Casting a known lead for SGU

[Skydiver]

i don't want any of the known cast members to be int his third series, if it ever really gets made. i think they'll be too much of a crutch. too much of a stunt.

If this show is to have any hope of lasting more htan 2 seasons, it needs to be 100% fresh...or at least 95%. anyone that has a past with the show will forever be compared to who they used to be. which is why i don't want a known actor. if david B is used....all it'll be is 'former angel star.....' and his fans from before will be drawn into the fandom with an endless 'oh he was so much better when he was playing angel'

and i'm not saying htis to diss anyone, i'm honestly not, but it's just an example of the baggage a known actor brings with him/her.

a cast of unknowns will be cheaper. they won't have the baggage of their career.

when they cast for sg1 originally, yes, they had rick as a name, but amanda, michael and chris were all cast not just because they had talent, but because they got along. they played well together adn that off screen relationship came through in the onscreen interactions.

and those interactions are part of what drew so many people to the show.

If SGU is to last and survive - presuming it ever happens - it needs

totally new unknown cast
new creative team
new writers

and the more they compromise and keep ahold of the old, the weaker the show will be. If they stunt cast for a big name, keep the same creative team and same writers...we're not gonna get a new show, we're just gonna get a retread of the same old stuff they've been doing for years....and the show will be effectively doomed.

[Major_Griff]

I agree that you should first and foremost cast actors on their chemistry with the other actors, but you have to start somewhere. On SG-1 they cast RDA and then picked AT MS CJ and DSD based on their chemisrty with him. If they could find a known actor who can play whatever the role is that they write for the lead the way the envision it being portrayed then get him in the show, if not then find an unknown, who ever is best for the part. But if a known actor is best, they can use his name to help sell the show which will help keep the SG franchise alive longer.

[MasySyma]

I agree with the idea that the cast should be mostly unknowns. Perhaps one actor with a reputation, but absolutely no one who is known for doing science fiction of any kind.

No Patrick Stewart, Chris Eccelston, Michael Shanks or anyone connected with Farscape, Firefly, Doctor Who, BSG, Heroes, Lost, or any of the Treks. Many of these actors are great, but they were great on their respective shows.

If anyone from another scifi show comes to the new series, the comparisions could bury the show. I already despise the Fargate remarks, even if I think they don't apply.

All characters from SG-1 and SGA should also be banned in anything other than the pilot or a 1 time appearance once a season, and frankly, no moving characters from one show to salvage mistakes on another. SG-1 had its issues. SGA should be allowed to have its own problems, and SGU (I agree that the name sucks) needs to have its own character development. No Carter, Teal'c, or any of the beloved SG-1 characters, no Jonas, no Weir, and no salvaging a minor character either. Either make a new show or retire the franchise for a bit. I already watched the Trek franchise die (Enterprise), and I don't want it too happen to one of my favorite shows.

Personally, I am not thrilled about the new show being ready so soon. I have enjoyed SG-1 for many years now, but I've already learned that the writers recycled SG-1 plots too often in Atlantis. I don't watch SGA anymore because of its lack of character development and old SG-1 plots, and I don't see how the new show will avoid rehashing what the writers have already done. I agree that new writers are needed immediately. The new Doctor Who series has too spinoffs, and the producers have brought in additional writers to help keep all three shows running well.

When I see the information regarding the new show, I see a plot that basically means that a team of adventurers in our universe will travel through a gate to have adventures. I enjoyed that plot for 10 years with SG-1, but I either want 10 more years of SG-1, which isn't going to happen, or a new show, and if the writers can't deliver a new product, they will soon find that the ratings for the new show will be worse than either the current disappointing numbers of SG-1 or SGA.

[Ripple in Space]

What about a semi-known cast?

A fresh, young cast:

Wylie Quinn Annarose Anderson - "a leader, someone who'll laugh in the face of" his her "enemy, even when it's inappropriate"

Tatiana Shanks - "a bookworm adventurer who can say "brains" and "guts" in twenty-seven languages"

Christopher Judge Jr. - "some new meat for the team: preferably something…bald, mysterious…you know, the warrior type with lots of, you know…muscles."

Olivia B. Tapping Kovacs - "the most beautiful, battle-ready, scientific genius"

[Dromag67]

What about a semi-known cast?

A fresh, young cast:

Wylie Quinn Annarose Anderson - "a leader, someone who'll laugh in the face of" his her "enemy, even when it's inappropriate"

Tatiana Shanks - "a bookworm adventurer who can say "brains" and "guts" in twenty-seven languages"

Christopher Judge Jr. - "some new meat for the team: preferably something…bald, mysterious…you know, the warrior type with lots of, you know…muscles."

Olivia B. Tapping Kovacs - "the most beautiful, battle-ready, scientific genius"

LOL, nice.

[MasySyma]

What about a semi-known cast?

A fresh, young cast:

Wylie Quinn Annarose Anderson - "a leader, someone who'll laugh in the face of" his her "enemy, even when it's inappropriate"

Tatiana Shanks - "a bookworm adventurer who can say "brains" and "guts" in twenty-seven languages"

Christopher Judge Jr. - "some new meat for the team: preferably something…bald, mysterious…you know, the warrior type with lots of, you know…muscles."

Olivia B. Tapping Kovacs - "the most beautiful, battle-ready, scientific genius"

Hmmm. It would be a young cast, but we might have need a slightly taller cast in general. Potty Training preferred.

[garhkal]

Using teal;c son.. that is laughable.. those surprisingly i can envision it..

[Locutus_Of_Borg]

id like Gary Senise as a scientist or something........AND IF i hear any of you crazy gate fans saying "tom cruse tom cruse" i will personally come to your house and physically.......educate you..., anyway i was thinking someone on the lines of...not because hes from Star Wars but i mean as an actor Ewan McGregor......hes got that....touch to him but not necessarely as the lead but someone in the show.......i guess we'll just leave the lead to the writers because they havent done too bad considering........RDA and Joe Flanigan have been pretty good (im intentionally not including BB)

[wilson359]

What about Nathan Fillion (Malcolm) or Adam Baldwin (Jayne) from Firefly in the lead role,

[Gelasius]

duchovny and col. coldwell, it would be like the good ole days again...plus duchovny is already familiar with the asgard . seriously though i think coldwell would be a great lead for the SGU.


Gelasius

[Ripple in Space]

id like Gary Senise as a scientist or something........AND IF i hear any of you crazy gate fans saying "tom cruse tom cruse" i will personally come to your house and physically.......educate you..., anyway i was thinking someone on the lines of...not because hes from Star Wars but i mean as an actor Ewan McGregor......hes got that....touch to him but not necessarely as the lead but someone in the show.......i guess we'll just leave the lead to the writers because they havent done too bad considering........RDA and Joe Flanigan have been pretty good (im intentionally not including BB)

I don't particularly like Star Wars. The whole silly, goofy aliens thing really turns me off to a franchise. The somewhat "real" tone of SG1 S2-6 is what drew me in. Anyway, I still think Ewan's a great actor. Gary Senise is good too (I don't know if he could crack a joke though).

The only prob is, taking on a spin-off of a 1-foot-in-the-ground cable/DVD franchise would be a MAJOR MAJOR step down for either of those guys. Senise stars in part of the #1 TV franchise in America & the entire world. And Ewan headlines blockbuster action movies.

Using teal;c son.. that is laughable.. those surprisingly i can envision it..

You know all of them are the children of & . Bonus points for anyone who knows where the character descriptions came from.

[Major_Griff]

You know all of them are the children of & . Bonus points for anyone who knows where the character descriptions came from.

200 duh!

[Major_Griff]

Back on topic, though, I think that having a scientst type character as the lead would be a great change of pace from the wise cracking air force special ops character that we have in Jack and Shep and to some extent Cam Shaft. I think that would help make SGU seperate from the other two shows.

[Ripple in Space]

^Well they tried putting a civilian, bleeding heart diplomat in command on Atlantis, and now they're demoting her to recurring.

As for a science-scientist, watch Atlantis S3, if Meredith isn't the lead, then I don't know who is. And TPTB didn't see fit to keep Amanda as the lead in SG-1 S9-10, and she was a seasoned character w/ a great ensemble cast.

[Matt G]

There will definately be AN actor with previous scifi experience amongst the leads whether peeps like it or not. That's official SG casting policy last time I checked, they prefer actors used to scifi vocab!

This could mean transferring a previously established SG recurring character to 'Universe'(i.e Zelenka and/or a familiar military face from SG1). Or this could mean transferring a known scifi name from elsewhere.

As for who, well they tried sniffing round Dean Cain and Ben Browder as John Sheppard when starting up Atlantis. Browder was doing the Farscape mini at the time so had to turn it down. A year later, he got signed up to play Cam Mitchell in SG1.

I don't know the exact reasons for Cain not getting hired, but him getting sniffed round again is certainly a possibility.