As we headed toward the conclusion of SG-1’s seventh season, we did so with pride for all we had accomplished over the show’s and a certain amount of sadness that it would finally be over. After seven glorious seasons, Stargate: SG-1 would be coming to an end. Still, we were going out on top, with our ratings strong and dvd sales just as impressive. Sure, given the strong numbers, we were somewhat disappointed it was coming to an end but, for my part, I couldn’t really complain. I’d joined the production with the assumption we’d go two years and, instead, ended up staying four. I’d had a great time and now, it was time to end the series in style by wrapping up loose ends and finishing strong.
Which we did. And then, as we were finishing up production, learned we’d be coming back for an unbelievable eighth season! But, in retrospect, not so hard to believe. Like I said, our ratings were strong and our dvd sales just as impressive. Why the hell NOT do another season?
CHIMERA (715)
The things that stands out for me about this episode was the title which, over the course of prep, production, and post, was pronounced anyone of about a half dozen ways: Ki-mera, Kee-mera, Kee-meera, Chi-mera, Chy-mera, Chy-meera – and variations thereof. Damian Kindler was the king of the obtuse episode titles and, after following Ethon with Talion, I decided to call my next script Futtock (One of the curved timbers that forms a rib in the frame of a ship.) but was overruled by my writing partner, Paul, since he’d be sharing onscreen credit with me on this one. Anyway, Damian did a great job on an episode that provides a rarity – actual closure to a storyline! Daniel saves Sarah and, with the help of the Tok’ra, restore her to her former self.
This episode also continues the Sam’s romantic arc with a fellow fandom coined “Stalker Pete”. The role was played by David DeLuise, brother of Peter DeLuise. His appearance marked the fourth appearance by a member of the DeLuise family (Dom guested in Urgo, Michael guested in Wormhole Xtreme, David guested in several episodes as Stalker Pete, and, of course, fan favorite Peter DeLuise wrote, directed, produced and had cameos in episodes too numerous to mention).
DEATH KNELL (716)
Bit of a nitpick, but if the Alpha site had been wiped out by the self-destruct, it would have been one massive blast crater instead of a clearing littered with spot fires. Realistically, however, a massive blast crater would have been a huge expense that wouldn’t have added much to the episode. The Jaffa, M’Zel, was a tip of the hat to Stargate long time AD Bill Mizel who provided us with many an entertaining concept meeting with his spirited renditions of the scripts – and also showed off some killer dance moves during the shooting of SGU’s Earth.
HEROES I (717)
This one wasn’t planned as a two-parter but, after going through all the footage and assembling his first producer edit, Robert Cooper decided he would need more time to tell the story. And so, additional scenes were written and additional footage shot. No padding here, however, but some fantastic action sequences on the planet’s surface. Many guest stars of note in this episode: Adam Baldwin as Colonel Dave Dixon, Saul Rubinek as Bregman, and, of course, Robert Picardo as the pencil-pushing Richard Woolsey who makes his first Stargate appearance in this episode. What a run for Bob who goes from pain-in-the-ass bureaucrat in Heroes I to the lovable commander of the Atlantis expedition in SGA’s fifth season. And speaking of SGA and its cast connections to this episode, Adam Baldwin was another actor who so impressed that his name was at the top of our list for possible lead role on Atlantis. Sadly, we couldn’t make it work but Adam has (to no one’s surprise) kept busy and successful, most recently in the role of Chuck’s John Casey.
HEROES II (718)
The hearbreaking conclusion to the Heroes two-parter sees Stargate Command suffer a huge loss. The writers’ room was divided on the death of Janet Fraiser, the SGC’s long-time CMO, but, after much heated debate, it was decided that since this was going to be the final season anyway (!), it was the perfect time to tell this story – a salute to our armed forces, those who fought, and those who’ve lost their lives in the service of their country.
Keep those Stargate and and Transporter: The Series questions coming. I intend to hit the mailbag again once things quiet down – which, hopefully, will be sometime this week. With Carl in town, I’ve got my hands full spinning stories and hosting schnitzel outings and dinners at Lonestar.
I liked Death Knell and Heroes 1 and 2 in this batch. It meant alot to hubby to see the tribute at the end of Heroes 2 as his dad was in the Air Force for 32 years.
Oh, and Chimera, I could rant and rant and rant on that one. 🙂 But, I won’t. Let’s just say it was not one of my favorites.
Have a good night!!!
Janet Fraiser is one of the few characters in all of television that I ever truly *missed*. In one of the episodes following Heroes part 2, SG-1 gets a bit banged up after finding themselves in a pickle. I remember thinking at the time, “It’s okay, good ol’ Doc Fraiser will take ca–… oh.”
Great character, spectacular actor, and easily the most heartbreaking moment in all of Stargate.
Mailbag question: Do you envision Vala and Daniel having found a romantic relationship at some point after Unending?
When are you going to give us the rundown on Stargate: Extinction that you promised?!?!
I liked Chimera. One thing I remember about this episode, is the hilarious dialogue between Sam and Jack in the elevator.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXtIvIVuGa4 – Great!
Death Knell was also good. But, to be honest, I don’t remember very much of it.
“Heroes I & II” are both on my list of favorite episodes. While the first part does contain a good amount of humor, the second part is very dramatic (= great combination!). Also, Saul Rubinek was terrific.
Have a good night!
I have to say, SG1 Season 7 had one of the strongest ends to a Season out of the entire francise, it was very hard hitting and very much enjoyable.
I miss this kind of Stargate, I think a lot of people would agree that this was the best show on the Syfy channel whilst it was airing.
I don’t really have any Transporter questions at the moment Joe, probably will when the show starts airing, but I guess I’ll ask.
How many episodes are being done by you, Paul, Robert, Carl, Alexander etc? I assume its 2 episodes per writer/producer?
I really enjoyed the Daniel/Sarah bits of Chimera – it was nice to have her rescued and saved and a sort of closure for her character…
Not being interested in any kind of romance story arcs on Stargate, I’m afraid the Pete/Sam bit rather passed over my head…I was neither enthralled nor appalled by it…and David Deluise is a lovely, lovely man…I once sat next to him at a Convention Brunch and fell a little bit in love with him and his stories about his wonderful Dad…
Heroes…well, let’s say I still haven’t got over Janet’s death…one of the best female characters ever written for SG-1…I loved her and adore the actress who played her…
Hi Joe-
As a resident of Cleveland, OH, US, I was just wondering if you had ever had the chance to visit our city? We are gaining rep as a foodie town, something I’m sure you would enjoy! Love the blog, by the way, it always makes for interesting reading!
-Jackie S.
@ccdsah: please ask those May 21st shippy questions to joe again! :p
Catching up from last night:
I beg to differ. The reason we brought back the Weir character was in order to tell a story – potentially a series of stories – that fans of the character would enjoy. While I think closure it certainly nice, I’d argue that fans would have preferred to leave the door open and seen the character make multiple reappearances rather than ending Weir’s story. For instance, the scenario you pitched “Team Sheppard successfully rescues Weir and brings her home to Atlantis to recover and rejoin the team?” is not a conclusive end to the storyline but a continuation in a different creative direction.
Okay, maybe it’s not “conclusive” in the sense that it’s a final end with no future at all, but at least there would have been some sort of closure for fans. At the very least, we would have known that Weir was okay, even if the future was still a little uncertain. Even “Enemy at the Gate” had more closure overall than what Weir ended up getting.
Don’t get me wrong Joe, sure, we fans would have loved to have seen a lot more of Weir, and more of Torri playing Weir, but not if at the end of the day, the story wasn’t going anywhere. In “Ghost in the Machine,” all the story did was go sideways, without any indication that there was anywhere else to go. That sure wasn’t encouraging to me as a viewer, and judging from the comments I’ve seen elsewhere, it appears most fans agree with me.
In my mind, the original Weir was not destroyed (as the human form replicators would have us believe). Her body was kept “on ice” somewhere to serve as a prototype for future study. At the time I wrote This Mortal Coil, I imagined a future storyline that would have involved the team learning of Weir’s fate and launching a rescue op. They would have retrieved her and, in the end, Elizabeth would have headed back to Earth for some R&R, leaving the door open for future guest appearances.
I’m glad to hear that the real Weir wouldn’t have been killed, but I also don’t know if I like the idea of her being shipped off to Earth with only the barest chance of ever seeing her again, ala Bates. It seems too much like the same sort of pushing her off to the side because she’s not one of the Big Four that we saw too many times in the first three seasons. If that R&R was a only temporary situation with her potentially returning in a much more active role, ala Beckett in Season 5, I think it would’ve made for a far more meaningful resolution than her simply fading away, out of sight, out of mind.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to respond, I appreciate it.
Starate SG-1 707 and 715 memories?
Oh, Chimera. I hated that episode. Stalker Pete was so inappropriate for Sam, it’s completely laughable. And, her reactions to Pete’s behaviour were so inappropriate and un-Sam like, it’s completely laughable. Sorry to be so harsh about it, but it should not come as a surprise, since it’s probably one of the most derided in fandom.
As for Heroes, do you think you would have killed off Janet had you known there would be a season 8? I really liked her.
I also really liked the speech that Bregman gave about the role of the professional media WRT free speech and their own responsibility to the public, which he pointed out was just as important as the role of the military in defending the people.
I spent the day in Montreal yesterday with my family, and we ate at Bar-B-Barn — my first time in over 20 years. While I would have liked to have gone to some of the restaurants that you’ve recommended in the past, with really young kids, it’s just not possible. So, it’s family-friendly places for us. I realize that you enjoy high-end restaurants, but do you also like Bar-B-Barn and other “classic” Montreal establishments (Schwartz’s, Rotisserie Chalet Bar-B-Q)? Do you visit these places when you’re back home in Montreal?
Hmm, wait a sec, I think you shared 707 but numbered it wrong, though I think you skipped 715. There are a couple other funky numberings going on, too, kind of confusing but no biggy. o.O
I have a language question. For the SGU episodes from “Common Descent” onward, did the writing staff figure that the Kino recordings made by the founders of Novus and Eli’s textbooks would serve as a brake on the rate of written and spoken language change? Since, normally, after 2,000 years the Novans’ language would have been as different from 21st-century English as 21st-century Chinese.
Or did you just hand-wave this, since obviously you needed Destiny’s crew to be able to communicate with the Novans?
Randomness said: I have to say, SG1 Season 7 had one of the strongest ends to a Season out of the entire francise, it was very hard hitting and very much enjoyable.
Lost City was awesome!! it had everything i loved about the series, including great shippiness! if season 7 had been the end of sg1 the series, i would have been convinced that sam and jack were going to get together, just from the scenes and the conclusions taken from the scenes.
i actually prefer Lost City to Threads, ship wise.
i thought heroes wasn’t supposed to be a 2-parter at first. unless i’m thinking of another 2-parter.
Hi Mr. M,
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts about each season. So much fun reminiscing with you! I’ve been watching each episode you’ve mentioned along with each blog and I find myself wishing you would get into more juicy details about more behind the scenes kinds of stuff. But I am thankful nonetheless.
BTW, do you think you could please dedicate a blog mention to the up coming Fan run convention, STARCON 2011 http://www.aurorisentertainment.com/starcon-2011-news/
If not, I understand… thanks again for all the wonderful entrainment over the years.
Cheers 😛
Got some more questions about Gauntlet:
1) How did the drones find all the Stargates ahead of Destiny? I’d imagine they could stumble on one or two at random, or a couple dozen by detecting the Novus expeditions’ use of the Gates, but all of them?
2) If the drones’ overriding mandate was to destroy all alien technology, why didn’t they destroy the Gates on sight? If Destiny was their primary target, I’d imagine that by destroying the Gates, they could just as effectively fight a war of attrition against Destiny and its crew.
Thank you for your continued correspondence with all the fans! I don’t think I know anyone else in the industry that keeps so close to the fanbase. 🙂
Just had a thought, the seed ship that we ran across in “Awakening” has several gates completed in its hold, are those gates able to be dialed from Destiny. I guess what I’m asking is does destiny already have them on file through the subspace link. Or do they physically have to be placed on a planet in a fixed point in space to function.
A few questions about the Daedalus
1) Would it be safe to assume that the Daedalus is powered by a scaled down version of the Neutrino-Ion reactors that the Asgard use?
2)What is the yield (in megatons) of the Mark VIII tactical nuclear missiles?
3)Does does the Daedalus use ion drives based on hebridan designs?
4)Just how many missiles exactly does the Daedalus have when fully stocked?
Interesting to note that this set off a tradition of killing the chief medical officers on the base.
Heroes was THE BEST episode(s) EVER, EVER, EEEEEEVERRRR(!!!) made.
I’m a huge fan of stargate and also of Janet Frazer, but seriously, a story like SG1 needed some heartbreaker like this one. It really killed me in front of the tv to see Janet die and THAT made it an awesome episode. To grab the audience is the most important thing, if by breaking their heart or by making them extremely happy, it doesn’t matter. An always perfect series that gives the audience what it wants is not a good series and especially not a realistic one like SG1.
Always sad to see a great actor “die in their role” and leave the show, but it was the best damn story for her (Teryl’s) character. A true SG1 episode in my opinion.
Also loved Chimera, because it did wrap up lose ends 🙂 and I loved the whole story around Sarah’s character.
It is always fun seeing one of the Deluise boys 😀 .
Like many above, I did miss Janet Fraiser.
Have you ever watched Firefly, Mr. M.? Adam Baldwin was brillant playing Jane!!! When I watched the episode about “JaynesTown”, I laughed so hard I couldn’t catch my breath! He would have made a great addition to any of the SG’s cast.
I’m really love reading your show memories. Thank you for sharing!!!
Have fun schnitzeling.
Re Death Knell: No one has mentioned this… and I don’t know why… but Amanda’s performance – the desperation, utter fatigue, raw emotion… – was outstanding…
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I’m realizing that there was a lot of this “pure emotion” that was missing in SGU. No one seemed to show too much emotion when tragedy happened whether it was being shot at or having friends die…. no one cried much or was hysterical when things fell apart… did not mirror the emotions of “real life”.
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I know the show was on for 10 years, but I really miss it. There are a lot of untold stories left. I am enjoying your memories and am re-watching the episodes that you bring up. Yup – it was an excellent show – gone too soon.
Question: You’ve had quite a few requests to tell us what the movie was about. If you have already sold the movie rights to MGM, are you allowed to talk about the movie?
Question:
If MGM owns the Stargate franchise, why isn’t MGM flogging it to other networks, studios (a la Transporter…) ? SyFy might have cancelled it on their network, but they don’t own it.
As far as I’m concerned, the very fact that the Stargate franchise is one of their great money-makers, and that MGM is not trying to sell SGU to other networks shows the lack of foresight and good management – and probably explains a lot in why the company went under in the first place. What do you think?
The MGM lion is not roaring for me any more.
Foodwise:
Not on the scale of your food escapades, but hubby and I enjoyed a postponed 40th anniversary dinner at Montana’s. Postponed because he is a trucker and comes home every second weekend normally. The Sir-Loin was great, although I have had better, Sleeman’s was good with the meal also. Quite honestly, there really was nothing special about the meal… must have been the company that made it special … 😀 😉 …/!
While I loved Chris Vance in “Mental” I would have really loved to see Jason Stratham be the lead in the Transporter series.
1. Was there any attempt made to secure him for the role?
2. Will the series be available on Itunes?
3. Do you think if it does well the next season will the more episodes (20)?
Now for the Stargate questions:
Disclaimer: I’m a huge Sam/Jack shipper
1. Was there any attempt to “ship” Cam and Sam together? (I’ve heard there was supposed to be a kiss in “Ripple Effect” between them and you nixed it plus the cookies and kiss in AoT)
2. Why didn’t Jack get got at least a mention in “Unending”? (he was the star of the show for 8 years and Daniel’s, T’s and Sam’s best friend)
3. Why wasn’t Sam/Jack confirmed in “Continuum”?
please be sincere:
4. Do you think Sam/Jack would have been confirmed in the 3rd movie or ever?
I had some friends who did call him STALKER PETE. I tried to make fun of it and boy if looks could kill I would have died right there on the spot. I have never seen a group of fans take something sooooo seriously before.
I thought Pete was sweet guy. I felt so bad for him because I just knew from the start he was going to get his heart broken. Boy did he ever get it broken.
Was there ever any thought to making them live happily ever after or was he doomed from the start?
Jason Statham is doing so well in films I don’t think he’ll ever do TV. I think he’s going to be in the next Expendables. It’s nice to see actors do both though, I love that Jason Momoa did Conan and Game of Thrones.
@ccdsah
@1. Was there any attempt made to secure him for the role?
I think this is likely to do with money more than anything else, the series probably doesn’t have the budget for someone like him.
Hey!
I already commented, but I found something I thought you and your followers might enjoy, I did!
It’s the earth’s night sky at El Teide, pretty awesome!
Enjoy!
Have you seen the devastation in Joplin, MO? It looks like a bomb went off there. http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Tornado-strikes-southwestern-Missouri/ss/events/us/052311missouristorm
Ugh. No questions, just wanted to get the readers to send some thoughts toward Missouri. I live in Springfield, and just a few miles away is Joplin, which last night was devastated by the worst tornado the U.S. has seen since 1953. It’s also the 9th most devastating tornado on record period. 89 people were killed and the town was flattened, and then it skipped right over Springfield.
I was taking some beautiful photos of the cloud formations as the sun was setting while everything was happening in Joplin and I didn’t realize it. Survivor’s guilt, much? 🙁
Anyway, those of you who know anyone in this area, check on your friends and loved ones. It’s a disaster down here.
My wife and I are watching Atlantis on DVD for free thanks to the public library and we just finished season 2. She asked me a question I couldn’t answer and I said I’d pass it along to you.
What’s the population of Atlantis in each season? How big is the expedition? How many people can the city hold?
Just a quickie…
This is both awesome, and damn creepy, at the same time – DO check it out:
http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2011/05/jordu-schell-grand-moff-tarkin.html
das
@das: That is creepy. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Well, free tv finally started airing SGU in my neighborhood (thank you, channel 9), so I’ve been catching up. I waver pretty evenly between really enjoying it, wanting to smack everyone onscreen (the CHARACTERS, not the ACTORS), and wanting to smack everyone at the SGC who had a hand in hiring them.
We’re somewhere in one the “Incursion” eps, and I still can’t figure out why the Lucian Alliance wants the Destiny so badly. (Has this been addressed earlier and I just missed it? It’s possible – the schedule has bounced all over, and I know I’ve missed some, including the opener.
🙁 ) It’s a one-way trip for them, they don’t have a method of communicating back (that I’ve seen), and Kiva in particular does not exactly seem to have any intrinsic interest in a lifetime of scientific inquiry. So what’s the draw for them, other than they don’t want us to have it? Sure, the ship doesn’t belong to Earth, but it doesn’t belong to the LA, either. Seems to be a pretty obvious case of finders-keepers.
@das: Yep, that’s creepy all right!
Hey, guess what I got in the mail today? An Elric comic book!!! It’s amazing!!!!!!!
@Anonymous J
Without spoiling, its implied the Lucian Alliance wants Destiny for the knowledge it contains, the ship is millions of years old, been through countless galaxies, has advanced power recharging capabilities. I don’t think they care much about the god signal.
I was in tears all the way through Part II. It will forever be one my most beloved episodes. It’s the moment when you feel like you’ve known and empathized with these people for so long, they’ve become a sort of your TV family. You feel their pain, their tragedy, their caring for each other – and you’re one of them. Well, I wish.
Thank you so much for sharing your memories and giving us a chance to feel closer to the actuality of that incredible experience you were lucky to have.
Hello Mister Mallozzi. I think Bregman could have be the one who reveals the existence of the SGC. I think this point killed the show after 17 seasons. I liked the exploration part but after Atlantis and the Destiny, As a fan, since the begininng, I would not to live that again. Since all the informations about the ancients we get through. Creating a comeback of the N.I.D. should be interesting after the revelation and how the tau’ri could take that they are not alone anymore.
Your serie could easily get three more seasons easily with a little imagination.
Sorry for the bad english..
P.S.: I really liked the episode 1X17 when Rush trying to get information on colonel Telford.