S10: Critique & Contemplation

[Egeria]

it's losing what made it unique and becoming just another space opera with leather

'Space opera with leather'....what a great way to put it.

[jazz!]

[Quote = skydiver ] it's losing what made it unique and becoming just another space opera with leather [/quote]

I'd like to what, you anti-S10, people think made Stargate SG-1 unique and why it will no longer exist?

[Nem2k]

I'd like to what, you anti-S10, people think made Stargate SG-1 unique and why it will no longer exist?

what made SG-1 unique...like ive said many times, this is the first scifi where ive cared more about the team than the stories. not to say the stories were bad, they were pretty well written (at the beginning) but the team seemed to real and genuine, you realise that these people trusted each other with their lives which in all honesty, is pretty rare in tv, most of the time you would just accept it but with SG-1 you really feel that they care about each other. infact, you feel it so much that even the viewer would be comfortable with going on missions with the team and having them watch your back

another reason i loved the show was its focus on mythology, science and military. because you have these 4 members who are all thinking in a different way, seeing things differently to each other, questioning things. why is that great? because they each represent a different part of the human psyche, theres a part of all of us who agree with each member of the original team and when those 4 were put together, things just felt complete.

i dont think theres another scifi where I care about the team as much as I care about myself. when they lost Jack, it was a big blow, its almost like losing a part of yourself. Sam doing a lot of atlantis crossover would feel like we're losing her as well, but i guess that depends on how well written those episodes were

i dont know why these things dont exist anymore. of course the writers need to evolve the show but theyre not evolving it, theyre changing it, picking apart and removing all these things which made the show brilliant. like, right now I couldnt really care less about the team dynamic, which is a huge change from what i used to feel back in season 3 when I realised that these 4 ppl were perfect for each other. I was happy with spending my time and energy going through the stories that those characters went through, but i dont feel that anymore

I guess its because TPTB want to impress the newer farscape fans and to bring new people into the show, but theyre failing to realise that us old school fans who loved the original show are still around. we havent all left....yet

[Skydiver]

it was smart, it was intelligent.

there was a real place in egypt called Abydos, there were 'real' gods that the goauld were based on...which made that dry old mythology interesting.

it was fun and didn't take itself seriously...but didn't act all silly either. it was humor with class.

it was four characters that cared about each other and often showed that caring in little looks and glances and gestures. (and no, i'm not talking about only sam and jack here)

it was stories based in some real science and with a basis in fact.

there was evidence of time and caring that went into crafting the stories. there was a continuity of events and people that was a reward for the long time watchers

what do we have now????

cliches. endless homages to other tv shows and movies - some to the point of ripping off the whole plot line. we have potty humor. we have sexual humor and female characters not seen as part of the group but apparantly there largely to be eye candy.

we have a dumbing down of the show. we have characters sacrificed to make a good image (such as ignoring the fact that sam wouldn't kiss pete while she was on duty...but she had to because RCC wanted a kiss to pull out on...sacrifice the character for the shot)

we've replaced our hand crafted work of art for a cheapie knock off that is made in taiwan and bought at walmart

[Albion]

Well, I almost didn't post because Skydiver said it all so eloquently (and, incidentally, made me depressed as she reminded me of all the great things that we used to have, but have no more). But I've just finished posting this on the 'What Makes SG1 Unique' thread in GD, so I figure what the hell:

What made SAG1 unique for me was the attention to detail - especially on the military side of things. The fact that they did what was best for the show, not to pander to specific demographics (very refreshing). That their characters weren't just the usual cookie-cutter stereotypes we see in every SF show under the sun, but complex and real. And the fact that the method of getting to the stories wasn't the usual boring spaceship but the Stargate.

Sadly, in S9, almost all of that has been jettisoned. I never liked the slow shift to ships over the gate and now we see more stories centred on Prometheus and the gate hardly features at all, except as a means of shuttling Teal'c back and forth from the SGC to the Jaffa homeworld. He could be using a bus for all the difference it would make. Ships also make it far easier to extricate SG1 from any trouble they get into offworld. Which makes for less exciting stories, less dramatic tension, and gives an air of same old, same old. Why not just call it Enterprise and be done with it?

The attention to detail just seems to have been completely tossed aside. I wonder if they even have a military advisor these days. Instead, we get attempts to excite the lowest common factor - the demographic for young males. So we get sex kitten Vala. With her tight, low-cut costumes, heaving cleavage and double entendres. Now, I really like Vala, but I can only take her in small doses and I don't believe she's what's best for the show. She's too strong, too overwhelming a character to be there full time. It's not possible for her to be there full time and not have her take over the show. And that's no reflection on CB or Vala. It's just an inevitable result of her character's personality. It happened in the first five episodes and it'll happen again.

Having her full time next season tells me that the care for quality has gone and that TPTB are now just like any other SF show out there - trying desperately to hook demographics by any means necessary. Vala as a character would have to be changed drastically, massively toned down, to ensure that she doesn't overwhelm and overtake the show entirely. And I get the impression that she and Carter will be set up as rivals, constantly sparring. We might even get a good old-fashioned catfight - if the teen boys are keen for it.

Military detail, too, seems non-existent. The military action owes less to the realities of the AF (one of the elements which always used to impress the heck out of me and which RDA did so effortlessly) and more to just the standard, usual leading man heroically mows down the enemy, killing 200 with one bullet kind of thing. Bo-ring. No attempt has been made, apparently, to train BB in how to hold a gun, let alone how to act/react when under fire. It comes across as acting, not reality. And, yes, I know he's an actor, so you'd expect him to act. But my point is that that was always one of the things that made SG1 unique for me. That these actors so wonderfully hid the props and the strings and made it look absolutely real. And that has gone in S9 for me.

Mitchell, sadly, is the cookie-cutter, one size fits all, completely interchangeable with every other one out there, leading man/action hero. There's nothing unique about him, nothing intriguing, no depth. I really wanted to like him. I really wanted not to miss RDA/Jack to the point where there was little to watch on this show any more. But the changes over and above his departure haven't filled the gap for me. They could have. If TPTB had tried to make them. But the choices they've made have been so lazy and lackadaisical that they simply haven't tried or worked hard enough to pull me along with them, sadly. And no one is more disappointed or sad about that than I am.

Sadly, the changes made to the show this season have simply reduced it to just one more SF show for me. One among dozens, all basically the same. What made it unique and special has been stripped from it.

I so agree with an earlier poster who said they've stopped watching because the show is just plain boring now. It only sunk in on my gradually, but I just realised this week that I've been religiously taping the show each week...but never getting around to watching it. There's no excited watching of the clock and wishing for 8pm on Tuesday evenings this season for me. Not butterflies in the stomach. No trying to secondguess what's going to happen. I'm even reading spoilers - where once I used to try and avoid them so I didn't spoil the excitement, now I desperately read them in the hope of finding something that will spark some 'Oh, that I have to watch!' in me. Instead, they just depress me further as I see more of the slide into mediocrity the first half of S9 gave me.

I've realised that I'm continuing to watch because I feel obliged to. Out of a sense of loyalty. Not because I'm enjoying this golden, sparkling, magical hour in the week. I spend the hour bored out of my skull and there's certainly nothing there that would make me want to watch 99% of the episodes again, as there always used to be before. Before, I'd wear the tapes/disks out with repeat viewings.

Albion

[AGateFan]

Wow, so may great post. Well thought out, great post. I sooo wish I could give out reputation because you all deserve it.

Unfortunately, I am still in the Anger stage. Its normal reaction to loss. First you get denial, then anger, then sadness and then acceptance.

I have gone back and forth between the anger and the sadness but I guess that is a step up from my waffling between denial and anger. I kept telling myself that they would fix it… that prototype was good and that they would see this and know that the first part was bad. That PDL or someone would go back and listen to his quote about Arnies and how they tried to change SG-1 back then and then realized it didn’t need to be changed. But it didn’t happen. They forgot their history, they forgot farscape and xfiles history, they forgot it all….. or they just don’t care. So why should I?

[Nem2k]

So why should I?

because theyre changing something which means a lot to you something which I can only assume was a big part of your life, something that you loved, so I think we should care about what happens to the show. the only problem is that TPTB done care that we care

they can forget the history of Stargate, they can take the heart out of the show, but they cannot take the show out of our hearts. a bit cliched? yes, but its true.
I for one will never forget how good SG-1 was and what it means to me. I still care about where this show goes because its a fairly large part of my life. I know im going to regret sitting here and not care about the show anymore, I won't lower myself to the same level as TPTB

I guess this is similar to having a child...when theyre young you love them with all your heart, as they grow up they may be led astray, but its your responsibility to put them back on the right track because at the end of the day, its something thats such a big part of your life that you cant just sit back and watch it go downhill

maybe im the only one who feels this passionately about the show, but even so, I think that even if we dont like where its going, we should still care about the direction the show takes so we can do something about it

[Nem2k]

oh and id like to make another quick point!

it seems like TPTB have decided to ignore us old school fans and gear the show towards the newer crowd, so I dont think we should just rant and rave about it individually and then give up on the show because that is exactly what they want!
they assumed that oldschoolers arent around anymore, they were wrong, but if we give up, then they win. lets not prove them right by giving up

as loyal fans of the original show we *need* to stick together and put our opinion across. one loud voice is worth a lot more than hundreds of quiet ones

once more unto the breach dear friends!

[STARGATE7777]

Season 9 has just started in Canada and though I have seen some episodes by other means my daughter has not. She came back from university and we watched Avalon part 2 together. About half way through she looked at me and said, Well, this is depressing." I cannot explain the sadness that I feel over a loss of a TV show. I mean, I am a rational human being. I shouldn't be so upset. Yet, I find myself watching reruns like a death has occured and I'm reliving moments from a happier time. Maybe Jack would say I really need to get a life. Oh...wait....Where is Jack???

[ToasterOnFire]

Is there any truth to the rumor over on Joe's blog that Lexa Doig isn't coming back for season ten? I haven't heard anything about that.

While I'm not the biggest fan of Lam I was under the assumption that her character would continue beyond one season.

[Olli]

Is there any truth to the rumor over on Joe's blog that Lexa Doig isn't coming back for season ten? I haven't heard anything about that.

While I'm not the biggest fan of Lam I was under the assumption that her character would continue beyond one season.

WOW! Thats great news! I hope they will be true.

but where exactly you read this? I can't find it in Joes blog.

[Skydiver]

just because she's not mentioned doesn'tmean she's not coming back.

we rarely ever heard that janet was re-signing simply because, most of the time, my impression is that she was pretty much hired on an episode by episode basis. i don't think teryl ever had a 'we'll use you for x number of episodes' contract.

she was PRN, which in medical terminology means that she was hired when she wa needed. Lam could very well be the same way

[Nem2k]

just been wondering about something...a lot of us have been saying that the show has changed a lot from what it used to be, and that theyre taking it in a direction which it shouldnt go

but thinking back to the episode Lost City...for everybody who thinks the show is no longer what it used to be, does Lost City parts 1 and 2 encapsulate what SG-1 was to you? ie is Lost City the SG-1 that you originally fell in love with it

because i never did like much of S7 because the team dynamic was a bit off and the stories are headed in a wayward direction. but I thought that Lost City was great in that it reminded me a lot of earlier SG-1 episodes because there was mythology, there was great interaction between the team, and right at the end of part 2, there was the whole everybody unite against a common enemy thing, I got the feeling that they would all die for each other, and that theyre risking their lives for something far greater

did that episode bring back old memories for you? and if we could have more episodes like Lost City, is that the direction youd like the show to go in in future seasons?

[jyh]

Jeez, it's fine and dandy to be pro-season ten with the same lack of info, but woe to anyone who has concerns.

TPTB seem happy with how things have changed in season nine. If they're happy with the way things are, wouldn't one assume that things would continue in season ten? And if I'm not happy with how season nine has gone so far, isn't it prudent for me to be concerned that I'll see more of the same things that I dislike in season ten?

I agree w/ you, Toaster: I'm not all too crazy about the path of season 9 thus far.... so far the episodes are very hit-and-miss. And since I'm one of those viewers (obviuosly in the minority) who had enough of Vala in the very first episode she was in..... well, I'm not too thrilled about her joining the show full-time for S10.

SPOILER:



In fact, her upcoming 'mysterious pregnancy' concerns me as well. Are TPTB trying to go that far down the religious path that they're using the whole "immaculate conception" thing?? that sounds kinda... well, as someone else mentioned, "jump-the-shark-ish".

[ToasterOnFire]

I'll back things up a bit regarding Lexa Doig and season ten. Joe didn't say anything about Lam on his blog on GW, but a commenter stated:

"Joe, read your stuff at the Solutions forum on delphi. Are you really saying that Lexa Doig/Dr. Lam isn't coming back for season 10?"

I dug around on Solutions and couldn't find the post in question from Joe about Lam. It's probably prudent to view the possibility that Lam isn't coming back for s10 as a unsubstantiated rumor at best for now.

I agree w/ you, Toaster: I'm not all too crazy about the path of season 9 thus far.... so far the episodes are very hit-and-miss. And since I'm one of those viewers (obviuosly in the minority) who had enough of Vala in the very first episode she was in..... well, I'm not too thrilled about her joining the show full-time for S10.

I don't know what's regarded as the "minority" here - some fans really like her, some really don't, and most are relatively neutral. Polls are far too easy to skew, as we've seen. No idea what fans who never log onto the internet think of Vala either.

If you like Vala, there's a good chance that you'll like season ten (if you can get over the whole

Spoiler:

miracle baby

that is). However, if you really dislike Vala like I do, then season ten is going to be hard to stomach since she's been bumped up to regular. Granted, we still have no idea how many eps feature Vala - it could be all 20, it could be here and there - but any episode with Vala is too much for me. And I'll be extremely disappointed if the writers put her, a thief and troublemaker, on the trusted SG1 team and/or set up some catfight tension between Vala and Sam (some fans are already hoping for this, sadly).