SG-1's Anderson Like Old Times

From Sci Fi Wire… Note that RDA’s split between SG-1 and Atlantis is revealed in bold below. SG-1 fans may be rightfully disappointed.

Brad Wright—executive producer of SCI FI Channel’s original series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis—told SCI FI Wire that it’s been like old times having Richard Dean Anderson back on set for several guest appearances on both shows, reprising his role as Gen. Jack O’Neill. Anderson’s first appearance will be in “200,” SG-1‘s 200th episode, which will air Aug. 18 as part of the series’ upcoming 10th season. “It’s been a lot of fun to see him again,” Wright said in an interview. “He’s doing two episodes of SG-1 and three episodes of Atlantis.”

Anderson left the Stargate fold after season eight of SG-1 in order to spend more time with his young daughter. But both he and the show’s producers left the door open for return engagements.

Wright said that SG-1 could not toast its 200th episode without its original leading man. “He was so much the face of SG-1 for so many years,” Wright said. “We did go on without him and made some fine television, but for the 200th episode there was just no way we could even consider doing it without bringing him back. And, of course, when we called him to ask him to do that, he said, ‘Just one?’ So it was nice to know that he wanted to come back. And it’s actually kind of a testament to the environment we have here. People miss it when they’re gone. It’s just a fun place to work, and it’s a fun show to work on. That’s why everybody still works their butt off and why we’re still on the air, I guess, because it shows on the screen.”

SG-1‘s 200th episode is a send-up that picks up the story of the show’s 100th episode, “Wormhole X-Treme!” and brings back guest star Willie Garson as abductee-turned-Hollywood producer Martin Lloyd. The episode “is based on a great idea [executive producer] Robert [C. Cooper] had, and we’ve all written bits and put them all together, and Robert went through it, and then I went through it,” Wright said. “It’s essentially a ‘Wormhole X-Treme!’ revisited, in a sense, because Marty comes back, but this time he needs our help to work on the Wormhole X-Treme! feature [film]. Because even though the series was canceled after three episodes, it did well on DVD. A little nod to Serenity, I suppose. And the Air Force loves it, because they love the notion of a television series out there that is ostensibly … [the] real events in SG-1, in Stargate Command. So, plausible deniability. … So it’s a series of, I guess you could call them, vignettes or flashes. … ‘Wormhole X-treme!’ was pushing it. This is pushing it twice as far. But, you know, it’s the 200th episode.”

Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, which comes back for a third season, will both return with new episodes beginning on July 14. —Ian Spelling