Contains Spoilers for other Season 8 episodes as well as "Affinity"
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Gategrrl said "with the gate lacking as a genuine aspect of the storyline", that is exactly the point - S7 was, IMO, lacking in the Gate aspect, and from the spoilers for the eps so far in S8 it looks to be going in the same general direction (I have been trying, and will try to continue, to hold out hope for the remaining 12 episodes but we now have spoilers for 8 of the 20 eps and except for New Order 1 and 2 and Icon most sound earth based and, at least IMO, several just sound bad, especially "Covenant" and "Affinity", and IMO, "Avatar" doesn't sound to great to me either.) Yes, maybe the Gate will appear for a scene or two in some of the other eps but the general storylines seem to be focused away from the Gate and/or off-world adventure ("Zero Hour" seems SGC focused with Jack and his new aide awaiting the Prez's visit and the Amra delegates on earth but at least SGs 1 and 3 get off-world adventure with BAAL. Maybe some of Tealc's "Avatar" VR scenes will involve the Gate but it seems from the description it will be Anubis' super-soldiers AT the SGC which, as many have said, were not all that "super" they were just a dud/joke in the end.).
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In addition, we have yet to hear anything about the episodes that R. Picardo, R. Cox and D. DeLuise are to be in which, if they hold true to form, will be heavily earth based, and for Picardo and Cox, political, and we have also been told that in order to accomodate RDA's schedule Jack will be on earth at the SGC more, etc., etc., etc., - so it sounds like earth based stories could be a large part of the 12 remaining eps as well. IMO this adds up to boring - especially the political stuff - it's not "The West Wing" and the personal lives stuff.
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IMO, they do seem to be changing the tenor of the show - I started watching a show that had interesting and different adventures off-world and team oriented epsiodes whether they be off-world or focused on earth with the Gate being involved to a degree but at least the team was together, or if separated, working towards the same goal; that is what the show was and, IMO, is supposed to be about - not their personal and love lives - sorry I really don't care about that aspect - this is a sci-fi, off-world adventure series (or was), not "As The World Turns". Let them have their personal and love lives just don't waste screen time on it (my opinion).
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If it's the budget woes resulting from the US dollar to Canadian dollar exchange rate than I say, as I said in a post on the old forum, stop spending money on semi-big name guest stars of the week (or on new "recurring" characters such as this Colson guy from "Covenant") to focus on and use the extra dough to focus on the team (the 4 of them and, when RDA is not available, the 3 of them) - IMO, there do not need to be a lot of huge, expensive explosions or CGI or a lot of name guest stars, so they do not have to expend huge portions of the budget on those items. (I wonder how much a guest star like Devane, Picardo, Blalock or Cox gets in comparison to someone who may not be as well known or have the same kind of resume.) I would like to think that they are still capable of writing off-world adventures for SG1 and/or Gate focused stories and/or team-focused earth stories that may or may not involve the Gate to a large degree that would not cost lots of $$$.
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I say this because we are told many times over by TPTB that the things that raise the costs of the episodes are the huge special effects scenes and the intricate and detailed CGI. They also say location shooting costs extra from the budgets so I say have a few scenes of off-world or location stuff and then focus on the team at the SGC or on earth (e.g Crystal Skull, Foothld, Show and Tell, Matter of Time, 48 Hours, Message In A Bottle, Urgo, Legacy, etc.)
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I readily admit that I don't know how much these eps cost to make in comparison but factoring in what TPTB say about what increases the costs of the eps, and using logic and common sense, it seems to me that eps such as these may not cost as much as say a Heroes or a Lost City (special effects and guest stars), Red Sky, (village set, lots of extras to play the village people, and CGI), Full Circle (building and blowing up the pyramid and lots of extras to play the Abydonians). I am not saying anything about whether they were good or bad epsiodes - they are ones that came to mind as expamles of what TPTB can put together using minimal explosions, minimal to no named guest stars or large groups of extras for the show and have the team be the focus, and IMO, they were pretty good stories with adventure.
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Anyway, I'm sure there will be people who will disagree with all of the above and people who will enjoy the personal lives eps and the earth based eps and the lack of the Stargate as a central part of the stroyline and I say have fun and I hope you enjoy S8.
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I am, as I said, just lamenting the slow demise of one of my favorite adventure shows which is/was(?) a show that really allowed me to disengage from real-life and escape everyday problems. With all of this real-life, personal stuff, love lives, mid-life crisis kind of thing and political stuff they are now bringing into the stories it's getting to be just like a lot of other shows which, IMO, are a dime-a-dozen these days, including Sitcoms (Friends, Frasier - both have their real-life crisis and their personal life issues just as SG1 now seems to have but at least Friends and Frasier are supposed to be sitcoms not Sci-Fi), Dramas (The West Wing) and Soaps (take your pick) .
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Sorry to vent so long - seems I always go on a tangent and end up saying way too much - oh well I'll try and cut down (at least I am not posting long-winded notes every day or anything).
.
Gategrrl said "with the gate lacking as a genuine aspect of the storyline", that is exactly the point - S7 was, IMO, lacking in the Gate aspect, and from the spoilers for the eps so far in S8 it looks to be going in the same general direction (I have been trying, and will try to continue, to hold out hope for the remaining 12 episodes but we now have spoilers for 8 of the 20 eps and except for New Order 1 and 2 and Icon most sound earth based and, at least IMO, several just sound bad, especially "Covenant" and "Affinity", and IMO, "Avatar" doesn't sound to great to me either.) Yes, maybe the Gate will appear for a scene or two in some of the other eps but the general storylines seem to be focused away from the Gate and/or off-world adventure ("Zero Hour" seems SGC focused with Jack and his new aide awaiting the Prez's visit and the Amra delegates on earth but at least SGs 1 and 3 get off-world adventure with BAAL. Maybe some of Tealc's "Avatar" VR scenes will involve the Gate but it seems from the description it will be Anubis' super-soldiers AT the SGC which, as many have said, were not all that "super" they were just a dud/joke in the end.).
.
In addition, we have yet to hear anything about the episodes that R. Picardo, R. Cox and D. DeLuise are to be in which, if they hold true to form, will be heavily earth based, and for Picardo and Cox, political, and we have also been told that in order to accomodate RDA's schedule Jack will be on earth at the SGC more, etc., etc., etc., - so it sounds like earth based stories could be a large part of the 12 remaining eps as well. IMO this adds up to boring - especially the political stuff - it's not "The West Wing" and the personal lives stuff.
.
IMO, they do seem to be changing the tenor of the show - I started watching a show that had interesting and different adventures off-world and team oriented epsiodes whether they be off-world or focused on earth with the Gate being involved to a degree but at least the team was together, or if separated, working towards the same goal; that is what the show was and, IMO, is supposed to be about - not their personal and love lives - sorry I really don't care about that aspect - this is a sci-fi, off-world adventure series (or was), not "As The World Turns". Let them have their personal and love lives just don't waste screen time on it (my opinion).
.
If it's the budget woes resulting from the US dollar to Canadian dollar exchange rate than I say, as I said in a post on the old forum, stop spending money on semi-big name guest stars of the week (or on new "recurring" characters such as this Colson guy from "Covenant") to focus on and use the extra dough to focus on the team (the 4 of them and, when RDA is not available, the 3 of them) - IMO, there do not need to be a lot of huge, expensive explosions or CGI or a lot of name guest stars, so they do not have to expend huge portions of the budget on those items. (I wonder how much a guest star like Devane, Picardo, Blalock or Cox gets in comparison to someone who may not be as well known or have the same kind of resume.) I would like to think that they are still capable of writing off-world adventures for SG1 and/or Gate focused stories and/or team-focused earth stories that may or may not involve the Gate to a large degree that would not cost lots of $$$.
.
I say this because we are told many times over by TPTB that the things that raise the costs of the episodes are the huge special effects scenes and the intricate and detailed CGI. They also say location shooting costs extra from the budgets so I say have a few scenes of off-world or location stuff and then focus on the team at the SGC or on earth (e.g Crystal Skull, Foothld, Show and Tell, Matter of Time, 48 Hours, Message In A Bottle, Urgo, Legacy, etc.)
.
I readily admit that I don't know how much these eps cost to make in comparison but factoring in what TPTB say about what increases the costs of the eps, and using logic and common sense, it seems to me that eps such as these may not cost as much as say a Heroes or a Lost City (special effects and guest stars), Red Sky, (village set, lots of extras to play the village people, and CGI), Full Circle (building and blowing up the pyramid and lots of extras to play the Abydonians). I am not saying anything about whether they were good or bad epsiodes - they are ones that came to mind as expamles of what TPTB can put together using minimal explosions, minimal to no named guest stars or large groups of extras for the show and have the team be the focus, and IMO, they were pretty good stories with adventure.
.
Anyway, I'm sure there will be people who will disagree with all of the above and people who will enjoy the personal lives eps and the earth based eps and the lack of the Stargate as a central part of the stroyline and I say have fun and I hope you enjoy S8.
.
I am, as I said, just lamenting the slow demise of one of my favorite adventure shows which is/was(?) a show that really allowed me to disengage from real-life and escape everyday problems. With all of this real-life, personal stuff, love lives, mid-life crisis kind of thing and political stuff they are now bringing into the stories it's getting to be just like a lot of other shows which, IMO, are a dime-a-dozen these days, including Sitcoms (Friends, Frasier - both have their real-life crisis and their personal life issues just as SG1 now seems to have but at least Friends and Frasier are supposed to be sitcoms not Sci-Fi), Dramas (The West Wing) and Soaps (take your pick) .
.
Sorry to vent so long - seems I always go on a tangent and end up saying way too much - oh well I'll try and cut down (at least I am not posting long-winded notes every day or anything).
And of course we had Dr. Lee and the immortal character, Daniel's Rock! 
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