S10: Critique & Contemplation

[Nem2k]

Not only the loss of believability, but the loss of intelligence.
The team don't need to think their way out of trouble when they can just get their latest bit of nifty technology to save them.

that is quite true, its like the team are now holding all the aces and theres no more suspense and tension in the show because we have gained so much technology

although i think a lot of the old thinking type of episodes came from ethical and moral dilemmas, and we dont seem to have many of them anymore either

[binkpmmc]

Not only the loss of believability, but the loss of intelligence.
The team don't need to think their way out of trouble when they can just get their latest bit of nifty technology to save them.

or thier oh so convenient plot device even if it makes absolutely ludicrous sense and makes the show, and/or characters, look idiotic. As I have said before it has gone from good, solid, drama that had respect, to a dumbed-down, run-of-the-mill, cliche and caricature ridden wanne-be sitcom because it's easier (and faster in the days of doing 40 episodes) to write, produce and direct cheap, crass, sexual innuendo laden nonesense than it is to write intelligent, consistent, well-resepcted drama with irreverent humor thrown in at appropriate moments.

[Mala50]

well, we have a clue as to vala on s10

from joe's thread

ok, is it just me or will s10 be the search for the super baby????

any bets that the little sprog will be full grown and talking by the end of the season?

I'm beginning to think that Joe, RCC, Sony,...et al, have been watching way too much Angel. Conner/Stephen/Jasmine anyone?

hey why not??? they've homaged about everything else

Well, I don't know about Angel, but this homage came to my mind....

[SimilarCadence]

What disgusts me more than anything is being told what I am supposed to think by people whose work I no longer respect. Having folks in charge of making the show come in here and say things like "Everybody LOVES Vala", when clearly not everyone does, is insulting to ALL fans. I will not have the network's tastes shoved down my throat and be told to like it or lump it. And I will back up my opinions with a lack of DVD purchases.

Sadly, it seems that those in charge felt that SG-1 fans needed to be told what to think, which under no circumstances can be considered a good thing. It's not only annoying and condescending, but it brings out the defiant side of me, I'm sorry to say. If something is good, it will stand on its own merits...it doesn't need to forced down people's throats.

Of course, an even scarier thought is that those responsible for Seasons 9 and 10 actually believe their new product is superior to Stargate of the past---that's more frightening than any villain they can come up with! Even more frightening than Vala and her sprog/spawn/offspring.... Stargate SG-1: more cheese than in the state of Wisconsin!

[Albion]

If you like Vala, there's a good chance that you'll like season ten

I can't really agree with this. On a personal level I like Vala and I've enjoyed the episodes she's been in and her contribution. But I feel only depression about her being a regular in S10 because I don't think she's right for the show in that capacity. Elsewhere, someone really hit the nail on the head for me when they said the show is being fitted around her character - rather than a new character being introduced which fitted into the show.

As a character, Vala is much too strong. It's inevitable that she will dominate the show and push other characters into the background. It's just not possible, I feel, for that not to happen. She throws the entire show out of balance and it becomes all about her, not about team or an ensemble cast. She did it in the first five episodes and it'll be even more apparent in S10. This isn't a criticism of the character or CB, btw. CB is obviously giving TPTB exactly what she's been paid to do and she's doing it very well.

Having read a few recent comments from TPTB, I'm growing more and more convinced that SG1 is suffering from network interference. A real shame as they did so well to avoid that crap all these years - bar a few occasional bloopers. It's the network that wants Vala as a regular because she appeals to that demographic they're always chasing - teen boys.

I fear, too, that Vala as a regular will result in Carter being pushed increasingly off screen. If you were the network and an episode called for a female SG1 member to be present, who would you be pushing the writers to include? Carter - Scientist/Soldier? Or Vala - sex kitten? With her tight outfits, double entendres and flashing cleavage? I know which my money is on. And since it's becoming increasingly clear we're now in the unenviable situation of 'what the network wants, the network gets and hang anything logical, rational, quality or whatever' I'm not hopeful S10 will be any better than S9.

Although, if JM's promises bear fruit...maybe... So far, I've read him promising:

1. Lots of Carter involvement.
2. More stand alone stories.
3. More offworld adventures for the team (note team there - important word!)
4. More involvement from Teal'c that doesn't revolve around Jaffa plots

If these actually appear in S10...well, the thought gives me a little bit of hope that maybe it won't be a dead duck after all. But, let's just say I'm not holding my breath. He hasn't actually promised it as such that I've read, but offword adventures that don't revolve around the Ori would be nice, too. He has said there will be less Ori - which wouldn't be hard really considering how they've been vastly overplayed this season and concentrated on way too much and far too unnecessarily imo - but unfortunately for this fan's boredom threshold, I'm sure they're not going to be absent entirely.

I have to admit that I'm going to be hoping that Lam isn't in S10 either. I liked her character to begin with, but I'm becoming increasingly tired of her insobordination when dealing with Landry. I get it. We've been hit over the head enough times with it. She and Daddy don't get along. That's fine. Boring for this viewer to watch, but fine. But during office hours he's not Daddy. He's her superior officer and it's about time she stopped being so unprofessional and treated him with the respect his rank and position deserves. I'm finding her less and less easy to like or sympathise with. Increasingly, she comes across as a spoiled brat, whining and pouting her way through her working day.

When Janet stood her ground with Hammond, I respected her. In fact, the moment I fell in love with Janet was when she went toe to toe with Hammond over SG1 being returned to duty - too early in her opinion - in Fire and Water. She was doing it because she felt it was in the best interests of her patients. With Lam, I just get the impression she does it to get one over on Dad. It comes across as petty and vindictive.




Albion

[Nem2k]

Although, if JM's promises bear fruit...maybe... So far, I've read him promising:

1. Lots of Carter involvement.
2. More stand alone stories.
3. More offworld adventures for the team (note team there - important word!)
4. More involvement from Teal'c that doesn't revolve around Jaffa plots

well they promise a lot of things just to save face infront of angry fans, its unlikely we'll get all those things

and i agree with you about Janet, she was a tough cookie and a great character, tbh I didnt see why they needed to kill her off. although when we think of Stargate, we think of the team SG-1, but we also associate hammond and frasier with the team as well which is quite powerful given they hardly ever go off world

going back to that thing about Earth now having so much technology and using it as a quick and easy way out....go watch/listen to the commentary for Memento because that sums up my feelings perfectly and I think PDL and Damian Kindler have the right idea about these big ship things:

its cool to have them there, and of course earth technology would advance with the introduction of the stargate, but we cant forget the big O because that is the heart and soul of the show. these ships are there as extras to support these stories about gate travel, not the other way around which is the way things seem to be going

[Skydiver]

tptb do have a bad habit of promising the moon, then delivering a moon pie

some of it might be perception. What they see as a good turn for a character is something that most of hte fans loathe. another part may be, yeah, they planned for character x to be in 18 eps and be a major player....then the network called and character Y is to be the focus instead. or maybe the actor playing character x calls up the producers and says 'dudes, i'm tired and i have this other job coming up so....can you cut my involvement back a bit please???'

and other times, there are times when the cynical part of me says that they're just saying what they're expected to say and what they think we want to hear. because, scifi's attitude seems to be that they don't give a fig aobut any long term fallout....all they care aobut are the first flash of the ratings.

[AGateFan]

tptb do have a bad habit of promising the moon, then delivering a moon pie

some of it might be perception. What they see as a good turn for a character is something that most of hte fans loathe. another part may be, yeah, they planned for character x to be in 18 eps and be a major player....then the network called and character Y is to be the focus instead. or maybe the actor playing character x calls up the producers and says 'dudes, i'm tired and i have this other job coming up so....can you cut my involvement back a bit please???'

and other times, there are times when the cynical part of me says that they're just saying what they're expected to say and what they think we want to hear. because, scifi's attitude seems to be that they don't give a fig aobut any long term fallout....all they care aobut are the first flash of the ratings.

This is really the key isn’t it? I mean we know what has made Stargate a solidly (increasing every year) rated show for 8 years but that’s not good enough for sci-fi. They want to get that spike, that one tiny little spike of teenage males that will tune in for boobs and farscape fans that will tune in for farscape memories. But then those people will realize no ones going to get naked and this aint farscape and both groups will leave. Meanwhile, they will have alienated their base Stargate fans and the show will be left with declining ratings an inevitable cancellation.

This is a common problem with American businessmen. No long term strategy, no studying of what has been successful and then employing a strategy based on it. Its all about the bottom line now, instant gratification...cook the books. Sure the 4th quarter will stink but we will get the ratings in the 1st quarter and that will sustain our sales revenue until we can think of the next quick fix... maybe someone with bigger boobs... or naked butt.

[Skydiver]

they don't care if you only watch the first run and never watch the re-runs...because the first run ratings are all they show the advertisors. And if the ratings plunge for the re-ruins, well they'll always have an excuse. it is a re-run, there was something good on network that night, it was a full moon , whatever.

and yeah, i personally don't think that skiffy cares about the show as a show, they just care about those ratings.

there was an episode of Dinosaurs once (old, old disney show) where the local networks discovered that bars and tone (that rainbow of colors you sometimes see) would pull ratings...so they aired it 24 hours a day. didn't care that most hated it, just that it appeared to make money

the present day network execs are about the same. they don't care if the changes they're dictating turn fans away in droves.

and you also hae to consider the time lag. they dictate plots in february...for an episode that airs in august. six months later do you really think they remember that the ratings fallout is their fault? no, they'll have something else to blame it on

and this fall, when d9 dvd sales are down, tehy'll attribute it to the economy, they'll blame it on poor marketing, they'll blame it on about anything BUT the fact that many fans are no longer purchasing the dvd's because they no longer care for the show.

and anyway, personally i dont' think they care past s10. once they have that, they won't care because they'll have thier record and bragging rights

[The Engineer]

Sci Fi brass should remeber that it is a channel for sci fi shows not porn shows, not even streptease. There are other channels for that.

[The Engineer]

and you also hae to consider the time lag. they dictate plots in february...for an episode that airs in august. six months later do you really think they remember that the ratings fallout is their fault? no, they'll have something else to blame it on

That is pure incompetence!

[Seshat]

This is really the key isn’t it? I mean we know what has made Stargate a solidly (increasing every year) rated show for 8 years but that’s not good enough for sci-fi. They want to get that spike, that one tiny little spike of teenage males that will tune in for boobs and farscape fans that will tune in for farscape memories. But then those people will realize no ones going to get naked and this aint farscape and both groups will leave. Meanwhile, they will have alienated their base Stargate fans and the show will be left with declining ratings an inevitable cancellation.

I agree with this absolutely. I also agree with what has been said here about SciFi not keeping the show past S10. I would be very surprised if it makes it to 11. And not because the old fans were "disappointed in the changes", but for the very reasons stated above. The show will fail to deliver on it's tease, and those viewers attracted by that tease will vanish. In fact, it's the "old fanbase" that is still clinging to the show with something like desperate hope of improvement. We may rant and complain, but we still care, we still watch. The newer fans have no reason to care about cancellation, because there is nothing worthwhile to care about.

But does anyone really think it would be profitable for SciFi to keep SG1 going past 10? We've all discussed how the salaries of everyone from the actors to the makeup gal keep understandably increasing. I think the network would have to drop a chunk the cast to keep going past 10. SciFi will now have the honor of saying "longest running cable scifi show", and I don't think they really want any more than that at his point.

[Nem2k]

But does anyone really think it would be profitable for SciFi to keep SG1 going past 10? We've all discussed how the salaries of everyone from the actors to the makeup gal keep understandably increasing. I think the network would have to drop a chunk the cast to keep going past 10. SciFi will now have the honor of saying "longest running cable scifi show", and I don't think they really want any more than that at his point.

i dont think scifi have ever really cared about the show. they have the longest running scifi ever, theyre happy, wouldnt be surprised if SG-1 ends at S10. infact, i wouldnt be surprised if SciFi cancelled SG-1 half way through S10, I think theyve done that to another show before?

but we're all blaming scifi for the change in the show...what if its actually TPTB who are wanting to portray Vala as a sex kitten? what if TPTB at bridge are the ones trying to pitch the show to a younger demographic? we really have no idea who to blame

[Seshat]

but we're all blaming scifi for the change in the show...what if its actually TPTB who are wanting to portray Vala as a sex kitten? what if TPTB at bridge are the ones trying to pitch the show to a younger demographic? we really have no idea who to blame

I know. I was pondering this troublesome issue earlier today. For me it's easier to blame the network rather than TPTB, because I can understand the network wanting a sex kitten. A network's motives (their all-consuming desire for the 18-25 male market) are understandable to me, but in no way can I accept that the very people who made fun of themselves with a self-deprecating remark about adding a "sexy female alien" to Wormhole Extreme, would in reality, try to save SG1 by adding a "sexy female alien"! That this option could be a REAL possibility is, at the least, ridiculous, and at worst, disastrously ironic. At the very worst, this would mean that TPTB think that the fans are incredibly stupid.

No, I don't like any of those possibilities at ALL. Let's just blame SciFi.

[AGateFan]

I know. I was pondering this troublesome issue earlier today. For me it's easier to blame the network rather than TPTB, because I can understand the network wanting a sex kitten. A network's motives (their all-consuming desire for the 18-25 male market) are understandable to me, but in no way can I accept that the very people who made fun of themselves with a self-deprecating remark about adding a "sexy female alien" to Wormhole Extreme, would in reality, try to save SG1 by adding a "sexy female alien"! That this option could be a REAL possibility is, at the least, ridiculous, and at worst, disastrously ironic. At the very worst, this would mean that TPTB think that the fans are incredibly stupid.

No, I don't like any of those possibilities at ALL. Let's just blame SciFi.

Baawwaaahahahahahahahaha. I sooo forgot about that. Now that is true Irony.