"Stargate Universe" Discussion/Speculation (Spoilers)

[ciannwn]

Like I said, it's a numbers game, the online fandom is very much a niche.

That's why I mentioned a study of characters/actors in general rather than just who has thunk threads in the Gateworld forum. A general study would include movie stars/characters and it could also be extended to music.

Teen fancies cover a wide range of appearances from Orlando Bloom to Marilyn Manson. When it comes to movies, 13 year olds can be swooning over Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter series) while 19 year olds are swooning over his dad, Lucius, or Severus Snape even though Alan Rickman is now 62.

We keep hearing about BSG in relation to SGU. Surely TPTB couldn't have failed to notice that BSG became a hit in spite of its characters having a wide range of ages and appearances.

PS: The X Files is an interesting insight into what many female viewers find attractive. Fox Mulder was very popular even though David Duchovny isn't standard Hollywood handsome. Skinner was very popular too in spite of Mitch Pileggi having no more hair then than he does now. The Lone Gunmen also had a large female following and this pic shows that they weren't standard Hollywood handsome either -

http://www.plaguepuppy.net/public_ht...unmen/JB01.jpg

[jenks]

Still not sure what your point is. It's not impossible to cast actors that would be considered attractive by most women, or actresses that would be considered attractive my most men, hell it's not even difficult. The various thunk threads on this forum are mainly nonsense, there might be girls on here creaming over Zelenka, but it's because of his character not what the actor looks like, if they met a guy who looked similar in real life do you really think they'd be raving about them?

[ciannwn]

Still not sure what your point is. It's not impossible to cast actors that would be considered attractive by most women, or actresses that would be considered attractive my most men, hell it's not even difficult.

My point is that the casting call describes Lt Nash as being every teenage girl's fantasy. This suggests that TPTB want agents to send them candidates who fit a certain appearance. As real life teenage girls fantasise over a wide variety of appearances etc. it also suggests that TPTB have their own ideas of what teenage girls ought to fantasise about. This brings us to what teenage girls in movies and TV shows are depicted as fantasising about and it's usually high school/college star football players who could have come off a production line as far as looks go. It's hardly surprising if anyone comes to that conclusion when the description also includes -

http://forum.gateworld.net/showpost....98&postcount=3

Like a college quarterback thrown into his first pro game

The various thunk threads on this forum are mainly nonsense, there might be girls on here creaming over Zelenka, but it's because of his character not what the actor looks like,

This indicates that girls have a tendency to go for more than just looks when it comes to thunking.

if they met a guy who looked similar in real life do you really think they'd be raving about them?

It would depend on what that real life guy's personality was like. Look around at all the real life men who manage to get married. How many of them have Hollywood style good looks?

Colonel Young has to be handsome. Why can't he just be fairly attractive in an average sort of way? It's not like viewers wouldn't believe he got married if he looked more ordinary. Why is it so important that the field medic is beautiful, particularly when Chloe is supposed to be stunning and sexy?

I'm going eek because of the over emphasis on looks where 4 out of the 6 proposed regular characters are concerned. It gives me the impression that TPTB are thinking that a show's success is proportional to how many of the main cast are generic eye candy.

So back to BSG which SGU is supposed to replace in sci-fi popularity. BSG also had that younger demographic that SGU is supposed to be aiming for. How ever did it manage to attract the right age group and be popular when some of the main characters are over 50 and wouldn't qualify as stunning and sexy or Hollywood handsome?

[jenks]

You're just repeating the same thing over and over again. It doesn't matter is there's a wide variety of men that girls find attractive, there are still actors and actresses that are generally considered attractive by men and women, and these are the looks that the producers want, to say they don't exist is just nonsense. And you're trying to tell me BSG haven't managed it?





Yeah, right...

And if you argument is that the writers wouldn't know how to pick these actresses, well even if that were true, that's what the casting calls are for, they're for the sake of casting agents and no one else.

[ciannwn]

You're just repeating the same thing over and over again.

That's because you keep asking me what my point is even though I've tried to explain it several times.

It doesn't matter is there's a wide variety of men that girls find attractive, there are still actors and actresses that are generally considered attractive by men and women, and these are the looks that the producers want, to say they don't exist is just nonsense.

I'm not saying that these actors and actresses don't exist. I'm just dismayed that TPTB for SGU are concerned that 4 out of the 6 characters are supposed to be seen as handsome, beautiful, every teenage girl's fantasy and stunning and sexy.

Janet Fraiser was a very popular female character in the Stargate universe.. Teryl Rothery is attractive but Fraiser wasn't in SG1 to be beautiful or stunning and sexy. Rodney is a very popular male character even though he isn't presented as being the very handsome chief scientist or every teenage girl's fantasy.

And you're trying to tell me BSG haven't managed it?

BSG has a wide range of characters with a variety of appearances. Here is Cally who was presented as being ordinary.

http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Im...inBusiness.JPG

Here is Lara Roslin, one of the star characters. She's an attractive older woman but she's never been presented as stunning and sexy.

http://www.galactica.com/main/compon...IoUH4TwpdWh7g=

You don't see Sharon going around like that. It took me a couple of seconds to recognise her and I then thought "Good heavens. That's Sharon".

Caprica 6 and Bathar's hallucinated version are presented as stunning and sexy. They needed an actress who could fit the requirement because their appearance is vitally important to the plot. We've also seen a number of other No 6s who don't ooze as much stunning sexuality as the first two because these characters performed different roles in the story.

And if you argument is that the writers wouldn't know how to pick these actresses, well even if that were true, that's what the casting calls are for, they're for the sake of casting agents and no one else.

The question is what are these actresses being picked for where shows are concerned? Gillian Anderson is attractive but we didn't see Dana Scully wearing skimpy, revealing clothing at every possible opportunity. (The nearest we got to it was the CGI version in 'First Person Shooter' but this was the AI, Maitreya, adopting her appearance.) Contrast this with Teyla who spent several seasons walking around half undressed a lot of the time. There was no important to the plot reason for the character to do this because she wasn't out to seduce all the men on Atlantis.

[jenks]

All beside the point, again. Producers of all shows cast attractive actors and actresses because audiences respond better to them. Fact. The End. You can't look at the casting call and try and compare that to other shows, because you don't have their casting calls, we have no idea what they said.

[Jumper_One]

Back at it today, spinning Stargate: Universe. With a first draft of episode #1 in hand and episodes #2-4 mapped out, we turned our attention to episode #5, Carl’s baby. After much heated debate on the motivating factors that “complicate things for our gang“, we ended up breaking the story in a little less than two hours. We took a break from the brainstorming to watch a Day 2 mix of Infection. A very interesting episode for you wraith-fans out there as Todd crosses paths with our heroes for the first time since the events of our mid-season two-parter (And one particular event comes immediately to mind. Todd setting the Daedalus on a collision course.). Some interesting scenes in which we learn where the different members of our crew line up with regard to the wraith.

Freidag writes: “Now, it’s probably just my oversensitive nature, but since the original question didn’t mention any Stargate characters, I’m curious why you felt the need to mention all of them (and Amanda Tapping, not fictional!) and only one Atlantis character, McKay, in your response.”

Answer: Oops. I meant to say Samantha Carter, not Amada Tapping (although Amanda is quite the lovable character in her own right). As for the other characters - when I said “ SG-1 and Atlantis owe much of their success to great characters like…” I think it was pretty clear that I was not speaking exclusively of the those characters. Ben Browder and Claudia Black brought new life to SG-1 with their portrayals of Mitchell and Vala. Similarly, Bob Picardo and Jewel Staite, two of the most accomplished actors I have ever had the pleasure to work with, did much the same for SGA through their characters: Woolsey and Keller. Jason Momoa and Rachel Luttrell brought a depth to the characters of Ronon and Teyla that made them a joy to watch. And, yes, the Sheppard characters has many fans as well.

Katya writes: “The characters on the audition call sheet seemed very two-dimensional, which makes me worry that the show is going to be more character-based. If the show were more action/plot based, it could help cover for the weaknesses of the characters. A character-driven show has to have interesting, realistic, three-dimensional characters in order to be successful in my opinion.”

Answer: Right. Which is where the script comes in. Fact is you’re not going to find three-dimensional fully realized characters in a breakdown for a show that has yet to be written.

Thornyrose writes: “With the core group of writers currently working on SGU, have any measures been taken to bring in some new writers to the series? If so, do they come in as “one shot” writers, with the Execs looking at that trial to decide to bring them on board full time?”

Answer: As I said yesterday, an effort is made every year to audition new writers. The quality of their script (if they get that far) decides whether or not they are offered a staff position. Occasionally, however, a writer may not be interested in committing to a full season and prefer to either consult or simply write an episode or two.

AmILeo writes: “Do you know if earth plays a role Stargate:Universe, besides that that’s where our main characters (I assume) are from?”

Answer: It will play a part in SGU - but in a very unique way.

PL writes: “Since it seems like the characters in SGU will be much more isolated than those in SG-1 or even Atlantis, do you think the show will be more “serialized” than the others?”

Answer: It’s looking that way.

Das writes: “So, Joe - is there ANY chance that this crew will be sequestered with a tyrant of some sort…”

Answer: Chances are good that with a bunch of strangers thrown together by circumstance, several of them may not get along.

Anais33 a ecrit: “Allons nous revoir des personnes connues de sg1 dans sgu?”

Reponse: Peut -etre.

Translation: It’s possible we may see some familiar SG1 faces in SGU.

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...niverse-day-3/

[Alan]

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...niverse-day-3/

Thank you, Jumper. Some more nice little tit-bits of info there. All very good. My excitement continues to build.

[ciannwn]

All beside the point, again. Producers of all shows cast attractive actors and actresses because audiences respond better to them. Fact.

There's a world of difference between attractive and handsome, stunning and sexy, beautiful and every teenage girl's fantasy. Not all shows have the majority of their characters looking handsome, stunning and sexy, beautiful or every teenage girl's fantasy either.These are some of the main and recurring characters from DS9.

1: Ben Sisko - old enough to be the father of a teenage boy, bald and not conventionally handsome. He'd qualify as attractive but he wouldn't have got every female viewer thunking.

2: Quark - it's unlikely that many female viewers found him drop dead gorgeous.

3: Rom - same as above.

4: Miles O'Brien.- an ordinary looking guy who would qualify for what you call 'niche looks' where female viewers were concerned.

5: Julian Bashir - definitely drop dead gorgeous. A complex, appealing character if somewhat irritating at times so he wasn't just eye candy to be background wallpaper.

6: Odo - the Changeling look would be an acquired taste. 'Niche looks' again.

7: Garak - attractive if you like the Cardassian appearance. 'Niche looks' again.

8: Worf - good looking if you like the toned down Klingon appearance. Female viewers who have a thing about Klingons probably found his brother Kurn far sexier, though, because he had proper Klingon hair and was a lot wilder in personality.

9: Jadzia Dax - I'd say she qualified as beautiful but she was a complex and fascinating character, not just eye candy to be background wallpaper.

10: Major Kira.- attractive but she didn't project stunning and sexy. Nana Visitor showed that she was capable of projecting these qualities when she played the mirror universe version of Kira, though.

11: Jake Sisko - nice looking teenager who would have appealed to a lot of teenage girl viewers

12: Nog - it's unlikely that many teenage girl viewers would have fantasised about Jake's best friend.

13: Keiko - attractive but didn't project stunning sexiness

14: Kai Winn - didn't really qualify as an attractive older woman because she had a very hard and severe look. Here's a contrast between Kai Winn and Louise Fletcher who doesn't look hard and severe in the photo of her as herself. It just goes to show how things like makeup, hairstyle and clothes can alter the appearance of actresses of any age.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Louise_Fletcher

15: Ishka (Quark's and Rom's mother) - definitely not an attractive older woman by human standards.

16: Gul Dukat - attractive if you like the Cardassian appearance. 'Niche looks' again.

I could go on but I think the above shows that the DS9 producers didn't design the majority of their characters to appeal to as many people as possible in the looks department.

You can't look at the casting call and try and compare that to other shows, because you don't have their casting calls, we have no idea what they said.

I suppose it's possible that the casting calls said the following kind of things for some BSG characters -

1: Cally - beautiful, stunning and sexy young girl. (The producers then changed their minds and opted for a girl who was pretty in an ordinary sort of way.)

2: Doctor Cottle - beautiful young fleet medic. (The producers then changed their minds and opted for an elderly man who chain smokes.)

3: Galen Tyrrol - handsome young Chief Petty Officer who is every teenage girl's fantasy. (The producers then changed their minds and opted for BSG's equivalent of O'Brien.)

4: Saul Tigh - handsome Executive Officer (The producers then changed their minds and opted for Tigh having a somewhat sleazy appearance which isn't improved by an eye patch. Going by photos I've found of Michael Hogan, Tigh is less attractive than the actor is in real life.)

Now to Grace Park who looks very glamorous and sexy in that photo you found of her. Sharon, however, is attractive in a more ordinary sort of way. Hairstyle, makeup and clothes have a lot to do with it but a major factor is that Grace Park isn't projecting glamorous and sexy when she's being Sharon even though that photo indicates that she could if the producers wanted her to.

I'm not against a TV show having a stunning and sexy female character or a hot male character or even both. What makes it very dull is if stunning and sexy or hot is a character's primary quality so he/she is little more than eye candy. After seeing what the writers failed to do with Teyla and Ronon I don't have much faith that the same PTB and writers are going to develop interesting and complex characters out of every teenage girl's fantasy and a stunning and sexy party girl.. This doesn't mean that they're incapable of developing interesting characters such as Todd who is wonderfully complex and devious. Is it possible that he's turned out like he has because the writers are thinking on the lines of "What would this sneaky Wraith politician do?" rather than focussing on the fact that a number of female viewers regard him as hot?

[Jumper_One]

With five stories in place, we turned our attention to episode #6 today, beating out Marty G.’s very first SGU script. This one involved a long, loooooong discussion on the workings of a certain technology which forms the impetus to another terrific character-driven story. Next week, we have stories to break for Rob, Alan, Paul, and myself after which we head off for two weeks of fun in the sun (or rising sun in my case). Then, we’re back in the office for one more week of discussion on the (hopefully) completed outline.

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...niverse-day-4/

[SerenaSerenity]

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...niverse-day-4/

Oooooooooooo thanks much. *smiles*

[Alan]

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...niverse-day-4/

Oh, Molto Bene! Brilliant! Thanks Jumper!

[senois]

Thanks for the link, I'm converted all ready,
Just can't wait to see how they pull it off,

[Jumper_One]

Well, back in the office today. While Brad and Robert worked on revisions to the first script, the rest of us kept busy in our respective offices surfing the internet, phoning home, and making final preparations for our trip to Tokyo. At a little after 11:00, we convened in the writers’ room and started spinning Alan’s story. We broke for lunch, then resumed the discussion on shipboard justice and the ever-developing interrelations among the crew. Factions, fractions, and surprising revelations. By the time we called it a day, we had beaten out Alan’s story.

Tomorrow = More SGU! My Whispers commentary with director Will Waring! And Schnitzel Day!

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...5-the-mailbag/

[Sealurk]

...We broke for lunch, then resumed the discussion on shipboard justice and the ever-developing interrelations among the crew. Factions, fractions, and surprising revelations. By the time we called it a day, we had beaten out Alan’s story.

Okay, now that does sound intriguing. My personal SGU like-o-meter just went up a notch.

That just suddenly implied a whole new layer of depth to SGU for me - just how is order maintained on Destiny, and perhaps more importantly...who is it who needs keeping in check?

Going by the earlier reports that this crew / team will be far less experienced and possibly even capable compared to SG-1 or the Atlantis Expedition, that raises some interesting possibilities, among them the idea of them being much less composed, panicking at the prospect of being trapped on the Destiny and travelling further away from Earth. Sounds good.

Now if only they could put some info out that makes that casting call sound a little more appealing...