Why did Shanks return in Season 7?

[The2ndQuest]

Just wondering- as I understand it, Michael Shanks left after Season 5 since he disagreed with the direction the show was heading in.

Now he obviously was still willing to come back for an occasional guest spot, but what ultimately changed his mind about returning to the show for Season 7?

Was it just more money, or better credit (the "and Michael Shanks as..."), or did he find he was wrong about what he thought the direction the show was taking actually was? Or did he basicly not find the work he had hoped for after leaving and so came back?

[Lord Shiva]

I didn't know about his situation, just thought he wanted a break...

[Nem2k]

I think it was just because he missed the family and wanted to come back

[Steve_the_Wraith]

Just wondering- as I understand it, Michael Shanks left after Season 5 since he disagreed with the direction the show was heading in.

Now he obviously was still willing to come back for an occasional guest spot, but what ultimately changed his mind about returning to the show for Season 7?

Was it just more money, or better credit (the "and Michael Shanks as..."), or did he find he was wrong about what he thought the direction the show was taking actually was? Or did he basicly not find the work he had hoped for after leaving and so came back?

No one knows, the real reasons for his departure and return are known only to the producers and himself

[rohannen of zorbia]

No one knows, the real reasons for his departure and return are known only to the producers and himself

...as it should be. I prefer not to know all the behind-the-scenes details myself. Ruins the illusion. Better just to convince myself that Daniel went away for a while because he ascended.

[plaw15]

I heard he wanted to explore diffrent actig jobs but the ratings dropped a little bit and he couldn't find much do so he came back.

[knowsfords]

From what I've been able to find out he wasn't happy that Daniel had no arc, so he decided to leave which sent tptb scrambling when they discovered they had lost a huge chunk of original followers.

So they spent time creating a story that would have Daniel basically looking out for sg1 but getting into trouble for breaking the non interference rules and choosing to come back and be stripped of the knowledge, Oma did that but she knew that Daniel had to keep something otherwise it would have been a waste of his time of ascension. Which happened to be a complete knowledge of ancient text. That arc must have been enough to entice him back.

[majorsal]

From what I've been able to find out he wasn't happy that Daniel had no arc, so he decided to leave which sent tptb scrambling when they discovered they had lost a huge chunk of original followers.

season six (where dj/ms was missing) did just fine in the ratings. in fact, it's success spurred a season seven.

So they spent time creating a story that would have Daniel basically looking out for sg1 but getting into trouble for breaking the non interference rules and choosing to come back and be stripped of the knowledge, Oma did that but she knew that Daniel had to keep something otherwise it would have been a waste of his time of ascension. Which happened to be a complete knowledge of ancient text. That arc must have been enough to entice him back.

the ptb never wanted ms/daniel to leave (and had given him the invite back when he left), so they wrote daniel never 'really' dying. so it made it easier to bring him back, since they set it up that way in case ms changed his mind. which he did.

just my opinion of course.




sally

[brihana25]

My opinion is that only three or four people know for sure what happened, and none of them are members of this message board... so the most this thread could possibly do is pull out a hundred different rumors, result in a thousand different interpretations of those rumors, and dredge up a whole bunch of barely-healed wounds and bruised feelings.

My opinion is that he's back - that's all that matters - and sleeping dogs should be let lie... or awake dogs should be let to go to sleep, since this one never really seems to be able to.

[Pharaoh Atem]

he needed the money lol

he left becuase he didn't feel that daniel was being devloped enough

and after a year he came back probably he missed being on the show and daniel would have more to do

[GateGipsy]

Speculating on what might be in the minds of actors and TPTB isn't something we encourage on GateWorld. It's a forum for discussing Stargate. None of us are privy to the private goings on. And as this thread already shows, there are a dozen different rumours out there as to why MS left and why he came back.

Which means that there is no chance of answering the question in the first post of this thread. Since there's no productive purpose in this thread, I'm closing it. If anyone thinks I'm wrong, just PM me. I'm open to changing my mind

But I really can't see where this discussion can go. We have a rule about not discussing the private lives of the actors, and this is the only area I can see this thread going in to.