News, spoilers and updates in the Stargate world
Stargate SG-1
• She’s bold, she’s beautiful and she’s taking over SG-1: Amanda Tapping discusses the promotion of her character, Sam Carter, to colonel, and the changes for the show’s eighth season.
Stargate: Atlantis
• A feisty female of the future: We wander over to the set of the new Stargate spin-off and speak to star Torri Higginson, aka Dr Elizabeth Weir, about following in some big footsteps…
From Stargate to Atlantis: A SCI FI Lowdown looks at the history of Stargate SG-1 as the series prepares for Season Eight and launches into the next phase of the ongoing saga: Stargate Atlantis.
The one-hour special features new interviews with Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Michael Shanks, as well as classic clips from SG-1 and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of both shows in production — including a never-before-seen look at the amazing Stargate Atlantis sets.
Get a sneak peek into what’s upcoming, meet the creators and the casts of both shows and catch up on the stories and the backstory of television’s hippest science-fiction programs!
STARGATE SG-1 TWO-HOUR SEASON PREMIERE
SCI FI Friday, July 9, at 9/8C
STARGATE ATLANTIS TWO-HOUR SERIES PREMIERE
SCI FI Friday, July 16, at 9/8C
Nialla’s Breadbox Edition Parodies are the subject of a great article on a German Stargate web site: Stargate and More Breadbox Article. We don’t claim to read German, but according to the Altavista babelfish translation, the author of the article enjoyed Nialla’s work very much and recommended it to fellow fans, translating some excerpts into German along the way. We congratulate Nialla on her world-wide recognition!
In addition to all the work we’ve been doing on the Episode Guides and Character Guide pages, we have a new sitemap we hope will make navigation easier. Just click on the SITEMAP link at the top of each page. The TV listings page has been updated with the Season 8 information SciFi released last week; it’s available under the News tab at the top of each page. Unfortunately, it isn’t practical for us to keep track of all of the SG-1 airings of previous seasons in the US, UK, Canada, and the many other countries where it’s being shown, but we will do our best to keep the Season 8 schedule information up-to-date.
As an introduction to the new seasons of SG-1 and Atlantis, SCI FI Channel will be showing “From Stargate to Atlantis: A SCI FI Lowdown” on Monday July 5 at 10pm.
Season 8 of Stargate SG-1 premieres on the SCI FI Channel on Friday July 9. Festivities begin with “From Stargate to Atlantis: A SCI FI Lowdown”,airing at 8pm. The two hour Season 8 premiere, “New Order”, picks up where Season 7 finale “Lost City” left off, airing at 9pm, repeating at 11pm.
On Friday July 16, the Lowdown is repeated at 6pm and 1am. Stargate SG-1 has a 2 hour slot beginning at 7pm, possibly a reprise of “New Order”. The Stargate: Atlantis premiere “Rising” is airing at 9pm, repeating at 11pm.
Friday July 23, Stargate SG-1’s 8th season settles into its regular timeslot of 9pm, repeating at 11pm, while Atlantis’ 1st season follows, airing at 10pm and repeating at 12am.
This episode will be directed by Andy Mikita. Don S. Davis will apparently return in a guest appearance as General Hammond.
General Hammond and Daniel Jackson are aboard the Prometheus with other crew when they pick up a distress signal and investigate, finding a cargo vessel and a Goa’uld Al’kesh bomber, both disabled. From the Al’kesh, a woman dressed as a Supersoldier somehow tricks the crew and takes control of the Prometheus.
Hammond and the Prometheus crew are left aboard the Alkesh, but Daniel remains on the Prometheus and is taken prisoner by the woman, Vala. Vala insists Daniel help her operate the technology of the ship, but he claims ignorance, explaining his role as an archaelogist and linguist. She keeps him alive so that he can help her translate and understand the plans for the ship, which she needs for a mysterious purpose.
Meanwhile, aboard the Al’kesh, Novak and Pendergast make it clear to Hammond that the ship is not repairable.
Daniel gets the upper hand over Vala and insists that she help him take the ship back to rescue Hammond and the rest of the crew, but she begs him to go to her homeworld instead. It turns out her people had thrown off Goa’uld rule but are now slaves to Baal, who brutally crushed their efforts at resistance. A small band of refugees managed to hide in a secret base on one of her planet’s moons, and Vala’s mission was to find a new place for them to live, and a ship to take them there. (Baal is in control of the Stargate, so there is no other option for escape.) Vala and others aboard the cargo ship battled with the Al’kesh, eventually winning and taking it over, but she was the only survivor, and both ships were disabled.
Daniel promises to help Vala, but only after they’ve rescued Hammond and the rest of his friends, who are stranded undefended in space. As Daniel and Vala are preparing to do that, the proximity alert sounds, meaning another ship is closing in on them…
Note: these spoilers came out a couple of weeks ago… just catching up now for the archive
Season 8’s 9th episode, Sacrifices, sees the return of female Jaffa Ishta, who appeared in the S7 episode Birthright. Presumably she’ll once again be portrayed by Jolene Blalock of Star Trek: Enterprise fame. This episode may have been written by Chris Judge, who wrote Birthright, but that is not clear.
In this story, Ishta has been captured by the Goa’uld Moloc, who was the unseen ruler of her people in Birthright. Moloc tortures Ishta mercilessly to learn about her rebel band, and taunts her for abandoning her symbiote in favor of the drug tretonin. Teal’c works with a character named Aron to free Ishta, with help from Daniel and Bra’tac at the SGC. Moloc’s worries are compounded by an apparent uprising of his subjects in a nearby village.
Michael Shanks wins the Leo award for best lead actor in a dramatic series!
The Leo Awards recognize excellence in British Columbia, Canada film and television (Leo Awards Site).
Of the many Leo nominations Stargate SG-1 received this year (see story below), we’re delighted and gratified to see that Michael Shanks was recognized with a win for his stand-out performance in Season 7’s Lifeboat, in which he portrayed, in addition to Daniel, several distinct personalities who angered and moved us by turns.
We’re also very pleased to congratulate Amanda Tapping for winning best lead performance by a female in Season 7’s Grace, in which Sam was trapped alone on Prometheus and forced to face up to her life choices. Our best wishes go also to the sound editing and make-up teams for their wins, and to Colin Cunningham, who won for a different show but is in our hearts anyway.
2004 Award: Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series
Program: Stargate SG1 – Lifeboat
Recipient(s): Michael Shanks
2004 Award: Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series
Program: Stargate SG1 – Grace
Recipient(s): Amanda Tapping
2004 Award: Best Make Up in a Dramatic Series
Program: Stargate SG1 – Enemy Mine
Recipient(s): Jan Newman, Todd Masters, Lise Kuhr, Rachel Griffin, Dorothee Deichmann, Mike Fields
2004 Award: Best Sound Editing in a Dramatic Series
Program: Stargate SG1 – Lost City Part 2
Recipient(s): Devan Kraushar, James Wallace, Kirby Jinnah, Kelly Frey, Jason Mauza
2004 Award: Best Guest Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series
Program: Da Vinci’s Inquest – 25 Dollar Conversation
Recipient(s): Colin Cunningham
See all of the nominees and awardees at Leo Awards Site.
‘Who’s the Boss?
Amanda Tapping and Richard Dean Anderson Get Promoted in a Season of Change on Stargate SG-1‘
By Thomasina Gibson
SciFi Magazine
August 2004
[excerpts of the 3-page article follow]
[Regarding the new season, Exec Producer Robert C.] Cooper states, “We’re basing a lot more stories around the SGC partly because of the economics and also because SG-1 has become less of an exploratory unit and more of a defense. We’re looking forward to the challenge of keeping our stories exciting and appealing and as interesting as they alwyas have been from this new perspective.”
[Regarding O’Neill’s promotion to Brigadier General, Richard Dean Anderson says:] “Being the man in charge is not going to make much difference,” he suggests. “I got away with virtual murder playing a colonel, and was irreverent at that rank, so essentially I’m a higher-ranking officer with my same sensibilities and relative insanity. […] Sure there are changes in all of their [SG-1 team’s] lives, but the camaraderie and the friendship and that closeness is still there.”
[Amanda Tapping confirms that Carter will continue her relationship with Detective Pete Shanahan.] “I mean for sure, Carter loves O’Neill. She adores him, and she’s allowed herself the knowledge that she cannot keep pining for this man that she can never have. […] I think what she’s learned to do is to be a pragmatist about it and say, ‘OK! I can’t have this guy [O’Neill], and he is pretty fantastic, but this guy over here [Pete] is not so bad either.’ […] Plus he’s cute and he’s charming and is a great kisser.”
“I’m glad we’re doing another year,” says Tapping. […] “It is going to be different this year, and I hope the fans like the direction the show will be taking. It’s a natural progression, and I think it will be well received.”
[Explaining why he returned for an eighth season, Anderson says,] “I just like to work, and I think that my presence to some degree is helping the transition both in taking Stargate further and bringing Atlantis forward.”
[On the SG-1 team dynamic, he says,] “I’m talking a lighter role this year in order to free some time to devote to other facets of my life, but no matter what happens with regard to our physical locations or what happens in the stories this year, SG-1 will remain a team. We always have been and always will be.”
Nialla’s Breadbox parody of Episode 7.06, Lifeboat, is now posted here at Solutions: Lifeboat: The Breadbox Edition
Enjoy!