Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Token]

Ahhh.....so this was you!

<snip>

Then I decided to ask that question so I said something like "this is a question from a friend on Gateworld who couldn't be here, but I'm curious too and that is is there anything for Jack and Sam fans to look forward to in the future?" I heard the audience wooing and stuff lol. Then Amanda said "I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you" ha ha! So I could have said something witty here, but what did I do instead... I said something about how she could bring me back using technology... yes, hello, dork alert! I'll get to more of that later. Anyway, I was not exactly thinking clearly. So she said

Spoiler:

"there's a 5 word answer and a 3 word answer, I'll give you the 3 word answer... yes" then I think she said "the 5 word answer being maybe" or something to that effect. WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!! Ok, done so then after she told me she said "and now I have to kill you, everyone's expecting it" or something like that. I just laughed and said thank you

That was a priceless question!!! Thank you for asking it! I hate to say that I was the one yelling, "Kill her and tell us!" I am so totally psyched for Season 10!!

and then went back to my seat, but I think I may have stood there a little too long, I don't know. I have trouble realizing how much time is going by when I get up there After I went back to my seat, I started thinking about what I said, and I was like 'some type of tecnology to bring me back'? What the F was that? Not to mention the fact that the whole point is she didn't want to bring me back... then I thought of something that I should have said and I decided I would tell her during the autograph session. So I listened to the rest of the Q&A and then it was time for autographs. I was in row E and it took a while to get to us, but finally we were up. So I waited... and waited... and waited... and... just kidding he he. It didn't actually take that long once the row was called. I brought a birthday card for Olivia and a thank you card for Amanda because I just wanted to tell her how much I respect her and appreciate what she does for the fans. When I got to her I said "When you said you'd have to kill me after I asked about Jack and Sam, I should have said 'at least I'd die for a good cause'". She laughed when I said that. I made Amanda laugh! Pretty cool Then I said "I have a card for Olivia. There are animal stickers in there, which I know she's too young to use of course, but I thought she might like to look at them". I think she said "sure, thank you". Then I gave her her card and said "I also have a card for you, it's a thank you card" and she said "thank you" and finally I said "and I was wondering if I could shake your hand". I didn't want to ask for a hug because I thought it might be too much trouble and I'm not the type of person who asks for hugs during the Q&A. So she said "of course" and she shook my hand, but then, and this was the best part... she stood up and actually gave me a hug! I have shaken Torri's and Michael's hands at other cons, but neither of them went and gave me a hug too! Not that there is anything wrong with that of course, but it's just she didn't have to do that. It was such a thoughtful gesture. After we hugged I said "thank you" and she said "thank you, it was nice meeting you" and I said "it was nice meeting you too" and went away. That has to be the best experience I've had so far meeting someone from Stargate. Amanda was just the sweetest person and I am so proud to be a fan of hers, and of Sam, as Amanda brings such a heart and great presence to the character.

So that was my incredibly awesome experience that I will never forget and would never want to forget!

By the way, I may not have gotten all of Amanda's quotes exactly right. I was a bit nervous, even though I try not to be, I usually am

Amanda is a sweetheart!! I am completely and totally an Amanda fan!!! I'll post my Amanda story on the Shipper Thread. Needless to say, I so want to go to Gabit! I don't think it is possible, but I would hop on a plane in a instant.

[suse]

I'll be back when this thread isn't about Vala.

Sorry I bought into it for a few posts.

Suse

[stargate barbie]

if i were to recommend an episode for some of the new viewers to watch, it'd probably be a clip show, helps to fill you in on the show's history and they're usually good eps too. but other than that, considering that the people viewing this thread who are new to the show are probably sam fans, i'd go with;

season 1
the enemy within, the first commandment, the nox, singularity, solitudes, tin man.

season 2
in the line of duty, message in a bottle, secrets, spirits, a matter of time, out of mind

season 3
into the fire, fair game (sam becomes a major, confuses some people if they haven't seen this one), foothold, nemisis

season 4
small victories, beneath the surface, watergate, prodigy, serpents venom, entity, exodus.

season 5
enemies, ascension, the fifth man, red sky, rite of passage, desperate measures, 48 hours, fail safe, the warrior, menace, i can't recommend meridian because its way too sad.

season 6
redemption 1&2, descent, nightwalkers, prometheus, unnatural selection, paradise lost, metamorphosis.

season 7
fallen, homecoming, space race and avenger 2.0 but only if you like the funny weird ones, evolution 1&2, grace, death knell, heroes 1&2 (but again, really sad in part 2), lost city 1&2. keep and eye out for resurrection too, because its the one amanda directed, and she did a fantastic job.

season 8
new order 1&2, covenant, sacrifices, gemini, reckoning 1&2, threads and moebius.

i should really narrow this down, not all are just sam episodes, in fact most are team episodes with some great sam moments.

if you are just starting off with the show though, i say watch the clip shows. politics, out of mind, disclosure (the worst one), inauguaration, and citizen joe.

or just watch the first and last episodes from each season.

if i could recommend a season to start watching in it would be either 3 or 4.

aw heck, just watch everything.

[binkpmmc]

and what you personally find as boring, many of us found as interesting.

Stargate used to stand alone. IT was a a scifi show set in the present day. It had REAL people in it. It dealt with things in a very real way. These weren't 'we're one big happy universe' people from a 'the whole galaxy loves each other' trek universe.

These weren't people that live seenig aliens every day, or lasers or transporters. They were real people. who just happened to have a very cool and un-real job.

that was part of the appeal. It was so mundane in its setting that you could drive to colorado springs and belive that the SGC was really there.

but now? now it's become nothing more than a farscape/trek/b5 wanna be. where earth can crank out space ships in a moment's notice, the asgard are there to beam your tush to safety with a second's notice and these characters aren't using their oh so normal human intelligence to beat the bad guys, they're little more than puppets on endless quests to steal toys made by other advanced races to save themselves.

where's the humanity in that? Where's that pluckyness that was going to make us the fifth race? Being the fifth race is no longer some wonderful thing, it's apparantly something that's given to whomever finishes the intergalactic treasure hunt and collects the most toys

This new incarnation of Stargate is not the classic show. It's just a pale immitation brought to us by folks that think if they keep telling us how great it is long enough, we'll buy their song and dance. They can't/won't see that, in thier efforts to be like every other scifi show out there, they're destroying what made stargate stand out from the crowd.

I for one very much preferred the old and unique show, one that featured the round spinny thing and simple, normal folks doing thier best against impossible odds and incredible enemies.

Great post Sky and I agree 1000% - SG1 is no longer different - it is one of hundreds of mediocre, or less than mediocre sci-fi clone shows. (no offense to anyone who may like the NEW show - I don't - it is not Stargate SG1 but unfortunately it still has 3 characters I have become attached too over the past 8 years and I have not yet been fully able to abandon those 3 so they ARE in fact the ONLY reason I still watch. If S10 continues on as S9 has then I will indeed be gone as I have realized that I am indeed wasting my time waiting and hoping for something that will not come).

I found it interesting that the ratings for the season finale, and the second to last ep, 1.8 and 1.9 respectively, did not even garner the same ratings that eps 1 and 2 got (2.1s) so it seems that the show could not even sustain, or capture, the same number of fans that STARTED watching at the beginning - they were not lured back by the promise of vala, big bombs, big ships, big battles, etc. Rather sad when compared to previous seasons (S8 eps 1 and 2 got 2.4s - the last 2 eps got 2.3 and 2.4 respectively).

[the dancer of spaz]

Considering the fact that Farscape was being filmed entirely in Australia and like everybody said in interviews or commentaries, it would be impossible to film it somewhere else just because of costs - Australia was the cheapest for Henson company), these changes would be rather impossible simply just because of this reason, unless AT and MS relocated to Sydney

You're talking logistics. I'm talking ethics. Let's assume Farscape was not filmed entirely in Australia, and assume they had a slightly larger budget...

Cast changes were happening on Farscape actually every season. We lost one character at the beginning of the third season, the new character joined at the beginning of the same season, another one at the end of third and the last at the beginning of fourth. So new people on the show aren't really the problem.

OK. I'm not talking about random or expendable characters. I'm talking about the most popular characters - or, to be specific, your favorite character. That's the only way, I believe, you could really understand where many fans are coming from. It's not a big deal. I understand your need to defend Claudia Black and Val Mal Doran. I'd be lying if I said I don't feel that way about Amanda Tapping and Sam Carter.

That was a mistake, a big one. The only thing I can say in defence of Coop that with Crusade being his directorial debut he definitely didn't even know his own name at that time.

I dunno... Call me Harsh, but I have no pity for the man. No one told him to direct. He's a showrunner, for crying out loud. Taking on the monster of writing and directing, while admirable, was his deal and his deal alone. How could Cooper have the right mind to ensure that everyone on the cast was contacted BUT one person? That, to me, doesn't suggest simple fatigue. That suggests a deliberate attempt to skirt the issue and buy time.

[Skydiver]

Suse does have a point. It seems that Samanda is becoming Valanda. How about the vala discussion continue in the Vala thread or we start another one to debate the character?

We - including me - need to keep things more Samified in here.

How about...If you could alter the ending of any show, season 1-8, what would it be and why?

[KatG]

However, if a random actress was playing vala, the same 'bad girl with a heart of gold' cliche that she is now...would she still be as interesting and preferred...or would she fall the way of the other cliches they've tried over the years?

Thinks back to Tok'ra Barbie a/k/a Anise.

*shudders*

[the dancer of spaz]

And that's the last bit I'll mention, in light of everyone getting all hinky over negative discussions.

[Skydiver]

Ahhh.....so this was you!


Amanda is a sweetheart!! I am completely and totally an Amanda fan!!! I'll post my Amanda story on the Shipper Thread. Needless to say, I so want to go to Gabit! I don't think it is possible, but I would hop on a plane in a instant.

post it here too please. I'm sure, shipper or not, we'd all like to hear more about sam and amanda

[Skydiver]

Thinks back to Tok'ra Barbie a/k/a Anise.

*shudders*

yeah. anise simply showed what a great character sam was. Sam was able to hold her own with the boys by sheer force of her intellect and talent. She didn't need a skimpy costume to be accepted

[binkpmmc]

It shouldn't be too hard to do. Just switch Claudia Black with Amanda Tapping, subtract four years, and add all of the variables that have contributed to season nine:


1.) Say Farscape had lasted a looooong time - nine years, in fact

2.) Say Claudia Black went on maternity leave just before the production of the ninth season

3.) Say Ben Browder, after years and years of working in the biz, decided to retire and spend time with his family

4.) Say Aeryn and the rest of the Farscape folks were all downsized for...

a.) Michael Shanks, as Sir Hottie Pants, who had superb chemistry with Rygel
and
b.) Amanda Tapping, as Blondie McPerfection, who found herself infringing a tad on Aeryn's territory...

5.) Say that, once Claudia Black made it back to the set, the show was already transformed into something completely different - both internally and externally

I could go on and on... They're big changes when you've taken the time and the energy to watch a show, its characters and the actors who play them for years. For someone like yourself, who has seen every episode of Farscape, it would probably seem quite ludicrous for someone like me (or Coley? ) coming onto the scene once MS and AT were on board, claiming that this was the absolute best for the show, hands down. The rest was always boring - the original actors' contributions, be damned.

Especially considering I have never seen an entire episode of the series.



That doesn't quite fly. Cooper may have been working directly with Claudia Black the most at that point in time, but he'd been working with Amanda Tapping for several years. There's really no excuse for him not communicating with her in some capacity, before she heard on the grapevine that she was the only one who hadn't been contacted - if not as a professional (in which case, you would definitely expect communication), then at least as an acquaintance. There's really no ethical reason behind it, besides being too much of a weeny to address the issue directly, whatever it was at the time.



EDIT: Suse, I don't know if you're talking about this conversation or not, but I don't think that this is as "bad" as it's gotten in the past. I hope you don't re-lurk for too long!

Great post and for the record I agree 100% on the cooper stuff - he was out of line. If he was busy with his directorial debut and is supposed to be showrunner seems he cannot handle both at the same time - perhaps he should have given up his showrunner/command (delegated) position while preppping to direct and directing since he could not do both at once. Perhaps I'll use this on the WSLP to make a point.

[ReganX]

How about...If you could alter the ending of any show, season 1-8, what would it be and why?

Technically, this is changing most of an episode rather than just the end, but I've always wondered what would have happened in 'Scorched Earth' if Sam had refused to build the naquadah bomb.

[Lys]

if i were to recommend an episode for some of the new viewers to watch, it'd probably be a clip show, helps to fill you in on the show's history and they're usually good eps too. but other than that, considering that the people viewing this thread who are new to the show are probably sam fans, i'd go with;

season 1
the enemy within, the first commandment, the nox, singularity, solitudes, tin man.

season 2
in the line of duty, message in a bottle, secrets, spirits, a matter of time, out of mind

season 3
into the fire, fair game (sam becomes a major, confuses some people if they haven't seen this one), foothold, nemisis

season 4
small victories, beneath the surface, watergate, prodigy, serpents venom, entity, exodus.

season 5
enemies, ascension, the fifth man, red sky, rite of passage, desperate measures, 48 hours, fail safe, the warrior, menace, i can't recommend meridian because its way too sad.

season 6
redemption 1&2, descent, nightwalkers, prometheus, unnatural selection, paradise lost, metamorphosis.

season 7
fallen, homecoming, space race and avenger 2.0 but only if you like the funny weird ones, evolution 1&2, grace, death knell, heroes 1&2 (but again, really sad in part 2), lost city 1&2. keep and eye out for resurrection too, because its the one amanda directed, and she did a fantastic job.

season 8
new order 1&2, covenant, sacrifices, gemini, reckoning 1&2, threads and moebius.

i should really narrow this down, not all are just sam episodes, in fact most are team episodes with some great sam moments.

if you are just starting off with the show though, i say watch the clip shows. politics, out of mind, disclosure (the worst one), inauguaration, and citizen joe.

or just watch the first and last episodes from each season.

if i could recommend a season to start watching in it would be either 3 or 4.

aw heck, just watch everything.

Great list but, but.... you forgot Window of Opportunity ! Best episode I know to get someone hooked on Stargate. Everytime I tried it it worked.

Back in the beginning of this thread,didn't our beloved elders make a list of the "Best Carter Episodes" ? I even think Astro made some great posts with pics and comments. I'll go back and try to fish it. And since there seem to be some newcomers here, "waves" why don't they add their opinions to the list ?

[Uber]

Suse does have a point. It seems that Samanda is becoming Valanda. How about the vala discussion continue in the Vala thread or we start another one to debate the character?

We - including me - need to keep things more Samified in here.

How about...If you could alter the ending of any show, season 1-8, what would it be and why?

Wow. This is really tough for me.

Well the shipper in me says "Threads" because I want to know what happened at the cabin when Teal'c and Daniel were *cough* OH so conveniently called back to the SGC for some fill-in-the-blank problem that they absolutely had to handle on their own. And one that oh, quite coincidentally, JackcameupwithonthespurofthemomentsohecouldbewithSam.

[take THAT you eeeeeeevil non-anti-other shippers!!! and you know who you are!!!!!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]



For anything with actual substance, you'll have to give me some time to think on this, oh beloved mod of ours. I'm guessing you're looking specifically for a Sam-focused new ending right???

[Tracy Jane]

Great list but, but.... you forgot Window of Opportunity ! Best episode I know to get someone hooked on Stargate. Everytime I tried it it worked.

Back in the beginning of this thread,didn't our beloved elders make a list of the "Best Carter Episodes" ? I even think Astro made some great posts with pics and comments. I'll go back and try to fish it. And since there seem to be some newcomers here, "waves" why don't they add their opinions to the list ?

Window of Opportunity is the one I use to get people hooked on Stargate. Window of Opportunity followed by Singularity, then Changeling.