One of Carl’s fondest memories of me was of the time Marty G. and I invited him, the new writer in town, out for dinner. And I guess it’s been downhill from there. Well, two new writers have joined us this year – Remi Aubuchon and Linda McGibney – and I figured it would be nice to give them at least one happy memory of me to reflect back fondly upon years from now. So, Carl and I invited them out for dinner.
On the day of our outing, Linda fell mysteriously ill (Coincidence? You decide.) so it ended up being the four of us: Carl, Remi, his friend Cintia, and yours truly. Remi expressed an interest in seeing a noodle show, so I booked us a table at Shanghai Chinese Bistro, a restaurant that, last time I checked, does a nightly noodle show.
Apparently, it’s been a long time since I last checked because on the night we dined at Shanghai Chinese Bistro, there was no noodle show. But, there was this…
Today’s entry is dedicated to Luvenjack.
A quickie mailbag:
Jason967067 writes: “I was wondering if you could give us a hint and tell us if SGU is going to have a darker tone in season 2 or if the crew is going to be more upbeat?”
Answer: At the risk of giving too much away, I’ll just say that a number of characters will see an “attitude adjustment” as their journey develops.
Vojtech Gabriel writes: “About SG1 movie it looks like it will not be filmed…can you tell us if you created new aliens for SG1 or it is a story of the old one.”
Answer: Let’s just say the story stems from an issue that has plagued Stargate Command since its inception.
HBMC writes: “1. Did they leave people behind, and if so, who?
2. Was the pregnancy written into the show because of Alaina Huffman’s actual pregnancy, or was this always the plan?”
SPOILERS FOR FAITH…
Answers: 1. Yes. Kaine stayed behind with about a half dozen of his fellow crew members.
2. In Denis’ original pitch, a female crew member discovers she’s pregnant. As it so happened, actress Alaina Huffman announced her pregnancy around this time – so, rather than give the story to a secondary character, we gave it to the Tamara character.
Ponytail writes: “SyFy sticks their network logo down in the bottom right of the screen. Tell your (graphics?) people not to put names down in that corner.”
Answer: Yes, Carl gave us the heads up about this a few weeks back. Steps have been taken to rectify this.
Sean D. writes: ”
1. I really enjoy the aspect of SG shows that is rooted in Earth-based stories: Will we see more of Earth in seasons 2+?
2. It was awesome seeing RDA’s dog in an ol’ SG1 episode: Any chances of any of your dogs making special guest appearances in SGU? Or have we already seen any other cast/crew/etc.’s pets in SG1/SGA/SGU?
3. Did I see what appeared to be a large Kino type device inside that Ancient device (that “looks like a robot”) that was found in a crate (in “Faith”)?
4. Eli said, in reference to the large structure on the planet (in “Faith”), “…markings like some kind of alien language”… so it’s probably not Ancient (unless the Ascended Ancients have another language or another race that Ascended), though curiosity is through the roof: did the Ancients, the Space aliens, or another race create that star, planet, and/or structure? (Or probably a safer question: Will that question be answered this season?) 
5. Any chances of seeing either Ascended beings or Ancients in SGU?”
Answers: 1. We will.
2. To the best of my knowledge, not yet. Jelly is holding out for a really meaty role.
3. You’ll have to wait and see exactly what is up with that find.
4. Elements of this particular storyline will be picked up at a later date. Cryptic, no?
5. TBD.
Craig writes: “And why would Scott stay behind when he has a son back on Earth?”
Answer: He weighed his commitment to a son who is alive and well and being taken care of back on Earth against a group of people who faced an uncertain future on the planet. There was also talk of the possibility that a race powerful enough to create a planet might be powerful enough to help them get back to Earth.
Tim Gaffney writes: “Will you ever say how many people came to the Destiny and how many are military vs. civillian?”
Answer: We wont’ say but we do have a specific breakdown, civilian and military, in mind as we write the scripts.
Rich S. writes: “He mentions the pressure of writing for a series with such history, when you were seeking new writers for Universe did you deliberately go for people who did not know the franchise?”
Answer: Let’s face it – not that many freelancers would know the franchise. Auditioning writers for this show was simply easier because they could come to the show fresh without having to research about a decade-worth of mythology.
Rich S. also writes: “When the scripts come in from freelancers do you expect to do major re-writes?”
Answer: It’s a given that a freelancer will get rewritten. It’s simply a matter of how big the rewrite. Again, it has less to do with talent than the advantage we have of being on staff, knowing the character voices, and being aware of where we’ve been and where we’re going.
dasNdanger writes: “How many eps are you writing for Season 2? And is it true that SGU will be moving to Tuesday nights?”
Answer: Season 2 is still a work-in-progress, so I have no way of knowing how many I’ll write. At least two. As for word that we’re moving to Tuesday nights – like everyone else, that’s what I’ve heard.
Kabra writes: “So as a freelancer, when the story is rewritten to the point that’s it’s really not the original writer’s words or recognizable to the writer, does the writer still get full credit for it or do they share the by line with whoever rewrote it??”
Answer: Depends on the show. On Stargate, this is the case. I’ve seen scripts in the past that were totally written. Not a full sentence of the original freelancer’s draft survived. But the freelancer still received full credit for writing the script. One of my favorite freelancer stories comes from Brad who was presented with a sample script from a writer looking for a job. Brad recognized the script. It was the full rewrite HE had done on this guy’s script when he was working on another show!
Base8 writes: “Curious, “Instead, I ended up putting out some green pages for Awakening which starts shooting tomorrow…sometime.” does green simply refer to the color of paper in your printer, or does it refer to something else? I am assuming that you aren’t still writing the episode if it starts shooting tomorrow….?”
Answer: The Final draft that goes out to everyone is white. When it comes time for the rewrite, the changes are asterisked and that particular page is put out as a Blue page. If more than half the script’s pages require changes, then the office simply puts out a Full Blue script. If there are more changes required, said changes are put out as Pink pages. Subsequent color drafts include yellow, green, grey, salmon, dingleberry, and Tara Reid faux tan brown. For more on drafts and the revisions process, check out this past blog entry titled The Ultimate Extreme Extra Superfantastic Best Lucky Ultra Number One Final Final Draft: http://josephmallozzi.com/2008/03/10/march-10-2008/
DasNdanger writes: “1. Was the question of how the planet came into existence purposely not answered to allow characters (and audiences) to draw their own conclusions?
2. Will the question ever be answered?
3. Will we learn the purpose of the beam?”
Answers: 1. Yep. 2 and 3 – You’ll have to wait and see…
dasNdanger also writes: “Hmmmm…now you’re dreaming about her….hmmmmm…”
Answer: Once, I dreamt I was being chased through the London subway system by a serial killer. Doesn’t mean a future is in the cards there either.
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