Cast Idea for Season 9

[Janus]

I'd love to see a young LT or Capt. added that just doesn't understand that when dealing with things through the stargate sometime you have the toss the regulation book out the window...

IMO we already have a character like that: Ford on Atlantis.
The guys is to stiff, he realls needs to loose up a little.

[Beatrice Otter]

I've noticed that people tend to compare SG-1 to other shows, and this is one of those times. Did either Earth: Final Conflict or Babylon 5 last as long as Stargate SG-1? I'm not sure how long they lasted, because I didn't watch either, but I'm pretty sure we're dealing with a different situation, you know? We can't just ASSUME that a woman would screw a show up because of past results in PAST shows.

I don't know about Earth: Final Conflict, but B5 lasted 5 seasons; they should have killed it at four. It had always been conceived of as a five-season arc by its creator, J. Michael Straczynski (unlike most series tv in general and SG-1 in particular, which is designed to be of indefinite duration). At the end of season 3, he was told that he'd only get one more season. So, he speeded things up, and did two seasons worth of character and story development in one season, and at the end of the season ... got told he was renewed for a fifth season. And he didn't quite know what to do with it, and it showed, imho.

B5 was always great at handling women, and not just Delenn. Commander Ivanova, Lyta Alexander, Talia Winters, and Na'Toth were all well-written, well-rounded characters who just happened to be female. Gender was never really an issue on that show, that I could see. No strident feminism like Sam did in the first couple of episodes, no overly touchy-feely-mushy moments that have more to do with stereotypical "femininity" than anything else, no butch posturing. Just people, doing the best they could to deal with a screwed-up world. Gender was part of the characters, of course, but it wasn't the defining part. On most tv shows and in most movies, for women, it often is.

While SG-1 has been far better about this than most, they still have the occasional slip-up. E.g., Sam's feminazi kick in the first few episodes, and lately the way they've handled the Pete thing. I don't mind Pete, himself, and I think having a boyfriend outside of work could be a good thing for Carter. But I don't like the way the writers and producers are handling the situation, and I especially don't like the way they talk about it in the interviews I've seen/read about it. It's like, all of a sudden, they're going "oooooh, she's a _gurl_. She needs to be a _gurl_." And it's still better than a lot of other shows would have handled it. Far better. But there is room for improvement.

[Jonisa]

Colonel Carter currently leads SG-1.

Well, yes, so they tell us. Unfortunately, we've seen her doing this for all of about five minutes so far this season. Personally I think Sam could lead SG-1 but I'd like to see her in some tough decision-making situations before I can say so definitively.

And I don't think anyone needs to have their name before the title other than RDA. I can't think of many other shows that do that now. The rest of SG-1 is an ensemble, and should stay that way. MHO, of course.

[the dancer of spaz]

Well, yes, so they tell us. Unfortunately, we've seen her doing this for all of about five minutes so far this season. Personally I think Sam could lead SG-1 but I'd like to see her in some tough decision-making situations before I can say so definitively.

And I don't think anyone needs to have their name before the title other than RDA. I can't think of many other shows that do that now. The rest of SG-1 is an ensemble, and should stay that way. MHO, of course.

Almost 2 and a half years ago, when Sam was a Major, she had to make some pretty tough decisions in Nightwalkers. There were a lot of elements that went into that case, and if she hadn't done everything exactly right, the whole team would have died, and that town would have been permanently infected - not to mention the effects on the planet.

She showed leadership potential in Season Two's Spirits - SIX WHOLE YEARS AGO. And that was when she was a captain. Captains don't get chosen to lead the frontline team unless they're doing something right.

Flash forward six years later, and you're at Season Eight's Endgame. Everything she said to those two goons on the ship had to be done in such a way so that they wouldn't blow up that planet. It was a relatively low-action stunt on her part, but it showed a level of understanding and cognizance for which we just don't give her enough credit.

No, they haven't shown her making the tough decisions. I know exactly what people mean when they say that. Jack's had to make some TOUGH decisions in the past, and sometimes he was only able to rely on his gut instincts. Sam is insanely analytical (as is Daniel), so seeing her overcome that would probably be very refreshing for both the fans and AT. Hopefully, come January, we can see some of that. The second half of the season is always a kicker, so maybe they'll surprise us.


DoS

[DarkQuee1]

B5 was always great at handling women, and not just Delenn. Commander Ivanova, Lyta Alexander, Talia Winters, and Na'Toth were all well-written, well-rounded characters who just happened to be female. Gender was never really an issue on that show, that I could see. No strident feminism like Sam did in the first couple of episodes, no overly touchy-feely-mushy moments that have more to do with stereotypical "femininity" than anything else, no butch posturing. Just people, doing the best they could to deal with a screwed-up world. Gender was part of the characters, of course, but it wasn't the defining part. On most tv shows and in most movies, for women, it often is.

While I realize that this is a bit offtopic: I think that SG-1 has done a much better job of portraying strong women than B5 (with the exception of the Pete business). B5 was ultimately amazingly sexist. None of the men ever imagined themselves walking around naked on the bridge or shaking their hooters (or any of the parts the men had!<<g>>)for an alien ambassador. None of the men fell apart after Sheridan (thanks to his totally ignoring everything anyone told him) disappeared on Zha'dum, but Ivanova staggered around the base, incapable of dealing with anything, ignored by pretty much everyone when she did try to do something, and she sat around in an evening gown drinking herself into a stupor over it (uh, why? It's not like he was her boyfriend. She was a friggin' commander in the military. She can't handle losing someone in the field?). Yep, strong 2IC there. Only the women dropped all their other responsibilities--including running the base and running the Rangers--to run off to try to rescue him; great sense of duty there. Was Delenn ever right when she disagreed with Sheridan (over anything major, that is)? Heck, no.

The list is endless.

Sam and Janet have been much the stronger and better portrayed. (In Sam's case: again until Pete, that is.

J

[Vyse]

Michael Shanks could work as the series lead, but whut's wrong with a woman in command? Captain Janeway did alright on Star Trek: Voyager.

I think having a woman in command is great, but Star Trek: Voyager is a bad example, that series was awful. Let us not speak of it again please (unless we put it down)!

[the dancer of spaz]

Logically and numerically speaking, I can understand why a lot of people think Michael Shanks can be the lead. IMO, he was a central character for those first two years, because his character was there from the beginning. RDA/Jack's role in this show goes without being said. Also, in the beginning, it seems like AT/Sam and CJ/Teal'c were slightly downplayed in comparison. Maybe I'm just reading too much into those first two seasons, but that's what I got from it.

There is also an overwhelmingly LARGE number of MS/DJ fans, which was best shown during Season Six - and is still quite clear today, considering there are numerous sites about him. I think Michael Shanks is really cool, and I like him a lot. I also like his character a lot, but I don't think I'm one of those fans.

That being said, however, I must say I disagree with people who say he would be the lead, for a couple of reasons:

1) Contractually, it's possible that Amanda Tapping was given second billing because of the fact that she's been on the show an entire year longer than Michael Shanks. Like I said before, I believe tenure has a lot to do with it. As of Season Six, Amanda Tapping had been on the show longer. Don't disregard Michael Shanks' billing however. Christopher Judge has more tenure than Shanks in this regard as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if Shanks was making more than Judge. It's even possible that he's making as much as Tapping. I guess we'll never really know.

2) On more ep-based note, if you look at the focus of the show for the past two seasons (meaning Seasons Seven and Eight), you might notice that Sam is seen a LOT more than Daniel. I'm not saying this is a good or a bad thing. I'm all for the equal opportunity acting (a.k.a. EOA ). I just don't think they've achieved that so far. There were a few eps in S7 that I can think of off the top of my head - Homecoming, Lifeboat, Enemy Mine, and Evolution 1 & 2 - that "featured" Daniel as our lead for the ep. In S8, we've had Icon. Compare that to Sam's S7 record of the following: (somewhat) Revisions, Space Race, Avenger 2.0, Grace, (somewhat) Fallout, Chimera, and Death Knell - 1/3 of the eps aired. In S8, we've had large parts of New Order Parts I and II, Affinity, and Covenant that featured Sam as our lead character.

I don't expect us to debate about who was really featured in these eps, but you have to look at the coverage of each character. RDA, whose schedule has been drastically reduced, has been in more scenes/had more lines/been focused upon more than Michael Shanks. Even Judge has had an abundant increase in coverage. I'm not saying this is good. In fact, it's a little odd now that I think about it.

The point I'm trying to make is Daniel Jackson has seemed to take a backseat for the past two seasons. I'm a shipper and I can see that. Whether you like his character a lot more than the others or not, I can only assume that TPTB have decided to take a different route with this character. Just what that route is remains to be seen.

I guess we'll have to wait until January.

DoS

[Taonas]

also her argument to persuade the genii to let terrans keep atlantis really was astoundingly arrogant - you would think such an international negotiator would not be so stupid in her tactics

When the heck did this happen?

[the dancer of spaz]

When the heck did this happen?

Yeah... I don't follow you.

Then again... I rarely follow you.

[Taonas]

Yeah... I don't follow you.

Then again... I rarely follow you.

Lol... It's just that terraatlantus said that Wier negotiated with the Genii and that the end result was the terrans keeping Altantis... Now as far as I know, the only time that could happen is in "The Eye", but that hasn't aired yet... So that's why I was confused, and my confusion created yours.

*is happy with explanation *

[the dancer of spaz]

Lol... It's just that terraatlantus said that Wier negotiated with the Genii and that the end result was the terrans keeping Altantis... Now as far as I know, the only time that could happen is in "The Eye", but that hasn't aired yet... So that's why I was confused, and my confusion created yours.

*is happy with explanation *

Oh no, Taonas, I'm not confused. I agreed with you. Terraatlantus tends to be confusing.

Thanks for the explanation, though.

*is happy with being confused with Taonas *

[Taonas]

Personnally... I believe if the show goes for a ninth season it will end up like the X-Files.

Ok, it wont be AS bad... But it still will loose the remainder of what makes it good (ie: RDA). Actually, everything in that show makes it good... Just RDA has been my favourite character.

[Erik Pasternak]

Personnally... I believe if the show goes for a ninth season it will end up like the X-Files.

Ok, it wont be AS bad... But it still will loose the remainder of what makes it good (ie: RDA). Actually, everything in that show makes it good... Just RDA has been my favourite character.

There is no guarantee that RDA will go away.

[jyh]

What about bringing in Major Davis to join the team? I'd love to see more of him, and SG-1 certainly could use another 'official' military person.

As for opening credits, I have to vote for NOBODY being before the title, for reasons others have already touched upon.

And I'm not even going to address the idiotic comments about AT not being 'worthy' (or capable, or whatever) of being the lead. (Altho if she is the only--or ranking--military person on the team, it's certainly more believable than having an ARCHEOLOGIST leading the flagship team of a super-secret military operation.) ((and I only said that for the effect... I actually like Daniel's character)) How's that for 'not addressing' it? hee hee

[jyh]

plz teens today still use 'chicks' i heard it used on a couple college campuses recently by both males and females

Oh, THAT's a ringing endorsement... listen to a bunch of hormonally-charged, know-it-all college kids. Most boys that age are only interested in one thing, and most girls are interested in impressing the guys. (I'm only generalizing here, folks, don't get on me about stereotyping and tell me how serious you were/your kids are about your/their education.)