Originally posted by minigeek
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This has been a ticking time bomb waiting to explode for a few months now. The franchise is changing, largely because the money behind it is demanding that change, rightly or wrongly, and the producers have been scrambling to make those interested parties happy. To be frank, setting aside the major casting shake up for SG-1 in preparation for season nine, I'm a little surprised things continued to float along via the status quo (relatively speaking) for as long as they did after RDA left.
Spoiler:
I agree. Since the end of season eight--yes, when RDA and Gekko left the franchise--Scifi has had an unprecedented level of influence over the direction of the franchise. Whether it was at their behest or not, Ben Browder was hired (among many other reasons) because it would please the executives at Scifi. Joe Mallozzi has stated as much. Likewise, it seems that Claudia Black was brought back in late season nine, despite being very pregnant, because Scifi wanted to see Vala again in season nine. Despite the producers plans to return to the character in season ten, after Claudia gave birth and recovered, Vala was in fact given her very own episode that almost solely featured her to the exclusion of the rest of the cast. That did not happen just because Rob Cooper and the rest of the writers love the character. Any episode with such a narrow focus is almost always frowned upon for not appealing to a wide enough audience or incorporating enough of the cast.
Scifi has stated their desire to see more crossovers between SG-1 and Atlantis. Indeed, when MGM and Scifi were both posturing in the wake of SG-1's cancellation, a Scifi executive, as assuredly as he could, stated that there would be characters crossing over to Atlantis. And you know what? From Scifi's perspective, it is a no brainer. Atlantis, as it's own entity, has become insignificant. As a companion to SG-1, it was good business for Scifi to support the spin off. Paired together, they made for a formidable night of programming to a known, already-quantified audience. And back when it started, it was likely that Atlantis could pick up where SG-1 left off. Scifi could continue to tap that regular audience for the foreseeable future. Things are now different. Due to changes within the network philosophy, the deterioration of their relationship with MGM regarding Stargate, and Atlantis' seeming inability to significantly perform better than SG-1 (ratings numbers for the two shows are virtually identical), Scifi is now in a position to have to get as much out of Atlantis' immediate future as it can. That means doing everything it can to tap into any lost SG-1 viewers. As much as I'd like to think that everyone just loves Amanda Tapping so much that they can't stand to go on without her, I think the fact that she's being put on Atlantis is primarily the result of the studio having an option on her contract. Exercising that option solves Scifi's demand for a crossover character. And as much as I'd like to think that MGM and Bridge don't just bend to Scifi's will, that is simply not the case at this point. Scifi is the only venue to keep Atlantis going; the studio and Bridge need to keep Atlantis going until it has enough episodes to sell as a syndication package. It's business. And that has been more important than creative integrity ever since Atlantis began.
Golfbooy's obviously much-anticipated
views on everything:
The Good
--SG-1 moving on to a longer, more substantial format. The show and characters (well, the Big Four) had advanced well beyond the confines of weekly episodic television three years ago. It took four episodes to do something substantial at the end of season seven and beginning of season eight. That should have been their first clue. It took five episodes to wrap the eighth season. That should have been their second.
--Whether it's been done in earnest or not, RDA has apparently been asked to be in the movies.
--Carter possibly being placed in command of Atlantis. Creatively, this is the only role for Carter on Atlantis that is befitting of Sam's stature as a character.
--Carter's possible promotion. After the collective ass-hattery of the last two seasons, it is something.
--Brad Wright. Sorry, despite whatever I may disagree with regarding his decisions as the Great Big Head of Stargate, he is still an awesome writer. With the scant information provided by the MGM press release, I'm already delighted with the second movie. He's still the best at playing with his toys. And his admission that SG-1 is missing something vital without Jack O'neill (as well as his tacit implication that seasons nine and ten have been, in some measure, "wrong" for going on without him) may be empty words. But sometimes "nothing" says just as much as "something".
--Rob Cooper's movie ends the Ori arc. I can't think of anything that might help SG-1 out of its recent funk more than finishing off the Ori/Ancient/Merlin mess.
The Bad
--Carter on Atlantis. Sorry, but it just sucks. For too many reasons to enumerate here.
--Torri Higginson being reduced to recurring. I think she was one of the better things about Atlantis. Perhaps that's because of Weir's scant use, though.
--Paul McGillion leaving. For the life of me, I don't understand the logic behind this one. I liked Beckett better than all of them. His character offered the writers a different type of story, one that was never really explored on SG-1 with Frasier.
--Carter on Atlantis for 14 episodes. Yeah, I mentioned it above, but it still sucks.
--A possible reduced role for Sam Carter in either movie because of filming commitments to with Atlantis.
--I think, though I don't know anything at all, that Amanda Tapping was NOT looking to enjoy such a substantial commitment within the franchise in the immediate future. She seemed optimisitic about both taking more time off to be with her family and moving on with a new project.
Scifi has stated their desire to see more crossovers between SG-1 and Atlantis. Indeed, when MGM and Scifi were both posturing in the wake of SG-1's cancellation, a Scifi executive, as assuredly as he could, stated that there would be characters crossing over to Atlantis. And you know what? From Scifi's perspective, it is a no brainer. Atlantis, as it's own entity, has become insignificant. As a companion to SG-1, it was good business for Scifi to support the spin off. Paired together, they made for a formidable night of programming to a known, already-quantified audience. And back when it started, it was likely that Atlantis could pick up where SG-1 left off. Scifi could continue to tap that regular audience for the foreseeable future. Things are now different. Due to changes within the network philosophy, the deterioration of their relationship with MGM regarding Stargate, and Atlantis' seeming inability to significantly perform better than SG-1 (ratings numbers for the two shows are virtually identical), Scifi is now in a position to have to get as much out of Atlantis' immediate future as it can. That means doing everything it can to tap into any lost SG-1 viewers. As much as I'd like to think that everyone just loves Amanda Tapping so much that they can't stand to go on without her, I think the fact that she's being put on Atlantis is primarily the result of the studio having an option on her contract. Exercising that option solves Scifi's demand for a crossover character. And as much as I'd like to think that MGM and Bridge don't just bend to Scifi's will, that is simply not the case at this point. Scifi is the only venue to keep Atlantis going; the studio and Bridge need to keep Atlantis going until it has enough episodes to sell as a syndication package. It's business. And that has been more important than creative integrity ever since Atlantis began.
Golfbooy's obviously much-anticipated
views on everything:The Good
--SG-1 moving on to a longer, more substantial format. The show and characters (well, the Big Four) had advanced well beyond the confines of weekly episodic television three years ago. It took four episodes to do something substantial at the end of season seven and beginning of season eight. That should have been their first clue. It took five episodes to wrap the eighth season. That should have been their second.
--Whether it's been done in earnest or not, RDA has apparently been asked to be in the movies.
--Carter possibly being placed in command of Atlantis. Creatively, this is the only role for Carter on Atlantis that is befitting of Sam's stature as a character.
--Carter's possible promotion. After the collective ass-hattery of the last two seasons, it is something.
--Brad Wright. Sorry, despite whatever I may disagree with regarding his decisions as the Great Big Head of Stargate, he is still an awesome writer. With the scant information provided by the MGM press release, I'm already delighted with the second movie. He's still the best at playing with his toys. And his admission that SG-1 is missing something vital without Jack O'neill (as well as his tacit implication that seasons nine and ten have been, in some measure, "wrong" for going on without him) may be empty words. But sometimes "nothing" says just as much as "something".
--Rob Cooper's movie ends the Ori arc. I can't think of anything that might help SG-1 out of its recent funk more than finishing off the Ori/Ancient/Merlin mess.
The Bad
--Carter on Atlantis. Sorry, but it just sucks. For too many reasons to enumerate here.
--Torri Higginson being reduced to recurring. I think she was one of the better things about Atlantis. Perhaps that's because of Weir's scant use, though.
--Paul McGillion leaving. For the life of me, I don't understand the logic behind this one. I liked Beckett better than all of them. His character offered the writers a different type of story, one that was never really explored on SG-1 with Frasier.
--Carter on Atlantis for 14 episodes. Yeah, I mentioned it above, but it still sucks.
--A possible reduced role for Sam Carter in either movie because of filming commitments to with Atlantis.
--I think, though I don't know anything at all, that Amanda Tapping was NOT looking to enjoy such a substantial commitment within the franchise in the immediate future. She seemed optimisitic about both taking more time off to be with her family and moving on with a new project.
Disclaimer: These opinions are without value. Pay no attention. More than one of them is assuredly dead wrong. Besides, I'm already missed too much of Lawrence of Arabia. I'm going back to my movie now.
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