30.Oct.05
Posted in News at 5:22 pm by DeeKayP
More chances to catch up with the current season
The SciFi Channel will re-start Season Nine episodes of Stargate SG-1 this Friday, November 4, with a three-hour mini-marathon. Instead of SciFi Friday’s regular schedule of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica, viewers will get three episodes of SG-1 and three episodes of Atlantis over the next few weeks. Battlestar Galactica will not return to the SciFi Channel until January 2006.
This is the schedule for the mini-marathons (repeats starting at 11pm):
November 4: Stargate SG-1
8pm: 9.01 “Avalon Part 1″
9pm: 9.02 “Avalon Part 2″
10pm: 9.03 “Origin Part 3″
November 11: Stargate Atlantis
8pm: 2.06 “Trinity”
9pm: 2.07 “Instinct”
10pm: 2.08 “Conversion”
November 18: Stargate SG-1
8pm: 9.06 “Beachhead”
9pm: 9.07 “Ex Deus Machina”
10pm: 9.08 “Babylon”
On December 2 at 6:30pm, the SciFi Channel will show the Stargate movie starring James Spader as Dr. Daniel Jackson and Kurt Russell as Col. Jack O’Neil. SciFi Fridays will return on December 9 and 16 and feature Season Nine episodes of SG-1, Season Two episodes of Atlantis, and Season Two episodes of Ghost Hunters (in Battlestar Galactica’s regular timeslot). Currently, SciFi’s schedule doesn’t name which episodes will be aired on those two days.
SciFi.com Schedulebot
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29.Oct.05
Posted in News at 7:00 pm by Alison
Amanda Tapping’s weekend with her fans in the UK is the scene of more breaking news on the cast shake-up in Season 10. An attendee posted their interpretation of Amanda Tapping’s comments on the Gateworld forum this evening:
According to Amanda she recently found out that all the members of the cast had been approached regarding season 10: MS, CJ, BB as well as CB.
To paraphrase Amanda…”She said she called RCC and asked if the fact she hadn’t heard anything meant she should be worried. She was informed that she didn’t have anything to be worried about; they just hadn’t figured out what they were going to do with her character as of yet. According to Amanda, there is a possibility that she will be working on Atlantis and SG-1. She has no clue as to how many episodes she will be on each. All she knew at this time was that she would be doing 20 episodes and that it may be split between the two shows. How it will be split she is not sure, nor does she know what she will be doing.”
Stargate SG-1 is potentially facing the greatest upheaval the series has known, with question marks over the participation of both Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) and Amanda Tapping (Sam Carter) at the same time that both of Farscape’s leads sign on as regular cast members, with Claudia Black joining Ben Browder.
In Tapping’s case, there are implications for both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. SG-1’s female lead for nine years, Tapping will be stepping out of that role as Claudia Black steps into it. Nor could she assume that status on Atlantis, which already has its female lead in Torri Higginson, who plays Dr. Elizabeth Weir. It’s hard at this point to see how Sam Carter becoming a recurring or guest character on both shows is to the advantage of her actress or how it can be accomplished without upheaval to both shows and both casts.
We really are going to have to ‘watch this space’ very closely indeed and look to official sources for an idea on how this is to be made to work.
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28.Oct.05
Posted in News at 3:50 pm by Alison
News has just broken on the London Expo site which is certain to give pause to fans of Michael Shanks, who plays Dr. Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG-1.
“Michael is now unable to attend the Expo this coming Sunday due to an important meeting he has to take in LA to do with a potential major TV role.
He sends his sincere apologies and hopes to attend next year.
He will still be attending SG10 and will be doing the store signings the week following SG10.
Sorry — Admin”
October has become a month for nail-biting tension as fans wait for news of the show’s renewal and the signing of cast members. With the timely official announcement from SCI FI that Season 10 is a reality, if Michael Shanks is indeed pursuing another television role, what could the news mean for Stargate SG-1 and fans of Daniel Jackson?
* Shanks could win the new role and leave Stargate SG-1
* Shanks could win the new role and still remain with Stargate SG-1 in some capacity
* Shanks could lose out on the role and remain with Stargate SG-1
* This could be a hardball negotiation tactic pertaining to Shanks’ signing on for Season 10
If Michael Shanks were to win this ‘potential major TV role,’ it need not necessarily preclude his appearance in Stargate SG-1. Not only are there no details at present on which show and which role Shanks is interested in, or any certainty that he would obtain the role, the filming of major US TV shows tends to run May-February and there would still be potential for Shanks to film episodes for Stargate SG-1 outside of that schedule. He would not be the only cast member to do so.
Amanda Tapping filmed “Proof Positive” for SCI FI Channel and TV Guide’s Anna David recently reported that Beau Bridges, who plays General Landry on the show, is moonlighting on “My Name Is Earl.” Bridges is to play Carl, the hardworking and long-suffering dad of Earl and Randy.
Unlike his sons, Carl is an upstanding citizen who now plans to run for mayor of his town. “Earl has done nothing but cause grief in his father’s life,” reveals Bridges, who’ll appear during November sweeps and may return again later in the season. “Carl just thinks he’s a total putz.”
Although Carl may not be all that fond of Earl, Bridges is a serious fan of “Earl”. “It’s just a fresh idea,” Bridges says. “It goes at a fast pace and has a real respect for the audience. The show’s form of comedy is very subtle.”
Creator Gary Garcia is equally magnanimous in his praise for Bridges. “When you have a guest star of his caliber, it brings a kind of credibility to the show,” Garcia gushes. “It makes it feel more like a little movie each week, and that’s really what we’re trying to do.”
It remains to be seen if Shanks will fare as well as Bridges in securing an additional TV role. While fans of the actor are certain to wish him every success, fans of the character he portrays so charismatically on Stargate SG-1 would be loathe to lose him from the regular cast.
Michael Shanks’ pursuit of another role is not the only potential cast shake-up for Season 10. Solutions sources are indicating that we can expect to see Claudia Black returning to portray Stargate’s favourite all-beautiful sex goddess Vala Mal Doran as a new regular cast member, appearing in every episode of the season. Fans of the fun, edgy relationship developing between Vala and Daniel would surely be disappointed if only one half of Stargate’s dynamic duo was to be part of the tenth season.
We’re going to have to wait for word from the actors in their convention appearances or official notification from the SCI FI Channel before the vexed question of casting for the unprecedented Season 10 of Stargate SG-1 is settled.
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26.Oct.05
Posted in Articles & Updates at 10:31 pm by michelle
We’ve posted excerpts from some interviews in the new issue of the Stargate Official Magazine. They all make for interesting reading:
Unlocking Lexa (Lexa Doig)
Sam Kind of Wonderful! (Amanda Tapping)
Nine Shines (Rob Cooper)
Buy Stargate Magazine online and read the entire issue!
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24.Oct.05
Posted in Press Watch at 1:09 pm by michelle
Press release from Sci Fi Channel and Sony Pictures:
‘STARGATES’ CONTINUE TO SHINE BRIGHT ON SCI FI
‘SG-1′ AND ‘ATLANTIS’ RENEWED
Stargate SG-1 Enters Unprecedented 10th Season
The Longest-Running Sci-Fi Drama in US Television History
New York, NY (October 24, 2005) – The Stargate franchise continues to rule the television universe. SCI FI Channel has ordered new seasons of its hit original series, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. Production on both 20-episode seasons is slated to begin in early 2006 for summer premieres on SCI FI.
Heading into an incredible tenth original season, Stargate SG-1 is now the longest-running sci-fi drama in American television history, outlasting The X-Files, The Twilight Zone and every iteration of Star Trek. And the series is stronger than ever. The first half of SG-1’s ninth season has averaged 2.4 million viewers per week.
Stargate Atlantis, cable television’s first successful drama spin-off, has been renewed for its third original season. A pulse-pounding action adventure, Atlantis took the original premise of Stargate – instantaneous travel to different worlds through an ancient portal – and introduced a brand new team and sinister new enemies that pose a threat to humankind throughout the universe. A bona fide hit, the show has averaged over 2.3 million viewers a week for the first half of its sophomore season.
SG-1 co-creator Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper will return as executive producers on both series.
Stargate SG-1 is produced by Double Secret Productions, in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Sony Pictures Television. Stargate Atlantis is produced by Acme Shark, in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Sony Pictures Television.
The one-two punch of the Stargates, coupled with the critically-acclaimed Battlestar Galactica, have made SCI FI Channel cable’s #1 destination for young adults on Friday nights. New episodes of the entire SCI FI Friday lineup will return to SCI FI in January 2006.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an independent, privately-held motion picture, television, home video, and theatrical production and distribution company. The company owns the world’s largest modern film library, consisting of approximately 4,000 titles, and over 10,400 episodes of television programming. Its film library has received 208 Academy Awards®, one of the largest award winning collections in the world, and includes numerous successful film franchises, including James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky. MGM is owned by an investor consortium comprised of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corporation of America, Comcast Corporation and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.
Sony Pictures Television is one of the television industry’s leading content providers. SPT produces and distributes top-rated, award-winning programming in every genre, including series, movies and family entertainment for network and cable television; first-run syndicated series; off-network syndicated programs; and theatrical releases. SPT (www.sonypicturestelevision.com) is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.
SCI FI Channel is a television network where “what if” is what’s on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com ) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 85 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies.
Thanks very much to journalist Mary McNamara for providing this news to Our Stargate
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23.Oct.05
Posted in News at 10:48 pm by michelle
The Stargate Project site reports that SG-1/SGA Director and Producer Martin Wood has told them that SG-1 has been picked up for a 10th season and Atlantis for a third. Their quote from Martin is: “We are going to be [...] busy… Yes we just got picked up – both shows. Season 10 [of SG-1] and season 3 [of Atlantis].”
We hope this news is true! Read the full story at Stargate Project.
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22.Oct.05
Posted in Views at 6:21 pm by Alison
Half a season in, Stargate SG-1’s Nine is looking mighty fine.
The odds were stacked against it. A natural conclusion to many long-running storylines, the tying of a lot of loose ends, resounding defeat of the biggest and baddest of villains. A shiny new show everyone wanted to play with. Maternity leave. Lead actor exiting stage left, lead character stepping into a new role and off our screens. The end of everything.
Also, the beginning.
In Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Stargate SG-1 has regained something sadly absent for several seasons.
A team.
Not the team we started out with, but then Stargate hasn’t been about that since the movie. Two became four and the original journey of Jack and Daniel had to be broadened to encompass new players Carter and Teal’c, our first team replacements. A noble sacrifice of self cost the team of four Daniel and saw him replaced by Jonas Quinn, at best complicit in Daniel’s death, whose ‘redemptive’ journey failed to convince. Daniel descended, Jonas exited, Jack was too often missing in action and our team of four effectively became a team of three.
Stargate SG-1 doesn’t have a happy history with replacements. Carter, Teal’c, Jonas, Cameron, Vala — all new and non-original. All replacements. They didn’t open the gate, they didn’t start the journey. But they have continued it. Like or loathe any or all of them, they’re part of Stargate’s history. They’re part of SG-1.
This editorial isn’t about slamming Jack, but it’s impossible to review Cameron Mitchell’s impact and contribution as a character without establishing a baseline. For me, that’s the slow and painful withdrawal of one of the two defining characters of Stargate, the ones who were there at the start to open the gate. Jack’s pale presence in the latter seasons, his broad-stroke humour and ‘Cosmic Giddiness’ materially damaged, if not crippled, the essence and energy of that team of four.
Stargate SG-1 actually *works* with four equal and counter-balancing characters. It’s the exact formula that kept fans from the movie and drew in new fans who’d only ever known the team of four. The quality of ‘team’ is the one most often singled out as the grace note of the golden seasons: One, Two and Three.
Season Nine is a golden season. It has the grace notes of my favourites, Two and Three, and is a more encouraging beginning for a new evolution of Stargate than I even considered Season One to be.
It’s not solely due to Cameron Mitchell, of course. This *is* a team of four: Daniel, Carter and Teal’c leading and new guy Cameron following. A cool, substantive change right there. New guy isn’t laconic, damaged, done it all, cynical, stick-it-to-the-man Jack Jnr.
Cameron is reverent. Of our team of four, of their characters, history, accomplishments. He’s amazed and awed by them, he wants so badly to learn from them the promise of being one of them was enough of a motivator to get him back on his feet. Literally. He wants SG-1 so completely, so openly, even our favourite all-beautiful sex goddess thinks he should *try* playing hard to get.
Cameron is enthusiastic. Brimming over. In fact, he has a quality of enthusiasm we’ve never quite seen. It’s not based on the beautiful, idealistic academic obsessions of our peaceful explorer Daniel Jackson. It’s not based on stepping into another man’s life, taking his place, his books, his tools and even his fish. It’s the enthusiasm of a military man who hasn’t done the damned distasteful things Jack has done and isn’t soured by what life and service in the Air Force have demanded of him. It’s the enthusiasm of a man who still respects — and salutes — authority. It’s the informed enthusiasm of a smart, accomplished, combat-experienced Type-A personality who wholeheartedly believes what Daniel Jackson does is beyond cool. It’s *fantastic.* Blows new guy away every time. Now, when have we ever seen *that* on Stargate?
Cameron is a hero, but that’s not really the point. His heroism has been tempered by combat, loss and self-sacrifice but because this is a smart man, a thinking man, he understands being a shining example in his conventional sphere doesn’t really mean squat. What he knows, what he’s done, that stops at the gate. On the other side of it, he needs direction. He never meant to be team leader, he meant to learn from the best. And maybe it’s in being open, being willing to learn and take direction, he’ll earn his place as team leader. And not giving in to insecurity, not pulling rank or blindly rushing in where SG-1 fear to tread, admitting to the seriousness of the consequences if he screws up, that’s a different kind of bravery right there.
Cameron doesn’t have all the answers. That sets him apart from Jack and even from Carter, who launched into our team not only with her PhD in theoretical astrophysics, extensive Air Force scientific projects under her belt as well as flight credentials, but also somehow managed to find the time to acquire the self-same skills, competences, confidence and experience in field combat as Special Ops Colonel Jack. You go, girl.
Cameron has energy. He engages. I ached, watching him in action this season. Not firing big honkin’ guns, not the ‘pull the pin and throw’ thing, not even the fancy Sodan kick boxing, but using his intelligence, his life experience, his character and morality not to kill but to influence, to win an enemy over from vengeance to alliance. No ‘Cosmic Giddiness’ in sight, although the guy has a nice line in deprecating humour.
The energy, the engagement are there in his excitement over solving an Ancient puzzle, seducing our favourite stoic Jaffa away from government and back into humping the off-world boonies, getting a rush from his first flight since crashing, touching techno-toys he shouldn’t, demanding respect for a female colleague, playing the archaeologist and the aliens at basketball.
Energy. Commitment. Every day, in every way.
And maybe that’s the essence of this character, who isn’t Jack Jnr or a cannibalised construct of Daniel’s puppyish qualities from the early days. Cameron isn’t a cipher, a constant reminder of another’s absence, or a mere foil for all the ways Daniel and the others have grown up and changed on us over the years, he’s a presence. Real and whole, complex and layered, learning his way, earning his place, instead of having it handed to him pat and whole, gift-wrapped and tied up with a big bow.
As much as Cameron is being affected by his experiences with SG-1, he’s affecting our loved, established teammates. Cameron isn’t taking anything away from Daniel, Teal’c or Carter. He’s helping renew and even build them. His presence enriches theirs. Teasing out new layers in their characters, opening up new ways for all of the four to interact and even counter-act, building an entirely new team dynamic.
Cameron is a replacement. Everyone but Jack and Daniel started out that way. His addition to Stargate SG-1 has helped accomplish something I haven’t felt or truly seen since Season Three.
Synergy.
The sense that the team of four, the team of SG-1, is greater than the sum of its constituent characters.
Season Nine is about a team of four. Not two – not your fave pairing, my fave pairing, or theirs – not three or one. Four. And all of them equal.
Team.
That’s what Cameron Mitchell brings to Stargate SG-1.
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Posted in News at 11:09 am by michelle
As he promised at his convention appearance in Burbank in July, Stargate composer Joel Goldsmith has updated his website with a page devoted to “The Evolution of the Atlantis Main Title Theme.” You can listen to six versions of the theme music as it progressed from Joel’s original concept to the final, Emmy-nominated version. To do so, visit Joel’s site FreeClyde.com and click on the Atlantis box. It really is lovely to listen to the theme in each incarnation.
Thanks to Elyse at sg1_spoilme for the tip, which came in turn from the sg1hc list.
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21.Oct.05
Posted in SG-1 at 5:07 pm by DeeKayP
Popular actor Michael Ironside was cast to play in Season Nine’s upcoming episode, “Crusade”, written, directed, and produced by Robert C. Cooper.
Ironside has been in a huge number of projects, some of the most popular playing against Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall, as Ham Tyler in the sci-fi series V, and as Darryl Revok in Scanners. One of his more recent television appearances was in the recurring role of General Sam Lane in Smallville in 2004.
Ironside will be seen in Season Nine’s penultimate episode portraying the character Seevis, a local barkeep in the village to which Vala Mal Doran (Claudia Black) was transported in the episode “Beachhead”. This village is on a planet in the Ori’s home galaxy, and the people are simple villagers who are taking part in the Ori’s plan to build and man spaceships destined for a massive invasion of the Milky Way Galaxy. Seevis is a powerful man who runs the village, but is also the leader of an anti-Ori movement which aims to destroy these ships, with their armies onboard, before they ever leave the galaxy. Vala believes his plan to cause the ships to explode upon activation by the Priors will work, but is taken aback by his attitude that eliminating the worshippers is the way to end the Ori’s oppression. Seevis tests Vala’s position through torture, but eventually takes her into his trust. He shows her the Ancient communications terminal which helps her contact the SGC through Daniel’s body.
“Crusade” was before the cameras in the last part of September and is currently in post-production. It will be aired in March 2006.
Solutions “Crusade” Episode Guide
Michael Ironside at IMDB
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20.Oct.05
Posted in Press Watch at 8:47 pm by DeeKayP
Season Nine Premieres November 10
Starting the build-up to the Season Nine premiere of Stargate SG-1 on Canada’s SPACE Channel, CHUM has placed a clip of an on-set interview with Michael Shanks on their website. Shanks enthusiastically relates how Season Eight was supposed to wrap up the SG-1 story and Season Nine was originally designed to be a spin-off named Stargate Command. Shanks adds, “But, things changed. We decided to do a Season Nine of SG-1 and it’s very different, and obviously we’ve had some cast changes. And in the first few episodes it seemed like a completely different show, but it’s still good ol’ Stargate with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and we’re off to save the universe.”
NOTE: The clip was made while on-set, so there most definitely is some spoilery content. Viewer beware!
Spacecast.com (quality of dial-up viewing is extremely poor)
[Thanks to Sueb45 for the tip and to SueSPV for the quotes — DeeKayP]
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