Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[majorsal]

i don't think we, the fans, really forget these slights against our favorite characters. heck, season 9 was a slight against the franchise!

[Gatefan1976]

*dons estrogen proof suit*
Would you guys be equally annoyed if Paige actually took over from Prue in Charmed?
That's not what happened, granted. but what if she did?
Would you be annoyed that Piper lost the role?

[majorsal]

*dons estrogen proof suit*
Would you guys be equally annoyed if Paige actually took over from Prue in Charmed?
That's not what happened, granted. but what if she did?
Would you be annoyed that Piper lost the role?

you made me go and look up the characters again.

Would you guys be equally annoyed if Paige actually took over from Prue in Charmed?

i wasn't much of a prue/shannen fan, BUT, it would depend on 'why' it all went down.

Would you be annoyed that Piper lost the role?

for me, yes. *especially* if the piper actress/holly marie combs had a baby and went on maternity leave, and came back to be downgraded both for her character and the actress herself.


to non sam/amanda fans, it might seem like we're just nitpicking, but...

no matter what the powers-that-be's reasons were for giving sam command of sg1 in season 8, THEY DID, so to strip her of this character promotion was downgrading her character, and the actress in a way. it wasn't just b/c she was on maternity leave, or b/c they wanted to bring in a jack/rda replacement, it was that no real care or time or detail was given to set it up... and it shouldn't have happened in the first place!!

but for me, season 9 was the mtv version of stargate anyways. (though it got better as it went along, and s10 was much better)

[Gatefan1976]

you made me go and look up the characters again.

Would you guys be equally annoyed if Paige actually took over from Prue in Charmed?

i wasn't much of a prue/shannen fan, BUT, it would depend on 'why' it all went down.

Ahh, but that's not the point. I was never much of an RDA fan either, but that's who they cast for "Jack O'Neill", So I just rolled with it.

Would you be annoyed that Piper lost the role?

for me, yes. *especially* if the piper actress/holly marie combs had a baby and went on maternity leave, and came back to be downgraded both for her character and the actress herself.

You know when Actors say it's not good for fans to know too much "behind the scenes" stuff?
I never saw Sam as being "degraded" at this point, I just thought she may have wanted, or needed more time with her kid.
(before I cop the "what would a guy know", bare in mind I am a stay at home dad for 3 kids, so this is far from "unknown territory" for *me*
The leader of the team has to be there for everything, and if Sam/Amanda could not do it, then the show must go on.

to non sam/amanda fans, it might seem like we're just nitpicking, but...

Sal, I love AT, Loved Sam, loved Magnus, Loved Naomi, and got googly over knowing she was gonna be in SPN, Anything she is in, I will check it out, if only to see her.

no matter what the powers-that-be's reasons were for giving sam command of sg1 in season 8, THEY DID, so to strip her of this character promotion was downgrading her character, and the actress in a way. it wasn't just b/c she was on maternity leave, or b/c they wanted to bring in a jack/rda replacement, it was that no real care or time or detail was given to set it up... and it shouldn't have happened in the first place!!

Has Amanda ever said it?
Was She the only Actor in Sg-1 that had a S11 contract? Ben, Claudia, Chris, Michael, Beau, did they? Nope, Just Amanda.
I find it hard to correlate a dislike of Amanda to that situation, you know?

but for me, season 9 was the mtv version of stargate anyways. (though it got better as it went along, and s10 was much better)

She had more time to spend on set, and it shows.

[Mandysg1]

Let's try another scenario, what if Sam and Daniel's roles were switched? Daniel was the young Captain and Sam was the archeologist Dr. Carter. Now Daniel worked on SG1 under the command of Jack O'Neill climbing the ranks, that in S8 he was promoted to Lt. Col and given command of SG1 when Jack became General. Now RDA was leaving, in S9 would they come up with an idea to take command away from Daniel and give it to a rookie with no experience in gate travel to head up SG1?

[Skydiver]

Or, would Lt Colonel Samuel Carter, an almost 10 year vet with the SGC have been made subordinate/co-leader with a new, green, 'never even seen the gate' Cameron Mitchell.

[Gatefan1976]

Let's try another scenario, what if Sam and Daniel's roles were switched? Daniel was the young Captain and Sam was the archeologist Dr. Carter. Now Daniel worked on SG1 under the command of Jack O'Neill climbing the ranks, that in S8 he was promoted to Lt. Col and given command of SG1 when Jack became General. Now RDA was leaving, in S9 would they come up with an idea to take command away from Daniel and give it to a rookie with no experience in gate travel to head up SG1?

False equivalency to push a sexist notion.
If M.S. broke his leg and it would take 6 months to heal, then YES, give the role to someone else and have Daniel appear in the show when he can, the same way Amanda did.
End of the day, she could not do 22 eps according to the TV schedule, so they had to adapt. That's not a slight against Sam OR Amanda.
I'm sorry, but this sounds like someone getting "pissy" because Amanda was on maternity leave and simply *could not (or more importantly, did not WANT) do the job* . Amanda gives her heart and soul to her projects, be it SG-1, Sanctuary, SPN, Sanctuary for kids, or whatever, why would wanting to be with her child be any different? Having a child has consequences, she merely fulfilled them, and the SG-1 PTB just did theirs. They put a character in that was not sure of himself, that wanted SG-1 to be togeather because that's what he fought for and almost died for. He did not WANT to lead SG-1, he wanted to LEARN from SG-1. Did they give an actor with "Scifi cred" the role? Sure. Did Ben ever play Mitchell as the "do what I say or else" leader of SG-1? NO.

[Gatefan1976]

Or, would Lt Colonel Samuel Carter, an almost 10 year vet with the SGC have been made subordinate/co-leader with a new, green, 'never even seen the gate' Cameron Mitchell.

Err, look at how they treated the Russians, no matter their gender.

To quote Tim Minchin
"once the Adrenaline rush of burning your bra runs out, all you are left with is a pile of ash and unsupported boobs"

[majorsal]

False equivalency to push a sexist notion.
If M.S. broke his leg and it would take 6 months to heal, then YES, give the role to someone else and have Daniel appear in the show when he can, the same way Amanda did.
End of the day, she could not do 22 eps according to the TV schedule, so they had to adapt. That's not a slight against Sam OR Amanda.
I'm sorry, but this sounds like someone getting "pissy" because Amanda was on maternity leave and simply *could not (or more importantly, did not WANT) do the job* . Amanda gives her heart and soul to her projects, be it SG-1, Sanctuary, SPN, Sanctuary for kids, or whatever, why would wanting to be with her child be any different? Having a child has consequences, she merely fulfilled them, and the SG-1 PTB just did theirs. They put a character in that was not sure of himself, that wanted SG-1 to be togeather because that's what he fought for and almost died for. He did not WANT to lead SG-1, he wanted to LEARN from SG-1. Did they give an actor with "Scifi cred" the role? Sure. Did Ben ever play Mitchell as the "do what I say or else" leader of SG-1? NO.

it really did come off as downgrading sam/amanda for me. amanda, herself, had issues, and i'm not making that up.

there's SO many different ways season 9 could have written out sam for that period of time, even giving the character a great story arc to explain her absence. what they came up with benefitted everyone but sam (and teal'c in a way).

it just came off as 'you're not that important'...

[Gatefan1976]

it really did come off as downgrading sam/amanda for me. amanda, herself, had issues, and i'm not making that up.

I am sure she did, the SG PTB were douches when it came to women, they were the proverbial kids from Big Bang Theory who just played D&D and did not know what boobs looked like.
(A stereotype I hate as a gamer I knew what boobs looked like )

there's SO many different ways season 9 could have written out sam for that period of time, even giving the character a great story arc to explain her absence. what they came up with benefitted everyone but sam (and teal'c in a way).

it just came off as 'you're not that important'...

So only Daniel benefitted??

YES, they could have made a better arc for her, I AGREE, but Beavis and Butthead could not do it.

[Chelle DB]

I think what irks a lot of us about the last two seasons is TPTB had no idea what to do with Amanda's character even before season 9 started. They had pretty much replaced her before giving her the choice to come back as leader of SG1. I don't think taking 6 weeks maternity leave is that detrimental to the show that they couldn't have Sam come back as leader of SG1. If it's ok for RDA to take time off for the birth of his daughter - which saw him in a reduced role - then why not write something to cover Amanda while on maternity leave?
Poor writing and decision making processes by those who have no clue.
They direction the show took with Cam and Vala on board was OTT even for SG standards.
Having said that, I still enjoyed the final 2 seasons - loved Vala when they didn't dumb her down but found it very hard to warm up to Cam.

[iiradned]

Amanda tweeting about something from work today.

Location shoot on @ContinuumSeries Tree threatened to fall on us in the high winds. Coaxed it to go the other way. Xo http://pic.twitter.com/qaDzBlNXZj

All we needed to do was sing broadway tunes and over she went. @ContinuumSeries http://pic.twitter.com/iq9nJmvYai

[Chelle DB]

It seems like those high winds have made it here to Australia - pity it isn't as chilly as in BC.
Amanda did a little tweeting today and given it's Tuesday here, I'll accept it as a Tapping Tuesday.

[Gatefan1976]

I think what irks a lot of us about the last two seasons is TPTB had no idea what to do with Amanda's character even before season 9 started.

Come on, they had no idea what to do with a strong female character, PERIOD. They turned Aeryn Sun into a piece of meat for crying out aloud.

They had pretty much replaced her before giving her the choice to come back as leader of SG1. I don't think taking 6 weeks maternity leave is that detrimental to the show that they couldn't have Sam come back as leader of SG1.

6 weeks??
6 weeks my butt.
Amanda was "out" for a lot longer than 6 weeks, 6 MONTHS I would believe. Can a *character* come back as leader after that, NO. sorry ladies, but no. Even Daniel only made sense after S6 because he played a "side role" and he came back to a "side role", not the LEADER of SG-1.
The leader must be there, Amanda could not, so they got someone else, that's the practicalities of a series.

If it's ok for RDA to take time off for the birth of his daughter - which saw him in a reduced role - then why not write something to cover Amanda while on maternity leave?

RDA wanted to quit anyway, these two situations are not the same. Even if they DID write for Sam, WHO is gonna lead SG-1? the show is about......SG-1. Not Sam, not Jack, not Daniel or Teal'c, it is about the team. Half a season without a leader?? are you kidding me??

Poor writing and decision making processes by those who have no clue.
They direction the show took with Cam and Vala on board was OTT even for SG standards.

Sure, but what do you do about crap writing??
Argue??

Having said that, I still enjoyed the final 2 seasons - loved Vala when they didn't dumb her down but found it very hard to warm up to Cam.

Vala/Claudia was *always* dumbed down. She had the nuts to take on all of SG-1, and WIN, yet she was made "weak", made "Cam's/Daniels arm candy" or "the chicky with the fluffy handcuffs", she was really badly done by, especially for such a strong woman.

I don't think Sam/Amanda was ever treated so badly, except in S1 of SG-1 perhaps where she had to justify being a strong woman.

[Samfan13]

Come on, they had no idea what to do with a strong female character, PERIOD. They turned Aeryn Sun into a piece of meat for crying out aloud.

6 weeks??
6 weeks my butt.
Amanda was "out" for a lot longer than 6 weeks, 6 MONTHS I would believe. Can a *character* come back as leader after that, NO. sorry ladies, but no. Even Daniel only made sense after S6 because he played a "side role" and he came back to a "side role", not the LEADER of SG-1.
The leader must be there, Amanda could not, so they got someone else, that's the practicalities of a series.

Ummm Amanda was only out for 6 weeks (hence her absence in the first 5 eps of s9) and not for 6 months as you state. She took Olivia with her on set and spent her time running back to her trailer in between takes so she could look after Olivia.