Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Uber]

CG thanks for the great con report.

On the DDL story the first time I heard AT talk about this she said that while David received the worse of the fan mail, she had also received some really ugly letters saying how she was not being true to her character by being in a relationship with Pete.

I don't get this either. Do I need to write her a letter on behalf of sane shippers too? I've got a lot of writing to do.

She as an actress did a lovely job portraying Sam struggling with this new and unexplored side of herself and IMHO, no one has any business railing on her for any of this. Again...the actors have some say in how their characters are played out...the "choices" they make to bring a plot to life...but like they have no say that I know of in the actual storyline itself.

Even Amanda couldn't get them to take the kiss scene out from the end of Affinity. They wouldn't listen to her because the image made for a great "fade to black" moment, regardless of the fact that Carter wouldn't have kissed him while on duty like that. Character logic fell to the mighty blow of what looked good for the moment.

Furthermore, even if she (Amanda) did have some say in the storyline, the fact of the matter is that she (Sam) was most certainly being true to her character with a relationship with Pete. Well, not Pete per se, but someone other than Jack. One needs look no further than Grace to figure out that Sam gave herself permission to consider a different life for herself, and that meant exploring the side of her that wanted/needed the type of relationship her parents had...which clearly meant exploring a romantic relationship with a man who was not named Jack O'Neill. Unless of course by some freaky coincidence the new potential suitor's name also happened to have been Jack O'Neill...but then that would've been farfetched.

And we ALL know how careful the SG-1 scribes are to not write anything that would be considered farfetched, right???

*cough*

[1speed4Sam]

In case anyone’s not seen them, here are some links to a few of the GABIT pics on the French site AD mentioned earlier.

As I mentioned previously, Amanda really had fun with the Jack/Sam dogtags during auction and wound them around and proudly exlaimed: "together at last"!

http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1411

http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1412

http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1413

There was a bobbing-head doll of Sam Carter that she thought was a hoot ... she kept walking around with the little doll and suggested that we bid on it and then put it in the rear window of a car! She also thought the doll looked more like Ellen DeGeneres than her!

http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1445

And finally, the "goofy catwalk supermodel" I mentioned aeons ago...

http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1398

http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1400

I trust our French co-GABITeers won't mind us using their photos to illustrate our report...

[LaCroix]

In case anyone’s not seen them, here are some links to a few of the GABIT pics on the French site AD mentioned earlier.


http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1411

http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1412

http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1413


http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1445

And finally, the "goofy catwalk supermodel" I mentioned aeons ago...

http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1398

http://www.amandatapping-fr.com/fanc...o.php?lid=1400

I trust our French co-GABITeers won't mind us using their photos to illustrate our report...

Those pics where fantastic. Makes me green with envy I wasn't there.

[Lida]

Thanks 1speed4Sam. I really needed a laugh and those pics were super......however, what was that "coat" thing she was wearing????? AT is a gorgeous woman and that made her look like a bag lady. Argh!

As for the Bobble head...she was right, it did look like Ellen DeGeneres. It certanly didn't look like Amanda.

Thanks again....I'm so jealous of everyone who had the honor of meeting AT at Gabit, but considering everything, if I had bought tickets, I wouldn't have been able to attend and would have felt ten times worse. Maybe someday I'll have the chance to meet her.....please, please, please.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading more Gabit news and seeing pics!!!! (hint hint)

[Queen Eleta]

You're a star for this Uber. I await to see what transpires

However the fact that TPTB had already decided what they wanted from Vala and had aked CB to come back and issued a contract sounds to me like the direction of the show is geared far more to Vala than it is to Sam - who they were left wondering what to do with. Wondering what to do with and they have decided what to do with Vala - just think about that!!! You would tend to sort out who you think are your most important chatacters first right!!! Or is that just me??

I'm telling you the writing is on the wall. If a seaon 11 transpires my guess is that Sam won't figure in it at all apart from guest appearances perhaps.

Oh hark at the grim reaper eh - I'm just in that mood today!!

Not to seem mean, but Vala is not as, well, 'complex' to write for as Sam. I mean how hard is it to write 'shakes cleavage at Daniel'?

And I kinda like Vala, too. Just don't want to trade her for Sam.

[minigeek]

Okay...okay...

I would REALLY appreciate it if Spazzy and the Geekster would kindly STOP telling people to refrain from GREENING me.

I was a System Lord once until one spring morning I was unceremoniously dethroned...thanks to either a coup led by my now OH SO FORMER first prime or a change in the rep system (take your pick)...and now I'm merely a lowly loyal advisor once again... *whimper*

So please...give a former System Lord a break, will ya???? I'd like to reclaim my kingdom sometime before Carter's a Four Star serving as a Joint Chief of Staff you know.

Sheesh...

HEY, I went from a Super Soldier to a friggin Death Glider Pilot which, to me, is a huge honkin' step DOWN. So zip yer cakehole eh? At least you got teamsters.

[ann_sgcfan]

Now swicth to mote lighthearted GABIT news and I'd just like to report that the Court Jester was on fine form. Tears rolled down my cheeks most of the weekend. Here are some snippets - courtsey of the Jester's daughter for the first

Jester with daughter in hotel room: I don’t know about you, but I find a lot of these British accents very hard to understand. [gestures to news show on hotel TV] Oh, now her accent’s heavy.

daughter: That’s German, Mom.

EDIT: I had similar experience in college and I thought I was losing the rest of my hearing. Thankfully my mom was there to clarify they weren't speaking English! So your story had me in tears of laughter.

Louise: You certainly hit it off with John.

Jester: Oh, I like John. I’ll do John all weekend.

In response to discussing the oranged themed disco the Jester whipped out her newest purchase - an orange and white silk scarf (hardly withit):

Jester: For a disco, it might just work fine. Then I’ll give it to charity.


Oh there's more, much more, but I go and see if there's money to be had!!

Coley thanks for the laughs! It was too funny! Not laughing at you Jester ... laughing with you.


CG thanks for the Gabit stories and 1Speed4Sam for posting the pictures that went along with it!!!!!

[AGateFan]

You're a star for this Uber. I await to see what transpires

However the fact that TPTB had already decided what they wanted from Vala and had aked CB to come back and issued a contract sounds to me like the direction of the show is geared far more to Vala than it is to Sam - who they were left wondering what to do with. Wondering what to do with and they have decided what to do with Vala - just think about that!!! You would tend to sort out who you think are your most important chatacters first right!!! Or is that just me??

I'm telling you the writing is on the wall. If a seaon 11 transpires my guess is that Sam won't figure in it at all apart from guest appearances perhaps.

Oh hark at the grim reaper eh - I'm just in that mood today!!

If Vala is full time in Seasonn 10 and Carter (and Teal'c too) are relagated to recurring and\or wallpaper status(which I suspect has already been decided) I doubt there will be a season 11.

It would be kind of funny (and extremely sad) if they ended season10 in some stupid cliffhanger and then the show got cancelled. The same farscape people could protest again as I am figuring they would be the only ones left watching the show. And in truth, as a farscape fan myself (yes I liked seasons 1-3) I doubt many farscape fans would still be left around either. Ayern Sun was a far superior character to Vala. Not quite Lt Col Carter or Commander Susan Ivonova (or Fraiser or Delene) but definitly top 10 of sci fi women.

[chocdoc]

Thanks so much ChopinGal, ForeverSg1, 1Speed4Sam and Coley for reports and pictures so far! They are fabulous! Amanda does look gorgeous and she looks like she had a great time.

Okay, here's my theory about what's happening with the Sam and Vala situation for season 10--I'm probably way off, but what the heck.

THE BAD: The suits (in this case I mean Sony and Scifi) don't care AT ALL about the history of the show (similar to what Myrth said before) or the team aspect of the show, or the character development, or the fact that characters can be role models. They probably don't even really know the storylines really well, and again, they don't care. They do think about, gee how can we get ratings to go up. They use their own limited assumptions, not based on ANY EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE, of what they think will make the ratings go up. They don't use any scientific or systematic way of determining this---it is simply their preconceived notions of what they think the general audience will like. They may be right at times; other times they are dead wrong.

The obvious thing that Vala brings to the show is that she is a character, unlike Sam, who can show more cleavage and who can make sexual remarks and jokes. Sam cannot do this. But there is something much more important that Vala can do that Sam cannot. And that is SHIP.

Vala, as a character, has much more SHIP POTENTIAL than Sam. And this is very very important to the suits (not necessarily the writers/producers). They believe that a show can only increase its ratings if their is sexual tension/angst,/UST between two main characters. That's what matters---not the integrity of the character, not the role model aspect. It is irrelevant.

Sam is probably the only character now in SG-1 and in Atlantis that has no ship potential. All the other characters can potentially be teased and tease another character, even if it is very subtle. They all can show deep caring that borders on "more than liking as a friend", while Sam cannot. Sam cannot do this because of the way the last several years have been written to suggest that she and Jack have some potential with each other. They have played with Jack/Sam UST for a long time---mostly subtle, but in season 8, much less subtle. Its logical conclusion is that the "Not Exactly" leaves Sam out of the ship picture.

Daniel lost some ship potential when Sha're died. He lost that longing for another character, even though she was a recurring character. MS thought this wouldn't be a problem for his character because, so what---write good scifi stories and friendship/team stories. But to him and others, his character lost ground because of it, and should not have.

Vala and Daniel now represent the ship dynamic -- I mean this in the sense that there can be sexual tension between the characters, not necessarily at all romance.

Mitchell can ship with Lam, and probably will down the road---a bit of flirting here and there. In order to make Mitchell a character who can ship, he needs to be a leader to get the gal. Teal'c still has Ishta. Both of these ships, though won't be as central to the show. To be blunt, CJ will never be front and center much because African American males still are less likely to get the angsty shippy central parts in many shows with an ensemble cast. All the characters in Atlantis have a lot of ship potential in the sense of tease, or more deep caring where the audience isn't quite sure if they are starting to really like each other beyond friendships.

Sam has none of this as a character now. And for suits, that makes her far less interesting. They don't care that she is female astrophysicist and Lt. Col. in the military. By the way, the Vala/Sam issue has nothing to do with the relative talents of CB and AT. They are both very talented, as all the actors are.

As a result, Vala will get 20 episodes on SG1 so that the sexual tension continues with Daniel (even if it remains one-sided, although already you can tell that Daniel does care about Vala because she has some redeeming qualities). Suits want the UST. It doesn't matter what the fans want on either side of the fence, it's what the suits think is key to ratings, even though it really isn't. SG-1 would have just as good of ratings without Vala when it came back, IMO.


GOOD: Yes, maybe there is some good. It may be that the writers/producers still care about Sam, a character that they do value (and of course AT). And that is why they are thinking of how best to use the talents of the character in both shows---where Sam can show her scientific/military skills in threat situations. If she hangs out in SG-1 all the time, and the suits want the show to focus on SHIP around the storylines, then Sam will get sidelined alot. But if she can go to Atlantis for a real purpose because she is needed there temporarily to help out, then I'm all for it. I would rather see Sam doing what she does best over in Atlantis every so often where it makes sense to the storyline, that just be wallpaper with Daniel and Vala front and center. Sam could be written to be needed over in Atlantis--work with the other characters, without taking away their time. And I do mean this only on occasion. Then when Sam is mostly on SG-1 she'll be in stories that are scfi/action centered, with ship in the background.

Sorry to be soooo long-winded! does this make any sense?

[ChopinGal]

Thanks 1speed4Sam. I really needed a laugh and those pics were super......however, what was that "coat" thing she was wearing????? AT is a gorgeous woman and that made her look like a bag lady. Argh!
Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading more Gabit news and seeing pics!!!! (hint hint)

The coat comes with matching trousers ... and believe me, you wouldn't want to bid on that set! It was one of the outfits she wore in Emancipation! No one could stop laughing as she threw the coat on, surprised it still fit, and then paraded down the runway with all the right gestures of a professional model! The set went for a lot of money ... two fans kept upping the ante and Amanda kept on prancing and modeling to feed the flame. Finally, it must have gotten too hot under the heavy wool material, so she took it off but smelled it and pronounced that, "yes, it still smells like yak!"

There was also a large poster of her that got put up for bid and also brought in a lot of money.

In total, the auction brought in around $10,000 American dollars for the hearing-aid dog society. The dogs were onstage with AT and one cute puppy fell asleep in her arms. We also got to pet them in the lobby - I had to pull Coley away as I thought for sure she'd want to dognap one or two and take them home to Hugo! They also had a woman tell her personal story and how having a dog to help her managed to turn her life around. It was a very worthy cause and the amount raised actually was the amount needed for full training of one dog which takes about two years. The dogs are all breeds and usually taken from rescue shelters. So it's a win/win for everyone. Some person's life will be changed for the better from what we at GABIT contributed for Amanda's auction/raffles.

I have more pictures but no time to organize all of them yet. 1speed found some excellent photos, didn't he? Thanks, Tone!

[ChopinGal]

Thanks so much ChopinGal, ForeverSg1, 1Speed4Sam and Coley for reports and pictures so far! They are fabulous! Amanda does look gorgeous and she looks like she had a great time.

Okay, here's my theory about what's happening with the Sam and Vala situation for season 10--I'm probably way off, but what the heck.

THE BAD: The suits (in this case I mean Sony and Scifi) don't care AT ALL about the history of the show (similar to what Myrth said before) or the team aspect of the show, or the character development, or the fact that characters can be role models.

... The obvious thing that Vala brings to the show is that she is a character, unlike Sam, who can show more cleavage and who can make sexual remarks and jokes. Sam cannot do this. But there is something much more important that Vala can do that Sam cannot. And that is SHIP.

Vala, as a character, has much more SHIP POTENTIAL than Sam. And this is very very important to the suits (not necessarily the writers/producers). They believe that a show can only increase its ratings if their is sexual tension/angst,/UST between two main characters. That's what matters---not the integrity of the character, not the role model aspect. It is irrelevant.

Sam is probably the only character now in SG-1 and in Atlantis that has no ship potential.

... Sorry to be soooo long-winded! does this make any sense?

Good post, chocdoc ... looking at this whole projection from a slightly different angle. You make sense up to a point ... but I couldn't help thinking that

Spoiler:

Vala is supposed to be 'married' to some guy who has gotten her pregnant by end of S9 ... and having his baby ... so where would her SHIP potential be after that?! Doesn't sound like she can regain all her former teasing sex appeal or whatever once she's been bedded and wedded ... what do you think?!

I'm just wishing for some solid scripts, with teamcentric action, and plenty scenes with Sam. Well, I am ever the optimist. So sue me!

[AGateFan]

I love stargate. Action adventure team show with comedy and some drama.
I hate ship. I dispise ship. The great thing about Stargate was people liek me could ignore the ship (until some of the stupid stuff in season 7&8 but still those were isolated eps that could be ignored and the people who do like ship could have some fun).

I am very dishearted with your theory Chocdoc because I fear it is the truth.
I am depressed when I think of this. When I think that Stargate will no longer be an action adventure team show with some comedy and some drama. It will become something else, a typical b level sci fi show. BSG light, farscape without the cool special effects ... farscape season 4........

And Sam Carter is not the only one gettng the shaft. As you said, Teal'c will never get the screen time and he will get even less now. The shows all about Mitchell and Vala now. Daniel will still be there, but hes not the Daniel of old. Hes Daniel-Valas-sidekick, the buffer to keep BB and CB apart because scifi is pretending they dont want the show to be farscape. oy

Sam Carters a great character. SG-1 was once a great team. The SGC was once a proud and respectable place. Now I fear all of these things will be gone and I will have to wait until some new PTB create a new scifi show with a new great team and some great respectable female characters. We had B5 and then Stargate, so we have had a good run. One of these days TV exects will come to understand that the scifi women who people remember best are the cool tough ones, not the bimbos in tight leather.

Sam Carter
Janet Fraiser
Susan Ivonva
Delen
Princess Leia
Aryen Sun
Zoe
Kaylee
Dr Crusher
Troi (soooo much cooler after she started wearing her starfleet uni)
Jensia Dax
Kira Nerys

And some who are not so famous but who I personally think are pretty cool.
Alexa Woods from AVP Aliens vs Predator.
Alexa Davalos Chronicals of Riddick
Jessica Biel Blade III

All Hail cool women of Sci Fi and their leader Lt Col Samantha Carter.... some day to be General Samantha Carter... even if it is only off screen in fan fics.

[jckfan55]

Airman 2nd Class Amanda Beatrice Wilhorn reporting in...

I work on Level 54 in Cheyenne Mountain in the compound's Advertising and Marketing Division.....

I love it!

[Agent_Dark]

http://www.cswu.cz/darth_annaud/atweekend/ - More Amanda pics from the Con! And really good res too! Go now, and view my friends!

[jckfan55]

CG thanks for the great con report.

On the DDL story the first time I heard AT talk about this she said that while David received the worse of the fan mail, she had also received some really ugly letters saying how she was not being true to her character by being in a relationship with Pete.

I just don't understand how people can't separate the written characters from the actors. Yes, it's the actors who make the character come alive, but you really can't hold them responsible for plots etc. you don't like. IMHO, what you can hold them responsible for is doing the best they can with the script they're given. AT always carries it off--and I think improves on the written word. Heck, she even kept "The Void" afloat!