We have good news for
Stargate news hounds: GateWorld has just rebooted our
e-mail newsletter!
GateWorld Dispatch is a great way to keep on the most important news and special site features, especially if you don’t visit the site every day.
Our plan is to keep them concise, informative, occasionally entertaining, and never annoying. Newsletter subscribers will also get an occasional first peek at new site features before they go live to the public! We estimate that the volume will be about one issue per week, but there is no fixed schedule — it will be determined by whether or not we have something significant to tell you.
If you were on our previous newsletter list or if you are a member of GateWorld Forum, you should have already received the first issue. If not, give ‘er a sign up now!
Now, if that’s not enough to warm your heart, here’s a round-up of this week’s Stargate news bites:
Michael Shanks hasn’t signed his Season Ten contract yet and is “essentially a free agent,” according to his publicist (via Michael Shanks Online). Rumors indicate that Shanks will return to the show, but that he is also up for a significant role in L.A. No word yet on whether that would be a guest appearance on a big-name show, a new full-time gig, a Jell-O Pudding Pops commercial, or something else entirely. Our view: As pointed out by executive producer Joseph Mallozzi in his latest blog entry, this is that tenuous time of year when everyone’s contract is up for renewal — actors and producers alike. Too much speculation about who’s returning, who’s not returning, and who’s having their role radically altered may not be healthy for fans; there is only so much that someone can say or do when they are negotiating a new contract.
Now, once those contracts are signed and we have some solid info to talk about, we will have a few words to say about cast changes.
Frontier Models is selling a brand new zat’ni’katel (zat gun) resin model kit! You put it together, you paint it, you use it to keep your subjects under your iron boot. It’s now for sale on their site for £79.50. Canada’s The Movie Network is getting ready to air the second half of Atlantis Season Two for the first time anywhere in the world! Things kick off November 21 with “The Hive.” Here’s their airing order, which we expect to match the order of episodes when they start in the U.S. in January (and elsewhere): The season’s final five are expected to start in Canada in January after a quick holiday break.
More good news for Canada! SG-1 Season Nine will start November 10 at 10 p.m. Eastern on SPACE, with “Avalon, Part 1.” New episodes follow every Thursday night. SPACE will also air a Season Nine special, Stargate SG-1: Behind the Scenes, November 3 (tomorrow!) at 11 p.m.
The November/December issue (#7) of Stargate SG-1: The Official Magazine is now on news stands! Look for interviews with Amanda Tapping (cover), Robert C. Cooper, Lexa Doig, Louis Gossett, Jr., and much more. U.S. viewers can catch Stargate mini-marathons from the current season, Friday nights on SCI FI for the next three weeks! This week SCI FI will air “Avalon, Part 1,” “Part 2,” and “Origin.” Next week it’s Atlantis‘s turn with three episodes, then another week on for SG-1. No Stargate on the 25th, after Turkey Day. (New episodes start in January.) Season Seven returns to SCI FI! After its top-rated turn in U.S. syndication, all 22 episodes from “Fallen” to “Lost City” are back on the cable network. (Yes, there was a day when a season had 22 episodes …) Watch 4-hour marathons every Monday night starting next week, November 7. Tony Amendola (“Bra’tac”) returns to the big screen this week in “The Legend of Zorro.” Tony plays Father Quintero, Joaquin’s school teacher. As for the second half of Season Nine, Master Bra’tac will reportedly return for two more episodes. Where are those pesky Region 2 DVD boxed sets for you European fans? They’re finally on the way! SG-1 Season Eight will arrive February 13, 2006, followed by Atlantis Season One on February 27. Pre-order them at Amazon.co.uk and support GateWorld with your purchase! The first discs of the new seasons will also be available on those same dates, respective to each show.
Stargate-Project talks with actor David Hewlett (“Rodney McKay”) in a new interview. David talks about “Grace Under Pressure,” “Coup D’Etat,” and the show’s (then unconfirmed) third season. Beware of minor spoilers … “Genii everywhere!” the actor says about “Coup D’Etat,” the upcoming episode. “They’re like cockroaches … just when you think you’ve got rid of them, they pop out of another Stargate. Great shift of power in the Genii camp in this episode and we’re unwittingly sucked into the political intrigue.”
The highly anticipated video game Stargate SG-1: The Alliance just may survive the legal turmoil in which it is currently embroiled. Stargate Gaming is reporting that the game has reached the Alpha stage of completion at Perception (like a finished first draft in the video game world), and has been sent to MGM for review. Science Fiction Weekly reviews Stargate SG-1 Season Eight on DVD, giving the new set an A- grade. Should SG-1 have called it quits after Season Eight? That’s what SyFy Portal suggests in a new editorial. Update: SyFy’s Scott Nance offers a rebuttal to his esteemed colleague. Our view: People have been saying this every year since Season Five bowed on Showtime. While there is something to be said for going out on top, “It will never be like the glory days” isn’t really relevant for television. Sure, the earlier seasons still rank among my favorites, but that’s no cause to pack up a successful series that the viewers, actors, producers, studio, and network all still want to see.
Amanda Tapping is one of five science fiction actresses up for “The It List” on MSNBC.com. Vote early and often! She’s currently trailing in the poll. A recently discovered asteroid, 2004MN4, has been officially named “Apophis” by its discoverer, a Stargate fan — and it’s headed for Earth! Cool. Don’t worry: NASA has a plan for what is expected to be a near miss in 2029. Two new (unlicensed) books on the Stargate SG-1 universe are on the horizon. “Approaching the Possible” includes interviews (including one with GateWorld’s own enigmatic creator), an episode guide, and character and storyline explanations. That’s due out this month. “Reading Stargate SG-1” appears to be a more esoteric look at the series and fandom, examining characters, themes, representations of sexuality and “otherness,” fan fiction, morality, the military, and the show’s “ideological framing of an American point-of-view,” according to the publisher. The book will be out next July.
Isn’t “otherness” a descriptor for sci-fi fans in general?
SG-1 novelist Sonny Whitelaw (“City of the Gods”) will be at the Best of Both Worlds convention in Sydney, November 11-13. Colin Cunningham (“Paul Davis”) will not be able to attend. (Thanks to Dana Jeanne, Denise, Jonathan Laroche, Simon Henshall, Ian Mullen, John Hoefer, Maciej Kwiatkowski, Megan Lantz, Ben Cox, Morjana, Joshua Selig, Michael Allen, Chris M, James, sjberridge, Teemu Kemppainen, Kajel, and Sonny Whitelaw for contributing)