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Stargate Atlantis Tomorrow
BadDream writes "I read an old slashdot article about Stargate Atlantis comming this summer. Well its summer, and guess what starts this friday." You can also enter to win a walk-on role on SG1, but I call first dibs, no cuts.
Oh man that commercial for winning the chance where that guy walked up to audition then ran for the stargate & was tackled by security had me rolling. He stole my idea!
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one the bus load of girls just went down.
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From what I know, during the premier they get off to Atlantis, and then goof up and get themselves stuck there - it's mostly autonomous from the original show. I do recommend you hunt down the Stargate Atlantis Lowdown on bittorrent or something (it aired last week) that should bring you up to speed on what's happening with the main Stargate storyline and universe. They're spending their time in another galaxy, no Gua'uld, new bad guys, new stuff going down. Should be fun :)
One of the things the writers mention is that for it to work as simultaneous shows, the one thing they _don't_ want to be doing often is invite the crew from show B to save the guys on show A. Regardless which show is A and which is B.
Avoiding the flash...Check out this related article at Sci Fi Wire: Atlantis Forges Own Identity and another at the Florida Sun-Sentinel: Stargate SG-1 spinoff tinkers with the tale of the lost continent in a planet far, far away.
This doesn't look very promising, imho.
-s4xton
My name is Aaron Landry, and I approve this message.
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Indeed.
Do you even watch the Sci-Fi channel? I don't think they have had a commercial break in the last 2 months where they haven't shown the SG1 Season Premiere commercial back-to-back with the Atlantis promo.
Your nerd privileges have been revoked. You must now go hang out with the jocks.
Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein
*looks around* What am I doing still posting on /.
*grabs keys*
So... seriously was the whole ignorance thing supposed to be funny, or was it just the belief that Richard Dean Anderson actually is McGyver (who I'd like to mention was extremely anti-gun, unlike Jack.)
I'm always right and I can prove it, because to the best of my knowledge, I've never been wrong.
You could probably watch any single episode of SG-1 and figure out 90% of what is going on. There is continuity but it is more in terms of reoccuring characters where there are a few people who keep returning as guest stars, but the plots are definitly on the side of action so it is not generally that confusing. There is the ocasionally plot heavy show, but they generally do a "last time on Stargate" where they show you all the relevent storylines even if they build on things that happened several episodes ago.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
Or do the Wraiths (the new baddies) all look like Marilyn Manson?
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
I still want Crusade back. :(
The only thing that we learn from history is that nobody learns anything from history.
Eh. If I were you I'd either get the torrents for SG-1, or you can catch the re-runs on Sci-Fi. They have like a four hour marathon every Monday night. The show is pretty good...I'd say probably the best sci-fi on TV right now.
I'm worried that I'm not going to like Atlantis, though. One of the things I liked about SG-1 was the characters seemed much more "real." Take a look at the Atlantis cast and they all look like Hollywood pretty boys (and girls). On SG-1, well, there's Richard Dean Anderson, who looks pretty much like a normal guy. His character jokes around too much for a Colonel in the Air Force (B. General, now, actually). Before they made him start working out and cut his hair, Michael Shanks did look like a befuddled scientist. Amanda Tapping is cute, but not exactly a starlet. Chris Judge looks big and mean, and has a misshapen head (Don't tell him I said that!). The dude who plays General Hammond is probably one of the best charicatures of career military on TV.
Now flash foward to Atlantis. The leader is a slender civilian woman with high cheekbones. The military commander has spiked hair, and looks like he's just about old enough to have finished basic. Then there's the Atlantean chick who looks like a bit character from Xena: Warrior Princess. It just seems fake... It reminds of one of the best episodes of SG-1, in which Jack (Anderson's character) served "undercover" as a technical adviser on a TV show that seemed too similar to the real Stargate project so he could find out what was going on. They called the fake show "Wormhole Xtreme!" and it was loaded with bad acting, casting, cheap sets, and cliches. I'm afraid Atlantis is going to be the real Wormhole Xtreme!
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
Your nerd privileges have been revoked. You must now go hang out with the jocks.
It's not _that_ bad. He should just have to hang out with the Band geeks, and learn their lingo before returning.
- Ombrurshure
- 8th position trombone
- 26-inch step
- split reed
- 7th-grade oboe
- bassoon strap
- 2nd chair blues
- tight embrasure
After all, the jocks don't respect nerds, but band geeks cross many high school subcultures.If the writers at Sci-Fi's Stargate shows understood their target audiences, they would feature many references to the above and other in-jokes from high school subcultures that could be dropped in to make for greater entertainment value.
Unitarian Church: Freethinkers Congregate!
I'd be bitter if my lovely Stargate were pushed back to make room for your Muppet show, so I understand.
Farscape had a loyal following.
Stargate has a huge, insanely loyal following. It deserves it. I didn't discover SG1 until sometime in season 5. Once I got the dvds, I could not stop watching them. SG does such an incredible job of building upon previous storylines, it's like one continuous movie. Some of the episodes, like 'Window of Opportunity' (The time ripple), 'Upgrades' (The super-arm bands), 'Jolinar's memories'/'The Devil you know' (Sokar) are so damn good, and really funny.
In an interview with the writers on the Stargate documentary (the one they aired before season 7 premiered), one of the writers said something to the effect of "Stargate is actually a comedy, we've just managed to keep it a secret for 7 years". It really is funnier than any given sitcom. Whether that reflects greatly on the SG1 staff or just makes the recycled sitcom writers look even worse is up to you.
The role of Samantha Carter (played by Amanda Tapping) is a great boost to women. WE NAMED OUR DAUGHTER 'CARTER' AFTER HER (and the president).
I recognize that they give Carter too many responsibilities (being uber-brilliant and super-soldier). My wife commented that they got rid of the Dr. Janet Frasier (played by Teryl Rothery) to make sure the show wasn't too heavy with women in top positions, that would be threatening.
I doubt my wife is correct, but she makes a good point. Are they going to replace and add characters to regain the male / female balance on this show?
One of the PREMIER COOL things that shows like Stargate do, IMHO, is allow stodgey males (young and old) to VIEW women soldiers, and thus experience them as highly capable, rough-and-tumble, smart, and fallible human beings.
Just seeing a woman in a role allows you to change your preconceptions of what roles people should be in. That goes for having a handicapped person (amputee, maybe) working in the SGC as a technician. The part would be small, in the background, but it would make a big difference in how people saw people with physical limitations.
The original Star Trek put a black woman in a senior leadership position (Lieuntenant Uhura, communications officer, okay, it isn't a huge department, but it's important, and it's on the bridge). That redefined what was possible for black women both on TV and off.
I hope Stargate continues to push boundaries and explore what we perceive as normal.
Of course, they could just ignite a firestorm and introduce a Gua'ould named Jesus. Or another namd 'Moshe' (Moses). Or another named, 'Siddhartha'. Or 'Mohammed'. I would recommend they stay out of that territory, though, there'd be LOTS of pushback from their fanbase and zealots alike.
-- Kevin J. Rice
Unitarian Church: Freethinkers Congregate!
May I recommend Weather.gov? After all, you are paying for it even if you don't use it, and it is actually better too.
Best Slashdot comment ever
Indeed. [/Teal'C]
In other news, the Star Trek series was saved as the infamous Brannon and Braga duo who have single-handedly butchered the ST universe were sent through the Stargate BACK to Earth WITHOUT a GDO code.
The trip was actually an elaborate plan by a group of serious Star Trek fans -- fans who only wish that their franchise would have as much life again as the Stargate franchise appears to enjoy.
Brannon and Braga were "invited" to the "set" of Stargate SG-1 under the pretense of a review of the show's innovative special effects. In reality, the Star Trek fans begged the Stargate crew to actually build a REAL Stargate and send the duo out to the far reaches of our known galaxy, where they met the REAL G'hould (sp?) enemy depicted in the show.
According to reports from the set, the two reported back from the other side of the REAL working gate, pretty much screaming their asses off and begging to be sent back. After being ass-whipped by a lesser G'hould god named Lohr Atana (a.k.a. Frank the Destroyer), the Butchers of ST were sent back through the G'hould Stargate to Earth -- without a GDO.
Had Brannon and Braga actually ever shown an ounce of consistency with some of their ST storylines, they would've remembered such key AND CONSISTENT plot elements as the GDO, the code, the iris, etc. and asked for a GDO transmitter before being sent through the Stargate.
The last "communication" ST fans at the Stargate SG-1 set had with Brannon and Braga was the dull thud of their bodies slapping up against an improvised iris on the REAL Stargate. A few minutes later, the Stargate was reactivated, and Frank the Destroyer sent a handwritten note asking the crew to never send idiots like that to his domain again or suffer enslavement at the yada, yada, evil bad guy bullshit talk, yada.
After the REAL Stargate was dismantled (at the request of SCI-FI CHANNEL lawyers insistent on not actually allowing Frank the Destroyer free access to Earth and our solar system), the cast and crew of Stargate SG-1 treated the elated ST fans to a catered party and autograph session.
Plans are in the works to have the ST: Enterprise crew find a Stargate in the third season of the poorly rated show so they can travel back through time and save themselves from cancellation. Brad Wright, of Stargate fame, will direct the pilot episode of Stargate ST-1: Enterprise.
Gay-ass pop music will NOT be used in the title sequence and credits of the revamped show. Some of the ST fans at the SG-1 set have vowed to send the guy that sings the current theme song through the REAL Stargate as well. They are negotiating rights for a legal transfer of liability for said Stargate with SCI-FI CHANNEL lawyers.
IronChefMorimoto
Of course, they could just ignite a firestorm and introduce a Gua'ould named Jesus. Or another namd 'Moshe' (Moses). Or another named, 'Siddhartha'. Or 'Mohammed'. I would recommend they stay out of that territory, though, there'd be LOTS of pushback from their fanbase and zealots alike.
Personally, I'd like it if they did this. It'd make more sense that these religious figures were actually aliens than the superstitious BS that organized religions ask us to believe.
Whaddya mean, "sexual themes"? It's not like any other science fiction franchise has had to resort to coed back rubs, nubile aliens in skintight uniforms, lesbian kisses, sex with androids or women dressed in tinfoil to keep an audience....
Oh.. wait. Never mind...
How come Slashdot never gets Slashdotted?
Of course, they could just ignite a firestorm and introduce a Gua'ould named Jesus. Or another namd 'Moshe' (Moses). Or another named, 'Siddhartha'. Or 'Mohammed'.
The problem is that it wouldn't work in terms of the story. The mythologies the Gau'ould pretended to be are ancient...like 3000 B.C. and earlier. In the movie, Ra first came to the Egyptians in 8000B.C. This is all far back enough in time, with few written records, that the acts of these "gods" could be written off to superstitions and what not. That's really not the case with Jesus and Mohammed, who existed only 2000 (or 1400) years ago. I think I've got that right...Mohammed was around in 600AD, right? There are too many written records from those times, that the acts of the Gua'ould would be well-known.
Anyway, I also don't think the stories would mesh well, either. I don't seem to recall any stories about Jesus killing people with a flick of his hand or commanding people worship him or be destroyed. If the Stargate writers did something like this, it would seem like a stretch and a gimmick, as the story of Jesus is nothing like the stories of the angry, vengeful gods of ancient mythologies.
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
They have "tried" cancelling it. They already weren't going to do this season, but pretty much had to.
Also, did you even see the fan effort to bring back Daniel? That was just for one character.
Yes, the test of loyalty has come and gone; SG-1 passes.
There's very little difference in storytelling or production quality between SG1 and crap like Andromeda? I beg to differ. SG1 has a bigger budget than a lot of other made-for-cable properties. It also got its start on Showtime, so they had a good seed to start with -- freedom to do storylines that you couldn't get away with on basic cable channels, money to make good sets and props, etc. SG1 also has a lot of very competent people writing for it, and does a much better job of preserving continuity than even shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and its follow-ons.
OK, so this writer is apparently confused enough that he doesn't understand, or care to understand, the internal reality of the show. Fuel? But in addition to that, he takes a swipe at an entire genre of fiction, showing an incredible bias that should have recused him from writing this article in the first place. And what, pray tell, is dumb about a scenario in which scientists and explorers go on a one-way mission? It's been done before, and has been proposed seriously for manned missions to other planets in our own solar system. But since all of science fiction is apparently "silly," any ideas it puts forth must not be worth taking seriously.
Never mind that science fiction has predicted technologies decades in advance of their introduction.
WTF? Seriously, WTF? An inventive mythology has never been the strongest element of the Stargate universe? Gee, that's funny, since the show (and the movie it's based upon) has all of the collective mythology of the entire human race to draw upon, blended together with a sprinkling of SciFi concepts to make something new and (somewhat) original. I'd like to see what this author's idea is of a truly inventive mythology.
And yeah, I know, there's better SciFi out there, most of it in print form, stuff that's really mind-blowing (and some stuff that simply can't be done on SG1's budget, which is why the good SF books never make it to the small screen, let alone the big screen). But I sincerely doubt that this author has read/seen any of that material.
I wouldn't be basing my opinions of Atlantis on the scribblings of one mentally stunted writer from a podunk newspaper who tacitly admits in the first three paragraphs that he despises science fiction.
[Asbestous suit]
Jesus would be an interesting character to do. Look at the old testament, lots to pick from there... fall from Paradise (forbidden knowledge about the Gau'ould), destroying whole cities (Sodoma and Gomorra), tower of Babel (slaves uniting and revolting?). Sounds like the work of a Gau'ould to me. From afar, he played with them like toys. Oh and don't forget the chosen people with Abraham. Particular breed of human hosts?
Then something big happened. Make up a good story. Senile like Lord Hu, had a "religious experience", touched by the Ancients, take your pick. Or better yet, Jesus is the human host after the parasite died. He still commands the Gau'ould devices to perform "miracles", but is the good guy. He regrets all that has been done in the past, and tries to take on all human sin as absolution.
Of course, you're about to screw up the whole trinity thing (with the Holy Ghost being some Gau'ould magic), rewrite the Bible since Creation, claim that neither "God" nor Jesus is of the divine, that Christianity is worshipping an evil alien and a plain human and that the Jews are equally wrong too. Oh, and the muslims will be pissed already, since they claim to decend from Abraham too. Any more we could piss off?
[Keeping asbestous suit on]
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