Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[stargate barbie]

OMG...I'm soo sorry..I forgot...can it be fixed?
DoH...I feel like such a nuff nuff!
I'm off to work...I'll be back later...no doubt to hoards of screaming samandans who want to chew my eyes out...Sorry guys!

'tis cool. i'm just going on a spoiler tag bender lately because season 10 is about to start in america and a lot of people don't like to be spoiled with too much detail, as in that which has not been officially been released before the ep airs. and FYI some people plan to give a red rep point to those who neglect spoiler tags for season 10, and i don't want anyone to get any red if avoidable.

you can go back and just hit the edit button on your post and add in the tags, and then i'll requote you if you want. in which case nobody will know what we're talking about here.

[ReganX]

i've said it too many times and i'll say it again, MAJOR mitchell would have pretty much fixed all the issues folks seem to have with cam.

a green, newly minted major would have the enthusiasm and sense of adventure. he'd have that wide eyed enjoyment. he'd make mistakes (hey, sam's made her share) and he'd learn from them

Major mitchell could have JOINED the team and fit right in.

Lt Col Hewo sticks out like a sore thumb.

It can't be said too often.

The role of enthusiastic, reckless newbie doesn't mesh with that of leader.

[stargate barbie]

ok, i'm trying to think up new topics so that i stop ranting and then maybe my blood pressure will go down.

uuummm, who thinks that sam would be musically talented, and does anyone think she secretly plays a musical instrument? if so, what?

well i tried.

[NearlyCircular]

One thing I've wondered about is... once RDA started working a 'restricted schedule', they started rearranging how they were filming scenes, so that when he was on set they 'maximized their Rick Time' (one of TPTB said something very close to that to RDA in one of the Behind The Scenes commentaries (might have been a Lowdown)). Once they started doing this 'restricted scheduling', things became very tight... perhaps more efficient... and all of the actors admitted that they were often working on one episode in the morning and another in the afternoon. And... it may just be me, but my impression was that we saw less and less of The Team as backdrop for each other; that is, if a scene was intergral for one or two characters, the others were not present because they weren't going to say or do anything important - and they could be filming another scene on another set at the same time. Didn't AT say that she didn't see 'the guys' for a couple of weeks at one point (somewhere along in the Grace-Death Knell time period)?

At any rate, what I'm wondering, is... once they got into that type of high intensity scheduling... perhaps they have never gotten back out of it? Perhaps they simply don't write scenes with all four in the room anymore because it's rare to have a scene where all four are actually needed for meaty dialogue in the same scene... so they take the 'less used' actors in a certain scene, write them out of that scene, and they can then be filming something else on a different set.

I think you’re right about the mind set that the writers and producers got into while RDA’s time was limited. I seem to remember reading an article with one of TPTB at the beginning of season 9, saying that they were setting up scenes which didn’t include Mitchell, or writing around the character, as they had to do with RDA, and they suddenly realized that they didn’t have to do that anymore. But it seems like they decided to use that revelation to give us more Mitchell and less team.

Do you all remember the gushing that went on pre season 9 about how much BB was bringing to the role, how much he loved the sword fighting and all the physical stuff? For the writers and directors, it was as if now they got to write and direct an action hero instead of a more low-key anti-hero type, and IMO, they went overboard.

To me the one of the biggest improvements in season 10 over season 9 would be to tone it down. For Mitchell, tone down the over-eagerness and the good old boy comments. For Vala, tone down the costumes, the inappropriate sexual innuendos, and the spoiled brat behavior. Mitchell can still be action hero, but not at the sake of the rest of the team, and not without logical reasons for doing so. He can still joke around, but with just a little more maturity, please.

If Vala’s comments would be along the lines of questioning and ridiculing earth customs, without always being sexually related, I think I could enjoy her character a lot more. Imagine conversations between her and Teal’c, the two aliens trying to understand why earthlings do some of the things they do. Teal’c would never think of questioning his adopted planet, not out loud at least, but Vala would challenge the rules and regulations constantly. Forcing Sam, Daniel, Landry and Mitchell to look at things in a new light could be a real boost to the team. I think that type of confrontation with Sam could be especially good, because in many ways, I think Sam is very traditional. But if every other remark that Vala makes is a sexual comment or a lie, they would have no reason to listen to her. And I certainly hope that the me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me attitude is turned down a notch or two. I loved Urgo, but how much sense does it make for a team of mature individuals to have to deal with that type of personality every week, while trying to save the planet. Just a bit distracting, don’t you think?

So my wishes for season 10, (only about 24 hours away now, yay! ) are less and more. Less buffoonery and more team.


NC

[jckfan55]

i'm half looking forward to season 10 and half dreading it.


sally

Me three--and that's a sad commentary indeed.

On the character interaction question. One or two of you mentioned Barrett. It put me in mind of a great little AT/Sam moment. In the episode where Jack is framed for murder (I believe), she and Barrett are going to break in to a house to investigate. Sam is about to get the lockpick to work & he breaks in the door. The exasperated look she gives him is priceless. It's all those little moments as well as the big ones that make me love Sam.

[jckfan55]

very true.

i WANT to like mitch. I was looking forward to someone else JOINING the show....but this 'super duper hewo force feeding' is just too much.

I think i'd adore Major Mitchell. Newbie with a bit of hero worship and a crush on the team.

but mister Hewo Cambo????

sigh, nope, just does NOTHING for me

Exactly. If RDA's Jack had been "super duper hero" just b/c he was the big name at the outset of the show, I would have been totally turned off by the show.
why oh why couldn't they just write a good character and let us come to accept, and dare I say even love him, as we do the original 4? I never heard of AT, CJ or MS before Stargate, but I came to like their characters quite a bit. And I came to really admire AT's talent. I believe a lot of the "BB must be the male star" came from the network (though I have no direct evidence), but that does not absolve the writers from the hash they've made of the show. Even if I gave them the benefit of the doubt and believed they were "ordered" to make Cam the team leader, they still could have written him in a way that had a semblance of plausibility. And just b/c Cam is "leader" doesn't mean you forget about the rest of the cast. Particularly cast members that gave you 8 solid years. I think the sad thing is JM and the gang think they're doing a bang up job.

[tsaxlady]

NC I have read/heard a couple of times about how they had gotten so use to writting around RDA that they carried it over for a while in S9. They had to keep reminding each other that Ben was available all the time and they did not need to write him out of scenes to accomodate his schedule like they did for RDA the last few seasons.

[majorsal]

sam: yes, i'm sam carter, this is daniel jackson and teal'c. we're sg1.

daniel: what do you mean we're not sg1 anymore?

sam: i know we've been gone for a bit, but we couldn't connect with the sgc stargate.

teal'c: just who are you to say we are not sg1?

sam-daniel-teal'c: colonel mitchell and vala??? *you're* sg1?

daniel: but...

sam: we're sg1!

teal'c: i might have to disembowel you.

*mitchell and vala walk away*

sam: what do you mean we're old hat now!

daniel: teal'c, go ahead and-

teal'c: their suffering will be only the beginning of our wrath...






sally

[ReganX]

Daniel: Do you think we should help? Mitchell doesn't stand a chance!
Teal'c: Colonel Mitchell appears to have bitten off more than he can chew.
Sam: What can we do? He said that he doesn't want us hovering over him. We have to let him fight his own battles.
*Anguished shriek from Mitchell offscreen*
Daniel: Who'd have thought that Vala was such a good fighter.
Mitchell: *offscreen* Uncle! Uncle!

[jckfan55]

Which is about the time I yelled the answer 'ONE!'

'PETE!'

Why can't these people get it in their freaking heads that a boyfriend is a regular male companion in a romantic or sexual relationship. Sam may have had a crush on one or two guys, she has snogged a few, even had a mind-blowing-glow-me session with one, but she has only had a regular romantic relationship with one guy in ten years. Why is it that so many people seem to think that she was romantically and sexually involved with so many men? I know I'm probably the only person who cares, but these types of questions truly irritate me.

No, you're not the only one and you're right.

[SunKrux]

'tis cool. i'm just going on a spoiler tag bender lately because season 10 is about to start in america and a lot of people don't like to be spoiled with too much detail, as in that which has not been officially been released before the ep airs. and FYI some people plan to give a red rep point to those who neglect spoiler tags for season 10, and i don't want anyone to get any red if avoidable.

you can go back and just hit the edit button on your post and add in the tags, and then i'll requote you if you want. in which case nobody will know what we're talking about here.

I tried to green ya, but I haven't been around much to spread the love.

Thanks for the bender...as I've shyed away from this thread and GW for that very reason...I HATESSSSSSS Spoilers. I got spoiled about a month ago in regards to something to do with Vala and when I called someone on it they were like "But everyone already knows". Uh, well not everyone WANTS to know. GEEZ!


Uh back to Sam...

I'm with those of you who've commented that you like that AT and CB are working to show that Sam and Vala are going to be friends. I told Amanda back in March at the Vancouver Con that I was excited to see two such powerhouse actresses on one show. I still am. I have hope that in spite of the crappy writing, AT and CB will both shine and make Sam and Vala friends.

[SunKrux]

Daniel: Do you think we should help? Mitchell doesn't stand a chance!
Teal'c: Colonel Mitchell appears to have bitten off more than he can chew.
Sam: What can we do? He said that he doesn't want us hovering over him. We have to let him fight his own battles.
*Anguished shriek from Mitchell offscreen*
Daniel: Who'd have thought that Vala was such a good fighter.
Mitchell: *offscreen* Uncle! Uncle!

That's the best one yet, imho!

[SunKrux]

ok, i'm trying to think up new topics so that i stop ranting and then maybe my blood pressure will go down.

uuummm, who thinks that sam would be musically talented, and does anyone think she secretly plays a musical instrument? if so, what?

well i tried.

Sam would play the DRUMS!!!

[L.A. Doyle]

Ok. We couldn't do it. My S9 marathon was a failure today. We tried really hard to watch it, but we got bored...so we skipped around.

Spoiler:

Ethon was the only really decent episode in my opinion. Almost like S1-8. And Jared Kane is hot!

[L.A. Doyle]

ok, i'm trying to think up new topics so that i stop ranting and then maybe my blood pressure will go down.

uuummm, who thinks that sam would be musically talented, and does anyone think she secretly plays a musical instrument? if so, what?

well i tried.

I pick the oboe. Yep. That's what I play, ok? I want to have at least one thing in common with the woman!