Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[MajorSam]

This may put me in the dog house, but I just had to say it. Is it just me or has Amanda simply been plagued by getting involved with photoshoots where they go way over the top with the make-up or have really crappy lighting and backdrops? Amanda is one of the most naturally beautiful women I have ever seen, but man I have seen some really unbecoming pictures of her. I do not like the photos above...she looks much too pale against that backdrop. It really reminds me of old twiggy pictures. I honestly don't care for many of the promo and glam shots that she's been involved in. I just don't see how the photographers can mess up with someone so photogenic. Maybe it's just me, but I really think the stills from the Stargate DVD where she is just walking around in the woods with her dog and some of the convention pictures I've seen do her much better justice.

Personally, I think the best photoshoot I have seen with Amanda thus far has to be the Fem-Fatale layout. It was a bit sexier than I had expected from Amanda, but she was absolutely stunning in each and every photo.

Kat

Ok, thank you for bringing this up, I was too scared to come forth!

I completely agree that her beauty has been totally shot down on multiple ocassions. The reason so many pics look SO different is all the different ways people have 'made her up' unfortunately many of these not being my fave... I'll always think she's the best looking person ever, just... not everyone sees it so!

I'm not sure if people have seen this yet...if not, it's the poster from the Femme Fatale shoot (This is one of my faves!) that seems to only be avaliable in a certain French magazine... Sorry for the crease marks, but it's a picture taken of the poster by someone who just got the mag. she's going to try fix the creases and take another pic soon!



Now THAT is how she should always be photo'ed!!! Love the hair style (jealous...jealous...) Love the makeup, they used her brilliant WHITE, did I mention WHITE smile that can kill a man by a look, the wardrobe is.... well, they sure didn't do anything fancy ... well, the flag is wrong, but I can fix that on Photoshop!!!

It's simple, white'ish background, no crazy colours or designs or material... SHE'S the feature, not the decor! It perfectly accents all her best highlights






EDIT: AAAAAAAh, much better (Ok, it's not perfect... so sue me, i did it in about 2 minutes! lol)

[ChopinGal]

... TPTB have had a bad habit of pushing recurring characters under the bus as a short-term expedient rather than as a fulfillment of that character's arc. The S/J ship started getting pushed big time in S4, so Martouf bit the dust. (He may have also been a casualty of the desire to make room for Anise/Freya.) A dramatic development was needed late in S8 to get Sam & Jack to address their much-bruted "feelings," so it's bye-bye Jacob.

Had Janet died a heroic death saving one of the main characters or had a martyrdom similar to Daniel's in Meridian, perhaps we'd feel differently. Yes, people die randomly in real life, but Stargate is not a show people look to for gritty neo-realist drama, if you follow my drift. And, if they TPTB do want realism, a little behavioral veracity wouldn't be unwelcome. Martouf, Jacob & Janet were all here & beloved one day, utterly forgotten the next. It makes the characters on the show look heartless or out of touch, which is probably not the intended effect.

As for S9, I've come 'round to the point of giving it benefit of the doubt, though I still have a fair measure of trepidation about certain elements. Too bad they didn't feel like investing time & money in the Jaffa-rebellion storyline when there still was a Jaffa rebellion. If the copious Jaffa jawboning that took the place of meaningful action late in S8 is any guide, the upcoming "birth of the Jaffa nation" plotline doesn't exactly crackle with excitement.

But ... everything I've read about Mr. Browder suggests that he's going to bring a dose of creative energy that the show is in need of right now. Just that shot of Mitchell reverently reaching toward the Gate tells us that this is going to be quite a different SG-1 commander from O'Neill. I'll miss RDA, but the series needs to get back to the sense of exploration of S1-3, as opposed to acting like they go through the Stargate only when they've run out of things to do around the base (or in their home life).

Some elements of Farscape wouldn't be entirely amiss ... angst for one. Creatively designed aliens, for another. The real threat seems to be creeping influence of Andromeda. Look at those bimbos RDA was posing with at E3: that tableau has Andromeda written all over it. If the SGC is suddenly pustulent with busty babes & teenage computers nerds, it'll be time to pull the plug.

I don't believe TPTB would kill off Carter. Why? It would be bad for business. Considering how much they hyped her one-word cameo on SG:A, I'm sure they know how much mileage they could get out of well-promoted guest appearances. The one area for genuine concern is TR got dumped as she was nearing the big 4-0 ... and AT is getting there, too. Hence, I get a black mood whenever I see something that looks like a kiss-up to the Maxim demographic. (TeyLo on SG:A, I'm looking at you.)

Isn't there enough dumb sci-fi out there already? It'd be nice to hang onto the few intelligent shows that are left.

Wow, CS! Where to begin?

I love your metaphor for the summary execution of some of our favorite characters ... they did seem to get pushed under the bus ... without completely thinking about the ramifications to both the main characters, the projected plotlines, and the fans, themselves. You know, when I first watched the much-hyped Heroes episodes, I got very angry and disillusioned. Like you, I didn't want the "real world" of sudden death and tragic loss pushed down my throat with a strong female supporting actor being the one thrown to the wolves. I remember writing on another scifi board at that time that this was stepping over a boundary regarding purpose of the show versus pontificating on the reality of war. We are getting our fill of the world's carnage and good people dying in senseless acts of war every moment of every day ... we are besieged by the insanity of current events. When I turn on my favorite scifi show on Friday night, I am expecting to escape from this craziness for just one short hour and be entertained by stories and characters who move me to another realm, outside my personal reality and everyday cares. These stories may carry hidden messages, of course, but I would prefer that they uplift rather than demoralize. I want to believe that there is a constancy to my heroes ... that I can depend on their being there through the course of the series ... and, as you say, if it comes time for them to "give up the ghost", let it be done within the context of the show's mythology ... let it be meaningful to all concerned ... hold to a behavioral veracity. And let the consequences (using Janet's death as example) to those who remain be written into the arc: Sam Carter and Cassie and Jack and Daniel and Teal'c. Slam, bam, thank you, ma'am ... and on to the next episode. I had to turn to fanfic to find resolutions.

Yes, like you, I'm keeping my mind open to the new season but also have some reservations ... they are bringing in several new Jaffa characters and seem to want to sustain an arc regarding the new Jaffa nation ... Lordy ... how boring is that? I felt the same way ... S8 was a bunch of talking heads and ponderous dialogues, your Jaffa jawboning. It had the same scintillating effect as Inauguration and other dialogue/politics-heavy episodes. Not! Excuse me, why must we concentrate now on a bunch of Jaffa wannabes on another planet? I thought we were returning to SG1 as a team of explorers going on to new worlds and new missions. Jaffa: been there, done that! It seems like filler to me. But, if I'm keeping an open mind, I guess it will give CJ something to do ... who knows? He may become a grandfather in S9 and actually settle down with Ishtah!

Now, on to the more hopeful scenarios ... Ben Browder and Claudia Black, like AT, have the talent and dramatic depth to turn S9 into a really good production; that is, if the writers are up to the challenge of creating some really meaty stuff for these guys. However, as Sky mentioned pages ago, a good actor can deliver even bad lines in a professional and believable manner. Let's not kill the messengers if the message is below par. I really am looking forward to any and all scenes where these three are involved. And bring on the angst - these three can handle it! The gamut from A to Z can be run!

I only watched Farscape a few times, but was impressed by what I saw. However, I'm not sure what you mean by "creatively designed aliens"? I actually thought that some of the aliens were way over the top in FS ... light years beyond glowing eyes! What I like about Stargate is the fact that some of the aliens do seem almost normal and human. I'd still like to keep that component in the show.

Ah, the spectre of ageism rears its ugly head ... you could be making a valid point but, somehow, I don't think that TR's age had anything to do with her being written off the show. I think, more than likely, the good old boys got so excited in their ever-expanding plot of Heroes that their testosterone just kicked into full gear and outran their reasoning. AT even went to PDL and tried to advocate for a rewrite of the final battlefield scene with an injured Janet instead, but it didn't happen.

AT, in interviews, has mentioned the fact that female actors over a certain age are often jobless because of the lack of good material for mature women. Here was a show that could have allowed the continuity of two strong professional women and actually taken a risk by promoting their maturity through their rise in rank and ability. What a refreshing concept! Showing what happens to women in their 30s and 40s as they gain further respect and responsibility. I'd watch that kind of arc right on to S15 or higher!

And, finally, yes, TPTB will certainly be able to get mileage out of cameo appearances from AT should it be time for her to hang up her BDUs and kick off the combat boots for full-time duty. Let's hope they get that one right!

The teenage demographic may rule, but even the recent GW survey revealed that there is about a third of the viewing population (or more) that is comprised of adult men and women who may be much more interested in depth of character and quality scripts than heavy content on action and eye candy. I'd like to think that, by voicing our reasoned opinions on this thread, we've tried to support the minority.

[Uber]

I thought I'd pop on quickly to show the really cool picture I just got in:

http://www.powerpromoz.com/stargate/...heroes_sam.jpg

Also I wanted to quickly remind everyone to VOTE FOR AT at syfyportal.com!

http://www.syfyportal.com/genre-awards/2005/index.php

[ForeverSg1]

Hmm, try as I might, I could not figure out a way to make this picture any more becoming to Amanda. It's really hard to fix poor lighting when it's already bleached out her face. Neither of my attempts are much better I'm afraid, but it is the best I could do in the time allotted.

[ForeverSg1]

Had a crack at removing the issues created by the lighting/red in these pics...

I like the black and white one. I had done one like this as well.

[Uber]

I thought you'd like to see that BamBam recognized the error of his ways...

Uh...............................ok. Badass she is then. Like I said before, I have never been around to see her character fight.

Au contraire! In the silly season one episode, Emancipation, she described herself as being proficient in "level three, advanced" hand-to-hand combat training. Captain Carter defeated the leader of a tribal clan in a (not quite mortal) knife fight so women would get more rights on that planet. Ford's style reminds me a little bit of her personality as a soldier in the first episodes.

It seems strange now, but Carter had a much more aggressive personality nine years ago. She has pulled out of a simulated bombing run in an F-16 at 8-plus G's; logged over a hundred hours in enemy airspace during the Gulf War; and challenged O'Neill to arm wrestling. And don't forget that infamous line from the pilot, "just because my reproductive organs are on the inside instead of the outside, doesn't mean I can't handle whatever you can handle." Carter's badass!

[ChopinGal]

I thought you'd like to see that BamBam recognized the error of his ways...

LOL Redemption!

[Lida]

Once a photographer has ruined a picture, it's very hard to repair it. I tried to make them more "artistic".




At least they look a little better than the originals....I also DO like it as a B & W!

[Skydiver]

it's my understanding that janet being killed had nothing to do with the actress per se, or her age

s7 was renewed horribly late. I mean, it was like december or something before we heard which meant that they were months behind schedule.
now the principal actors, it behooves them to keep themselves free (and they might be contracturaly obligated to take part so they cant' even look for other employment until they get an official 'there isno season' message) - i know that amanda said that she had a production or two that she could have taken part in but she had to wait until they heard about s7 before she could say yes or no.

now teryl, unfortunatly, isn't a principal and, well the girl's gotta eat. A gig came up and she made the decision (not without talking to TPTB i'm sure) that she was going to go for it and if she got the gig, then stargate would just have to work around it.

she got the gig, several of them IIRC, then s7 happened. If you look, there are several instances where they could have used a doctor but didn't and i think that is because teryl wasn't there and rather than make up a new doctor, they just wrote around her.

anywho, now comes february and the gulf war is in full swing and peter gets the idea to do a bit of a tribute to the real life folks who are fighting and dying and come up wtih a story where the sgc loses one of its own. Since teryl already had other jobs lined up, the idea was to use her. at that point in time, they honesty thought that s7 was IT, so they'd kill janet and have something dramatic at teh end of the season.

so heroes was written and - for better or worse - janet's death was leaked to the masses. They worked around teryl's schedule, i think taping her scenes weeks before the regular photography for the season to accomodate her current job

then s8 happened and they were stuck. yeah, they could un-kill her, but the whole fandom knew that she was going to die. tehy faced two choices, 'lie' and change for teh happy ending, or let janet die, knowing that they were leaving a huge gap in the show

they chose the lattter and, in one way, i'm glad they did. sometimes the relentless 'we gotta end happy' gets on my nerves

BUT
i do and will always miss janet. If i could change one thing, i would have had them NOT leak her upcoming demise so that it could have been changed and none of us would have been any the wiser

[ChopinGal]

Hear Ye Hear Ye Citizens of Samanda

Another reminder to dig through your photo files and find the one definitive photo that expresses your persona ... in plain words, get your picture in to Royal Photographer this weekend so she can work her graphic magic on a group photo of Samanda. This will be a private picture and not to be posted online here at the thread. Mary Beth will link us all privately to the picture when the time comes. But the time won't come if she doesn't get enough photos to create the original shot!

Just as you have a Samandan duty to vote, loyal citizens, we beseech you to exercise your royal duty to stand up and be counted.

Send a good-quality print on to: [email protected]

Auntie Samanda Wants You!

Jester

[ChopinGal]

s7 was renewed horribly late.

now teryl, unfortunatly, isn't a principal and, well the girl's gotta eat. A gig came up and she made the decision (not without talking to TPTB i'm sure) that she was going to go for it and if she got the gig, then stargate would just have to work around it.

she got the gig ... then s7 happened. If you look, there are several instances where they could have used a doctor but didn't and i think that is because teryl wasn't there and rather than make up a new doctor, they just wrote around her.

anywho, now comes february and the gulf war is in full swing and peter gets the idea to do a bit of a tribute to the real life folks who are fighting and dying and come up wtih a story where the sgc loses one of its own. Since teryl already had other jobs lined up, the idea was to use her. at that point in time, they honestly thought that s7 was IT, so they'd kill janet and have something dramatic at the end of the season.

so heroes was written and - for better or worse - janet's death was leaked to the masses. They worked around teryl's schedule, i think taping her scenes weeks before the regular photography for the season to accomodate her current job

then s8 happened and they were stuck. yeah, they could un-kill her, but the whole fandom knew that she was going to die. tehy faced two choices, 'lie' and change for teh happy ending, or let janet die, knowing that they were leaving a huge gap in the show

they chose the lattter and, in one way, i'm glad they did. sometimes the relentless 'we gotta end happy' gets on my nerves

BUT
i do and will always miss janet. If i could change one thing, i would have had them NOT leak her upcoming demise so that it could have been changed and none of us would have been any the wiser

Sky, thanks for the inside info. It makes practical sense the way you explain the facts; however, I still think that the use of that kind of plot device left the show weaker overall.

And where do "leaks" come from anyhow? Could it not be that some of the insiders actually do release these spoilers/leaks as part of the PR to tease the fandom and generate interest? The writers, themselves, may have been part of all this.

As to the "happy endings", I hear you and I'm not one to look for the sugar-coated, trite plot devices of Lifetime TV or Hallmark in the few things I view. I welcome angst, paradox, and realism onscreen, but I think that the scripts for Heroes could have been rendered in such a way as to get the point across that "war is hell" without sacrificing a major character. Again, it will be argued that TR was "non major", only supporting, but, she played her scenes so well and came to be seen as a major part of the cast by many fans, whether her contract reflected that or not.

Peace, CG

[Skydiver]

spoilers come from various sources.

sometime they're 'official' such as what joe tells darren (and you can be sure that anything joe tells darren, he has brad's or rob's permission before he does it)

sometimes an actor tells a member of his fan club or a friend who leaks it online

sometimes the dude that's working for craft services overhears something and tells his friends who tells someone online

other times it comes from 'sides'....these are snippit pages that people can buy. they're meant for talent agents to purchase them and use them to find actors....such as when they were casting Ohsu, i'm sure there were sides out there with a scene that ohsu was in. the perspective actors can download these sides and use them to practice, but they also contain scenes from yet to be produced shows

a couple years ago, folks at one of the gatecons won scripts from 2 unaired episodes adn they typed them up and the whole scripts were out there for folks to read before they aired

other times, yes i do think that the leaking of spoilers is deliberate. I think that fans are manipulated in a way to keep itnerest up.
i've noticed during every hiatus time, things are slow...but them something is leaked and it's something folks will react to (and since sam/jack shippers and anti-shippers are the most volitile groups the spoilers are usually geared towards them)--- i figure, if they remain true to form, we'll have some sort of volitile spoiler leaked sometime in june, just enough time to get folks talking before that july 15th premiere

one side will like it, one will hate it, they debate, write letters, yadda adn whatta ya know, all of a sudden the fandom is talking about this one little spoiler whereas we might have been talking about the weather last week.

I think it's a mix of the above. some spoilers are meant to tantalize adn intrigue and are meant very innocently...but i think other times the spoilers have been leaked as a deliberate ploy by one person or another who wants to change things and needs ammunition and is trying to rile up the fandom to gain him/herself that ammunition

[Skydiver]

janet's death was very much a plot device. just like makepeace's fate was nothing more than a plot device.

in both cases, they had a great idea...but it was an idea that would have long ranging changes upon a character. well, cant' use one of the four principal, and since the show has never done a good job of developing supporting characters, they literally had no one else to use.

makepeace was the only established character who went off world. Janet was the only character we'd really care about (i mean, is siler or chevrondude gonna go through the gate????)

In both cases, the suspense would have been better had they had more characters. Take NCIS for example. they leaked that someone was going to die. well the show had several characters, gibbs, tony, kate, mcgee, abby, ducky and ducky's assistant

we had several to choose from, and none of which were what you'd call expendable. there was a tension and drama because you knew it'd be someone you cared about that died

in stargate it's not the same. you knew that jack, sam, daniel, teal'c would all survive. dixon could have died but, you know, he was a freshly introduced character so where's the emotional impact there?

Janet was the only established character that anyone would care about that could be killed

[jckfan55]

Second of all, i do see us fans as a necessary evil. Most of us are fine. We know the boundaries. We'd never find Colin's apartment and ring him up out of the blue to talk. We'd never follow Peter Williams into the bathroom. We'd never slip an actor our room number. We'd never drive around vancouver to suss out exactly which house is Amanda's real residence.

Most of us are fine and know how to behave.

But a few aren't. And those few are why actors have security escorts at conventions (at gatecon 2003, the organizers were so concerned about Corin's safety after the passionate fan response to him that MGM provided professional security officers for each of the attendees) They were literally afraid that the actor would come to harm and that some fans would not be able to separate actor and character

I know that most fans are fine. they're respectful and polite and accept the boundaries, but some aren't...and it's those few that paint all of us as potential whackos

Yes, we are why they have jobs...but the behavior of some of us is also why actors have to live with one eye open and, depending on thier level of popularity, have to fight to have a personal and private life

Gosh, that is terrible about CN. Fans in general--yes, some people have no common sense, regardless of the situation. Doesn't the term "fan" come from "fanatic?" I think we are Sam/AT supporters...yeah that sounds better than whacko...I mean fan.

[jckfan55]

And let's not whump Mr. Bam Bam b/c he didn't know AT had done hand-to-hand combat. He's new to the show.

Who knows? Maybe after our little exchange he went right over to AT to set up some hand to hand training & tell the writers to work some fight scenes in!