Did TPTB focus on McKay (and McKeller) destroy Stargate Atlantis in your opinion.

[katikatnik]

As someone else said: McKay? No. McKeller? Hell yeah.

I wouldn't have minded McKeller so much if the ship wasn't portrayed to the exclusion of any other relationship on the show. And where did suddenly John and Rodney's friendship go? If they wanted a het ship, they already head a functioning one - Teyla/Kanaan. But they needed the geek to get the girl (Martin Gero's words). And then they needed to add Ronon/Amelia and Mallozzi said that they were thinking of getting Sheppard back together with his ex-wife. Wow, they really went on a shipping spree there.

Also, I hated what the McKeller ship did to Rodney. It turned him from a funny acerbic character into a meek whiner. I could barely get through Brain Storm with Keller playing the stern school teacher to Rodney's bad boy. "Don't do this" and "Don't do that" and "Pay attention to me" and "Don't always be the center of attention" and all McKay did was "Yes, you are right" - he turned into Katie Brown!

Oh, and also the big age difference between the actors/characters made me feel like watching a craddle robber. I mean, David Hewlett was 41 and Jewel Staite 27 at that time? He was an adult when she was still a pre-schooler. Icky!

[bluealien]

It was the obsession with McKay that ruined the show for me. It was always about McKay. Firstly it was McKay/Sheppard which was just as annoying as McKeller, the only difference was that Sheppard was a much better character than Keller. I have never watched a show where the writers were so obsessed with one character to the detriment of the entire show. That obsession coupled with their lack of interest in the rest of the cast was what killed the show..

By the end of season 3 I had my fill of Rodney and kept hoping that the other cast members would get their equal share of screentime but it never happened.. McKay was the writers crutch.. everything revolved around him down to the writers falling over themselves to give him his happy ever after.. its a sad state of affairs when the lead of the show admits that he didnt get much to do in season 5... and to think that was because the writers felt it was more important to give us a love triangle with McKay as the prize....

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[fumblesmcstupid]

The focus on McKay............... NO!!!!!

The other aspect of Keller, and hooking her up with Rodney? Oh Hell yes!

I think there was too much focus on KELLER! So the sham of a relationship plus the over use of Keller ruined Atlantis's 5th season for me!

[Cautious Explorer]

Yes. The overuse of McKay was the first symptom of writer burn out IMO (or maybe just pure laziness). It started in S/2 with the constant emphasis on McKay or McKay and Shep. Shep, Teyla and Ronon all suffered as a consequence. I so desperately wanted to see Shep interacting with other characters besides McKay. I wanted to see Teyla and Ronon treated as full characters in their own right rather than some weird alien backup team.

By S4 the writers hit a huge slump: bringing in Carter and Keller without giving them personalities; cheap humor instead of sarcasm; no team; technobabble and explosions in place of plot and character development; too much SG-1 (Carter, Teal'c, Replicators, SGC visits).

The final straw was S5 with its Keller-in-danger episodes (The Seed, Identity, Tracker) and the all-out drive to get a girl for Rodney. But I'd have to say it wasn't totally due to McKay/Keller. The writing for S5 was the worst I've ever seen on the show. The team didn't feel the same: Sheppard was generic action guy; Teyla turned into a damsel in distress/mother with doubts; and Ronon became the big dumb caveman (except for the excellent S&R).

How I wish they could have kept the quality of writing that S1 had. All the expedition was featured. There was a lot of focus on the team and it felt like they truly cared about each other. The episodes were connected to each other and built up to the season-ender. There was a galaxy full of unexplored worlds and a mysterious city to be discovered.

A lot of promise got swallowed up by TPTB's fixation on Rodney McKay.

[Linda06]

Yes. The overuse of McKay was the first symptom of writer burn out IMO (or maybe just pure laziness). It started in S/2 with the constant emphasis on McKay or McKay and Shep. Shep, Teyla and Ronon all suffered as a consequence. I so desperately wanted to see Shep interacting with other characters besides McKay. I wanted to see Teyla and Ronon treated as full characters in their own right rather than some weird alien backup team.

By S4 the writers hit a huge slump: bringing in Carter and Keller without giving them personalities; cheap humor instead of sarcasm; no team; technobabble and explosions in place of plot and character development; too much SG-1 (Carter, Teal'c, Replicators, SGC visits).

The final straw was S5 with its Keller-in-danger episodes (The Seed, Identity, Tracker) and the all-out drive to get a girl for Rodney. But I'd have to say it wasn't totally due to McKay/Keller. The writing for S5 was the worst I've ever seen on the show. The team didn't feel the same: Sheppard was generic action guy; Teyla turned into a damsel in distress/mother with doubts; and Ronon became the big dumb caveman (except for the excellent S&R).

How I wish they could have kept the quality of writing that S1 had. All the expedition was featured. There was a lot of focus on the team and it felt like they truly cared about each other. The episodes were connected to each other and built up to the season-ender. There was a galaxy full of unexplored worlds and a mysterious city to be discovered.

A lot of promise got swallowed up by TPTB's fixation on Rodney McKay.

Ok, can I borrow your brain so I can write something like this too

[Rac80]

It was the obsession with McKay that ruined the show for me. It was always about McKay. Firstly it was McKay/Sheppard which was just as annoying as McKeller, the only difference was that Sheppard was a much better character than Keller. I have never watched a show where the writers were so obsessed with one character to the detriment of the entire show. That obsession coupled with their lack of interest in the rest of the cast was what killed the show..

By the end of season 3 I had my fill of Rodney and kept hoping that the other cast members would get their equal share of screentime but it never happened.. McKay was the writers crutch.. everything revolved around him down to the writers falling over themselves to give him his happy ever after.. its a sad state of affairs when the lead of the show admits that he didnt get much to do in season 5... and to think that was because the writers felt it was more important to give us a love triangle with McKay as the prize....

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oh yeah and mckay was quite the prize. I don't understand where their affection for mckay came from... I wonder who wrote the character in the sg1 eps and who made the oh so brilliant decison to bring the character to sga. THAT was the stupidest decision IMHO, if they wanted to spin it off, they should have given us all new characters. not the most annoying character they ever created for sg1.

[Crazedwraith]

I believe it was actually Hewlett himself's suggestion. He auditioned for the SGA scientist's spot: A Dr. Ingram and while he was doing he mentioned "You know, this could easily be that character I already played."

Oh and 48 Hours was written by Robert C Cooper and he was probably thrilled about it. They would have had to pay him a fee for every episode of Atlantis they used MacKay in. (Its one of the reasons why Star Trek Voyager's Tom Parris wasn't the character McNeill played in TNG)

[Khentkawes]

Did the focus on McKay/McKeller destroy SGA, IMO? Not at all. Though I do believe it was a symptom of other problems that may have contributed to the show's demise.

If I had to diagnose the problem with SGA... inconsistent characterization, a lack of character development (especially when it comes to friendships among the team), and a lack of planning (in regards to long term story/plot development). For me, the inconsistency was the biggest problem, and I saw symptoms of that all the way back in season one. Characters weren't always written the same way from episode to episode. And sometimes there would be little bits of character development, but then characters would regress, as if that development never happened.

So, no. I don't think McKay and McKeller are responsible. I didn't like McKeller, but to me it was just a symptom of larger problems with the show. And it was just one symptom among many, as I had many other problems with the way SGA was written. I'm in the minority, I know, but I think BW made the right choice in canceling SGA when he did. The underlying problems with development couldn't be ignored or easily fixed. Better to stop it now while the ratings were good and the show was still doing well.

[Descent]

'Destroy' is a bit much, but yeah, the overuse/focus/whatever on Rodney really hurt the show (and the character) in the long run. He was a fun character and I liked him, but come on. The regular cast has more to it than just David Hewlett.

But it also had to do with the writing in general for the show. TPTB's love for McKay certainly didn't help, though.

Hey, if that McKay/Keller relationship really really really worked well, I think even non-ship fans might've come to accept it. Wasn't the case, I guess.

[gatechick]

I don't think that is quite the case. I don't think the focus of Mckeller helped. I would have preferred the focus be on producing good stories and building the characters. Mckeller could have been nice if they had kept it to what TPTB did with SG-1 and Sam and Jack. It was just subtly hinted at it, but the focus was always on the characters themselves and the good stories they were telling. Atlantis failed in this aspect, for the most part, IMO. They had a great idea but it wasn't followed through, and for me at least, I don't think the characters meshed well. There was not the sense of real chemistry with the actors like you see in shows like SG-1, NCIS, Law & Order SVU. (for example). The characters were never given the chance to fully develop, and when you don't feel like you can identify with a character why watch. Just as bad the writing was lacking. And don't get me started on what they could have done to address the storyline of the ancients, but that is another thread altogether.

As far as rewrites I agree wholeheartedly that Shep would have been a better choice to be with Daniel, although Rodney there was understandable given the technology. the reason I would have preferred Shep would be the interaction between him and Daniel would have been enjoyable given the chance, and I think his response to the Asguard would have been way cool.

[Professor D.H.D. Puddlejumper]

No. Atlantis is a textbook case of failed potential from beginning to end, no single character or relationship is responsible for how bad it was.

Exactly. And a green to you.

[bluealien]

Did the focus on McKay/McKeller destroy SGA, IMO? Not at all. Though I do believe it was a symptom of other problems that may have contributed to the show's demise.

If I had to diagnose the problem with SGA... inconsistent characterization, a lack of character development (especially when it comes to friendships among the team), and a lack of planning (in regards to long term story/plot development). For me, the inconsistency was the biggest problem, and I saw symptoms of that all the way back in season one. Characters weren't always written the same way from episode to episode. And sometimes there would be little bits of character development, but then characters would regress, as if that development never happened.

So, no. I don't think McKay and McKeller are responsible. I didn't like McKeller, but to me it was just a symptom of larger problems with the show. And it was just one symptom among many, as I had many other problems with the way SGA was written. I'm in the minority, I know, but I think BW made the right choice in canceling SGA when he did. The underlying problems with development couldn't be ignored or easily fixed. Better to stop it now while the ratings were good and the show was still doing well.

The larger problem was the overuse of McKay.... and the sidelining of the rest of the cast... McKeller was just the final straw for me....and of course that could be fixed.... the writers admit they love to write for only one character and this was pretty obvious.. how deplorable.. maybe Brad Wright could have taken on some new writers instead of dumping characters because the present writers didnt know what to do with them... all SGA needed was some imaginative and creative writing and that is something one should expect from any professional writers... Brad Wright lost interest in SGA and it was pretty obvious in season 5 that the show had lost direction, and again this could have been avoided with a little bit of care and attention to all the cast... SGA had plenty of potential left and if half the attention was put into developing the characters that tptb seem to be putting into SGU... SGA could have remained on the air for many more years...

[Briangate78]

I don't think Mckeller was that bad to the point of ruining the show for me. The show was not ruined for me. TPTB ruined it for me by cancelling it. I don't care for Mckeller but it will not turn me off from rewatching old eps and new future movies.

[Alan Wake]

I wish they could have done it like they did in SG-1. Carter/Jack had moments but it didn't ruin the show, or take anything away.

I don't think keller/Mckay had anything to go off of anyways, they didn't feel "right"

It just felt rushed, and they didn't have any real time together.

[Khentkawes]

all SGA needed was some imaginative and creative writing and that is something one should expect from any professional writers... Brad Wright lost interest in SGA and it was pretty obvious in season 5 that the show had lost direction, and again this could have been avoided with a little bit of care and attention to all the cast... SGA had plenty of potential left and if half the attention was put into developing the characters that tptb seem to be putting into SGU... SGA could have remained on the air for many more years...

I personally didn't feel like the show had much direction from the beginning, so to me, that wasn't lost, as much as entirely absent. Just my opinion, of course, but that's part of why I think the problems in season 5 grew out of earlier writing problems.

I completely agree that they should have focused more time and attention on developing all the characters. I think they tried, but somehow the little bits of character development never seemed to last. For instance, I thought Ronon had grown as a character, but then he would occasionally revert to the "guy who shoots stuff." I found the same problem with McKay. He seemed to grow beyond the arrogant, easily frightened scientist of season one, and then suddenly that character development would evaporate. So that's what I meant by "inconsistent characterization." IMHO, that has been a problem since the early seasons of Atlantis. If the writing had been more consistent and they had spent more time developing characters from the beginning, then I think TPTB could have avoided a lot of problems, and the show would have had a better chance of living up to its potential.

That's why I can't place all the blame on TPTB's focus on McKay. I feel like that's an oversimplification. I think there are a lot of writing issues and a lot of contributing factors to those issues.