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    INTERVIEW: Martin Gero (Writer)

    AUDIO INTERVIEW:
    GERO HOUR
    GateWorld talks with Martin Gero

    Stargate Atlantis writer Martin Gero gives us an insider's take on creating the hit series, the challenges in his job, and what's to come in the new season.

    READ MORE ...

    #2
    That is a very funky pic of Martin, BTW. Absolutely would not have recognized him if it didn't say "Gero" next to it.

    Anyway... Interesting interview. Interesting insights into how he views fandom. I wonder, however, if he's aware that even some hardcore fans of Hewlett/McKay are getting weary of the perceived (by some) overkill in regards to McKay-centric stories? I'm a huge fan of McKay, he's one of my favorite characters, but it's getting to the point where I cringe when I read spoilers/summaries for McKay eps. It isn't that the stories aren't great (or that they don't sound good from spoilers or whatever), but... there are other characters on the show and I'd kinda like to hear about them , too. Even if McKay IS a favorite. I wouldn't mind learning about some of my OTHER favorites, or even having a fantastic story come along that elevates a character I hadn't really liked/noticed to "favorite" status.

    I'm glad he's psyched about the new "Big Bad" but I'm a bit leery of the indications about the Wraith. I'd rather see more development given to them and more effort putting in to making them a truly awe-imspiring and powerful enemy than to see them swept under the carpet in favor of something new and shiny. Or at least shiny. The "new" actually sounds painfully familiar. *sigh* Whatever.

    I'll be very curious to see how this "make or break" season turns out for them.

    Comment


      #3
      Great interview

      I'm glad to see that at least one of TPTB listens to some of the fans' worries.

      I agree with Shadowmaat that there is maybe too much time devoted to McKay...I really want to see all the characters get equal screen time (I hated it when Voyager became the 7, Janeway and Doc show...don't want SGA to go the same way)

      I think the writers need to think more about the enemy..while the new enemy could be good (and they're being introduced at almost the same point as the replicators were in SG1) I think they're burning out the Wraith storyline too quickly. I'd prefer to see the Wraith rather than any other 'bads' just now.

      And saying all that...I have high hopes that MG will be able to get SGA back on track...his episodes normally turn out to be the best of all the eps...Here's hoping!
      sigpic
      Part 2 coming very soon!! (this is a fic btw, not the Fandemonium novel)

      Comment


        #4
        He is still talking about the "day off" episode which is a good sign. I would be first in line to see that one.

        Comment


          #5
          Well, I assume that the original day off article was spawned from this interview. That's the way it usually works. You get a "leader" article ahead of the actual interview. Although I do hope the ep gets made.

          Comment


            #6
            enjoyed this interview. Martin seems to at least have no fear of being candid and I like that about him. I also like that he stated that it may be great to have fan support but at the end of the day he has bosses to please not fans I think that was the most honest statement ever made by PTB in a long time.

            Here is to hoping that he did get a memo regarding McKay saving the day ALL the time
            Life is short, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And live out loud with no regrets..

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by ShadowMaat
              That is a very funky pic of Martin, BTW. Absolutely would not have recognized him if it didn't say "Gero" next to it.

              Anyway... Interesting interview. Interesting insights into how he views fandom. I wonder, however, if he's aware that even some hardcore fans of Hewlett/McKay are getting weary of the perceived (by some) overkill in regards to McKay-centric stories? I'm a huge fan of McKay, he's one of my favorite characters, but it's getting to the point where I cringe when I read spoilers/summaries for McKay eps. It isn't that the stories aren't great (or that they don't sound good from spoilers or whatever), but... there are other characters on the show and I'd kinda like to hear about them , too. Even if McKay IS a favorite. I wouldn't mind learning about some of my OTHER favorites, or even having a fantastic story come along that elevates a character I hadn't really liked/noticed to "favorite" status.

              I'm glad he's psyched about the new "Big Bad" but I'm a bit leery of the indications about the Wraith. I'd rather see more development given to them and more effort putting in to making them a truly awe-imspiring and powerful enemy than to see them swept under the carpet in favor of something new and shiny. Or at least shiny. The "new" actually sounds painfully familiar. *sigh* Whatever.

              I'll be very curious to see how this "make or break" season turns out for them.
              You expressed my concerns and slight annoyance much more eloquently than I could have.
              I love McKay, he's my second favourite character by a long way, however, I found it inappropriate for Mr Gero to spread the MCKay love so much - AGAIN. There are other actors on the show, and if I were them I'd be starting to feel unappreciated and wonder why I actually was bothering turning up to work.
              I just hope the other writers are a little more even handed with their praise of actors/characters and their writing of them too.
              My heart just sank when I read the first portion of this interview, and that's not being disrespectful to avid McKay fans. As a friend said to me recently - if you're a MCKay fan you are incredibly lucky, as you get everything you want.
              sigpic

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by TameFarrar
                enjoyed this interview. Martin seems to at least have no fear of being candid and I like that about him. I also like that he stated that it may be great to have fan support but at the end of the day he has bosses to please not fans I think that was the most honest statement ever made by PTB in a long time.

                Here is to hoping that he did get a memo regarding McKay saving the day ALL the time
                I agree- he was honest. I really liked a lot of what he had to say, admitting that season three has to be something unique etc. Great guy.
                Thanks for the interview Gateworld.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Linzi
                  . As a friend said to me recently - if you're a MCKay fan you are incredibly lucky, as you get everything you want.
                  Ah, no idea who your friend is but I can tell you right now no we do not get everything we want... I do not get a sense of respect for the character coming from TPTB McKay is often played as the comic relief now days. Heaven to Besty, they hung him upside down in a fraking tree! That is the last thing this McKay fan wants. Lots of screen time does not equal quality screen time.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Drwho'srose
                    Ah, no idea who your friend is but I can tell you right now no we do not get everything we want... I do not get a sense of respect for the character coming from TPTB McKay is often played as the comic relief now days. Heaven to Besty, they hung him upside down in a fraking tree! That is the last thing this McKay fan wants. Lots of screen time does not equal quality screen time.
                    Point taken. I see where you're coming from!
                    sigpic

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I think that the one thing lacking in SGA more than any other is the team spirit that's made SG1 so popular

                      I'm glad to see that they've taken note of that
                      sigpic
                      Part 2 coming very soon!! (this is a fic btw, not the Fandemonium novel)

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Oh btw I really enjoyed this interview, Martin Gero is an asset to the writing staff.

                        Originally posted by sueKay
                        I think that the one thing lacking in SGA more than any other is the team spirit that's made SG1 so popular
                        That is really odd isn't it, maybe it was the replacing of a major character but it has never felt the same way the Team dynamics felt on SG-1. Not that they always got it right but at least you knew whatever happened they would all be there to help and they would show concern. It brings to mind the 'incident' as I like to call it when
                        Spoiler:
                        Lorne tells tells Sheppard that McKay is missing (in Runner) and Sheppard says "great" but not in a concerned way.

                        What was that about? LOL! McKay must have really pissed him off that week! No man left behind my A&^*

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I have to admit, I did find Martin's crass dismissal of anyone who complains to be more than a bit insulting- and David's clarifiying question of "even if it's constructive" was likewise shrugged off as, "If you're a McKay fan, you'll love it, if you aren't you won't, and in that case you aren't worth listening to because you're just gonna whine about McKay" is how I interpreted it. Not a lot of elbow room in a statement like that, and it's a pretty heavy-handed generalization, especially given that not all McKay fans automatically love McKay-centric eps.

                          Martin is still one of my favorite writers, but I can't quite shake the feeling that he's turning towards the Dark Side. Someone should keep him away from Coop before the corruption becomes irreversible.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Martin Gero
                            . So I thank them for liking my work ... and I try to think of them as least as possible. In the warmest, warmest sort of way!
                            ROTFL!

                            Exactly as it should be.

                            Thanks for getting the interview, GW. I always find what the writers/producers have to say infinitely more interesting than the same old, same old that the actors say. I also love your interviews with the other off-screen Bright Lights who make the two series shine.
                            Gracie

                            A Cherokee elder sitting with his grandchildren told them,
                            "In every life there is a terrible fight – a fight between two wolves.
                            One is evil: he is fear, anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity,
                            resentment, and deceit. The other is good: joy, serenity, humility,
                            confidence, generosity, truth, gentleness, and compassion."
                            A child asked, "Grandfather, which wolf will win?"
                            The elder looked the child in the eye. "The one you feed."


                            Comment


                              #15
                              Correctly rerouted to this thread, I'll answer to a couple of remarks people posted here.

                              Originally posted by Ouroboros
                              You did however miss the best quote in the whole interview Mr. O.
                              Huh, I didn't spot that one. Priceless. I'm hardly surprised though. Maybe they just read the community boards to find new ideas?


                              Originally posted by Deevil
                              Oddly I didn't read it as arrogance. I read it as a guy who acknowledges that people aren't going to like all episodes. If you don't like McKay, you are unlikely to enjoy a McKay based episode, even if it is good, because you are already predisposed not to like McKay.
                              Your point, like his, is just too simplistic. It completely discards people who actually enjoyed McKay before the overkill exageration that plagued the character over season 2.
                              You know, the world isn't all black and white.

                              I don't think he has said anything that can be considered arrogant, or if you don't like the show it's all about the fans. Although, to a certain extent it is, simply because if you don't like the show - you don't like the show or episode. It wasn't written with the intent of you not liking it.
                              Which is kinda obvious. Doesn't change a thing to the problem here.

                              And he is right aswell, some people do feel an ownership for characters and tend to get passionate about it. Not a bad thing, and he acknowledged it wasn't a bad thing.
                              That's easy from Gero to attack people's remarks about character devlopment and orientation as describing them as an exagerated manifestation of ownership.
                              We're too possessive. Yay. Right Martin. Right.

                              It's just not that. McKay was depicted in a certain way in SG-1, and again, in the first season of Atlantis.

                              But it's also a gripe against that sort of rule they established after Wormhole X-Treme (a good episode) that each season should get more funny episodes, and each season should be more funny as a whole. And McKay is the character which all the humour flows through. The dam is about to collapse, but nevermind, let's get more humour. More. More. More.
                              What plugged me into Stargate was episodes like Singularity, Torment of Tantalus and Cold Lazarus. These good days seem definitively gone.

                              What I read was an interview with a guy who conceeds that not everyone will like everything, that it wasn't designed for everyone to like it, that people have their reasons not to like it (including not likeing the character focus). I don't see him telling everyone that they are wrong with their opinion.
                              But he just said it. If you don't like my character-centric episodes, it's because you don't like the character at all, not because we may have made a mistake in overusing a given character and its usual attitude and gimmicks.
                              Ergo my point about moderation.
                              In Childhood's End, one of the best S1 episodes thus far, and probably all SGA seasons considered, had McKay, but he was natural, balanced, and not taking the full light in the episode. And he wasn't turned into some sort of mockery of himself, becoming far less believable.
                              Too much of McKay is simply... too much.
                              Hell, seems that only certain fans are actually able to see the change of character. For freaking sake, the first time my sister saw McKay in season 2, she just sharply said "ha, I guess he's the funny one". And she's a fan of series as well!


                              Originally posted by Abydos1
                              If you hate the show this much then why are you still watching it?
                              *sigh*
                              There's always one guy who has to say that.


                              Originally posted by Vaberella
                              And all in all Mr. Gero correct in his assessment.
                              Mr. Gero is half correct in his assessment, as he thinks in binary ways. What he says is basically you don't like my episode with characters X and Y because you don't like these characers at all.
                              It's either you always love the character, or you never. It's like a Star Wars book author said that if you didn't like the way he portrayed Luke Skywalker, it's because you don't like the character at all. Period.
                              Sure.
                              That's... well, missing the point totally. I'm surprised that a writer has such a mediocre opinion of the fans and such a good one about himself and the staff he's working with.


                              Originally posted by Bragi
                              And see all the plotholes, dropped storyarcs and underdeveloped characters that existed in the first five season aswell?
                              Sorry? Underdevlopped characters after five season of SG-1? Please. What kind of credibility do you think you still hold with such remarks? The chemistry was right from the get go. Teal'c, O'Neill, Jackson, Carter, plus the others. Seriously, what show have you been watching?
                              Who mentionned dropped storyarcs? I didn't, and it's just so irrelevant that I don't care.

                              Of course they're idiots to not see it your way at all. They're frelling stupid because the show isn't being produced to your exacting specifications.
                              That's not the point, but I don't feel arguing with someone like you.

                              The worst part of fandom is the frelling fans. Selfish-ass fans.
                              You mean the ones who jump into threads like you in order to insult others because they just can't stand criticism.
                              I feel like facing the Stargate Staff's Defense Fanboy Brigade.


                              Originally posted by Angel of Fire SG1
                              U know what guys?

                              It's THEIR show, they can write whatever they wanna write and we should stop trying to write it for them... cos most of the people out there complaining about the show couldn't write anything near as good as it...

                              So how about u quit whining and go back to enjoying a TV show or turning it off...
                              Breathless. I don't know where to start from.
                              It's THEIR show, we CRITICIZE it.
                              It's THEIR show, we're the audience.
                              The audience doesn't like the show, show dies. Not hard to get, isn't it?

                              We couldn't write anything as good. Well, sometimes, I frankly have doubts about that. After all, they're paid to think about plots everyday. On several occasions, I happen to read much more coherent, logical and intersting stuff from fans who certainly do not have so much spare time to lay down their ideas.
                              Last edited by Mister Oragahn; 16 May 2006, 04:29 AM.
                              The Al'kesh is not a warship - Info on Naqahdah & Naqahdria - Firepower of Goa'uld staff weapons - Everything about Hiveships and the Wraith - An idea about what powers Destiny...

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