Rob Cooper talks about Universe

[jenks]

Across the Universe


[...]

"One of the things I'm really excited about is that we’re looking for people who are a little more identifiable and contemporary," he explains. "I always thought one of the things that was attractive about the original series was the 'everyman on the street' point of view that O’Neill had to science fiction. It made the characters identifiable. They were more like we would be in a science fiction situation, and how we would react. And that’s what we’re trying to do with the new show – create characters that are going to be challenged by the situation. The team that ends up on the ship is not really who was supposed to go, and in some cases they’re very unprepared and unqualified to be in that situation. So they don’t have all the answers as quickly, and the challenges are greater than they would be for people who have seen it all and don’t have as far to go as characters when they encounter an incredible situation."

[...]

http://stargate.mgm.com/news_detail.php?id=114

[Flyboy]

Across the Universe


[...]

"One of the things I'm really excited about is that we’re looking for people who are a little more identifiable and contemporary," he explains. "I always thought one of the things that was attractive about the original series was the 'everyman on the street' point of view that O’Neill had to science fiction. It made the characters identifiable. They were more like we would be in a science fiction situation, and how we would react. And that’s what we’re trying to do with the new show – create characters that are going to be challenged by the situation. The team that ends up on the ship is not really who was supposed to go, and in some cases they’re very unprepared and unqualified to be in that situation. So they don’t have all the answers as quickly, and the challenges are greater than they would be for people who have seen it all and don’t have as far to go as characters when they encounter an incredible situation."

[...]

http://stargate.mgm.com/news_detail.php?id=114

That sounds really promising actually.

As long however, as they get rid of that horrific "teenage girl's fantasy" and "party girl" thing for all of the different characters.

[Amalthea]

I don't understand how it could be an accident that the team gets there. Presumably, they have to leave from Stargate Command, which means they need some pretty high military clearance to get in the building and they don't give that out to just anyone. Also, alarms go off when the Stargate is activated, so they couldn't accidentally fall through the gate and end up on the Destiny. As Hammond once said "If someone sneezes near [the gate], I get a report."

The only way I can see it happening is if some disaster befalls Stargate Command and Landry orders them to take party chick through the gate for some protective reason. In which case, I would be much more interested in finding out how said disaster is worked out in the SGC than their lives on the Destiny.

I don't get it.

[amconway]

"One of the things I'm really excited about is that we’re looking for people who are a little more identifiable and contemporary," he explains. "I always thought one of the things that was attractive about the original series was the 'everyman on the street' point of view that O’Neill had to science fiction. It made the characters identifiable. They were more like we would be in a science fiction situation, and how we would react. And that’s what we’re trying to do with the new show – create characters that are going to be challenged by the situation. The team that ends up on the ship is not really who was supposed to go, and in some cases they’re very unprepared and unqualified to be in that situation. So they don’t have all the answers as quickly, and the challenges are greater than they would be for people who have seen it all and don’t have as far to go as characters when they encounter an incredible situation."

I agree that the part quoted above sounds promising, however this just plain isn't true:

Some fans have queried the wisdom of having such young characters, but Cooper points to the youth of Stargate SG-1's cast when it launched.

"The SG-1 cast were quite young when they started," he argues. "Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping were both in their early twenties when they first started the show – it just was on for ten years! So I don’t think we’re doing anything different than what we’ve done before when we’ve started a new show."

And this doesn't sound promising at all:

"It says Stargate in the title, but it’s also going to be something that is very different in tone," he says. "It will certainly have a Stargate in it, but is going to be unlike anything Stargate we’ve ever done before."

[General Yogi Bear]

Sounds good to me.

[Ouroboros]

I agree that the part quoted above sounds promising, however this just plain isn't true:

"The SG-1 cast were quite young when they started," he argues. "Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping were both in their early twenties when they first started the show – it just was on for ten years! So I don’t think we’re doing anything different than what we’ve done before when we’ve started a new show."

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0850102/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0788218/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118480/

So he's worked with both of these people for X many years and doesn't actually know how old they are or he's just spinning.

"One of the things I'm really excited about is that we’re looking for people who are a little more identifiable and contemporary," he explains. "I always thought one of the things that was attractive about the original series was the 'everyman on the street' point of view that O’Neill had to science fiction. It made the characters identifiable. They were more like we would be in a science fiction situation, and how we would react. And that’s what we’re trying to do with the new show – create characters that are going to be challenged by the situation. The team that ends up on the ship is not really who was supposed to go, and in some cases they’re very unprepared and unqualified to be in that situation. So they don’t have all the answers as quickly, and the challenges are greater than they would be for people who have seen it all and don’t have as far to go as characters when they encounter an incredible situation."

I'd really like to believe this is true as the whole "supermen from Earth" thing is oh so played out by now, but I can't help but worry about what he means by "identifiable" in the context of the group of early 20 somthings as viewed by a modern TV producer.

[ShadowMaat]

I don't understand how it could be an accident that the team gets there.

Two words: gate malfunction. They were supposed to be gating to some lame function/inspection thing and wound up on the ship instead. Or a tour of the ship is the lame function/inspection thing and then someone leans against the wrong button and things go a bit wobbly.

[amconway]

I don't understand the notion that you have to be twenty to be out of your depth when trapped on an alien space craft, or be new to intergalactic travel. Clearly age has nothing to do with how experienced a character might be. They might as well just admit they want young actors simply because they want young actors, not because it is necessary to the plot they have outlined in any way.

[Aryk Celestis]

That's great and all, but I'm worried about the same thing as others... If they're not qualified at all, how the heck do they get onboard the Destiny? The only thing I can see is that the entire crew makes it onboard but is killed off by something or other and the only part of the crew that's left, is the incompetent bunch.

[fwupow]

Spoilerized for space:

Spoiler:

"After unlocking the mystery of the Stargate's ninth chevron, a team of explorers travels to an unmanned starship called the Destiny, launched by The Ancients at the height of their civilization as a grand experiment set in motion, but never completed.

What starts as a simple reconnaissance turns into a never ending mission, as the Stargate Universe crew discovers the ship is unable to return to Earth, and they must now fend for themselves aboard the Destiny. "
http://www.gateworld.net/news/2008/0...as_a_go2.shtml

Coop's Latest comments:
"It’s an all new cast," he confirms. "There will certainly be plenty of opportunity for cross over, and there certainly might be some familiar faces in the premiere and in subsequent episodes. But the core of the show is all new."
http://stargate.mgm.com/news_detail.php?id=114

I'd guess that some scientists like Jackson, McKay, Zelenka et al, unlock the "mystery of the 9nth Chevron" and then a reconaissance team is sent. The sending of a reconnaissance team, however, doesn't explain how a couple of the 6 core cast members get there (Carpenter & Hitchcock to be precise).

Presumably there is more sending of more people later on, after all, there has to be a supply of people who will die (red-shirts). It doesn't make all that much sense for the SGC to send an inexperienced team. You'd expect the MALP to go first and then a very experienced team. It'll be interesting to see what circumstances arise that result in Col. Young & Company to be the one's who get in the gate.

[AutumnDream]

What's this about cross-over? That is pretty unchill, man. I thought they were supposed to be stuck in a desperate situation?

[Aryk Celestis]

^My guess is they'll get back in regular contact with Earth in about one season.

[NoobTau'ri]

As long however, as they get rid of that horrific "teenage girl's fantasy" and "party girl" thing for all of the different characters.

I couldn't agree more. If there is one thing that I hate about Stargate are the writers ruining it to please the female fans by submitting to their "thunk" and "whump" fantasies. Every episode, we have some male character beaten to a bloody pulp or showing skin because the female fans want to see it. It's time for the writers to realise that 90% of sci-fi fans are male and that we don't want to see that ****. Not only that, there's the whole double-standard thing: would a board tolerate a bunch of male fans talking about how much seeing women getting beaten turns them on? Of course not. Then, there's the fact that most moderators in this board are female, another conundrum given that there are more male members than female ones in this board.

[NoobTau'ri]

As for Stargate Universe, I won't watch it. Period. Only a total fan boy would watch this, and even worse have logos of it on their avatar. If I wanted to watch SGU, I would simply go watch any of the 9 different Star Trek versions out there. The premisse of SGU is retarded not only because it has been done a trillion times before, but also because nothing can beat the original Star Trek as the ultimate space exploration show. But what really pisses me off is what the writers are doing with the Ancients. They were supposed to be this god-like race possesed of technology beyond Human comprehension, and yet now we realize they were a civilization on the level of Star Trek, or 24th century Earth. Pathetic. Truly pathetic. Sad. I expected so much more. I expected the Ancients to be something like "Dancers At The End Of Time", or "The Gods Themselves" from Isaac Asimov's classic, or like the Xeelee from Stephen Baxter's "The Xeelee Sequence", or at the very least like the Organians from Star Trek itself or the Vorlons from Babylon 9. You know, truly hyper-advanced civilizations that are at least millions but more likely billions of years ahead of Earth Humanity. But instead we learn from SGU that the Ancients were a basic space-farring race, like the Federation from Star Trek, that is only a few centuries ahead of where we are now. Pathetic. It pisses me off.

[Stormtrooper]

^My guess is they'll get back in regular contact with Earth in about one season.

I wouldn't put it past these people