Wow. Over the past few days, this blog has averaged a little over 15 000 daily views. And this without a single gratuitous cute dog picture!
Well, so as to not tempt fate any further –
Okay. With that out of the way, onto the business of this blog.
Those of you who took part in our book of the month discussion on Marjorie M. Liu’s The Iron Hunt no doubt: a) enjoyed the book and, b) have been wondering “Hey, what happened to the promised author Q&A?”. Well, as it turns out, our guest authors are busy people – which is why, whenever I send the reader questions their way, I assure them they are free to deliver the responses at their earliest conveniences. Being a writer, you’re faced with looming deadlines at every turn, so I don’t want these Q&A’s to prove similarly daunting. Instead, I want them to be something to be savored over the course of a few hours spent in the comforting darkness of a den or basement while the sunny outdoors beckon. It builds character, y’know?
Anyway, after weathering a perfect storm of deadlines, Majorie recently surfaced to complete her Q&A. Thanks to Marjorie for taking the time. And, also thanks to Marjorie for being such a huge fan of the show (October 2, 2010: Your Affable Host! Tia Carrere! Marjorie M. Liu!).
Antisocialbutterflie writes: “Questions for Marjorie: 1) Where did the inspirations for the demon tattoos come from?”
MML: I watched a documentary on tattoos — specifically, full-body tattoos — and found them eerie and beautiful, and strangely alive. Boom! The story was born. Maxine was there in a moment, and so were the boys. I knew certain facts about them from the beginning, but much of the series mythology spun out as I wrote, in an organic fashion.
“2) I’m not sure how to ask this without sounding snotty, so I will just say it. How do you find so many original ideas in a genre flooded with cliche and pandering to audience expectation? Thank you for such a refreshing read.”
MML: Actually, I think there are many original ideas within the urban fantasy genre. The most any of us can do, as writers, is just reach deep within and tell the story of our hearts, whatever that is. Told with enough passion and skill, any story becomes new and fresh. I thought I was done with vampires, for example, but I’m reading Christopher Farnsworth’s ‘Blood Oath’ and loving it.
Terryb writes: “I noticed that no non-supernatural or non-damaged human characters are in the close circle of people with whom Maxine interacts. (Or if they are, I don’t remember them). Was that a conscious decision? Why not provide one traditional human?”
MML: That was not a conscious decision. I wrote, and my brain kept presenting one character after another, all with their own particularly odd lives and vibes. There’s a purpose to each of them, however, which is revealed over the course of the series. Mary, for example, is not at all what she seems. Neither is Maxine, for that matter.
“Was this book first conceived as a self-contained story or did you always plan to do a series? In building a world as complex as this one, how far out into the story do you plan the plot? Does the plan change much once you start writing?”
MML: I did not plan on writing a series. I wrote a novella, ‘Hunter Kiss’, for a paranormal romance anthology — and that was the story that introduced Maxine and Grant, and the boys. After that was finished, however, I felt strongly that I had only touched the tip of the iceberg, as far as those characters were concerned. I wrote a brief proposal for a series, and my agent sold it at auction.
As for the world-building of this series, I did not plan ahead when I first started out. I had certain ideas in my head, and as I wrote they came alive, gathered momentum, and took on lives of their own. It has been that way with each of the books — usually, with so much bubbling, I can’t get it all down on the page.
Sometimes I have to hold back parts for upcoming books, otherwise the story-lines would be even more crammed and crazy.
And yes, the plans always change as I start writing. In fact, there’s no such thing as a real plan. Just playing it by ear.
Cherluvya writes: “Marjorie…your book is amazing. I will admit it is my first zombie read…and I thought Joe’s write-up was very reflective of what I felt.
My thoughts would often return to Maxine’s tattoos. How she was endeared to them. Do you have tattoos of special meaning? I kept thinking that there was a connection between this brilliant fresh look at tattoos being more than ink. Wonderful read..enjoyed much of it on a plane far above the earth. *smiles* Thank you…”
MML: Thank you very much for those kind words. I don’t have tattoos, actually. Maybe, if I ever had a message, a personal story that meant enough to me, I might get a tattoo — but otherwise, no. I think that marking one’s body is a profound statement. You’ve got something to say that’s so important to you, you’re willing to brand your body with it.
Ponytail writes: “1. I read you loved reading the Laura Ingalls’ Little House on the Praire books. (Me too!) How did you go from that to Hunter Kiss and The Iron Hunt? Did you think Laura had a dark side or something?”
MML: Ha! No, I don’t think Laura has a dark side (well, no more than the rest of us). I’ve always read everything on hand, so moving from ‘Little House on the Prairie’ to ‘A Wrinkle in Time’, and onward to other fantasy novels and mysteries wasn’t so much of a leap.
“2. I love to ask authors…how old were you when you wrote your first story and what was it about?”
MML: I was tiny! I can’t remember the exact age, but maybe around three or four. My mom gave me a little journal with an orange cat on the cover. I started writing a story about a kitten, though I didn’t quite finish it. That was the start, though. I was telling stories before that, however — out loud, with my dolls.
Most kids do. I guess I had an extreme case that just wouldn’t quit.
“3. I also purchased and will be reading Darkness Calls. What can I expect from this book?”
MML: More answers about Grant and Maxine (along with Mary and Jack). More mysteries, too, some of which will be answered in the third novel, ‘A Wild Light’.
“4. Who was/is the biggest influence in your style of writing and choice of subjects?”
MML: Every book I read influences me to some degree — but some influences certainly run deeper than others. I will say this: I had an English teacher in college, Professor Fritzell, who taught a non-fiction essay writing course that made me look at words in a completely different way. As a writer, he was very important to me. Regarding my choice of subjects, there’s no rhyme or reason. Though I do love to spice my stories with the otherworldly.
Kellyk writes: “1. Cast the Iron Hunt movie. Who is playing Maxine? Grant? Byron? And most important of all, who is doing the voice of Zee?”
MML: Oh, so hard! Rather than give you names of actresses, the woman who plays Maxine would have to give off a vibe that is tough and smart, and secretly tender. For Grant? So difficult! Same with Byron. Again, the ability to express the qualities of the character would matter more than the appearance. Zee’s voice, though…I imagine it as cross between a whisper and rasp, a scratchy voice that is quiet, commanding, but not deep in pitch. Medium range. If someone can pull that off, and give it soul, and personality…
“2. What kind of books did you enjoy reading as a child? And what kind of books do you enjoy reading now?”
MML: I read everything as a child. Nothing has really changed. I will say, though, that I’ve always been partial to stories with a bit of magic in them.
Sparrow_hawk writes: “Ms. Liu: Reading new books is always an adventure. Sometimes I discover a new world with new characters that I care enough about to read the next book in the series. Sometimes I find a new author who’s writing style I really enjoy. It’s really nice when both of those things happen at the same time – which they did with The Iron Hunt. Thanks for a very entertaining book! I’m looking forward to reading more of your stories.”
MML:Thank you very much for those kind words.
“My questions: 1. It’s fun reading a new twist on old legends. How did you decide to bring The Wild Hunt into your story?”
MML: The original Hunter Kiss novel was heavy with Celtic mythology, but the first draft of the story just wasn’t right. When I rewrote it, many of those elements were stripped away, but the idea of the hunt, that it’s a force for good or evil — depending on who is leading it — remained a theme, one I’ve carried over into each book. Maxine is a hunter, but not only that, she is the leader of the hunt — the heart that guides this primal power — which is something that becomes more important as the series continues.
2. Oturu is very cool in a classically mysterious kind of way: rippling cape, wide-brimmed hat, and all. Was there a particular inspiration for him? For any of the other demons?”
MML: I had a dream, actually, that involved some very odd things. Oturu was one of them. Exactly as I described him in the books. It was an old dream, and I had written that character into another story that never went anywhere. Until ‘The Iron Hunt’. And suddenly he was perfect. He was absolutely perfect for the book.
Tim C. writes: “How long have you been a Stargate fan and are the rumors true? Are you a TJ/Varro shipper? What was it like to visit the set and what was the high point of the tour? Do you think The Iron Hunt would make a good television series?”
MML: I’ve been a Stargate fan since the movie, and I watched the television show from the very beginning. I got my whole family into it, actually. I’ve enjoyed each of the series (‘enjoyed’ is an understatement, because if I really turned myself loose right now, I’d turn into a crazy screaming fangirl), and I was incredibly disappointed (heartbroken) and saddened (bitter) to learn that Stargate Universe had been cancelled.
The series finale? KILLED ME. That last scene? Oh, man. I can’t even tell you. It was beautiful. I am going to miss this show like a…a crazy screaming fangirl.
And yes, I’m a HUGE TJ/Varro shipper, and I wanted to know how they ended up! I wanted to know what happened with all the characters. I was so invested in all of them.
Do I think ‘The Iron Hunt’ would make a good television show? That would depend on the writers and actors, I suppose! I’d like to think so, though.
Scott_land writes: “Are there only 3 and is there going to be more to this series?”
MML: There are already three full length novels and two novellas — plus two more novels planned. I don’t know if there will be more after that. The next release will be called ‘The Mortal Bone’, out at the end of this year. It will take place a month after the events of ‘A Wild Light’. If you want more information, or would like to keep up to date with my novels and comic book work for Marvel, feel free to check out my blog: http://marjoriemliu.com/blog/
And thank you all for such lovely questions, and for taking the time to read ‘The Iron Hunt’.
For more on Marjorie, head on over to her blog. In addition to her many novels, you might also want to check out her past comic book work on such titles as Dark Wolverine, Black Widow, X-23, and NYX: No Way Home. Oh, and she’s got a mighty awesome short story in the Masked superhero-themed anthology which also features contributions by the likes of Gail Simone, Paul Cornell, Matthew Sturges, Daryl Gregory, James Maxey, Mark Chadbourn, Bill Willingham, Ian McDonald, Peter David & Kathleen David, Chris Roberson, Stephen Baxter, Mike Baron, Mike Carey, and yours truly [“Downfall”]: Amazon.com: Masked (9781439168820): Lou Anders: Books
Reflecting back on Stargate: SG-1’s sixth season, I can honestly say it was a challenging year. With the departure of Michael Shanks, actor Corin Nemec had some mighty big shoes to fill and, to some fans, it didn’t really matter how successful we were in finding a place for his character, Jonas. At the end of the day, he wasn’t Daniel Jackson. While I initially sympathized with the fans (I’d enjoyed writing for Daniel Jackson and did feel his loss), it became increasingly difficult to maintain a polite online discussion on the subject. They were upset because Daniel was no longer a part of the show. I understood it wasn’t the same for them but, realistically, it was the actor’s decision to leave the show, not ours. They countered that the actor wouldn’t have left the show had we made more of a concerted effort to focus on his character. My answer to that I already outlined in a previous entry – we simply saw the show differently. To them, the show revolved around the relationship between Jack and Daniel. To me, the team was the heart of the show. Anyway, I won’t go into the details of the “lively debate” that followed but, suffice it to say, it was always interesting.
And it became even more interesting when, six episodes into the show’s sixth season, actor Michael Shanks returned for a guest spot…
ABYSS (606)
This was a great episode for all sorts of reasons, but chiefest among them was the terrific onscreen dynamic between RDA and Michael. I know that both of them had a great time, as did Brad Wright who wrote and produced Abyss. Brad, as the show’s co-creator and longtime show runner, had written some of the best Jack-Daniel scenes in the series, so I was surprised and disappointed when angry fans targeted him. I thought it immensely unfair given all he had done to build the friendship between the two characters but, this business, it’s often less of “Thanks for what you did for us in the past.” and more of “What have you done for me lately?”.
One issue I had with the script was the idea of Jack being killed, then brought back from the dead. I thought it opened a can of worms re: memories of the afterlife. I was told the ship had sailed on that particular subject. I don’t know if I agree. I always considered ascension a very different matter, an experience specific to an isolated group.
SHADOWPLAY (607)
When Dean Stockwell came to Vancouver to guest on the show, Brad took advantage of the gorgeous summer weather to treat him to a round of golf. Apparently, they spent their afternoon enjoying the game and chatting about Married to the Mob. Most of the Stargate producers were avid golfers (Brad, Rob, Paul, John Smith, Michael Greenburg) and so, over the course of my many years on the franchise, I had to put up with endless Monday morning chatter about everything from everyone’s weekend scores to rehashings of recent airings on what I refer to as the Old Golf Channel. It became so annoying for me that I started to follow Japanese Professional Baseball (Pro Yakyu) just so I could interject equally annoying details about teams like the Orix Blue Wave, the Nippon Ham Fighters, and the Yakult Swallows.
THE OTHER GUYS (608)
This was the script that earned Damian Kindler a spot on the writing staff and it was one of my favorites. The episode was tons of fun and ur guest stars, John Billingsley and Patrick McKenna, were terrific.
One memory I have connected to this episode doesn’t have anything to do with this episode at all. While prepping The Other Guys, a couple of guys from the VFX department came by the office. One was wearing the greatest Stargate t-shirt I’ve ever seen. It had a finger pointing off to the right and, below it, the text: “I’M WITH SHOL’VA”.
Early in the episode, O’Neill asks Teal’c who he likes for the cup. Teal’c responds: “I believe the Canucks of Vancouver are superior warriors.” During the Vancouver Canucks playoff run of that year, that clip was played several times on the jumbotron.
ALLEGIANCE (609)
Hmmm. This one’s a bit of a blur but for two things: 1. The Rambo-esque sequence of O’Neill’s 360 degree machinegun turn that, believe it or not, was at least three times as logn in the director’s cut, and 2.The hokey ending: “This single blade did what we could not. It has brought us together.” Ouch.
CURE (610)
The thing that drove me nuts about this episode was the big Egeria reveal near episode’s end that comes about as a result of Jonas FINALLY and conveniently coming across the text in the underground chamber. Whenever I watched that scene in dailies, all I could think was: “Man, if you could’ve just started with that particular section instead of saving it for later, things would’ve gone a whole lot easier.”
PROMETHEUS (611)
Richard Dean Anderson was an Executive Producer on the show and liked to read and provide notes on all of the scripts. I remember getting a script back from him once and Paul being delighted by how much Rick obviously liked it. “Look at all the check marks!”he pointed out. “Check marks are bad,”Rob informed him. Oh.
Well, let’s just say this script got A LOT of check marks. Rick greatly objected to the basic premise – that a group could actually steal an Earth ship. As a result and to spare his character any potential blame, the script was rewritten so that O’Neill wasn’t anywhere near the Prometheus when it was taken. So passionate was his opinion that, in the scene in which he dresses someone down for allowing the ship to get grabbed, I swore he was actually channeling himself.
Mailbag:
RFVDevil writes: “Frankly, I agree with you Joe. A response from SyFy to the fans was not nessecary and IMO is more of an acknowledgement / justification that they screwed up and that the execs are trying to cover their own arse in explaining why the show was canceled. The Stargate Franchise has been airing on SyFy for 10 years and for the most part served as their bread and butter.”
Answer: Let’s be fair. Like I said yesterday, television is a business. It’s unfair to expect the network to pick up a third season of a show if it doesn’t make financial sense to them. But it’s equally unfair to make a case for cancellation by comparing SGU’s performance unfavorably to shows that had the benefit of airing in the summer or were less impacted by downloads and DVR usage.
Sam/Martouf writes: “Could you please give some details about the characters such as: birthdates, birthplaces, heights, weights, etc”
Answer: Sorry. We didn’t flesh out each character’s backstory to that detailed extent. I’ll have Carl Binder get on this.
Sam/Martouf also writes: “What was the “Blueberry’s” plan(s) for Chloe?”
Answer: The plan was to eventually use her to amass as much information about the Destiny’s systems as possible and then, eventually, use her to gain access to the ship.
“What did they do to her body in the first place?”
Answer: They implanted her with an alien virus that slowly mutated, taking over her mind and body and acting as an organic satellite. Once the mutation was complete, she would have been entirely under their control.
“Why didn’t the crew check out the crates, to see if there were more spare parts for the Destiny?”
Answer: They did check out the crates – and several unexplored sections. We simply didn’t see them search and come up empty.
“After all these years, why did you just skip over how the gates are made, like it was not that important to anyone?”
Answer: There was never a story point that required us to see the gates being manufactured. By the time we found the seed ship in Awakening, it was long dormant.
“How come no one ever really did anything about the Furlings?”
Answer: I think part of the reason was their unfortunate name. We considered doing a story about them just so that we could introduce them as some tall, gaunt, morose alien life forms, totally different from short, furry, lovable creatures that would invariably come to mind.
Mike writes: “By the way, the ship concepts look amazing. Did you give the artist a rough idea about what you wanted and they just went with it, or did they come to you with their thoughts and you approved/disproved them?”
Answer: I gave a fairly vague description in the script and Gary took it from there. The design is all him.
William Francais writes: “was there ever any intention to have any humanoid races in SGU world?”
Answer: Yes. As I said in a previous entry, the plan was to encounter more off-shoot civilizations that originated from the crew’s descendants.
max writes: “Joe, do you believe some of the problems is that the 3 SG series catered to an aging audience? […] In hindsight, if this is true, would you have casted even younger actors to make the SG shows more appealing to that younger demographics?”
Answer: I don’t think so, and I don’t know how much younger you could cast without running into problems “not being out late on a school night”.
SZL writes: “1. There would have been a chance that way, that Atlantis going after the Destiny with the star-drive?”
Answer: Nope. In the movie, Stargate: Extinction, the wormhole drive gets fried and, thus, rendered useless.
“2. If the destiny is the oldest technology, then how’s that he has a rotating gate? 
”
Answer: Good question for whoever designed it, either Production Designer James Robbins or the Ancients.
“3. Why did the blue aliens leave the destiny in peace?”
Answer: Because they had retrieved all the information they needed from Chloe when they divested her of the alien virus.
“4. What happens then, if from the home dial, while the destiny is between the two galaxies yet?”
Answer: Sorry. I don’t understand the question.
“5. Eli’s smile means that there is not everything yet on his end disappearing regarding the continuation?”
Answer: I think it means he’s come to the realization that, despite how dire the situation, he’s where he truly wants to be.
J514 writes: “havnt heard about rob cooper lately… is he still working on the transporter with you and paul?”
Answer: Yes, he is – among many other projects. Stay tuned!
Elliott writes: “1.) What happened to Franklin’s body? I know that his mind became part of the Destiny AI (or something to that effect, like you said in a previous post), but I was just wondering what happened to his body.”
Answer: His physical being was either absorbed as well or atomized.
“2.) Can you give us any more information on the blue aliens or the Ursini? Where they came from, what they wanted, would we have seen them again and in what capacity?”
Answer: I believe I already covered this in a previous response. The blue aliens had designs on Destiny and were using Chloe to gather information on the ship’s systems. The Ursini were the remnants of what we discover is a long-dead race, wiped out by the drones.
“3.) You discussed the planet builders in this post; why were they helping the Destiny crew (creating Eden, sending Caine etc back)? What did they hope to gain from it? And if they weren’t helping us, what were they doing?”
Answer: I believe that they felt some responsibility for the death of the Destiny crew and sought to make amends by restoring them and returning them to the ship. Given what we know about the planet builders, it’s highly probable that this was also part of an experiment to learn more about humans and Destiny itself.
“4.) I understand not revealing what the ultimate end for the show was, but can you talk about how Destiny played into the CMBR message? How did it gather the data, and what role did it play in understand what it meant?”
Answer: Again, there’s not much I can reveal on the subject. This is a question for Brad and/or Robert.
“5.) Were there ever any plans to show flashbacks to the building and the launching of Destiny and the seed ships?”
Answer: Yes. I tossed around a time travel idea that either would have seen the crew shifting back to the past or the Ancients of the past shifting forward to the present. What was causing the shift, what it influenced, and how the problem was solved were aspects of the story I never got around to figuring out.
John T. Williams writes: “Just wanted to ask if the statis chambers aboard Destiny are different to those found in Atlantis and other ancient outposts?”
Answer: They’re different.
James writes: “Also forgot to ask do you know if a OST (soundtrack) for Stargate Universe is coming out soon?”
Answer: Sorry, no idea. I’ll drop Joel Goldsmith an email this week and ask him. Remind me!
Prior_of_the_Ori writes: “I will keep an eye out on Dark Matter. Will there be any information about the setting?”
Answer: Eventually, yes. Keep checking out this blog for more info.
Prior_of_the_Ori also writes: “Going through the old notes you mentioned on AU Season 6, you mentioned that Atlantis was going to get trapped into a bubble universe whereupon there would be a resurgent Wraith threat due to the actions of a mysterious new ally. Who was this ally going to be anyway? Would this have been seen in Extinction in some capacity? Not the bubble universe but the mysterious new allies.”
Answer: Hmmm. I’m afraid this one is lost to time. If I get my hands on my old laptop (back in Vancouver), I’ll be able to look up the details for you.
Rhyney writes: “Why is nether SyFy nor MGM interested in Extinction an Revolution as well as the two SGU movies, despite the fact the moves cost money and need good viewer ratings?”
Answer: Uh, I’m going to say the fact that the movies cost money and the show requires good viewer ratings.
Lou Zucaro writes: “Joe, when you say that your idea for the planet builders included that they didn’t evolve from a physical form like ours, can you elaborate on that? Were they energy beings? Mechanical? Or just a lifeform vastly different than humans / humanoids?”
Answer: We never got that far, but I envisioned them as lifeforms vastly different than humans.
mike mcginnis writes: “Isn’t syfy obligated to produce stargate extinction because they promised SGA would be followed by at least 1 2 hour direct to DVD movie? Is there any legal action that can be taken?”
Answer: Afraid not. For what it’s worth, I think all the parties had every intention of doing a movie. And then the DVD market collapsed.
Gilder writes: “Joe, just for fun, does WordPress give you stats on your posters’ locations?”
Answer: Nope, but I do receive updates on new subscribers to the blog that offer details. I’ve been picking up a lot lately and from all over.
Beau O’Brien writes: “My quick question is, Is it a possibility to return SGU in a Novel Series perhaps? Or is it just up to MGM?”
Answer: Again, up to MGM.
sparced writes: “Did aliens really take TJ’s baby and what would have happened with the rest of that baby storyline?”
Answer: We left it purposely vague but, given everything we know, it’s more than likely that Destiny was responsible for T.J.’s vision in the season two premiere.
Donna S writes: “Anyway, I explained that you had blogged about it & I tried to put a link to your blog but it keeps disappearing. Do you know why this is?”
Answer: Sorry, no idea.
Jade writes: “1. Do SyFy count live views from other countries such as the UK?”
Answer: No because the network makes money selling ad time to advertisers who depend on American viewers to watch the show live – and catch the commercials.
“2. Did you have any intention in pursuing TJ’s baby storyline?”
Answer: Aside from the repercussions of the loss, no.
“3. Given that TJ was the only medic onboard destiny why wasnt she making trips to earth to improve her medical knowledge?”
Answer: Yes, she was. In fact, we were considering doing a story that, at least in part, focused on this.
“4. Would Varro have been a big part of season 3?”
Answer: Yes, he would have found a place as a regular member of the crew.
scottland7 writes: “Who would you suggest the fans could go to read comments by MGM?”
Answer: I would suggest leaving comments on the official Stargate website which is managed by MGM.
Mo Restrepo writes: ” Was the introduction of the Ancients considered at any point during the originally planned 5-year run of the series?”
Answer: Yes, it had been considered.
Bryan M. White writes: “How is the casting for Transporter going? Any chance you could tell us what network or cable channel we can look forward to watching that on?”
Answer: Big announcement coming up. Watch for it!
Randomness writes: “Or if you’re wanting to do a Scifi type show, aim for something like Planetes, Crest/Banner of the Stars, or Infinite Ryvius.
Or Black Lagoon, any of those would make me happy to see.”
Answer: Loved them all. Coincidentally, I happen to be wearing my Black Lagoon t-shirt today.
max writes: “In your opinion, is Rush’s character capable of murdering the whole crew just to get to the end of destiny’s exploration mission?”
Answer: In my opinion, no.
Charles Dockham writes: “Not to be just another comment in the crowd and I kind of hope this one actually gets read by one of the writers, but why haven’t you thought of using atlantis?”
Answer: Atlantis would certainly have the capability to dial Destiny (as would most any gate) but it wouldn’t have the power necessary to complete the connection.
Jimbo writes: “However, it’s killing me not knowing. Is there anyway to contact- or have myself contacted by- Brad?”
Answer: I’ve extended an invitation to come by the blog and field fan questions. Hopefully, once things have settled down and he has some free time…
kimmy writes: “In Common Descent, when Eli plays the kino footage of Young’s speech, did he also show Young the entire set that we saw of TJ giving birth to his son or just the speech? It wasn’t too clear for me. When Young find out that he & TJ did stay together on Novus if he wasn’t show the footage?”
Answer: It’s safe to assume that either Young did see the footage or he was told.
kimmy also writes: “In Twin Destinies, Rush stated that he was trying to buy them some time when crew went through Stargate after Telford. Did that mean Rush modified the wormhole direction to have it run closer to a solar flare? Thus enabling the crew to gate to desert planet 2000 years ”
Answer: No. It just meant he was trying maintain the stability of the wormhole, allowing them the time to gate through (to Earth presumably).
Gurluas writes: “Would the Ori Supergate be able to dial Destiny due to it drawing power from a black hole? And does it still exist?”
Answer: Hmmm. Good question. Given the fact that a ZPM wouldn’t supply enough power, I’m not sure it would – as crazy as it sounds.
Darth Novos writes: “So I do have to ask a very important question, are you going to actually finish something that you start? Or are you just going to continue to disappoint your fans, because that is exactly what you are doing… with everything that has happened and how you have constantly let your fans down, why would any of us watch the next thing you come up with when we can just expect you to do it again? And you cannot sit there and say that it is all MGM’s fault, if you guys really wanted to continue this, then you guys would have put more into the pitch, you would not have taken “no” for an answer.”
Answer: Seriously, dude. Time for a reality check. After ten years of a show, in the case of SG-1, you will not get all the loose ends wrapped up, no matter how many movies you do. In the case of Atlantis and Universe, we didn’t get the chance to wrap anything up because news of the cancellation came too late – and, quite frankly, even if it did come in time for us to rewrite the final episode, again, we’d have been hard-pressed to wrap everything up. As for not taking no for an answer – what exactly would you have us do? Stage a sit-in at the MGM offices? Hijack the sets and produce a movie out of our own pockets and upload it to the internet before the studio catches on? I look forward to your input.
Ize V. Spielman writes: “If Stargate Universe were to be continued in novel/comic form, is it safe to assume you’d be the first to tell us?”
Answer: Wish I could but it’s more than likely it would be someone else – either someone at MGM or whoever was hired to write the novel/comic book.
Archersangel writes: “now that you’re doing season 6 reminisces, will there be anything on might have happened to jonas if the character had been kept on?”
Answer: Wasn’t planning to but I’ll certainly consider it.
@Loved them all. Coincidentally, I happen to be wearing my Black Lagoon t-shirt today.
That’s great, speaking of which. Black Lagoon is probably one of the most adult and hard hitting stories ever created in the anime world, wouldn’t you agree Joe?
Some of the subjects it covers would be questionable if aired on American tv.
Such as what happened to the twins that went on the killing spree of balalaikas men, what she did to them, and the way that story ended.
Or the way they covered the Lagoon crew boarding the Nazi loyalists boat at the start of Season 1 pretty much wiping them out because they picked a fight with them whilst they were on a salvage mission.
Or the story at the end of Season 2, talking about the Russians vs the Yakuza, the way that big guy with the sword cuts off that trash talking guys hands and holds him down in the water to drown.
I would love so much to see this kinda show on TV in live action form but really, I don’t have a freaking clue what kind of network would want something so adult lol
I hope this was one of ths shows you were speaking about anyhow..
Yay! Fry the Wormhole Drive! And serve it on toast!
Can’t wait for your Transporter casting announcement!
Loved the dog picture!! And you most certainly don’t want to bring bad luck upon yourself if you can help it. 😉
My favorites in the latest bunch of eps were: Abyss, The Other Guys, and Prometheus. Hubby has a couple of favorite lines from The Other Guys.
“I can’t believe that you don’t worship at the altar of Roddenberry.” “Coombs, oh look, it’s Coombs come to rescue us.” (not sure if the last one is an exact quote or not, but probably close enough)
We were cleaning out the garage today in preparation for a possible move and came across some Stargate coffee table books. It was nice to look through and reminicise about the show.
Have a good night!!
“Answer: We left it purposely vague but, given everything we know, it’s more than likely that Destiny was responsible for T.J.’s vision in the season two premiere.”
Just wondering if you can clarify here. Was it Destiny just trying to help TJ survive/cope or was this Destiny actively doing something (like, since it’s the latest fashion, uploading the baby to the Destiny computer)?
I was so sad that we didn’t get more TJ. She quickly became one of my favorite characters. I had the opportunity to meet Alaina at a convention last summer and that just added a whole new dimension.
Hello Joe
Thanks for answering our questions. I look forward to hearing more Transporter news in the coming weeks, as well as your SGA plans.
Also: MORE PUPPY PICS!!!
Best wishes,
Bryan
Hi Joe,
I have one last question (at least for now) about Stargate: Universe…
Did you have any plans to make Ginn a series regular? I loved the character and I also loved the fact that Eli wasn’t alone any longer.
Hey Joe,
You mentioned that the movies were scraped because of the dvd sales. I believe the two SG1 movies did quite well in sales, though I admit I have no idea how well they would have to do to be considered successful by MGM.
Assuming though that you are referring to the dvd market in general rather than specifically the SG1 sales figures, do you think if the movies could have been made within a year they would have been successful?
I always wondered about the delay and I believe back then the market was doing okay. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for doing this, it must take you ages to answer all the questions!
W
JOE WROTE :: Seriously, dude. Time for a reality check. After ten years of a show, in the case of SG-1, you will not get all the loose ends wrapped up, no matter how many movies you do. In the case of Atlantis and Universe, we didn’t get the chance to wrap anything up because news of the cancellation came too late – and, quite frankly, even if it did come in time for us to rewrite the final episode, again, we’d have been hard-pressed to wrap everything up. As for not taking no for an answer – what exactly would you have us do? Stage a sit-in at the MGM offices? Hijack the sets and produce a movie out of our own pockets and upload it to the internet before the studio catches on? I look forward to your input.
REPLY :: I would expect that you do not give up. As I said, if MGM will not finance anymore Stargate that find someone who will, there are hundreds of other studios that would be mad not to jump at this franchise. MGM may own the rights but there is nothing stopping you from talking to other people about possible deals. Lucasarts might even be interested in buying the franchise, and if MGM is desperate enough then they’ll take the deal.
The new studio gets movie and television deals, you guys get to continue with what you have made all of us love and adore for the last two decades, MGM makes a load of cash, the actors never have to chance being out of work and the fans are happy… everybody wins!
Hey Joe, thanks for all the responses.
I was wondering if you could clarify a few things from the mailbag that still leave me confused.
First of all, what exactly did the Blue Berry aliens want with Destiny. I know you said they are collecting information to try and take over, but what do they actually want with the old gal. Do they even know about Destiny and her ultimate mission?
How did the Blue Berry aliens discover Destiny?
Can you tell us about any of Destiny’s past experiences before the Icarus crew got on board? She seems to have been through a hell of a lot of battles. I would imagine she would have just been in FTL all this time and would only drop out to recharge, so why all the battle scars?
Are the Icarus crew the first to gate to Destiny since its launch?
What was the Ancients original plan when it came to going back to Destiny?
In your opinion, does Destiny belong to us? The Tau’ri, the smartest descendants of the Altereans, or does Destiny belong to the universe as a whole?
Finally, what do you think happened to alternate Rush when he sat in the chair? Did he become a part of Destiny like Franklin? was he able to finally learn everything he ever wanted?
How are things in the Anime front going? Did you ever get to watch Eureka 7, Darker than Black or Baccano?
I think i’ve officially run out of major questions for SGU. Thanks again Joe.
Can’t wait to find out your casting choice of Frank on the transporter. That’s got to be tough. Really loved all three movies (except the one time they scripted him to fly the car in roll to remove a bomb off the bottom using a crane).
BTW, darth novus wasn’t even worth replying too. It’s been widely covered how many months later Brad Wright stayed on to try and get something to work. Most of the real fans know how hard you guys worked to keep the show going. 🙂
Speaking of Anime, with the on-going nuclear crisis in Japan, are you hearing much talk of projects taking on increasing post-apocalypse themes?
Darth Novos, give it a break.
Just out of curiosity who was the moron who wrote the script where Beckett was killed off.
Also I always felt that Beckett should have been the one who finished him off, you know he created him he should finish him.
Also was there ever a plan to bring ford back for another episode?
My last comment said finish him off, I meant Michael there. Sorry bout that.
@Darth Novus. Man, talking about the kettle and the pot. Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is? You want the shows that damned badly, finance them yourself. That’s what i’d do if I had the money. And if you are that fixated on the show, go out and make the money. Make the pitches. Heck. buy the rights to the show.
Mr. M. has made it clear that every effort was being made by BW to find a way to keep the franchise going. It didn’t work. If you have any other ideas, or a magic “make the world the way I want it to be” device use it. Meantime, we can’t expect writers, actors, directors,. cinematograhpers, grip boys, Fx specialists, and a few hundred other people to sit around and wait for a miracle. I hate the shows being off the air. But trying to beat up on one of the show’s producers, one who actually communicates with fans and not-admirers alike, isn’t going to change things. And get another clue. I used the word try in the last sentence, because Mr. M. is more than capable of giving you a verbal whipping that would leave you on life support. Just you’re luck he isn’t that easily provoked. So, if you’re for real, contact mission control on directions on how to return to Earth. If you’re a troll, enjoy the attention you’ve gotten cause you won’t get much more.
As for the rest of the post, another great job. Extra points for the Q&A,, which was an extremely pleasant suprise. As was the doggie pic. Thanks for another great post.
We always appreciate the dog pics. You should put one on every single entry. If you’re like me, you probably have tons of pics of the dogs. My cats sometimes hate the camera.
Can’t wait for the casting announcement.
Thanks again for the SG-1 reflections. RDA marked up the scripts? Bet that was “fun” to deal with. But hey, he was an executive producer. I’m so glad that many people, including you, considered SG-1 an ensemble show. Sam and Teal’c were just as much a part of that show as Daniel and Jack. I do have to say that Sam is one of my favorite characters in Stargate.
pic from James Bamford:
http://yfrog.com/hsk49pxj
(Ivon Bartok’s comment on the pic on that page is pretty funny)
First off, I’d like to say that, although we at first thought “Are we going to like Stargate without Daniel?”, I think it took all of about 1/4 of the first episode with Jonas as a team member before we were like “Hey, this guy’s pretty good.”
I think you all did a great job of making him extremely likeable and relevant within the context of the team and the show.
Second, I’m finding it more and more difficult not to be snarky to some of the other posters on here.
But it’s your blog, so I’m holding my tongue, erm, fingers. With my other fingers.
hi Joe,
after reading a few of your recent entries, not sure what to write about.
I could talk about the SGU petition and the signature count that went up to 11184 .
The 2 auditions I have next week .
The fact that some actors have been very quiet since the cancellation of the show.
my opera singing.
Season 2 that is really good. What a shame….
A special Thank You! to the lovely Marjorie M. Liu for answering all those questions! It is always very cool to hear directly from the Author. It adds so much to the experience of reading the book. Thank you so much Joe for setting up these great Q&A’s.
“Question: “4. What happens then, if from the home dial, while the destiny is between the two galaxies yet?”
Answer: Sorry. I don’t understand the question.”
Well duh! What do you mean you don’t understand the question? Everybody knows thaaat! Even I know that one. It’s umm…you know…well…sort of…uhhhh…gosh…what am I trying to say…kinda like…I mean…ohhhh…shoot! I can’t believe you don’t understand! Come on Joe, just don’t let it happen again. 🙂
“As for not taking no for an answer – what exactly would you have us do? Stage a sit-in at the MGM offices? Hijack the sets and produce a movie out of our own pockets and upload it to the internet before the studio catches on? I look forward to your input.”
Yes, actually that would be cool. Hurry up before they tear down all the sets. ok? Thanks.
May I ask a few SG questions? Thank you in advance for taking the time.
• Being from Vancouver Island, would you have ever considered doing an SG shoot on the island, or other parts of BC outside of the Lower Mainland; like the Okanagan desert? Or was budget always a factor. Just that the scenery in many of the episodes were, well, the same West Coast forests.
• How is Richard Dean Anderson feeling about the end of SG? The rest of the original SG-1 crew?
• Was there ever any talk about having a point where the Stargate actually became public knowledge and start using the gates and ships for colonization? Or was it always to be kept a secret.
• And while where on that subject, and most importantly; in Yaletown, Vancouver; speak truthfully now… Isn’t this really the real Stargate hidden in plain site? http://bit.ly/jhdkQi There’s a DHD hidden in one of those “light” boxes too, right?
Thanks and best regards,
My wife and I really loved the shows and wished it never ended. But if I can figure out that DHD… we can have our own adventures! 🙂
Andrew & Sunny
I just finished watching a rerun of Covenant, and I was just wondering if there had ever been any thought of an episode where things start to be revealed to the public? I had this thought of William Devane giving a speech and then the Hammond descending behind him or something cool like that.
Sorry Joe but like Lou Zucaro, all these Stargate questions are starting to make me loopy.
I’m getting very upset because back when they cancelled Bonanza I did not protest. But I was just a little girl!!! What could I do?!! What did I know?!! I didn’t even think to pester the network, producers, or writers. Nobody had personal computers back then! Was there a chance I could have made them uncancel Bonanza? It was my very first favorite show, for gosh sakes! And they cancelled it!!
There were so many loose ends. Would Little Joe ever marry without his wife being immediately killed off? Was it possible she could live to be in the next episode? Would he ever have Little-er Joes? Pa needed grandchildren! Would those damn writers ever allow that?
Would Hoss ever fall in love with someone other than a widow woman, whom he had accidentally killed her husband, and she was planning revenge against him? He was so loveable, why couldn’t the writers reward him for that?
Would Adam, the cute but strange, brooding older brother, ever really fit in? Would Pa marry for the 14th time? Would a 4th son from another marriage suddenly show up one day? Would he ever have to sell off land just to make ends meet? Did they build on to the house so all the boys and their (hopefully) wives and children could live there? So many loose ends! Why didn’t the writers and producers fight for that show? It was on 14 years and could have gone on at least 25 more! Why?! I ask you, a writer, why??!
Hey @mike mcginnis
Before you start calling other people names, you might want to learn to read the credits on tv shows, because that was a pretty lame question.
A few things. First, Abyss was one of my top 10 favorite eps if for no other reason than that moment when Daniel says “You’re a better man than that” and Jack says “That’s where you’re wrong!” You believe him. It’s a whole new side of Jack in that moment. It really gave him a new depth as a character.
Second, was the idea of Destiny going into the past and creating a civilization that would stretch into the present partially designed to allow SGU to showcase human type aliens ALA SG1/SGA? I can see where it would make the show less costly than having to go CG everytime you need an alien for an ep.
Oh and frying the Wormhole drive, that was kind of a “this tech is too powerful/deux ex machina and we have to get rid of it” decision? I know I felt that way about it when it came out of nowhere at the end of SGA.
And was there a big payoff to come with the “franklin getting absorbed by the ship” thing? We saw him but it was kind of ambiguous. Was there ever a thought that the ships consciousness might have been the bridge between the ascendable human consciousness and the non ascendable replicator consciousness?
Was the “disappearing fetus” story just a way of dispensing with a pregnancy that you didnt feel fit with the rest of what you had planned for season 2?
Oh and any gate that was powered by a blackhole should have been able to contact Destiny since they were able to keep the supergate blocked indefinitely (Pegesus Project).
I saw where you said bringing the ancients into SGU was considered. I always felt they were portrayed as pretty unremarkable when we actually met living breathing Ancients. With exception to “Frozen” where the Ancient woman woke from her icy sleep and immediately showed all these superhuman recuperative abilities, and remarkable adaptive capacity. Learning english in record time. I always thought if we met Ancients on Atlantis that they should have been speaking ancient. Just as a cue that “They look like us, but they arent us” thing.
Thoughts?
I liked the descriptions of the tattoo protectors; mischievous and ready to protect Maxine with distinct personalities, kinda like the pugs.
Finally got to see a marathon of SGU on Hulu; was there a caveman lurking in background of Common Descent? There was a hunched over fellow with cro-magnon hair and eyebrows midway through on the planet. Or it could just have been a less than groomed extra.
A bit late on this comment, but after a crazy week, I finally had a chance this evening to watch the (*sob*) series finale of SGU on iTunes.
So sorry that it’s ended. It was a good episode though, and if it had to end, I’m glad that Eli was there at the end, last man standing as it were.
I built up to the finale by watching the last several episodes. So good, which made it even more frustrating that it’s over. But thanks to you Joe and all involved with the entire Stargate franchise for everything. It was a good run.
– KB
P.S. and completely random: “Holy crap, we dialed Pittsburgh.” 🙂
“Abyss” was one of my favorites of SG-1. I thought RDA delivered one of his best performances.
I’m amazed that you can remember so many details about all the episodes after so many years. And it’s a blast to read your insights. But honestly, how do you find time to work on so many projects at once? Seriously, I’ve lost track of them all. You mentioned something about another series in the works? And are you still looking for a more permanent home?
Well, I’m off to JPL tomorrow for their open house! Can’t wait to see all the exhibits and upcoming projects.
Was just thinking of something. From Atlantis and the ‘Gate Bridge” we know gates can be programed to pass on your info rather then spitting you out at the first gate. Since they went through about 10 forwarded gates till they got to midway on both sides.
Judging by how far Destiny is away from earth could it be the gates left by the seed ships are sending back info to the other gate networks in the Pegasus and Milky way? I mean since Destiny is constantly moving and not in one spot like a planet.
Just guessing that it would be hard for even the Ancients to work something to find a gate several galaxies away so easily in the time it takes to dial.
Also wonder if its possible that after some time Destiny will be so far beyond earth that even the stargates wouldn’t be able to reach it.
How many people did the SG-1 series employ at the height of its popularity say in Season 10?
Im just trying to get a sense of how much of a budget is needed per year for big shows like these.
I was wondering, when you mentioned that Brad Wright had tried looking into every avenues to keep SGU and the franchise alive, did he by any chance consider continuing Stargate through strictly digital means?
I read up on Netflix’s intentions on possibly footing the bill for shows and series that are about to be cancelled, and was thinking that Stargate Universe, or at the very least, a couple of movies might be right up the service’s alley.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20062943-93.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20057180-261.html
The fact that the franchise is over aside, I was just simply wondering if such an avenue was considered, or if it could be a possible platform in the future to relaunch the franchise, in its current or rebooted configuration.
Wow, Joe, you are doing an awesome job answering all those questions. Thanks so much for that. Even though you’ve moved on to vistas, it’s so good of you to offer so much information.
I’m watching “Remnants” right now, and thoroughly enjoying it. It’s one of my favorites, And since meeting Robert Davi this past April, I am impressed by his performance even more.
I have a question about Torri Higginson and something that Joe Flanigan said at the Creation Convention. I’m paraphrasing, but Joe said how good and serious an actress Torri was and how she fought for every word she got and was concerned that she only worked two days out of five, but that she got quite a lot of screen time in spite of that.
Then Joe said that the writers were all aiming for the young adult male demographic and did not write a lot of strong women parts. That the writers did not come to the conventions and see the wide audience that Stargate was reaching. and that the writers were not very receptive to Torri’s concerns.
Eventually when you keep getting that kind of reception, you stop going upstairs to talk to them. He said it would probably have been better if there had been a few women writers writing it.”
What is your opinion of Joe’s comments?
Doing some searching for female writers to invite to STARCON2011 in Vancouver in June, I’ve only come across a couple. Why do you think women don’t seem to write sci-fi?
Patricia
I know this is a hopeless question but I have to ask it or at least say it. I wish you would have brought Jack’s clone back, did anyone in the writing room want to bring him back years later?
Hey Joe,
As another person posted I think you’ve answered most of my questions on SGU too. Thank you very much and I’m looking forward to reading about the rest of your memories on SG1, SGA and of course SGU. 🙂
You might recall that I wrote at one time my wife and I have been rewatching the SG1 series (well I’m rewatching and she’s watching it for the first time). We just finished season 7, Lost City and we are just going in to season 8. (We were interrupted before we could even make it half way through the first part of New Order).
If you could’ve seen her jaw drop when we watched Lost City. She was looking at me like “they can’t do this to Hammond right? He’s coming back … right?”.
She was blown away (and so was I on the cool fight scene at Antarctica). She looked at me quizzically at the start of New Order when a new actress introduced herself as Dr. Elizabeth Weir to Daniel Jackson in DJ’s SGC office.
*Sigh* so here I am again asking questions on her behalf… why did Hammond get reassigned? I think I read because of Don Davis’ health problems started around this point. Is this really the reason he was written as being reassigned? I also read of his later passing. Which made me sad to read. I really thought he was a great actor in how he portrayed Hammond’s character. So the other question pertained to Weir. Why was she recast for season 8 and for the following seasons?
I plan to play a dirty trick on my wife. When she said she would agree to watch my 10 seasons of SG1 on DVD I agreed that I would start rewatching her CSI with her again. By season 5 I could tell she was becoming addicted but she swore up and down that she wouldn’t watch another SG series after this because it was consuming all her time. Well! I’m going to nonchalantly pop in SGA Rising after we watch both parts of SG1 New Order. I’m hoping that’ll be the right point to get her addicted to that too! Mwa ha ha ha! The only thing I hope she can overcome is the introductory Rodney Mckay factor. She couldn’t stand his two time appearance in SG1 before Atlantis. Heck I thought he was a bit pompous and arrogant too when I first met him, but I grew to like his character and looked forward to seeing him in more episodes. Anyways wish me luck on that! 😉
I was looking for a recommendation from you of another science fiction series to start watching besides the obvious SG series, Star Wars , Star Trek & Firefly (which I’ve enjoyed all these).
Is there an obvious science fiction series I’ve missed watching that you would recommend seeing?
Thanks.
Abyss…..my favourite ever episode from Stargate…Amazing acting from both Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks..
I had the pleasure of meeting RDA in person for the first time last weekend at Chevron 7.6….he said some lovely things to me about working with Michael Shanks and complimented him on his quick thinking and wit when acting with him (and coping with the, so I’ve heard “occasional”, Rick ad-libs) in many of the fabulous Jack and Daniel scenes…It’s so nice to hear things direct from the actors’ mouths sometimes and see genuine pleasure on their faces when talking about their fellow actors and friends..*g*..
RDA also made, what I thought was a lovely comment about Jack and Daniel – “They didn’t write enough for us”….I told him that as far as I was concerned they could have carried on writing for them both for another 10 years…
I wish it had been so…*sighs*….
Hey I have a “I’m with Shol’va” T-shirt. It’s awesome 😀
Loved The Other Guys. One of the best comedic episodes. I used to watch the Red Green show and I think Patrick is a great actor. Avenger 2.0 was good as well.
Hi Joe,
in Outcast: who is the man in the picture, that´s Sheppard’s father was represented?
Thanks for answering my questions!
Excuse me my weak English knowledge, but the google translate not perfect yet. 🙂
1. A space battle would have been good: Destiny&Atlantis vs aliens. 🙂
4. I thought about help not being allowed to arrive from the Earth through the gate, while the ship is between the two galaxies, because much energy gets lost with it. (Example: The ship has to stand it while the gate is active.)
5. I mean of a parallel rather, from the future of the series. That the smile means a little hope, that the series will continue sometime.
Thanks again!
Just a friendly reminder to send off that e-mail to Joel Goldsmith about the soundtracks. Love that BGM!
I think he’s asking what would happen if Destiny is dialed from the Milky Way Galaxy while it is still in transit between galaxies.
Hmm… that reminds me, didn’t Destiny jump right back into FTL shortly after dropping out to accept the dial-in from Air, Pt. 1? Was the time spent out of FTL longer than it seemed, or was there some damage done to the engines?
Ouch. It looks really bad to just spring Wormhole drive on us in the last episode then kill it in the next story.
I was always so disappointed with what happened to Jonas. I enjoy Daniel Jackson and Michael Shanks–in fact, we just rented the Burn Notice Season 2 DVDs where he’s guesting and he’s great in that, even dropping a few SG references in the commentaries–but the Jonas character was really growing on me by the end of season 6.
So I’ll ask some Jonas questions and forgive me if you have answered them before.
There were a number of references to being somewhat genetically different than the earth-humans. Even than Jack who had the ATA gene. Can you tell us where that storyline was planned to go? Or even theories about where it would go?
Also, what did Jonas do during the Ori invasion? Did he lead a resistance movement? Go into hiding? It seems like he might enjoy the purified form of Origin that Tomin is preaching, but not what it was at the time of the crusade.
I am thoroughly enjoying the trip down memory lane you have been taking with SG-1. Thank you for all the anecdotes. I can’t wait for you to get to the 200th episode. Teal’C P.I. is one of my favorite scenes ever.
Regarding your new series The Transporter, have you already cast the lead roles? I’m eager to find out who you will cast as Inspector Tarconi, since you both share an affinity for haute cuisine.
I think Darth Novos needs another reality check, this time on what it means to “own the rights.” Enough on that, I guess.
If neither a ZPM or possibly even a black hole would be enough to power a gate to Destiny, I have to wonder how the Ancients were planning on getting there if the time had ever come around. Were they planning on using an Icarus type planet and by reading their research on it that’s how the SG scientists got the idea? Or was that developed completely independently and the Ancients had some other idea lost to time? Oh well.
Also, can I just say that Ms. Liu’s portrait is very striking!
Thanks for taking the time to answer so many of these questions!
I was wondering if there was every any plan to further explore Alan McCullough’s unknown aliens from The Daedalus Variations episode in Atlantis. If so, is there any part of their story that you guys had already planned and can share?
so i’m picturing you guys in the writers room and you say “hey I wanted to do a story about some ancients originally intended for the mission to accidently time travel to present day Destiny, or some of the crew to go back to when the ship was being built” Then someone says, “Yeah that would be a great story, how could we do it”. Joe replies “I don’t know I just thought it would be cool.”
Hey I was wondering, why the Destiny gate is the only one that has exhaust and a blue globe above it? I figured the blue globe was to lock in chevrons, but other gates don’t have them. The exhaust I assumed was to assist in cooling down the gate after use, but again no other gates have that feature.
Just watched the finale of SGU and I have to say it was an almost emotional event.
I say almost because, aside from T.J. and Eli, I found it very difficult to sympathise with anu of the SGU characters.
If I were a member of the Destiny’s crew, I’d have serious objections to allowing Rush to maintain his position given everything he’s done. Same applies to Greer’s constant intimidation of the civilian crew.
I’d also object to some of Colonel Young’s decisions, like not turning the ship around and heading back to Earth. Granted, the distances involved would make it a pretty moot point, but the psychology of that act would mean that the crew would be getting closer to Earth with every passing day, not further away. Which begs the question, why didn’t they modify Eli’s plan in “Gauntlet” and just head back to the galaxy they left? It would enable them to avoid the drone carriers and wouldn’t take as long.
After all, only 10 or so people want to do the Destiny’s mission. How can they dictate the lives of the 70+ who have no interest in it and just want to go home?
My biggest three problems with the show however (and I did watch and enjoy it for the most part) were:
1. A lack of backstory for the central characters: It was obvious after the first few episodes of season one that these people really didn’t get along and it was mentioned that the Icarus project had run for two years. Were there plans to do flashbacks to Icarus to give us a better understanding of these people and why they hadn’t clicked as a unit after all that time?
2. The lack of training, experience and skills for the crew: It was a central plank of SGU that these were “the wrong people fo the job”. Great, that adds drama and increases the tension but, it also means that it was hard to take these people seriously as leaders and skilled experts that they claimed to be.
For example in “Aftermath” Scott and his away team were using C4 to uncover the Stargate and were worrying that they might accidentally detonate the naquadah it’s made of. Surely an SGC trained officer would have already known that the C4 would have had to have been placed directly on the Gate in order for such a detonation to have taken place?
Also, Rush is described as the expert on Ancient technology. How is that possible? As far as we know, Icarus was his first post in the Stargate Programme and therefore the only practical experience he would have had with Ancient technolgy is the two years spent working on the Icarus gate. Two years of failure which resulted in Eli come out to do the job.
In addition, the majority of the military personnel were wearing standard issue U.S. BDU’s not Earthforces issue uniforms like Young and T.J. and Scott. This tells me that they were “temps” brought in to do a specific job before being rotated back to the regular military. In a programme a secret as the Stargate Programme and given the techincal requirements that come with it, how could they have even been allowed off-world without being trained properly?
3. The psychology of the crew: How is it that noone tried to take a swing at Rush? How is it that crew are all of a sudden “on board, moving forward together?”
Rush is a sociopath, who has taken it upon himself to decide that his dreams and goals for the future are more important and worthy of pursuit than anyone else’s. How is that the crew have so quickly moved into the “acceptance” part of being there? They’ve had their lives stolen from them and are being forced to live at the seeming whim of a madman and a Colonel who is so useless at his job he got his own baby killed. How can Young have any credibility after that? It just didn’t ring true to me, that everyone would give up on home so quickly and that there wouldn’t have been a major mutiny attempt when Young announced that the crew would have to go into stasis for three years while the ship moved further from home.
I think the characters were TOO flawed and TOO inexperienced and TOO poorly trained to be believable members of the Stargate Programme and given how the IOA and its’ officials have been portrayed in SG-1 and Atlantis, I don’t think there was much chance of anyone liking Camille Wray.
If I were a member of Destiny’s crew, the murders of Dr. Franklin (by Spencer and Greer’s bullying and Rush’s manipulations) and Sgt. Riley (again by Rush) combined with the IOA’s constant interference (forcing a solar dial-home and the retention of Lucian Alliance prisoners against everyone’s wishes) and the fact that as above Young has no credibility as a leader and that Varro has been given a free reign on board even though he only switched sides to save his own skin, the three years in stasis plan would have been the final straw and I would have left the ship and tried to make my own way home. Especially since it appears that no dial-out from Destiny would ever happen given how old she is and how completely broken down and beaten up she is.
Lastly, Rush’s claim that the best way home is to complete the Destiny’s mission is a very bold one. A claim which I personally, would not be prepared to believe without some hard evidence to back it up.
Perhaps all of these above points were going to be answered in S3, but I honestly think you waited too long, drew the story out too much.
A pity really, as the concept was staggering and I would loved to have seen much, much more. If there’s to be no movie, or continuing series would you be willing to tell the rest of the SGU story as a novel or series of novels? I’d defintely buy them!
Hay Joe and thanks for all of the amazing blog posts, the amazing Stargate Run…I HAVE LOVED IT ALL!
It has literally changed me so much (started watching it at 4), touched me so much that on a regular basis as part of a UK costume group i go out in SGA (and soon to be SGU as well) costume and raise money for charities at special events!
***Questions***
What is Destiny’s FTL and how does it work any details you would give would be fantastic, i talked to David blue last year about it and he only knew as much as i did.
In Air part 1 why did you make the Hammonds hyperspace more like purple mist (entering and exiting)
how much power is really required to gate to destiny (roughly compared to universe cannon) if a ZPM is not enough even thought it is a ridiculously large amount of power…then can more than one manage it? if not then via Awakenings the seed ship has much more power reserves than a full ZPM?!? 😛
and i second someones question about the SGU soundtrack, i loved the score and would be so thrilled to be able to buy a copy! and even if there are no plans to officially release then i have heard of a few composers putting a few tracks up for the fans to download *hint hint*
Thanks!
I have a comment about a comment.
“Joe, do you believe some of the problems is that the 3 SG series catered to an aging audience? […] In hindsight, if this is true, would you have casted even younger actors to make the SG shows more appealing to that younger demographics?”
I don’t think it really works that way. When I was a kid my brothers’ and I all really like older action heroes; Rambo, Solid Snake, James Bond, anyone played by Bruce Willis, the list goes on and on.
And being around 20, myself and the missus and our friends all LOVED Jack O’Neill.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a somewhat famous failure, tried to do the “throw in a kid” approach by bolting on an under-25 American male character, you know to “appeal to the demographic”. It didn’t really help and the movie was a big pile of similarly naive decisions.
Why would the blue aliens have to transform Chloe when they had access to Destiny ? I make that conclusion based on their ship detaching at the end of the one episode.
They can clearly get into the ship having cut through the hull and abducted Chloe. So why would they need her to learn from the ship when they could clearly get onto and inside of it if required.
How did Chloe suddenly become Bruce Lee by changing into a blue alien when Rush was able to take one out with a metal bar ?
Hey Joe, a few more questions:
1.) Did you ever discuss who built the ruins from “Human” and “Lost”?
2.) Who is your favourite character from each of the Stargate shows?
3.) Why didn’t you mention that the Odyssey’s secret mission in “Enemy at the Gate” was the search for an Icarus planet? I think many assumed that it was “Revolution”.
4.) If you could change anything about each of the Stargate shows (besides cancellation, greenlighting movies etc.), what would it be?
5.) Any idea when “Dark Matter” will be released? And what are the chances that it will you get turned into a TV series? I take it you would be the main showrunner.
Thanks again for doing these Q&As!
So how’re the two types of statis chambers different? Do the Destiny type freeze completely so that the occupants don’t actually age whatsoever? Or is it something else that they do/don’t do?
Thanks for the doggie picture, always a good thing.
Thanks to Marjorie M Liu for responding to q&a, wonderful answers, great to read what the author is thinking.
I am remembering all these episodes, thanks for the backstories, fun to know what you are thinking. I watched John Billingsley on Enterprise and Patrick McKenna on Red Green, great job, funny guys. I am amazed(and envious) to see actors in different characters and how they pull it off, very nice. And I would watch Richard Dean Anderson with or with out a 360 degree rambo machine gun turn,yes!! Thanks for reminding me about these episodes, they deserve a re-watch for sure.
How are the pups doing in day care, have they taken over the place yet? organized shuffleboard tourneys or poker games or swim olympics? Tell Akemi hello and you all have a wonderful day!
Hi, I don’t know if you already answer this but I have a question since season 1 about Rush.
In “LIGHT” when the crew don’t know that the Destiny recharge in a star, and they choose 15 people to board the shuttle… RUSH really don’t know that Destiny can do it that, or he know that since the begining?
I don’t think so but perhaps…
Thanks!
Thanks to Marjorie Liu for taking the time to answer our questions! I’m going to have to look for more of her books once I get caught up on my reading backlog.
Joe – you are a mailbag fiend! Thanks for the answers. By the way, I mentioned Transporter: the Series to my son and he is very interested. His first question was: “will Jason Statham be in it?” I know you’ll keep us posted on casting when you’re free to do so.
Hello Joseph, I would like to ask you some questions for readers of French site dedicated to Stargate. In some sense, an interview will be posted on the site.
If you agree, answered a few questions, if not, does not (lol).
___________________
– How did you get into the world of Stargate?
– Have you watched before Season 4 Stargate SG-1 before coming to the team?
– When you watch an episode of Stargate (SG1, SGA, SGU), you have the eyes of a fan (or viewer) or a critical eye on your work?
– If the MGM offers to return to something new: about Stargate, Will you join in?
– Is there some episode you remember most? and why?
– Today you have another project (the series “The Transporter”), how would you like your job, compared to Stargate?
– If you had to summarize in one word, all your work on Stargate, which one? ? and why this word?
– Finally, what do you think about the cancellation of ALL projects Stargate?
(“Extinction”, “Revolution”, a film SGU) Why all of a sudden?
Joseph thank you for your answers, and for the work you have brought to the franchise for over 10 years. We wish you good luck.
Gotta say Joe, ALLEGIANCE in season 6 of SG1 is probably one of my favorite episodes. has good action, and i love the whole tokra, tau’ri, and jaffa soldiers all working together in the episode, tho not at first. definitely a favorite i like to rewatch.
so, i got a question, whether you field it or not is okay, but i was always wondering, the whole ZPM’s. obviously the ancients had to create a ZPM to power their ships, bases, and atlantis, so i guess my question is, didnt they leave directions in the ancient database on atlantis on how to actually create a ZPM? cause i never understood why the expedition didnt try to create their own or figure out how the ancients did it. has it been touched on or mentioned before?
thanks joe! im glad you are enjoying your new job!
btw, the wedding is october 29, where should i send your invite? 🙂
Maybe you answered this before…I was always wondering why Col. Young had a seizure in his flashback in “Air”? Also, in your mind was the earth Stargate still at the SGC in Colorado or was it moved to Homeworld Command? Reason I wonder is because the stones were at Homeworld Command in DC and in “Siezure” the delegation from Langara was meeting in DC, a meeting which normally would have been in the briefing room of the SGC. Also in “Twin Destinies” I believe they said Telford gated back to earth and immediately used the stones to contact Destiny…again, gate in Colorado and the stones in DC. Just curious what your thoughts were.
Thanks!
Re Transporter: Given the excellent choices made in getting together the crew for SGA, SG1 and SGU, it’s pretty obvious that there are some talented and character-wise astute people in the picking department. I have very l little doubt that a poor choice will be made… But I do have a couple of favourites that you mentioned, although it was not clear to me whether you mentioned them in relation to your project or to the Transporter series…. I’m talking about Mike Dopud and Ben Browder. Wow, what a great couple of possibilities for the series… Go for it! =:)
I think your unwillingness to “wrap up loose ends” is what has driven the Stargate franchise down the toilet.
You´ve forgotten the true joy of science fiction, to explore the unknown and ANSWER human kinds most important questions.
You´ve been too focused on the drama, and how to keep the show going, rather than write a good story from start to finish.
We don´t care if Eli is where he wants to be, or if human kinds descendents went bad in another galaxy. We care about the ships main Mission, and this should be the focus of every fucking episode. But instead it was only the focus of ONE episode.
The only way you can save the Stargate franchise, is to revive SG1, bring all the good old actors back, and go with that Revolution story. Make it into a series, and write the entire script before production start, to ensure EVERY SINGLE episode is valuable to the main story.
Reveal the Stargate program to the world, avoid genre cliches, dont aim for a ten season or five season show. Settle with maximum two or three, and ANSWER important questions in each episode. Try to avoid cliffhangers and tell us a solid story, instead of having viewers guess what the purpose and meaning is behind everything.
The SG1 team would be exciting again, lets say ten years older than they were after the finale. With meaningful roles, taking heavier decisions than they´ve ever done. educating the world about the universe, advancing consumer technology on Earth, and transforming our entire society.
This is what we all want to see. “What did all that knowledge in SG1 lead to?”
It is obvious you´ve “gone with the flow” on both Atlantis (which also sucked) and Universe. Because you´ve just created contexts for drama, instead of context for a clearly defined STORY.
I was a huge SG1 fan, but the two other shows just pissed me off. Even after FIVE SEASONS of Atlantis, the crew wasn´t really interested in exploring the city of the ancients. And Destiny was build by the ancients – same mistake there. No interest, excitement for the ancients.
I also want to add, that I have some genuine good ideas for an alternatively new Stargate series concept. Based on the Revolution idea.
I´ve watched all the shows, and been a huge sci-fi fan for ten years now. I´m very well educated, and I think I could give some valuable input to you guys.
I´m positive my ideas could generate a show that gathered good viewer ratings. If you believe in me, contact me via email.
Hi Joe. Thank you for all of the answers and time spent answering them. I was looking to contact MGM to give my 2 cents regarding their decision on SGU and the franchise. I checked their official SGU website and didn’t see a ‘contact us’ link or page. Either my searching skills are rubbish or it isn’t there. Can you provide any info(email address) of who to contact? Thank you.
Who would you suggest the fans could go to read comments by MGM?”
Answer: I would suggest leaving comments on the official Stargate website which is managed by MGM.
Hey Joe,
Do the SGU writers regret writing in the drone antagonists, and making them too formidable for any humanoid race?
Was the crew’s 3 year hibernation a way for the writers to quickly get out of this dilemma?
Were there any plans to meet the drones again if the writers decided to let Destiny complete the jump 3 years into the future upon the start of Season 3?
Thanks for continuing to answer our questions, to satisfy our curiousity about SGU 😀
Many Questions for you. Hope you dont mind.
1. Your comic Dark Matter, does it have any connection to the book Dark Matter written by S. W. Ahmed. Great Read!
2. You stated Atlantis couldnt connect to Destiny with 3 zpm’s nor with the Ori Supergate. Well if the Anicents were still around, how would they of going back aboard?
Honestly wouldnt a black hole powered ORI Supergate have more power than a Icarus type planet?
3. Oldie but goody. Daniels grandfather Nicholas Ballard. Those aliens he is with, were they the Furlings or even the Faith Aliens or something else and why didnt we get another story about him.
4. From SG1, is there any storylines you wished you could of expanded on. Ex Daniels grandfather, the Aschen, Re’tu, ORi?
5.Here it goes: On the home planet of the Alterans we had one race of people. The Ori and our Ancients.
Question is where did the Ori religion come from?
Did all the Alterans see the structure buried deep within the background radiation and realized something made them and a group of Alterans twisted it into the ORI religion?
Felt the only way to better understanding this structure was to find a way to Ascension? And that means of getting to Ascension caused the split between the Ori and Ancients?
If im correct then what was the purpose of the Ark of Truth?
Or did some of the Alterans Ascend earlier and realize the power they could get from those left behind if they would worship them. And our Ancients knew the Ori was lieing and wouldnt ascend anyone. So they broke off to learn to Asecend for themselves.
Or where the Ori a race of ascended aliens that became aware of the Alterans and realized the power they would get if they could make them all believe in them. The Ancients were a few smart people that didnt fall for it and realized that them they selves could one day Ascend and these aliens were liars? Dont think it was ever said that the Ascended ORI were ever Atlerans?
@Marius
Wow, so first you have the arrogance to bitch and complain at Joe in his own house about his job…a job which you probably know nothing about on a professional level.
AND you also have the arrogance to tell him what the focus of the show should have been.
Newsflash…the show was about what the production staff, not you, thought it should be about. Obviously SyFy liked the idea, because they funded it.
You might also want to think about not making ignorant, uninformed declarations like “This is what we all want to see.” because I promise you that you don’t speak for “we all”.
And guess what? Many of us enjoyed the show tremendously, week after week. For me personally, sure, I wish the show would’ve had more action right at the beginning of the series, but we continued to watch, and it was ultimately one of our most looked-forward-to shows on TV, in any genre.
The most amusing part of your posts (in a really sad, pathetic way, of course) is that you then offer to help out with what you’ve deemed to be some “genuine good ideas” for another Stargate series.
(Good thing you included your resume of “been a huge sci-fi fan for ten years” and “am well educated” because otherwise I don’t think your offer would be taken seriously)
Here’s my genuine good idea: If you’re so positive your ideas are that good, get to work and write them up yourself and make your pitch to SyFy or whichever other network you think would do the right thing according to your view of what sci-fi “should be”.
Good luck with that.
Ooopsie, I just went back on my word, didn’t I?
Time out for me…
Joe,
I too am curious about what the plans were for Jonas’s character. Since there was so much made of him being “advanced”, was the intention that Jonas would be the one who could use ancient tech instead of O’Neill?
“Gurluas writes: “Would the Ori Supergate be able to dial Destiny due to it drawing power from a black hole? And does it still exist?”
Answer: Hmmm. Good question. Given the fact that a ZPM wouldn’t supply enough power, I’m not sure it would – as crazy as it sounds.”
Why would drawing energy from a black hole not work if Destiny was able to dial earth while drawing energy from a star?
Oh before I forget
Speaking of Planetes, don’t you think it’s a shame that we’l probably never see the conclusion to this anime Joe? You know the way Hachimaki goes on the Von Braun on a journey that will last years no less, leaving a pregnant Tanabe behind.
Felt like they should of at least done a sequal to show how the mission went focusing on Hachimachi and the crew of the Von Braun before reuniting him with Tanabe.
They went through all the trouble to show the training stuff the people went through to be eligable for the Von Braun mission, yet they never completely finished the story.
Speaking of which, wouldnt you also agree the way that they put Tanabe on the Moon after the terrorists attacked the Von Braun with that woman a powerful story? The way Tanabe is so focused on surviving and knows as she’s miles away from safety on the moon, mortality is facing her head on whilst knowing she doesnt have enough air to make it there, thus she contemplates stealing the other womans air supply to give herself a chance.
I thought the way that was done was pretty hard hitting.
Thanks for all the answers and work on my favorite franchise ever, I’ve loved every single episode.
Question: Is there any chance of saving the show/movies by making a deal with netflix.
Syfy is full of shit. They just expect more ratings out of reality bs and wrestling. Ratings at any cost, well fuck them some things are more important. Like showing real sci-fi on the fucking scifi channel.
I’d have to disagree with Marius on just about everything. There are episodes where the writers tie up loose ends like obsessive compulsives locked in a shoelace factory and it was always fun.
And it’s pretty clear to everyone that the general badness and fan revolt with the SGU first season was the blow it didn’t recover from, at least in time to stave off cancellation. Which is unfortunate but hell, it’s just a TV show. One that has enriched our lives and that some of us APPRECIATE very deeply, but certainly not worth trying to make the writer feel bad about.
The writers and actors should all be very proud.
Hi there. Love your blog. I’m writing a blog on why Stargate Universe was cancelled, and I was wondering if you could answer a couple of questions.
1. Given that Atlantis was more family friendly, do you think the darker tone of Universe might have discouraged people from watching it?
2. Again concerning the darker tone, do you think Universe would have had better luck, if it taped more in the Battlestar Galactica fanbase, than the old Stargate fanbase?
3. Do you think Universe could have survived if it had a smaller budget?
4. Given that more people are now downloading shows instead of watching them, do you think Sfy-Fy should put in more effort in advertising it shows online, rather than traditional media?
Thanks for reading
C-Verse
In fairness, Joe, you’re sort of conflating fans’ feelings about Jack and Daniel being the heart of the show, and Michael Shanks’s reasons for leaving. Surely Michael didn’t leave because fans wanted more Jack & Daniel. He left because he felt there were many S5 episodes where he had very little to do. He said this over and over in interviews after he left, and only then did fans take up his cause, because they’d noticed it too. Otherwise, fans reacted more to how Daniel was treated than to his screen time, anyway: Jack didn’t seem to give a crap about Daniel going off undercover with the system lords; in fact, he seemed irritated at him when he made it back alive. Seriously? And on and on.
As far as it being Michael’s decision, there was a rumor he changed his mind after filming Meridian, but Brad and/or MGM told him to get lost, they’d already found another 6′ actor to fill his role. Any truth to that?
And I know it is hard to accept, but, just as with SGU vs SGA, not liking Jonas was not solely a reflection of missing Daniel. Convenient to blame it on that, but also inadequate.
That said, your reminiscences are very fun and I really appreciate them. Had no idea about the Canucks thing — so cool!
In your May 12 post you answered a question from MG about a picture speaking a thousand words” and how something major happened with an episode of SGU and that you were upset. Unfortunately you don’t give any context or links to what MG was talking about. Can you elaborate on what this was or post a link to what MG was talking about?
Thanks!
“I know it is hard to accept, but, just as with SGU vs SGA, not liking Jonas was not solely a reflection of missing Daniel”
Seconded.
At risk of sounding harsh about something that happened like a million years ago, Jonas was written as a bit of a “mary sue”; his only real flaw was that others around him (namely Jack) wouldn’t accept how ridiculously awesome he was. Over and over again everyone would be shitting bricks and then Jonas would come along and fix everything.
Very bland.
McKay sorta did this, but McKay made up for it by being a complete asshole. God he was awesome! Now I miss SGA.
So it kinda seemed like there was a trying-too-hard effort to prove he’s worthy, and Jack came off as a viewer proxy who just doesn’t want New Coke.
In any case, I won’t hazard a guess how or why Quinn wound up written the way he was, but it’s something to mind in future works.
Thanks Joe for answering my question about the soundtrack 😀
As per requested:
REMINDER: Ask Joel about the soundtrack!
Hey Joe,
Thanks for the response. I hope I wasn’t misunderstood in my comments about the letter from the Syfy exec. I am a realist and do understand business. Given the ratings and the cost to produce the show, I certainly understand Syfy’s decision not to buy and produce a third season from a financial stand point. Afterall, what’s the point if you aren’t going to get a return on investment. I don’t blame them at all for not ordering a third season based on the ratings.
That said, I do believe the network mis-managed their investment in the show by choosing to air it at the times they did. As a costlier show to produce, I would have thought they would air it in the summer, when they could attract more viewers. If the Fall Friday time slot didn’t work for them, they should have tried airing the second season during the summer, rather than move the show to a more competitive time slot during the Fall.
The letter may have been addressed to the fans, but I don’t think they were the target audience. Rather, I believe the letter was written to address the investors in the network (the ownership, the advertisers, other industry executives) in a public forum as a defense of how the IP was managed by the network and it’s executives without addressing the investors specifically. The blame was pushed from how the network managed the show, to how the show performanced in time slots that weren’t practical for attracting the viewership needed to maximize return on investment.
SGU was a great product and I believe it would have thrived given the right time / night where there were more uncommitted eyes to network television.
Ahhh! Finally got to see Blockade and Gauntlet on Amazon, what a lovely ending. That really did look like downtown Pittsburgh, only with more drones. Sad to see the show end but at least I got to see James coldcock yet another yammering Civvy one last time, sniff!
The two plucky descendents were adorable as well, sad to see them and Yazu go; there were some awesome guest stars in the back half.
Hey, Joe.
How big is the “Ancient Remote Control”, length height, thick?
In metric, please?
http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Ancient_remote
it’s my birthday tomorrow, joe. guess what i want? if you guessed sam/jack confirmation, you were right! woah, how’d you know? 😮
*waits for gift*
Hi Joe 🙂
I was looking through the old notes about what could’ve been
the Season 6 of SGA and one of the topics were ‘Carls replicator story’
can i assume that maybe that was a attempt to bring back Elizabeth Weir ? or not?
Thanks and Greetings from Brazil.
A big thanks to Marjorie Liu for her Q & A! I’m definitely looking up her books!!
It was a cute “gratuitous” dog picture. You probably have a ton of those 😀 .
Ponytail: You cracked me up with the Bonanza story! Every time times those boys got married, it spelled doom for the wife 😉 .
Great post today Mr. M.! (and hang in there 😉 )
Hi Joe,
I’m a long time reader, but first time commenter.
I’ve always wondered, was any thought given to which SG unit Young commanded before being assigned to Icarus base? Was he on an SG team back in the days Jack led SG-1 or was it more likely during the Mitchell years? I’m curious if his team could have, in theory, had any offscreen adventures with the orginal SG-1 team during the first seven seasons. Or maybe he was leading one of the random teams we’d sometimes see or hear about disembarking or arriving in the gate room in the background of various episodes!
Hi Joe,
Please answer these questions in your next mailbag:
1. You’ve mentioned declining DVD sales, and changing viewing habits for hurting SGU. Thinking about a show like Chuck, which found a corporate sponsor, or a fan creation like New Voyages, which collected donations for a near professional looking internet video (including actor George Takei and technical staff from Star Trek), perhaps creative ways need to be found to fund a show.
For example, Mark Savela’s new Echoe trailer, if not picked up by a network or cancelled early in the story, could turn to fan donations (international fans) to complete or continue the show. Online contributions worked for Obama’s election and support many charities and important websites like Wikipedia. With a a reputation earned by years on Stargate, why not try it to support a new or cancelled production? The risk to the producers would be minimal (merely setting up a website and having fan contributors sign a waiver, unless I’m mistaken).
2. What is Dr. Rush’s true motivation, given that even with all the power of the Ancients, he cannot bring his wife back? I think perhaps what this character wants is futile, and his healing has and will come by helping the crew of Destiny, especially saving Chloe and mentoring Eli.
Thank-you for many great Stargate memories, and best of luck to you with the Transporter series.
Dean
Hey Joe !
I’ve been watching Stargate since it premiered here, in France, and I gotta thank you for all these wonderful years spent with all these so different but lovely characters !
I know you got tons of comments, most of all probably asking similar things, but I’d really like to exchange a few mails with you. I’m actually a young writer, and as a Stargate fan, I’d like to try to keep the franchise alive, in one way or another. I actually have some ideas but I’d like to discuss them with you, make sure this is ok, that kind of things…
Anyway, even if you don’t have time to reply (which I would understand, with all your upcoming project !), thanks again for all these years I spent in the stars with Stargate.
Hey Joe…
Sorry I’ve been away… been in New York for several days with no internet. Thanks for posting all this stuff.. 🙂 Really Appreciate it
.. and say.. do you think you could give a few more hints about Revolution.. just for kicks. 😉
… Also REMINDER!!!!! Ask Joel about the Soundtrack.
i liked abyss. it’s probably in most people’s top 10.
i didn’t like the other guys, except for the line about worshiping at the alter of roddenberry. (especially since it was said by john billingsley who was on star trek: enterprise) actually their exchange leading up to it is good too.
as for RDA’s dislike of promethus, i can see his point.
i always wondered what happened to dean stockwell’s character after shadowplay. i like to think that jonas asked sam to visit him occasionally after jonas went back home.
Archersangel writes: “now that you’re doing season 6 reminisces, will there be anything on might have happened to jonas if the character had been kept on?”
Answer: Wasn’t planning to but I’ll certainly consider it.
yay! thank you.
Joe I believe you misunderstood Don Matthews question, he wasn’t asking why you decided to kill off the baby, I think he was asking why you completely ignored the fact that had her baby died, there would have been evidence for it, ie a corpse.
Joe,
Any word you can put in with Joel would be great. Also if he isn’t convinced let us know how to get a hold of him and we’ll flood him with soundtrack requests.
You’ve mentioned that the possibility of conitinuation in books is up to MGM. In light of the distant chance of SGU and SG movies for now coming back unto the small screen who should we contact at MGM to request novels. Star Wars has done a great job of an expanded universe in Novels & Comic Books. Star Trek has great stories and books but they aren’t pure canon like SW. If MGM gives the ok will it be canon books? I assume that the SGA books are canon.
Thank you for all that you and everyone else did on trying to keep the series going on TV. We do appreciate it.
Thank you, Marjorie, for spending time with us!