Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Skydiver]

yes, it's true.

Claudia had her contract for s9, as did MS, BB, CJ and the others, but amanda had heard nothing. She called Coop and asked 'umm, so do I need to be worried or what?'

the response was along the line of 'we don't know what to do with carter' (popular interpretation is taht, with jack gone, and mitchell in charge, they didn't know what to do with Carter...and IIRC, there was also some pressure for Sam to go to Atlantis.)

the story was told at a con around that time.

[chrono trigger]

I also recall hearing that she was the only one not contacted to return for Season 9 and when she questioned it, she was told "we thought you'd want to not work so you could spend time with your baby". Hello. Could they not have just picked up a phone and asked her instead of ignoring her and making that assumption? As nice as AT is, I imagine she was rather hurt by their behavior. Plus, TPTB pretty much wrote the entire end of S9, beginning of S10 - and worked around - CB's RL pregnancy(ies), so they could have done the same for Amanda, and just given her a really good reason for not being present. They are writers, after all. They get paid to come up with good ideas for stories/scripts. Nobody will ever convince me they couldn't have done the same for Amanda.

Ooooops, sorry for the rant.

yes, it's true.

Claudia had her contract for s9, as did MS, BB, CJ and the others, but amanda had heard nothing. She called Coop and asked 'umm, so do I need to be worried or what?'

the response was along the line of 'we don't know what to do with carter' (popular interpretation is taht, with jack gone, and mitchell in charge, they didn't know what to do with Carter...and IIRC, there was also some pressure for Sam to go to Atlantis.)

the story was told at a con around that time.

i never knew about this im shocked at the way they treat someone who had worked with them for so many years. i have to say im liking the TPTB less and less as i hear more about them.

[Skydiver]

I don't think it was personal...just some men so focused on what they wanted and their own ideas and thoughts for the show that they didn't exactly think of anyone else in that focus.

I think they were also trying to either sell skiffy on their plans....or find a way to satisfy skiffy while still getting their way.

[chrono trigger]

I don't think it was personal...just some men so focused on what they wanted and their own ideas and thoughts for the show that they didn't exactly think of anyone else in that focus.

I think they were also trying to either sell skiffy on their plans....or find a way to satisfy skiffy while still getting their way.

yeah i gather it they didnt do it maliciously but still from amandas perspective it must have been hurtful that her eight years(at that time it was eight) of loyalty was so easily forgotten because the writers had some new exciting directions for the show.

[hisg1fans]

yeah i gather it they didnt do it maliciously but still from amandas perspective it must have been hurtful that her eight years(at that time it was eight) of loyalty was so easily forgotten because the writers had some new exciting directions for the show.

I would say being forgotten would hurt worse than being let go maliciously. At least if something happens for a malicious reason, there is some thought to it and they know you are there. How could they just "forget" AT was a part of the story?!?

I believe the opposite of love isn't hate. It is apathy.

[EH-T]

yes, it's true.

Claudia had her contract for s9, as did MS, BB, CJ and the others, but amanda had heard nothing. She called Coop and asked 'umm, so do I need to be worried or what?'

the response was along the line of 'we don't know what to do with carter' (popular interpretation is taht, with jack gone, and mitchell in charge, they didn't know what to do with Carter...and IIRC, there was also some pressure for Sam to go to Atlantis.)

the story was told at a con around that time.

I do remember hearing about the "not knowing what to do with Carter" part but was not aware of the fact they had not even contacted her about season 9. I hope he apologised.

[majorsal]

'medium' the series finale, spoilers -

i havent seen the episode as it hasnt aired in uk yet

Spoiler:

but i dont like the thought of alison or her husband dying. would you say it's a good end for the show? and just to say something on topic i also hope magnus dont die at the end of sanctuary.

Spoiler:

no, i don't think it's a good series finale.

for me, now knowing that it ends in this way, it makes wanting to watch the other eps before it... none existent. why bother, when you know all that family and loving scenes only ends with joe/dad dying!

after 'xena' was killed off, i've never watched an ep since. it's spoiled.

but that's just me.

i've not trusted the almighty POWERFUL ENDING cliche' to not touch damian kindler *and* martin wood (who's got a blood thirsty hunger to kill off characters ).

it's not *wrong* to do it, i just find it a show-soul destroying idea. it sours the show for me.

[majorsal]

Not just the issue of adding Mitchell (who I also grew to love BTW) but also Vala. As I recall, one of the resons they gave for not keeping CN when MS came back was that it was too hard to write for 5 main characters. They forgot about that in season 10 (and part of 9) and the result hurt Sam the most.

you know how it's come out, since 'sgu', that the ptb were bored with atlantis? well, i think they were bored with sg1 too, b/c the sg1 i saw in season 9 was some other series...

they dismantled the team (to open up the opportunity to bring in another leader), made sam, daniel, and teal'c act a bit daft in regards to poor leadership (mitchell) and a shifty character (vala), made... no, i'm stopping. i could go on and on and ON with my 'what the heck did you do to sg1?!' ranty issues, but i'll stop.

[majorsal]

as to Medium, well what aired last night was the series finale, as in show finale. It's over. The show's ratings this season have sunk and it's been canceled.

I used to watch it, but the premiere this year was just so out there that it went too far for me and I stopped.

i actually lost interest in 'medium' some time ago, b/c i really liked the allison/ghosts stories more than them focusing on her family. her fam was great, but they started focusing on them so much that i just lost interest. i think i've watched one episode this season, and now the series finale.

[jckfan55]

i've always nitpicked on that ep, b/c the 'lead' was taken away from sam/amanda, only b/c leading man dude returned.

Of course in Spirits she was only a captain. Once they were back on the base, there were other more senior officers. Still, if Jack wasn't able to go offworld they should have just totally incapacitated him for the episode.

i thought because of the way i hear people talk sometimes not just on this thread that there are other issues people have with the writing for sams character in seasons 9 and 10 and im just wondering what they are. oh and i agree with your pet peeve it's up there with the silly baal clones for me.

Ack don't remind me of how they defanged Ba'al! Sam was pretty much a backseat character in S9 & 10 imho and I had a problem with that.

[Melora]

It was regarding the contracts for Season 10, not Season 9.


The story as I remember it (in spoilers for those of you who already remember it and don't want to have to read it again ):

Spoiler:

At the end of filming Season 9 (I think it was while they were filming Crusade), TPTB offered contracts to all the full time cast members except AT and they also offered a full time contract to CB who had only been a guest star up to that point. When AT found this out from the other cast members, she apparently got a little worried and went to Robert Cooper and asked him whether she needed to worry about whether she still had a job and if she needed to start looking for work elsewhere. He told her that they didn’t know what to do with her character and were still working out the details, but that she shouldn’t worry and they were going to offer her a contract.

TPTB ended up offering AT a contract where she would split her time between SGA and SG-1 and Carter would be taken off the SG-1 team and be given command of a ship that would travel between Earth and Atlantis (sort of like Caldwell). The reason TPTB gave for making this decision was that it would give Sam more to do. Apparently Vala knew enough about Goa’uld technology that Sam’s technical expertise would not be needed on the team and since Mitchell was the military leader of the team, Sam wasn’t needed to fulfill that role either. This was designed to give her something to do because the new characters took over her roles on the SG-1 team.

No one really knows exactly what TPTB’s motivations were, but there was a huge fan outcry when word of all this got out. TPTB quickly had to change their plans (including re-writing entire scripts) b/c it was clear that fans were not happy (I don’t think AT was either for that matter – she said around that time that she felt her place and her family was with SG-1 not SGA). So b/c of the fans loudly complaining, Sam stayed on the team in Season 10 and AT only ended up doing one episode of SGA that year. Since the writers couldn’t send Sam away on a ship when they didn’t want her around, they basically chose to wallpaper the character instead.

I didn't like either Season 9 or 10. Part of that is due to how TPTB treated AT and the character of Sam in those seasons. Most of it is due to just not liking the new direction of the show, the development of all the characters, and the writing in general.

And I agree, majorsal. I think TPTB were bored with SG-1 and with the characters of Sam and Teal'c as well. They were very excited to have new characters and actors to work with and almost seemed annoyed at times that they actually had to find stuff for Sam and Teal'c to do. I think they would have been much happier if they could have created the "Stargate Command" spin-off and started with completely fresh stories and mostly new characters.

[Mandysg1]

It was regarding the contracts for Season 10, not Season 9.


The story as I remember it (in spoilers for those of you who already remember it and don't want to have to read it again ):

Spoiler:

At the end of filming Season 9 (I think it was while they were filming Crusade), TPTB offered contracts to all the full time cast members except AT and they also offered a full time contract to CB who had only been a guest star up to that point. When AT found this out from the other cast members, she apparently got a little worried and went to Robert Cooper and asked him whether she needed to worry about whether she still had a job and if she needed to start looking for work elsewhere. He told her that they didn’t know what to do with her character and were still working out the details, but that she shouldn’t worry and they were going to offer her a contract.

TPTB ended up offering AT a contract where she would split her time between SGA and SG-1 and Carter would be taken off the SG-1 team and be given command of a ship that would travel between Earth and Atlantis (sort of like Caldwell). The reason TPTB gave for making this decision was that it would give Sam more to do. Apparently Vala knew enough about Goa’uld technology that Sam’s technical expertise would not be needed on the team and since Mitchell was the military leader of the team, Sam wasn’t needed to fulfill that role either. This was designed to give her something to do because the new characters took over her roles on the SG-1 team.

No one really knows exactly what TPTB’s motivations were, but there was a huge fan outcry when word of all this got out. TPTB quickly had to change their plans (including re-writing entire scripts) b/c it was clear that fans were not happy (I don’t think AT was either for that matter – she said around that time that she felt her place and her family was with SG-1 not SGA). So b/c of the fans loudly complaining, Sam stayed on the team in Season 10 and AT only ended up doing one episode of SGA that year. Since the writers couldn’t send Sam away on a ship when they didn’t want her around, they basically chose to wallpaper the character instead.

I didn't like either Season 9 or 10. Part of that is due to how TPTB treated AT and the character of Sam in those seasons. Most of it is due to just not liking the new direction of the show, the development of all the characters, and the writing in general.

And I agree, majorsal. I think TPTB were bored with SG-1 and with the characters of Sam and Teal'c as well. They were very excited to have new characters and actors to work with and almost seemed annoyed at times that they actually had to find stuff for Sam and Teal'c to do. I think they would have been much happier if they could have created the "Stargate Command" spin-off and started with completely fresh stories and mostly new characters.

I agree, but I also think it would have been as successful as SGU

[katjoy]

I think their inability to learn is why their shows don't do so well and their careers along with it. I have my own theory about TPTB and what happened but it's really not on topic. I'll just say that it's apparent that AT took from those years valuable knowledge of how to and how NOT to run a show and that it is serving her well.

most definately!

^ Great Amanda/Sam fans think alike. Really, you two nailed it.

Damn, you're spot on with that one. I'm so, so happy and proud of Amanda and how well her career, and that she's showing her alone has what it takes to make it in the business, and that women in the business work. I know she's not alone, she has a whole support system, but still.

haha

and yeah, she is proving every day that she has what it takes

Some was bad (not having her command SG1,the ep where Sam is duped by the Baal clones for example) but largely it was the lack of Sam or the lack of the Sam we know and love.

Not just the issue of adding Mitchell (who I also grew to love BTW) but also Vala. As I recall, one of the resons they gave for not keeping CN when MS came back was that it was too hard to write for 5 main characters. They forgot about that in season 10 (and part of 9) and the result hurt Sam the most.

I'm sure she enjoyed more time with her daughter but it is not like she requested a reduced role (other than her mat leave). She commented at an AT event that the "Cam as SG1 leader" came as as surprise to her.

I also recall hearing that she was the only one not contacted to return for Season 9 and when she questioned it, she was told "we thought you'd want to not work so you could spend time with your baby". Hello. Could they not have just picked up a phone and asked her instead of ignoring her and making that assumption? As nice as AT is, I imagine she was rather hurt by their behavior. Plus, TPTB pretty much wrote the entire end of S9, beginning of S10 - and worked around - CB's RL pregnancy(ies), so they could have done the same for Amanda, and just given her a really good reason for not being present. They are writers, after all. They get paid to come up with good ideas for stories/scripts. Nobody will ever convince me they couldn't have done the same for Amanda.

Ooooops, sorry for the rant.

yes, it's true.

Claudia had her contract for s9, as did MS, BB, CJ and the others, but amanda had heard nothing. She called Coop and asked 'umm, so do I need to be worried or what?'

the response was along the line of 'we don't know what to do with carter' (popular interpretation is taht, with jack gone, and mitchell in charge, they didn't know what to do with Carter...and IIRC, there was also some pressure for Sam to go to Atlantis.)

the story was told at a con around that time.

I would say being forgotten would hurt worse than being let maliciously. At least if something happens for a malicious reason, there is some thought to it and they know you are there. How could they just "forget" AT was a part of the story?!?

I believe the opposite of love isn't hate. It is apathy.

It was regarding the contracts for Season 10, not Season 9.

The story as I remember it (in spoilers for those of you who already remember it and don't want to have to read it again ):

Spoiler:

At the end of filming Season 9 (I think it was while they were filming Crusade), TPTB offered contracts to all the full time cast members except AT and they also offered a full time contract to CB who had only been a guest star up to that point. When AT found this out from the other cast members, she apparently got a little worried and went to Robert Cooper and asked him whether she needed to worry about whether she still had a job and if she needed to start looking for work elsewhere. He told her that they didn’t know what to do with her character and were still working out the details, but that she shouldn’t worry and they were going to offer her a contract.

TPTB ended up offering AT a contract where she would split her time between SGA and SG-1 and Carter would be taken off the SG-1 team and be given command of a ship that would travel between Earth and Atlantis (sort of like Caldwell). The reason TPTB gave for making this decision was that it would give Sam more to do. Apparently Vala knew enough about Goa’uld technology that Sam’s technical expertise would not be needed on the team and since Mitchell was the military leader of the team, Sam wasn’t needed to fulfill that role either. This was designed to give her something to do because the new characters took over her roles on the SG-1 team.

No one really knows exactly what TPTB’s motivations were, but there was a huge fan outcry when word of all this got out. TPTB quickly had to change their plans (including re-writing entire scripts) b/c it was clear that fans were not happy (I don’t think AT was either for that matter – she said around that time that she felt her place and her family was with SG-1 not SGA). So b/c of the fans loudly complaining, Sam stayed on the team in Season 10 and AT only ended up doing one episode of SGA that year. Since the writers couldn’t send Sam away on a ship when they didn’t want her around, they basically chose to wallpaper the character instead.

I didn't like either Season 9 or 10. Part of that is due to how TPTB treated AT and the character of Sam in those seasons. Most of it is due to just not liking the new direction of the show, the development of all the characters, and the writing in general.

And I agree, majorsal. I think TPTB were bored with SG-1 and with the characters of Sam and Teal'c as well. They were very excited to have new characters and actors to work with and almost seemed annoyed at times that they actually had to find stuff for Sam and Teal'c to do. I think they would have been much happier if they could have created the "Stargate Command" spin-off and started with completely fresh stories and mostly new characters.

omg, i didnt know that they hadnt even offered AT a contract at that point in time and i thought it was disrespectful to her and sam taking her command position and giving it to cam and giving amandas lead credits to ben... omg, this just adds to the disrespect they showed amanda/sam in the last two seasons! i cant believe that they would treat someone who has given 8/9 years of their life to something with such thoughtlessness... not to mention not knowing what to do with her! maybe if they hadnt given her jobs away (and that is nothing against cam and vala) then they would have had a direction... cam and vala were the additions they should have been worked in around the existing cast not partially replaced them... and it is not only a slap in the face to amanda, but her and sam's fans as well... so many people adore amanda/sam what did tptb think was going to happen when they said we dont know what to do with her so we'll just do this and hope it works totally unbelievable and disappointing ptb

[majorsal]

I agree, but I also think it would have been as successful as SGU

look at how s9 started out, ratings wise. if i remember right, it had the same ratings as the end of season 8, which were the biggest ratings for stargate ever. but, as the series progressed (and this didn't take very long into the new season), the ratings started falling. strange thing, but it took some of atlantis' ratings too (i think b/c overflow from sg1 to atlantis, casual viewers wise). the thing is, neither show recovered from those viewers loss.

so, to me, in a way, s9/10 was a vision of things to come, sgu wise. the writers got bored with sg1, jazzed it up, lost some respect from the fans (what happened to the so-called show bible? did they remember past episode details?), got defensive of the complaints... now, in all honesty, they 'did' improve things in season 10, but by then i think, it was just too late.

~just take a look at what 'unending' showed us. forgetting past characters (jack), offing a much loved race (the asgard) in the name of 'WOW, look what we did!', having the team stuck on a godforsaken ship with no hope and it's all depressing (sound familiar? ), the music montage (sound familiar again? ), the daniel/vala storyline (i wouldn't have minded sam/jack getting some attention like that though , but it 'was' pushing into sgu's heavier character drama), and... there is no and, b/c too much thinking ~

when i watch these first few seasons of sg1 (i'm still on s2), i can't believe how much *better* they were in about every way. the attention to details, the character growth, the storylines that weren't loaded with plot holes... i could go on, but, again, i don't want to think that much anymore.

[EH-T]

It was regarding the contracts for Season 10, not Season 9.


The story as I remember it (in spoilers for those of you who already remember it and don't want to have to read it again ):

Spoiler:

At the end of filming Season 9 (I think it was while they were filming Crusade), TPTB offered contracts to all the full time cast members except AT and they also offered a full time contract to CB who had only been a guest star up to that point. When AT found this out from the other cast members, she apparently got a little worried and went to Robert Cooper and asked him whether she needed to worry about whether she still had a job and if she needed to start looking for work elsewhere. He told her that they didn’t know what to do with her character and were still working out the details, but that she shouldn’t worry and they were going to offer her a contract.

TPTB ended up offering AT a contract where she would split her time between SGA and SG-1 and Carter would be taken off the SG-1 team and be given command of a ship that would travel between Earth and Atlantis (sort of like Caldwell). The reason TPTB gave for making this decision was that it would give Sam more to do. Apparently Vala knew enough about Goa’uld technology that Sam’s technical expertise would not be needed on the team and since Mitchell was the military leader of the team, Sam wasn’t needed to fulfill that role either. This was designed to give her something to do because the new characters took over her roles on the SG-1 team.

No one really knows exactly what TPTB’s motivations were, but there was a huge fan outcry when word of all this got out. TPTB quickly had to change their plans (including re-writing entire scripts) b/c it was clear that fans were not happy (I don’t think AT was either for that matter – she said around that time that she felt her place and her family was with SG-1 not SGA). So b/c of the fans loudly complaining, Sam stayed on the team in Season 10 and AT only ended up doing one episode of SGA that year. Since the writers couldn’t send Sam away on a ship when they didn’t want her around, they basically chose to wallpaper the character instead.

I didn't like either Season 9 or 10. Part of that is due to how TPTB treated AT and the character of Sam in those seasons. Most of it is due to just not liking the new direction of the show, the development of all the characters, and the writing in general.

And I agree, majorsal. I think TPTB were bored with SG-1 and with the characters of Sam and Teal'c as well. They were very excited to have new characters and actors to work with and almost seemed annoyed at times that they actually had to find stuff for Sam and Teal'c to do. I think they would have been much happier if they could have created the "Stargate Command" spin-off and started with completely fresh stories and mostly new characters.

As I said, I am a fan of TPTB, after all, they brought me one of my favourite all time characters and TV shows but this is very poor behaviour. While it was their show and their call on what to do with the characters, they should have contacted AT and talked this over with her rather than leaving her hanging. No one should be treated like that, let alone someone who has been such a great, kind and professional employee like AT. Really speaks volumes about her character that she put this behind her and remains loyal to the franchise and TPTB. This episode (along with the fact she is just really nice) may help explain why she has such a great attitude toward her employees on Sanctuary.