Wednesday, February 22, 2006
YOU SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Hey:
What are the odds of having two of Vancouver's sci-fi actors living down the street from each other? Pretty good if you've ever seen me have to wait to pass in my car while a shirtless Steve Bacic shows his four year old boy how to do a proper slam dunk into the molded plastic, Fisher Price, "L'il Shaq" basketball hoop that's parked on our road in the summer.
Steve Bacic, (pr: Basic) as you sci-fi die-hards will remember, played the character, "Telemachus Rhade," on the hit, Kevin Sorbo vehicle, "Hercules in Space." I mean, "Andromeda."
Steve is a really sweet guy and he and I have a couple of things in common, starting with the obvious, that being that the circumference of his bicep is the exact same as that of my waist: 33".
Steve also was a regularly recurring character on Andromeda. I am a regularly recurring character on Stargate SG:1. Steve has guest-starred on Stargate SG:1. I've guest-starred on Andromeda.
Steve and I have bumped into each other 3 times at the airport catching the dawn shuttle bus from the long-term parking lot to catch flights to different sci-fi conventions.
And, after reading Steve's filmography on IMDB, I see that the most important similarity that we share is that we've both experienced name changes on our respective shows.
I, as you all know, started out as, "Technician," on SG:1. And since I had to wear an Air Force name tag, eagle-eyed fans, while referring to me as, "Chevron Guy," saw that I was, "Davis." I asked if I the producers if had a first name and was told, "Uh, how 'bout Norman?"
Okay. Norman Davis I was.
That all changed in episode "2010," when Richard Dean went off-script and named me, "Walter." So then I was Norman Walter Davis. But, in the scripts I was still, "Technician."
Then, in one episode, General Hammond referred to me as, "airman." After that scene was shot, people were asking, "Did he say "airman" or "Harriman?" It sounded like he said, "Harriman."" So, somehow that morphed into me being called, "Walter Harriman."
And while that was happening, I was also getting promotions every time I showed up for a new season. I went from "Technical Sergeant," to "Master Sergeant," to finally, "Chief Master Sergeant." I have no idea what the new ribbons on my uniform were in honor of. Since I hardly ever leave the base, I can only assume that I got medalled for things like, "Typing Under Fire," "Volunteering to File After-Shift," or "Five Years of Car-pooling from Parking Lot K."
Fans ask me all the time about the name change and I always defer to "the greater good of the show." The writers, from Brad and Robert on down, all are working for the "greater good of the show." If I get 16 name changes, then that means they have a plan and it falls under the greater good of the show.
On a side note though, I did do a cross-over episode on Stargate: Atlantis and showed up to my change room where I saw on my trailer door, "Chief Master sergeant Walter Harriman." and underneath it in brackets: (formerly HOOPER)
Hooper?
When in hell's britches was I Hooper?
I guess I could've been Hooper. Again, "the greater good of the show." (Although, don't think for once second I'm thinking that my character's constant name change has been what's kept the show on the air for 10 years. Maybe 6. But for sure not 10).
But then I see that, in Andromeda, Steve's character of, "Telemachus Rhade," also appeared earlier as, "Gaheris Rhade." I'd love to know where that name change came from. Did Steve suggest to the producers that his character has always hated the name Gaheris and that he grew up on his planet being taunted and beaten up over such a geeky alien name and that his character always thought that the name Telemachus was a way cooler name much the same way that I, Gary Jones, grew up wishing that my name was Paul McCartney?
Or maybe, unbeknownst to me, Richard Dean Anderson, did a guest-star spot on Andromeda and went off script and called Gaheris Rhade, Telemachus. And you know, Richard had huge clout in the sci-fi world so who's gonna tell him that Telemachus is a pretty weird name? I'll tell you who?
No-one.
It's theory, anyway.
It also begs the thought that, if that were the case, then how close could I have been to being called, Chief Master Sergeant Telemachus Harriman?
But I digress.
The thing is, Steve appeared for a few eps in Stargate SG:1 and even then he had a name change. In fact, I believe he had more than a name change, I believe he had an entire character change. He went from being some dude named "Major Coburn," to some alien dude named "Camulus." I don't remember him as Major Coburn but I sure remember him strutting down the gate ramp as Camulus, shirtless and swinging those Gary Jones', waist-sized biceps.
Next time he comes through the gate I think I'll have a little homecoming gift for him waiting at the end of the ramp: a "L'il Shaq" Fisher price molded plastic hoop and nerf basketball.
Hope that clears up the name thing for you all.
Cheers,
Jonesy
Posted by jonesy @ 12:50 PM
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Gary has co-starred on Stargate SG-1 as
As far as I know, Telemachus Rhade was a descendant of Gaheris Rhade, played by the same actor.
Silly time travel TV shows! Well, in this case, 'being stuck in a black hole's event horizon for 300 years' TV shows. Stargate is cooler, cos they can /fix/ a black hole problem in /one/ episode and don't have to have descendants show up!
No offense to Andromeda. It's its own cool show, but SG1/A is better, IMHO. 10 years, baybeeeee!
Thanks for another fun-filled post, Jonesy!
I couldn't stop giggling at the though of you car pooling Gary, only cause I wonder if its anything like ferrying a bunch of kids round " Hey Steve, make sure you've got your seatbelt done up and stop kicking Richard in front of you!" Sometimes my imagination runs a little to far ahead of me! LOL
Another great post Jonesy! Cheers!!!
Sammy xx
OMG!
"Volunteering to File After-Shift"
Too funny!
Wasn't Walter on the Prometheus when they took on Anubis? So maybe the robbons was for that!
Walter was also on Prometheus when Vala stole it that time - As I recall, he also did some very fancy moves in an Alkesh that episode too.
thank you very much for this one
...
But no matter what they'll call you in Stargate, you will be the only one and our favorite guy to open the iris WHAT SO EVER!!!
and if your character does not deserve the promotion in Sg-1, well hell, who does then?
Walter Norman Davis Harriman formally Hooper or simply: Gary Jones - you just rock!
thanx for that!!!
greetz
Isn't it obvious? "Davis" is his maiden name, and "Harriman" is the name of his wife he took on when he got married!
Sheesh ... first they have a very progressive character and then they forget about it...
Okay, I admit my initial theory was that there's two of them: Harriman and Davis. They're just twins that got separated when their parents re-married, and Harriman got to stay with the mother. It's a pity that one isn't true, because it would make for a hell of an acting opportunity for our favorite Jonesy!
"Typing Under Fire". great stuff, thanks so much for writing these. :)
Cheers,
Kait
Natrino-
Telemechus was the genetic reincarnation of Gaheris actually, not just his descendant.
Poor Walter most likely got his promotions because he spent so many years putting up with Jack and the rest of SG-1. He's up at all hours dodging staff blasts, worrying about attacking alien entities,opening the iris. Being the Iris Opener makes him someone you don't want to piss off. Besides, we all know who's really in charge...*wink*
You aren't the only person whose name got changed. My astronomy professor calls me 'Carter' now because I was the only person who understood his Stargate reference about how solar flares and wormholes were a bad combination. (My comment about 'hippie Jaffa' didn't help any..) It was kinda funny to see the look on his face when I called him Professor McKay though ;)
Actually, when you were at Dragon*Con 2005, Steve Bacic was across the aisle and down a little to your right. As always, I enjoy your blog very much!
Dude.
I am SO going to be using the awards ideas at work:
"Typing Under Fire," "Volunteering to File After-Shift," or "Five Years of Car-pooling from Parking Lot K."
Fantastic.
Love the blog - keep up the good work!!
Jonesy,
If you ever get serious about looking up the various ribbons, insignia, etc., there are multiple helpful websites available. I think the USAF official uniform manual is online as well. And there's always Doug Thar, "Stargate's" contact at the Pentagon...!
Gilder
San Antonio ("Military City"), TX
Jonesy,
If you ever get serious about looking up the various ribbons, insignia, etc., there are multiple helpful websites available. I think the USAF official uniform manual is online as well. And there's always Doug Thar, "Stargate's" contact at the Pentagon...!
Gilder
San Antonio ("Military City"), TX
Love the blog! keep on going!
That was great; giggled my way all the way through it at 12:00 a.m. when I should have been working. The really scary thing was I followed all of the name changes. :O
Jonesy:
Never doubted it for a moment. The greater good is served.
Oh btw, there is um Norman Walter Harriman fan fic out there. Seriously, I've checked! Okay okay, I admit I wrote a piece. Not sure where I posted it though-- doesn't that just fit into your Gary's law! LOL (
Walter gets kissed though, and by a woman too! Who is that dark-haired lady that was often in the control booth set in season 1- I named her Tech Patricia. She even did the chevrons once! Walter musta been in the loo or something that time.)
And now the Adventures of Might Gary-- able to make even the strongest Jaffa Laugh-- hey with their jokes come on! Gary is WAY cooler! Chief Master Sergeant Norman Walter Harriman Davis Telemachus Put that on a dressing room door!
We can daydream--
Deluise: Uh we need a bigger door. And a single card for Gary Jones this year!
When writing for the Stargate SG-1 role playing game, we were faced with writing THREE Davises. Of course we had Technician Davis (Gary Jones), whom we called "Walter Davis," but we also had Colin Cunningham's character, "Major Davis," whom we ended up naming "Paul Davis."
In addition, in what I can only presume was an error, Laara Sadiq was sometimes credited as "Technician Davis" when she filled in at the controls. I'd guess that she delivered lines originally intended for you, and the credit was never changed. I named her "Laura Davis" when I created her backstory for the Stargate SG-1 Season Two book. The entry for Walter Davis is also in there.
Brannon Boren
I was laughing so hard I cried. Great stuff.
(Although no one will probably see this since it's old..)