No sooner do I get finished chipping away at Reunion to get it down to time, than the director’s cut of This Mortal Coil comes in at two minutes under. Two minutes! And so, I had Alex print me up a copy of the script that I could look over this weekend and hopefully find a place for what, back on SG-1, we would refer to as the “Hammond orders the pizza“ scene. You know, that scene that, at its best, fits seamlessly into an episode (the whole golfing through the stargate sequence in Window of Opportunity for example), and, at it’s worst, well –
INT. HAMMOND’S OFFICE – DAY
Hammond sits at his desk, deep in thought. He opens his desk drawer and shuffles through the papers therein. He searches, finally finds what he is looking for – some sort of flyer – and sets it down. He gives it a quick perusal, then picks up the phone and dials.
Beat.
HAMMOND
Hello. I’d like to order a large barbecue chicken pizza.
Yes. Extra onions, please.
Dr. Fraiser steps into the doorway, sees he is on the phone and turns to go, but Hammond stops her with an upraised finger. He motions her in. Fraiser approaches. Hammond cups his hand over the phone and informs her –
HAMMOND
Care to join me for some pizza, doctor?
FRAISER
I’d love to, General. What are we getting?
HAMMOND
Barbecue chicken with extra onions.
Fraiser grimaces. Hammond picks up on this. Back to the phone –
HAMMOND
I’m sorry. Could you make that a barbecue chicken,
but with no onions.
He throws Fraiser a look who smiles back appreciatively.
HAMMOND
Yes, that’ll be all.
Suddenly, Fraiser remembers something. She waves to get Hammond’s attention and loudly whispers –
FRAISER
Do they still have the Crazy Bread?
Etc. And, before you know it, you’ve got your extra minute-long scene that slips seamlessly into the cut. Just slip a bit of ADR into the episode tag where an O.S. Fraiser says “Thanks again for the pizza, General” and that’s that. Of course, we like to mix things up. It’s not always Hammond ordering the pizza and, occasionally, it’s not even pizza but meatball subs, spicy Thai and, if we’re really feeling bold, falafel.
Of course, this is really the eye of the storm. An eerie calm has settled over the writing department as we suddenly realize: no one is writing. Paul and Alan have just finished their producer cut of The Seer in which Richard Woolsey pops in for an impromptu visit. Martin has just finished up his pass on Miller’s Crossing and seen the war council convene for Be All My Sins Remember’d. Alan’s Spoils of War is almost prepped and ready to shoot, promising wraithy revelations. And Carl is putting the finishing touches on Quarantine, an episode in which an imposed isolation tests various relationships around the base. Off Reunion, I head into This Mortal Coil but not before…
We start the spinning. There’s the other Earth-based episode Joe F. pitched out. The return-of-that-character two-parter with its Fargo-esque first part, the big team-up eppy, and the puzzle piece. AND, Rob has promised us his director’s cut of The Ark of Truth.
Speaking of SG-1, I visited the Continuum set today. If you’re interested, check out the pics: Brad Wright and Martin Wood looking forward to that next shot, Golden Boy Teal’c, Brad and Jaffa reminisce about Chulak, Martin Wood and Alex Pappas discuss the next set-up, Ivon shooting VFX Supervisor Michelle Comens, Ivon shooting an insightful producer, Lawren Bancroft Wilson anxiously awaits punishment for screwing up our lunch order, not sure what the hell that is but it would look great by the fireplace, and the used car that was taken out for a test drive from a local dealer and, amusingly, broke down enroute (Salesman to client: “Well, since we’ve got a little time before the tow truck gets here, let’s talk price.”).
And the mail –
Anonymous #1 writes: “Is Quarantine one of Amanda Tapping’s 14 episodes?”
Answer: Yup.
GrapesofWraith writes: “On the chocolate front, have you ever tried See’s Candies down in the U.S.?”
Answer: I haven’t. Any good?
Anonymous #2 writes: “Do you know if there are any other script ideas for future SG-1 movies? Who would write them?”
Answer: The fate of any new SG-1 movies rests on how well The Ark of Truth and Continuum perform. When the time comes, Rob and Brad will be doing the honors.
Kirsten writes: “And cartoons went bad when Speedy Gonsalez was taken away from us…”
Answer: Yeah, poor Speedy. I never realized at the time but, looking back now, the symptoms of crystal meth addiction were pretty evident.
Zabadoo writes: “If one is a fairly talented writer that keeps getting better and finding fresher ideas, how hard might it be to find work in Vancouver? Would it be easier than LA?”
Answer: Simply based on the number of ongoing productions, I’d say L.A. is the place to be.
NowIWillDestroyAbydos writes: “Have you bought the Scrubs Season 5 DVD? Have you seen any of Season 6?”
Answer: Fondy and I didn’t watch past season four.
PurloinedKitten writes: “I was just wondering if you had happened to have seen Le Chevalier D’eon yet?”
Answer: I haven’t. Is it anything like Gankoutsuo or Utena (both of which I loved)?
Ben Johnson writes: “What do you recall as the most frustrating order mix-up you’ve encountered?”
Answer: We were once served a pear sabayon that was inadvertently topped with salt instead of sugar. From my original review: “I tried a spoonful of the sabayon (whipped egg yolk and sugar) and was immediately transported back to my youth, a long-ago visit to Italy when I waded into the ocean on a hot summer’s day – was blindsided by a wave, and involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of brackish sea water.”
Scifi Fan writes: “ It seems to me that Sheppard does a majority of the rescues and getting himself out of trouble. Are you going to have a ep where he has to totally rely on his team to rescue him?”
Answer: Yup. Something like that.
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