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My Weekend at VanCon 2010

My Fellow Fans,

This past weekend I attended the annual Stargate convention – colloquially referred to as “VanCon” – held in Burnaby, British Columbia by Creation Entertainment. This was the first convention I have attended, and it was quite the eye opener for me. It was different than I had been expecting – less hectic, more organized, and, most of all, the panelists were extremely entertaining. I was granted a press pass by Creation Ent., which allowed me to get some great close-up shots during the panels, and so my report will mostly focus on a photo-journal approach, so to speak, of the weekend’s events.

I spent a lot of time chatting with other convention-goers as I had only purchased General Admissions tickets myself; that is, I attended the panels, but didn’t do any of the photo op or signing sessions. Thus, it could be argued that I didn’t quite get the full “convention” experience, but for more on that you can read the reports by my fellow writer Stephanie (aka ValaBlack).

Saturday, April 17, 2010

My first panel on Sunday was with Michael Shanks – Dr. Daniel Jackson of Stargate: SG-1. Mr. Shanks spent most of the panel taking questions from the fans, and a more detailed write-up of his panel will go up in the next several weeks. Some instances in particular from his panel stand out in my mind. One of them was when he talked about really getting into role for his work on Andromeda, and how it was very much a “chore” given that that was when he started seeing the lead actress on the show, Lexa Doig – now his wife.

Another tale that had the audience laughing was when a fan asked about something called the “puff and ruffle”. Apparently Mr. Shanks’ costars Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter, SG-1, SGA, SGU) and Teryl Rothery (Dr. Janet Frasier, SG-1) used to get upset with the ‘boys’ (Mr. Shanks, Chris Judge, and Richard Dean Anderson) on set because they had a ritual, of sorts, when there was an “attractive” female guest star. Mr. Shanks, of course, said he has no idea what they were talking about. But he did a demonstration for us, pretending that there was a guest star in his chair, and demonstrating how exactly they might act toward her.

Probably my favourite part of Mr. Shanks’ panel started when certain fans – including yours truly – realized that his wife (the aforementioned Lexa Doig) was on Twitter (you can click on her Twitter avatar on the right to check out her Twitter page) to coincide with her husband’s panel. Lexa wanted us fans – affectionately referred to as her “minions” – to do her not-so-evil bidding and bug her husband about something for which she had volunteered them: the M.S. Society of Canada’s Walk on April 25.

If you would permit me a quick aside, M.S. (Multiple Sclerosis) is a degenerative disease for which there is currently no cure, given that doctors and researchers still don’t really understand the cause or even underlying mechanisms of the symptoms. The MS Walk aims to raise money for researching this disease, and it is a cause about which the Shanks’ are known for being passionate.

If you follow the link in the banner above it will take you to the “Team Shanks” page where any donation would be greatly appreciated.

This interjection by Lexa prompted a discussion of the raccoons which have been destroying the Shanks’ lawn because they recently resod the lawn and every night the raccoons come in and roll up the sod. Unfortunately, their cats are of no use as one of them seems to have made friends with a raccoon. Mr. Shanks likened this to a dog who makes friends with a burglar in your home.

Mr. Shanks mentioned the movie How to Train Your Dragon (by Dreamworks Studios) – and if I may offer an opinion, if you haven’t seen it yet, add it to the list! – and right before leaving the stage he did a Viking impression, involving a sort-of-accurate Scottish accent which definitely made me laugh.

My next panel was Chris Heyerdahl who was in SG-1, SGA, and is now in Sanctuary as John Druitt and ‘The Big Guy’. Mr. Heyerdahl touched on several aspects of his various characters in the Stargate franchise – notably his time as Todd the Wraith in SGA.

Mr. Heyerdahl discussed what it is like to have to wear so much make-up and prosthetics for various roles. If you recall Todd, Mr. Heyerdahl likened that make-up to having hot acid poured on his face – especially after a long day when the make-up artists come to do touch-ups.

Mr. Heyerdahl also did his “Todd the Wraith” voice with a line from the series finale “Vegas” in which he tells John Sheppard that he knows his destiny. He also talked about being surprised to be recognized for his role in Atlantis given that he wasn’t in make-up.

After Chris Heyerdahl, my next panel was with David Hewlett and Joe Flanigan, of SGA. In a word, this panel was hilarious. Toward the end of the panel I actually had to stop taking pictures because I was laughing too hard to hold the camera up.

Mr. Hewlett started off, rather befittingly, some might say, with a debate over the distinction between dorks, geeks, and nerds. Someone offered the suggestion that there is actually a chart which can help you with the distinction, to which Mr. Hewlett replied that if you have a chart, you’ve pretty much got your answer right there.

The discussion segued into tech support, with Mr. Hewlett discussing his various technology and recent forays into editing with Final Cut Pro ™. He then prompted people to start asking questions given that he could spend the whole panel discussing various computer issues.

One thing I found particularly interesting was when Mr. Hewlett discussed the challenges of directing versus acting, and how he has been enjoying directing and editing for the problem-solving aspects. He discussed his movie “A Dog’s Breakfast” and how Mars (his dog, and one of the movie’s stars) has gotten as fat as a sofa – his words.

He also talked about some of the recent challenges in shooting his new movie – as yet unnamed – for SyFy in Bulgaria. A particular moment involving an interesting solution was when they were supposed to shoot a snow mobile stunt scene, but when they went to shoot they didn’t actually have snow mobiles. The solution: sit the actors down and have them shake and bounce on their own while the crew and others threw snow at them to make it look like they were moving. Mr. Hewlett did a rather humourous demonstration of this.

When Mr. Flanigan and Mr. Hewlett were on stage together it was pretty much non-stop laughter. The two of them shared memories from their work on Atlantis, and generally teased and ribbed one another. When Mr. Flanigan was up on stage on his own, he mentioned his recent work on Warehouse 13, and that one of the reasons it felt quite odd to him was that he didn’t get a gun. The two actors playing the lead Agents on the show would pull out guns and he would be reaching for a non-existent one.

Mr. Flanigan mentioned that the episode of WH13 in which he guest starred was one of the highest rated episodes ever for the network. Of course Mr. Hewlett jumped all over that one. Mr. Hewlett kept imitating Mr. Flanigan in a rather high-pitched voice throughout their whole panel together.

Mr. Hewlett and Mr. Flanigan got asked a question about pranks on set and Mr. Hewlett’s discussion of something Jason Momoa did had Mr. Flanigan doubled over in the chair laughing. Another one involved someone (Mr. Flanigan, I gather) planting some rather…distasteful magazines in Mr. Hewlett’s trailer, which Mr. Hewlett then tucked inside Mr. Flanigan’s laptop. And of course he was the one stopped going through customs. Apparently the Customs lady was so disgusted that she just waved him through, while Mr. Flanigan was protesting all the while that it wasn’t his magazine. The end of this back and forth, by the way, was when I was laughing too hard to continue taking pictures.

Joe Flanigan and David Hewlett were my last panel on Saturday and a great way to wrap up my first day at a convention.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

If I could sum up the theme of Sunday in a word, it would be family. The day started off with Mr. N. John Smith who has long been involved with the Stargate franchise. Mr. Smith discussed how he came to television from a boating background and went on to become an executive producer on the Stargates.

Mr. Smith also discussed how they ended up filming at the North Pole for the SG-1 movie Continuum. A fan, Barry Campbell, approached him, Martin Wood, and Andy Mikita at a convention and gave them a picture of himself next to the tower of a L.A. class nuclear submarine. Through Mr. Campbell and working in conjunction with the United States Navy, a select crew and several actors flew up a base-camp on the ice. If you’d like to hear more details, and watch the videos, you should check out the special features on the Continuum DVD – there’s a great featurette on their time in the Arctic.

After Mr. Smith my next panel was with Rachel Luttrell of SGA. Before fans started to ask questions, Ms. Luttrell talked a bit about some things she has coming up, one of which is a CD which she will be recording soon. This, of course, prompted a request for a demonstration, and so she performed a short little piece (of which I don’t know the name, sorry) on the spot. She was very, very good – which shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who watched SGA as she herself sang in an episode.

In answer to a fan’s question about whether she kept anything from the set with her as a memento after the series finished, Ms. Luttrell said that the only thing that she wanted was her chair from set: the one with her name on it. However, when she went to find it on the last day it was nowhere to be found. This topic came up later (over a New Year’s, if I’m recalling correctly) with Jason Momoa (her costar on SGA) and he apparently got quite the sheepish look on his face and admitted that he had taken it. It all worked out fine though, since Ms. Luttrell did end up getting the chair after all.

She also discussed some of the stunts that they did on Atlantis, and how she practiced a lot to be able to pull off the fight scenes herself. One fan asked whether she ever accidentally hurt someone, and she laughed then told a story about the episode “The Lost Boys”. In the episode Teyla is fighting Ronan, and Ms. Luttrell said that during one take she accidentally actually punched Jason Momoa in the eye, giving him a black eye. She said that he was quite the baby about it too, and that she had to buy him flowers the next day because he was still upset.

Relating to the family theme of the day, Ms. Luttrell’s two and a half year old son, who was also at the panel, decided about half-way through the panel that he wanted to go see his mother. Entirely unphased by the audience, lights, or cameras, he climbed up with Ms. Luttrell and sat with her for the rest of the panel, happy as can be. Ms. Luttrell also discussed her relationships with her costars, and how they really are like family, brothers, to her and that they still see each other as much as possible, schedules permitting.

Following Ms. Luttrell’s panel I had a rather long wait until the next panel, but it was entirely worth it. The SGU panel was one of the ones I was most looking forward to this past weekend, and it certainly did not disappoint. This panel, the largest that I attended, featured Brian J. Smith, David Blue, Elyse Levesque, and Mark Burgess, all of Stargate Universe.

One of the reasons I enjoyed this panel so much – aside from the fact that all 4 panelists were pretty awesome – was the way they played off each other to answer questions and relate stories to us about their times working on SGU so far. One topic that came up close to the beginning was how dog-friendly the set of the show is. One of their costars Louis Ferreira (who plays Col. Young) has two himself, and Brian has a King Charles Cavalier spaniel named Cassie. David and Elyse were ribbing Brian about the dog and how he’s always fussing and worrying about her.

When people started asking questions one of the first ones was about which shows they themselves watch. Elyse said that she doesn’t watch much, but watches Mad Men and True Blood. David said that he watches, well, far too many to list (and I can’t recall most of them). He said that it’s one thing he has in common with Eli, that he watches almost everything. The ones which stood out in my mind are Lost, Fringe, Big Bang Theory, and, of course, SGU. Brian said that he doesn’t watch much currently, but that last year he went through Battlestar: Galactica in about four months after prompting from David, and that he watches Dog the Bounty Hunter. Mr. Burgess said that he watches Flashpoint, Sanctuary, and several cooking shows – he used to be a chef.

Another fan asked the panelists who from the other Stargate series they would like to swap bodies with via the communications stones. Brian said that he would swap with a Furling – to much laughter. (If you aren’t familiar with SG-1, the Furling were an alien race who were mentioned near the beginning of the series but never actually met, much to many fans’ chagrin). Elyse said that she would like to swap with Amanda Tapping (Sam Carter) because she is “awesome”. David immediately said David Hewlett (McKay), but changed his answer to Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) because Dr. Jackson has become a “super ninja spy” and because he wants to do a scene with McKay and Eli going back and forth. To gales of laughter, Mr. Burgess contributed that he too would swap bodies with Amanda Tapping. Apparently they actually went to the same university back in Ontario together – small world.

At one point Elyse discussed an “accident” that happened on set at one point when they were filming at a quarry. She was trying to clamber over a gravel pile and Brian was trying to help her over when she slipped and sliced her shin open. Apparently blood went everywhere, and there was an ambulance called in; she was “scarred for life”. While she told the story Brian, to much laughter from the audience, mimed out parts of the story: from an exaggerated sad face, to an ambulance driver, to an exaggerated happy face for the ending. He joked that “that’s what four years at Juilliard gets you”.

Not only did they talk about some of their experiences shooting episodes, but they also talked a bit about some of their costars. Apparently Mr. Ferreira, utterly unlike his serious character, is quite the joker on set and has played a couple pranks on people, Robert Carlyle for one. Mr. Carlyle, Bobby to his costars, was very highly spoken of. I actually bumped into him myself while grocery shopping a couple weeks ago, and he was extremely nice and very friendly. Elyse and David talked a bit about how Elyse has her own “Scottish” accent – which she says isn’t that great – and that while helping David read through lines from Divided he kept cracking up because she would read Mr. Carlyle’s lines in her “accent”.

The cast also talked a bit about their experience shooting in the desert for the pilot down in New Mexico, and how they had been joking about the tan/burn lines that they would have when they got back, only to actually look like that when they returned. David mentioned that they actually had burns like they do in the pilot. Mr. Burgess, to much laughter, passed on words of advice from someone who was advising him about the desert: “If you did not drop it, do not pick it up”. Which he then went on to say is probably good advice for anything.

One thing which really struck me while watching this panel is that while these guys (mostly) play friends on the show, that dynamic is far more pronounced off screen and they seem like great friends, not just coworkers. Peter Kelamis (who plays Brody on SGU) and Mark Savela (the visual effects supervisor for SGU) were also there to support the panelists, and I, for one, had a great time visiting with both of them again.

I had a great time this past weekend watching all the panelists, and I would happily see any of them again. There is only one change I would make to the SGU panel: I want to see even more of the cast up there next year!

Thank you for visiting WormholeRiders News Agency. If you have any questions or comments about my time at VanCon, feel free to email me at the link below, or click on the image to follow the link to my Twitter page.
NaddyCat

Thanks for reading!

Nadine Ramsden

April 19, 2010
Chicago 2009: Joe Flanigan, Man of Action

Joe Flanigan was scheduled to come to Chicago in 2007, but had to cancel at the last moment. Since then fans have been clamoring for him to come to the Windy City, and they were not left wanting for long!

A number of Joe’s stories were repeats from Vancouver, and when I recognized them I took the opportunity to give my poor hand a break and enjoy the experience. Those stories and more can be found in my 2009 Vancouver Report.

Having Joe on stage is actually one of the few times when having a second row seat is a disadvantage. Joe moves around quite a bit. One minute he is sitting, the next he’s at the side of the stage talking to someone who asked a question and facing completely away from you, or he’s smack in the middle of the stage, but right where the two heads that frame your view block him out. I had a much better time getting good pictures of him in Vancouver when I was 5 rows back and at the far right! Therefore I got the best pictures I could, and I wish I could have done better.

Joe had a seat and cut right to the chase. “When I do these things, I like to answer questions. I know some people, like (clears throat) David Hewlett, like to get up here and talk about things, and talk and talk and talk. But I would love to answer any questions you guys have.”

So, as requested, fans ran to get in line at the microphones on either side of the stage. I was happy to hear that the first question, while not terribly original, was one I had not heard asked before.

Do you prefer dogs or cats? Joe answered that he is a dog guy and he has dogs. “I’ve got complete control, they’re wagging their tails. I like that. Where I live, cats make nice little nibblets for the coyotes. I’m being totally honest! I lost 2 dogs last year to coyotes. And those are dogs, so cats are even tastier. (The questioner suggested that it is advisable to declaw cats, which caused many cat lovers in the audience to pipe up, saying “No!” Joe, sensing the incoming can of worms, made a joke of it.) Oh, well you could declaw them. You could. You could shave them and paint them purple. Or you could just let my four dogs out and watch the fun! I don’t think a cat would survive in our house.” Hmmm, best cancel that trip to go visit Joe, huh Adria the Cat? Yikes!

Randomly, Joe had this little lesson to share about actors. Apparently, Joe’s chair on set was shorter than the others by a good six inches or more! “I like to put my legs down. We were trying to figure out the history of the tall chair, so we thought, ‘well maybe it’s hair and makeup.’ And then we realized it’s probably just like actor’s outsized egos, like literally, and they’ll tell you stories, that some people have to have higher chairs than others. Which is probably why my chair is down there (points to the floor)!”

Are you being considered for or are you interested in being Robert Jim Rockford in the remake of ‘The Rockford Files’? Fans who are familiar with the original series (1974) seemed intrigued by the idea. Joe . . . looked at the fan who asked, mouth open, and nodded for a good minute before answering, clearly surprised by the question. “Naw, I mean, I thank that they just announced that. I don’t know. I would love to do Rockford. I’d be curious how they are going to remake it. They seem to have really destroyed every attempt at remaking a good show. So it’s a good question. Rockford is one of my favorite shows, and James Garner is one of my favorite people. I did a series with him and I love the guy. I would call him tomorrow and say, ‘Call everybody you know and tell them I’m going to be the next you! But I don’t – they just announced that. But Rockford is a great character. He’s a good archetype. I can recreate that archetype on another show; it doesn’t have to be Rockford. But good question.”

Have you considered making the transition to the big screen? “If it were in my control I would! Let’s just be honest, that there’s a thing called (waving an arm flippantly) career management. It’s kind of nonsense. There is no career management per say. There are very few jobs for a lot of people. It’s got to be the right place at the right time, and sometimes there are elements that are just out of your control. I have no doubt in my mind that I think I would do very well in movies. I would love to do movies. And yet they are amazingly short-sighted about who they go after. It’s really weird. They want to discover new stars, but they don’t want to take the risk in giving any of them a chance. So they reach for the same thing over and over and over, and they close the doors consistently to other people. I was kinda hoping that the show, since we’ve sold so many DVDs, would kind of change that, but we’re in the middle of a really deep recession and I’m not sure that that research is being done and people are looking at those particular numbers and seeing that (gesturing at the crowd) we have a really amazing fan base, and I think the fan base could push us all to the next level. (Shrugs) We’ll see what happens.”

Joe was asked about his appearance on SyFy’s Warehouse 13. “It was a really good group of people in Toronto. I enjoyed myself a lot. I looked at that and I was thinking to myself, ‘My God I didn’t do anything on that show!’ I just watched it the other day and I was like, ‘Right, well where’s the rest of it? That’s it?!’ I really enjoyed not doing a lot of things also because it was really interesting. I had a day off in Toronto. I didn’t have any days off in Vancouver, ever. I enjoyed that aspect of it. The two leads were pretty beat up from the season of shooting, and I just remember that so well that I was enjoying not being in that position. But, being egocentric and self-involved, I also said, ‘Damn. I want his job. Because I do! I like the premise of that show, and Eddie is an awfully nice guy.

“We all get into caveats because we’ve all – anybody who knows about developing a show knows it’s a long process. It may be working one week and not working the next. And yet I’ve done it successfully before and I’ve done it unsuccessfully before, so I don’t know where this will go. I know that I’m waiting for the right project. I just got asked this question which was ‘just get back on the air.’ I don’t really feel like that’s really my goal. I don’t really feel that I need to just get back on the air. I feel like I want to do the right thing. It’s a lateral move (waving his hand horizontally) or a move higher up, and I don’t want to fade into the background just to be on the air.”

How did you like working with Richard Dean Anderson? “I only worked with Rick a very very very little bit. I enjoyed it. When I first started working with Rick in the pilot I thought it was very cool because I had just done a series with Rockford, and I was like, ‘Yeah! Now I’m with MacGyver! I’ve got all the guys, man!’ So that was pretty cool. We were in a helicopter flying around, and I thought it was pretty funny. I handed him a paperclip and a rubber band. ‘If this plane goes down, here you go!’ I’m like, ‘Damn I’m funny, I’m funny.’ He just gave me this look (too funny for words, but included here!). Clearly he was like, ‘Who is this guy? Does he think this joke hasn’t been pulled on me before?’ So I realized the MacGyver jokes just keep coming at him. They weren’t as original as I thought they were. But I had a great time, and he’s got a good sensibility. I just saw him in Malibu, we both live in Malibu. He lives very close. He was playing ping pong [some fans chuckle, no doubt recalling the hilarious scene where Jack and Teal’c played ping pong.] Yeah, in like this open court shopping area. I was like, ‘You’re out of work too, huh? Here’s a paperclip and a rubber band!’”

Who is your idol? “My idol? Wow. I don’t have an idol but I have heroes. There is a distinction, I think. I think a hero displays sort of heroic qualities that you find bold that you’d like to have in your life. I think idols tend to be more of a blind worship thing. I don’t know that I idolize anybody in particular. My father-in-law has been a hero of mine for a long time. He’s a quadriplegic and he’s an amazing, amazing human being. My dad was a hero to me, and I have – there are so many people that I find interesting, and a lot of the times I meet people, (shrugs) they’re not famous. I just hear their story and I hear what they’re going through. It’s insane, it’s incredible, the adversity that people are able to survive without any glamour and any recognition. To me, I find that astounding, and because we’re in a public situation and we’re always given some weird affirmation about things and celebrities always air all their c%@& in public. There’s something a little disingenuous about that. I’m sorry I don’t have a specific answer. I could go through a list of people if we had more time, and people weren’t leaving right now because of this long answer, but literally I could go through so many different’ characters, well known and not well known, and why I like them and so forth.”

Everyone always wants to know what your favorite episode is, but I want to know what your least favorite episode is. “Probably that bug episode (holding a hand by his neck to indicate that he is talking about ‘Thirty Eight Minutes’ where we first encounter an iratus bug), with the bug on me. We had not built the sets properly. For some reason we built the space ships as though they were really space ships, and we couldn’t get in them (contorts his upper body around as if he’s trying to squeeze through a small space). We’re like, ‘but this is for TV. We need to get a film crew in there!’ So we were all shoved in there. It was like the forth or fifth episode, and it was hot and sweaty and they wouldn’t pay for the air conditioning; because they weren’t sure whether we were going to last, I think. They went, ‘(shrugs) I ain’t paying for air conditioning!’ It was hot, and sweaty, and miserable. And Rainbow [Sun Franks] – who I love to death – kept messing up all of his lines and my bug was stuck on my neck, and I was like, ‘(through gritted teeth) Come on! Come on! Get me outta here!’ And it was frustrating. But I learned. I have more patience now than I did when I was your age (indicating the young person who asked). I was about your age when I started the show.”

When you were on Warehouse 13, did you feel like they left the “character” out of your character? “I didn’t quite know what it was, and I realize it was very guest star-ish. I didn’t have time to talk to any of the writers, and had we talked about it I’m sure we would have tweaked it in an entirely different direction. It would have been more interesting. No, you’re a fine actor, I’ve seen you act, but as written it was not an interesting person. I think that it doesn’t quite work that way. When you’re the lead of a show they’ll let a camera sit there for a little while, and so you can inject moments into the situations that are not written. But when you’re a guest star, there’s a time line. Boom boom boom, you’re delivering information. Now let’s go back to the lead (turns with this hand up indicating the position of the camera). Information (turns back to guest star), lead (turns back again). So when you’re a guest star, I have found that our guest stars, many of whom are phenomenally talented, it comes out relatively flat. It’s not them, it’s really how the material they’re given and the editing they’re given and everything else is not a critical factor in the show. So, to answer your question (laughing) I guess you didn’t like Warehouse 13!”

A fan asked about the use of the Johnny Cash songs in ‘Vegas’. “We’d discussed that we’d have liked to have had Johnny Cash signing at the end, but it was going to come down to a licensing issue and a cash issue – ‘cash issue’, no pun intended! – and Robert [Cooper] called long after we’d finished shooting it and said, ‘Oh yeah we got Johnny Cash for the last thing,’ and I was like, ‘Oh that’s amazing!’ I was wanting to put Johnny Cash music in tons of different episodes, but we didn’t have the money. But it was kinda cool to at least be able to do it once before it was all over.” (more…)

February 5, 2010
Chicago 2009: Chicago Loves Amanda!

Hello WormholeRiders!

Well here it is, at long last! Amanda Tapping from the Creation Entertainment Chicago Stargate 2009 Convention! I’ve got to say that never have I been so happy to know short hand! It helped a great deal in getting all of the details. It’s not 100% accurate but it’s as close as I could get it!

Amanda is…well, Amanda is AMANDA! She’s sweet and funny, smart and so genuinely appreciative of her fans. She loves the fans just as much as the fans love her and it shows!

Amanda’s panel began with a music video for Samantha Carter to I Can Hear the Bells from the musical Hairspray. Amanda began by going over what was going on in her life currently. Sanctuary had just finished filming Season 2 and she was settling back into her daily routine with her husband Alan and her daughter Olivia. Amanda wasted no time and threw it open to questions!

Did you have an interest in astrophysics before SG-1? “I was interested in astronomy before but never really astrophysics until I played Sam Carter. The more research I did the more interested I was in the subject. I get asked science questions and...it's a show. I could not save the world from a black hole right now. I don’t know if you've heard this story before but someone came up to me at a convention and said "so, what's a naked singularity?" I didn't answer the way I wanted which was "Sam Carter on a Saturday night." (crowd SCREAMS, Amanda looks cheeky). (In an English accent) Not quite scientific but funny! “I met a real astrophysicist who was very challenging and was like ‘you know what you did in that one episode...’ I don't know what you're talking about...but he was very smart and he taught me a lot.” If you could have a "squee" fangirl moment, who would you have a squee fangirl moment for? “Carol Burnett and a British comedian named Dawn French...and Jennifer Saunders. I could go on. Carol Burnett was really the first person I saw on television that I just went ‘Oh my God she's amazing!’ I just got tickets to see her do a live show in Vancouver. Those of you who don't know who she is (scoffs). She's only one of your country's greatest assets! That would be my squee fangirl moment. I think if I met Meryl Streep I'd just pass out. I don’t think I'd actually get a full squee out because I'd run out of breath. “What actually inspires me? This is going to sound really disingenuous and I don't mean it to, but you guys. Seriously. I know it sounds hookie as hell. When I made the leap from Stargate to Sanctuary and I made this leap not knowing that Sanctuary was picked up as a television series...it was the fan support that helped make it easier for me. And when I started Sanctuary and it went on television and fans were writing me and telling me that they supported me...Holy moly! It's what Martin (Wood), Damian (Kindler) and I talk about that if it weren't for the fans...you're the reason we're here. You keep us going. Someone asked me in the photo line if I was tired and no, because I'm getting all this great energy from you guys. You should be exhausted!!!” A fan came up and asked Amanda if she got the shawl and baby bib that she had made and sent her. Amanda knew right away what she was talking about and thanked her profusely! What method do you use when acting? “I don't know that I have a method. I studied Uta Hagen, read her book ‘Respect for Acting.’ I did a lot of character study work in University and voice work which I think is really important. Once you do a television series stamina is key. I remember the end of the first season of Stargate, Michael, Christopher and I were all sick. We were just wiped out. By the end of Season 2 we were exhausted. By the end of Season 3 we had a few more weeks left in us. It took a while to build up that stamina. I'm watching these young punks on Sanctuary who are like ‘Ugh Episode 10 I'm so exhausted!’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, get over it! Get back on set! (cracks whip)’ You see you get a whip when you become executive producer. I didn't know that! It's so awesome! “My advice to you is to pursue it. I will never tell anyone, ‘don’t do it. It's too hard.’ That's what I was told. Do it. If it's your passion go for it. Take all the classes you can take but go for it. The journey is way better than the result.” Who's a better kisser, Richard Dean Anderson or Mitch Pileggi? “Rick and I...our kisses are like wine. We age well. Mitch and I was just this sort of raw passion...I hadn't seen Mitch since we shot the X-Files and then he was on the set of Atlantis when I was shooting. I ran over to the stage on a quick break and he was sitting in his chair on the ship and he was like, ‘hey last time I saw you, you were naked!’ The whole crew did a double take.” (more…)

December 2, 2009
Chicago 2009: Michael Shanks – New Stories, No Socks

The reason that Michael Shanks gets invited back to Chicago every year and is already booked for next year is downright obvious. If you can’t see why after reading this . . . go back to whatever pitiful Stargate-less planet you came from!

Michael has a habit of not dressing up for these occasions. More than once he’s shown up in a T-shirt and a baseball cap, with a scraggly half-grown beard on his face. This is a bit irritating because the cap and beard make it hard to get good pictures and see his face. Michael has called it his “lazy daddy” look. When I see that, I get out my “take off that cap or else!” look.

I think Creation might have gotten enough comments to realize that this was getting annoying to us fans, so they added something to Michael’s schedule: “Super Suave Photo Ops!” This means Michael has to shave and dress up. Then they scheduled his stage time afterward. Thank you Creation!

When Michael came out, we went wild. I mean he looks AMAZING in black! Michael seemed to like our reaction. He took some time posing for us, even turning 180° on request. Cameras were going off like crazy, and yes, there was some whistling going on! After giving us his customary greeting of “Hi! How’s everybody doing?” to which he got many happy shouts in reply, Michael said, “I’m just going to point it out now so that someone doesn’t later. I forgot to pack socks for this outfit.” He lifted up a pant leg to show us his very bare ankle in his black dress shoe. Then he had a seat – he’s one of the few who actually sits and stays seated on stage, which is nice because pictures come out co much better then they are not in constant motion (Dan Shea!) – and said “I’m dressed up! This is for all you wankers that complained about me always showing up with a hat on or unshaved or meh meh meh meh. So this is my (puts his thumb to his nose, fingers straight up and wiggling, and makes some indistinguishable sound).” Well really, Michael, when you come unshaven with a cap on, you look like a freaking hobo! And I mean that in the kindest way possible!

“So how’s everybody been? [Audience shouts “Good!”] So you guys beat the Canucks in the playoffs, huh? . . . (Letting his smile slide, he muttered) you suck. . . . Yeah Chicago’s going to have a good team going for it, which really sucks. Now we’re going to have to listen to this constantly for the next 5 or 10 years (Scrunches up his shoulders and makes an unhappy face).

“Does anybody have any questions? Because I could just sit here and yammer for a while, but I’m sure there’s some queries that some people might have.” (more…)

October 24, 2009
Chicago 2009: Gary Paul Von Jones

The famous Gary Jones finally managed to come to Chicago! He had been scheduled to come once before, but had to cancel. Now one may think that only five months after Vancouver, Gary would have nothing new to say. I wish someone had tried to bet me. Not only did Gary have new stories, he had us all laughing SO hard . . . you don’t believe me? See for yourself!

“So this is Chicago. This is a pretty cool town, huh? What’s the name of this River? [Fans shout “Chicago River!”] That’s what they told me (laughs). ‘The Chicago River.’ Right Ok ok. Great great. I love Chicago.

“Do you like my jacket? I thought I’d put on something cool for you guys. I told my 8 yr old boy that I was wearing this jacket here and he said ‘(in a British accent) Bye Dad, and have fun at Hogwarts!’ ‘What?’ ‘(British accent) Have fun at Hogwarts dad in your jacket!’”

Gary told us about how he came to be in SGU’s pilot. “They wanted to know if I was available. Yes, yes I’m available. Whenever they shoot. SO I get to spend the day with Richard Dean Anderson and both of us in camouflage. Richard was fantastic. People always ask what it’s like to work with Richard Dean Anderson, and honestly on the other shows we didn’t spend a lot of time together. Sort of like two ships passing to do our scene and then off. I spent the entire day with Richard Dean and what a blast! I had such a good time. I’ve never seen him so relaxed because you know he had the stress of being a producer on the show before. He’d come up and breeze in and start chatting with the extras and was like, ‘Where are you from? What do you do?’ And it was like, ‘Wow!’ It was great so I think it’s going to be a pretty cool show. (more…)

October 8, 2009
Review: Stargate Universe- A Hit? So Say We All!

I admit it. I’m not a Stargate fan girl. I don’t get squealy when I see there’s a Stargate marathon on SyFy and I don’t feel the need to download wallpapers, sounds and graphics or anything of that nature. I hadn’t even seen beyond Seasons 9, 10 and Ark of Truth until about 2 months ago. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with being a Stargate fan girl/boy. We each have our fandoms. I’m just saying that I’m not intimate with the Stargate Franchise on the level that a lot of fans are.

I’m also not as intimately familiar with the Stargate Franchise as my fellow reporters. Is it a good franchise? Yes, I believe so. Were SG-1 and SGA good shows? Yes, I think they were. Do I know everything there is to know about either of those shows? No, not by a long shot. I’m sure PlayItGrand is tired of me asking what episode something is from or calling it a “zap zap gun” instead of a Zat. (She gets so annoyed. It’s funny.) I respect Stargate for what it is, good quality TV and I respect the fans for being fiercely loyal and dedicated throughout the years. Stargate has some high quality fans in my opinion!

I’m going to admit that I had some doubts when it came to watching SGU for this review. While I understand the hype behind the show I can’t really say that it was on my “I have to see it” list. Why? I’ve seen the trailers just like everyone else and while it looked interesting, I thought it would be a little too Battlestar Galactica (BSG) for me.

What do I mean when I say something is “BSG?” BSG is a show that I never got into, much to my husband’s dismay. While it was an absolutely beautiful production overall, plot-wise it wasn’t my cup of tea. You see, I prefer a little comedy in my drama brew (a la Farscape or SG-1/SGA). So when I say something is “BSG” I mean that it’s very dramatic…all the time. Everything is a life or death situation…EVERYTHING. Making lunch is a matter of life or death. Going to the bathroom is a matter of life or death. Changing the channel is a matter of life or death. Everything is life or death! It’s a show that leaves not only the viewer but the actor needing a prozac. Like I said, not my cup of tea.

In seeing the trailers I thought to myself, “oh no, it’s BSG Stargate style.” I was fearful that we would have lost any hint of comedy and general levity when they upped the production value. And while I tried to keep an open mind, part of me was dreading the emotional rollar coaster this pilot was going to put me on. I couldn’t help but wonder if SyFy was using the Stargate Franchise to replace their newly ended hit series. If Stargate is known for anything its hope. No matter what, there was always hope and I couldn’t wrap my head around a Stargate series that, from the trailers, seemed to lack that fundamental.

Thankfully, the creators have kept true to the Franchise and have retained the element of hope in SGU. Yes, the show is rife with drama and their situation is dire, but there’s always that element of hope to pull you through. I won’t go into details because I don’t want to let any spoilers slip. What I can say is that unlike BSG and their form of sci-fi realism, SGU maintains that fundamental element of hope fans are so used to.

I’m going to try and do my best to be objective in this review. Please remember that this is my opinion and not even the best news agencies out there are ever truly 100% objective. This is just my attempt at it. I’m going to try and look at SGU from the perspective of a newbie Stargate fan and from a more critical “literary” standpoint.

First of all, I can understand what all the hype is about. The quality of this show is so beautiful it’s almost breathtaking. The CGI graphics are outstanding and it seems that no expense was spared on the sets, costumes, make-up and other visual effects. The cinematography is unique even going so far as to break the fourth wall at points. It’s an interesting technique. By viewing the scene through the eyes of one of the characters, say, if they’re holding a camcorder, gives the viewer a perception that varies greatly from the standard third-party perspective. Not only are you watching what’s going on but the cinematography makes you feel as though you are right there with them at points.

I won’t spend the next four pages going into how beautiful this show is. I think I already covered that it’s very well made. No expense was spared. But a good question has been asked right here on this blog. “Can they keep it up?” It’s a valid question. With a production value that’s obviously very high will SyFy remain committed to it in today’s economy or will we start to see a slow decline as costs are cut to remain on budget? Other shows have traveled this path before and have gotten stuck in the “too much money” vacuum that ultimately leads to cancellation. Will it be the same for SGU? Only time will tell.

I can see where Stargate fans would be concerned. It’s a new series being added to their franchise. Will it work? Will it tank? If it tanks does the entire franchise go with it? It’s an outcome that really can only be decided by the fans. So how do you give the fans what they want, more Stargate, without reviving or remaking one of the two original series? The answer was to create a completely new set of characters, throw them into a new circumstance but still give them ties to home so that fans can see the familiar faces they’ve come to adore.

However, in doing so I’ve come across a problem. At least, it’s a problem in my opinion. In the first “3” episodes we get to see our old friends General O’Neill, Colonel Carter, Dr. Jackson and Master Sergeant Harriman. This was obviously done to give the fans a reason to give the show a chance. Let’s face it, most fans are going to watch anything that their favorite actors are in. I know I do it. If it weren’t for the addition of Ben Browder and Claudia Black I would never have watched SG-1 (until I met PlayItGrand at least). So this is an easy way to get some SG-1 fans to automatically watch the show.

What I find strange about this method is that I didn’t sit there watching the SG-1 cast as filler like I was supposed to. I kept thinking about what those characters are doing now. Of course we aren’t told what Carter is up to, other than commanding the George Hammond, or what Daniel is working on. We don’t even find out if Walter’s still flexing his gate dialing muscles, though his camouflage did make him blend into the filing cabinets nicely. They are filler, plain and simple, used to draw in SG-1 fans. Except, in doing so it just left me thinking more about what SG-1 was up to now instead of paying attention to what was going on in SGU.

The overall plot of SGU is very good. It leaves a lot of openings for it to go in numerous directions and doesn’t stick the characters into a limited situation. I’m not naming any names, but I’ve seen it happen before with other series and a limited environment only leads to more ridiculous stories.

I will say this about the plot, however, there is an element to the overall “basis” of the show, a limit if you will, that’s going to get very old very fast if it’s not resolved.

Here’s my problem. The Destiny, the beautiful Ancient ship the characters are trapped on, spends all of its time going from Stargate to Stargate. It’s apparently been doing this for millennia. From time to time the ship makes stops along its path. At least this is good news for our heroes in terms of supplies. The bad news is that they only have a limited time on the planet before Destiny high tails it out of there. The other bad news is that the ship goes to planets that it knows has a Stargate and where it thinks might have what the crew needs. Then again, the database is thousands of years old and I’m guessing it hasn’t been updated in a while. I don’t think the Ancients released Service Pack 2. But the notion is that this timer will start every time Destiny reaches a Stargate. Great.

I feel like this one concept is going to get old quickly. Wasn’t it enough that they’re stuck in space with no form of society, on a ship that’s barely functional, with no supplies and only moderate medical care? Nope, they had to put a time limit on “away missions” as well.

At the same time, from a writer’s standpoint, I can see why they have the ship set an egg timer. Look at the structure of most of SG-1’s episodes (having not seen a lot of Atlantis I’m not comfortable commenting on it). Each episode, essentially, was one off-world mission, a short story that ties into the overall story arches of the season and the show. This, by the way, seems to be the standard structure for a lot of series. So as a writer how do you write a single definitive episode when there’s no mission-like structure and your characters are stuck on a ship? You have the ship travel to planets with Stargates. Then, to give you that story in a nice neat package, and provide extra angst to your already dramatic cast, you put a time limit on how long the ship will stay at that particular planet. It’s really genius in its simplicity.

While we’re on the subject of plot, SGU isn’t so much like Battlestar Galactica as it is Lord of the Flies in space. These people are suddenly thrust into a situation where literally, no one has any control. Some of the characters have known each other and have established relationships while others have just been introduced into the mix. It’s social chaos.

Like Lord of the Flies, SGU pits two fundamentals of humanity against each other: civilization vs. savagery (or order vs. anarchy). We see examples of the instinct to live by the rules, act peacefully and value the good of the group (civilization) and the instinct to react on impulse to satisfy personal desires, obtain supremacy over others and enforce one’s will. It’s a complete toss up as to which instinct will ultimately prevail for each character.

To create an effective society, someone will need to be the leader, someone the medic, someone the teacher, the explorer, the philosopher, the law and order, etc. Social order of some sort must be established in order for them to survive. SGU’s characters were created and established to eventually fulfill the societal order. It’s just going to be a matter of figuring out where everyone goes and who will choose civilization over savagery.

Again with my trepidation in watching SGU I was concerned that I wouldn’t like the characters. From what I had read and seen they all appeared to be stereotypes thrown together to fuel the drama. To an extent this is true. However, the more I thought about it the more it made sense.

Take SG-1 for instance. Our beloved Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson were complete stereotypes for nearly the entire first season. In my opinion they were so stereotyped it was almost painful to watch the actors settle into their roles. Farscape was the same way. John Crichton was the overly naive astronaut, always hopeful and optimistic, thrown into a situation with an emotionally blocked soldier, an honor driven warrior, a pacifist priest and a greedy slug. No stereotypes there, right? (Note the sarcasm). Just like with Sam and Daniel we saw the characters in Farscape progress and break out of their stereotypical molds to turn into truly unique individuals.

So while SGU is filled with stereotypes: the megalomaniacal doctor, the “everyman” comic relief, the modest medic, the honorable and loyal colonel, the tough on the outside/gooey on the inside soldier and the “Mary Sue” senator’s daughter, just to name a few; as the series progresses we’re sure to see some development to these characters as the actors and writers settle into the characters.

The writers have given hints, sparks to every character that lets the viewer know there is more to them than meets the eye. This suggests that the characters really aren’t as stereotyped as they seem to be and if we’re patient we’ll find out who they really are. It’s been done before and it works quite well. If you think about it, and this is the deep philosophical moment for my day, we’re all stereotypes to some degree. Otherwise where would stereotypes come from? The juicy stuff lies in how we break out of those molds.

Yes, the show is rife with forced drama. The first few episodes of any show need forced drama to survive. Dramatic moments need to be created when a show first airs because the characters are still establishing themselves. This also goes hand in hand with the fact that there are no “baddies” on SGU. There are no G’ould or Wraith or Replicators. It’s just them, on an Ancient ship in space. If there was no forced drama there wouldn’t be a show. Something had to replace the bad guys, at least for now.

Don’t think that just because there aren’t any “baddies” per say that the forced drama is going to go along the same lines as it does on reality TV. There are no cheating boyfriends or promiscuous sex with multiple partners or any other drama that is normally associated with reality TV. No one gets voted off the island but it’s clear that alliances will be made.

SGU is realistic in that the circumstances the characters are forced into and their reactions are very realistic. Granted it’s doubtful that any of us will ever find ourselves lost in space on board a decaying ship, but the individual situations the characters must deal with are things that everyone will experience at one time or another. The cinematography allows you to put yourself in their shoes and at times you certainly do find yourself sympathizing with them. That’s what SGU defines as realistic.

Speaking of the characters, I have to say what I liked best about SGU was Eli Wallace played by David Blue. Blue’s comedic timing is absolutely perfect and he portrays Eli with such realistic simplicity that you wonder just how much of Blue is in Eli. Eli is the character that grounds the rest of the cast. His character is the “everyman” the one that’s just like us. He doesn’t fit the mold of a military social structure. He doesn’t care about ranks and regulations. Eli reacts to his situation the only way he knows how, with humor. Within the course of a day his entire life is turned upside down, changed forever and yet Eli, the man not trained for survival situations, is the first character to accept his situation and make the best out of it. Everyone knows an Eli and that makes him very easy to identify with.

The much needed comic relief provided by Eli is what saves the show for me. I didn’t find myself connecting with any of the other characters. I liked Eli. I liked that he is a geek but a geek like most geeks out there who are smart, lovable and not socially inept. I enjoy his outlook of “well I’m here so I might as well do something cool.” He has tremendous compassion for the other characters and it’s his reaction to the situation that grounds the otherwise overly dramatic characters on the show. Just when things seem to be crossing the fine line into the melodrama zone, Eli brings it back.

Not only is SGU blazing new trails for the Stargate Franchise in terms of a change in cinematography, aspect, and production quality, it also changed the gate!

Now I can’t help but scratch my head when I look at the new gate symbols. The old symbols were constellations. I get that. The new “symbols” are dots. My first thought was, “is that some form of Ancient Braille?” Seriously, that’s what it looks like. But what do the dots represent? Are they new constellations or some secret Ancient code? If the gates were labeled like this obviously before the gates in our galaxy were created does that mean the Ancients dumbed it down for us? Were the Ancients sitting around a table going, “those humans aren’t too bright. Let’s make it easier and use constellations so they don’t muck this up. Otherwise they’ll never figure it out?” It seems so.

PlayItGrand tells me that the Ancients have a bad habit of being inconsistent with things. Maybe the gate is just one of them. Though I’m opting for the “humans aren’t smart enough to figure it out so tone it down a bit” theory.

I will say that the new gate is very pretty and aesthetically pleasing. The new way it dials is pretty neat too.

What do I say to people who have watched the trailers and are planning on avoiding SGU like the bubonic plague? Give it a chance. The trailers for SGU don’t do the show justice. In fact, I think that the trailers gave the wrong impression of SGU.

The premiere and technically third episode are three hours out of your life. If you want do something else while you’re watching it, but at least give it a chance. I found myself itching to get to my lunch break so I could finish watching the pilot, even more so for the third episode. SGU deserves a chance. Like me, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and leave your comments!

We look forward to you visiting our dedicated review and analysis web site here in the future! Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and TeamWHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“

Radiostar

September 30, 2009
Farewell Henry Gibson

Renowned character actor Henry Gibson passed away Monday at the age of 73 after a short battle against cancer.

Stargate fans know Henry from his role as Marul in Stargate SG-1’s season 5 episode, ‘The Sentinel’. His acting in that episode was superb, no doubt helped by the fact that Henry had worked with Richard Dean Anderson before on two episodes of MacGyver.

Henry Gibson was born on 21 September 1935 in Germantown, Pennsylvnia, but after hearing him perform an Irish accent you would never guess. He was a child star on the stage during the 1940s and during the late 1950s and was an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force.

His screen debut came in 1963 when he was cast in the Jerry Lewis film The Nutty Professor (1963). He made two other small film appearances in Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) and The Outlaws Is Coming (1965), in which he played a rather hip Indian named Charlie Horse. In 1968 he was cast as a member of the regular cast of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” (1967). He stayed with the show until 1971, when he left and continued his career as a character actor. His best known film role was probably his performance in Nashville (1975). He played Haven Hamilton, a smarmy Country and Western singer. For this role he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and was awarded the National Film Critics Award for best supporting actor.

Henry Gibson as Marul in 'The Sentinel'

Gibson’s career carried on through the 1980s and 1990s when he appeared in many films, such as The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) and The ‘burbs (1989). He also provided voice-overs for many children’s animated series like “Smurfs” (1981), “Wuzzles” (1985) and “Galaxy High School” (1986). His most recent appearance have been in the Paul Thomas Anderson drama Magnolia (1999) and the independent film The Year That Trembled (2002). I personally was very fond of Henry’s role in the Disney Channel original, “The Luck of the Irish” (2001). He continued to follow his passion right up through this past year, taking a role on “Boston Legal” as Judge Clarence Brown, and voicing several episodes of the animated “King of the Hill” as newspaperman Bob Jenkins.

Henry Gibson’s wife passed away two years ago. He is survived by three sons.

If you would like to learn more about Henry and the memorial that is reportedly pending, visit his website.

Stargate fans will not forget his contribution. Thank you, Henry, and farewell.

September 17, 2009
Amanda Tapping: Absolute Amazing

She's been cursed with "The Black Widow Syndrome", and the uncanny ability to speak technobabble flawlessly. She's gotten to be both "The Girl" of the team and "The Man" of the expedition. We've literally watched her progress from Captain to full-bird Colonel. But despite all this, there's still one question she can't answer: will she ever be with Jack?! From Samantha Carter of SG-1 to Atlantis, and then to Helen Magnus of Sanctuary, Amanda Tapping has really done it all.
I want to apologize for how long it has taken to get this report up. As you'll see, the report is very lengthy. It took over a week to finish it, and then when I was ready to post, my computer started to have a malfunction! So I want to thank you for your patience, and I hope you find the wait to be worth it! I was SO excited to finally see Amanda. I missed her first visit to Chicago. I was forced to go only one day, so I had a choice: see Amanda and Christopher Judge, or Michael Shanks and Don Davis. As the actor who plays my favorite character, I couldn't help but choose Michael's day, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the late Don Davis. When SG-1 was cancelled I became afraid that the fandom's followers would slowly peter out, and convention tours would end. Since Amanda hadn't yet returned to Chicago, I panicked and splurged on a signed photo so that I would have it in case I never got to see her. Then the opportunity came to go to Vancouver, and lo and behold, Amanda was headlining! Little did I know that at the 2008 Chicago convention, they would announce that she would be once again in my own backyard, but I was going to drive five days cross-country largely to see her! I laughed at myself! As my friend RadioStar and I have discussed several times since the convention, it's one thing to see an actor on TV as themselves and to believe they're really nice, and a whole other thing to actually meet them and discover that they really are that nice and then some. Amanda is one of those actresses. She's completely down to earth, and so friendly! I thought I'd clam up once I reached her in the autograph line, but her smile was so welcoming I was able to tell her how long I'd waited to see her. She shook my hand, too! Amanda really has a completely different style to answering questions than most of the other actors I've encountered. I can't help but wonder if she practices! She stays so focused on what the question is that I don't think it took more than five minutes for her to answer any one question! Consequently, she answered A LOT of questions, but she still had a ton of fun doing it! How could I tell? Well, she would literally crack herself up! Read on and you'll see! (more…)

July 26, 2009
Michael Shanks: Beware of Unleashed Actor

His mistreatment by the writers led to the coining of the term, “Danny-whumping”. He has died more times than most fans can account for off the top of their heads, but in doing so he saved someone else. He’s a walking talking encyclopedia of historical and archeological history. He’s been referred to as the conscience of the team. Michael Shanks has been playing the role of Dr. Daniel Jackson for 9 seasons, 2 movies, and 3 Atlantis episodes, and he’s not done yet!
Of all the Stargate cast members, I feel as though I know Michael the best. I’ve seen him six times, and this Augusts’ Chicago convention will make seven. It helps that he has never missed a Chicago convention since they began in 2004, and neither have I! I have an autographed object from each encounter, and I have two photos taken with him. Over the years I’ve gone from barely being able to squeak ‘hi’ and spell out my name for him, to chatting with him in full coherent sentences in the autograph line. It’s not that he is intimidating. He’s very open and friendly will fans. Let’s just say that Daniel Jackson is my absolute favorite character. I’m sure you get the idea! <3 So please pardon the comments I throw in here. I couldn’t help myself! I kept questions in the order that they came to give you a feel for how easily we can bounce back and forth from one topic to another in the course of an hour-long Q&A session. (more…)

July 4, 2009
N. John Smith: The Producer

We’ve seen him on camera only once, but without him there might never have been a camera in the first place! He was a producer for SG-1 from 1997-2000 (37 episodes), a co-executive producer from 2000-2006 (128 episodes) and executive producer for SG-1’s final season. He was an executive producer for Ark of Truth, and also for Atlantis for the three years it ran alone (2006-2009, 60 episodes). What does he do now? He’s an executive producer for Sanctuary, of course! Where would we be without N. John Smith? Creation sure knows how to save the best for last! It’s Sunday of convention weekend, and it’s my last day. One day remains, but only for those holding location tour tickets for Monday morning, and I had taken the tour on Wednesday. I honestly don’t know for sure what N. John Smith goes by for short, so I’m going to guess John and hope he’ll pardon me if I am incorrect. John was excellent at answering our questions, even the ones he couldn’t answer definitively, and he was very patient with our persistence. In a couple cases he had to tell us that we needed to put the question to Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, who were to be our next guests! Because of that, I did conserve my writing hand because I knew that Brad and Robert would have all the latest that I would need to take down to the best of my ability. (more…)

June 21, 2009

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