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Well now, after a quiet three months … that trailer for SGU Season 1.5 is pretty killer, huh?
There’s an alien invasion, a planet with a giant obelisk, beautiful women, exploding ships, a warning from Colonel Telford … aw heck, let’s just watch it again:
I’ve been pretty confident that the second half of the season will deliver on a lot of what fans are asking for, and the trailer seems to go a long way to support that hypothesis. There certainly won’t be expensive CGI aliens and space battles in every episode, but I think the action and sci-fi adventure quotient is going to be much higher than in the first ten episodes.
Press screeners have gone out with the next couple of episodes, and though I didn’t get one myself I do know someone who has seen “Space” and “Divided.” With no spoilers of any kind, he assures me that both episodes kick all kinds of ass. The slow build-up we’ve been watching is about to pay off.
April 2.
Now I’m going to watch that trailer again!
Q&A
Have Kurt Russell or James Spader (from the original Stargate feature film) ever commented on any of the various Stargate TV shows? Are they even aware of them? I know that the co-creator of the Stargate movie (Dean Devlin) thinks the the TV shows don’t really follow the concepts/ideas set up in the film (the Stargate only goes to one other planet, for example) but I’m wondering if the stars of the movie have ever commented on what has happened with the franchise since the original film. (Craig)
I’ve never seen anything from James Spader about the television series, but he has talked about the original movie after the fact — and rather harshly, at that. A few years back he told The Globe and Mail: “The script was just awful, and that sort of intrigued me. … Acting, for me, is a passion, but it’s also a job, and I’ve always approached it as such. I have a certain manual-labourist view of acting. There’s no shame in taking a film because you need some f—ing money.”
Kurt Russell, on the other hand, seems to remember his Stargate days more fondly. While in Vancouver shooting the 2001 movie 3,000 Miles to Graceland Russell stopped by the set of Stargate SG-1, where he met Richard Dean Anderson and took a look at the new Stargate. The press, of course, was there to catch it:
Do “The Powers That Be” pay any attention to the comments or suggestions posted here or are the fans largely ignored? Darren? David? Anybody? (Pioneering)
I’ll leave that one for said Powers to reveal themselves, if they so choose. We do know that they visit the site regularly, though I’m not sure how much they read comments. Since the comments have shifted to be so negative (not just critical of SGU, but too often rude and spiteful) in the last several months, I suspect that many of the show’s cast and crew have given up on them. Many have also found Twitter a good place to interact with fans directly.
I’d never say that the fans are ignored. It’s just tough to fully appreciate and engage the good comments when the site is littered with disrespectful complaining.
Is David’s aversion to doing a Stargate vs. Babylon 5 comparison due to him not having the DVDs? I’d be willing to loan mine out to him to have the conversation. I think he’d come to realize how JJ’s Lost isn’t the first sci-fi show to know the whole story arc from the beginning. It was also one of the first shows to show strong women, and show the characters in more than stereotypical arctypes. Showing their strengths and weaknesses. (Eagle1)
I couldn’t agree more, Eagle! Babylon 5 is one of my Top 5 genre series of all time. (Did you see Bruce Boxleitner in the new TRON Legacy trailer this week?) David’s aversion to doing a podcast installment about it is based solely on the fact that he’s never seen it. Yeah, he’s crazy that way. He’s also never seen Farscape (except scattered episodes I recommended before his first Ben Browder interview), or The Princess Bride. (Want his e-mail address?)
I’d find it pretty tough to compare Stargate to B5, but maybe I’ll have a go at it in a future column.
If you have questions for next week’s column, send ’em on in! We want to hear from you — what you think of the new SGU trailer, your comments or questions about Stargate and GateWorld, or whatever else is on your mind.
Never doubted you for a second SGU.
I so love RDA’s comment about Kurt Russel’s hair :) “Strong hair”. He’s said that earlier too, meaning he could never have done Kurt’s hair from the Stargate film. Sorry for commenting on tangent issue like this – but the hair thing cracks me up.
i am uncomfortable seeing sg1 videos in a sgu article
Because SG1 is so dated now?
Darren, I couldn’t agree more that SG1 and SGA could never be compared to B5. SGU, though has the potential of possbily meeting it. The one huge glaring issue is that Cooper and Wright haven’t come out and said that they have a 5 year plan for the show. Giving it a beginning, middle and an end like JMS did. In my opinion SGU has shown the capability of true character development, now if they kick up the action, the fans will have true buy in. The show has a ton of potential. My concern is that their may not… Read more »
Action and more science is not enough. They have to make these charcters a little more likable. Battlestar Galatica had great action but I didn’t care about any of the characters. They need to have some episodes where some of these characters reform themselves because right now I just can’t relate to any of them. For example everyone could relate to O’neill.
Oh and I’ve never really seen Babylon 5 or Farscape eithier so your not completely alone.
You couldn’t relate to O’Neill dude, he was a cartoon character. A relatable character is a realistic character. If you are stuck on a ship with the possibility of death, you don’t crack jokes.
O’neill was the likeable everyman that people could relate to.
SGU they’ve gone the reality tv route with the characters and they are the type of people I wouldn’t want to associate with much less relate too.
I personally find Eli is be a perfect character to relate to. He was literally beamed out of his home and thrown into this situation with no prior training and thus reacts closer to what we might would. Anyway think that latest SGU trailer is just awesome and have heard nothing but good things about ‘Space’. But even though I don’t personally believe this will happen I want to submit the following question for Gateworld: ‘What would you say to those who believe that the trailer only contains the good bits from the 2nd half to just build up hype… Read more »
@Scott Watson
I like Eli too.
I did like Col. Everett but than he did you know what in someone eles body and now he just gives me the creeps. I do still like the medic T.J. but I’m afraid thats it. I still think its not too late for the characters to redeem themselves but they more troubled than most people. I mean everyone has vices and slip up on them from time to time but these charcters seem to be almost totally controlled by them.
I should add I’m loyal to the franchis and will keep watching.
It’s time to move forward with an open mind and a sense of adventure.
Lighten up for cryin out loud! It’ll all be okay!
I so can’t wait to see the rest of the season. This is going to be one crazy ride!
@Scott Watson: “What would you say to those who believe that the trailer only contains the good bits from the 2nd half to just build up hype for SGU’s return”
Do you watch no tv at all??? That is how commercials and trailers work!!! I’ve watched movies where scenes that were in the trailer were cut out of the movie, and only ever seen in commercials.
Yeah, and sometimes the movie is better than the trailer.
O’Neill was likeable but certainly not relatable. Guys like that don’t exist, maybe down the pub, but not in life threatening situations, you relate to whats realistic and behaviour on Destiny is realistic.
@junebug read the rest of my sentence.
Those who are sceptics believe that the trailer is just a bit hype and that a few episodes in we will just have more of the same as we had in the first half. But those of us who like SGU believe the trailer is a good indication of what’s to come and that SGU is going to pick up the pace and involve elements that the first half lacked.
I must say that I am surprised by that comment by James Spader in this article Darren. I always thought he had a good time when working in the original film. Sure, his career basically went t!ts up afterwards if you don’t count Boston Legal, but to talk about Stargate with such hatred?!? I alwasy wondered why alot of people hate him. Now I know why.
@Stunner
So using humour to cope with life threatening and/or difficult sitations is unrealistic but a ranking military officer being pre-occupied with his sex life with someone in another galaxy while in a life threatening situation is realistic?
Why are there no recent convention reports?
Absolutely, it’s probably the only good thing he has going on that ship.
@Stunner “O’Neill was likeable but certainly not relatable. Guys like that don’t exist, maybe down the pub, but not in life threatening situations, you relate to whats realistic and behaviour on Destiny is realistic.” RDA said in an video interview on disc 1 of Season 8 SG-1 DVD, that he had a conversation between takes with (4 star) General Ryan (at that time Air Force Chief of Staff) who was doing a guest shot on the show. He asked him how if his portrayal of a Air Force Colonel was at all credible and if so did they have any… Read more »
Sorry Darrin for getting a bit off topic in my above post. As for the new MGM trailer for season 1.5, it certainly does look amazing. I am hoping that if it delivers, as I think it will, that BW & RCC haven’t drawn out the “introduction” phase to long to regain some of the audience that have already jumped ship. This kind of feels a bit like the 1st half of season 7 of SG-1. While it had some above average episodes and it did bring back Daniel, many of the episodes were average and I didn’t want Stargate… Read more »
@EryasDax
Of course the Military loved his portrayal, it makes them look good. A strong, brave soldier, who takes everything in his stride with a smile and grit of determination. Anyway even if there were Colonels like him it still doesn’t make him relatable, well only to other Colonels.
Regarless of how much I love SGU, SG1 will always have my heart, especially RDA, he’s gorgeous.
@Stunner “Regarless of how much I love SGU, SG1 will always have my heart, especially RDA, he’s gorgeous.”
Boy, you can say that again. But then he’s a contemporary of mine.
Has it ever been established how many people made it to the Destiny? Chloe said to Scott in “Light” that the odds of her being one of the 15 chosen in the lottery was 5 or 6 to 1. So, does that mean that there was originally 75 to 90 that escaped?
That episode there was a lottery for 15 people to ‘leave’ Destiny for safety on a planet in one of Destiny’s shuttlecraft.
First, I have to say that the trailer has drawn the line in the sand. I am actually curious enough to watch at least a few episodes of the second half of the season now. However, if they doctored it up to make it seem more like classic Stargate with no intention to deliver, I’ll stop watching completely. As for SGU and Babylon 5, SG1 and SGA are too different from B5 to compare them and SGU has a very, very long way to go to prove worthy of such a comparison. And it’s not just because they haven’t said… Read more »
That guy was not realistic. He was skewered, burned, Zatted, blasted more times than you can count. That doesn’t breed wit, it breeds ‘shell shock’. He’s a super hero, with no links to anything, a comic book character. Real people have other worries, family, sex, money, human problems.
Again, just because you can’t relate to them, it doesn’t make them less realistic. Not everyone has the luxury of dwelling on the simple things. Just because you’ve never known someone whom isn’t like that, it doesn’t mean they aren’t real. Those aren’t human problems you listed, they’re your problems. Also, you clearly didn’t pay much attention to the character, otherwise you would have noticed that he wasn’t entirely ‘stable’ mentally. He sought solitude when not on missions, his refrigerator contained only beer and condiments which he was a bit old for, he never really sought another relationship after his… Read more »
I’ve heard from plenty of people who their most like is Oneill, including myself. Granted people don’t get zatted, but its what he does with a problem, which is use humor to brighten up a bad day which is what plenty of people do. When I have a bad day, I laugh it off and make the best of it, I don’t crawl into bed with my rommie.
Re: O’Neill. Sure almost everything and everyone at one time or another in the SG/SGA genre was perhaps improbable or even slightly ridiculous, but that’s what made the two series entertaining and enjoyable, not the 43 minutes of misery and irritation we’re presently stuck with.
Haha, you’re comparing one of your bad days to being tortured, and the only irratation and misery is from the haters love, If you don’t get the show you havn’t watchind it properly. there are already multiple people on this site don’t even know whats going on properly. You’ve watched a couple of episodes and cried through the rest. O’Neill is an off shoot of an 802 action hero, unrealistic but very entertaining.
@mythos, you’re kidding yourself about SGA characters having depth, terribly 2 dimensional, regardless of that I still really like, don’t make stuff up though. Don’t patronise me either I know the characters inside out(it didn’t take long with SGA). If you don’t have the problems I listed, you know real grown up problems, you’re obviously not a grown up.
@Stunner: “I know the characters inside out”
OMG, you gave me a laughing fit. Nobody knows the characters inside out – obviously not even the writers whose inconsistent writing gave me the hives.
Of course I know the characters, I know how they’ll react and what they will do in situations. Pointless comment by the way.
“If you don’t get the show you havn’t watchind it properly”
BINGO! I’ve got bingo here! I’m on a roll!
@Stunner – I knew what you would do in this situation. Ergo, you must be unrealistic.
I can also predict that Stunner will disagree with this. Further proving that Stunner must be unrealistic.
Totally different context. When was the last time you saw Jack Bauer being facetious.
@Stunner: So, you’re saying that people who actually have some moral code and act on it – O’Neill, Jackson, Sheppard etc. – are unrealistic because not being a selfish jerk is totally out there and not based in reality? Wow, you must live in a sad, sad world.
No, I’m just a chick with a psychology degree, and didn’t Young take himself off the evac list, he’s a good soldier, his personal life is a different thing.
Sorry, but a good soldier doesn’t leave a civilian behind, no matter how much he hates his guts. Rush could spit in his face and do whatever he liked and Young should have never, ever left him behind. He should have brought him back and put him under guard or incancerate him but what he did was absolutely inexcusable. A soldier like that would never pass a psychological evaluation. Actually, none of the characters on SGU would. And if depth equals crazy then I prefer being shallow.
If a world contains more scotts than oneills…ai, we live in a sad world
@Emily
Couldn’t agree more. Some of the comments that suggest Destiny and it’s crew are more relate-able then RDA dates me I suppose; but it also really doesn’t say much for the current “in” generation and is really alarming to be honest.
Gotta agree with Kati, Emily and Ascended.
It says a lot about the sad state of society when these types of people are considered relateable.
New generation does suck.
Is it really such a newsflash that the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows?
According to some people they relate to O’Neill, hence are perfect human beings.
@Stunner “No, I’m just a chick with a psychology degree..[]” I got a PhD of everything at the age of 10. Well, as someone that has a degree in psychology you should know that “relatable” does not have to pertain to one aspect of your personality. I can relate to Superman/O’Neill, thats because my SUPER-EGO wants to be like him. I can relate to Rush because my ID relates to him. I can relate to Eli because my EGO relates to him. “Realistic” and “relatable” are completely dependant of which aspect of my personality i actually aim to please. SG… Read more »