Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[SeaBee]

I hope that you all can forgive me, as I am not a poster on this thread, but I have a slightly off topic favour to ask.

Can those who went to Gabit and were involved in the special event on Sunday afternoon PLEASE refrain from talking about it? Gabit will lose it if it gets picked up by another large gathering, and discussing it, even in passing, is enough to give people ideas.

[Traveler Enroute1]

OK, this is my parting shot for tonight, and shows our esteemed Court Jester, just leaving for the Cocktail Party, being accosted by our equally esteemed Royal Accountant, who appears to have now adopted the role of Royal Paparazzi.

Caption away...

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ocktailGal.jpg

That's EXTRA for my good side!

Just sayin', glamor gals!

[Uber]

Can any GABITeers share the joke that AT played on a GABIT organizer? Kat hinted at it but said she didn't have the details...

[sg-1fanintn]

Sorry TE1, I'm only at 2,500 posts. Not 25,000. But give me a few weeks though.

You know, right now I can't see beyond the utter disrespect TPTB displayed with regard to Amanda. I am sickened by their collective lack of regard for her contributions over the last decade or so. They could have given her the courtesy of a phone call. The fact that she had to ring them up to find out what was going on is completely and unquestionably wrong.

The idea of an SG-1 without Sam is a dreary prospect for me. I stumbled through the first few episodes because I knew she was coming back and I wanted to know what storyline she'd have to face when she returned. And as much as I now like Vala and love CB, the idea of a repeat of the Daniel/Vala Sexkitten Comedy Hour is about as appealing to me as eating my shoe.

Furthermore, the very fact that they don't know what to do with Carter is truly pathetic. Why don't they know? Is it because of Jack and ship?

As I've been saying, as much as I love ship, it's only one tiny part of who Carter is. She's a hero. She's a scientist. She's a soldier. She's brave. She's loyal. She's compassionate. She's strong. She's blown up suns. She's decimated Goa'ulds. She's rescued allies and survived hellish scenarios. There's 8+ years of development for this amazing character...and they're stuck because of the one aspect of her personality that includes Jack?

Seriously. That's tragic.

Seriously.....what she said!

I'm still catching up on the weekend's posts, but I can't help but feel that there's A LOT going on that we don't know. And we should beg our friends with industry connections to get more info for us. Because without info, we can't do anything that might make a difference.

I have long feared that Sony/MGM didn't "get" the show.....and who is to say that isn't why Gekko backed away when RDA left? At this point, though, I'm still too dumbstruck to really do an analysis of what might be going on behind the board room doors. I gotta think about this for a day or so.....and I want to hear more from those who were at GABIT.

[Traveler Enroute1]

How could I forget!

WELCOME BACK, GABITEERS!

Sounds like you had loads of fun meeting Amanda and other fans. Loving all the detailed reports and pics. And Kudos for representing so well!

Just sayin', keep the reports coming, please! How about some info on your off-Gabit doings? Sightseeing? Cute bellhops? Um, did I say that out loud... (That is, after you get some rest. )

[LaCroix]

Well Joe's new blog is up. And as usual it's the same old, same old spiel. IMHO

[Uber]

Intriguing new comments by JM on his blog. Clearly he got the message that fans are concerned about Amanda/Sam:

October 31, 2005

Wow! My blogs usually average about a 100 fan comments, but the October 21st entry boasted 401+ posts and counting! Congratulations to everyone who's accolades, criticisms, and belligerent tirades made my last blog number one.

Well, its that time of year again when all manner of rascals and rogues take center stage to thrill and chill, dispensing tricks and trickery with bloodcurdling, spine-tingling aplomb. I'm of course referring to contract negotiation time. Speaking of which, I couldn't help but notice more than a few near-hysterical posts touching on this very subject. Who's staying? Who's going? Who's staying and going? Let's put some rumors to rest or, at the very least, attempt to allay some concerns.

1. There are currently no plans to introduce Star Jones as the new sassy, straight-shooting Chief Medical Officer. This rumor has no basis in fact.

2. There are currently no plans to introduce Dominar Rygel XVI as the new sassy, straight-shooting alien/scientist team member. Okay, this one has some basis in truth. We did, in fact, contact his representatives about the possibility of his coming aboard, but reached an impasse when Rygel insisted he be granted a bigger trailer than Ben Browder's. There were suggestions of a on-going feud between the two dating back to their Farscape days, so the negotiations were shelved. For the time being.

3. There are no plans to turn Stargate into Farscape (the aforementioned rumor notwithstanding). Yes, Ben and Claudia were on Farscape but - and here's where it gets tricky for fans who never watched Farscape - the characters they played on that show were very different from the ones they play on this show. This is particularly true of Claudia who's Aeryn Sun was, for all intents and purposes, the dissenting voice of sanity aboard Moya - a far cry from Vala Mal Doran. So, no. There are no plans to turn Stargate into Farscape.

Unless we get Rygel.

4. I'm not involved in the contract negotiations and so have no say in who is being offered what and when (If I did, I would have been asked to return for the show's 10th season by now). However, I do know that all members of the cast have made known their desire to return for a 10th season. Now, its just a matter of working out a deal that is amenable to all concerned. Hopefully, that will happen sooner than later.

5. Finally - I've always felt that Amanda has one of the toughest jobs on the show as she's the one usually relied upon to deliver reams of scientific exposition - and sound believable doing so. She does and - she does. Its a tough task, but she's done it time and again. So much so that we almost take it for granted she'll do an excellent job as we script those dense, chock full o' technobabble soliloquies. Like the characters of Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, and Mitchell, Samantha Carter brings more to the show than a mere area of specialty - so its ridiculous to suggest "we wouldn't know what to do with her character". HOWEVER, taken in the general sense, such a statement could apply to season 10 (the overall arc, the individual character storylines) because we can't really start work on season 10 until: a) our deals are in place so that we can begin spinning, b) the actors' deals are in place so that we know for certain who we are writing for. We're still in the preliminary planning stages, so before everybody gets bent out of shape regarding any proposed changes, be aware that, at this point, nothing is written in stone.

6. Oh, and - I've read the comments and concerns being circulating and, while I want to reiterate that nothing has been firmly decided re: season 10, I'm also going to come out an make a potentially heretical statement. As a fan of Samantha Carter and Amanda Tapping, I would be thrilled at the prospect of seeing her do some cross-over into Atlantis. There's no reason why she still couldn't travel off-world with the team (same old, same old), AND put in some appearances in the Pegasus galaxy as well (like she did in the upcoming Grace Under Pressure). If you stop to think for a moment - there were episodes (as evidenced by this season in which we had to service a number of new elements including the introduction of a new villain, a new team member, a new General, a new CMO, and an ongoing Jaffa storyline) in which the Carter character played a significantly smaller supporting role (and, of course, there were episodes in which she was in the thick of the action, like Horsemen I and II, Ripple Effect, and Camelot to name a few). So what if, rather than having Carter play the supporting role in a particular SG-1 episode, she were to, instead, play a more decisive role in an Atlantis story? We're not talking about minimizing Carter, but quite literally making the most of her character across two universes (and I dont' mean that literally). In fact, fans of the character would actually be getting more front-and-center Carter, not less. Again, nothing has been decided and when all is said and done this could be much ado about nothing but, personally, I think that, given the chance, it would be a shame not to make full use of the character's potential.

7) Finished the 5th season of OZ and am impatiently awaiting the 2006 release of the 6th and final season. Have moved on to season one of the Outer Limits (so far so so-so) and Futurama season 3 (fave line: The Professor on his new girlfriend - "Some say I'm robbing the cradle - but I say she's robbing the grave." Finished season one of Lost (I really hope against hope they're not just making it up as they go along) and have started season 4 of Alias (No, seriously. When's Lena Olin coming back?). I'm heading onto the final volumes of Wolf's Rain, Read or Die, and Peacemaker - and have completed Level One of Pimsleur's Cantonese (Cheng-mun siu-je!).

Well, that's it for now. As they say in Cantonese: Bye-bye!

I think he got the message that fans are very concerned about the show turning into Farscape and about the possibility of Sam's role being diminished. Heck, he spent 3 paragraphs on this topic alone. This at least tells me that they know that fans love and respect Amanda/Sam and are concerned with the thoughts that she might get screwed over for the "new and improved" direction of the franchise and wanted to assuage our fears as best he could.

Do I regret anything I said this weekend? Not a chance. Let's say we are 100% wrong and TPTB really get how valuable AT/Sam are and have no interest in replacing her with CB/Vala. We don't even know what CB's status is yet. Would she be a regular or recurring? I don't know, do you? If she's also a recurring player then our fears of her "replacing Sam" might also be null. But again, do I regret ANYTHING I said or did? Nope. Why? Because regardless of what happens in the end, this weekend proved to me and I think to JM that Amanda/Sam are so incredibly liked/loved/adored by fans across the board that we immediately got concerned with what they might be doing to her.

Am I completely at ease about everything? Not a chance there either. I still sense a Major problem here with our Colonel. The "recurring" thing keeps popping up...and I don't like the fact that JM himself has a question mark over his head about his own status.

I think there's still alot going on that we just don't know. I'm still ready to write my letter telling TPTB at Sony, SciFi, Bridge, ACME Inc., wherever...that Amanda/Sam is a beloved asset of the franchise and I for one wouldn't want to lose her...ever.

And that kind of support never hurts.

[chocdoc]

If this turns out to be more than just a rumor, I'm behind you 100%. I still can't believe that TPTB are actually treating Amanda in such a shoddy, unprofessional, and disrespectful manner, and the idea of seeing her reduced to supporting cast on two shows instead of having the well-deserved lead position on the show she founded burns me up as well. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this all day...I just...geez. This is scary. It is really frightening that they are even considering this, and they are putting a bullet into the collective heads of everyone involved in the franchise if they go through with it. Yeah, so I'm with you. I'm praying that the "proper authorities" in this matter have been paying attention over the past 48 hours. Just take a look into any thread on this forum and you'll see pretty much the same story as in this one -- an emphatic "no".

Completely agree with you there. AT deserves to continue as a lead in SG-1! That is the whole problem with this horrible fiasco! This news is still blowing my mind! How can she be treated like this after nine years!! What do the other writers/producers and actors think of this?

Some others have said that they could see the writing on the wall, but I didn't want to believe it. But in retrospect (always a dangerous place to be), it does seem like this was planned for awhile. You know what is really so bad---that AT is surprised by it--that she didn't see it coming. She is going in to work thinking everything is fine--she is doing interviews and she thinks everything is fine. Meanwhile the producers (including JM) and the actors are talking up season 9 and she is not mentioned at all by anyone (until a bit recently). And JM says little about Sam except that there won't be any Carter arcs and that there is co-leadership, but it won't be obvious on screen!!

Here Amanda is going to RCC and fighting for some issues in the script, but they don't really plan to have her even remotely co-leader at all. It seems to be that this has been planned for awhile, and sadly conveniently around AT's pregnancy/maternity leave. And she is such a nice and gracious person--she doesn't have a clue. AT sees Sam as the brilliant scientist and strong soldier--that is what she says most about the character. Yes, she wanted to give Sam some personal touches too, but the key to Carter is her science and military career---and putting her talents to use to save Earth over and over again. So my guess is, AT is thinking we can focus almost soley on this side of Sam in season 9, and season 10, particularly because of this co-leadership thing that she thinks is going on. Sad that this does not seem to be the direction it is going.

Now that I've rambled on, what are people proposing? Writing letters, right? I'm with others who have expressed that at least we have to do something--and I mean in a respectful way. At least Sony should know that people are outraged by this.

I noticed several other threads about this, including Does TPTB Hate Carter/AT. It seems that a number of different fans are upset about this besides just the "Sam Fans.'

Thanks to those who went to GABIT for all the wonderful info so far about AT herself. I'm glad it went so well for you!!! I had no idea that AT was so shy in terms of meeting other actors. She does not have a clue about how she affects people.

[SnoggingPicard]

Completely agree with you there. AT deserves to continue as a lead in SG-1! That is the whole problem with this horrible fiasco! This news is still blowing my mind! How can she be treated like this after nine years!! What do the other writers/producers and actors think of this?

Some others have said that they could see the writing on the wall, but I didn't want to believe it. But in retrospect (always a dangerous place to be), it does seem like this was planned for awhile. You know what is really so bad---that AT is surprised by it--that she didn't see it coming. She is going in to work thinking everything is fine--she is doing interviews and she thinks everything is fine. Meanwhile the producers (including JM) and the actors are talking up season 9 and she is not mentioned at all by anyone (until a bit recently). And JM says little about Sam except that there won't be any Carter arcs and that there is co-leadership, but it won't be obvious on screen!!

Here Amanda is going to RCC and fighting for some issues in the script, but they don't really plan to have her even remotely co-leader at all. It seems to be that this has been planned for awhile, and sadly conveniently around AT's pregnancy/maternity leave. And she is such a nice and gracious person--she doesn't have a clue. AT sees Sam as the brilliant scientist and strong soldier--that is what she says most about the character. Yes, she wanted to give Sam some personal touches too, but the key to Carter is her science and military career---and putting her talents to use to save Earth over and over again. So my guess is, AT is thinking we can focus almost soley on this side of Sam in season 9, and season 10, particularly because of this co-leadership thing that she thinks is going on. Sad that this does not seem to be the direction it is going.

Now that I've rambled on, what are people proposing? Writing letters, right? I'm with others who have expressed that at least we have to do something--and I mean in a respectful way. At least Sony should know that people are outraged by this.

I noticed several other threads about this, including Does TPTB Hate Carter/AT. It seems that a number of different fans are upset about this besides just the "Sam Fans.'

Thanks to those who went to GABIT for all the wonderful info so far about AT herself. I'm glad it went so well for you!!! I had no idea that AT was so shy in terms of meeting other actors. She does not have a clue about how she affects people.

You nailed it. I'm greening you for this. And you're definitely right about everyone being upset about this. Over on the Atlantis threads, the reaction is just as strongly against it as in the purely Sam threads. Not only are those fans worried about the course SGA would take but they are appalled at the treatment of AT. Anyone can recognize unfairity, and this whole affair smacks of unprofessionalism and utter disrespect to such a lovely, talented, gracious actress and person. I'm shocked that this has happened, and I guess I kept trying to convince myself all through the beginning of this season that AT, MS, and CJ were untouchable. Guess I was wrong.

[Myrth]

That was a very heartening spin on the situation from Joe.. good job Mallozzi.. now I have monitors to fix [glares @ Uber]

[Uber]

That was a very heartening spin on the situation from Joe.. good job Mallozzi.. now I have monitors to fix [glares @ Uber]

Don't get me wrong. I'm still very leery and suspicious. Especially after the lack of regard Amanda got having to go ask about her own status. That's still wrong even if everything else plays out well.

Again...I don't regret a thing. If we were wrong and things work out correctly, I'll be pleased knowing that fans universally hated the idea.

If we were right, then I'll be tuning in to watch something else on Fridays. Win-win.

[Traveler Enroute1]

Intriguing new comments by JM on his blog. Clearly he got the message that fans are concerned about Amanda/Sam:
I think he got the message that fans are very concerned about the show turning into Farscape and about the possibility of Sam's role being diminished. Heck, he spent 3 paragraphs on this topic alone. This at least tells me that they know that fans love and respect Amanda/Sam and are concerned with the thoughts that she might get screwed over for the "new and improved" direction of the franchise and wanted to assuage our fears as best he could.
Do I regret anything I said this weekend? Not a chance. Let's say we are 100% wrong and TPTB really get how valuable AT/Sam are and have no interest in replacing her with CB/Vala. We don't even know what CB's status is yet. Would she be a regular or recurring? I don't know, do you? If she's also a recurring player then our fears of her "replacing Sam" might also be null. But again, do I regret ANYTHING I said or did? Nope. Why? Because regardless of what happens in the end, this weekend proved to me and I think to JM that Amanda/Sam are so incredibly liked/loved/adored by fans across the board that we immediately got concerned with what they might be doing to her.
Am I completely at ease about everything? Not a chance there either. I still sense a Major problem here with our Colonel. The "recurring" thing keeps popping up...and I don't like the fact that JM himself has a question mark over his head about his own status.
I think there's still alot going on that we just don't know. I'm still ready to write my letter telling TPTB at Sony, SciFi, Bridge, ACME Inc., wherever...that Amanda/Sam is a beloved asset of the franchise and I for one wouldn't want to lose her...ever.

And that kind of support never hurts.

Thanks for posting, Über. I think someone got the message, alright. And no, it's not time to pull back based on JM's words, meant to settle the outpouring of outrage. He may mean well, but there's still that pesky idea of sprinkling Sam Carter over 2 shows. One of which has little need of her unless she displaces someone. As you say, her status is still up in the air as to whether she's a full or recurring character. Does her name still place forward in the credits as it does now? JM tried, but he's not quite in the loop it seems. We'll really have to wait for studio info. Pity, that.

Just sayin', the (runaround) game's afoot.

[SunKrux]

Intriguing new comments by JM on his blog. Clearly he got the message that fans are concerned about Amanda/Sam:

I think he got the message that fans are very concerned about the show turning into Farscape and about the possibility of Sam's role being diminished. Heck, he spent 3 paragraphs on this topic alone. This at least tells me that they know that fans love and respect Amanda/Sam and are concerned with the thoughts that she might get screwed over for the "new and improved" direction of the franchise and wanted to assuage our fears as best he could.

Do I regret anything I said this weekend? Not a chance. Let's say we are 100% wrong and TPTB really get how valuable AT/Sam are and have no interest in replacing her with CB/Vala. We don't even know what CB's status is yet. Would she be a regular or recurring? I don't know, do you? If she's also a recurring player then our fears of her "replacing Sam" might also be null. But again, do I regret ANYTHING I said or did? Nope. Why? Because regardless of what happens in the end, this weekend proved to me and I think to JM that Amanda/Sam are so incredibly liked/loved/adored by fans across the board that we immediately got concerned with what they might be doing to her.

Am I completely at ease about everything? Not a chance there either. I still sense a Major problem here with our Colonel. The "recurring" thing keeps popping up...and I don't like the fact that JM himself has a question mark over his head about his own status.

I think there's still alot going on that we just don't know. I'm still ready to write my letter telling TPTB at Sony, SciFi, Bridge, ACME Inc., wherever...that Amanda/Sam is a beloved asset of the franchise and I for one wouldn't want to lose her...ever.

And that kind of support never hurts.

Uber - thanks for posting the stuff from Joe's blog.


Now I'm sure there are many of you who think I'm wrong in saying that the SGPTB are not necessarily the baddies that they are being made out to be. I also know that many of you may think I'm wrong in my belief that they don't want Sam/Amanda off the show nor are they taking her for granted.

Considering that even the SGPTB have to sign a friggin' contract their future is as much up in the air as the rest of the cast and crew for the show. Yet many here are bashing SGPTB over the mention that Amanda approached RCC of her own accord.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I imagine RCC is wishing things with Amanda had been handled differently, but some may have forgotten that RCC does answer to someone higher. He may not have any say in the matter with Amanda.

6. Oh, and - I've read the comments and concerns being circulating and, while I want to reiterate that nothing has been firmly decided re: season 10, I'm also going to come out an make a potentially heretical statement. As a fan of Samantha Carter and Amanda Tapping, I would be thrilled at the prospect of seeing her do some cross-over into Atlantis. There's no reason why she still couldn't travel off-world with the team (same old, same old), AND put in some appearances in the Pegasus galaxy as well (like she did in the upcoming Grace Under Pressure). If you stop to think for a moment - there were episodes (as evidenced by this season in which we had to service a number of new elements including the introduction of a new villain, a new team member, a new General, a new CMO, and an ongoing Jaffa storyline) in which the Carter character played a significantly smaller supporting role (and, of course, there were episodes in which she was in the thick of the action, like Horsemen I and II, Ripple Effect, and Camelot to name a few). So what if, rather than having Carter play the supporting role in a particular SG-1 episode, she were to, instead, play a more decisive role in an Atlantis story? We're not talking about minimizing Carter, but quite literally making the most of her character across two universes (and I dont' mean that literally). In fact, fans of the character would actually be getting more front-and-center Carter, not less. Again, nothing has been decided and when all is said and done this could be much ado about nothing but, personally, I think that, given the chance, it would be a shame not to make full use of the character's potential.

Seems to me by this that Joe and quite possibly the rest of the SGPTB do appreciate all Amanda has done for the show.

So I think we all need to chill out and see how this plays out. They are still in contract negotiations and our ranting and raving could hamper that process. Yes, SGPTB know fans are not happy, but as Joe said, they have no control over the negotiations.

Chill and let's party.

*wonders if she'll get any dings for this post LOL

[SimilarCadence]

Vote for Amanda on msnbc's It List......

This is a little off-topic, but I was just over at the msnbc website and I noticed that there were five new names people could vote for in their entertainment section's "It" List---Amanda Tapping is one of them! The question is "Which woman of scifi deserves a spot on the It list?" There are five choices and AT is the fifth choice. (I know it's a silly thing but it's so nice to know she's on the list.) Here's the link.....

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4043608

[chocdoc]

Uber - thanks for posting the stuff from Joe's blog.


Now I'm sure there are many of you who think I'm wrong in saying that the SGPTB are not necessarily the baddies that they are being made out to be. I also know that many of you may think I'm wrong in my belief that they don't want Sam/Amanda off the show nor are they taking her for granted.

Considering that even the SGPTB have to sign a friggin' contract their future is as much up in the air as the rest of the cast and crew for the show. Yet many here are bashing SGPTB over the mention that Amanda approached RCC of her own accord.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I imagine RCC is wishing things with Amanda had been handled differently, but some may have forgotten that RCC does answer to someone higher. He may not have any say in the matter with Amanda.



Seems to me by this that Joe and quite possibly the rest of the SGPTB do appreciate all Amanda has done for the show.

So I think we all need to chill out and see how this plays out. They are still in contract negotiations and our ranting and raving could hamper that process. Yes, SGPTB know fans are not happy, but as Joe said, they have no control over the negotiations.

Chill and let's party.

*wonders if she'll get any dings for this post LOL

You make some good points, SunKrux, but SGPTB does have say in how they write Sam--what story arcs they give her, etc. They do have control in how much Sam will be written into an episode and how. If Sam were to get sidelined in SG-1, then it would be the fault of TPTB, and I don't want to see her sidelined and become less important. She should be equally important as the other characters, and AT should continue to be considered a main lead in SG-1. The thought of having Sam pushed into the background after all these years would be really upsetting. And I wouldn't mind if Sam went to Atlantis on occasion if it makes sense to the storyline, but I think she should remain as a lead in SG-1. And letters to this effect to Sony/Scifi seem to be a good idea at this time, even with JM's words. Letters that are positive about AT, and also respectful in general.

And certainly, you should NOT get any dings for your post!! You are our Royal Ambassador after all! Plus you are just expressing your opinions.