Fans of a long-running TV franchise like Stargate keep watching because we love the characters, the storylines, the well-dressed bad guys … and because we love the creative people who worked so hard to bring it to our screens.

And because no long-running television production is perfect, we also get a kick out of spotting errors that made it to our screens.

When we posted the first Goof Gate list we thought we’d found most of the really interesting errors that made it to the screen. Oh, how wrong we were! Fans on GateWorld and over on our YouTube channel flooded us with lots of amazing moments to go back and look for. So, not only are we happy to present the second installment … yeah, we have enough to make Goof Gate an ongoing feature. Stay tuned for more!

Just like last time, we’re looking for on-screen production goofs that are especially interesting — something fun for long-time viewers to go back and look for. We’ll overlook things like studio lights reflected in Daniel’s glasses, characters transposing two digits in their dialogue, or a reused stock shot showing the S.G.C. computer dialing the wrong address.

Have you spotted something to add to our list? Check out what’s included in part one, and if we haven’t already covered it then post it below!

SCRIPTED ERROR

Episode: “The Serpent’s Lair” (SG-1 Season Two)
Time: 18:56

Stargate SG-1‘s second season reunited the cast on board a Goa’uld attack ship headed for Earth. SG-1 is quickly captured, but freed by a secret ally on board: Master Bra’tac, played by guest star Tony Amendola.

As the team regroups and tries to come up with a plan to save the planet from not one but two Ha’tak vessels, a bit of real-world production reality can be seen slipping into the shot. The shipping crate near the Stargate has what appears to be an actor’s script hanging off the edge. Whose script is it? Who could it be? Not pointing any fingers here … maybe it was a stray Jaffa’s script.

Like “Peekaboo Carter” on our last list, this goof was never visible when the episode originally aired in a 4:3 aspect ratio. The show was shot for both 4:3 and 16:9, and when the widescreen edition was first released on DVD it became a brand new game to look for things that were never visible in frame before.

(Thanks to TuneTamasha)

PHASE SWITCHING

Episode: “Enigma” (SG-1 Season One)
Time: 32:30

SG-1 has rescued Omac and a group of Tollan from a volcanic cataclysm on their homeworld. Now they wish to try and contact their people — or at least another race advanced enough to help them find a home. But as refugees on Earth they will have to get past Colonel Maybourne and the military first. It’s up to Daniel, a civilian, to defy orders and help the Tollan.

When Omac offers to use his phase device to take Daniel out of the room where the Tollan are being held, Daniel steps forward and takes Omac’s left hand. (In fact, he kind of makes a big show of it.) But as they step forward and walk through the wall, Daniel is now standing on the other side of him and holding Omac’s right hand.

Maybe they could have switched places off screen, but it’s definitely an unintentional continuity error – probably to put Michael Shanks on the camera side for the VFX shot.

(Thanks to gavin b)

MYSTERIES OF STONEHENGE

Episode: “Window of Opportunity” (SG-1 Season Four)
Time: 17:47 and 35:33

If you’re like me you have watched “Window of Opportunity” more times than you can count. But have you ever scrutinized what’s going on in the background? The set for the Ancient planet P4X-639 has three Stonehenge-like rock formations positioned around the Stargate. The rock structures immediately behind the Stargate sit between the gate and the outer wall of the ruins.

These large stone formations are always visible in the background throughout the episode … except where the visual effects team had to step in. Both times in the episode when SG-1 returns to the planet, the stones are momentarily absent when the wormhole disengages. Those are magical rocks!

(Thanks to Platschu and Abydos Gate)

HIDING PLACE

Episode: “The Hive” (Atlantis Season Two)
Time: 09:56

With the rest of his team off on an ill-conceived mission that got them captured on board a Wraith hive, Rodney McKay is stuck in the custody of Ford’s new coalition. Now Rodney has been jacked up on Wraith enzyme, fighting off his captors and making his way back to Atlantis.

As he is dialing the D.H.D. the wide shot lingers for a good long while. Keep watching: After several seconds you can see that someone appears to be sitting on the ground behind the D.H.D. Zoom and enhance! You can see their arm peek out.

Presumably this is a crew member, who was given some job that required them to try and conceal themselves. Or maybe they took a bet that they could be on camera and stay hidden the whole time. In that case … sorry, Jerry, it’s time to pay up.

(Thanks to Hector Guzman)

C4 SLIDE

Episode: “Lost City, Part 1” (SG-1 Season Seven)
Time: 12:40

SG-1‘s seventh season goes out with a bang. Here in the opening minutes of “Lost City” the team has discovered a second Ancient repository, and with Anubis’s forces closing in he decides that the best plan is to destroy it … before, of course, looking into it and taking the brain download instead.

Watch Jack’s hands as he pulls the C4 charge out of his vest pocket and sticks it to the wall, right into the corner near the Ancient device. Daniel insists that it’s too valuable to destroy. When the camera cuts back to the Colonel the C4 has scooted six inches to the left. It stays there for the rest of the scene.

These sorts of goofs can happen when the editor assembles shots from different takes. Clearly the prop explosive either fell off the wall at one point or, more likely, the actor placed it in a different spot on a subsequent take.

MISFIRE

Episode: “Homecoming” (SG-1 Season Seven)
Time: 32:44

Anubis has come to Jonas Quinn’s homeworld to find the powerful element naquadria, parking his giant space ship right over the Kelownan capital. While the rest of SG-1 comes through the Stargate to tangle with Anubis’s forces, Jonas and Daniel are on board the ship for a bit of sabotage.

In the episode’s climax the two use the ship’s ring transporter to beam down to the city, where a fight ensues and Anubis’s First Prime is chased through the gate. This is one of those goofs that is so easy to happen, when the visual effects that are added in post production don’t quite line up with the actor’s on-set performance.

Watch Jonas as he and Daniel transport down and zat the Jaffa who have just captured Teal’c and Sam. As the battle ends and the intense music fades, actor Corin Nemec tries to take one more shot. You can see his hand make a deliberate firing motion … but since there were no more targets left standing, the VFX artists opted to leave out the final zat blast. But maybe Jonas was just trying to look intimidating.

(Thanks to Platschu and Abydos Gate)

TEMPORARY DEMOTION

Episode: “The Shroud” (SG-1 Season Ten)
Time: 12:45

We were all so proud when Jack O’Neill was promoted to Brigadier General at the start of Season Eight, and again to Major General when he went off to head up Homeworld Command. When he first turns up in “The Shroud” to be briefed by the team, he’s wearing two stars on his collar to reflect his Air Force rank.

General O’Neill decides to speak directly with Daniel Jackson, who has been taken into custody. Daniel has been turned into a Prior of the Ori, but he claims that his mind is unaffected. Can the team trust him to execute a plan to destroy the Ori? When Jack beams up to the Odyssey to see Daniel in person, he’s back down to just one star … evidently a temporary field demotion back down to Brigadier General.

(Thanks to tropolite)

NOT QUITE SO ABANDONED

Episode: “Bane” (SG-1 Season Two)
Time: 01:20

BP6-3Q1 has a bit of a bug problem. SG-1 finds a once thriving civilization through the Stargate, but absolutely no one around … not even any bodies hinting at what befell these people. It’s a mystery, until we get an up-close and personal look at the giant bugs who wiped them out.

This scene was shot at the beautiful (and highly reflective) Plaza of Nations, one of Vancouver’s major cultural venues. So of course there’s only so many seconds of footage without any motion at all. Watch carefully through the doors of the building behind Jack and you can see glimpses of cars passing by, probably reflecting off the glass. (A few seconds later, the glass reflects what looks like a crew member wearing a yellow shirt.)

This was an ongoing problem for Stargate’s location shoots in and around the greater Vancouver area. In fact, after several years of trying to film around traffic and power lines in the background, eventually the crew built an entire medieval village on a sound stage.

(Thanks to Brainbox.cc)

THE FRIENDLY SATEDAN

Episode: “Vengeance” (Atlantis Season Three)
Time: 17:21

The Atlantis recon team has found a facility where the Wraith Michael has been conducting his grisly experiments, experimenting on humans and iratus bugs to create monstrous hybrids. In this long shot the team is walking back to the Stargate, chatting about Wraith reproduction and enjoying the weather and … did Ronon just wave at somebody?

Actor Jason Momoa smiles and gives a little wave to someone off screen, possibly a crew member. We’re guessing it’s not because he thought it was a blown take and they had to start over anyway. This was a long walking shot, with his cast mates delivering a lot of dialogue. More likely the actor might have believed that by this point he was out of frame (and he almost is).

I guess we’ll just say that Ronon was waving to Teyla to try and lighten the mood!

WINDY DAY

Episode: “The Eye” (Atlantis Season One)
Time: 02:21

Our very favorite goof in this list belongs to the first season of Stargate Atlantis. In the mid-season two-parter the city is rocked by a once in a century storm, right as the ruthless Genii commander Acastus Kolya (guest star Robert Davi) attacks and tries to seize control of the city.

Of course the Atlantis control tower was built indoors, on Stage 6 at The Bridge Studios, without any actual open windows or deadly storms overhead. So to simulate the high winds the show relied on good old movie magic: a crew member hiding just out of sight as he shakes the potted trees violently as soon as the director yells “Action!”

In this case, though, he’s not quite out of the shot.

(Thanks to R Radev)

Which of these goofs have you spotted on screen? Post a comment and tell us which ones you’ve seen, and which ones are new to you.