"We've had a great year, but I had my doubts going into it, because Michael Shanks left, and he's one of my best friends, and Teal'c had such a good relationship with Daniel Jackson. It ended up that the stories were good, Michael came back a few times and Season Six was one of our best years ever. And as for Teal'c, I had always said I wanted him to have a slow and steady evolution, and in Season Six he evolved even further. Now my only worry is: Where do I go next season?"

Animal by Instinct

"I wasn't surprised that Rick signed on," Judge remarks. "He's the toughest old man that I know. He has more energy than anybody I know. Actually, I was surprised that he agreed to do another year. I'm overjoyed that he said yes. No one else could play O'Neill except Rick. He just has that guy's humor down perfectly. The show wouldn't be the same without Rick. My concern was that if Rick decided not to do it, would they try to replace him with someone else? Would the network want to do the show if he didn't agree to come back? But the best-case scenario happened: he signed on for another year."

"I'm also thrilled that Michael will be back. Believe me, no one is happier about Michael coming back than I am. That's for sure. In December, we did an episode of Andromeda together, in which we sort of reprised the roles we played before [Judge portrayed Achilles in "the Knight, Death and the Devil," while Shanks was Gabriel in "Star-Crossed"] We love working together. We're like a big family. Someone wanted to pay us to hang out, so we were like, 'OK!' I'm thrilled that he'll be returning to Stargate. I've got my partner in crime back on the show."

Human at Heart

"There's so much going on with this guy, [Teal'c]" Judge says. "I wanted him to have this slow evolution, and now that we're in Season Six, we're starting to see that pay off. This year, we've seen him finally have some resolution with his wife and some closure with his son, Rya'c. He hd left his family and now he finally got his son to understand the 'why' of it. That was definitely a defining moment.

"Plus, Teal'c got some [sex]. I would like to see that happen again in Season Seven. Maybe he can have a romance with an Earth woman. That might be interesting. I have to say that they've [the producers] been great about listening to me and my ideas and what I've wanted to see for the character. At the start of every season I've ususally sat down with [executive producer] Brad Wright, and this year it was [show runner producer] Robert Cooper. We talked about what kind of stuff Teal'c should go through and where we would like to see him become more human.

"For me, personally, 'The Changeling' was the most important show. I wrote it, and Brad did such a brilliant rewrite on it. And what Martin Wood brought to the table just far surpassed my own personal vision of the script. Every department had suggestions and input. I felt that on that episode, everyone and every department just went above and beyond the call of duty. It was so touching to be a part of it. And not only that, but my girlfriend and two of my sons were in it. We had a bunch of old friends in it, too. Tony Amendola was there as Bra'tac, and so were Peter Williams [Apophis] and Musetta Vander [Shan'auc]. It was a fantastic experience on every level, just so satisfying to me personally and professionally."

"Storywise, I got to touch on some things I had wanted to see for a while. Many people had forgotten that the Jaffa were originally taken from Earth, so they're actually descended from humans. Teal'c is very much like a human man. Yes, he has certain advanced physical abilities and healing and recuperative powers, but in his heart and is his mind he's very much a man, and he dreams and aspires to things just like human men do. I wanted to make him human for a bit and go into his mind and see some of the things that he has been thinking and dreaming and wondering about. And I think we did that."

Alien in Nature

"Several people have said to me--and I agree with this--that Season Six has been about taking Teal'c forward, wheras Season Five was about exploring his past," Judge comments. "It's the furthering of his journey. It's even more about his evolution and getting back to his humanity, if you will. It really continues on down to the season's end. Whereas in the past Teal'c used to kind of sit on the sidelines while everyone else made decisions, he has now become a part of the decision-making process. He's an active part of the group and not an observer anymore."

"I was talking with Coop about the film and we both think it's going to knock your socks off when we get around to it. They've come up with a script that you would not believe. I can't wait to shoot it. Most of the action stuff that they've described to me is just unbelievable. It's going to be fantastic and I really hope we get the chance to do it. If we go out with a bang on the show--and I really think Season Seven will be the end-- then a film would be the perfect next step."

"I know that I'm going to write at least one episode for sure next season, and hopefully I'll get to write a couple more," Christoper Judge concludes. "That's where I see my career going. I would like to write other shows and maybe movies. And doing it on Stargate--where I've got people I trust all around me--is great. I couldn't draw it up any better."

© Starlog, 2003. All rights recognised. No copyright infringement intended. Extracts appear with permission. You can buy the full article in issue 308 of the magazine, available from the Starlog store.

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