Larger involvement from secondary characters

[amconway]

I see. I hadn't really heard that before. So what can we be sure of about the show's tone then? The writers did say something about it having more character development, right? I don't know how that translates into tone, but it does give us something to think about.

We know that there will be more emphasis on the characters. I'm assuming that means both backstory and interpersonal relations. We know they have more developed backstories. We know there will be some humor, but that was mentioned in a 'we just can't help ourselves' way. My hope is that it will be more along the lines of the banter between characters in early SG-1, but I have no reason to think that other than that it came out of the relationships between the characters, and would lend itself to a show with an emphasis on character relations, unlike the humor of seasons 9 and 10.
In terms of tone, we know they want to push the envelope a bit and go into new territory. I'm thinking there will be more conflict between the characters. How good or bad that may be depends a lot on the type of conflict.
There has been a lot of speculation that the tone of the show will be ethically darker.
Again, that comes from Scifi guy comparing it to BSG before it was even written or cast. Given his track record, I would say that he is a spin-meister given to a certain amount of wishful thinking, so really we can't have any notion that might be true. I actually have my doubts about that, although I have nothing to back that up but a feeling about where Brad Wright might be willing or not willing to go.

[crowmagnumman]

My hope is that it will be more along the lines of the banter between characters in early SG-1,

I'd be pretty happy with that as well. I'd be ok with more character development and more character conflict, but without ignoring the other side of the coin. A little lighthearted banter here and there helps us get more comfortable with the characters before we jump into the more serious stuff. SG-1 did that really well. We knew Jack had some dark stuff in his past, like his son dying. But we get to know him first as the sarcastically humorous and likable Jack. Then later episodes explore his darker issues.

[amconway]

I'd be pretty happy with that as well. I'd be ok with more character development and more character conflict, but without ignoring the other side of the coin. A little lighthearted banter here and there helps us get more comfortable with the characters before we jump into the more serious stuff. SG-1 did that really well. We knew Jack had some dark stuff in his past, like his son dying. But we get to know him first as the sarcastically humorous and likable Jack. Then later episodes explore his darker issues.

Agreed. It's all about a balance. We need to care about the characters if it's going to matter what happens to them. And I have to care a lot about them if we are going to delve very deeply into their personal lives, otherwise I just get irritated. My reaction to Grey's Anatomy is 'stop screwing around--I really don't want to know. Now go practise medicine, you bad, bad, doctors!'.

[terr]

... My hope is that it will be more along the lines of the banter between characters in early SG-1, but I have no reason to think that other than that it came out of the relationships between the characters, and would lend itself to a show with an emphasis on character relations, unlike the humor of seasons 9 and 10. ...

I'm not sure what you are saying here. How was the early humor different?

... My reaction to Grey's Anatomy is 'stop screwing around--I really don't want to know. Now go practise medicine, you bad, bad, doctors!'.

I'm not the only one? Between the "steamy" (TV-compatible) sex scenes and the dead guy walking around in Izzy's head, I've pretty much given up on that show. I sure hope they don't turn Universe into that kind of soap opera.

[jenks]

Looking at those they killed off Weir, Carson, Ford & wrote off in SG-1 Jonas never to be heard of or mentioned again yeah thats why I think that. They kill the characters with the big fan bases instead of trying to write them good. If anyone in Universe becomes likeable & not a main character they are pretty much dead within good time. Only one that is probably 100 % safe in Universe will be the Video Game Nerd that will more then likely be the easiest to write for aka Rodney Junior

Of those characters you've listed Ford and Jonas were never very popular, Carson was probably the most popular and was brought back, and even Torri was asked but refused. Your argument doesn't hold water.