Looking forward to hearing everyone’s comments on the latest (and one of the last remaining) episode of Stargate: Universe, Epilogue. In retrospect, it would have been a nice way to conclude the show but, alas, at the time, we were looking at Gauntlet as the season ender, not a series ender (more on that when the finale airs). Executive Producer Carl Binder’s crowning achievement on the franchise, Epilogue also includes a little cameo by the man himself. Well, not a physical cameo; more of a cameo in spirit. That snippet of the elderly Brody complaining about those damn dancing kids? He’s actually channeling Carl Binder. Come on! Don’t tell me the mustache didn’t give it away!
Why does it take so damn long to drive anywhere in Toronto? The biggest culprit is not the number of cars on the road but the ridiculous number of closures and single lane detours as a result of the presumed ongoing construction. I say presumed because, even though I’ve been snailing past the same blocked off sections of roadway for weeks now, I have yet to see a single person actually working at the scene. Akemi suggests they probably work nights, the better to inconvenience a wider range of people.
Oh and now it seems I’m coming down with something. Sigh. Since arriving in Toronto, I’ve suddenly become the protagonist in a Lemony Snicket book.
Check out this great interview with the screenwriter of the new The Fast and Furious installment, Fast Five. It’s true what they say. Hollywood IS a young man’s game. Thanks to Carl for the tip:
http://www.theonion.com/video/today-now-interviews-the-5yearold-screenwriter-of,20188/
Exciting news! The official script color code for Transporter: The Series has been released. It breaks down as follows:
original: white
1st revision: blue
2nd revision: pink
3rd revision: yellow
4th revision: green
5th: Goldenrod
6th: Salmon
7th: taupe
8th: cyan
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Isn’t taupe a mole? What color are they? And wasn’t Cyan the former name of the Kingdom of Thailand?
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Wait! Breaking news! As I was writing this entry, I received an email informing me that had a change had been made. Apparently someone took exception to cyan and a decision was made to replace it with double-white. Seriously. I defy anyone to be able to distinguish between white and double-white (even triple-white for that matter!). In the interest of clarity and working within a system agreeable to all participants, I would like to suggest the following alternatives to the proposed Transporter: The Series official script color code:
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original: white
1st revision: fallow
2nd revision: feldgrau
3rd revision: malachite
4th revision: rain
5th: metallic sunburst
6th: gristle
7th: two month old fig discovered in the back of the refrigerator’s vegetable crisper
8th: ennui grey
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Great. Now that we got that sorted out, let’s shift focus to those SG-1 season memories…
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One of my many, many fond memories of that first year on the franchise were the number of dogs that could would sniff and scamper the corridors of the Production Offices, whether it was N. John Smith’s black labs, Molly and Tugboat, Rick’s Australian shepherd, Zoe, Rob’s multi-shit(?) Oscar, Amanda’s bouvier Abby, or Don’s lab, Midnight Lady. It was a very relaxed, dog-friendly environment and, back then, I would spend much of the day in my office, typing away on my laptop, my pug, Jelly, perched on the headrest of the couch behind me, surveying the passing hall traffic and occasionally venturing out for a little stroll/adventure. I remember one time when Michael Shanks poked his head into my office and, as delicately as possible informed me: “Uh, Jelly ate my tuna sandwich.” Apparently, he’d set it aside to deal with some script issue and Jelly, no doubt assuming it had been abandoned, helped herself. Another time, Jelly had managed to escape the production offices and I spent a good twenty minutes trying to corra herl. Back then, she was quite nimble and enjoyed nothing better than a good chase. I was at wit’s end, exhausted, when Richard Dean Anderson stepped out of Stage 5 and called to her. She immediately jumped into his arms and he handed her over, problem solved. And Rick cemented the title of Dog Whisperer.
ABSOLUTE POWER (417)
…corrupts absolutely. Actors love to play bad guys and, in this episode, Michael Shanks delivers a terrific portrayal of our Daniel gone dark side. Destroying Moscow is pretty bad, but one of the most unsettling acts he commits never found its way into the finished version of the episode. In an earlier version, there is mention of the fact that Teal’c inexplicably vanished years ago. The truth about his mysterious disappearance is revealed when Jack stumbles upon his old friend, a prisoner of Daniel who has been experimenting on him, transfusing blood from the Jaffa in an effort to master control of goa’uld technology.
THE LIGHT (418)While the final quarter of the show’s fourth season delivers some great hits (Entity, Exodus) it also offers up a few misses, this episode being a big one in my books. The beat of Jack rushing Daniel back to the planet aside, the episode never really delivers – surprising given what was, up to this point, a fairly strong season. In similar fashion…
PRODIGY (418)This one was another disappointment. I believe I’ve already mentioned elsewhere how the character of Jennifer Hailey was originally conceived as a younger version of Carter (Samantha Jr.) but, in the end, came across as petulant and unlikable. Without a doubt, our weakest script of the fourth season, but an episode notable for the very first onscreen appearance of Ivon Bartok who plays the cadet, in opening tease, who asks: “Did you say TEN dimensions?”. Brilliant. The role of Hailey came down to two extras, Elizabeth (who eventually won the part) and an actress named Jennifer Halley. It stuck in my head because, in my first draft of the script, the character had been named Jennifer Halley before Paul changed her last name to Hailey. Anyway, Elizabeth was better suited to the role of the young ingenue, but Jennifer would later land the role of Lieutenant Tolinev in season 5’s The Tomb. The seemingly distant cousins of the alien life forms (zapping bugs) that complicate matters in this episode put in an appearance in Stargate: Atlantis’s The Defiant One and Stargate: Universe’s Water.
THE LIGHT (418)
PRODIGY (418)
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