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April 26, 2007
Gak, Golden Tee and Improv Comedy
Well, we finally got our watches today. Yes, our 10th season SG-1 crew gift arrived and it’s a doozy – a Stargate SG-1 10th Anniversary Limited Edition Commemorative Watch, made by Masters Replica. If you want to get your hands on one, apparently you can find them on Ebay or some other sites, but be prepared to pay through the NOSE. Which actually got me thinking. I wonder what that statuette of Ra that’s been sitting in my office for 5 years would fetch on the open market. Better yet, what about that new Ark of Truth baseball cap. Hmmmm… I think it’s time for this kid to go into the Ebay grey market economy.
In other news, there’s been a big addition to the writer’s room. No, no… it’s not a new writer. Good guess though. It’s a stand up arcade “Golden Tee” golf video game! I’m not lying. And yes, my job just got a whole lot cooler (and a whole lot more difficult to concentrate on). We can all thank Martin Gero for this hedonism-embracing contribution. But here’s my little problem – I have to sandbag when I play these guys. Not only to protect their fragile egos, but also because otherwise they’ll say I’ve been practicing too much and that I have way too much time on my hands and then they’ll find some busy work for me to do. And we can’t have that – I’ve got this blog to write, after all. But Martin Gero just got a bundle of cool points, if you’re counting.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Brad Wright was honoured Monday night by the Writer’s Guild of Canada with its first annual “Showrunner of the Year” award. I know I’m preaching to the choir, but no one is more deserving than Brad is for this award.
This week you’ll get to see SG-1’s “The Road Not Taken” and, on the Atlantis side, the return of Lucius Luvin and Robert Davi in “Irresponsible”.
Alan McCullough wrote The Road Not Taken, but for a while there it was touch and go as to whether or not the episode was actually going to be produced. The episode is an ‘alternate reality’ episode and it stepped on a ‘time travel’ episode Joe Mallozzi was working on at the same time he was calling “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” But as we all know, sometimes an alternate reality episode is not too different from a time travel episode! Anyways, Rob Cooper, last year’s SG-1 showrunner, had to make a tough call and he decided to move forward with The Road Not Taken, in which Carter is transported to a parallel dimension. It turned into a great episode too.
Here’s a funny little thing – Sci-Fi called Carter by the actor's real first name “Amanda” in their promo teaser on the web! It’s since been changed to the correct "Samantha" but we all got a kick out of it in the production office.
On Atlantis in “Irresponsible”, the highly anticipated follow up to “Irresistible”, you’ll see Richard Kind and Robert Davi in a western-style Atlantis showdown. Well… almost, that is. As you’ll see, the episode was originally written with a nod to the old Westerns (using some of the conventions of that genre), and this was partly because it was believed the show could be shot in a B.C. film location called “Bordertown”. Bordertown is a film set built to look like a western town. The problem was, when the producers went to look at Bordertown, they discovered it was literally falling down, to the point of being unsafe. The only other local village set available was “Fantasy Gardens” which doesn’t quite have that western feel (more Dutch influences). And Martin Wood had also shot SG-1’s “Revisions” there not too long ago, so he had to find some unique angles to make this show look different. He did a great job.
Martin told me having Richard Kind and Robert Davi on the same set was great, because they are both New York actors and they regaled the crew with war stories all day long.
Martin also told me that, during shooting, he and the other producers realized the show was going to be short for time. Now normally this is no big deal – we often add scenes after the fact. But in this case the location was not going to be available so they had to come up with something quickly. Martin and Brad talked about it with Richard Kind and he offered to do some improvisation work based on Brad and Martin’s ideas. So look for a walk and talk with Lucius and Sheppard where Lucius and he discuss plans to defeat Kolya – that’s all improvised from the collective minds of Brad Wright, Martin Wood and Richard Kind.
Enjoy the shows!
ATL
Posted by Alex Levine at 07:45 PM
April 18, 2007
Back in the highlife again...
The SG-1 cast was in the office Monday for a read-through of Robert C. Cooper’s “The Ark of Truth”, one of the SG-1 features. I said hello to Ben Browder, who I hadn’t seen since last season, but I never did get a chance to rib him about Duke’s opening round loss in the tourney. Amanda was looking great with longer hair – there have been a few discussions about her hair and continuity issues relating to the chronology of the SG-1 movies vis-a-vis Season 4 of Atlantis. OOPS! I guess the cat is out of the bag. If you don’t already know, Amanda Tapping is joining the cast of Stargate Atlantis for Season 4. More on this later. I also got a high five from Chris Judge, and I saw Claudia Black in the office too, just briefly. Tomorrow they start shooting, and we’re all looking forward to seeing the dailies at lunch time.
On the Atlantis side I got a half-hug from 6’5” Jason Momoa, which reminded me of when he literally picked Rob Cooper up off the ground with one arm at last year’s wrap party. I also got to pet Rachel Luttrell’s dog Nala (sp?), who I quickly discovered was all wet from the rain.
Meanwhile, I hope you all enjoyed the return of SG-1 and Atlantis to Sci-Fi Fridays. The ratings were pretty good, considering all of the illegal web dissemination we assume took place (for SHAME!). I also hope you enjoyed the Stargate Mythology special produced and directed by my good friend Ivon Bartok. This week the hit parade continues on Atlantis with “Echoes” and on SG-1 with “Line in the Sand”.
I spoke to Carl Binder, who co-wrote the story of “Echoes” with Brad Wright and then wrote the teleplay. He said that what he remembers most about the episode is how it relates to his daughter. You see, Carl’s daughter Breanna is studying astrophysics in college, and when Carl told Breanna the story for Echoes she objected to the big science aspect of the story and also the solution to the big scientific problem posed in the story. See how careful I’m being not to spoil it for you! So Carl and Breanna hashed it out on the phone, and that conversation actually became a scene in the story between Sheppard (Carl) and McKay (Breanna). Breanna explained that it has to make some sort of sense because she’ll have to answer to a room full of physics majors who are all big fans of the show!
I also happened to be in the room with Brad and Carl (it was just the three of us, actually) when Brad spun the original concept on its head and came up with the major twist of the story. And let me tell you, it’s pretty exciting when that happens. Brad just plucked it right out of the ether and turned it into gold. It’s times like that when you realize why he’s been so successful in this industry and in this genre.
On the Stargate SG-1 side, you’ll see “Line in the Sand”, written by Alan McCullough. This was Alan’s best script of last year, in most of the writing staff’s opinion. In fact, everybody enjoyed his first draft thoroughly (it is a very moving story). I recall that Brad came in to Alan’s office and interrupted a meeting just to shake his hand and offer his congratulations on a story well told. Of course then the writers gave him about a zillion notes for his rewrite, but that’s just how it goes!
Alan told me the toughest part of writing this story was coming up with the Ori aphorism that is central to the story. The aphorism is actually a plot point, and it had to be ambiguous. I know, I know… this is all pretty nebulous but it will make sense when you see the show. But the gang had a lot of fun coming up with goofy fake Ori aphorisms that week, like: “Let the seeds of the words of the light of Origin find purchase in your rocky, barren soul!” Okay, that one wasn’t so funny, but the funniest ones are not fit for print, if you know what I mean.
Also, in case you’re wondering why nary a word is mentioned about the fact that Daniel is missing in this episode, the teaser (the first scene before the title) dealt specifically with Daniel’s absence, but had to be cut for time.
ATL
Posted by Alex Levine at 12:41 AM
April 13, 2007
Life Moves Pretty Fast
In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller: “Life Moves Pretty Fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So true! Well things are moving pretty darned fast around here, so let’s take a look-see around. First, the biggest news: Stargate SG-1 was not renewed for an 11th season. So sad. :( But there is a silver lining. We are currently in production/pre-production for two feature length straight to DVD Stargate SG-1 movies: Continuum and The Ark of Truth. And both are going to kick ass because they have bigger budgets and great stories. So stay tuned for details.
And we are full speed ahead with production of Atlantis Season 4. In fact, we’re already shooting episodes 4 and 5 of the new season. As a result, it’ll be tough not to spoil anything for those of you honest enough to wait for the television broadcast, but I promise to do my very best.
Meanwhile, there’s another big change to talk about, right at the top. What does that mean, you ask. Well I’ll tell you. But first we’ll have to start with a little crash course on TV production hierarchy. At the top of the food chain, at the lofty peak of creative decision-making, you’ve got your Show Runner (who is also an executive producer). Now, in TV, the writer is king. Unlike in feature films, where the directors and non-writing (financial) producers often are the bigwigs, in television the writer is so freakin’ important the creative decision-making buck stops with them. And the head writer is the “Show Runner.”
As many of you may know, Brad Wright and Rob Cooper created Stargate Atlantis four years ago and Brad was the Show Runner of Stargate Atlantis for the first three seasons (Rob was the Show Runner for Stargate SG-1). But this year, they’ve passed the reigns of Stargate Atlantis to…… (trumpets please)……. the writing team of Joe Mallozzi & Paul Mullie! Yes, yes… there are two of them. Because they write/produce as a team (most of the time). So this year promises to be a bit different. I’m expecting a darker, more jeopardy filled season with twists and turns and peaks and valleys… just you wait! But before I change topics I should mention that Brad and Rob are still very involved in Atlantis, but Joe and Paul are the “go to guys”.
Now, this change in hierarchy might affect how you address your fan mail. So be advised as follows: for concerns about whether or not a specific beloved character is going to continue to exist in the Pegasus Galaxy after Season 3, please direct all queries, requests, complaints and letter bombs to Paul Mullie (room 926). He is the agent of doom around here. For those of you who would like to see certain characters getting to know each other a little better or “getting jiggy with it” (you shippers out there - you know who you are), please direct all fan communication to Joe Mallozzi (room 929). He is handling affairs of the heart this season. For stories involving ghosts or characters coming back from the past, contact Carl Binder (room 923). For back-half continuations (second parters) and male-on-male kissing, that would be Martin Gero (room 922). And for bottle shows, Alan McCullough (room 932) has made the shift over from SG-1 this year. So don’t be shy, send us your well-thought out letters and we will read them over lunch.
Tonight you’ll get to see the back half of the two parters for both shows. For Atlantis, it’ll be The Return Part 2, written by Martin Gero of course. For SG-1, it’s the stirring conclusion of The Quest. Here’s some fun little behind the scenes tidbits.
From Martin Gero on The Return:
- A whole new underwater set was built at a cost of over $100,000.
- You’ll get to see Richard Dean Anderson as an action hero for the first time since forever! (SG-1 season 6?)
- Martin thinks the sequence of the jumper’s flight chase through the city is the best special effects they’ve ever done on this show.
From Joe and Paul on The Quest:
- Believe it or not, but the ‘snow’ set is the same as the ‘sand’ set with different lighting. That’s movie magic for you.
- Carter’s punch (she will only take so much sexist BS) wasn’t in the first draft, it was only decided after mulling over the scene that her reaction should be stronger.
Enjoy!
ATL
Posted by Alex Levine at 12:02 AM
