AUGUST IS VIRTUAL REALITY MONTH!
First Aired: July 17, 1998
SG-1 is imprisoned in a virtual reality realm and forced to relive the worst moments of their lives over and over.
Our rewatch of favorite moments in Stargate history continues! Each month we’ll pick a theme, and feature a key episode every week. Join us by watching the episode this week, and then head to GateWorld Forum (or posting below) to talk about it!
In Another Life …
- The Stargate series often made use of a mainstay of modern science fiction storytelling: technology-based virtual reality.
- One way into a VR universe is with the virtual reality unit devised by the residents of P7J-989, in order to ride out an apocalyptic event on their world.
- Or, you could test-drive the Earth-modified version of the tech. But watch out for Kull warriors!
- The Ancients also developed VR technology …
- … and the deep-space vessel Destiny has a VR system built into the heart of the ship, including a chair interface that will put a user into a virtual Destiny environment.
“The Gamekeeper” Facts:
- “The Gamekeeper” guest stars Dwight Schultz (The A-Team, Star Trek: The Next Generation) as the neurotic Keeper. In all the virtual reality stores that Stargate ever told across more than 300 episodes, this is the only time that one of those VR worlds also included a computer-generated character to guide users.
- Teal’c reveals in this episode that the Goa’uld have experimented with time manipulation for years. But it doesn’t seem that they ever cracked it — not, at least, since Baal used S.G.C. intel to travel back in time in Stargate: Continuum.
- After being killed off in the show’s second episode Jay Acovone returned for several episodes as Charles Kawalsky. This was his first return from the dead, a little over one year later.
- Here’s a recasting factoid that will blow your mind, if you didn’t already know it: Actor Robert Duncan plays Daniel’s father, Melburn Jackson, before returning in Season Three as the manipulative Goa’uld cult leader Seth.
- Gillian Barber would also return to SG-1 years later, after her small part as one of the VR world’s “Residents.” She would be recast as Ambassador Dreylock, from Jonas Quinn’s homeworld, in Season Six.
- Finally, Jack’s old (dead) friend Colonel John Michaels is played by actor Michael Rogers. He’d be back in later years as Colonel Richard Kendrick (“Affinity”) and Major Escher (“Company of Thieves”).
“The Gamekeeper” on GateWorld:
Download “The Gamekeeper” now from Amazon or iTunes!
Rewatch “The Gamekeeper” this week! Then post your comments below, or head over to the “Gamekeeper” discussion thread and see what people were saying back in the day. What are your favorite moments?
Every month we’re featuring a new theme from Stargate’s 17 seasons. Watch the weekly episode with us join in the fun!