Written for SG1_Spoilme. Please ask permission to reprint.
This review contains spoilers for unaired episodes of end of season 8 SG1 and season 2 SGA. You’ve been warned.
Review of 3rd issue of Official Stargate magazine
SG1_Spoilme review:
THE OFFICIAL STARGATE MAGAZINE
Issue #3
Newsstand Price: $6.99 + tax
Subscription: $37.75 ($6.29) 10% savings
Comes out every two months - issue #4 due April 26, 2005
Glossy stock magazine, 68 pages in total (including both covers). 15 pages are devoted to cover & back pages, requisite ads, table of contents, subscription info, and 'coming attractions' for issue 2, leaving you with 51 pages of actual content. This seems to be the pattern for all issues now.
On the cover, Sam (in forefront), Teal’c and Daniel to either side, slightly behind her, with a small inset photo at bottom left of Weir and Sheppard from SGA.
CONTENTS
Ben Browder joins Stargate (well, old news for us net folk)
ROBERT C COOPER drops some hints on season 9 of SG1 and season 2 of SGA. Said that last year, it was tough due to a tight budget and rising Canadian dollar. “Fans often complain that we do too many Earth based shows – that we don’t go to other planets enough. Well, going to other planets costs a lot of money. *** There will be a “threat more powerful than the Goa’uld. But there are still some loose ends dangling as well. Will the Jaffa come together peacefully? Not all the Goa’uld are dead.” *** Ben Browder: “He will play a lieutenant colonel who has earned the right to the posting of his choice. Being well aware of the SGC – in fact his character was someone who has played a key role in major events in the past – he has chosen to become part of SG-1.” *** Amanda’s pregnancy: “When we begin season nine Carter has accepted a special position that takes her away from the SGC for both personal and professional reasons. She will still be involved in the goings on but on a more limited basis until certain events then bring her back to the team. *** Will RDA return? [[well, as of today, he’s not appearing in any film commission reports – not a good sign]] “”We are all very hopeful that he will be returning in some capacity. In any case, the character of Jack O’Neill will continue to be part of the Stargate SG1 universe. *** on STARGATE ATLANTIS: How the production people will deal with working on both shows at same time? “Mostly the same as last year. Panic, feverishly hard work, and exhaustion.” *** RCC will oversee SG1 and Brad will do likewise on SGA. They are one big story department for both shows. *** Season finale for SGA had Earth connect with Atlantis. “We certainly hope there will be more opportunities for crossover … It will also change the dynamic of SGA somewhat now that they aren’t stranded. New faces can come and go more easily and new challenges may arise as the “powers that be” on Earth watch the goings on in the Pegasus Galaxy more closely.” *** Looking forward to developing the Wraith more.
(BIG SPOILER for Season Eight's "Reckoning, Part 2" and "Threads" ...)
www.stargate-thealliance.com is launched (videogame)
Atlantis pilot “Rising” will be out on DVD in 2005 (according to non-magazine sources, that’s June). They didn’t list the entire season, but reportedly that should be out in September.
DAMIAN KINDLER Interview: Talks about clip shows, Citizen Joe, writing Poisoning the Well (SGA), what he liked about writing in season 8.
CHRIS JUDGE interview: Thinks Teal’c will settle down in earth culture a bit more. Talks about season 8 (“this year has been a hoot!”), about writing “Sacrifices.” And that he pitched an idea for a script for season 9; thinks Claudia Black (“Prometheus unbound”) is great.
BEHIND THE SCENES stuff on SG1 and SGA as a set diary, and it turns out if they need to do it, they do night shoots on Friday so the cast can have the weekend off. Director Mario Azzopardi talks about working with David Hewlett and how it takes several takes to get the scene from “Letters from Pegasus” straight as everybody is laughing too much. And how they count how many bullets Sheppard fires into a Wraith as they discuss what the character would and wouldn’t do in such a dire circumstance. Then the article switches from SGA over to SG1, talking about Moebius (and show a picture of Daniel Jackson with that gawdawful haircut<G>). They mention Jay Avacone, Dan Shea (RDA’s stunt double) and more. The article is accompany by a brief talk with Property Mistress INA BROOKS, who is in charge of , well, props.
POSTER THIS MONTH: Amanda Tapping on one side, Torri Higginson on the other.
BRAD WRIGHT interview, talks about SGA, and that they had season one planned out from the start. “We had a broad arc, … that led to something of a reunion with Earth. Because as I said, I never wanted us to be Stargate: Voyager! Earth will never be very easy to and from in subsequent seasons, but it will again become possible. I want the opportunity to replenish Atlantis with fresh blood, fresh supplies, new weapons and to have that communication back and forth so that Earth understands and knows about the Wraith threat. Then it becomes a much bigger deal. “ *** SGA “can be darker. The Goa’uld are too ‘comic-booky’, I think, to get actual scares out of. It had to be more disturbing…. Sheppard, at the end of The Siege, shoots a Wraith over and over again. Even though it keeps healing, he keeps shooting, and that’s very dark.” “..the universe of the Pegasus Galaxy, as we set it up, is a dark place. We try to balance that with McKay, who is very funny, and also with the icon that the city of Atlantis is, the hope that it represents in this dark place.” *** They had an en episode called “Human Error” that was written for season one, but due to budgets, might be done in season 2. He has the first two episodes of SGA already plotted out. He doesn’t like to tie himself to broad arcs as “something better comes along anyway,” and cites how the replicators weren’t supposed to become as big a villain as they did, but they worked out quite well. *** On letting actors write their lines and/or scripts (Joe Flannigan is penning a season 2 script, and Torri rewrite some of her lines in season 1). He’s very open to that because “I can always cut it out!” (laughs) but realizes that this makes the actors understands the writing process better, and that it’s not easy. *** On evolving characters. “The one that the most difficult to nail in both SG1 and SGA was the hero. In Rick’s (RDA) case, he hates playing heroes, whereas Joe likes playing the hero. I’m so accustomed to not writing the hero moments for Rick that (for SGA) I had to remind myself with Joe that, “Right – I can write the hero!” That’s another difference between O’Neill and Sheppard.
TORRI HIGGINSON interview: Weir “has had to re-evaluate her policies many times. She came in very much the non-military person, and she’s had to acquiesce to a lot of military decisions, which has been tough for her. She has grown on that, learning how to be more malleable with her ideas. She’s also a lot more confident, I think she was very rigid to begin with, because she was scared. It was a huge, daunting experience (but) I think really in the last few episodes she’s feeling much stronger as a leader, and very capable.” … “Weir’s become sort of a Mother Lion, and that nurturing has actually given her a strength that she didn’t think she could have.” *** Torri says that Weir is very reserved, which from an actor’s point of view can be frustrating. She’d like to see her relationship with the non-civilian people. “ I think we could look a bit closer at her conflict with the military.” As well as deal with her diplomatic side. “That duty has been laid on Sheppard and the team that goes out… She’s learnt that there have been a few occasions where if she’d been there, (the situation) wouldn’t have gone to arms, and that’s something she wants to explore more.” *** Torri would also like to do more location shoots, as being stuck on Atlantis, she’s also stuck at the studio when everybody else goes off on location! *** Torri confesses she was a B-movie actress in Canada, and was accustomed to action scenes, but doesn’t see that happening with Weir. She really enjoyed doing “Before I Sleep,” which required full-head prosthetics, including contacts (“I couldn’t really see.”). Her next favorite episode was “Home,” “I think my favorite (scene) was with Sedge!” she laughs. “My dog got to be in Home.” *** Torri feels that Atlantis’ ‘more regular connection’ with Earth in season 2 will help the dynamic between those living in the Pegasus colony. “I think (the link) is needed for a few reasons. One simply, is because of the talent pool. You need to refresh that, and bring in different conflicts.”
DANIEL’S NOTEBOOK – The Asgard – The history, philosophy, technology, personal notes, interview with the puppet master, and list of episodes the little grey guys have appeared in.
COLIN CUNNINGHAM interview: (lists top 5 Major Davis episodes too). He’d wanted to do the show for a long time, as he’d heard lots of good things about it. “I liked the fact that he (Davis) wasn’t just a jerk. He was a man caught between doing what he was duty bound to do, and what he felt was right. I consider myself lucky to have played him, and to think that I’ve done a dozen or more episodes of Stargate SG1 is more than I could have wished for.” He would like to see more background on Davis – perhaps show some of the personal sacrifices he’s made for his job. He talks about his role in the Canadian series THE COLLECTOR, in which he gets to play the devil. “I was on cloud nine!” he said when he got that role. He’d love to do an SGA “maybe even as a different character – that would be fun.”
MISSION DEBRIEF on “Heroes”, with DVD extra notes, tiny bio on SAUL RUBINEK, favorite dialogue and a summary of the episode(s). Then an interview with TERYL ROTHERY (Q: Were you happy with the way Doctor Fraiser ended? A: “Well, any way would have been better – it would be better if there hadn’t been a great gaping staff weapon wound in my chest so there would be a possibility for me to come back at some point!” She misses going to work on the set, seeing her friends, but is busy with other films now.
LETTER PAGE. A few letters from fans.
SECURITY DIRECTIVE: History of the Stargates – with 5 “great Stargate moments’, which gate is which, etc.
THE KIT BAG –Round Up part 1 on merchandise – lists books (which of course US fans can’t get), creation’s t-shirts, etc. trading cards and Avatar comics.
**********
ISSUE #4 promises interview with MICHAEL SHANKS, RACHEL LUTTRELL, Anatomy of a Wormhole, Stargate SG1 merchandise, plus CORIN NEMIC interview, The Nox debrief, with SGA DVDS (probably UK versions).
All in all, the magazine is improving with each issue, especially as it is relying more on its own reporters than culling info from fan websites, etc. Plus the photo quality has improved! Definitely recommend it for Stargate fans.
****************** THE CREDITS (upgraded from last time)
EDITOR Sharon Gosling
NEWS EDITOR Darren Sumner
DESIGNER: Stu McKay
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Ned Hartley
MANAGING EDITOR Brian J. Robb
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE
K Stoddard Hayes, Sally Reeves
This review contains spoilers for unaired episodes of end of season 8 SG1 and season 2 SGA. You’ve been warned.
Review of 3rd issue of Official Stargate magazine
SG1_Spoilme review:
THE OFFICIAL STARGATE MAGAZINE
Issue #3
Newsstand Price: $6.99 + tax
Subscription: $37.75 ($6.29) 10% savings
Comes out every two months - issue #4 due April 26, 2005
Glossy stock magazine, 68 pages in total (including both covers). 15 pages are devoted to cover & back pages, requisite ads, table of contents, subscription info, and 'coming attractions' for issue 2, leaving you with 51 pages of actual content. This seems to be the pattern for all issues now.
On the cover, Sam (in forefront), Teal’c and Daniel to either side, slightly behind her, with a small inset photo at bottom left of Weir and Sheppard from SGA.
CONTENTS
Ben Browder joins Stargate (well, old news for us net folk)
ROBERT C COOPER drops some hints on season 9 of SG1 and season 2 of SGA. Said that last year, it was tough due to a tight budget and rising Canadian dollar. “Fans often complain that we do too many Earth based shows – that we don’t go to other planets enough. Well, going to other planets costs a lot of money. *** There will be a “threat more powerful than the Goa’uld. But there are still some loose ends dangling as well. Will the Jaffa come together peacefully? Not all the Goa’uld are dead.” *** Ben Browder: “He will play a lieutenant colonel who has earned the right to the posting of his choice. Being well aware of the SGC – in fact his character was someone who has played a key role in major events in the past – he has chosen to become part of SG-1.” *** Amanda’s pregnancy: “When we begin season nine Carter has accepted a special position that takes her away from the SGC for both personal and professional reasons. She will still be involved in the goings on but on a more limited basis until certain events then bring her back to the team. *** Will RDA return? [[well, as of today, he’s not appearing in any film commission reports – not a good sign]] “”We are all very hopeful that he will be returning in some capacity. In any case, the character of Jack O’Neill will continue to be part of the Stargate SG1 universe. *** on STARGATE ATLANTIS: How the production people will deal with working on both shows at same time? “Mostly the same as last year. Panic, feverishly hard work, and exhaustion.” *** RCC will oversee SG1 and Brad will do likewise on SGA. They are one big story department for both shows. *** Season finale for SGA had Earth connect with Atlantis. “We certainly hope there will be more opportunities for crossover … It will also change the dynamic of SGA somewhat now that they aren’t stranded. New faces can come and go more easily and new challenges may arise as the “powers that be” on Earth watch the goings on in the Pegasus Galaxy more closely.” *** Looking forward to developing the Wraith more.
(BIG SPOILER for Season Eight's "Reckoning, Part 2" and "Threads" ...)
Spoiler:
www.stargate-thealliance.com is launched (videogame)
Atlantis pilot “Rising” will be out on DVD in 2005 (according to non-magazine sources, that’s June). They didn’t list the entire season, but reportedly that should be out in September.
DAMIAN KINDLER Interview: Talks about clip shows, Citizen Joe, writing Poisoning the Well (SGA), what he liked about writing in season 8.
CHRIS JUDGE interview: Thinks Teal’c will settle down in earth culture a bit more. Talks about season 8 (“this year has been a hoot!”), about writing “Sacrifices.” And that he pitched an idea for a script for season 9; thinks Claudia Black (“Prometheus unbound”) is great.
BEHIND THE SCENES stuff on SG1 and SGA as a set diary, and it turns out if they need to do it, they do night shoots on Friday so the cast can have the weekend off. Director Mario Azzopardi talks about working with David Hewlett and how it takes several takes to get the scene from “Letters from Pegasus” straight as everybody is laughing too much. And how they count how many bullets Sheppard fires into a Wraith as they discuss what the character would and wouldn’t do in such a dire circumstance. Then the article switches from SGA over to SG1, talking about Moebius (and show a picture of Daniel Jackson with that gawdawful haircut<G>). They mention Jay Avacone, Dan Shea (RDA’s stunt double) and more. The article is accompany by a brief talk with Property Mistress INA BROOKS, who is in charge of , well, props.
POSTER THIS MONTH: Amanda Tapping on one side, Torri Higginson on the other.
BRAD WRIGHT interview, talks about SGA, and that they had season one planned out from the start. “We had a broad arc, … that led to something of a reunion with Earth. Because as I said, I never wanted us to be Stargate: Voyager! Earth will never be very easy to and from in subsequent seasons, but it will again become possible. I want the opportunity to replenish Atlantis with fresh blood, fresh supplies, new weapons and to have that communication back and forth so that Earth understands and knows about the Wraith threat. Then it becomes a much bigger deal. “ *** SGA “can be darker. The Goa’uld are too ‘comic-booky’, I think, to get actual scares out of. It had to be more disturbing…. Sheppard, at the end of The Siege, shoots a Wraith over and over again. Even though it keeps healing, he keeps shooting, and that’s very dark.” “..the universe of the Pegasus Galaxy, as we set it up, is a dark place. We try to balance that with McKay, who is very funny, and also with the icon that the city of Atlantis is, the hope that it represents in this dark place.” *** They had an en episode called “Human Error” that was written for season one, but due to budgets, might be done in season 2. He has the first two episodes of SGA already plotted out. He doesn’t like to tie himself to broad arcs as “something better comes along anyway,” and cites how the replicators weren’t supposed to become as big a villain as they did, but they worked out quite well. *** On letting actors write their lines and/or scripts (Joe Flannigan is penning a season 2 script, and Torri rewrite some of her lines in season 1). He’s very open to that because “I can always cut it out!” (laughs) but realizes that this makes the actors understands the writing process better, and that it’s not easy. *** On evolving characters. “The one that the most difficult to nail in both SG1 and SGA was the hero. In Rick’s (RDA) case, he hates playing heroes, whereas Joe likes playing the hero. I’m so accustomed to not writing the hero moments for Rick that (for SGA) I had to remind myself with Joe that, “Right – I can write the hero!” That’s another difference between O’Neill and Sheppard.
TORRI HIGGINSON interview: Weir “has had to re-evaluate her policies many times. She came in very much the non-military person, and she’s had to acquiesce to a lot of military decisions, which has been tough for her. She has grown on that, learning how to be more malleable with her ideas. She’s also a lot more confident, I think she was very rigid to begin with, because she was scared. It was a huge, daunting experience (but) I think really in the last few episodes she’s feeling much stronger as a leader, and very capable.” … “Weir’s become sort of a Mother Lion, and that nurturing has actually given her a strength that she didn’t think she could have.” *** Torri says that Weir is very reserved, which from an actor’s point of view can be frustrating. She’d like to see her relationship with the non-civilian people. “ I think we could look a bit closer at her conflict with the military.” As well as deal with her diplomatic side. “That duty has been laid on Sheppard and the team that goes out… She’s learnt that there have been a few occasions where if she’d been there, (the situation) wouldn’t have gone to arms, and that’s something she wants to explore more.” *** Torri would also like to do more location shoots, as being stuck on Atlantis, she’s also stuck at the studio when everybody else goes off on location! *** Torri confesses she was a B-movie actress in Canada, and was accustomed to action scenes, but doesn’t see that happening with Weir. She really enjoyed doing “Before I Sleep,” which required full-head prosthetics, including contacts (“I couldn’t really see.”). Her next favorite episode was “Home,” “I think my favorite (scene) was with Sedge!” she laughs. “My dog got to be in Home.” *** Torri feels that Atlantis’ ‘more regular connection’ with Earth in season 2 will help the dynamic between those living in the Pegasus colony. “I think (the link) is needed for a few reasons. One simply, is because of the talent pool. You need to refresh that, and bring in different conflicts.”
DANIEL’S NOTEBOOK – The Asgard – The history, philosophy, technology, personal notes, interview with the puppet master, and list of episodes the little grey guys have appeared in.
COLIN CUNNINGHAM interview: (lists top 5 Major Davis episodes too). He’d wanted to do the show for a long time, as he’d heard lots of good things about it. “I liked the fact that he (Davis) wasn’t just a jerk. He was a man caught between doing what he was duty bound to do, and what he felt was right. I consider myself lucky to have played him, and to think that I’ve done a dozen or more episodes of Stargate SG1 is more than I could have wished for.” He would like to see more background on Davis – perhaps show some of the personal sacrifices he’s made for his job. He talks about his role in the Canadian series THE COLLECTOR, in which he gets to play the devil. “I was on cloud nine!” he said when he got that role. He’d love to do an SGA “maybe even as a different character – that would be fun.”
MISSION DEBRIEF on “Heroes”, with DVD extra notes, tiny bio on SAUL RUBINEK, favorite dialogue and a summary of the episode(s). Then an interview with TERYL ROTHERY (Q: Were you happy with the way Doctor Fraiser ended? A: “Well, any way would have been better – it would be better if there hadn’t been a great gaping staff weapon wound in my chest so there would be a possibility for me to come back at some point!” She misses going to work on the set, seeing her friends, but is busy with other films now.
LETTER PAGE. A few letters from fans.
SECURITY DIRECTIVE: History of the Stargates – with 5 “great Stargate moments’, which gate is which, etc.
THE KIT BAG –Round Up part 1 on merchandise – lists books (which of course US fans can’t get), creation’s t-shirts, etc. trading cards and Avatar comics.
**********
ISSUE #4 promises interview with MICHAEL SHANKS, RACHEL LUTTRELL, Anatomy of a Wormhole, Stargate SG1 merchandise, plus CORIN NEMIC interview, The Nox debrief, with SGA DVDS (probably UK versions).
All in all, the magazine is improving with each issue, especially as it is relying more on its own reporters than culling info from fan websites, etc. Plus the photo quality has improved! Definitely recommend it for Stargate fans.
****************** THE CREDITS (upgraded from last time)
EDITOR Sharon Gosling
NEWS EDITOR Darren Sumner
DESIGNER: Stu McKay
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Ned Hartley
MANAGING EDITOR Brian J. Robb
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE
K Stoddard Hayes, Sally Reeves
It makes me kinda feel special, but then again, bad.
Great! 
is there a way to back order old issues?
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