Major John Sheppard

[prion]

A gifted military pilot, posted at McMurdoch Air Force Base because it's the only place they will let him fly; Sheppard once defied a direct order and flew his helicopter to rescue two Rangers trapped behind enemy lines. Though people might see a good-ol' boy exterior, he is also a closet mathematical genius. He has a wry sense of humor and likes to pretend he's not as smart as he really is.

It's interesting to see how he's changed from the intial casting info... he was once listed as a southern gentlemen, and I'm glad that didn't happen as we sorta have that with Trip on Enterprise . And it was an attempted rescue, apparently, of three people. They didn't make it clear on the episode if the rescue actually went smoothly or not. The Scifi 'bio' also states that Sheppard requested McMurdo to get as far away as possible, which also makes sense as the 'black mark' on his record would probably have him grounded anywhere else.

[VirtualCLD]

Is McMurdoch Air Force Base real or fake and where is it located? I thought no millitary bases were allowed on Antarctica, so I don't think it's there, but I could be wrong.

[Ilios]

I think its fake but I don't know for sure.

[ShadowMaat]

McMurdo is a real place. Follow the link for more info.

[prion]

Is McMurdoch Air Force Base real or fake and where is it located? I thought no millitary bases were allowed on Antarctica, so I don't think it's there, but I could be wrong.

McMurdo (not McMurdoch) does exist. McMurdo is civilian (chockful of scientists) as is US nationality, but military do seem to go in and out. I just posted a ton of lists over at Spoilme - the place is full of scientists so at least we know why Sheppard didn't mind going off on a potential one way trip with scientists

Here's one link


http://www.antarcticconnection.com/a.../mcmurdo.shtml

i couldn't find any listing of a military base at McMurdo, but I think Sheppard was just glad to be flying anywhere considering the black mark.

[prion]

***BUMP!!!***

I know this has been discussed in other threads, but I am totally down with Sheppard. Sure, in some ways he is intended to be O'Neill 2.0, but he's doing a great job at it. Ultimately, though, I believe he is different enough so far and will continue to grow that way, e.g. his whole demeanor (the Kermit voice) and the "math genius" thing (I like O'Neill, but sometimes the "playing it dense" thing annoys me).

What does 'totally down with' mean?

[Adamixoye]

What does 'totally down with' mean?

It's a positive statement. I like his character a lot. Other colloquial phrases that apply: I am "on board". I am sold.

[VixyOwl (~~Ani)]

Well, I did not have to memorize it. But up to 8! is not hard to do it without any help (including pencil and paper) and within few seconds.

6! is really easy to calculate, as I mentioned before (by taking advantage of the 2 × 5 factor in it, or transform it into 8 × 9 × 10 to do it directly and without knowing 4!, 5!).

7! (7 × 720 = 5040) is also just one step away from 6!.

8! (= 40320) is also quite easy (by taking advantage of the fact that 7! has a 0 on the 3rd digit).

9! also can be calculated with exploiting the 0 on the 4th digit, but you have to know 9 × 32 = 288 if you want to do it really fast.

On the other hand, it is not very useful to memorize factorials as big as 10!, because you will get a number (3628800) that (even without the 100 in it) is hard for further calculations. Often your life would be easier to simplify the calculation with 10! not calculated, rather than substitute it with an obfuscating value you memorized.

:O !!!

You see, now?
That was a waste of a perfectly good explanation!

(...you had to suspect that was coming...)

[greytop]

I think he is a womanizer he was smooth talking all the woman in the pilot.

He was just being polite. He reminds me of a cowboy in the Western movies.

[IWantToBelieve]

I knew nothing of Shepard/Joe Flanigan before the premiere, but he has soared past my expectations. I was actually a little worried based of the bio they put up, afraid they were going to make him a boxy character. I think a lot of why it works is becasue Joe Flanigan is able to inflect so much into his character. I picked my avatar before the premiere and a true sign of approval, I left it since then LOL! He's my favorite, hands down. His expressions and interplay with the other characters are spot on, love it!

[CyberKnight]

Spoiler











I wonder if they are going to elaborate on what he did in the war that's even got O'Neil worried.

[Adamixoye]

Spoiler











I wonder if they are going to elaborate on what he did in the war that's even got O'Neil worried.

They haven't already? It was just the fact that he didn't follow orders.

[greytop]

They haven't already? It was just the fact that he didn't follow orders.

Ditto. It was said in Rising.

[Indiana]

Anyone seen Thought Crimes starring Joe Flanigan as a NSA agent? I'd tell more about it, but erm It's kinda cool if u pick it up and dont know what its going to be about.

[Ancient 1]

His whole reason for going to Atlantis: Establish/contact intergalactic black market for ZPMs.