Joseph Mallozzi's Blog! (SPOILERS For All SG Shows and Dark Matter)

[Redhooks]

No worries, I was at the doctors today. I knew one of you guys will pick up my slack.

Oh, and for those wondering, the Write-Up today consisted of more correspondences with spammers. Joe really does have too much time on his hands.

The Joe Bucket letter was hilarious though. Someone else has too much time on their hands.
He keeps avoiding some of more thoughful questions on his blog. Probably doesn't want to give much away, which he is doing a very good job of right now. The Adrift answer is the exception, but even that wasn't a lot of info.

[PG15]

http://josephmallozzi.blogspot.com/2...y-11-2007.html

July 11...what are you doing reading this?! Go out to see Harry Potter 5! Now!!

Photos: Foods, books, and pugs.

Write-Up: Restaurant review; ice cream binge; and scammer-liciousness.

Questions:

Shippychick writes: “I have to say this is the first entry of your blog I have read and it is hilarous! I love the show and will definately be back for more!”

Answer: Welcome aboard. Tell your friends and don’t forget to leave a dollar at the door.

Atlantisfannew1 a ecrit: “Je vient vous passez le coucou…”

Reponse: C’est quoi un coucou? Est-ce que c’est dangereux?

Bex writes: “…Do you have moments of this with writting/producing/show running/being all round god?”

Answer: Yup. At times it feels like you’re on a giant treadmill. Slow down even for a second and you’re screwed.

Anonymous #1 writes: “1. Will Teyla be diving into her Athosian culture more in season 4? 2. Will she ever go to Earth? 3. Will Ronon ever be ready after his lady friend went boom?”

Answers: 1. Her Athosian roots will certainly become an issue in season four. 2. Possibly - but probably not in season four. 3. Ronon will open up a bit about his past this upcoming season.

Firefly 827347 writes: “How long does it take you to write up responses to your penpal emails?”

Answer: Not that long at all. Unlike a scene for a script, I can whip out one of these responses in one quick sitting.

Wynterblue writes: “What are the chances of Ben Browder showing up this season on Atlantis?”

Answer: Sorry, not this season.

Anonymous #2 writes: “So, why didn't you advertise RDA's guest spots in The Shroud and The Return?”

Answer: I’m not in charge of advertising the show on Sci Fi so I can’t answer that question.

Anonymous #2 also writes: “Further, why not have him guest a couple of times in season four??”

Answer: It’s always a pleasure to have Jack put in a guest appearance. On the other hand, we only have so much in our production budget.

Atlantisnewfan1 a ecrit: “Vous lisez mes commentaires?”

Reponse: Je lis tous les commentaires.

Anonymous #3 writes: “Joe, if you have to ask viewers to give your show a chance because they're pissed about the changes you've made (…) And you need to beg fans to get their family and friends to watch the final three episodes (as you did) to get a fifth season, you really don't deserve it.”

Answer: Past experience has proven that making assumptions about episodes before they’ve even aired is, in the majority of cases, an overreaction. As for the latter part of your statement, this is a matter of personal interpretation. For instance, when I asked fans to get 1000 of their friends to tune in, I was being sarcastic and didn’t really intend for them to track down and convince 1000 people to start watching the show. Still, if a doofus such as yourself feels that this equates to begging, then I certainly respect your simpleton reasoning..

Anonymous #4 writes: “I was watching season 1 last night and I noticed one or two of the expedition wearing a green stripe. What does this indicate?”

Answer: They work in Atlantis’s Library Services Department.

[Pitry]

Anonymous #4 writes: “I was watching season 1 last night and I noticed one or two of the expedition wearing a green stripe. What does this indicate?”

Answer: They work in Atlantis’s Library Services Department.

*phew* Mystery solved. Now I can sleep again! (well, nmot tonight cos we're marathoning something, but in general).

[PG15]

http://josephmallozzi.blogspot.com/2...y-12-2007.html

July 12

Photos: Foooooood.

Write-Up: Oh, happy day. Ok, so hiatus is almost over and after Joe gives us an update on what he is reading, he proceeds to do this:

On the Stargate front, I’ve been in touch with some of the guys and Nora O’Brien over at Sci Fi who is working with her people on putting together that Atlantis season four sneak peek. Marty G. has taken his birthday festivities on the road - Vegas to be precise, where he reports he is 15 pages into his next script which still has no title, but does have Rodney driving Carter and Keller absolutely crazy. After taking time off to do a little fishing, Carl is heavy into Midway. It’ll be great to finally see the big men spare. It’ll also be nice to have Kavanagh back. Unfortunately, he won’t find his return quite as enjoyable. Alan is plugging away on Kindred II which is an episode fans will no doubt be looking forward to. No pressure, Alan. Paul, meanwhile, phoned me up to discuss some of the changes he wants to make to Kindred I. The fact that wraith ships don’t possess shields certainly complicates matters, but I’ve always loved Paul’s idea of giving them limited regenerative capabilities. And, if it survives the polish, we get to find out where Lorne grew up. Any guesses?

We’ll be back in the offices on Monday at it looks like a week of meetings for yours truly as we head directly into prep on Kindred I, to be directed by SG-1 alumni Peter Woeste. Damn. I’ll miss spending quality time with the dogs.

Now, if that isn't the biggest hint drop since the beginning of hiatus, I don't know what it is. Also included is a short restraurant review.

Questions:

PG15 writes: “Have you ever seen the TV show Invader Zim?”

Answer: I haven’t, although the look of the show interested me enough to pick up the first season on DVD - which I have to get around to. Right now, I’ve just started on season one of Extras. I still think Ricky Gervais would make a great foil for Rodney. Anybody got his number?

Jason writes: “So now that you and Paul are in charge of the "How Come Room" do you find that you are more conscientious of the different choices the directors make and have more questions or do you guys let the directors have free reign?”

Answer: We’ve always had the utmost of confidence in the jobs our directors are doing, many of whom have been with the Stargate franchise since its first season. They know both shows inside and out and any “free reign” they’ve been granted has been more than earned.

Anonymous #1 writes: “If given the opportunity, I was curious if you would ever have the desire to go up with the Canadian Snowbirds?”

Answer: No way. But I know Brad would jump at the chance.

Rac76 writes: “What motivates you to write? When did you start writing and why? What was your writing like when you were in elementary school? How would you motivate a 9 year old to write?”

Answer: “Write about what you know” is very good advice as is “Write about what you want to know”. As a kid, way back in elementary school, I wrote short stories, mainly horror and science fiction because those were the types of shows and movies I enjoyed. Find out what your nine year old enjoys reading and watching and steer them in that direction, have them explore the genre in creative ways. He may not necessarily become a professional writer, but it will certainly prove a worthwhile exercise.

Squall78 writes: “Also, isn't production cost down by more than half, since SG-1 is no longer airing?”

Answer: I wish but, alas, MGM won’t give us the SG-1 production budget in addition to our Atlantis production budget to work with.

Lorr54 writes: “Have y'all been able to create some interesting Sheppard backstory, and is there any possibility of us seeing it in season 4?”

Answer: It’s possible. We’ll see how things develop on this front after the hiatus.

Kdvb1 writes: “I'm a teacher and a lot of children have problems with writing. If it doesn't come naturally it is really about practice…”

Answer: Great suggestions.

Anonymous #2 writes: “One of my favorite SG1 races is the Gadmeer and as it turns out, they are the brain children of you. I read @gateworld, in the original script, Lotan blewup the ship and killed the gadmeer. Was the script changed to keep the race around or to have a more up-lifting ending or something different? Did you consider writing them into another episode?”

Answer: The script was changed because it was felt the original ending was too downbeat. It didn’t have anything to do with a desire to revisit the Gadmeer who, while cool-looking, would be a challenge to bring back as actual alien characters.

Linzi writes: “Have you filled all the episode slots for season 4 yet, or is there still a gap?”

Answer: We’ve all been on hiatus and so the gap remains.

Anonymous #3 writes: “I think your name is getting out there to the scammers as a possible mark.”

Answer: Sadly, quite the opposite. The yahoo account I’ve been using to respond to them is now annoyingly devoid of any spam.

[Blower'sGate]

Thx PG15!! And yes : that is the biggest hint drop since the beginning of hiatus

[Briangate78]

Yeah a lot of hints about some future eps, cool deal.

Was happy he answered my question. I guess the only production cost is less for Sci-fi. They only have to pay for one show, not two. The producers don't see a difference, since MGM is not carrying any budget from SG-1. I guess it makes sense since the movies are being produced.

[Killdeer]

The fact that wraith ships don’t possess shields certainly complicates matters

Does he mean just for this episode? 'Cause I could have sworn....

Anyone else remember shields on the wraith ships?

*goes away to rewatch Atlantis DVDs*

[Pegasus_SGA]

Does he mean just for this episode? 'Cause I could have sworn....

Anyone else remember shields on the wraith ships?

*goes away to rewatch Atlantis DVDs*

Wasn't that in Allies? Where they were trying to disarm the shields to get the retrovirus on board?

[PG15]

Nope, the Wraith hives have no shields.

[Pegasus_SGA]

Nope, the Wraith hives have no shields.

I must have dreamed that part I think I was thinking of the jamming signal, and obviously as the two are so closely related that's where the mix up was. It had nothing to do with my crap memory at all.

Thanks hon. You're right as always

[PG15]

http://josephmallozzi.blogspot.com/2...y-13-2007.html

July 13...Friday the 13th!! Watch out for Freddy Sheppard!

Photos: Food and pugs.

Write-Up: Restaurant review.

Questions:

PG15 writes: “What did you mean when you said "It’ll be great to finally see the big men spare"? Big men spare? What is that?”

Answer: That’s was I get for not proofreading. I meant to write “see the big men spar”.

Anonymous #1 writes: “…during Seasons 8-10 of Stargate SG-1 when the fans would talk about the fact that they thought both of the Stargate shows were hurt because too many of the same writers, producers, directors, etc., were trying to do 2 shows (…) however now it seems that almost everyone who is involved with the Stargate shows who talks about it in interviews says how good it is NOT to be doing two...”

Answer: Sure. There’s a difference between saying the quality of the show suffered because we were producing 40 episodes of television (which is what YOU are saying) and saying there is less pressure producing half as many episodes (which is what WE are saying).

Zabadoo writes: “1)1.)Have you ever thought about directing? 2) Do you consider the fourth season of Atlantis to be a new chapter in the story? 3) Are you planning on answering a lot of long wondered questions this season of Atlantis or do you plan to just develop the questions further?”

Answers: 1) Sure, in much the same way I think about being an all-pro corner for the Los Angeles Raiders. 2) I see the fourth season as a deeper and richer development of the established storylines and characters. 3) We’ll be answering some questions, developing others.

Rderoch writes: “Is there also a gap in the directors schedule?”

Answer: Nope.

Pauline writes: “With the Wraith ships having organic looking fixtures…”

Answer: Very interesting thoughts. Season four will offer up some insight into some of the wraith organic tech.

Anonymous #2 writes: “How many pages are there in a script for an episode of Stargate Atlantis?”

Answer: Anywhere from 55-60 pages.

Anonymous #3 writes: “When the fans ask questions, do they have to stay strictly with questions about Stargate? I would love to know more about Chris and Michael's 'Rage Of Angels' project, but I didn't know if it would be rude to ask.”

Answer: Ask away.

Anonymous #4 writes: “Now that there are only a few episodes left to write for season four, are you able to tell us yet if Daniel will be in any episodes?”

Answer: We’ve been off for three weeks so nothing has changed.

[prion]

http://josephmallozzi.blogspot.com/2...y-14-2006.html

July 14th

PUG pictures.
and spam, spam, spam (ooh, sounds like Monty Python)

Quiet mailbag day today so I’ll try to make up for it by being twice as surly -

Anlaria writes: “I was wondering, what will we see from Ronon? Will there be friends, or family who escaped from Sateda?”
Answer: Funny you should say that. Check out episode 3, Reunion.

Jason writes: “Will the other Peter, Peter Deluise, be directing any episodes this year?”
Answer: Alas, he will not.


Vaberella writes: “JM would you suggest that for this season overall it will be an emotional rollercoaster for the characters, and as viewers we should be prepared?!”
Answer: No no no. If you were prepared, that would make the developments all the less surprising. Remain unprepared, please.

Glennh73 writes: “ok i heard a rumor, Is it true that Weir takes command again of SGC as the actor that plays Landry probably wont be around?”
Answer: Nope.

Farscapefan writes: “Could you tell me whether Claudia Black's fans are going to find at least short VIDEO interview at either The Ark of Truth or Continuum DVDs? 2 YEARS now and we've got NOTHING at all so far. It's simply NOT FAIR and I really hate MGM for doing this to us.”
Answer: This has nothing to do with MGM. Special Features Producer Ivon Bartok has made it a point to try to spotlight all of the actors. If a certain actor has not appeared in a DVD extra, it is because either they have chosen not to participate or didn’t make themselves available.

[PG15]

Lulu...awww so cee-ute!

The Write-Up today is not JUST spam, but Sesame Street spam. An exerpt:

Now what to do? Dat de question. Maybe ask Ernie and Bert? Maybe Oscar the Grouch but he always suspicious of scam. Long time ago, Old Mr. Hooper run Ponzi scheme out of corner store and burn Oscar, so Oscar put cap in Mr. Hooper ass. Oscar be flush but dangerous. What you tink us should do?

What can I say? Definately a must-read.

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

With today's blog post, I think can safely say that Joe is a nut case (because he's the only person I know who responds to spam e-mails)

[prion]

With today's blog post, I think can safely say that Joe is a nut case (because he's the only person I know who responds to spam e-mails)

actually, there was a case of a woman who did respond to one of those nigerian emails - got the FBI involved and they busted the guy!