Yesterday, The Bridge Studios was the scene of a massive fan protest. Well, massively spirited anyway. When I rolled in first thing Friday morning, there were three hardy souls outside the gates. An hour later, that number had swelled to five, then eight, then ten, then back to eight (when it turned out that the two we’d counted from our office window were actually a reporter and cameraperson covering the event for SFU campus news), then back up to ten. The turn-out may have been small, but those who showed were very animated, waving signs and exhorting passing motorists to honk. Many did and I hope that most of them knew what, exactly, they were honking in support of, but I suspect that more than a few whizzed by wondering “Save sga? What a sga?”
A little before noon, Marty G. swung by my office. It was a late call and the truck was serving breakfast. He was going down to grab a breakfast sandwich and drop in on the fans. Was I interested in joining him? Was I! I grabbed my shades, my camera, and we headed down.
We walked through the gate and strolled up to the group of Atlantis loyalists. “Hey!”said one. “It’s Martin Gero and Joe Mallozzi.” Martin and I said hi and thanked them all for coming out to support the show.
“We want season six,”demanded one exuberant fan. I explained that, if Martin and I had had our way, we would certainly be doing a sixth season of Atlantis… “Please,”piped up the fan. “One more season.” I reiterated the fact that Martin and I always supported the production of a sixth season… “You can run it along the first season of Stargate Universe.” Yes. Again, I felt the need to emphasize we were not part of the decision-making process and –
“IT’S DAVID!”someone yelled. All eyes swung up the road to the approaching red car. My first thought was “How the heck do they know what kind of a car David drives?” Sure, enough, the car swung in and pulled up alongside the demonstrators. David H., all smiles, popped his head out the open window and greeted the fans. As they congregated around his car, Martin and I, all but forgotten, seized the opportunity go grab that breakfast sandwich.
Otherwise, a fairly quiet day. I watched some dailies (shoot-out, shirtless wraith, and ginormous explosion), approved some promos, and swung by set to say hi to Rob who was directing Bob, David, David, and Gary down in the command center on Stage 5. Alas, it looked to be a late night for Bob so we didn’t get around to doing our Q&A video segment but fear not. We’ll definitely get around to it next week.
And, among the other Stargate-related things to look forward to next week: Amanda Tapping, spinning the movie, completing production on Enemy at the Gate, Thursday’s final Vancouver wrap, and, of course, the 100th Episode/Series Wrap Party.
FYI – By the time I rolled off the lot to pick up the pooches at doggy daycare, the fan ranks had swelled to an even dozen.
Oh, for those of you asking – no, you didn’t imagine it. That was the abbreviated nine second main title sequence that accompanied last night’s airing and not the cool, VFX-laden full version containing the entirety of Joel Goldsmith’s incredible score. The decision to scrap the uber-cool main title sequence in favor of the truncated blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sequence was a network call. Apparently, prevailing wisdom holds that viewers possess the attention spans of coked-up squirrels who are likely to change the channel if faced with the prospect of investing up to a full minute of their time watching the main title of a show they’ve tuned into. By airing a shorter sequence, it is argued, viewers will be less likely to suddenly grow bored and wander off into the surrounding cornfields or seek out more enticing programming like, say, TVLand’s The Jeffersons/Good Times double-bill. Bottom line: Don’t give the viewer an excuse to change the channel. And, to be honest, it’s sound logic.
Provided the network rolls right into the show rather than heading into commercials which would, in effect, defeat the purpose of airing a shorter main title sequence.
Uh. Oh.
Hey, finish up Keeping It Real. I’ll be weighing in with my thoughts on Monday and author Justina Robson will be dropping in later in the week to field your questions. Then, get started on The Black Company. Author Glen Cook will be dropping by next week. And, once that’s under your belt, pick up The Missing. Author Sarah Langan will be stopping in the week after that.
Today’s entry is dedicated to all the fans who showed up yesterday to support the show. Your group may have been small but you proved yourselves loyal, enthusiastic, and, occasionally, loud and annoying. Kudos to all!
Today’s pics: Command center, Vegas.
Today’s video: The FX Stage Tour, final part.
Mailbag:
Camy writes: “Have you heard any word on the SGA movies? Is the two-hour SGA movie a go for sure?”
Answer: It is indeed a go. We hope to have this script finished before year’s end.
Alexandria writes: “I have heard a lot of people upset about the shortened credits…from my previous tv knowledge, the abbreviated version was used as the show likely ran a little long.”
Answer: That wasn’t the case in this instance.
Linda Gagne writes: “To those with the thoughts that tptb won’t do more than one movie, sadly, I have a feeling they don’t care about Atlantis and that will happen.”
Answer: Provided enough fans tune in to watch the television premiere and purchase the dvd, there will be plenty of Atlantis movies to come.
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