S10: Critique & Contemplation

[Mandysg1]

I think RCC gave him the promotion.

From Joe's GW Blog dated 9/24/2005:

1. Why isn't Carter leading SG-1? Why has the character been demoted?

We had a number of challenges facing us with the start of season 9. One was the introduction of a new team member: Cameron Mitchell. The other was Amanda's pregnancy which would keep her out of the show for the first six episodes of the season. Rather than going the "new guy joins the team" route, Robert opted for something a little different. We had finally wrapped up 8 seasons worth of loose ends, so it was natural that our characters would be moving on. Simply put, their main mission accomplished, the individual members of SG-1 were finally free to pursue areas of personal interest. In Teal'c's case, that meant helping the free Jaffa. In Daniel's case, it meant finally going to Atlantis. And, in Carter's case, it meant helping Cassie through a rough time, and focusing on the Research and Development of the technology we had acquired over the years. So, when Mitchell came aboard, there was no SG-1. He was given command of a team that he would have to rebuild. Ideally, he wanted to "get the band back together" - and that meant Daniel, Teal'c, and Carter. So who is leading the team? They both are. The two have reached a mutual understanding whereby they can alternate command on various ops. "Impossible!"some will undoubtedly howl. That goes against regs! Maybe. And it goes against regs to have two Colonel's on the same team. But rather than giving Carter command of SG-22 (and following her adventures in another spin-off series), we thought this would be a nice compromise.

Mike

I would call those excuses (and pretty bad ones) to put in the Lead White Male Action Hero. Sam after working her ass off, would not give up command of SG1, if Daniel or Teal'c left, she would be getting new members of own team. There was still a lot of planets to explore out there, so it was far from over. They also went against their own canon by bringing in 'green' man to lead a team, when there were so many others at the SGC who were more qualified to lead a team, and they didn't have to be a Lt. Col to lead. Also having 2 Lt Col.'s on a team was utterly ridiculous.

They should have thought things out, not just put bad ideas on the screen

[mapsc]

I would call those excuses (and pretty bad ones) to put in the Lead White Male Action Hero. Sam after working her ass off, would not give up command of SG1, if Daniel or Teal'c left, she would be getting new members of own team. There was still a lot of planets to explore out there, so it was far from over. They also went against their own canon by bringing in 'green' man to lead a team, when there were so many others at the SGC who were more qualified to lead a team, and they didn't have to be a Lt. Col to lead. Also having 2 Lt Col.'s on a team was utterly ridiculous.

They should have thought things out, not just put bad ideas on the screen

I agree. When you make an idiotic decision, all you can defend it with are idiotic excuses.

Mike

[Skydiver]

compromise

there was no compromise beyond 'how can we get the guy in his proper place and put that female i don't want to deal with out of the way'

If they hadn't have been set on 'male must lead' there would have been no compromise to make

maybe if they'd have had a bit more of an open mind then things wouldn't have gone the way they did

[Nolamom]

maybe if they'd have had a bit more of an open mind then things wouldn't have gone the way they did

Open mind? not possible with them

[suse]

I would call those excuses (and pretty bad ones) to put in the Lead White Male Action Hero. Sam after working her ass off, would not give up command of SG1, if Daniel or Teal'c left, she would be getting new members of own team. There was still a lot of planets to explore out there, so it was far from over. They also went against their own canon by bringing in 'green' man to lead a team, when there were so many others at the SGC who were more qualified to lead a team, and they didn't have to be a Lt. Col to lead. Also having 2 Lt Col.'s on a team was utterly ridiculous.

They should have thought things out, not just put bad ideas on the screen

Even if she did leave, no way would they put the former commander of the team - even nominally - under any Lt. Colonel Stargate travel related Greenie. It's not as if they didn't know Amanda would be back. In the end a new member *was* added to the team. Giving tim command DOES NOT make him any less new. GRRRRRR!!!

3 years later (well, 2.5 viewing) I still get pissed off about this when I think about it.

And that isn't even mentioning of character "development" of Vala 'I'm a "sexy""fun" slaving sexually harassing not even competent con a rtist "whorelete" Mal Duran.

Fortunately she improved. A bit. Equally *un*fortunately, Mitchell didn't. IMO.

suse

[Skydiver]

Open mind? not possible with them

they have an open mind

as long as you love what they love, hate what they hate and adore all that they do

[Jackie]

I think RCC gave him the promotion.

From Joe's GW Blog dated 9/24/2005:

1. Why isn't Carter leading SG-1? Why has the character been demoted?

We had a number of challenges facing us with the start of season 9. One was the introduction of a new team member: Cameron Mitchell. The other was Amanda's pregnancy which would keep her out of the show for the first six episodes of the season. Rather than going the "new guy joins the team" route, Robert opted for something a little different. We had finally wrapped up 8 seasons worth of loose ends, so it was natural that our characters would be moving on. Simply put, their main mission accomplished, the individual members of SG-1 were finally free to pursue areas of personal interest. In Teal'c's case, that meant helping the free Jaffa. In Daniel's case, it meant finally going to Atlantis. And, in Carter's case, it meant helping Cassie through a rough time, and focusing on the Research and Development of the technology we had acquired over the years. So, when Mitchell came aboard, there was no SG-1. He was given command of a team that he would have to rebuild. Ideally, he wanted to "get the band back together" - and that meant Daniel, Teal'c, and Carter. So who is leading the team? They both are. The two have reached a mutual understanding whereby they can alternate command on various ops. "Impossible!"some will undoubtedly howl. That goes against regs! Maybe. And it goes against regs to have two Colonel's on the same team. But rather than giving Carter command of SG-22 (and following her adventures in another spin-off series), we thought this would be a nice compromise.

Mike

First. thanks mike for digging that up for us....

Now onto my review of this blog entry.....

Wow, what a load of....(insert word of choice)!!!!


Okay, I read the blog as....everyone is off doing their own thing and Mr. Mitchell gets to pick a NEW team! But instead of getting his own team we have him beg like a little girl to have the first team back!!!!

Now they are BOTH the leader of the team but we know that it goes against regulations.........................but thought it was a nice deal.

Hmm, SENIORITY GUYS!!!! Carter is senior to Mitchell in experience thus she is the leader of the team!!!

...........But instead of making Carter leader of another team or better yet, Mitchell leader of another team, they purposely blew regs and cannon out of the water to make gosh darn sure Private Mitchell was the leader. And tptb honestly thought making them co-leads was a "nice compromise"

wtf is there to compromise? There is no compromise and if they followed canon there would be no disregards for regulations.

Even if she did leave, no way would they put the former commander of the team - even nominally - under any Lt. Colonel Stargate travel related Greenie. It's not as if they didn't know Amanda would be back. In the end a new member *was* added to the team. Giving tim command DOES NOT make him any less new. GRRRRRR!!!

3 years later (well, 2.5 viewing) I still get pissed off about this when I think about it.

And that isn't even mentioning of character "development" of Vala 'I'm a "sexy""fun" slaving sexually harassing not even competent con a rtist "whorelete"

Fortunately she improved. A bit. Equally *un*fortunately, Mitchell didn't. IMO. Mal Duran.

suse

IMO Vala didn't improve either. She became a cross between Dorothy Gale and Pippi Longstocking. Vala merely changed...not improved.

they have an open mind

as long as you love what they love, hate what they hate and adore all that they do

Yeah, about sums it all up.

[suse]

IMO Vala didn't improve either. She became a cross between Dorothy Gale and Pippi Longstocking. Vala merely changed...not improved.

Oh, I didn't like her early (or mid) S10 either. But she was good in a few later eps. Not all, but we got a glimmer of what she *could* have been. Without Daniel around. She was great with Tomin.

suse

[ReganX]

I would call those excuses (and pretty bad ones) to put in the Lead White Male Action Hero. Sam after working her ass off, would not give up command of SG1, if Daniel or Teal'c left, she would be getting new members of own team. There was still a lot of planets to explore out there, so it was far from over. They also went against their own canon by bringing in 'green' man to lead a team, when there were so many others at the SGC who were more qualified to lead a team, and they didn't have to be a Lt. Col to lead. Also having 2 Lt Col.'s on a team was utterly ridiculous.

They should have thought things out, not just put bad ideas on the screen

I've been trying to think of one example, in all of the first eight seasons, where Sam indicated that her preference would be to devote herself fulltime to research and development of technology and that, if it weren't for the whole world in peril thing, she would be happily working away in a lab in Area 51.

I couldn't think of one.

I could think of quite a few times that Sam said that she loved the job she was doing, and that it was very important to her.

With the Goa'uld and Replicators gone, Sam would have been eager to explore the galaxy, even if Daniel and Teal'c were gone. I could see her relishing the idea of exploration, and of picking a new team to work with. The only way I could see her moving to Area 51 would be if it was as a stepping stone to another exploratory mission or similar - ie., in a fanfic SionnachOghma and I are writing, Sam transferred to Area 51 to oversee the design and construction of a ship that she would be commanding for intergalactic exploration.

Rank-wise, Mitchell didn't need to be a lieutenant colonel. Majors have commanded SG teams before, which would have allowed them to toss the character into the deep end by putting him in charge, and have him go through the whole getting the band back together crap (if they insisted; personally, I think that it made Mitchell look awful, like a five year old sulking because he couldn't play with the cool kids) but which would also let him step back when Sam returned to retake command. Given that they knew that Amanda was going to be back and would have had a good idea of when - assuming that TPTB have the ability to count, there's no reason for this not to be the case - it was incredibly stupid for them to put Mitchell at the same rank, especially when they were going to make him a green newbie.

They were just creating problems for themselves. In their shoes, if I'd wanted to get my show cancelled, that would be one of my first moves.

[ReganX]

Oh, I didn't like her early (or mid) S10 either. But she was good in a few later eps. Not all, but we got a glimmer of what she *could* have been. Without Daniel around. She was great with Tomin.

suse

He definitely drags her down. I was astounded by the difference in the Jackson-free episodes.

[Skydiver]

they made the problems for themselves with their obsession that 'leading male must lead the team...but we need a young leading male to appeal to the young male viewers' and were in the hole of 'credible leader' 'youthful and roguish character' are mutually exclusive.

they tried to have thier cake and eat it too and mitchell was the result.

[Jackie]

I've been trying to think of one example, in all of the first eight seasons, where Sam indicated that her preference would be to devote herself fulltime to research and development of technology and that, if it weren't for the whole world in peril thing, she would be happily working away in a lab in Area 51.

I couldn't think of one.

I could think of quite a few times that Sam said that she loved the job she was doing, and that it was very important to her.

With the Goa'uld and Replicators gone, Sam would have been eager to explore the galaxy, even if Daniel and Teal'c were gone. I could see her relishing the idea of exploration, and of picking a new team to work with. The only way I could see her moving to Area 51 would be if it was as a stepping stone to another exploratory mission or similar - ie., in a fanfic SionnachOghma and I are writing, Sam transferred to Area 51 to oversee the design and construction of a ship that she would be commanding for intergalactic exploration.

Rank-wise, Mitchell didn't need to be a lieutenant colonel. Majors have commanded SG teams before, which would have allowed them to toss the character into the deep end by putting him in charge, and have him go through the whole getting the band back together crap (if they insisted; personally, I think that it made Mitchell look awful, like a five year old sulking because he couldn't play with the cool kids) but which would also let him step back when Sam returned to retake command. Given that they knew that Amanda was going to be back and would have had a good idea of when - assuming that TPTB have the ability to count, there's no reason for this not to be the case - it was incredibly stupid for them to put Mitchell at the same rank, especially when they were going to make him a green newbie.

They were just creating problems for themselves. In their shoes, if I'd wanted to get my show cancelled, that would be one of my first moves.

I couldn't figure out why Sam would want to be at 51 either...and cassie seems to have been thrown in at the last minute as an excuse as to why she would take the job. But Cassi would be an adult by now and didn't need a mommy figure.

To tptb Stargate SG-1 was over and this was their brand new show Stargate command. And in a brand new show aimed at 18-40 year old males how dare they let a woman remained leader of the team when Bowder had now been cast as the new fore fronting hero. (Of course come season 10 and bowder is dropped back for CB to be fore runner.)

TPTB didn't want their show to be canceled they just didn't want to make Stargate SG-1 and that is painfully obvious to me.

they made the problems for themselves with their obsession that 'leading male must lead the team...but we need a young leading male to appeal to the young male viewers' and were in the hole of 'credible leader' 'youthful and roguish character' are mutually exclusive.

they tried to have thier cake and eat it too and mitchell was the result.

In general I found Stargate Command just Mitchell. Painful to watch, green around the gills, wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a comedy or a drama. Very much a mess!

[astrogeologist]

I can't remember any other TV series that pissed me off as much as Stargate SG-1 did when they wrote Carter out of command and gave it to a new incoming Male Lead.

I'm still offended and pissed off about it.

I'm disgusted and revolted that there wasn't a hue and outcry and condemnation by the fans and society as a whole. Even those who don't like or don't watch scifi should have condemned it when they heard anything about it.

That Stargate's PTB did such a horrendous job with the rest of the show throught Seasons 9 & 10 only served to verify the horror.

They turned a show that I liked into one that I detest. And that is difficult for me to deal with. I liked the early shows and I can't come to terms with how much I hate the show in Seasons 9 & 10.

-----------

I also can't get over how they took a team of 4, the original SG-1, a group that I envisioned would have grown to deeply care about each other, with bonds forged through the amazing trials and struggles that they'd worked lived through over the years... they took this wonderful team of 4, and somehow carelessly ripped it apart at the beginning of Season 9.

At the end of Season 8, they are all at Jack's cabin. Fishing and spending down-time relaxing. Jack, Daniel, Sam and Teal'c.

At the beginning of Season 9, this close group of 4 has separated completely. None of them are together in any fashion. As if the last 8 years - eh! Who cares? Off they go to their separate lives. I didn't expect that the 4 of them would move in together and spend the rest of their lives in each others' back-pockets, but there's no way I envisioned that they'd simply walk away from each other so effectively. The way that was written and played out made the original 4 appear that they didn't truly care for each other as much as I had thought.

It's General O'Neill in his dress uniform in Washington. Hardly mentioned at all.

It's cranky, jaded Jackson who has replaced warm, enthusiastic Daniel.

Sam becomes Carter who is off by herself at a wonderfully-exciting research lab, because that must be more enticing to a female scientist than exploration through something like a Stargate!!! The female scientist-geek got stereotyped horrifically. As an AU lark, it's fun. As part of canon, it sucks beyond belief. Carter should have been shown as wanting to continue exploring through the 'Gate and she should have been shown as competently leading SG-1. Anything else is horrific.

Teal'c's character should have grown and developed and broadened and deepened. He should have been shown mentoring young, impatient Jaffa. Teal'c character didn't need more torture or retaliatory brutality. Teal'c's character needed to grow and develop some of his own 'inner Bra'tac'.

--------

The forced 'team-scenes' with the 'New SG-1' rang false as they hadn't had the time to earn the viewers respect or the expectation that the New Team would care about each other deeply.

The original SG-1 was treated horribly and dismissively between the end of Season 8 and the beginning of Season 9. The original SG-1 *had* earned the viewers respect and the expectation that they would care for each other deeply, as both comrades and friends. And, yet, that was treated as if it didn't matter and they were written as all simply saying "The job's over, see ya!"

Yack!

[Jackie]

I can't remember any other TV series that pissed me off as much as Stargate SG-1 did when they wrote Carter out of command and gave it to a new incoming Male Lead.

I'm still offended and pissed off about it.

I'm disgusted and revolted that there wasn't a hue and outcry and condemnation by the fans and society as a whole. Even those who don't like or don't watch scifi should have condemned it when they heard anything about it.

That Stargate's PTB did such a horrendous job with the rest of the show throught Seasons 9 & 10 only served to verify the horror.

They turned a show that I liked into one that I detest. And that is difficult for me to deal with. I liked the early shows and I can't come to terms with how much I hate the show in Seasons 9 & 10.



Yack!

I'm not surprised...the whole show suffered so bad that most who would have been offended and objected had just stopped watching. There seems to me to be a stark contrast in viewers by the end of the series.

There were the ones who still watched the show out of some loyalty to SG-1, wishing to see a glimps of the old show here and there, who for most part can't stand the "new" version of SG-1.

There are those who love the new SG-1 and think the old SG-1 stunk and for the most part they seem to come to the show near the end of the series.

And there are a few who just love both...regardless.

Bearing in mind that the new show is directly geared towards the male demographic while previous show seemed to be broader based...I am not surprised the only one offended that voiced their opinions of Sam losing command are for the most part...the female demographic.

My hubby still loves the show...but he and I have different views of quality entertainment. To him...the series is just great with big ships, big boobs and big butt explosions. To me...not so great.

I find in sci-fi as a genre there is a huge lack of consideration for a demographic which is growing faster than the male demographic...the women.

What do women want in a sci-fi show?

A good plot
Strong characters
Strong female lead...not someone who is there for looks and to hang of a male leads arm.
Solid science that isn't over loaded with techno-babel.

I'm sure there is more...

I would very much like to see a show that is aimed at women in sci-fi and as an experiment, I would like to see how it would compare in ratings to a classic sci-fi show geared at men.

I bet the show...if done correctly...would do better in ratings becuase in an effort to gear towards a female demographic they would also be aiming for a family demographic.

[Skydiver]

what is so sad is that sexism is so prevasive that people don't even see it. I've said before, had Lt COlonel Samuel CArter, an african american male, been transfered away then back and demoted to serve equal to or under the less qualified white male, there would have been an outcry. society is sensitive to racial bias but are still blind to gender bias