Tag: Michael Shanks

Articles including content about actor Michael Shanks

Shanks clarifies situation

Through his representatives, Michael Shanks has issued a clarification of the situation regarding his cancellation of last weekend’s London Expo attendance and his status for Season 10. This announcement was given to and posted on the MichaelShanks-Online.com site:

Ending much speculation resulting from the London Expo cancellation, the following information has been provided to MSOL by Michael’s publicist:

Michael has advised that his appearance at the London Expo was actually cancelled awhile ago as he had some general meetings in Los Angeles that weekend, and not for any specific meeting about any particular major TV role [as has been previously reported]. Further, in terms of his appearance in Season 10 of Stargate SG-1, at this time Michael is not confirmed as returning and “is essentially a free agent as far as work is concerned”.

Stargate SG-1 Solutions independently obtained the same information from Shanks’ representatives, who assured us the actor was in LA for general meetings, “nothing specific, nothing concrete.” We certainly hope that Shanks’ “free agent as of right now” status is converted to “signed for S10” very soon. Fans will certainly take the opportunity to ask Michael Shanks directly if he will be in Stargate’s extraordinary 10th season at the Wolf SG10 convention this weekend in the UK.

Question marks over Shanks and Tapping

Amanda Tapping’s weekend with her fans in the UK is the scene of more breaking news on the cast shake-up in Season 10. An attendee posted their interpretation of Amanda Tapping’s comments on the Gateworld forum this evening:

According to Amanda she recently found out that all the members of the cast had been approached regarding season 10: MS, CJ, BB as well as CB.

To paraphrase Amanda…”She said she called RCC and asked if the fact she hadn’t heard anything meant she should be worried. She was informed that she didn’t have anything to be worried about; they just hadn’t figured out what they were going to do with her character as of yet. According to Amanda, there is a possibility that she will be working on Atlantis and SG-1. She has no clue as to how many episodes she will be on each. All she knew at this time was that she would be doing 20 episodes and that it may be split between the two shows. How it will be split she is not sure, nor does she know what she will be doing.”

Stargate SG-1 is potentially facing the greatest upheaval the series has known, with question marks over the participation of both Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) and Amanda Tapping (Sam Carter) at the same time that both of Farscape’s leads sign on as regular cast members, with Claudia Black joining Ben Browder.

In Tapping’s case, there are implications for both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. SG-1’s female lead for nine years, Tapping will be stepping out of that role as Claudia Black steps into it. Nor could she assume that status on Atlantis, which already has its female lead in Torri Higginson, who plays Dr. Elizabeth Weir. It’s hard at this point to see how Sam Carter becoming a recurring or guest character on both shows is to the advantage of her actress or how it can be accomplished without upheaval to both shows and both casts.

We really are going to have to ‘watch this space’ very closely indeed and look to official sources for an idea on how this is to be made to work.

Season 10 cast shake-up looming?

News has just broken on the London Expo site which is certain to give pause to fans of Michael Shanks, who plays Dr. Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG-1.

“Michael is now unable to attend the Expo this coming Sunday due to an important meeting he has to take in LA to do with a potential major TV role.

He sends his sincere apologies and hopes to attend next year.

He will still be attending SG10 and will be doing the store signings the week following SG10.

Sorry — Admin”

October has become a month for nail-biting tension as fans wait for news of the show’s renewal and the signing of cast members. With the timely official announcement from SCI FI that Season 10 is a reality, if Michael Shanks is indeed pursuing another television role, what could the news mean for Stargate SG-1 and fans of Daniel Jackson?

* Shanks could win the new role and leave Stargate SG-1
* Shanks could win the new role and still remain with Stargate SG-1 in some capacity
* Shanks could lose out on the role and remain with Stargate SG-1
* This could be a hardball negotiation tactic pertaining to Shanks’ signing on for Season 10

If Michael Shanks were to win this ‘potential major TV role,’ it need not necessarily preclude his appearance in Stargate SG-1. Not only are there no details at present on which show and which role Shanks is interested in, or any certainty that he would obtain the role, the filming of major US TV shows tends to run May-February and there would still be potential for Shanks to film episodes for Stargate SG-1 outside of that schedule. He would not be the only cast member to do so.

Amanda Tapping filmed “Proof Positive” for SCI FI Channel and TV Guide’s Anna David recently reported that Beau Bridges, who plays General Landry on the show, is moonlighting on “My Name Is Earl.” Bridges is to play Carl, the hardworking and long-suffering dad of Earl and Randy.

Unlike his sons, Carl is an upstanding citizen who now plans to run for mayor of his town. “Earl has done nothing but cause grief in his father’s life,” reveals Bridges, who’ll appear during November sweeps and may return again later in the season. “Carl just thinks he’s a total putz.”

Although Carl may not be all that fond of Earl, Bridges is a serious fan of “Earl”. “It’s just a fresh idea,” Bridges says. “It goes at a fast pace and has a real respect for the audience. The show’s form of comedy is very subtle.”

Creator Gary Garcia is equally magnanimous in his praise for Bridges. “When you have a guest star of his caliber, it brings a kind of credibility to the show,” Garcia gushes. “It makes it feel more like a little movie each week, and that’s really what we’re trying to do.”

It remains to be seen if Shanks will fare as well as Bridges in securing an additional TV role. While fans of the actor are certain to wish him every success, fans of the character he portrays so charismatically on Stargate SG-1 would be loathe to lose him from the regular cast.

Michael Shanks’ pursuit of another role is not the only potential cast shake-up for Season 10. Solutions sources are indicating that we can expect to see Claudia Black returning to portray Stargate’s favourite all-beautiful sex goddess Vala Mal Doran as a new regular cast member, appearing in every episode of the season. Fans of the fun, edgy relationship developing between Vala and Daniel would surely be disappointed if only one half of Stargate’s dynamic duo was to be part of the tenth season.

We’re going to have to wait for word from the actors in their convention appearances or official notification from the SCI FI Channel before the vexed question of casting for the unprecedented Season 10 of Stargate SG-1 is settled.

CJ/MS Women of SciFi Calendar pre-orders

The Women of SciFi Calendar is a joint project between photographer Chris Judge and producer Michael Shanks. The two have been showing exciting previews of the accompanying DVD at recent convention appearances. The calendar and DVD will feature Brandy Ledford, Lexa Doig, Erica Durance, Laura Bertram, Rachel Luttrell, Ona Grauer, and Teryl Rothery. The calendar is available for pre-orders now:

www.womenofsci-fi.com

Please note, the current web order form does not use encryption (https) so it is risky to send your credit card information, as it may be intercepted along the way. It might be prudent to wait for the secure PayPal option. Edited to add: apparently the site will be secure starting August 27. We suggest you not order before then. Thanks SueB for that info.

Thanks to Elyse at sg1_spoilme for the tip.

Our new Michael Shanks interview

It’s All In The Dynamics: Michael Shanks talks about the new direction for Stargate SG-1 Season 9
Marla R. Reed, Stargate SG-1 Solutions, Jul 05

“When asked what effect he thinks adding new characters to the show will have on keeping Stargate SG-1 alive and successful, Michael Shanks has a fairly blunt response. “Bringing in new characters doesn’t do squat for anything. Bringing in dynamics that create drama, chemistry, entertainment, comedy, action and all those things is what we are here for.” The actor says that he thinks Season 9 is going to be entertaining people and that, he feels, is what they are there (on the show) to do. Yet that’s not to say he isn’t excited about what the new characters have brought to Stargate SG-1 in its ninth season.”

Read the rest of this interview at Stargate SG-1 Solutions

Please feel free to forward this announcement to other Stargate sites, forums and lists. Thank you.

Interview: Daniel Jackson's New World

Interview by Marla R. Reed for About.com

Vala and Daniel“So I can’t say I’m overly excited about one particular episode that Daniel Jackson has been involved in, as I am excited about the overall product we’ve got at this point. I’m very proud to have people see it and that’s the bottom line,” says Michael Shanks in this interview conducted at the recent Creation Burbank Con.

Shanks talks about working with the new cast members, but especially, with Claudia Black and the dynamics of their characters’ relationship, likened very much to that of Maddie and David in Moonlighting. “And so her entire time is spent trying to break open that shell he’s built around himself,” Shanks adds.

“So I think it’s going to be interesting to see where we are going,” Shanks concludes with a smile.

Read the entire interview here
Discuss the interview in our SG1Solutions Fan Forum

SG-1 Wins SyFy Portal Awards

‘Stargate SG-1’ Big Winner At Genre Awards

Author: Michael Hinman
Date: 06-19-2005
Source: SyFy Portal

SciFi Channel’s “Stargate SG-1” was the big winner at the 2005 fan-voted SyFy Genre Awards this year, taking home four awards, including BEST SERIES/Television.

The winners were announced in a live chat at SyFy Portal’s Yahoo Group, which was attended by a handful of faithful readers from around the world, from as close as the United States, to as far as Toronto and even Croatia.

Besides winning for Best Series, “SG-1” also won for Michael Shanks as BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR/Television, BEST SPECIAL GUEST/Television (for Claudia Black in “Prometheus Unbound,” and BEST EPISODE/Television for “Prometheus Unbound.”

Black was very popular in the awards this year. Not only did she win Best Special Guest, but she also won BEST ACTRESS/Television for her role in “Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars.” Her co-star in that movie, who moves over to “Stargate SG-1” this season, is Ben Browder, who won his third SyFy Genre Award in the BEST ACTOR/Television category.

Michael Hinman, founder of SyFy Portal, said that more than 80,000 votes were counted for this year’s Genre Awards, a record. The Genre Awards have been a staple of SyFy Portal since 1999, and is open for all fans to vote once per day for 30 days. The awards were held every year, except 2002, which took place right after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Read rest of story at the SyFy Portal website
[Thanks to morjana and sueb45 for the tip — DeeKayP]

Defining Daniel Jackson

Artwork by Ellie“He’s this little orphan boy in the middle of this big universe.” — Michael Shanks

Micheal Shanks was recently interviewed by Julia Houston for About.com between filming the fourth and fifth episodes of the ninth season. They talked about many things, from what it was like to be living in a hotel while filming the first season to welcoming new castmates to the set.

Through the previous eight years of Stargate SG-1, many of us have seen the actor and his character, Dr. Daniel Jackson, grow and mature. But even still, through all that both of them have endured, Michael Shanks still believes that Daniel is “a little child of the universe. He’s this little orphan boy in the middle of this big universe. He’s looking to the answers to his existence. He’s kind of never active, so much as reactive. The more adventure and exploring we do, the better for him. I?m enjoying everything as long as we keep going through that gate.”

That statement captures the essence of what so many fans find attractive about Daniel Jackson and why so many feel that the story of Stargate is very much the story of Daniel’s journey.

[Thanks to Ellie for the use of her artwork in this article — DeeKayP]