Ben Browder article

[ShadowMaat]

Ben Browder Stepping through the Gate

Great snippet, David, and congrats for landing such a juicy Q&A/interview/whatever. Gotta say, as much as I have reservations about the casting changes on the show, I don't want it to reflect poorly on the actors, themselves. Claudia's a great person from all I've heard and Ben seems like a really friendly, funny addition to the crew. I have a feeling he'll fit right in with the rest of the nutters on set.

Loved the bit about him worrying that people might confuse him with Teal'c. hehe

[GateAngel]

Great interview..now I'm really looking forward to having Ben on the show!

[keshou]

I love this guy - he wants to go thru the gate! And he knows who Chevron guy is!

Maybe it's naive to be optimistic but when I read this it makes me feel like there's a chance S9 will be really good.

Wonder if the producers sent BB all the Stargate box set DVD's for Christmas. Sounds like he knows the show but I bet he's missed a lot while he was hard at work filming Farscape in Australia.

*hugs David* Thanks for getting this interview. Hope he's really as enthusiastic as he sounds here.

[Liv]

Heh! He's so much fun.

I have high hopes for Browder fitting in just fine within the Stargate universe and with the rest of the cast and crew. Everything I read about him tells me that he's a very sweet and humble guy.

Thanks for the interview, David.

[David]

I was genuinely happy to talk with this man, most of all to learn that he loves and respects the series so much. He's currently in the middle of a marathon and has watched 130 hours of Stargate -- in two weeks.

His choice. They didn't ask him to do that. When he says he's excited about going through the Stargate, believe me, he means it! I cannot wait to see him kick the tires and light the fires. Season Nine is going to be a treat.

[Erik Pasternak]

I do remember reading that he and his son are stargate fans, which means that this is almost a dream come true. If SG-1 ever ends, we might just see M.M. making Atlantis guest apperances.

[David]

Providing SG-1 ever ends

[LoneStar1836]

I was genuinely happy to talk with this man, most of all to learn that he loves and respects the series so much. He's currently in the middle of a marathon and has watched 130 hours of Stargate -- in two weeks.

His choice. They didn't ask him to do that. When he says he's excited about going through the Stargate, believe me, he means it! I cannot wait to see him kick the tires and light the fires. Season Nine is going to be a treat.

Thanks for the interview, David. Even short interviews like that are always nice to read. Your enthusiasm for S9, as well as BB’s, seems to be rubbing off on me. I’m looking forward to it with a more positive perspective.

[ShadowMaat]

Kinda makes me wish I had a little faith in TPTB to pull this off with any degree of dignity. I'm sure Ben will be fantastic, but as I've always said, even the best actor in the world can't save a show from bad writing. I just can't go through that heart-ache again. But Ben's got me all wistful, now. *sigh*...

[Erik Pasternak]

Providing SG-1 ever ends

I did say if.

[Kalliope]

Kinda makes me wish I had a little faith in TPTB to pull this off with any degree of dignity. I'm sure Ben will be fantastic, but as I've always said, even the best actor in the world can't save a show from bad writing. I just can't go through that heart-ache again. But Ben's got me all wistful, now. *sigh*...

I've heard one of the best, or even THE BEST SG-1 episode in the past was the one written by David Kemper. Suggest your TPTB to invite him to write some more episodes, especially these first five of Season 9 with both Claudia Black and Ben Browder in them...

[ShadowMaat]

I've heard one of the best, or even THE BEST SG-1 episode in the past was the one written by David Kemper. Suggest your TPTB to invite him to write some more episodes, especially these first five of Season 9 with both Claudia Black and Ben Browder in them...

Maybe it was THE BEST in your opinion, but not so for everyone. You could import the entire cast and crew from Farscape and, sorry to say it, it would still be STARGATE and any goodness or badness would be more to do with Stargate itself than whether or not Farscape people were involved.

I'm glad that you've found a reason to watch the show. I'm glad that you're all psyched about it. But Stargate survived for eight years without Farscape's help (save a couple of eps). Just because Farscape people were involved in an ep doesn't mean that those eps were the best of the series, EVER. That may be true for you, but it isn't true for everyone and you should keep that in mind when you state your opinion as fact.

One of MY favorite eps of Stargate was Changeling. Written by no one from Farscape and starring no one from Farscape. In my opinion, it was one of the best eps of the series, although I'm sure many would disagree. But personally, I loved it and for me, that's all that matters. I'm not going to go around telling people that it IS one of the best eps and I'm not going to write off anyone who disagrees as being too unintelligent to understand the ep.

I watched Farscape for a while. I thought it was a pretty good show and I thought Ben did a great job on it (she said, deftly trying to get this back on topic). It was a far cry from the style on Stargate, but that didn't mean it was bad... and it didn't mean it was better, either. Just different. I had problems with the quality of the writing in the final season (much as I'm continuing to have problems with the writing on Stargate) and so I stopped watching. I thought Ben was still doing a terrific job, as was the rest of the cast, but despite the goodness of the acting, I couldn't stomach the storylines they were being forced to do. I've mostly given up on Stargate for the same reasons. Again, it's all my opinion and I'm sure a vast majority of both fandoms would beg to differ with my interpretation of things.

Ben has great screen presence. He makes it all look easy. The fact that he is also (from the sound of the interview) a fun, laid back person with loads of wit and charm makes it all the better and I sincerely hope that he enjoys his time on Stargate. I may question the motives behind his being hired, but Ben himself sounds like a wonderful guy and a fully competent and able-bodied actor. I'm hoping we'll hear more from him in the coming weeks/months (as I'm sure the PR campaign is in full throttle on all fronts) and I have little doubt that however his character might turn out, fans will be happy to accept the actor. It'd be kinda hard not to.

If you love Farscape, that's fantastic. But try and remember that for a majority of people, season 9 isn't going to be good because it has Farscape people in it, it's going to be good because it's STARGATE. For a lot of people, that's the only thing that matters.

Again, David, loved this all-too-brief glimpse into Ben and thanks for sharing the crumbs with us.

[keshou]

As I think the weakest point of Stargate the last couple of years has been the writing, I'd be happy to see any notable scifi writers invited in to pitch an episode at this point. Including David Kemper who could probably temper his "weirdness for weirdness" sake tendencies for the Stargate environment.

To keep this on topic. Since Ben Browder is going to the trouble - and I love his enthusiasm - of watching all the past seasons of Stargate, sounds like he's going to be up to speed on all the storylines.

Maybe Ben will be given a chance to pitch a story idea. I liked "Green-Eyed Monster", one of the episodes he wrote for Farscape, very much. Although "John Quixote" was a little over-the-top for me.

[Madeleine]

One of MY favorite eps of Stargate was Changeling.

It was brilliant, that one.

Written by no one from Farscape and starring no one from Farscape. In my opinion, it was one of the best eps of the series,

Almost right; it was THE best.

although I'm sure many would disagree.

Well they're wrong.

But personally, I loved it and for me, that's all that matters. I'm not going to go around telling people that it IS one of the best eps

You don't *need* to do that, I already do

[Kalliope]

Maybe it was THE BEST in your opinion, but not so for everyone.

To tell the truth, I've never seen that episode, I've recalled other people opinions, which I've read at Farscape forums, I suppose. I was never watching SG-1 before, maybe with the exception of 3 or 4 eps of Season 2 or 3,I don't remember now, 'cause it was about 3 years ago or so, and the reason I watched them was ..... surprise, surprise... "Farscape" of course I read brilliantly written fanfic called "Starscape" (written by MALar) and it was a crossover of "Farscape" and "SG-1". Really great, I still have it somewhere on my hard drive, so if anybody would like to read it, PM me with your e-mail addy and I can send you a .doc copy. This fic caused me to take a look at some of SG-1 episodes, I watched them, decided that they're "not bad, but it's not Farscape". Since then I never watched SG-1 again until "Prometheus Unbound" with my favourite actress, Claudia Black