Hey, everyone! This time, I've used the time travel device to jump ahead two years into the future so I can check out how things are going to develop. Production has just wrapped on the eleventh season of SG-1 and everyone is anxiously awaiting word on a twelfth season pick-up. If everything works out, you can be sure that the team and everyone's favorite villainess will be back for another year. Atlantis fans, still reeling from the dramatic events of season four, have started a letter writing campaign the likes of which haven't been seen since the end of season three. And Stargate Command, coming off its maiden season, looks like a slamdunk for a second season pick-up. Looking over the storylines, I can't believe some of the episodes we've done.

Back in the past (your present), we're headed toward December break with a whole whack o' scripts to be written. We're now a good 7-8 episodes into SG-1. Rob is writing the big season premiere that will pick up where Camelot left off, and kick off a major story arc. Episode 2, Morpheus, finds the team going off-world and getting in a mess of trouble. As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, the occasionally bespectacled one takes a trip far, far away in episode 3. Brad will be doing the honors on this one. Very interesting. There was plenty of heated debate in the writers' room while we were breaking this one. Alan will tackle episode 4 which sees an old enemy rearing his ugly heads. Damian was in Friday and today to break his episode, 5, the one about the ill-fated getaway. Episode 6 will be, of course, our 200th episode and we've tossed around some great, albeit insane, ideas on this one. We ended up breaking episode 7 today which either Paul and/or I will write. This one is going to be a lot of fun. Brad said it reminded him of Reckoning, and no wonder. Episode 8 is going to be the Vala story I pitched (which came to me after a carafe of sake last Friday night) and we'll be getting around to breaking that one tomorrow. Ivon was in the room today, recording it all for a possible season 10 special feature.

Speaking of Ivon, I suggested including deleted footage in future special features and he agreed. The good news is, he's already set aside some room for these deleted scenes (with accompanying writer/producer commentaries). The bad news is, they'll be for the season 10 series release and not the season 9 series release as I had hoped (evidently, we're too late). Now, I recall that SciFi used to put deleted scenes on their website so I'd suggest that, if you'd like to see some of the scenes that didn't make the cut in season 9, you drop SciFi a line and let them know.

Speaking of DVD commentaries, now that they've renamed this particular extra (formerly The Director's Commentary), I've agreed to do a few for season 9: Ex Deus Machina, The Ties That Bind, Ripple Effect, and The Scourge. I promise lots of interesting behind-the-scenes goodies on the various episodes.

Still watching new episodes of Lost, Nip/Tuck, The Amazing Race (Go Linz family!), Survivor Guatemala (Go Stephanie!), and Alias (I actually have to force my wife to watch it now). On DVD: almost done the four anime series and have started on the third season of Homicide. A friend at work lent me Three: Extremes and I'm looking forward to this asian horror trilogy. My wife and I are halfway through season 3 of King of the Hill. Love that Bobby Hill.

Help me out, Aussies. There's this sweet shop about five minutes from my house that specializes in imported sweets. I picked up a box of these incredible cookies that I had intended to use for a future ice cream creation, but ended up eating all by their lonesome. The package says Arnott's Kingston. What is the cookie called? When I go into the shop, am I asked for Arnott's or am I asking for Kingstons?

Went by The Comic Shoppe (ye olde) the other day and came across those old hardcover Asterix and Obelix books I used to read back in my elementary school French immersion days. And, yes, they were in the original French. That takes me back. That, Nutella, and The Flintstones. I picked up 15 books and special-ordered the rest of the collection.

Well, that's it for now. I'm headed to late 16th century Japan where Oda Nobunaga is poised to subdue the Saito clan and take control of Mino Province. I have to go pack a lunch.

Greetings from 14th century Crecy where I just witnessed the outnumbered English force of
12 000 defeat a superior French contingent of 36 000. As you may have realized by now, the December 13, 2005 dating on my previous blog was not a stupid oversight on my part. In reality, I've been researching a time travel story by testing out the time travel device located in the puddle jumper SG-1 recovered from the Good to Be King planet (yes, we still have it and its located somewhere in Area 51 where its been undergoing testing). Since I have 10 days until Edward III lays siege to Calais, I thought I'd take a break and fill you in on what's been going on.

Back in our time, we've been breaking stories for season 10 of SG-1. For the past couple of weeks, we'd gotten together (Brad, Rob, Paul, Carl, Martin, Alan, and myself) to break a good whack o' Atlantis stories. Like last year, Martin Gero will be kicking things off by scripting the premiere that picks up where Allies left off. For those of you who have access to a time time travel and have seen Allies, I'm sure you're asking yourself "How are they going to top that one?". Well, wait until July and prepare to be amazed. Alternately, you can travel forward in time and watch the episode. If you do, please record a transcript and then send it to Martin as it would save him a heck of a lot of time in the scripting process. Anyway, whenever he finishes up the premiere, he'll follow up with that other story he pitched which will finally give fans a glimpse at one of the most moderately requested characters in fandom: Mckay's sister Jeanie. Carl has packed up and headed back to L.A. where he starts work on an early season two-parter. Brad's got to tackle Delicious Fat Guy. And Rob's gearing up for the sequel to the Atlantis he wrote last year. Paul and/or I will get episode #2, which will see the return of two of my favorite guest stars.

We finally got around to spinning/breaking SG-1 last week only after the final deal had been closed (so that we knew exactly who we would be writing for, which always makes thing infinitely easier). Rob has staked out the big season premiere. I and/or Paul will be writing the second episode, formerly Morpheus but since some are worried that fans may confuse it with Orpheus or Moebius, I've decided to change the title to: "Before I Sleeping With the Enemy at the Gates of Heaven Can Wait Until Dark Water World" (Feel free to run with it. Knock yourselves out). Tomorrow, its episode #3, Brad's Daniel story, that sees the occasionally-bespectacled one travel far, far away.

Last episode of Lost. Loved it with a capital "L" (I feel the need to point that out since I started the sentenced with the word "Loved" and, as a result, had to capitalize it regardless). Call me crazy (and several of you have called me worse) but I find Ana and Mr. Echo infinitely more interesting than any of our regulars with the possible exception of Sawyer. Three episodes into season 5 of Alias (my wife is very unhappy). Finished the "Best of" (and, I can only assume "and Worst of") The Outer Limits seasons 1 and 2. I also finished up Futurama (I think it was season 3) and launched into Homicide season 2. My wife and I are also watching King of the Hill, season 3, on the big screen (love that Bobby Hill).

On the movie front, watched a neat little Korean chiller called Acaccia. Recommended. And, on the anime front, I'm halfway through those four shows I mentioned in my last blog and am now enjoying a couple (Midori Days and Dual), and not minding the other two (Android Kikaider and Gravitation which gets extra marks for its great opening theme). Now a few of you have given me some good recommendations, most of which I've already seen. Although my collection numbers about 3000 anime DVD's, I have worked my way through roughly 20% of them. To get a sense of what I'm enjoying, here is my "more of less" list of my top 25 anime series:

25: Video Girl Ai 24: Revolutionary Girl Utena 23: Golden Boy
22: Black Heaven 21: Ninja Scroll 20: Gatekeepers
19: Excel Saga 18: Niea Under 7 17: Patlabor
16: G.I.Ts 15: Boogiepop Phantom 14: Neon Genesis Evangelion
13: Escaflowne 12: Trigun 11: Hellsing
10: Last Exile 9: GTO 8: Kino's Journey
7: Azumanga Daioh 6: Rurouni Kenshin 5: Infinite Ryvius
4: Noir 3: Now and Then Here and There 2: Cowboy Bebop
1: Berserk

Continuing my Cantonese and Japanese lessons. Also picked up some great SF anthologies and a book by James Kakalios called "The Physics of Superheroes" which studies the physics behind the likes of Magneto and Electro. Cool.

I'm sorry to hear that FOX pulled the plug on Arrested Development, the funniest show on television (as opposed to that lame sitcom with the obnoxious father married to the hot wife - Hey, if you don't know which one I'm talking about, take your pick).

I've noticed more and more friends getting off the Lost bandwagon. And I guess I can empathize. As much as I enjoyed the first season, the second season has progressed at a snail's pace. Whereas Seinfeld was a show about nothing, it feels like, this season, Lost is a show about a lot - where nothing happens. That said, I'm sticking it out mainly because of Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's Mr. Echo and Josh Holloway's Sawyer.

Finished season 4 of Alias and I realized long ago that the way to really enjoy this show is to accept it as pure scifi (Prophecies and Zombies and Clones, oh my). I'm really looking forward to checking out episode 2 of season 5 which seemed to enrage so many fans.

Speaking of which - over 550+ comments on my last blog entry. Lots of angry Carter fans. Lots of angry Daniel fans. Lots of angry Jack fans. Not so many angry Teal'c fans. Come on, angry Teal'c fans! Let's hear from you!

Well, we've started spinning for season 10 of SG-1 and season 3 of Atlantis. I believe the deals are almost done and we have our line-up set. Last week, we concentrated on Atlantis, coming up with 10-12 story ideas and spinning five. I'm especially looking forward to "Delicious Fat Guy" and "Wraith Fight Club" although, sadly, I have a feeling these clever titles will change.

Meanwhile, the back half of seasons 9 of SG-1 and 3 of Atlantis are shaping up nicely as we wade through the endless mixes. Wil Waring did a phenomenal job directing Collateral Damage which is one of the darkest SG-1's we've done in a while. Maury Chaykin delivers a terrific return performance as Nerus in Off the Grid. Check out the great job our visual effects team did on the Scourge creepy-crawlers. Over on the Atlantis side - "colorful" doesn't begin to describe the characters in The Tower (and I mean that both literally and figuratively). Connor Trinneer is damn good as Michael in the episode of that name. Just a solid, solid actor. And speaking of performances, check out the tireless David Hewlitt in Grace Under Pressure. Great.

Have hit a dry spell on the anime front. Am sloughing my way through Android Kikaider, Gravitation, and Midori Days that, so far, rate a solid "meh" (although Midori Days does get extra points for a pretty wild premise). I'm also watching Dual, the best of the lot. On the movie front, I watched "H", a Korean movie described as Seven meets Silence of the Lambs. Its was alright. Also caught 3-Iron which I liked a lot until the movie's last half hour where it progressed into the world of the surreal. On the t.v. front, I'm still working my way through Futurama (I'm not sure which season). Every episode has at least 2-3 gags that have me laughing out loud. Fave all-time episode so far: Bending in the Wind. I'm also watching the first two seasons of Outer Limits (a crappy, edited release comprised of what I can only assume are randomly selected episodes from each of the show's first two seasons). As you'd expect from an anthology show, the quality of the individual episodes ranges wildly, from the brilliant (Trial by Fire) to the hilariously crappy (From Within).

I've always been better pitching on paper than delivering verbal pitches, so I wrote up a bunch of story ideas for both shows: Extreme Measures, In the Darkest Recesses, The Kindred, Suffer the Children, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, The Tainted, and Morpheus. I do know that Brad liked Morpheus. Yesterday Today and Tomorrow is a time travel story (x2) that I've wanted to do since last year. Extreme Measures would be fun to do, especially for its "Holy &^%@!" tease. In the Darkest Recesses would give me the opportunity to put Michael, I mean Daniel, through the ringer. The Kindred would be a fun Atlantis episode that would allow our characters to play their darker sides, and The Tainted is just a cool, old-school scifi story. Well, guess I'll find out what makes the cut on Tuesday.

Thinking of heading down to San Francisco for a couple of days. Can anyone recommend some great restaurants. So far, I've heard Gary Danko, Masa's, and La Folie are the places to to.

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