Briefing: Weekly Stargate news bytes

Life at GateWorld continues to clip along at a brisk pace this week. After the successful launch of the new Firefly guide we’re already prepping yet another for a favorite genre series! We have also just added photo galleries for 2005’s final three episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

We are quickly nearing the end of this year’s spoiler season, as production on SG-1 Season Nine and Atlantis Season Two heads into its final month. Meanwhile, The Stargate Omnipedia is nearing an astounding 1,400 entries as editor David Read continues to keep it up-to-date with the very latest episodes.

In between the usual fun, there is a list of a half-dozen or so ambitious projects that we would love to do … but just don’t have the time or manpower. Some of the things we are considering:

… A sub-site dedicated to the granddaddy of sci-fi television, Doctor Who. With something like 65,000 seasons and nothing being broadcast in our area of the U.S. right now, this one would need a skilled and highly dedicated volunteer to help create and maintain.

… The newsletter! It’s been on hold for better than a year now, and we’d love to revamp it and get it going again.

… An IMDb-style database of every actor, writer, and director who has ever worked on Stargate

… A Stargate Web guide that would allow fan site owners to automatically add and edit their own site’s listing

… Paid premium membership for an ad-free forum experience, potentially a first-look at some new content, and other stray goodies

… User-submitted convention reports. This would likely be more of a free-for-all, like the FanFic section, than official GateWorld reports that are reviewed and edited first.

If we could only do one of these this fall, which one would you like to see, and why? Or do you have another bright idea for GateWorld? Drop us a line!

Now, on to this week’s Stargate news round-up:

Stargate script coordinator Alex Levine has updated his blog at SciFi.com. Get the behind-the-scenes skinny on tonight’s episodes, “Babylon” and “Conversion.”

Stargate fans in the U.K. have had a long wait for Amanda Tapping‘s return to the convention scene. Her last public appearance there was February 2002, alongside Michael Shanks at the SG-4 event in London. Last year her participation in the conference circuit was curtailed by the arrival of her first child. Now Amanda Tapping returns for the long-awaited “A Weekend With Her Fans” event in London, October 28-30, sponsored by GABIT. Check out GabitEvents.co.uk for all the details.

Atlantis will return to Western Canada with Season Two on Movie Central September 12 at 10 p.m. Episodes will reair Thursdays at 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. MT on “Adrenaline Drive.”

Meanwhile, Canada’s SPACE channel will air Season Nine of SG-1 starting November 10 (10 p.m. Eastern). The late start date will allow the station to air the entire season with no rerun break. This should result in Canada and the U.S. being approximately synchronized for the second half of the season starting in January.

Got a hankerin’ for some Kurt Russell and James Spader? Spike TV will air “Stargate” the movie this Sunday, September 11, at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Eastern/Pacific.

TV Zone Magazine Special #65 is due out this week, and includes an interview with Stargate director Peter DeLuise.

Australian fans won’t be left out of this fall’s DVD rush! Stargate Atlantis Season One is set to be released on Region 4 DVD on November 16. Look for it at EzyDVD.com.

“aaobuttons” passed along this spoilery tidbit from last week’s Dragon*Con convention in Atlanta: “Maury Chaykin (Nerus) will return in an upcoming episode directed by Peter DeLuise. Gary Jones said at a panel at Dragon*Con that he had a scene with Beau Bridges where they talked about putting a transmitter in Nerus.” Since we know Nerus will appear in “Off the Grid,” this is the most likely candidate.

Air Force General John Jumper, who appeared as himself in SG-1‘s seventh season episode “Lost City, Part 2” and who presented series star Richard Dean Anderson with his honorary General stars at the Air Force Association dinner last year, officially retired last Friday.

JoWooD has won the first small step in the video game publisher’s legal battle with Stargate SG-1: The Alliance developer Perception. An Austrian court has ruled that JoWooD is not bankrupt, and that Perception has admitted that it is at fault for a delay in the game’s development.

As with all things legal, of course, this means nothing definitive about when you’ll be able to play The Alliance.

Tony Amendola (Bra’tac) will join Italian Gaters at Kree’con IV, October 14 to 16 in Chianciano, Tuscany.

The Motion Picture Industry Charitable Alliance (MPICA) is auctioning off a once-in-a-lifetime item: a visit to the set of Stargate Atlantis! The “Lights, Camera, Auction – Take 8!” event will be held October 21 to 23 in Los Angeles, and will include items from several other genre shows.

Don’t forget (… as if you could)! Brand new episodes of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis air tonight (Friday, September 9) on SCI FI in the U.S.

(Thanks to Morjana, aaobuttons, coolbaroo, Greg, Jamieson, Taonas, BeyondUnreal, Giuseppe “Thor” Longo, Jayne, Denise, and several others for contributing)