The difficult thing about Stargate is that as a television series it’s fairly massive in scope. It’s a big concept. I mean, the Stargate itself is 20 feet high. When we ‘visit’ another planet and want to put a Stargate there, which makes sense considering our heroes arrive through one, that means that the walls of our set have to be at least 30 feet high.
“Suddenly you’re building this huge set just to accommodate the Stargate. The solution to that is to go outdoors on location. Well, we can do that but there are only so many areas in and around Vancouver that don’t have trees. In some of our early episodes it was, ‘OK, here we are on this planet with trees,’ and then the following week it was, ‘Here’s another planet and, oh, look, it has trees.’ We had a hard time mixing the stories up enough (to show that) there are other worlds that have a totally different look and feel.
“Jonathan [Glassner] and I have been remarkably good at spinning yarns out of thin air while under duress. Whenever it seemed as if everything was falling apart, we could calmly sit down together and dream up an idea that ended up becoming a pretty good or, sometimes, great story. He’s a terrific guy and I’m going to miss having such a powerful writing machine across the hall.
“We can’t get stale. I don’t want to get to a point where the viewers are saying, ‘Isn’t this a variation on one they’ve already done?’ We have to make sure that we continue to come up with solid, entertaining stories. After all, that’s what us Science Fiction fans want.”
From “Perfect 10″ in Stargate SG-1/Atlantis: The Official Magazine, issue #17 (Jul./Aug. 2007):
“We had just a little more money [in Season Four than we had in Season Three]. I hate to be crass about it, but we have this problem of trying to tell stories sometimes and then we realize we can’t afford to tell the stories that we want to tell. So you end up with shows that seem lacking, simply because we bit off more than we could chew. And we had a little bit more money and so we could do shows like ‘Small Victories,’ which involved going into a Russian submarine! That was pretty cool.
“But also, that was the year that Joe [Mallozzi] and Paul [Mullie] came aboard. That’s really when the core writing team started to come together. We had Rob [Cooper], myself and Paul and Joe writing. At first I had to re-write the material a bit, but eventually they got better and better.
“‘Window of Opportunity’ is a highlight for me. I really think that’s a funny episode. But my favorite Stargate SG-1 is ‘2010.’ That was great too, because it was Andy Mikita’s first directing opportunity for us, and he hit it out of the park. It’s really well directed. A lot of things came together very nicely for that episode. So I guess I’d have to say that was my highlight.”
Joseph Mallozzi
From “Joseph Mallozzi’s Weblog” (Dec. 23, 2007):
“I got my start in animation. After querying dozens of animation studios, I was invited to forward some writing samples to one studio that was about to start production on a couple of animated shows. They liked my samples (a Seinfeld spec and a feature), sent me the show bible, and invited me to pitch. They bought one of my pitches and so began my professional writing career. I eventually worked my way up from simply writing for animation to story-editing and development. Then, using my background in animation (where I learned to hone my craft) and armed with those live-action specs, I moved into live-action with my writing partner Paul Mullie, working on a teen comedy called Student Bodies. After work on various shows, some good, some not so good, some not even not so good (Big Wolf on Campus, Lassie, Largo Winch, The Lost World) we were invited to pitch for Stargate SG-1 (after Robert Cooper had read our spec feature – Note how important it is to have a spec script or two if you’re looking to break into the business). We pitched, sold a pitch, and a did a good enough job on our first script (‘Scorched Earth’) to land us on staff.”
From “Q & A” hosted by sg1_hc Yahoo! List (Jan. 12, 2002):
“Prior to our joining the staff, we screened the first three seasons.
“Before we pitch a story, we always ask: ‘What’s in it for the character?’ Stories that hold an emotional stake (besides ‘I hope I don’t get killed’) are, in my opinion, the most interesting. ‘The Curse,’ for instance, was one of my fave episodes of Season 4 because it allowed us to explore a part of Daniel that hadn’t been touched upon, namely the life he left behind when he joined the Stargate Program.
“‘Upgrades’: One of my all-time favorite episodes. Robert Cooper did a huge rewrite on this one, one of the funniest episodes the show has done.
“‘Point of No Return’: Turned out exactly as we had imagined it.
“‘2010′: After reading the first draft, I had to pick up the phone and congratulate Brad. My fave script of the past two seasons (Seasons Four and Season Five).”
From “Joseph Mallozzi’s Weblog” (Dec. 8, 2007):
“To those who say ‘Hey, this is too much like this episode!’ or ‘This is too much like that episode!’ my counter would be ‘Name me an episode of science fiction that isn’t in some way like something that has come before.’ Alternate worlds, time travel, duplicates—they’re all standard science fiction jumping off points. It’s how they are used, what makes them unique within the body of a given story that really matters. I think back to ‘Window of Opportunity.’ When we first pitched out the story, it was very dark and very different from the finished episode. Robert Cooper gave us notes and steered us in another, lighter direction. ‘This is just like Groundhog Day,’ I realized, expecting that would kill the idea. ‘Exactly,’ was Rob’s surprising response. So we did the Stargate SG-1 version of Groundhog Day—and it became a fan favorite! Why? Because people who watched it were less hung up on the similarities of what had come before, and more interested in what made this particular situation unique to OUR characters.”
Richard Dean Anderson
From “Universal Soldier” in XPosé (Sept. 1999):
“It’s been like a runaway express train. The distribution side of things is tremendously successful and creatively we are constantly in a growing and explorative position. It’s like, ‘What can we do next?’ We are only limited by our imaginations.
“Our stories and the planets visited by SG-1 team reflect the fact that all the peoples we encounter are born of Earth’s history so in a way we already have an international flavor. We create our own languages but we tap into all cultures from Ancient Greek to Old Egypt to Christianity. I think we’re pretty diverse.”
From “TV Guide Online Chat” at AOL (Jun. 29, 2000):
“I’m one of the executive producers, but Brad Wright is the show runner, which means that he’s the executive producer and head writer. He has the reins of the control of the show. He and Robert Cooper are the brain trust of ideas and direction of the show.
“I have a fair amount of say in the directing and final product. And I have some say in character direction. I’ve been a bit of spoilsport in the romantic tension between O’Neill and Carter. It’s just too easy a direction to go. We do have some creative license with how we portray the characters within the military setting we have. I do have a fair amount of say, and I’m part of the team that comes up with the final product. But, I do give most of the credit to Brad Wright.
“I’m ecstatic about [the fan following]. I was very aware of the limitations of working with a cable audience. There is a massive differential between networks and cable. And I knew that there was going to be limited exposure. But, in regards to the fanship that we have developed, MGM and Showtime are very happy. And MGM is talking in terms of year twelve. I’m so happy about it, and I should make a blanket apology that I’m still a bit of a recluse. Most of the fans we’re aware of come through the computers and the online responses. And we’re one of the highest rated shows on Showtime, and that’s saying something.
“[J]ust as we speak, I’m finishing the polishes on a script [for 'The Curse'] where I’m fishing. Not to give too much away, Teal’c and I do make it up to the lake. We find out that it’s not about catching the fish to O’Neill. It’s about being on a dock, with a pole in the water, and a cool beverage at his side. And Teal’c doesn’t quite get it. But, I’m not really a fishing fan. I do have two cabins up in northern Minnesota, in what is called the Iron Range. I go up there twice a year. One of the last things I consider is fishing. I float. I have some ATVs, and I go back into the woods. What fishing I have done is spear fishing, to make it fair. But, I haven’t done that in a while.
“Well, I’m the most irreverent. I may actually be the one who stands in the way of everyone being as professional as they can. It’s just kind of an uncontrollable trait that I have because I want the set to be as light and as fun as possible. So, that’s kind of my role… They’re all extremely professional. They’re wonderful individuals. Michael Shanks is probably the most serious… he did Shakespeare last year. Amanda gets all the techno-babble. I think she’s got the toughest job. And Chris Judge actually has the hardest job because in real life he has so much energy. He’s created a phenomenal character, very stoic and seemingly emotionless. We love to give him more to do, and sometimes it’s hard to find the emotional thread to carry a full storyline. But, he doesn’t work out enough… 
”
From “Family Man” in TV Zone (Aug. 2000):
“Of course, viewers don’t see half of what we do in front of the cameras, and thankfully so. Sometimes I think our rehearsals are what we should be taping. To some degree, I’d say Michael Shanks and I probably have the most fun in banter scenes. I think this is built partially out of a mutual respect of the theatre of the absurd and the fact that we have a ball working together. Michael’s also a very fine actor and one of the most tolerant people when it comes to my wacky behaviour. All the characters are starting to have more fun, though, and that’s good to see.
“It would be great if the writers could get everything into a script but it’s impossible. I’ll often think of things I want to do or say on the day of filming, but most of these little nuances are meant to grab the ears of those who are really listening. If you catch one of these ‘Jackisms’ that’s great, just as long as it doesn’t get in the way of telling the story.”
From “Gatecrashing” in SFX (Aug. 2000):
“The only thing I’ve ever demanded as an actor/producer is a sense of humour. If there’s not a sense of humour in the workplace, people resent having to come to work. Through all the years of MacGyver and everything else that I’ve done I’ve tried to infuse as much of my sense of humour as possible. People have to be able to laugh and loosen things up; laughter frees people a little bit and makes it worth coming to work.
“For nine months out of the year, some of these people get up at 3:30, 4:00 in the morning; I get up at 5:30 so I have the luxury of an hour’s extra sleep. For them to come here and not be afforded the chance to smile or laugh along the way really seems like drudgery to me, so I try to make sure that people know that I’m serious about what my responsibilities are, but not to carry them out with a heavy hand; allow people, don’t make them. Everybody has their input, the best idea wins around here. We’re not saving lives, we’re not doing brain surgery; we’re making a product for people to be entertained by.”
Michael Shanks
From “Michael Shanks: Action Jackson” in TV Zone #134 (Jan. 2001):
“I love it when our writers take two characters with such opposing views, like Jack and Daniel, and pit them against each other. It not only makes for interesting drama but also a neat moral debate topic for the viewers.
“['The First Ones' is] a terrific one just in terms of the sense of humour and irony that Brad Wright and Peter DeLuise brought out in my character. Daniel was in his element. He spent the entire episode trying to be compassionate and communicative towards this Unas [Dion Johnstone], which, I feel, is where my character’s strengths truly lie. It was a pleasure to work with my pal Dion, who I had performed with on stage in Hamlet. He is a consummate actor who worked hard to bring his character to life and, in doing so, made it easy for me to work off him.
“Peter DeLuise also directed that episode, which made the shoot all the more enjoyable. Peter is the ultimate peacemaker. He’s also an actor and understands what his fellow actors need to guide them through a scene… He’s an excellent actor’s director. Technically, he’s also a great storyteller. Peter isn’t afraid to get in there and get the job done. We have a lot of fun with him.
“Our writers, Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, wrote this story ['The Curse'] in eight days after being told that Richard was going to be away for most of the week’s shooting. I had a wonderful time working on this one. The director is friend of mine, Andy Mikita. We had fun going back to the show’s Egyptian mythology roots and delving into Daniel’s past.
From “Problem Solved” in TV Zone Special #42 (Jul. 2001):
“['Absolute Power'] was a hoot on so many different levels. I remember the producers came to me and asked if I was worried about Daniel being painted as the bad guy. I said, ‘Are you kidding? It’s a great opportunity for me.’ First off, this is something that could happen to Daniel, so it was fascinating to explore that potential danger. From an acting standpoint it was a treat to twiddle the old ‘villainous moustache’ and do something totally different and off-the-wall.”
From “Michael Shanks: Action Jackson” in TV Zone #134 (Jan. 2001):
“I remember during the first read-through of the script [for 'Double Jeopardy'], everyone said, ‘Oh, my God.’ Then the rookie director, me, looked at the script and thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’ It was the luck of the draw or just the chips falling where they may, but I ended up with the biggest episode we’ve done since the series began. It was an overwhelming situation to be dropped into, to say the least.
“This episode had quite an ambitious storyline and a number of elements to it. It was probably our longest shoot in the history of the series. Usually we do seven-and-a-half days of principal photography, but in this case it took us ten days. We haven’t gone over time like that since our first year and, in particular, when we shot our pilot episode.
“I have to give kudos to the entire Stargate cast and crew. They were super. When I committed myself to this, I did so knowing that I was going to be supported. Everybody stepped up to the plate and was very tolerant and patient with me as I was feeling my way through the process. The questions come much faster to an experienced director and the demands made on him or her are a lot higher. With me, the crew was like, ‘Let’s just take a breath. We don’t have to put the heat on him because he’s going through enough already.’ The actors were the same, and that helped boost my confidence level.
“Our writers dream up some great ideas when it comes to writing Daniel stories, and I’ve had some excellent ones this year. I relish those episodes as they allow me to spread my wings as an actor. Unfortunately, in group situations they’re still not quite sure what to do with my character. I think that’s been a common theme since the series began. Daniel is a bit of a loner and a bit of an outsider and, to top it off, he’s not a soldier. So when the fighting starts what do we do with him? We have him crouch behind a rock and leave him out of the action or we don’t have him in the scene at all.
“I’m just saying that I think Daniel has been slightly limited in his actual interaction with the team. Again, stories where he has been the focus have been wonderful, but they sort of end up excluding the rest of SG-1. So if anything, my wish for next season would be for my character to be worked a little more into the group dynamic.”
Amanda Tapping
From Starsigns” in Dreamwatch (Feb. 2001):
“When we shot the pilot we knew we were picked up for two years, and I think through season one we knew we’d go four seasons… and now we’ve just found out that we were going for five.
“This is a role that requires a lot of stamina. I think that as an actor I’ve learned how to channel my energy in the right directions. I think the biggest challenge is keeping Carter fresh and keep her interesting—it’s easy to fall into autopilot doing any show, so I make sure that I don’t become complacent. I’m constantly trying to find what makes her tick, in any given scene or episode. We’re learning how to conserve energy. At the end of season one we were all sick as dogs; at the end of season two [we] were so exhausted we could barely speak; at the end of season three it wasn’t so bad and now, at the end of season four, we’re sorta, ‘Okay, we can do it!’ It’s a learning curve.
“This season has been about solidifying who [Carter] is, about solidifying relationships. The first part of the year had a lot about her feelings for Jack, and thankfully we’ve got over that! I think it’s far more compelling when it’s about two co-workers who have an obvious attraction to each other. I think as soon as you answer that questions [about the relationship] or bring it into the foreground, it becomes uninteresting.”
From “Amanda’s Q&A with Fans” (Dec. 5, 2001):
“In that [final] scene in ‘The Other Side,’ the most important objective for me was to convey that sense of ‘oh my God, what have we done?’ I feel very strongly as Sam and as Amanda that we don’t have the right to be judge, jury and executioner to any culture. While we may disagree with people’s politics we are not in the business of deciding what is right for the people of any planet we visit. Now, certainly genocide or the erradication of people simply because of the colour of their skin, is so obviously wrong. We all know that. We, in our own history, are still dealing with the evils of that. But, does SG-1 have the right to knowingly kill a man for this, as his way of life is being destroyed? Could we have not brought him to trial on his planet after the dust had settled? Or heard both sides of the story on the war and made an intelligent decision based on that? Also, what gives us the right to make that kind of decision? Long story short-ish, I wanted Carter to show disappointment in O’Neill and the fact that she questioned his judgement. While I disagreed with their war and why it was being fought, I still struggled with our final judgement of him.”
From “Gate Pride” in SFX (Feb. 2001):
“I disagree with [having a love relationship between O'Neill and Carter] entirely. I think that it’s enough that we know there’s an attraction, a magnetism, a certain chemistry between these two characters; I think that to push the envelope further is a big mistake, a) based on their military rank; b) based on this incredible dynamic of the team; c) I don’t wanna become ‘Jack’s girl’. I think Carter is so much more than that. I also feel that it’s really tired, to have the male and female lead of the show to fall in love. I just think that we have the potential to be so much more intelligent than that.
“When I first read [in 'Window of Opportunity' that O'Neill and Carter kiss], I went, ‘Oh, jeez!’, but then they put in a bunch of other stuff that he and Teal’c did that took away from that. Initially it was just that moment, but then they came up with the golf through the Stargate and the pottery and riding the bike through the SGC, so thankfully they took away from that being the only thing O’Neill would do.”
From “Gating Away” from Star Quest Online (2001):
“[The decimation of a sentient race such as the Goa'uld is] sort of a double edge sword, because on the one hand, this is an evil race—they are trying to destroy Earth so we do need to protect ourselves from it… By the same token, the character of Teal’c was one of them and has gone to the other side: he’s an incredibly warm character, loyal, dedicated and honourable. So I have this thing where I think: what if I’m killing another Teal’c? This guy has a wife and family… But you’re in a war situation, and war is war. You do whatever you need to protect yourself, your country or in this case, protect the planet. But there’s part of me that thinks there’s got to be… you know, sort of bad Karma with that, and I would love to show how they, and especially Carter—’cause I play her—deals with that when she puts her head down on her pillow at night. Does she think about that? I think that she would, there would be great feelings of guilt sometimes. You know, you talk to any soldier who’s been through a war and there’s this sort of shell shock: ‘Oh my God, what have I done? My comrade in arms beside me was killed, he has a wife and child and we shot that guy…’ You know there is an interconnection to the human race and we never really deal with that.
“Because it’s war, you’re in a situation; the Goa’ulds are coming over the hill and they’re gonna take over the base; you’ve got to stop them with whatever means possible. That’s the soldier mentality and you have to have that, otherwise what are you doing there? As a human being, there’s a sense of consequence, how do you deal with that consequence? I wish they would write a back story; how do you deal with this, what are the psychological implications? [But we're] in a genre: it’s a sci-fi show, not a soap opera…”
Christopher Judge
From “Christopher Judge: Profile on Teal’c” Special Feature in Season Two DVD Set (2002):
“Well, a lot of the roles I’ve done have been very narrow in scope in that they are always the disenfranchised cop or the cop who came from a bad neighborhood and was angry about the way things were going in this particular environment that he was in and felt helpless to make a change. That’s not only frustrating as a person, it’s frustrating as an actor.
“This role, on the other hand, is—I can actively make changes in these different worlds that we go to, especially worlds that I have previously been on in another capacity, and I come back to these worlds in a different capacity and can affect the change and a change in my personal relationships with all these indigenous, and sometimes not indigenous, life forms. That’s just so exciting—just the many levels that I can play and what’s also challenging is that my character’s not used to being able to express his emotions and so the challenge for me—to try to make my emotions felt through not saying a lot of words but just letting things play across my face and body, I just think that’s such a challenge as an actor.”
From interview in Cult Times #54 (Mar. 2000):
“Every season I go back after hiatus and plead Teal’c’s case for hair but every year I get rejected. Now the original reason for being bald was that Teal’c was higher up the ladder in the Jaffa hierarchy and shaved his head as a mark of strength and power. Now that he is becoming more comfortable with the humans, I think it’s time he let his hair down.”
From “Walking Tall” in TV Zone (Aug. 2000):
“I just thought it [the soul patch] could be part of Teal’c’s ongoing assimilation process. Of course, then they started coming up with questions like, ‘How do we introduce it? How do we explain it? Why it is blond?’ That was the big one. There’s a quick reference to it in our fourth-season opener ‘Small Victories’ and that’s that. The writers definitely didn’t want to dwell on it!
“Teal’c has taken on a number of human characteristics and he’s definitely learnt how to better express himself emotionally. In an episode this season called ‘Crossroads’ we actually see him involved in a relationship with a woman from his past. He gets to experience a whole range of feelings and it was just so much fun doing that. If we’d done this story back in the first season it would have been completely different and, I think, personally, not as compelling. So I’m pleased with the way it turned out.
“Another change we’ve seen in Teal’ c is that he’s participating more by offering his input into what SG-1 does. I mean, he’s still the big strong guy who helps beat up the bad guys but now he’s suggesting ways of how to do it. Teal’c has become intertwined in these peoples’ lives and with what’s going on around him in the Stargate complex, giving him the impetus to contribute more vocally. I have to tell you, because I didn’t say a lot those first couple of seasons, which I was completely in favour of, my reaction to a situation was more honest. It wasn’t scripted, let’s put it that way. I find now that I’m speaking more I have to try a lot harder to listen, and I don’t always catch as much as I used to. So that in itself makes my performance different.”
From interview in Cult Times #54 (Mar. 2000):
“You know, people are always asking me why Teal’c is so reticent, why he never seems to say much or venture his opinions when it’s obvious to him that the humans are making a huge mistake. My take is that Teal’c feels that to learn something you have to experience it. His superior intelligence and experience tell him that it’s appropriate to keep quiet and let events unfold as they will in order to teach the humans valuable lessons. Obviously, he will do anything to prevent them getting hurt or killed but like a good parent, he sometimes just lets them get on with it. Plus, that O’Neill is way too irreverent for his own good.”
From interview in Cult Times #62 (Nov. 2000)
“I loved when O’Neill and Teal’c play golf [in 'Window of Opportunity']—we really are good at that. Our juggling was pretty good too.
“That was one of the considerations for the producers and writers this season—just trying to decide when the time was right to really open the character up to his other side. I mean, Teal’c is from human stock, right? It stands to reason he would revert back at some time or another. I think the producers’ timing was appropriate and now, even in situations that maybe aren’t so good, Teal’c shows that he has a dry sense of humour and gets to act on it, so I’m enjoying it thoroughly. I have to admit that I was getting a little tired of keeping a stony face.”
From “Walking Tall” in TV Zone (Aug. 2000):
“One of the great things about Teal’c is that he’s popular with children. I get a lot of requests for autographed pictures and I’m invited to appear at events designed to raise money to help kids. Both Stargate and my character allow me to become involved in causes that I don’t know if I’d be involved in otherwise. It’s certainly one of the most rewarding things about this job. After all, what’s more important than taking care of our children?”
Solutions
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21.Jan.10
Posted in Atlantis, Press at 6:38 pm by DeeKayP
According to Deadline.com, Stargate star Jason Momoa (SGA’s Ronon Dex) has been selected to play Conan in the new Conan the Barbarian movie!
Mike Fleming reports:
EXCLUSIVE: Today’s the day for all things Conan to be resolved. First, there was Conan the late night host getting a whopping check to leave. Now, Conan the Barbarian has been crowned. I hear that Millennium Films, Lionsgate, and rights holder Paradox Entertainment have approved Jason Momoa to star in Conan, the rebirth of the Robert E. Howard-created series. The brawny star of Stargate Atlantis who also stars in HBO’s Game of Thrones, Momoa got the nod over Kellan Lutz, the Twilight guy. I told you that the search for Conan had come down to the duo. Sources said that director Marcus Nispel was sold on Momoa, and won over the filmmakers by shooting a few trial scenes that allowed Momoa to wield a sword and behave very Schwarzenegger-like. This keeps the film on course for a March 15 production start in Bulgaria, and it closes a long ordeal in bringing the saga back to the screen. Paradox originally set up the film with Warner Bros in 2002, and then moved it over to Millenium in 2007.
Congratulations to Jason!
[Thanks to Joseph Mallozzi for the tip!]
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