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

[Suzotchka]

agreed recasting would indeed be a mistake. however I do believe that they will conclude the story, just without Weir

I agree. I think they'll do it off screen now instead of on screen. Unless they think they're getting a S6 and hold it til then.

But seriously - I'm happy for Torri. On to bigger and better things.

[Ruined_puzzle]

I agree. I think they'll do it off screen now instead of on screen. Unless they think they're getting a S6 and hold it til then.

But seriously - I'm happy for Torri. On to bigger and better things.

Ewww, I hope not. They should just leave it like they left it in BAMSR, it was only one episode they offered Torri, they can obviously think of another episode to replace that one, that's their jobs.

[wurlitzer153]

Full update to be complete:

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...s-development/

February 8, 2008: Books, anime, and a behind-the-scenes development.

Contrary to the opinion of some, I don’t disallow posts to this blog simply because I disagree with their content. A quick glance at the various comments sections will reveal a fairly wide range of opinions on numerous aspects of the show, some positive, some negative. I don’t censor posts because I disagree with them. But I do censor those I find obnoxious, rude, or just plain annoying. Every once in a while, I’ll approve one of the least egregious of the offensive comments because I’ll feel the need to respond and set the record straight. And, as a result, these obnoxious yahoos are occasionally singled out as representative of a certain part of fandom. But the truth is every section and sub-section of fandom has their shining stars, their silent supporters, and their embarrassing cousin Emersons who always show up at the dinner parties without their pants. Take the case of the Torri/Weir fans. You get all kinds and everything in between. At one end of the spectrum, you have that consistently shrill doofus from Virginia whose comments have degenerated from hilarious in their invective meanderings to disappointingly dull and a little sad. And, on the other hand, you have Erika who presents an incredibly eloquent and thoughtful defense of her feelings regarding the Weir character. If you haven’t read Erika’s post yet, I urge you check it out in the February 7th comments section.

Now, given the time Erika put into her post and, quite frankly the timing as well, I thought it best to inform Weir fans of recent developments. Last year, after we shot that final surprise scene in BAMSR, I stopped by Torri’s trailer to congratulate her on a job well done and, also, to assure her that the door was left wide open for Weir‘s possible return (in some form, be it repli-Weir or other) the following season. Torri was excited by the prospect and, in particular, had great things to say about her new leather outfit (props to Val). As season four wrapped, Carl and Paul got to spinning and came up with a terrific storyline that picked up where that last scene of BAMSR left off. We had a story in place for one episode, the starting point of a potentially bigger arc. The script was written and we eventually contacted Torri who, after much consideration, turned down the offer to reprise the role of Elizabeth Weir for the episode. We are, of course, disappointed, but nevertheless respect Torri’s decision and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

So, what’s happening with that Fuel dinner? Marty G. and I are in. Are we aiming for April 1st? Or will it be April 3rd? And what time is good for everyone?

Best birthday wishes to mom and Alex Levine, and early best birthday wishes to firefly827347.

Today’s mailbag -

Suekay writes: “Would the actress in mind for Porter happen to be Leela Savasta or am I totally wrong?”

Answer: Porter’s out. Vega’s in. And, yes, Leela Savasta has been cast.

Nigel RAF writes: “What does the Magic Eight Ball say about a Jack O’niell guest spot in season five?”

Magic 8 Ball says: Outlook not so good.

Sally writes: “…speaking of ‘trio’; you said to the fans that as soon as the ep aired, you’d write out the unedited version of the ‘not-so-subtle sj/ship reference’ that ended up on the cutting room floor. will you still do that?”

Answer: Sure, but it will have to wait until Monday when I’m back in the office and can get my hands on the script.

Benny writes: “1. will there be an Ori related episode in season 5 Atlantis?
2. will we see the Tria in season ?
3. Is the brotherhood of Dagan episode gonna be revisited for the missing ZPM in season 5?”

Answers: 1. No. 2. Possibly. 3. Possibly.

AscendedTauri writes: “At this point, how many episodes for Season 5 are set in stone?”

Answer: I’d say we have over half the season mapped out.

Remus123 writes: “Since the Porter idea got the axe, will the new character/actress follow along the same lines as what had been originally intended for Porter(i.e. new addition to military contingent and participating in “Search and Rescue”) or will she make a later debut?”

Answer: The character in Search and Rescue has been changed to Captain Alicia Vega. Now DOCTOR Allison Porter will be making her debut in Whispers.

Pam writes: “One thing I have noticed at both Stargate & Star Trek conventions is that other actors (and others associated with the shows) are always full of praise for the attitude of both Amanda Tapping and Robert Picardo to their work: knowing their lines, being on time, respect for other actors, etc. Is this one of the factors that led to both being on the shortlist for the position of base commander in the run up to Season 4?”

Answer: Fans can say what they like about their respective characters but, on a personal level, you’ll be hard-pressed to find two more hard-working and pleasant individuals. In an industry where productions are often saddled with jerks and self-centered whiners, actors like these two are a delight to work with.

Kamilla writes: “Why was Rachel not happy?”

Answer: I never implied she wasn’t happy. Quite the opposite in fact. I said she was very happy with some of the early creative decisions we’ve made regarding her character.

Heightmeyer’s Lemming writes: “What happened to the militarization of Atlantis which seemed so hellbend in season 4?”

Answer: Tune into season 5 and find out.

Marla writes: “Joe F. had done two episodes of Women’s Murder Club while on hiatus. Once the writer’s strike gets settled, will Joe be able to continue his role on there, since you guys will be in production by then?”

Answer: Once production begins, Joe will be very busy on Atlantis. This season is going to be very tight schedule-wise.

RG25 writes: “Have the writers ever scrapped a story idea early on because it seemed like it’d be too expensive, daunting, or too much of a hassle to do?”

Answer: We came very close to scrapping Midway when it looked like it was going to be too expensive to produce - but ultimately found a way to make it happen. Good thing too. It’s an excellent episode.

Elisa writes: “I was curious about something. Since you average over a hundred comments on your blog, do you really read them all or do you randomly just pick and choose which ones to read and answer?”

Answer: I read every comment prior to approving them, then pick whichever comments/questions interest me for the mailbag.

Wolfenm writes: “Do you just not want to go to Dragon?”

Answer: No, I’d love to go. Unfortunately, it falls smack-dab in the middle of production and while the actors may be able to get away for the weekend, I’ll no doubt be hammering away at a script while the event is taking place.

Kdvb1 also writes: “Who is older, John or Dave Sheppard?”

Answer: I imagined John being the big brother.

Jen writes: “Just started watching Trio and I’ve got to ask… was Rodney’s comment about Shape magazine compliments of an adlib or the writers?”

Answer: That was pure Marty G.

Taz writes: “I thought Ronon and Keller were dating since Quarantine.”

Answer: There has been no development on the Ronon-Keller front since the events of Quarantine. She’s still single.

[Trek_Girl42]

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/2008/02/ So according to Joe's blog today Torri will not be back in s5 by her choice. I wonder who they will get to play Weir? Wonder if they will get the orginal actress to play her, Jessica Stein or Steen.

Ewww! The Jessica Stein Weir was awful. Nope, they should drop the storyline altogether. Or have the replicator change form- but then the story would lose any emotional investment for the team if it's not Weir, and therefore, viewers would lose that same investment as well, might be best for the replicators to go by the wayside for next season, maybe see if she'd come back for a season six if there is one, there aren't much in the way of details, perhaps she didn't say never.

Highly disappointing, she will be very much missed, but it's her choice, can't blame her.

[Willow'sCat]

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/2008/02/ So according to Joe's blog today Torri will not be back in s5 by her choice. I wonder who they will get to play Weir? Wonder if they will get the orginal actress to play her, Jessica Stein or Steen.

Well given they screwed over Jessica to put Torri there in the first place I doubt it very much. Even though I would rather see Jessica Steen in the role that was her's, then have the whole story line just die as if it never happened.

Kinda makes you wonder if tptb had any idea what they were doing.

[Pitry]

Kinda makes you wonder if tptb had any idea what they were doing.

That would be a general "no".
IMO, of course

[Briangate78]

Well given they screwed over Jessica to put Torri there in the first place I doubt it very much. Even though I would rather see Jessica Steen in the role that was her's, then have the whole story line just die as if it never happened.

Kinda makes you wonder if tptb had any idea what they were doing.

Having a script in place and actually producing it are two different things. They had the script to present to Torri, she said no, so now they will have to change the script around. So they DID know what they were doing.

[prion]

Doubtful, they'll probably just finish the arc without her, or just ignore it all together. She's really screwing them over, wonder if it's to spite them for getting rid of her? Wouldn't surprise me.

You've been hanging about JM's blog too lnog and picking up his bad habits of slamming people.

Since none of us have screen the script, or what they had planned for Weir, we have no idea why Torri turned it down. For all we know they were killing off her character and she declined to be involved in that. There are lots of reasons actors don't take roles, and lots for why they do (actors take roles in those gawdawful movies on Skiffy to pay the bills). We are NOT going to find out unless somebody decides to write a tell-all book, and frankly, tell-all books from Trek actors mgiht sell, but there wouldn't be a market for SG actors.

However, the fact that Torri didn't return wasn't a surprise to me as she'd been cut from the show, and she's moving on to other projects.

[Alan]

Wow. I've just seen the news re: Torri Higginson and Season 5 here at GW and...Wow.

[prion]

Wow. I've just seen the news re: Torri Higginson and Season 5 here at GW and...Wow.

well, actually that news is just JM's blog entry rewritten

[Alan]

well, actually that news is just JM's blog entry rewritten

Well...that maybe so...but however you rewrite it the meaning comes across crystal clear: Torri Higginson isn't going to be in Season 5. And from the sound of things she won't be appearing in any season after...but never say never, right?

One thing that puzzles me...how did TPTB think that 1 episode could wrap-up a story arc? Surely it'd take a 2-parter?

[Killdeer]

One thing that puzzles me...how did TPTB think that 1 episode could wrap-up a story arc? Surely it'd take a 2-parter?

My guess is that Torri's part in the arc was only going to be one episode, but that the rogue replicator arc itself would then continue on without her (I'm guessing they would kill her off).

[prion]

Well...that maybe so...but however you rewrite it the meaning comes across crystal clear: Torri Higginson isn't going to be in Season 5. And from the sound of things she won't be appearing in any season after...but never say never, right?

One thing that puzzles me...how did TPTB think that 1 episode could wrap-up a story arc? Surely it'd take a 2-parter?

I tend to read the original source, as too many fan articles put a spin on things. But... speaking of spin, we don't know how Mallozzi might define an 'arc' (considering his definition of 'fantastic' often falls flat *cough*)., but, see below

My guess is that Torri's part in the arc was only going to be one episode, but that the rogue replicator arc itself would then continue on without her (I'm guessing they would kill her off).

Yup, the weir replicator arc could easily have been weir in five minutes, blow her up, and then continue with *yawn* more generic replicators.

I suppose the only positive out of this is that the replicator storyline should now be dead as one would hope the wriers wouldn't try to continue it without weir, which would be pretty stupid.

[Alan]

My guess is that Torri's part in the arc was only going to be one episode, but that the rogue replicator arc itself would then continue on without her (I'm guessing they would kill her off).

I'm not a fan of Weir...but even I think she deserves more than one episode given she was Atlantis' leader for 3-years. If, as you guess killdeer, that Weir was going to be killed off, then to do that in just one episode wouldn't be right IMHO. That's the kind of thing that a 2-parter should be dedicated to. I'm starting to sympathise with Torri. I can't say that I blame her for not coming back.

[Pegasus_SGA]

Well, I've just heard the news, I'm always last to know about these things.

Thing is this is showbiz it happens, people leave come back or they don't. If you go into that line of work there's no guarantee that you'll be around forever. If you want job security, become the boss of your own comapany. Even then there's no guarantees, your job is secure.

It happens, it's hard on everyone, not just the person that left, but the people left behind. Torri' has said no, JM has wished her luck, the fans wish her luck! There are some places where they escort you off the premises, see could have been a lot worse! SO........thanks for a good 3 years, so long, goodbye, good luck farewell!

NEXT!!

*oh that's Wolsey isn't it?* mmmmm! It'll be fine it'll all be good, lots of angst, lots of butting heads! *tops up her happy glass*