Stephanie Sanchez of IESB.net has compiled the entire interview conducted between several journalists and Amanda Tapping and Jewel Staite about their roles on Stargate Atlantis and in science fiction in general. During the lengthy interview, Tapping talked about how Carter fits into the Stargate universe, since she’s appearing in both of SG-1‘s direct-to-DVD movies and Season Four of Atlantis.
Because Carter leaves her team SG-1 to become the commander of the Atlantis Base, many fans have wondered how that will affect Carter’s position in Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum. Tapping clarified, “I mean even though we shot them concurrently when I talked to Rob Cooper and Joe Mallozzi and Paul [Mullie] about it, Sam crosses over after the two movies.” The mere knowledge of that spoils both movies in that Carter, as a member of SG-1, survives any and all threatening events she might face in the two adventures. The realization of that made Tapping exclaim, “Damn, I gave it away.”
Joseph Mallozzi had already indicated in his personal blog that Carter “will be a Full Bird Colonel for both the movies and Atlantis’s fourth season” (see his June 14th entry), so her promotion will first be “seen” in Stargate: The Ark of Truth. She’s also seen wearing the SG-1 patch in this season’s second episode of Stargate Atlantis, “Lifeline”, which premieres tonight on the Sci Fi Channel at 10pm Eastern (see image at left), indicating that she’s still a member of that team until she becomes the commander of the Atlantis Base (in next week’s episode, “Reunion”, in which Christopher Judge also makes a cameo appearance as Teal’c).
Because Carter is no longer a member of SG-1 and is living in the Pegasus Galaxy, how will this affect any future movies involving Carter and SG-1 (there is already talk of two more movies, according to Mary McNamara of Multichannel News, Charlie Cohen at MGM said, “Our hope is, of course, is that these things are very popular. Our desire is to keep making them. We’ve already started thinking about numbers three and four.”)? Tapping replied, “The movies would have to sort of work as autonomous little anomalies out there. I’ve stormed myself of Brad Wright’s floor and held my breath and counted on the floor with… so I don’t think he wants to see that again, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be back on if more movies happen.”
The loss of Stargate SG-1 was felt by its fans when Stargate Atlantis premiered without its sister show last week. To encourage fans of other SG-1 teammembers to watch Atlantis, Tapping talked about Judge’s appearances in Season Four (in “Reunion” and “Midway”), “It was great fun having him on the show and I’d love to see Michael [Shanks] come over.” Mallozzi recently stated in his personal blog that if there is to be another member of SG-1 to make an appearance on Stargate Atlantis in the future, “Daniel would be a priority given his connection to Atlantis.”
But as it stands for Season Four, Carter is the only former member of SG-1 to have a major presence in Stargate Atlantis. Tapping commented, “I think Atlantis stands on its own really well. And I think, you know, I mean, me crossing over hopefully, you know, in spite of some disparaging comments from some fans or some sections of fandom, I think for the most part people are pretty excited about it, so, if there’s any spark from SG-1, it will be little old me.”
To read the full interview, visit IESB.net: Interview: Amanda Tapping and Jewel Staite from Stargate: Atlantis!