Discussing the upcoming changes (S3 and S4 Spoilers)

[ToasterOnFire]

Samantha Carter: Instead of Tapping's annual episode, she will be guest starring in 14 of 20 episodes in Season 4. Those who see this as a bad thing act like she's never been on the show before! She's already been in three episodes, guys. Carter as a special guest star is nothing new, but being in 14 episodes (instead of 1) could certainly be a shock to those who feel she'll steal the spotlight from McKay. Let's wait and see how this plays out, OK? The entire cast of SG-1 is not moving to Atlantis, it's just one character. It's not going to kill the show.

3 episodes is nothing compared to 14, obviously, and I can't see Carter getting minimal screentime if they're using her for 14 episodes. And it's not just the McKay fans that are worried about Carter possibly taking away screentime, it's the Weir fans, Teyla fans, Shep fans, heck even the Ronon fans! The writers have a problem writing for all of their cast currently, how could the addition of a major SG1 character possibly change that for the better?

Elizabeth Wier: So far, we know that Torri Higginson did not sign on as a regular, but as a recurring guest star instead. Now, there are three possibilities that I see happening. The first is that the actress wants to continue with the show, but doesn't want to be in every single episode. Maybe she wants more time with her family? Who knows! The second is that the producers want to give less screen time to Wier and more screen time to Sheppard's team. That's certainly possible. The third possibility I can think of is that Wier will be killed off six episodes into the season and that Carter will replace Wier as leader of the Atlantis Expedition in the remaining 14 episodes. I sincerely hope this isn't the case.

No one knows the details behind what happened with TH outside of TPTB, and they don't appear to be interested in discussing it, with the exception of one PTB who would rather poke at fans. I can understand the use of NDAs, but what downfall could there be to saying that TH's character was reduced out of her own desire if that was the case? When RDA left he and TPTB openly admitted it was because of his own reasons. The lack of a similar statement for TH makes me think it was TPTB's (skiffy, the Stargate PTB, whatever) choice, not hers. Perhaps fans will someday know what happened, perhaps not.

Carson Beckett: Beckett's departure in "Sunday" would certainly upset people as the episode effectively makes it impossible for his character to return unless it's in a flashback scene or a time travel or alternate reality episode. I doubt Carter's move to Atlantis has anothing to do with this, so let's not blame SG-1, OK? My guess is that the writers simply wanted a new doctor character. Maybe they got bored with Beckett? Besides, look at Daniel Jackson on SG-1. That effectively proves that no character stays gone for good. I do find it odd that both shows lost their original doctor. Hey, where's the Dr. Frasier emoticon?

Saying that the writers got bored with a character is a major strike against the writers, considering they are the ones responsible for creating and developing Beckett. They created him, they chose to not develop him, they decided to get rid of him when they got bored. The blame here rests with the writers if that is the case. They're paid professionals, they should be able to create a character and write him in a manner to maintain both their and the viewers' interest in him.


Anyway, this is all just my gut reaction to the casting changes. It's certainly possible that TPTB will write a stellar season 4, somehow incorporate Sam without minimizing current Atlantis characters, and give one hell of a storyarc to Weir when she hasn't really had one before, even though she's now demoted to recurring. Bully for those that truly believe that and place their trust in TPTB. I, however, have become much more cynical about major changes to a Stargate show after watching what happened to SG1.

[Daniel Jackson]

From the transcript:
"McKAY: Yeah. Well, I mean, we... we will... They don't know yet. We're going to send... the... body... back to Earth..."

Unless we're gonna retcon what they said and claim Rodney was obviously mispeaking, there was a body.

Did you read my entire post?

I haven't seen the episode yet...

[kaeyla]

I too am worried about SGA- when i saw the first SGA series- i thought "HA! Here is a show i can imagine watching in ten years time with a lovely bottle of wine and fellow friends.

It is as though someone in SGA is trying to take out all that's wonderful about SGA- witness the treatment of Dr Becket and of course, my favourite personal reason for watching SGA, the Wraith. Now we hear that Dr Weir is becoming adjusted as a recurring character. What is going on??

Like the Wraith- I am hungry for Atlantis but all that is good is being eroded away... I hope for redemption in the fourth season but is there any? Please believe me that I wish to carry on watching SGA, please do not let the ruining go on

[Pitry]

My apologies, I was under the impression that he and BW were co-exec producers, and therefore, joint showrunners....

They are co-executive producers - Just one runs SG1, one runs SGA
It doesn't mean RCC doesn't have a say on what goes on in SGA - he has a gerat deal of a say, much like JM and PM, also executive producers. And BW has just as big a say on SG1...

[Mitchell82]

Now that would be a smart move!

Unfortunatly Scifi is not smart. They killed Sg-1 with the time change and destroying the Scifi Friday leineup. Now they are killing BSG by putting it on Sunday and

Spoiler:

Killing Starbuck

I just hope they don't kill SGA and IMO the third series neds to be as far away from the Scifi channel as possible.

[Mitchell82]

I'm not worried at all. I feel that the show is bigger than 2 characters. I love Weir and I will miss Carson. Right now all we know about Weir is that she won't be full time. I love Carter and have no problems with her being on SGA. I don't think Carter is replacing Weir but she might. I love SGA and so far the cast changes don't worry me.

[PG15]

3 episodes is nothing compared to 14, obviously, and I can't see Carter getting minimal screentime if they're using her for 14 episodes.

How many episodes is Landry in?

How much screentime does he get?

You see why I'm not worried?

[Daniel Jackson]

Generaly Landry has been in five Atlantis episodes.

2-02 "The Intruder"
2-13 "Critical Mass"
3-01 "No Man's Land"
3-10 "The Return, Part 1"
3-11 "The Return, Part 2"

[Night Spring]

And? So? Therefore?

[PG15]

I guess I should've made that clearer. I meant SG1.

The point is, even if he was an offcial cast member, he rarely gets a lot of screentime in an episode. So I don't know why suddenly Sam, a recurring character, would not get minimal screentime.

[Mitchell82]

I guess I should've made that clearer. I meant SG1.

The point is, even if he was an offcial cast member, he rarely gets a lot of screentime in an episode. So I don't know why suddenly Sam, a recurring character, would not get minimal screentime.

Is this a voice of reason I hear! Thank you! However I think some are worried simply b/c of her being slated fore 14 eps. Still it doesnt worry me.

[Dannygirl]

SPOILERS!!!










Ok, I liked the Doc. but as a supposed full time character, he didn't get much action. Not to mention that him being replaced by JS is something I'm just fine with (fan of Firefly). But WEIR!!!! She was my favorite character and all of a sudden she's knocked down to SUPPORTING! Why?!? If they wanted to discard a useless character then get rid of Ronan, not Weir. B/t Ronin and Teyla you have essentially the same character, though Teyla's more fleshed out and frankly, more interesting. As for Weir, at least her character had depth. Can I assume this has to do with Tapping coming on board for over half a season's worth of epi's? No doubt the price tag of Atlantis just went up with her but there's some bad judgement going on in my opinion.

As for SG-1, when did the finale become about Ba'al and not the Ori?

What am I missing here?!?

I cannot believe I have to wait till Spring to watch this.

[Daniel Jackson]

1. Wier's reduced role is likely the result of adding Carter to the show.
2. I don't know why they wrote out Carson.
3. SG-1's finale isn't about Ba'al nor the Ori. The episode will feature time travel, but that's all we know so far. The Ori threat will be resolved in the first SG-1 movie. I suspect Ba'al will be defeated in the second movie which involves time travel.

[PG15]

You CANNOT assume that Weir is being reduced to recurring because of Carter.

There is absolutely NO evidence supporting it, and doing so would just show ignorance.

[P-90_177]

First of all there's no evidence to support the fact that weir being knocked down to supporting has anything to do with amanda tappingcoming onboard. Plus keep in mind that while Beckett was only a supporting character in s1 he still showed up in the majority of episodes one way or another so maybe it'll be the same with weir. This probably means that this next season will see the team going off world more often which can only be a good thing.

Also the finale for SG-1 isn't the last of the series. There's still the two films coming The first of which will be dealing with the ori and the second with Baal. If they do well then they'll be even more adventures for SG-1.