The 2nd of October is the anniversary of the US premiere of Stargate Universe which made it’s debut on the Syfy channel back in 2009 with “Air” parts 1 and 2. A change of pace and direction for the franchise but retaining it’s well established high production values and excellent casting choices with established actors, fresh faces and one or two more familiar from roles on SG1 or SGA.
RDA and Robert Carlyle
As we know the series failed to retain enough of the existing fanbase and generate a whole new group of fans to survive more than two seasons, there are many reasons for it’s failure but for me the show after a stumbling start really came into it’s own in the second half of the first season and with stronger stories and more humour in the second season really gained the right to be considered along SG1 and SGA as part of the family something Infinity failed to do.
So Cedar Cove is arranging most of it’s major characters into dealing with major dilemmas and in the last two episodes a couple of familiar former Stargate actors made an appearance.
In the tenth episode “Conflict of Interests” we finally meet Melanie Lockhart played by Anne Marie DeLuise (former Loder) who played Amy Vandenberg (Bounty) and Farrell (The Other Side) both SG1 episodes. She was wonderfully and quite rightly indignant with her characters circumstance and I for one wonder if she was channeling her experiences with her hubby Peter:)
The eleventh episode had a small guest role for Adrian Holmes as Mike, in Stargate SG1 he played Detective Ryan in Memento Moi and a Specs Ops Sgt in Nightwalkers. Adrian is also a recurring actor in Continuum and has appeared in Motive, Elysium and the upcoming Debug.
Cedar Cove isn’t a show for everyone but after a weak pilot (too long and not enough happening to justify the length) the show has produced some good characters and drama, doesn’t hurt that for that there are so many familiar actors both regular, recurring and guesting on the show nor that some of the behind the scenes people have ties to Stargate.
There are some shows that make it too easy to spot a familiar face from Stargate even one who only graced the franchise for a single episode but Enid-Raye Adams made an impression as Jones in the SG1 episode Prometheus and the other day I watched her guest star as the slightly dodgy realtor “Josie” in the season two Arctic Air episode “Stormy Weather”.
She has also appeared on Fringe, Cold Squad, Psych, The L Word and Intelligence.
Mitchell having finally convinced a few of the gang to join him on an adventure is deep within the earth below Glastonbury battling trials of intelligence, honour and courage left by the Ancients, success brings rewards and Vala is all for rolling around in the gold but an ancient text reveals the truth about the Alterans and everything changes.
An Ancient communication device using the stones (as seen in Citizen Joe) is activated by Daniel and Vala and they go elsewhere and occupy the bodies of a couple in a far away galaxy where the Ori are gods and the people live according to the tenants laid down in the Book of Origin. The intrepid duo are unable to keep from being discovered and with their unfamiliarity fall foul of scripture but the brutal consequences are mitigated when a Prior of the Ori visits the village in response it seems to their statements about being from another galaxy.
Avalon is very much a feature length episode, splitting it into two takes away some of the impact but jumping straight back into the action and peril does get things going quickly in the second half of the story, you could also say that with Origin to come we are still only two thirds of the way through the introduction of Ori and other new SG characters.
The writers have taken risks in making the religious aspect the focal point of the Ori storyline, it’s far more pronounced and important than with the Gou’ald but as they say ultimately the show is simply taking the stance than you should seek the truth and revealing the false gods serves that purpose. Of course as we see the Ori through their Priors certainly make a very definite statement as to their capabilities, god like even.
Another aspect of the story which is stirring things up is the emergence of Garek and his power play for control of the Jaffa which becomes a major concern not only for Teal’c but the SGC and the rest of the Milky Way.
One happy camper
Avalon Part 2 is an excellent episode, we get some good time with Dr Lam as well as seeing the village standing set which will serve both SG1 and SGA in the next season and beyond. This is also perhaps one of the best episodes for Vala, we see her at her most devious and playful but also more vulnerable, it’s very revealing for her character so early into her time on the show and also proves Daniel does have some feelings for her beyond just normal compassion.
Toasty
Many thanks to Thomas for staying with us to record the second part of this story and he’ll be back for a bonus show later in the year and a couple of shows a bit further into the future. This weeks promo is for Tuning Into Scifi TV and next week we take a trip on the Daedalus as it journeys to Pegasus with an unwanted passenger on board in “The Intruder” and Brad will be joining me for that show while Alan is busy moving home. Thanks for the discussions on Facebook and Twitter, the shares and plus ones on G+ are appreciated and as always we really like to hear from you about our show and Stargate and if you have the time a Itunes rating and review would be icing on the cake:)
I’ve been busy catching up with the second season of Saving Hope and now patiently waiting for the tenth episode but for now here is Patrick McKenna playing Roddy Gray in the seventh episode of the second season called “Bed One” in which he is suffering from flesh eating disease and gets trapped in an elevator on his way to dialysis.
Patrick appeared twice (The Other Guys, Avenger 2.0) in Stargate SG1 playing the scientist Jay Felger a character created for comic relief but with heart and style that made him a fan favourite straight away. Patrick during his career has starred in the Robocop tv series, The Red Green Show, Traders, Best Ed and Hard Rock Medical. He has also provided the voice talent for many animated shows.
Blastr are reporting that Roland Emmerich is looking towards a new trilogy of movies based on the original Stargate theatrical feature which itself was meant to be the first of a trilogy. Failure to capitalise on that movies limited success opened the door for MGM to green light the television series and the rest as they say is history but given how dependent cinema is on rehashing ideas it was only a matter of time before Stargate got more than a passing mention as ripe for a reboot.
Of course they are a long way from getting the money for a script and putting producers and a director in place and with Marvel, DC and Disney (under it’s own name) plus Star Wars of course is there room for another 9 figure budget scifi summer movie?
Kent just posted a snapshot of some Stargate decals he spotted at a car fare/rally on facebook and on his twitter, an interesting approach to the characters by who ever designed them:)
Changes abound in and around the SGC with the aftermath of the battle for Dakara and the attack by the Replicators on the base. Major General Jack O’Neill has moved on and his chosen replacement Major General Hank Landry has taken over and is having running battles with his “psychic” assistant one Master Sargent Walter Harriman. Lt Colonel Cameron Mitchell recovered from the battle over Antarctica against the forces of Anubis has taken over the command of SG1 and expected to be working with Sam, Daniel and Teal’c but they like Jack have moved on. He valiantly attempts to get the band back together but is getting nowhere until one Vala Mal Doran visits the SGC with a tablet and the promise of technology and treasure and low and behold everyone is off on a mission to track down the old haunts of Merlin and the buried secrets of the Ancients in and around Glastonbury.
A slight technical issue…
Well season nine heralds some significant changes for the show with Richard Dean Anderson becoming nothing more than an occasional guest and thus a full time replacement in the big chair is presented to use with Hank Landry played by Beau Bridges and in the field Cameron Mitchell played by Ben Browder. Vala Mal Doran played wonderfully by Claudia Black also has a strong presence in this season as is the move away from the tradition religions and cultures by embracing a more western European and more specifically Arthurian legends and myths.
Merlin Sword, Sword Merlin
It was certainly interesting to see how quickly the last three members of SG1 quickly looked to break away from the SGC, after so many years of blood, sweat and tears you can understand why they all may think they have done enough however Teal’c perhaps more than the other two has accepted a path which is more demanding and maybe just as dangerous, politics with starships as collateral in decision making. As with many of the two part stories within Stargate this first part is laying a lot of the groundwork for the pay off in the second and it needs it, it’s easy to get washed away with all the changes to characters and tweaking of the long established mythology but it will all pay off.
One huge decision by the producers and writers was to make sure the episode had it’s fair share of out and out humour and not ignoring the obvious Farscape connection between Ben and Claudia as well as playing up the concerns over the similar look/style of Michael and Ben. As we look back at this episode and ninth season we know many fans had issues and some never got over losing Jack as a focus for the show or even the use of Farscape talent to fill the gaps. I’ve no doubt the casting of both Ben and Claudia brought in some Farscape fans and it was probably a good marketing move but scifi fans can be picky, it’s always tricky dealing with change and the consequences but we did get more Stargate and is not a bad thing.
Now I know how River felt…
Huge thank you to Brad and GateTechAlfaSix for the audio feedback and everyone who posted on Facebook, G+ and on Twitter, the wrap up shows and poll results were well received and we are now back into the swing of things and will handle Alan’s moving home in our stride. Please feel free to get in touch with any comments about Stargate, Gatecast or scifi in general, we certainly do appreciate talking to people who share our enthusiasm for Stargate and the scifi/fantasy genre and an itunes review/rating is always appreciated:)
This weeks promo is for Aaron’s SciFiDig and next week we begin the second season of Stargate Atlantis, we hope you can join us for that.
Ah the joys of watching an older series (well not that old) and seeing a face who is now so very familiar to you thanks to their numerous appearances on Stargate SG1, in this case it’s the one and only Garry Chalk.
Garry played the Russian officer Colonel Chekov in ten episodes of SG1 and before that a small recurring role on The Dead Zone. I’ve not seen the Canadian crime drama Cold Squad but Garry had a starring role in that show appearing in 67 episodes and is a popular actor for voice roles so a well established actor and worthy of being a protagonist in the pilot episode of Eureka. You know how it is, you don’t know what you fancy then a lightbulb appears and you grab a show you haven’t watched for a while and enjoy it so much you wonder why you haven’t rewatched it:)
Eureka is such a show that hasn’t aged, the effects in the pilot are still good and the writing and performances are still enjoyable and interesting looking back after all the changes over the 5 year run of the show. Garry plays Colonel Briggs a US military man charged with some level of oversight of the town of Eureka and charges in for his “I Told You So” moment but is thwarted thanks to some clever or simple ideas from Carter and the use of one or more of the geniuses in the community.
I’m in the final season of my Deep Space Nine rewatch and a name popped up in the credits for the episode “Prodigal Daughter” that I recognised thanks to having seen quite a bit of his performance on Stargate Atlantis over the last month or so.
Please be in awe of Clayton Landey who under a ton of prosthetics plays the security officer Fuchida who rescues Miles from a beating by enforcers of the Orion Syndicate. It was a small role but I always get a buzz when I recognise actors in other series, in this case an earlier role before appearing as Colonel Dillon Everett in SGA.
I admit I’m a few weeks late to the party as Cedar Cove the new hit show for the Hallmark channel has been lauded in the press and social media since it’s premiered a month or so back. Filmed in Canada and based on the novels by Debbie Macomber it’s lead actress is the talented Andie MacDowell and draws upon the extensive talent from the Vancouver area. The result is a screen full of familiar actors who have been part of the Stargate franchise across it’s three live action series and a few names you will recognise from behind the camera as well.
Teryl Rothery
Elyse Levesque
Barclay Hope
Garry Chalk
Sarah Smyth
Andrew Airlie
Dylan Neal
Cedar Cove isn’t really a show that is aimed at my demographic but it has echoes of an early Picket Fences which I loved way back when and of course there is no doubt the attraction of actors from the Stargate series and a bonus is Bruce Boxleitnerwho has appeared in many shows and movies I’ve enjoyed over the years. One thing that can not be questioned is how beautiful the show is shot, the location and the look of the show really combine to make a crisp and clean view of wonderful piece of Canada.
As for the actors I’ve included in this post I’ll leave it up to you to put names/faces into their respective Stargate episodes and I have no doubt as the first season of Cedar Cove continues we’ll see more of them and further guest appearances from our favourite franchise.
I’ve been catching up with the Tweet Out shows on the GeekNation website and David talks quite a bit about Stargate so pretty relevant, that aside he’s an interesting guy and his podcast Out Of The Blue and indeed GeekNation itself are both excellent sources of entertainment.
Welcome to our first wrap up show for Stargate Atlantis, we have done a few in the past for SG1 and the format is pretty much the same but for this Brad joined us so it runs a little longer than the two person SG1 wrap up show we released last week and of course it includes the results of the SGA poll.
We hope you enjoy the look back at what turned out to be an excellent opening season for Atlantis and while there is no doubt it benefited from the experience of the existing writers, producers and directors it quickly set itself apart with it’s style and take on some original and not so original stories.
Poll Results
Total Votes 79
The Siege Part II ( 19 Votes )
The Eye ( 9 Votes )
Tied.. ( 8 Votes )
Before I Sleep
Letters From Pegasus
Thirty Eight Minutes
A huge thank you to everyone that voted in the Stargate SGA poll, it didn’t pull in as many votes as the SG1 poll which was mildly surprising but again we got a clear winner. It’s also interesting to see where the votes came from and they were spread around the world so a big hello to all our friends in the UK, Ireland, USA, France, Russia, Australia, Italy and Holland who voted:)
Next week we begin the ninth season of Stargate SG1 with the episode “Avalon Part 1” with a long time friend of the show Thomas so love to hear what you think about Stargate or the Gatecast past, present and future and the comments can be included in the show.
So I am well past the mid-point of the Deep Space Nine rewatch and last night watched the final two episodes of the fifth season, the penultimate episode was called “In The Cards” and I got a nice little surprise with one of the two main guest stars being Brian Markinson as Giger.
If you don’t recall he played Lotan in the Stargate SG1 fourth season episode Scorched Earth and more recently appeared in Sanctuary, Arctic Air, Mad Men, Arrow and Continuum.
