Author: michelle

Atlantis Premieres to Improved Ratings

In spite of a nearly complete lack of commercial promotion, Friday’s 5th season premiere of Stargate Atlantis garnered good enough ratings for an early report:

‘Atlantis’ Rises In Ratings

Season-Five Premiere Pulls 1.8 Million Viewers
— Multichannel News, 7/14/2008 4:24:00 PM
Sci Fi Channel said the Stargate Atlantis season-five premiere—introducing new cast member Robert Picardo—drew 1.8 million total viewers, up 6% over the season-four premiere in September 2007.

Sci Fi said the episode’s 1.05 million viewers ages 25-54 marks a 9% improvement over the season-four premiere and that the household rating of 1.3 was 8% better than the S4 start.

Sci Fi said SGA was the fourth-ranked program for Friday, July 11 among 25-54s and that among males 25-54, Sci Fi won the 10 p.m. ET timeslot among cable networks.

Picardo, as Richard Woolsey, replaces Amanda Tapping as commander of the Atlantis-based Stargate crew in the show.

Tapping, who also starred in predecessor Stargate SG-1, has moved on to oversee a new show on Sci Fi, called Sanctuary. For more and a review of the Atlantis premiere, please click here.

Stargate Schedule for Comic Con

Comic Con logoStargate will have a big presence at Comic Con San Diego once again this year. For the first time ever, Richard Dean Anderson will attend! Here are the Stargate-related activities planned as of now, as well as Sanctuary; schedules are apt to change.

Friday, July 25

10:45-11:45 Stargate Continuum— Following on the heels of the hit DVD release Ark of Truth, the next full-length feature will be released Tuesday, July 29, with principal cast members returning for the biggest adventure of them all! This panel features Brad Wright (series co-creator and Continuum developer, executive producer and writer), Martin Wood (director), and (subject to availability) stars Richard Dean Anderson (General Jack O’Neill), Amanda Tapping (Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter), Ben Browder (Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell), Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson), and Christopher Judge (Teal’c). Ballroom 20

11:45-12:15 Stargate MMO— After nearly 15 years on the air, the Stargate franchise is launching its first-ever multilevel online game, with all the elements—and more!—fans expect from the Stargate family. The key creative team from Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment and FireSky Studios present a compelling sneak-peek and answer questions. Panelists include Brad Wright (Stargate series’ co-creator, executive producer and writer) plus Dan Elggren (FireSky Studio head), Chris Klug (creative director), Howard Lyon (art director), and Demetrius Comes (director of technology). Ballroom 20

12:15-1:15 Stargate Atlantis— With new allies and new challenges, Stargate Atlantis is making big waves in its action-packed fifth season. Be on hand for this exclusive panel discussion with the cast and creators of SCI FI’s hit series. Panelists include cast members Joe Flanigan, Robert Picardo, and Jewel Staite, co-creator and executive producer Brad Wright, and , Chris Sanagustin, VP original programming SCI FI. Moderated by Martin Gero, executive producer. Ballroom 20

2:00-3:30 Scribe Awards/Media Tie-in Writers Panel— The second annual presentation of the International Association of Media-Tie-in Writers (IAMTW) “Scribe” awards, honoring such notable franchises as CSI NY, Murder She Wrote, Criminal Minds, Stargate Atlantis, Star Trek, Resident Evil and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The awards presentation is followed by a panel of nominees, including William Dietz (Hitman), Stacia Deutsch (Nancy Drew), Kevin J. Anderson (Last Days of Krypton), Steven Paul Leiva (12 Dogs of Christmas), Alan Dean Foster (Transformers), Lee Goldberg (Monk), and moderator Max Allan Collins (American Gangster). Andy Mangels (Iron Man) will present the awards. Room 32AB

5:30-6:30 SCI FI: Sanctuary Room— The incredible power of virtual set technology is unleashed in the all-new adventure series starring Amanda Tapping of Stargate fame. Find out how the show goes from green screen to small screen, and catch an exclusive look inside Sanctuary’s unique and awe-inspiring world. Panelists include cast member and executive producer Amanda Tapping and executive producer Martin Wood. Moderated by Michael Logan (TV Guide). Room 30AB

8:30-10:30 SCI FI Friday Night: Eureka and Stargate: Atlantis— SCI FI presents the season 3 premiere of Eureka a full three days before it airs! Also debuting will be a new episode of Stargate Atlantis, along exclusive clips from the new Scare Tactics. Attendees will receive a mini-issue of the SCI FI Virgin Comics sensation The Stranded (while supplies last). Room 6B

Saturday, July 26

5:00-7:00 Stargate Offworld Fandom Gathering— The iris is open! Experience the essence of Stargate fandom during this two-hour fan gathering! Marcia Patterson invites you to step through the gate with Stargate fans from around the universe to share trivia, games, giveaways, hot news, discussions, fanworks, filk singing (familiar tunes with Stargate lyrics), and other Stargate Offworld Fandom surprises! Learn the basics of collecting and see some actual props fans have acquired from the show/movie. You’ll have fun with both alien and SG costuming and there’ll even be an impromptu costume contest! Joining Marcia from Stargate Offworld Fandom are Martin A. Smith and Jennifer Carey, and from SciFiHero.net, Dean Newbury. Room 24A

Paul McGillion Interview: Pop Culture Zoo

Paul McGillion (Carson Beckett) was interviewed by Pop Culture Zoo on Friday. Among other things, he had this to say about the episode he was just finishing (some spoilers!):

PM: The episode I’m filming right now is called “Outsiders” and it’s my third episode this season of the five that I’m doing, or the minimum of five. It’s an episode written by Alan McCullough. We have Will Waring directing. It’s a lot of Wraiths and a lot of conflict. David Hewlett and I have a ton of stuff, there’s a lot of Beckett and McKay stuff in it. We’re doing a scene right now that’s hopefully pretty funny. The whole crew is laughing at our scene in a Wraith Dart so it’s really funny. We’re having some really good laughs doing it. It’s been great. David and I are pretty much throughout the episode and we have a lot of stuff together. So it’s a big Beckett and McKay episode.

During the interview, Paul was expecting to join fans at FedConUSA in Dallas the next day. Alas, the con was canceled Saturday morning, after it had begun! But, Paul comforted a group of his fans with a phone call instead; you can read about that at SaveCarsonBeckett.com.

SciFi Schedules July 11 Premiere for Season 5

The Sci Fi schedule bot (do a search on Atlantis) is showing the premiere of Stargate Atlantis’s Season 5 on Friday, July 11, at 10 pm EDT/PDT. The premiere episode will complete the cliffhanger of Season 4 and is called “Search and Rescue”. Be advised Sci Fi has been known to change schedules before, but this is the best info available so far. For all there is to know about SGA Season 5, visit our S5 episode guides, starting here!

LJ Users: Please Give Us Your Opinions

To help us know where to focus our small team as far as adding information to this site, we’ve set up a survey-type poll on our Live Journal community to gauge how visitors like you use the site and what you think of it. If you have a Live Journal account (or have been dying to create one!), please click on over to our LJ comm and take a minute to fill out the survey. We’d really appreciate it!

Go to the survey here.

SGA S5 Spoilers: "Tracker"

5.09 “Tracker”

Rodney, Ronon and Keller are visiting a familiar village when Keller is abducted by a man who forces her to go with him deep into the woods. It turns out he is Runner, and his presence has brought the Wraith to the village. He needs Keller to heal a young girl, the only survivor of another village in which he drew the Wraith. McKay and Ronon help the villagers then set out to rescue Keller, running into booby traps left by the Runner along the way.

Details

While Ronon and McKay try to gather and help the villagers, Kiryk leads Keller on an hours-long trek through thick woods. She talks to him and he finally admits he is a Runner, a man implanted with a tracking device and used as a hunting challenge for Wraith. Keller that Ronon was once a Runner but no longer is; Kiryk is reluctant to believe her.

McKay and Ronon lead the villagers to caverns for safety, then set out to rescue Keller. Along the way Rodney steps on a tripwire, and Ronon has to save him from a nasty demise.

Kiryk and Keller finally reach their destination, a hidden cave far from the village. Inside are supplies and an unconscious 10-year old girl named Celise. She is the only survivor of a village on another planet that was completely culled by Wraith looking for Kiryk. The girl has a badly infected injury on her leg, and Kiryk wants Keller to treat her. Celise is so ill with infection that Keller is not sure she can save her with the supplies she carries. Kiryk practically begs Keller not to let her die, and Keller promises to do what she can.

Guest Characters

  • Kiryk
  • Erran
  • Celise

Production

  • Written by Carl Binder
  • Directed by (TBD)

SPOILERS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AS THE EPISODE IS IN PRODUCTION.

Win Dinner with Paul McGillion & Jewel Staite

April 2nd sees the launch of an auction in aide of veteran Vancouver actress Babz Chula, who is ill with recurrent cancer. Her friends and high-profile Canadian actors are donating their time to the auction. Paul McGillion and his Atlantis co-star Jewel Statie join other famous names like the X-Files’ David Duchovny, Nicholas Lea and Chris Carter. The auction gives fans the opportunity to bid on dinner dates and various TV & Film memorabilia, with the money raised funding treatment for the actress, who is suffering from breast & liver cancer.The auction items include:

Dinners:

  • David Duchovny (Californication, X Files) and Nicholas Lea (X Files, Men In Trees)
  • Chris Carter (X Files)
  • Callum Keith Rennie (upcoming “X Files” movie, Battlestar Galactica)
  • Peter DeLuise (Stargate SG-1)
  • Paul Adelstein (Prison Break, Private Practice) and Suleka Mathew (Men In Trees, “Touch of Pink”)
  • Paul McGillion and Jewel Staite (Stargate Atlantis)
  • Tahmoh Penikett and Kandyse McClure (Battlestar Galactica)

TV/Movie Memorabilia:

  • A limited edition slate from the new “X Files” movie signed by David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Billy Connolly. Donated by Chris Carter.
  • Two X Files jacket belonging to and donated by Nicholas Lea.
  • Signed scripts from X Files.

For more information visit the funds website: The Babz Chula Society. The Vancouver Province also has an article on the campaign to raise funds.

Claudia Black on Filming and Motherhood

Claudia Black as Vala (SciFi 3)Claudia Black was recently interviewed by Steve Eramo for TV Zone Magazine, Issue 226 (available for purchase here). Among many things, she speaks about her experiences filming Stargate SG-1’s Season 10 as a new mom, and filming the movies while pregnant with her second son. From the interview,

“On the personal side, I thought I could do what Amanda Tapping had done the prior season and have a baby,” she says. “Nurse the baby on set, which production was willing to accommodate (amazingly rare in the workplace) and do a decent job. I was wrong and I failed. While everyone else was celebrating 200 episodes — a milestone in Science Fiction television — I was experiencing in stark contrast, a personal and professional low. We had relocated from Australia to Vancouver with a newborn who was ill and no family or friends around to help. My hours were hell, the workload more than sizeable, and when my poor husband got pneumonia and I got postnatal hyperthyroidism, our family and household crashed.

“When I finally admitted defeat — personal, first, then professional — and went to Rob Cooper,” Stargate SG-1’s executive producer, “to ask for help, there was little he could do. I was used to the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants production that was Farscape, where the scripts were delivered on the day if you were lucky and production got used to being very flexible. These guys in Vancouver, however, are extremely organized; the scripts had been written well in advance and were wall-to-wall Va-la-la! So Rob asked me if I could hold off having a ‘breakdown’ until the upcoming hiatus, and I obliged to the best of my ability.”

Regarding filming the movies, she said, “Vala was low-ish maintenance in Continuum,”… “I was on strict doctor’s orders to work limited hours with Continuum due to a miscarriage scare during the first movie, so that put a lot of pressure on production to get me out every day on time… On both movies I struggled monumentally with shocking morning sickness. If anyone mentioned food I started to cry, and then dug my knuckles into my palms until they were close to drawing blood… Cliff [Simon] was incredibly sweet and careful about what he consumed around me, but one day I caught a whiff of something and gagged through my lines ’til I heard Martin Wood yell, ‘Cut!’ and then raced to a trashcan just next to set. I hope Cliff didn’t take it personally.”

To read more of this interesting interview, purchase Issue 226 of TV Zone!

Tapping Confirms Limited Stargate Involvement

Amanda Tapping has confirmed to Gateworld in this article that she did not sign a contract for Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis because of her commitment to her sci fi show, Sanctuary. From the interview:

It was a very difficult decision, not to say that I walked away from Atlantis, because I haven’t. I still want to be very much a part in as much as I can, but still be a part of the show.

They offered me a very nice contract with the caveat being that I had to make them my first priority, and I totally understood why in terms of timing and scheduling. But I couldn’t do it because I knew there was a good possibility that Sanctuary would get worldwide television broadcast.

Had I said Yes to what the folks at Atlantis wanted I would’ve essentially shut down Stage 3 Media and Sanctuary. So as much as we tried to make it work, and [executive producer] Joe Mallozzi and I were on the phone a lot trying to work things out, we just decided at the end of the day that the timing just was not going to happen. He was very cool. They were wonderful.

Tapping goes on to say she hopes her Stargate fans will not feel she has abandoned the show.

Joe Mallozzi has assured fans there will be an official press release about Season 5 on Monday, February 4. Hopefully the release will answer the questions of who the new commander of Atlantis will be (Mallozzi assures it is a familiar face), whether and how much Carson Beckett will be back, and news about guest appearances by Michael Shanks and others.