Shipper Monday: What Does It Mean?

U.S. Sci Fi Channel viewers were treated to (or subjected to, depending on your point of view) a “Shipper Themed Four-Play” for the SG-1 marathon on Monday April 3. Sci Fi showed four shippy episodes; interspersed through them were short interviews with the cast about the Jack/Sam ship or ship in general, with relevant scenes flashing on the screen under the voiceover.

Thanks to Elyse at the sg1_spoilme group, we have transcriptions of each of the actor’s answers to the “Jack/Sam ship” question:

Amanda Tapping

“Initially I thought it was kind of fun to play, and then I started to resent it because I didn’t want Sam to ‘the girl’ pining for ‘the guy’ and make it about that where it got in the way of what an incredible, strong and smart and savvy character she was. Obviously there’s a huge attraction between the two characters so now that the commanding officer is not in her direct chain of command, she can… maybe she can have some with him.” (big grin)

Ben Browder

“Shippers seem to exist for every show. Short for relationshippers, so, that raises the O’Neill-Carter question. I think that one of the great things about doing television is you can deviate away from just action, just talking and you know you also have the personal interaction, the romance, which can go on at the same time. I love that, but I don’t know whether we’re going to be seeing any out of Mitchell this year.”

Claudia Black

“Do you give the fans everything they’ve been asking for and everything they wanted and will they be satisfied? Obviously I haven’t been here personally to follow and track the potential relationship between O’Neill and Sam Carter, so the general rule is that the minute the characters consummate their unresolved sexual tension, it’s resolved… if television revolves around drama, you’ve lost your tension and your drama right there, so it’s tricky to keep that spark.”

Chris Judge

“For all you shippers out there. I find it interesting, because I don’t think Teal’c actually realized that Sam was a woman until like Season Four, so the whole relationship between Sam and Jack I think was lost on Teal’c. I think Teal’c is fairly confident that he’s going to wind up with Jack in the end. Wouldn’t that be funny? Wouldn’t that be funny for episode 300 that Teal’c and Jack get married? And produce a symbiote?” (lots of laughter).

We can only hope this particular theme is not a portent of things to come in Season 10, but, coupled with Ms. Tapping’s encouragement of shippers at the recent Creation Convention in Vancouver, it seems the writing is on the screen. We look forward to other upcoming “Themed Four-Play” Mondays; it can only get better from here.

5 thoughts on “Shipper Monday: What Does It Mean?”

  1. When Stargate was renewed I read on an earlier board Joe Mallozzi stating there was not going to be any shipping in Season 10. Why waste the talents of two fine actors on this nonsense. Neither one of them are convincing and as AT stated she resented the change in the character. I haven’t liked AT character since the shippiness began in earlier seasons. It’s was devesting to see what the writers did to the character and if you read other boards the character has not regained the respect that was present prior to season 6. Plus I hate to say it–when Jack & Sam stand next to each other they look more like father & daughter than anything else.

  2. I think JM always said there couldn’t be ship without Jack around, that they didn’t want to devote episode time to a one-sided romance. But now that RDA is back for a few episodes, I’m sure those statements don’t apply. I’m afraid it’s very likely they will toy with the whole thing again, maybe even going further than they have before. Sigh.

  3. I don’t recall reading where he said “there couldn’t be ship without Jack around.” It hasn’t been that long since that interview so RDA probably was approached about appearing in season 10 when it became clear there was going to be a season 10. There must have been some long term thought involved. I hated the shipness when it began because it just wasn’t believable. You had two characters thrown together but no energy. It reminds me of the Star Wars characters. The young Darth Vader. There was no energy between the actors who were supposed to be husband & wife and there is none here. I guess the people who are in favor fill in the gaps. RDA pretty much went through the motions of acting starting around season 6 and he looked so uncomfortable in those scenes with Carter. The man has received awards from the Air Force for portraying the character with integrity and realism so maybe that was going on in his head. The shipiness kinda makes a liar out of the character. I looked forward to RDA’s return until I heard this. So I probably won’t be watching much of 10.

  4. I watched the show for five years before entering the fandom, I didn’t even notice the ‘ship’ until they started shoving it down our throats in S7-8. This is a portent of bad things to come.

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