As the ‘Stargate’ Turns
By Kate O’Hare
Who cares if the Goa’uld System Lords are about to attack Earth, or if the Asgard are going to show up in time to save the day, or if the giant Ancient Weapon is of any more use to Earth than a pea-shooter?
The real question looming as Sci-Fi Channel’s “Stargate SG-1” starts its eighth season Friday, July 9, is: Will cryogenically frozen Col. Jack O’Neill be thawed and survive so that he and Maj. Samantha Carter can hook up … or not?
To be fair, plenty of fans care about the System Lords and all that other plot stuff, but quite a few spend a lot of their time discussing, arguing and speculating about the love lives (or lack, thereof) of the main characters. They’re the ‘shippers (from the word “relationship”), and throughout science-fiction and fantasy television, they’re among the most vocal and ardent fans.
In fact, the strong feelings of the ‘shippers have had an effect on the development of the “Stargate: SG-1” spin-off, “Stargate: Atlantis,” which premieres next week and will, after its two-hour premiere, share Friday nights with its predecessor.
“We’re not going to set up obvious chemistry between our core characters on ‘Atlantis,’ ” says executive producer Brad Wright, who works on both shows. “Especially when ‘Stargate’ was so divided between ‘shippers and non-‘shippers, and I didn’t even know what that meant until long after we were doing it.”
The main ‘shipper issue on “Stargate: SG-1” concerns O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and his subordinate officer, Carter (Amanda Tapping). Back in season four, in an episode called “Beneath the Surface,” Wright and fellow executive producer Robert C. Cooper took a test swing at this by having the characters forget who they were while in captivity, therefore removing the impediments of military rank.
Wright says, “It struck us, if there was an attraction, and if they don’t remember who they were, they might fall into a relationship, because they didn’t know they were prohibited from doing so. Oh, the mail I got from that.
“Turns out there are as many people who want them to be together as don’t want them to be together.”
Apparently, a character’s demise is no impediment to ‘shippers who want to pair up archaeologist Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) and SG-1’s late medical officer, Dr. Janet Fraiser (Teryl Rothery), who met her fate last season in Part 2 of “Heroes.”
“There’s a whole camp of people who want Daniel to get together with Janet,” Wright says, “even though she’s dead now. I just think it’s interesting, because they like the characters so much, the fans want them to be happy. They see them as the perfect couple — why don’t they just get together?”
It’s this passionate attachment that has contributed to the success of “Stargate” both on cable and in syndication.
Anderson says, “Ultimately, what’s kept it together over the years has been, in great part– aside from the stories that we’re able to tell, the great imaginations of everyone involved — is the chemistry on-screen of the people telling the stories.”
Just how long this can continue remains an open question. Wright says, “I had said categorically there was going to be no season seven, and here we are shooting season eight. I’ve stopped predicting.”
When those words are relayed to him on set, Anderson — who has scaled back his working days on the show’s Vancouver location to spend more time with his daughter — gives a sidelong look.
“I have no idea about nine,” he says. “I wasn’t so sure about eight or seven, for that matter. But as far as if you’re asking, what is my future and my intentions, my intentions right now, as we speak, are to finish this year, be as integral a part of the franchise as I possibly can, and as I go through the process, helping to launch ‘Atlantis’ with my brief presence.
“Then, my intention is to retire, with quotes around it, because I don’t know what retirement means to a workaholic. But I’m going to have to learn.”
This season, fans will have to be satisfied with some big life changes for O’Neill and Carter that don’t necessarily involve romance.
“O’Neill is now Lord God King Boo-Foo O’Neill,” Tapping says. “And Sam’s just Supersmart Sam. That’s all I can tell you.”
For those who want Sam to put her love life on hold for O’Neill, Tapping says “tough.” Her police-detective boyfriend, Pete Shanahan (David DeLuise), is coming back.
“He’s not dead yet,” she says, alluding to the high mortality rate among former Carter loves. “There’s a huge hue and cry on the Internet from people who don’t want Sam to be with him. They want her to be with O’Neill — and probably, deep down, Sam does, too. But she’s given up on the idea of unrequited love and decided to live her life. But never say never, right?”