Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Skydiver]

Cynical OLD woman?

Hey...let's clear things up right now.

I never suggested you were cynical.

[NearlyCircular]

Cynical OLD woman?

Hey...let's clear things up right now.

I never suggested you were cynical.

Ahhh, the royal pain in the mikta's in fine form! I give you a 9.9/10 for that one.
(I'd never claim that you were a complete pain in the mikta.)

NC

[Traveler Enroute1]

Fine discourse, Samandans. Everyone seems on pointe with the the AT/SC issues. Well said all around. IMO, Amanda's signing up for S10 is a business decision; she may still have some options (directing was mentioned; characterization may be another) which hopefully will benefit her and the show.

As for Vala, well, maybe Claudia will have suggestions for moving the character into a team player. One can hope, anyway.

So, about SGC dressed down Fridays:

Sam in black jeans, black velvet sweater and sneakers! Lab coat or blue jacket: Business and Sam Carter all in one .

Just playin', just sayin'.

[jckfan55]

I can't say for AD and Jckfan55, but you have all my indulgence

And for those who might be wondering, no, I'm still a hopeless case of non shipper who happens to have many friends in the shipper thread.

Hey, by all means enjoy the *fantasy.*

[jckfan55]

Re: Is Amanda too nice? I saw a Sam/AT hater somewhere comment that he (?) wishes AT wasn't in so many of the DVD extras. I don't think she's in them an inordinate amount of time, but if --and I stress if--she has more screen time in the behind the scenes stuff, I suspect it is for 2 reasons. 1) PDL & the other directors like her 2) She is actually willing to appear on this stuff (in keeping with her attitude of giving back to the fans)

[Skydiver]

i think that amanda is in or hosts the extras because she volunteers to. she gives her time. for the same reason (or more accurately the opposite) rda was rarely in any of them because he was gone and when he was on the set his time was so limited that he didn't have time to mess with non-show stuff.

they ask and she says yes, plain and simple.

and if the boys wanted to have a 'fair share'...well i doubt they'd be turned away and refused.

[chocdoc]

Back to Amanda. I still stand by our original report from GABIT. Our view was that Amanda wasn't 100% pleased with the goings on, but she joked about it, she didn't moan about it. Maybe the boy Coop spun her some line about developing the character in a different direction. My bet is that they just want her to sign as to lose Sam now would cause uproar (we all saw what happened on Gateworld). They can then reduce her role further in season 10, establish Vala, then when they get rid of Sam in season 11 (if there is one) the loss won't be felt as much, a new audience and different expectations will have been won. I'm sure Amanda is in the dark over a lot of this. She doesn't see the interviews in which Rob Coop doesn't mention her at all but oozes over Claudia Black (his oozing is just too much to be palitable and I bet CB is very embarrased about it). Remember last year Amanda was surprised to hear that BB would have the same rank as her. The writers certainly kept that one from her. I think Amanda expected to come back after her pregnancy still in command of SG1. I'm sure they will keep her enough in the dark to ensure she signs again. Once she signs they can do what they want with her. 20 eps doesn't promise decent exposure in any of them.

I personally am very surprised in one respect she is so happy about the season 10 prospects for Sam and that she is so willing to sign. She even said in her press release that she would turn down the lead in the other series if it conflicted with SG1. I think this is very sad. She is a great actor. capable of so much more than Sam Carter. 2 films and a lead in a series would be a fantastic platform for her to leave the show and build up credibility as a talented diverse actor. In another respect she loves working with the people, she may find it hard to leave all her friends behind. That Kat is the niceness of Amanda!

I only hope she manages to secure an agreement to direct, which is a direction she wants to go in. Maybe that for her would be a suitable compromise to reducing her status on the show.

To be honest I would have hoped Amanda would stick up a little bit more for herself. Her press release isn't the Amanda I thought I knew. It also told fans not to be upset at the changing role of Carter - as she is thrilled about it - that one had me gobsmacked I can tell you!

I can well believe Amanda is too nice to believe she will be eased out of the show to any great extent. I doubt her mind works that way to even think that that Rob Coop would do that.

Thoughtful posts by so many people! Great to read all these ideas, started by ForeverSg1.

You know, it is really difficult for me to speculate about AT's decisions or how she really feels. In her message on her website, she does mention being happy about returning. But I did not read her saying anything about being thrilled about the changing role of Carter. I can't really tell from her statement much except that she seems very willing to return to Stargate.

I'm not an actor and I don't know a thing about the show business. Maybe in AT's mind, the producers/writers of Stargate have been very good to her in general over the years and she is grateful for the opportunity she has had to be in this show for so long. And if she thinks that, I can see why in the general sense because she has been able to play such a great role for so long. Like I said, I obviously don't know her, but from what people have said and what she has said in interviews, she seems the grateful type and one who may have some doubt in her own abilties (like most of us from time to time). Because she seems to be so thankful, I think that is why she is returning. And I can see why she says she is thankful because the world of show business is so difficult. You can be doing well one day, and then have no opportunities for a long long time.

And we don't really know how much AT will stick up for herself. We just aren't behind the scenes. I think she will fight for her character as much as she can---she has tried--but unfortunately actors are not in a very good bargaining position about the writing.

It is true that she has other offers, but I would imagine it would be REALLY difficult to give up something that you have loved for so long. It would be difficult to just walk away when you know that you are historically part of a success story of a really good show. And I say, why should she walk away--she is a big part of its success.

Part of me does want her to just take the other offer and say forget you--but I don't know what's really happening behind the scenes--and I don't think she should have to leave a show that she is in part responsible for making a hit for all these years.

My guess is that AT knows what's going on in terms of gender issues, but it must be difficult for an actress to know how to deal with these issues at the risk of losing a job you love.

[Agent_Dark]

Not to take away from the in depth discussion we're all having.... but:

Disco Sam!

[SnoggingPicard]

Not to take away from the in depth discussion we're all having.... but:

Disco Sam!

OMG! So disturbingly funny!

[jckfan55]

Thanks for saying this, Coley! I've been thinking along the same lines for a while now. The major reason I like Sam so much compared to the female leads in other sci fi/fantasy shows is because she is believable. (within the context of science fiction, that is) She doesn't live in the distant future and she doesn't have super powers. Yet she is a hero in the traditional sense of the word. Sam has been one of the very few women in television I've seen who exists in our time, and gets to go out and save the day along with the guys.


NC

Exactly. It reminds me of what AT mentioned in that "interview" with the aptly named "shrieky" and "jack***" (ok, I don't remember the name you guys gave him, but close enough.) Anyway, when they actually let her *answer* a question, AT said something along the lines of how the show is set in present day with real, fallible people, and that's part of what she thinks makes it popular.

[Lexa Jayde]

i just wanted to drop in and say that i love Amanda no matter what she does... even in b-grade movies like the void... she is great....

[ChopinGal]

Not to take away from the in depth discussion we're all having.... but:

Disco Sam!

AD, have you been hitting RA's sloe gin?! This is not exactly the image of Sam we want to see, especially given our really wonderful discussions today ...

Back to the drawing board, puhleeze ... this costume belongs on Vala!

[Myrth]

Oh dear.. that's too funny.. highly disturbing and I can't look away!

Not to take away from the in depth discussion we're all having.... but:

Disco Sam!

[chocdoc]

I agree with Skydiver – if Vala starts interacting with the other characters more frequently and this starts to take away from Daniel’s screen time, these same fans will start to have quite a different opinion of Vala. I would hypothesize that you will probably be hearing tirades about how worthless and bad the character is. And, in truth, TPTB have to allow the Vala character to interact more fully with the other characters (besides Daniel) because it is the only way they can fully integrate her into the show as part of the regular cast of characters. I guess time will tell how well this works out. I can only hope TPTB respect both the Sam character and AT enough not to push her completely into the backgound.


Melora

Hi Melora and welcome to SaGC thread!! Thanks for your thoughtful post!

I am wondering too who really does like Vala over Sam? Is it really young women or young men? It seems to be more about some fans using Vala against Sam and they do seem to be mainly a small subset of Daniel fans, given the nature of some forums. And I don't really think that this subset is composed of young women and men.

I say Sony and Scifi want the spicy stuff just like so much television today, and so there you go (and yes -- just like Skydiver predicted). Any other predictions, Sky? And Sony and Scifi REALLY don't care about role models!! They care about ratings---but the funny thing about that is that the ratings were just fine before season 9, even better in season 8, so why ruin a good thing? That's what I don't get.

I admit--I am still holding out some optimism that Sam could be used well, with some crossovers to Atlantis too. I'd rather her doing something important than being in the background. If some kind of split means seeing more of Carter--I'm all for it. (provided AT remains where she is in the credits).

[Uber]

Hi Melora and welcome to SaGC thread!! Thanks for your thoughtful post!

I am wondering too who really does like Vala over Sam? Is it really young women or young men? It seems to be more about some fans using Vala against Sam and they do seem to be mainly a small subset of Daniel fans, given the nature of some forums. And I don't really think that this subset is composed of young women and men.

I say Sony and Scifi want the spicy stuff just like so much television today, and so there you go (and yes -- just like Skydiver predicted). Any other predictions, Sky? And Sony and Scifi REALLY don't care about role models!! They care about ratings---but the funny thing about that is that the ratings were just fine before season 9, even better in season 8, so why ruin a good thing? That's what I don't get.

I admit--I am still holding out some optimism that Sam could be used well, with some crossovers to Atlantis too. I'd rather her doing something important than being in the background. If some kind of split means seeing more of Carter--I'm all for it. (provided AT remains where she is in the credits).

I'm just tragically disappointed that they seem set on making it an either/or scenario.

I love Sam. She's my favorite character.

I like Vala. She's got lots of potential as a recurring character.

I think the two of them could have a really great friendship develop and could be a force to be reckoned with.

But right now it seems that they can't fathom a strong capable leading female like Sam while Cam's around or Vala's around.

And that's just sad.