Season 7 is a "GO"/Shanks' return

[keltikkitty]

Alright, so i've been out of it for a little while. I had no clue there was a season seven (other than that one rumor which was taken out of context) let alone that danny boy would be returning until about 10 minutes ago. I went to gateworld and read that "reconciling fandoms" article and I literally started to cry. Not the big bawling tears but the happy ones.

As much as I hate to admit it, I hope JQ is in some of the eps. He has begun to grow on me. sort of. I still kinda hold a grudge against him but...he's a well-written character.

I think I need to get a life. I'm crying at the return of a tv show.

keltikkitty:aliengray

 

[keltikkitty]

Ok so like I said, I've been out of it for awhile. JQ is in. That's good. I think i'm going to update myself a little more b4 I put forth anything else.

keltikkitty:aliengray

 

[Bizarro7]

Ummmm...we're still waiting

It was asked exactly *what* behavior Michael Shanks supposedly performed that a previous poster found reprehensible. We are still waiting for specific examples of some of these things he's supposed to have done.

Well?

 

[Bizarro7]

For the record...

...the official word is that Jonas Quinn will be making only 6 'recurring' appearances on the show in Season 7; it's Daniel Jackson who will be returning full time, up front, as the 4th member of SG-1, and according to Joe Malozzi, storys for S7 are being specifically written to go back to some of the mythology and wonder that characterized early season SG-1 episodes.

 

[timdgreat]

That sucks(sorry all MS lovers), but i am ****ed, they go through a whole Fing season with CN and now they are just gonna drop him. they should at least try to incorparate him into SG-1, whats wrong with a 5 man team?????

evil: now im mad)

 

[gategeek]

Re: Ummmm...we're still waiting

Originally posted by Bizarro7
It was asked exactly *what* behavior Michael Shanks supposedly performed that a previous poster found reprehensible. We are still waiting for specific examples of some of these things he's supposed to have done.

Well?

--i'm not sure what that poster was referring to but as you well know, there is very little unanimity in fandom regarding anything connected to the past year's events including MS' role in them.
what i personally find reprehensible is the behavior of some fans in repsonse to those events. alot of it has been sad and some of it has been downright scary.
shanilka (who has plenty of specific examples if you'd like them)

 

[gategeek]

Re: For the record...

Originally posted by Bizarro7
...the official word is that Jonas Quinn will be making only 6 'recurring' appearances on the show in Season 7; it's Daniel Jackson who will be returning full time, up front, as the 4th member of SG-1, and according to Joe Malozzi, storys for S7 are being specifically written to go back to some of the mythology and wonder that characterized early season SG-1 episodes.

--and your point is?
is this kind of "in your face" statement supposed to be helpful?
shanilka

 

[Anni]

I think perhaps that Bizarro was just stating facts as he/she has seen them Shanilka, not particularly trying to be contentious. Most statements of supposed facts tend to be 'in your face'!

It does seem to be the case that Jonas is going to take a peripheral role with the return of MS in the series as Daniel, and the statement about the series returning to the original premise of the mythology etc would give credence to the return of the original archaeologist character.

My problem with the whole thing is the fact that the show's producers and writers appear to be wanting to go backwards and this is one thing nobody can ever do. You can't ever unsay words or undo deeds. And you can never claw something back out of the past which you think was better than you have now. They are very rarely the same. One of the things I have heard pronounced across fandom recently is the statement "he's back, now the team are together again and we can get back to normal" and they're wrong. The only thing the show can do is to move on. It won't be same, it will just be an approximation of the same.

But then I think the show jumped the shark a long time ago, round about the time they introduced Anise as an obvious ploy to gain the attention of young rabid males. If they hadn't jumped then, then they would have jumped with the Divide and Conquer episodes where Jack and Sam admitted they cared for each other. And they would definitely have jumped the shark with the Nightwalkers episode and indeed the Prometheus one too.

I will still watch, certainly with interest as far as Season 7 is concerned. But I stand by my original view that 7 is a mistake, that I hope Stargate won't regret.

 

[summershake]

Originally posted by Anni
My problem with the whole thing is the fact that the show's producers and writers appear to be wanting to go backwards and this is one thing nobody can ever do. You can't ever unsay words or undo deeds. And you can never claw something back out of the past which you think was better than you have now. They are very rarely the same.

Well, I for one think that it isn't necessarily a step backwards.
The great thing about Stargate is that we have one big story arc about the program itself, its background, the troubles with the NID/other organisations/etc. --- well, the show's 'frame' for a lack of a better word.

And we have the stand-alone stories, in which we get to (or originally got to) see new worlds, new civilizations, new mysteries every time the team stepped through the gate.

Now I agree they can't throw the whole NID-arc over the board, the military aspect and things like that, they have to deal with this because it's been introduced and they showed us it's something the SGC has to deal with on a certain level. As much as I'd love them to, they also can't just say: Sam and Jack are just team members...we all know now that they aren't, had them confirm that in Devide and Conquer. They have to stick to established story arcs like this one, but that doesn't mean they can't show us new elements.

But I'd like to think while they ceased to show us the initial exploring and off-world adventure in the last two or three seasons, they can re-invent that aspect without having to backtrack too much. If they decide to do that by going back to planets/cultures/allies we've already seen to tie up some story-lines -'cos it's probably or rather defiantely the show's last season- we'd still have the mythology aspect.
If they decide that this would backtrack too much, they can show us new worlds/civilizations/allies (since we lost many of them over the last years) and I'd be more than okay with it, instead of showing us conspiracy plot-lines for example. I think that this has been going on for long enough.

And I'd love to see some character-driven episodes. How did Daniel change over the year he's been with Oma, how does it effect the team that he's back...and most important of all (if they want to be believable) *why* will Jonas be put into the background. 'Daniel's back, now you have no place on the team' won't do for me.

 

[Anni]

As it happens, I didn't say they were taking a backwards step. I said that they are 'trying' to take a backwards step. Which is a mistake. They can try to re-invent, but you cannot take back the past and pretend that what happened inbetween never happened. Things have changed, moved on. If people don't think that bringing the character of Daniel Jackson back is a deliberate act by the PTB in order to try to recreate what they lost some time after Season 3, then they are obviously wearing blinkers.

Personally? The show has jumped the shark. Those people who I used to have conversations with regarding the show, no longer watch it, except if it's already on and there's nothing better to watch. The only people who are now hysterical about the show and its prospects are the online fandom faction. Season 7 shouldn't have been considered. They should have left it at Season 6, taken a break and brought back a sequel with a totally new set of characters. Then they may have had a chance to gain a whole new audience and perhaps retain a great many of the old audience. I certainly would have watched a sequel. Now instead, I have to watch the show staggering to its rest at the end of another year.

The online fandom viewers of show are something like 4% of the total viewing population. The danger of forums and lists which apertain to Stargate is that the members begin to consider themselves a large and powerful group. We aren't, we're but a small group within a larger viewing group, and that group don't have even an 'nth' of the obsession which raves around these forums. If the show bores them, they switch off. The ratings which mean a show carries on are garnered from the general viewing population, not the online fan boards.

And more character driven episodes? This show IS primarily character driven. It is always about the characters. So what is it that fans want to see? More cutsie little eppys where we get to see SG1 socialising at barbeques at Uncle George's house, or going to dinner at O'Malleys, or huge hunks of them bonding over pizza and beer after a particularly stressful offworld visit? Or perhaps we will get in depth views of Jack's youthful years....a whole episode devoted to flashbacks of Chicago and Minnesota, little scraps of him fishing with grandad. Sam....we could have a whole episode devoted to her childhood and the impact her mom's death had on her. Daniel and his own apparently rather tragic childhood. We could see them bonding again on other planets whilst popping off hordes of Jaffa and powerful System Lords with one discharge of a P90 magazine and a couple of C4 plants!

Please....may the deities protect me from such aberrations!!!

I work while the show is on now, it chunters away to itself in the corner of the room whilst I get on with my real life and occasionally I raise a bleary eye when something interesting happens.

I personally love the mythology aspect and the Stargate for me is the REAL star of the show, not Jack, Sam and Co, who as characters serve as the vehicle to promote the concept, NOT the other way around. However, I think they should have never LEFT the mythological, archaeological and historical aspects behind in the first place and if they try to go back to them, they will have to tread VERY carefully indeed if they don't want the whole thing to blow up in their faces.

But hey look on the bright side! Stargate will still have it's 4% of the viewing population to cheer it along as it struggles to bring itself back from a 'military, space going' version of Friends back to a show with a wonderfully mysterious concept. It's just that it's lost its true devotees of the Sci Fi genre along the way (and gained a whole heap of soap fanatics instead!)

 

[skydiver]

I know i'm not looking forward to season 7 as much as i did season 6, and it is largely because of the rumors i've heard about many of the plot lines being closed in season 6. it's the fact that we seem to be turning a hard 180 and zipping back ot season 1.


Planet of the week, archaeology saves the day, who needs a plot or continuity, all the writers have to do is take

planet from column a
alien from column b
culture from column c
conflict from column d

toss in a blender and you get today's eps...watch our heroes get into trouble, face amoral dilemma and get home again all in 41 minutes.

Yeah, whatever.

If that's something that appeals to you...hey, you should/might have a good time next year. If you like plot rich, continuity driven episodes....it's not looking good.

And that's why i'm looking forward to season 7 with much trepidation. So far, it's not looking like something that appeals to me. The planet of the week is equitable to a sitcom....maybe call it a situation drama.

i find sitcoms boring. I don't want mindless, encapsulated episodes...i like things that engage my mind and my imagination. I like seeing an alien or event...and having that event impact upon the characters weeks, months, years later.

When i watch the show, i usually watch it with a writer's eye. I'm looking for events that make a story or fits in with a story. For that, I like things that connect with the past. I like to see how an event effects a character or a relationship.

 

[gategeek]

Originally posted by Anni
. Most statements of supposed facts tend to be 'in your face'!

--agreed. here are the "facts" as i see them.
MS left the show due to "creative differences" with the production staff. During the year he was gone he had steady- but not headline grabbing- work. If he had found stardom in Hollywood, he obviously would NOT be coming back.
Meanwhile, Stargate moved to the scifi channel and added Corin Nemec to the cast - they got good ratings. If the ratings had been poor a season 7 would NOT have been possible. A deal was worked out with RDA that cleared the way for a seventh season.
MS is coming back for the seventh season thanks to a mutual agreement between him and the show's creative team. CN may have a reduced role for reasons which are still unknown. There has been an incredible amount of unpleasantness and hostility between groups of fans in cyberspace over all of this but frankly, the bottom line has always been to make oodles of money for the corporations involved.
shanilka

 

[skydiver]

Originally posted by gategeek


Meanwhile, Stargate moved to the scifi channel and added Corin Nemec to the cast - they got good ratings. If the ratings had been poor a season 7 would NOT have been possible

Exactly. All the folks that were upset, beating at their breasts and screaming 'i will not watch' (for whatever their reasons....although i do think it is fair to say a good majority of them were upset at MS not being in the show)...well we're getting a season 7 despite them, not because of them. The good ratings came from other fans, the folks that accepted the change and watched the show.

I mean..face it....the fans that watched season 6 and gave it thier support are the reason there's a season 7 for MS to come back to.



There has been an incredible amount of unpleasantness and hostility between groups of fans in cyberspace over all of this but frankly, the bottom line has always been to make oodles of money for the corporations involved.
shanilka [/QUOTE]

exactly. Do you really think sci-fi gives a d*** about what we think or feel? They don't. We're nothing to them. The ONLY fans they care about are the 20,000 odd that have neilson boxes in their homes or participate in the metered markets in the big cities. The rest of us DON'T MATTER IN THE SLIGHTEST. We're nothing to them. We don't add to thier ratings, we don't add to thier revenues, we're nothing.

MGM may actually care a bit, but that's only because MGM will make money off the DVD's, books, scripts, etc. that they sell to all fans. Yes, ratings are nice, but MGM gets money from the secondary market that sci-fi doesn't.

 

[Anni]

<sigh> Of COURSE they don't care. What have I been saying to everyone since I joined this forum? And got practically tarred and feathered for it. I tried to point out that MGM and Showtime (at the time) and now Sci Fi are not in this out of the goodness of their hearts. They are in it to make money. All of this hogwash about how much everyone cares about what the fans want went straight over my head.

Yes, the ratings were good with Corin Nemec and that should have told these buggers something. Like.....some of the fans were watching with their brains and not their nether organs! It should have told them to quit while they were ahead....except they decided not to....and when they decided on a seventh season, they should then, if they really felt they had to have him back, have somehow amalgamated Daniel into the Season Seven setup after having dealt with the difficult matter of his 'un-ascension' with delicacy and tact providing a feasible basis for his return and not just a 'whoops....now you don't see him, now you do!' scenario.

I don't profess to know why MS wants to come back, but in all honesty, if he had some absolute blinders of offers from all over the place he would have told the Stargate producers to sling their hook. Obviously he has been ticking over with work and he went back to the theatre which was a positive action, but he has not caught the attention of the Hollywood big boys. MS is just another pretty little actor in a plethora of pretty little actors in California. He's small fry in a whole ocean full of hellishly handsome guys who live, eat, sleep and breathe Hollywood and ensure that they're constantly in the eye of anyone who will further their career. I've lived in their environment and it is not an easy life.

I don't know how they will bring dear old Daniel back, maybe they will do it so wonderfully that we'll be crying in the aisles. But one thing's for sure, if they handle it as well as they handled his leaving, they'll be in big trouble.

I don't want a planet a day either, but what I would like is for some rationality when it comes to the fact that little technologically challenged earth is facing up to a horrible enemy and for them to present that enemy in a similar fashion to the way they presented them in the beginning. Instead of having our fab team sweep through the Jaffa hordes like a hot knife through butter and plugging holes in System Lords at the drop of a hat (don't drop that hat!), I would like a little realism. In reality a team like SG1 should have had casualties.....and Daniel should have been one of those....and should have stayed dead. Not that I am saying his part wasn't good or that MS played it badly. It's just at least there would have been proper closure instead of all of this to-ing and fro-ing everyone is doing.

Instead of draping Anubis in ET's blanket let's have a fleshed out and visible enemy who has some bloody 'oomph' instead of prancing cross dressers and a bunch of cannibalistic creatures who, if brains were dynamite, apparently wouldn't have enough to blow their noses let alone become the superior rulers of the galaxy! Let's explore the mythology. Let's by all means deal with the ramifications of the Stargate and what the Americans have been doing while the rest of the planet slept, but not to the extent where the whole darn show becomes the Stargate X Files. Balance is the name of the game.

 

[gategeek]

well said, anni. and on the theme of "it's just a tv show" (it IS okay to say that here, isn't it?:evil: ) i read a great essay called "white line fever" by annezo that ought to be required reading for everyone in fandom.
http://www.trickster.org/radiofree/annezo/Fever.html
shanilka