Casting Blunders that Killed the Show... You Fix Them

[Jack_Bauer]

casting blunders didn't kill SGA, lazy and bad writing did

correct IMHO

[Infinatus]

So obviously Atlantis has been riddled with casting issues, seen by the fact that we have seen half the original cast killed off. So how should it have been done?

The one glaring omission that I see is that they never had an archaeologist, which I guess Weir was supposed to fill in for, but didn't. I know Jonas was originally planned to be a part of the Expedition, but wasn't. So I guess adding him to the original team would've helped.

After all, Daniel being the archaeologist on SG-1 was half of the appeal.

SGA is already a carbon copy of SG-1 in many ways. No need to bring Daniel or Jonas over.

Personally, I would have had Woolsey in charge from the get go.

[stargater1990]

casting blunders didn't kill SGA, lazy and bad writing did

i totaly disagree, i like sga's writing.

[prion]

Well, they never should have gotten rid of Weir. What they should have done was actually WRITE her, not just have hang around. They never should have had Carter as she did even less than Weir. Woolsey is not bad, but the writers just don't know how to write command positions

Oh yeah, and blowing up Carson to 'shake things up?" STUPID!

[oneill2Ls]

I never liked Weir or Ford so I am pretty happy with the way it has turned out so far. The only thing that killed the show was close minded SG1 fans.

I totally agree with you. I never liked Ford. And to this day I wish the had kept Jessica Steen as Weir.

[Stormtrooper]

I totally agree with you. I never liked Ford. And to this day I wish the had kept Jessica Steen as Weir.

I don't. "New Order" Weir beats "The Lost City" Weir any day, imo. Blonde Weir was kind of 2d. Then again, maybe she would have been more appropriate for what the writers had in store for the character on Atlantis

[prion]

I liked Jessica Steen, but I became very fond of Torri Higginson's Weir. As fans, we'll never know why they changed actors, but this kind of stuff happens often between pilots/first character appearances and actual shows.

[chewie2020]

casting blunders, i dont think so. Not at the start of the series, fans caused the death of dr carson - the reason this happened was tht he became a partial if not a main character, which the writers didnt want to happen in the first place. They wanted a dr tht b at the sideline where they can use him whenever like fraser.
if you dont believe me watch the dvds and commentries, they even admit tht it was a shock to see becketts character become so popular so quickly in the show.
We all know about weir and y she left. Ford is a little tricky but i get the impression from the directors and writers tht Rainbow was more of a pain of camera than on, he seems to b jokin around all the time and messing up and sleeping. Im not both about th but time = money. There might b a actual reason y he left but i always thought this one.
Admittedly i like the cast tht we have now, ts not sg1 where you have four main characters, i just get the impression thers only two; Mckay=awesome and sheppard =awesome. Everyone elese is like hammond o fraser there to be used.

There has bn talk and footage which im sure is on the dvd, not sure if he was joking around but makes sense now, BradWright isnt an actual fan of atlantis. he has no real control over production and what direction its going, i know its his creation but mullie /gero always writing n directing. I just think if brad did it, it b a lot different to what we watch now.
I personally think he's happy to see the back of atlantis and strt on his project where he can call all the decision again like sg1.
I like to believe atlantis got caned bcos of universe, but atlantis some how costed a lot of money to produce and develop specal effects - how i dunno, always on a forest planet and repeated shots from previous episodes. it just be nice to see other planets tht was more interesting than forest and cgi shots tht were used in season 1 lol
I love atlantis dont get me wrong, if they just emplyed new writers tht didnt come from sg1 or star trek.

[Reefgirl]

I totally agree with you. I never liked Ford. And to this day I wish the had kept Jessica Steen as Weir.

I agree, Jessica Steen acted the socks off Torri Higginson, it's such a shame she wasn't cast as Atlantis Weir but then we wouldn't have had her as Paula Cassidy in NCIS

Bad writing was definitly a factor in the demise of Atlantis and bad casting choices didn't help either, my biggest grip is why couldn't the have hired a proper Scottish actor, like Alan Cummings to play Beckett and a proper English actor to play Grodin, like Jamie Bamber. I thought Grodin was Spanish the first time I heard him speak. The hired a Czech actor to play Zelenka, why couldn't they do it with others

[Killdeer]

Until recently, I haven't had a problem with any of the casting. Even RSF I believe could have done more with his role if he'd been given more to work with. Most of my issues on this show come from how the characters have been written, not who's playing them.

That being said, while I don't have the intense dislike for Keller that some others do (and I think the character's been doing better this season), I will always believe that casting Jewel Staite for that role was a mistake. I still feel that she is simply just too young to credibly play the CMO role.

Carter....is another story. AT was cast for SG-1, not Atlantis. So it's not so much an issue of suitability to play the character as suitability of that character to Atlantis. But as far as adding her to the Atlantis cast, I still do feel in retrospect that was a big mistake also. While Carter had moments of greatness, Woolsey has fit into the show far better than she ever did, IMO, and it's a delight to watch him on screen.

EDIT: I should add - while I think both the above casting-related choices were mistakes, I wouldn't say either of them killed the show. Nor did the writing, as inconsistant as it could be. I agree that SGA was killed because of SGU.

[Fan-e-Gate]

Casting issues-Well I don't exact biographies of each character so I don't know if the actors playing them are true to the persona. Now if they replaced an actor with a new one for the same character, then I would be able to have casting issues particularly if it is not seamless.
eg. I originally was hesitant about Torri Higginson but I feel she was the better Weir (of course she had more to work with and more screen time)
Maybe Narim-lookalike-he on the other hand was useless. I understand the character was of no point but he just seemed like a shout out to the SG1 fans/Tollan fans.
Yes I understand these are examples from like 5 yrs ago.

In regards to character issues (which this thread borders on)-I have had some gripes of them keeping alive some characters and the killing of some of my favourites instead. I have had no real problem with any of the replacements.

[Integrabyte]

Never liked the cast...old or new..., only watched for the ancients and the exploration.

1. Weir: Boring, unfit to lead Atlantis, every time I saw her on screen she was a baby sitter.

2. Sheppard: "Hottie" saving the day all the time. Nothing else, no substance no development. Boring like my first world lit paper.

3. Ford: He was extra weight to the show. I never understood why they needed someone like him. Uber Ford was very plain too.


4. Teyla: Started useful but became predictable and took screen time for nothing. The more time passed, the more cleavage she showed. They substituted usefulness with skin.


5. McKay: Hated him in SG1, did not really fancy him in Atlantis. He had a few funny moments.


6. Ronon: This guy was doomed from the first time I saw him. Blank and a clone...Teal'c the Pegasus version.


7. Radek: Funny like Dr. Lee and always making the best out of the few minutes he had on screen. Unfortunately, lack of attention towards his character made him predictable. McKay's slave or they cut him some slack.


8. Lorne: Undeveloped, neglected and often a plot device.


9. Samantha Carter: Amazing in SG1, unfit to lead Atlantis from the new posture. She was reduced to a boring paper pusher because the writers had no idea how to maximize Sam and Rodney. She had to go. I am glad they replaced her. You simply don't dumb down the person who re-configured the Dakara weapon ....


10. Carson:Similar to Rodney, nothing special but he had his moments.


11. Keller: Desperate way to attract more audience by portraying more skin. A "supposed" pretty face with nothing to back up that intelect.


12. Woolsey : Started as the black sheep and he turned into a prince. I was expecting this. It was the only way to save face after so much bad writing.


Bottom line


Casting did not kill the show. It was the bad writing and desperate attempts to boost ratings. They lost themselves in this little game and forgot why they started this spin off. All these shippy whippy thingie ma jiggies are nice but when you see that they are done because it fits the pattern and it is a must ...then I find it sad.





Q: ...but Teggy, if you hate SGA so much...why the beep are you here? Beep off you are not a true fan. (RED HIM!!! RED HIM!!! RED HIM!!!)
A: ...because of the SG1 crossovers and rare links to the city and exploration.



My opinion. All rights reserved (c). This post refers to fictional characters and not the actual actors. That is a very heavy group and all of them can act. Some are more appealing to me than others but I do not question their acting ability.


I hate Atlantis from its Birth to its....Demise ...

[Bytor]

Ford- I wouldn't have replaced him at all. I know he was underdeveloped, but giving him another season would've worked better than Ronan. ...

Sorry, nothing against the guy at all..... but he was just not a good actor and should not have been on the show from day 1.

[Infinite-Possibilities]

Bad writing did not kill the show. Whether or not the writing was bad is A) debatable and B) Irrelevant, Because PEOPLE LIKED THE SHOW AND WERE WATCHING IT. "Casting blunders" did not kill the show. Although I won't say they did not hurt it.

What killed the show is that the producers and MGM and Sci-Fi wanted to do something else.

Even if it was a "bad show" it was a "successful bad show".



And also, it was actually a good show.

[g.o.d]

Never liked the cast...old or new..., only watched for the ancients and the exploration.

1. Weir: Boring, unfit to lead Atlantis, every time I saw her on screen she was a baby sitter.

2. Sheppard: "Hottie" saving the day all the time. Nothing else, no substance no development. Boring like my first world lit paper.

3. Ford: He was extra weight to the show. I never understood why they needed someone like him. Uber Ford was very plain too.


4. Teyla: Started useful but became predictable and took screen time for nothing. The more time passed, the more cleavage she showed. They substituted usefulness with skin.


5. McKay: Hated him in SG1, did not really fancy him in Atlantis. He had a few funny moments.


6. Ronon: This guy was doomed from the first time I saw him. Blank and a clone...Teal'c the Pegasus version.


7. Radek: Funny like Dr. Lee and always making the best out of the few minutes he had on screen. Unfortunately, lack of attention towards his character made him predictable. McKay's slave or they cut him some slack.


8. Lorne: Undeveloped, neglected and often a plot device.


9. Samantha Carter: Amazing in SG1, unfit to lead Atlantis from the new posture. She was reduced to a boring paper pusher because the writers had no idea how to maximize Sam and Rodney. She had to go. I am glad they replaced her. You simply don't dumb down the person who re-configured the Dakara weapon ....


10. Carson:Similar to Rodney, nothing special but he had his moments.


11. Keller: Desperate way to attract more audience by portraying more skin. A "supposed" pretty face with nothing to back up that intelect.


12. Woolsey : Started as the black sheep and he turned into a prince. I was expecting this. It was the only way to save face after so much bad writing.


Bottom line


Casting did not kill the show. It was the bad writing and desperate attempts to boost ratings. They lost themselves in this little game and forgot why they started this spin off. All these shippy whippy thingie ma jiggies are nice but when you see that they are done because it fits the pattern and it is a must ...then I find it sad.





Q: ...but Teggy, if you hate SGA so much...why the beep are you here? Beep off you are not a true fan. (RED HIM!!! RED HIM!!! RED HIM!!!)
A: ...because of the SG1 crossovers and rare links to the city and exploration.



My opinion. All rights reserved (c). This post refers to fictional characters and not the actual actors. That is a very heavy group and all of them can act. Some are more appealing to me than others but I do not question their acting ability.

great post, I agree with everything you said.

I hate Atlantis from its Birth to its....Demise ...

to be honest, Atlantis was really interesting in S1. Rest(S2-S5) sucks and it should have been cancelled very long time ago.

btw. with same writers and producers, SGU will be the same crap as SGA and with younger casts (younger characters with probably no flaws, almost perfect. Why would USAF send those people if they're not perfect brothers and sisters of Einstein) it will be even worse. Which is, on the other side, very interesting..a show which could be worse than crappy SGA. I'm looking forward to it