Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 498

June 10, 2012: Misery! Comic Con! Days of Stargate Past – Atlantis! Poisoning the Well and Underground!

You!  You dirty bird. You killed Atlantis Misery!

Last night, Akemi and I watched Misery.  It was her first time, my…what is it now…twelfth?  It’s my favorite Stephen King movie and last night’s screening further cemented it as one of my top ten favorite films of all time. Brilliant performances, a tightly plotted script, and some of the most excruciatingly suspenseful sequences ever committed to celluloid.  Nowadays, most horror movies are simply excuses for extended visceral sequences that, after awhile, border on the cartoonish in order to satiate the appetite of an increasingly jaded audience.  Misery, in comparison, makes masterful use of the “the build”, crafting unnerving, edge-of-your seat sequences that build in intensity, leaving the audience wondering what…when…where?  And when the answer comes, it’s horrific and, best of all, unexpected.  The race back to the room from the kitchen search, the vengeance denied by the hallway hesitation, the startled late night awakening to the looming beside visitor, the frustration of the spilled wine, the shocking shotgun blast, and the hobbling.  Oh, the hobbling.  We only really catch a glimpse of it, a fraction of a second when Annie swings her hammer and connects, but it’s damn effective.  And I would argue that seeing her heft up the hammer and swing for the other foot, even though we don’t see it connect this time, is even more disturbing.  The sequence is so unsettling that it has remained with me after so many other far gorier moments in horror filmdom have faded.  Just a perfect movie.

This is just some of the action you’ll miss if you don’t come seem me at Comic Con.

Thanks to everyone who has weighed in with their concerns regarding my planned trip to Comic Con.  Fear not, I won’t be sleeping on the streets of San Diego.  Dark Horse Comic’s New Events and Community Manager, the super-lovely Kari Yadro, has assured me she’ll be able to swing my accommodations.  Whether it’s staying at the hotel that Dark Horse has already booked or napping in Kari’s winnebago while she’s working, I think I’m covered.

Returning to my ruminations on Stargate: Atantis’s first season…

POISONING THE WELL  (107)

This was my favorite episode since the two-hour opener.  It offered a difficult moral and ethical dilemma with no easy answers and a wonderful emotional arc in Carson Beckett’s working relationship with Perna, the Hoffan scientist.  I like my endings like I like my chocolate, bittersweet, so the conclusion to this one really resonated with me. The episode also delivers one of the most unwieldy, difficult to deliver lines in Stargate history with “One hundred percent cellular penetration in all five test inoculations”!  Try saying that five times fast.

The captive wraith gets a name, Steve, only to die before we get a chance to know him.  C’est la vie.  Given the circumstances and his push to experiment on the prisoner, I found Sheppard’s “We’re gonna help you” assurance as Steve succumbs to the effects of the Hoffan drug altogether bizarre.  If anyone would have adopted this conciliatory stance, it should have been civilian Commander Weir and yet even she sees the logic in Sheppard’s arguments, acceding to his demands for experimentation.  When he first mentions it, she brings up the Geneva Convention to which Sheppard counters that if the wraith were at the Geneva Convention, they would have no doubt fed on the other participants.  Good point.  Ultimately, this enemy is not one that can be reasoned with.  Short of discovering a way for them to gain sustenance without feeding on humans (and we’ll come to that later in the series’ run), it’s kill or be killed.

There are, of course, those pro-wraithers who point out that the wraith’s actions are dictated by survival instincts.  They’re not evil. And, while that may seem true (although the obvious joy they take in torturing their prey suggests otherwise), I would point out that the Atlantis expedition and the rest of the humans in the Pegasus galaxy are simply fighting back, the result of their own survival instincts.

UNDERGROUND (108)

Given the fact the wraith target technologically advanced societies, it would make sense that certain civilizations would seek to disguise their accomplishments from the enemy.  Enter the Genii.  I liked them as a wildcard, a military society that could prove both friend and foe, depending on the circumstances.  I also liked the continued clash between the civilian and military approaches on Atlantis, something we touch on in the previous episode but really comes to the fore here in the discussions between Weir and Sheppard.  Again, Sheppard  makes sense and Weir inevitably acquiesces to his game plan on the strength of his argument, but what is particularly interesting about this ethical clash is not the debate itself but the fact that Sheppard makes a unilateral decision on dealing with the Genii BEFORE discussing it with his defacto Commander.  Not once, but twice!

Later in the episode, the Atlantis team comes clean about the wraith and warns the Genii that they were awakned as a result of their failed rescue op and subsequent murder of a queen.  Well, yes and no. Certainly yes in their minds but one could make a very strong argument that the wraith would have been awakened regardless, not because of Sheppard’s actions on the failed rescue op, but because of the information the queen draws out of Sumner: the existence of Earth and the billions of humans just waiting to be fed upon.  Of course, Sheppard wasn’t privy to the conversation and has no way of knowing that, while he may blame himself for the wraith’s early awakening, it’s likely that the wraith would have awakened anyway.

Cookie Monster would like to remind everyone that our Supermovie of the Week Club reconvenes tomorrow.  Monster will be offering up his thoughts on Batman Forever, so make sure you watch it so that you can provide an informed opinion on his review.

Today’s entry is dedicated to blog regular Debra.

Tagged: film and television, Misery, scifi t.v., SF television, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis, Stephen King, Stephen King's Misery, television

June 9, 2012: Dark Matter! Comic Con! Days of Stargate Past – Stargate: Atlantis! Suspicion and Childhood’s End!

So, the plan is to head down to San Diego for Comic Con in early July and do a signing for my comic book series, Dark Matter.  Of course, I suspect that more than a few individuals will show up to chat Stargate so, in addition to giving away copies of Dark Matter, I’ve been thinking about giving away some Stargate swag as well.  Scripts, yes. Maybe a couple of collectibles.  I’ve got that enormous box set of Atlantis’s full series run with all the special features sitting in my basement, the SG-1 100th episode  anniversary package containing the SG-1 commemorative plaque and keychain, and a couple of cool PR packages of the SGA and SGU premiere episodes (I think the SGA version contains some sort of mini aquarium).  All possibilities.  Some of you have suggested signed photos of my dogs but, to be honest, it’s hard enough getting them outside to do their business.  Signing stuff would be almost impossible.

Anyway, in (far) advance of the Dark Matter trade paperback (collecting the first four-issue arc) that comes out in October, I offer the following review of the opening arc I came across the other day: http://www.sparknotes.com/mindhut/2012/06/04/review-dark-matter-graphic-novels-volumes-1-4

Resuming our trip down SGA memory line…

SUSPICION (105)

This was Paul and my first episode of Atlantis and, looking back now, it’s amazing how many elements were put in play here.  We establish the wraith stunners, the mainland, Teyla’s stick-fighting ability, the Zelenka-McKay working dynamic, and the beginnings of Teyla’s conflicted loyalties between the Atlantis expedition and her people. There’s also the civilian vs. military divide that’s touched upon here in the scene in which Sheppard dismisses Sgt. Bates only to have Weir remind him that she, as the leader of the expedition, appointed Bates as head of security.  We also introduce the wraith self-destruct mechanism that, while interesting and effective on off-world encounters, aren’t going to enter into the equation when the teams take the fight to the hive ships.

The thing I remember most about this episode was wondering why the Atlantis away teams didn’t have designations like the away teams oeprating out of Stargate command (ie. SG-1, SG-2, SG-3).  While my writing partner, Paul, was busy thinking up lyrics for the Atlantis theme to accompany the bang-up job we’d done coming up with lyrics for the SG-1 theme (We give a rare performance here: Stargate Theme (with lyrics!) – YouTube.  Ultimately, Paul was only able to come up with: We’re in Atlantis!  We’re underwater!) I set my mind to coming up with SGA team designations.  And, I did, but the other writers balked at my First Atlantis Reconnaissance Team idea.  Clearly, they were just jealous.

 CHILDHOOD’S END (106)

Enter Golden boy Martin Gero, a young freelancer who, on the strength of his script for Childhood’s End, won himself a well-deserved staff position and then proceeded to run the table by taking ownership of the series through his multitudinous scripts (I don’t think anyone wrote more).  By the end of the show’s run, he had earned the title Mr. Atlantis.

I remember the first draft of the script included a foppish royal named Lord Smeadon who Martin had to excise for the second draft after the first round of notes.  Interestingly, Lord Smeadon was gone but not forgotten, making a curious guest appearance in The Storm, coincidentally also written by Mr. Gero.  I also remember watching the dailies one day and hearing one of the young actors utter the now infamous line “Death bird fall from sky”.  Death bird fall from sky? Why was he delivering his dialogue like the incredible Hulk?  This was also the episode where a line from one of the walla performers left us scratching our heads.  For those of you who don’t know, “walla” is the background murmurings, usually unintelligible, you hear amongst some onscreen crowd.  In the scene in which Sheppard destroys the shrine, amidst the unintelligible murmurings, we hear one performer clearly mutter: “This has never happened before!”.  Really?  You’ve never had a stranger walk through the stargate and blast your shrine away with his machine gun?  First time?  Needless to say, that particular line of walla did not make the final cut.

Anyway, Martin ended up commemorating his very first Stargate: Atlantis episode by gifting the writing staff these awesome t-shirts:

Tagged: scifi television, SF television, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis

June 8, 2012: Dim Sum and Donuts and more Stargate: Atlantis memories!

Little known fact: the design of the Stargate was the inspired result of a late night donut binge.

Today, I met up with former Stargate creator/producer/director/writer Robert Cooper and former Stargate special features producer Ivon Bartok for an afternoon of dim sum and donuts.  Over the course of our culinary conference, we discussed past productions, pending projects, and even pitched out plans for a few potential programming possibilities.  We also ate.  A lot.  And sampled donuts from Van’s latest donuterie…

The verdict?  Well, I’d like to come back for a second round of sampling but my first impression was that the flavors of the donuts were far more muted, a lot subtler than what I’m accustomed to.  As for the PB&J, the one I was most looking forward to trying – I thought it needed more PB and less J.

Akemi insists that Vancouver’s best donuts are the ones Rob made for a recent dinner he hosted.

Rob says: “Yeah, okay, enough about the donuts. Getting back to Stargate: Atlantis and a little episode called..Hide and Seek…”

Right, right.  Stargate: Atlantis…

HIDE AND SEEK (103)

Following the big, splashy two-hour premiere that established the foundation of the new series, creators Robert Cooper and Brad Wright followed up with episodes that explored Ancient mythology and technology, gate mechanics, the city of Atlantis and, most importantly, the key members of the expedition.  Rob kicked things off with Hide and Seek which does a terrific job of mixing mystery, action, suspense, and that all-important trademark Stargate humor.  While the threat of the energy-devouring creature drives much of the story, it’s the smaller character moments that prove the most memorable: Sheppard trying to scare the Athosian children with a ghost story that only succeeds in confusing them, the team sitting down to a nice bonding moment over football, McKay’s hilarious arc that takes him from invincible to doomed.  That early scene in which John shoves Rodney over the railing only to have McKay spring back up, unscathed, is brilliant and never fails to amuse.

38 MINUTES (103)

In this episode, Brad Wright does what he does best: places his characters in a tight spot and then allows their personalities to shine through in their responses to their dire predicament.  And you’d be hard-pressed to find a tighter spot than the back of a jumper trapped just outside the gate’s event horizon.  The episode succeeds in creating a tense, claustrophobic feel but also grants the audience some much-needed respites in the form of flashbacks and cutaways that offer insight into, among other things, wraith biology, Athosian rituals, and the dynamics of the science team.

This episode introduces us to a couple of supporting players who would eventually establish themselves as forceful secondary personalities over the show’s run: Zelenka and Kavanaugh.  In truth, Kavanaugh’s prominence in this episode was, while not exactly a happy accident, the result of a need to shore up an episode that needed the extra time. The gag at the time was that 38 Minutes was a most appropriate title given that the episode was running about five minutes short.  Two scenes were subsequently added: Weir’s conversation with Kavanagh and Weir’s discussion with Halling.

Aside from that rubber bug, I thought that this was a pretty solid episode which left one big question maddeningly unanswered: What WAS Sheppard going to say to Weir in those final moments?

Hmmm.  Still thinking about doing signing at Comic Con in support of Dark Matter.  I could sandwich the trip between a visit to L.A. for some meet ‘n greets and three days in Vegas.  If I do end up going, I’d have to come up with some interesting giveaway items for any Stargate fans show happen to show.  What do you think?  Signed scripts?  Some Stargate mementos?  The first five pages of Stargate: Extinction?

Tagged: Atlantis, scifi television, SF television, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis

June 7, 2012: Day of Stargate Past – Atlantis, Rising I and II

Whew!  Done!  For now anyway.  Today, Paul and I delivered the first draft of our SF miniseries.  The robust 204 page script is now with the studio – and, more importantly, in the hands of director Steve Barron who will be working his magic sometime in July.  Despite its four hour event status, it moves along at a mighty brisk pace.  Edge-of-your-seat stuff.  Will hopefully be able to tell you more about it in the coming weeks.

So, where we?  Ah, yes.  Continuing our stroll down SGA memory lane…

In the two part series premiere, Brad Wright and Robert Cooper deliver an opener that captures the spirit of the original series, SG-1, while simultaneously breaking new ground.  In those two hours, a new world and new characters are established, setting the foundation of a show that would run five glorious years before it’s far-too-soon conclusion.

RISING I (101)

Do you remember the first time you met your significant other?  What they were wearing?  The conversation you had?  The thoughts running through your head at the time?  Hardly?  That’s okay.  People rarely do.  However, I’m willing to bet that fans of Stargate: Atlantis remember that first hour: the introduction of the Atlantis expedition, the wondrous step through the gate to the city of the Ancients, that first meeting with the Athosians and the subsequent encounter with the wraith.  Yeah, I figured.

Actors Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks guest star, helping to pass the torch – although it’d be two terrific years before they’d actually let go of it.  If there was any candidate better suited than Daniel Jackson to join Dr. Weir’s hand-picked team through the gate, I can’t think of one but, of course, we Jack needed him on SG-1.  Or, depending what fandom camp you’re in, he simply couldn’t bear the thought of Daniel being journeying so far away.

The part of Lieutenant Ford was played by former VJ Rainbow Sun Francks.  He won the role on the strength of a great audition, preceded by an equally great audition with a funny hat.  Here’s some advice for all you aspiring actors.  When it comes time to audition, know your lines, keep your hand movements to a minimum, and don’t wear a silly hat because, no matter how good you are, when other people screen your audition, all they’ll notice will be that damn hat.  Fortunately for Rainbow, we were the first ones to see the audition, recognized the talent – and also the probability that, somewhere down the lines, somebody would dismiss him  on account of his headgear – and had him re-read WITHOUT the hat.  He did – and got the part.

One of my favorite moments in Rising I comes when the Atlantis expedition steps through the gate into the City of the Ancients which has stood abandoned for millions of years – yet has an albeit dead potted plant sitting at the foot of the steps leading to the gate room.

The Atlantis gate was, theoretically anyway, an improvement on the Earth gate.  Like I said, theoretically.  While the force shield certainly trumped the Cheyenne Mountain iris, the look of the new gate always struck me as a little glitzy Vegas in comparison to the cooler, staid gate at Stargate Command.  I mean, just compare them…

The SG-1 gate

And the Atlantis gate.

See what I mean?  It’s a little…oh, that’s not right.  Hang on a sec.

Ah. Better.

The Atlantis gate also had the disadvantage of not actually being a working gate.  Before you conspiracy theorists race off to your respective forums to reprint my words as confirmation that the Stargate program does, in fact, exist (and, for the record, I neither confirm or deny its existence), by “operational”, I mean the ability to actually spin.  The gate at the SGC actually spun.  The Atlantis gate’s spin was all CG.

When the team first meets the Athosians, Teyla is introduced as “daughter of Turghan”.  But, later in the series, she names her first born Torren after her father.  So, what’s the deal?  Well, the fact that Teyla is leader of her people could suggest that the Athosians are a matriarchal society and that Turghan is, in fact, her mother’s name.  A lovely name for a young woman.

Also, gate travel implants travelers with translator nanites.  That’s why most everyone seems to speak English.

Eagle-eyed viewers will note that Elizabeth Weir’s boyfriend, Simon (Gavin Sanford), bears a striking resemblance to the late, to the late Tollan Narim, last seen getting blown up in SG-1′s fifth season episode Between Two Fires.  Teyla’s fellow Athosian, Halling (Christopher Heyerdahl), looks a lot like Pallan, that guy who lost his wife and got his mind wiped in SG-1′s seventh season episode Revisions, but looks nothing like the wraith, Todd, who would go on to play such a key role later in the series.

 

 RISING II (102)

Part 1 is the wind up and the pitch while Part 2 is the base-clearing grand slam that hits it out of the park.  The sequence of the city of Atlantis rising from ocean’s depths is one of the most stirring moments in all of Stargate.  Hmmm.  That sounds like a great idea for a future post: Top 10 Moments in Stargate History.  Well, in my books, Atlantis’s resurfacing would rank right up there.

Ah, the puddle jumpers.  Brad had been pitching the idea of these compact hips capable of gate-travel as far back as SG-1′s seventh season.  And the new show was the perfect opportunity to introduce them.  As much as I thought the SG-1 gate superior to its Atlantis counterpart, SGA jumpers beat the hell out of both the F-302′s  and those clunky cargo ships.

Ah, Jinto.  We hardly knew you.  As often happens in television, certain characters pop and are developed (ie. Where’d that Zelenka guy come from?) while others eventually fade into obscurity.  The character of Jinto has the distinction of falling into the latter category for no other reason than: 1. He was a kid and 2. He was Athosian.  While interesting, Teyla’s people became a less important part of the narrative as the series developed and so, they eventually left Atlantis to make their homes on the mainland and, later, off-world.  As for Jinto, not much is known about following the events of those early episodes. I like to think that he became a productive member of Athosian society, settling down with his long-time sweetheart and eventually fathering two boys, Torren (named after Teyla’s fathter) and Toran (named after the Athosian who the wraith queen feasts upon in this episode). Alternately, I like to imagine he spent his years deep in the bowels of Atlantis, playing an protracted game of Hide and Seek following the episode of the same name, convinced he had the best hiding place ever – until his skeletal remains were discovered by an exploratory crew sometime in season four.

Speaking of evolving elements, two particular wraith attributes are in full display in this episode but appear to fade as the series progresses. 1. When our heroes are being harassed by wraith darts, they begin to glimpse ghostly images.  We learn that these images are hallucinations being created by the wraith to confuse them.  They’re, it turns out, a weaker manifestation of the queen’s mind controlling abilities.  The reason we eventually lost this ability was because it was, essentially, a mind trick – and once it stood revealed as such, there wasn’t much traction to be gained by going back to it either for the wraith (as an effective tool to be used against us) or the writers (as a dramatic element).  2. The wraith are damn hard to kill!  It takes multiple rounds to put them down for the count.  And yet, in subsequent episodes, a couple of shots will do the trick.  What gives?  The answer: switching to more devastating armor-piercing rounds.

Tagged: Atlantis, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis

June 6, 2012: Days of Stargate Past…Atlantis

Last year, I took us all on a trip down memory lane as I reflected back (and attempted to recall what details I could of) my seven seasons on Stargate: SG-1.  Our journey began here (April 24, 2011: Days of Stargate Past – SG-1 Season Four!) and ended here (November 9, 2011: Ending my SG-1 trip down memory lane with Unending!).  Along the way, we reminisced on the shipper controversy, Daniel Jackson’s untimely demise and fortuitous resurrection, and even offered some insight into ideas and scenes that never made the final cut.  If you missed anything, just use this blog’s handy search function for the terms “memory lane”, “Days of Stargate past”, or “SG-1″ and they should lead you to the appropriate entries between April 24 and November 9 of 2011.

While SG-1 was my first love (We were together for seven years!), my time on Atlantis proved equally memorable.  The show was possessed of a similar tone in its mix of high adventure and humor, yet proved distinct in its exploration of Ancient mythology and an unfamiliar galaxy as seen through the eyes of a new set of heroes.  Atlantis offered a sense of wonder and camaraderie born of isolation and constant danger. Whereas SG-1 could always go home at the conclusion of their adventures, the members of the Atlantis expedition (at least for those first few seasons) could only draw comfort from the city of Atlantis itself – and, of course, each other.  It was unique and compelling yet, at the same time, comfortingly familiar.  Nowhere is this more evident than in opening theme, composed by the late Joel Goldsmith, which is, at turns fresh, haunting, stirring and, throughout, discernibly Stargate.

Stargate: Atlantis wasn’t envisioned as a companion to Stargate: SG-1. It was intended to replace the long-running series.  The only problem was, with eight seasons under belt, SG-1 wasn’t quite done yet.  And fans (and the network) weren’t done with it either.  And so, instead of passing the torch and seguing to a new Stargate series, we ended up producing both.  In retrospect, it was quite a feat: 40 hours of television!  Lesser productions can barely manage a third that output, but Stargates SG-1 and Atlantis delivered two fantastic 40 episode seasons before SG-1 took it’s final bow.  It wasn’t easy, but it was certainly made easier by all of the enormously talented individuals who made it happen, from the office staff and crew to the cast and my fellow writer/producers.

That first season of Atlantis was special for a lot of reasons.  Not only did it introduce viewers to an exciting new world, but it also introduced them to two equally exciting new writer-producers in Martin Gero and Carl Binder who would both make their debut’s in the show’s first year (with Childhood’s End and Before I Sleep respectively) before joining the staff and eventually leaving their notable marks on the 5-year production.

As for me – well, while our burgeoning writing staff (made up of series creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, my writing partner Paul Mullie, Damian Kindler, Alan McCullough, Peter DeLuise, Martin Gero, and Carl Binder) straddled both shows, spinning ideas and helping to break stories, there was a wavering demarcation between the two productions.  While Paul and I wrote three episodes for SGA’s first season (Suspicion, Home, and Siege II), we were, for the most part, on Team SG-1, writing six episodes and (more importantly) producing more than half the show’s eight season episodes.

Still, as I said, the entire writing department was involved in all things Stargate.  And, prior to the commencement of principal photography on the SGA series opener, Rising I and II, we were privy to exhilarating/frustrating/surprising/ultimately satisfying road to putting together the pieces of the puzzle.

And, one of the most challenging of these puzzle pieces was the casting.  It may surprise you to know that, when it comes to producing a show, not everybody cares about costumes or set design or whether the script’s fifth act denouement is emotionally satisfying, but everybody  - and I do mean EVERYBODY – has an opinion on casting. Studio and network execs, producers, hell, even your significant other peering over your shoulder as you screen the auditions on your home computer will want to weigh in.  Of course, the more voices in the mix the more likely there will be disagreements.  So it is with every production and Atlantis was no different.  Different individuals envisioned these characters in very different ways and, as a result, consensus was only achieved after many auditions, calls-backs, heated discussions, and not-so-gentle reminders that our start date was drawing closer and we really needed someone to say the lines on camera.

To be honest, I don’t remember a whole lot about that whirlwind casting process, but I do recall:

The part of Carson Beckett was one of the first ones cast.  The other producers were in Rob’s office, screening the first batch of local auditions when Brad called me in and told me to check out the guy onscreen.  I hadn’t imagined Beckett with a Scottish accent but, after watching Paul McGillion in the role, I couldn’t imagine him without one. He’d brought something unexpected to the part and we all responded to it.

Elizabeth Weir was not an easy character to pull off.  She had to be smart, confident and strong yet needed to exude a certain warmth and empathy we were looking for in the civilian leader of the expedition. When it came time to (re)casting the role, several established names were considered (one had her own hit show back in the day while another went on to break out on a hit show soon after), but it was Torri Higginson who managed to strike just the right balance and vault her to the top of the list.

The role of Teyla Emmagan was a tough one to cast.  Like Weir, she needed to be a strong, empathetic leader. But she also required something even more important – quite literally, an other-worldly quality that made her unique.  Although she may have looked human, Teyla was an alien and, as a result, we needed someone who could make use buy into her character, convince us and never make us doubt.  Some equally excellent actresses auditioned for the role but, as good as they were, they were never quite able to achieve that gravitas Rachel pulled off with such seeming ease.

The role of John Sheppard was the second to last one cast.  It came right down to the wire and there were several candidates in play.  The character was originally envisioned as a good ole southern boy, so it only made sense that Ben Browder’s name was bandied about early. However, he was busy shooting Peacekeeper Wars.  A number of other actors were  considered (one went on to play the lead in a hugely popular show the following year while another made his mark as a handsome heart throb on another hugely popular series still on the air) but it was Joe Flanigan who won the part based on his ability to pull off the devil-may-care attitude Brad and Robert were looking for.

We come to the final role cast, a character who, in many ways, embodied everything Atlantis was about: exploration, discovery, fun, humor, and seat-of-your-pants-Holy-Sh&%-how-the-hell-am-I-going-to-get-out-of-this-adventure.  And he almost didn’t make the trip to Pegasus.  Originally, the casting call went out for a completely different character, an earnest young doctor who would lend the team much-needed medical support on their off-world ventures.  Unfortunately, no one could agree on who that actor should be.  If the casting of Sheppard went down to the wire, then the casting of this final role went a step past it.  Finally, days away from production, Robert Cooper had an idea: Forget the doctor character.  Why not use an established character from SG-1?  How about Rodney McKay?  We all loved the thought of McKay being part of the expedition but others weren’t sold. They found him annoying!  Hell yeah, but he’d be sooo much fun to write for.  Rob got on the phone and pointed out that the character had come a long way since first being introduced way back in SG-1′s 48 Hours.  He’d evolved, going from annoying jerk to endearingly irritating.  To this day, I’m convinced that they weren’t totally convinced but, with production poised to commence, relented, I suppose figuring they could just replace the character somewhere down the line.  No one, even those of us who loved the idea of having the endearingly irritating Rodney McKay on board couldn’t have predicted how hugely popular the character would become.

Whew!  Didn’t expect the intro to be this long.  In the next few days, we’ll start getting into the actual production as I offer hazy reminiscences and insight into the individual episodes.  So, buckle up and keep your arms and legs inside the ride as we begin our journey down Atlantis memory lane…

I’m finalizing my Comic Con plans.  I will be there, of course, in support of my SF comic book series, Dark Matter, but would be happy to chat macarons, pugs, french bulldogs, oh, and Stargate while I’m there.  I’ve already heard from some fans who’ll be there.  Anyone else?

Tagged: Atlantis, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis, television

June 5, 2012: Bad dining karma!

I believe the food gods are trying to tell me something.  Lately, my dinner outings have varied from middling to highly disappointing. Several of my formerly dependable favorites have failed me.  Still, I held out hope that some of my old standbys would come through and deliver the positive dining experience I desperately needed.  And so, yesterday, after dropping Akemi off at her class, I decided to venture out for a solo lunch.  The service was terrific.  The food…fantastic.  I enjoyed a platter of lamb ribs.  Lamb ribs!  Hell, the last time I sat down to lamb ribs was years ago when the Memphis Barbecue House used to prepare them on the rare occasion – so rare, in fact, that, back then, I was on what I called “the lamb rib hotline”.  Whenever I got the call, I would drop whatever I was doing to drive down and pick up a rack before they sold out.  They were delicious.  And, yesterday’s platter was equally great.  As I sat back, satisfied, I eyed the lone rib sitting on my plate.  It seemed a shame to let it go to waste.  I picked it up, stripped it clean and, as I was finishing up the last bite – CRUNCH!  Lamb bone met tooth – and lamb bone won.

I went to the bathroom to check and, sure enough, one of my teeth was broken.  Fortunately, it was a molar and not one of the front teeth, the loss of which would have seen me walking around town sporting a gap-tooth hillbilly grin.  And, fortunately, my dentist had an opening that afternoon.

Yes, I think the food gods are clearly trying to tell me something: “Eat at home!”  Which is what I plan to do – after tonight because I already have dinner reservations.   My recent outings have graduated from bad food to bad service to injury.  What’s next?  Am I going to eat a toxic mushroom?  Bleed out on account of a mussel shard?  Choke on a fazzoletti?   I don’t mind telling you that I’m VERY nervous.

I should just go back to the days when Akemi used to cook for me, preparing those adorable bento boxes with the peanut butter bears and egg yolk chicks.  Though, given my luck of late, the bento boxes would more than likely run along the lines of something like this:

Or maybe I should just stick to chocolate.  My new fave chocolate shop, Beta 5 (http://shop.beta5chocolates.com/), has been pretty damn consistent in its sweet, sweet offerings.  The other day, Akemi and I dropped by and picked up a new-for-June banana split chocolate bar (containing chocolate, banana, and cherries), and a “box of rocks” -

A collection of aerated chocolate rocks in 45% milk and 72% dark chocolate.

I figured we’d start with a box and come back for more next week when we were done.  As it turns out, we were done by the time I pulled into my garage.

Finally – received a text message from my buddy, Ivon, the other day. “Perogie food truck,”he wrote.  ”1o different kinds like “Thai curry” and “classic”.  That’s a money maker!”  and “It would rule the food truck wars.”  ”Holy Perogy,”I texted back.  ”Love the name,”he replied. “No,”I texted back.  ”That’s the name of the Perogie food truck in Vancouver. It exists.”

Hey! They used a time machine to go forward in time and steal Ivon’s food truck idea!

Oh well.

Tagged: Beta 5, Chocolate, Vancouver chocolate shops

June 4, 2012: The Supermovie of the Week Club reconvenes! Cookie Monster reviews The Shadow!

Who knows what evil lurk in de hearts of men?  De Shadow knows!

How he know?  Search monster.  Me having hard enough time trying to make sense of dis movie.

De Shadow remind monster of De Rocketeer.  Both great-looking period movies with terrifik costumes and set dezign.  But while Rocketeer skript flat and simple , dis skript a little too out dere for it’s own good.  It full of weird magic,  mind control and mind reading, esoterik concepts dat don’t seem to follow any internal logik and just make whole movie feel so unreal it very diffikult to connect wit charakters on any level.

Movie start in China where audience find Jack from Turdy Rock doing great imitation of Trent Reznor.  He a very bad man.  But he get kidnapped by monk, shamed by crazy magik flying dagger, and told he going to be good now.  Seven years later, we in New York where some gangsters about to kill a witness.  Suddenly, a disembodied voice stops dem.  A shadow – literally!  A shadow! – appear and disappear, scare away gangster and save witness.  Turn out dis shadow is…DE SHADOW!  Yeah.  Not to be confused wit other lesser Shadows.

Lamont’s alter-ego, de Shadow, look a lot like Billy Baldwin.

BUT it turn out De Shadow have alter-ego.  By night he be De Shadow but, by day, he a wealthy playboy…just like Bruce Wayne.  Hmmm.

By night, he be de Shadow, but by day he be millionaire playboy Bruce Way-, uh, monster mean Lamont Cranston.

And he live in a city dat look an awful lot like Gotham City.  Becuz it is! Aka New York in de 30′s.

The streets of Gotham. No, not DAT Gotham. New York City.

His real name Lamont Cranston and not only he be rich and handsum, but he have power of mind control.  One night, at de Cobalt Club, he spot a sexy woman at de next table.  He charm her.  But it turn out…she have powers too.  She can read minds!!!

She smart and pretty. Oh, and she reads minds. Did I mention dat?

Why dis woman can read minds?  Did some other monk give her dese powers?  Is dis really necessary?

MEANWHILE, museum receive strange shipment: silver coffin belonging too…GENGHIS KHAN.  Coffin open up and out steps…GENGHIS KHA-  No.  It be Khan Jr., last descendent of great, great, great grandpa Genghis!

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

And he have powers of mind control too!  Wow!  Only ting dis movie missing be magical sorting hat!

Mindreading love interest, Margo, have father/scientist (and, monster suspekt, part-time wizard) who work for War Department.  Khan Jr. use his crazy mind control powers to kidnap father and make him build…pre-atomic bomb atomic bomb!  But Lamont figure dis out by analyzing coin Khan Jr. use to pay him for glass of bourbon.

Whoa, waitaminute.  Why Khan Jr. paying for bourbon wit special coin? Why he so stoopid?

MEANWHILE, Lamont worried dat Margo going to use mind reading power to figure out he De Shadow, so HE use mind control power to make her forget but it not work on her.  But Khan Jr. kidnap Margo and use mind control and it DOES work on her.  She sent to kill de Shadow and almost kill Lamont before spell broken and she realize…he De Shadow!

Scientist-dad’s boss, Tim Curry, lock Shadow in chamber and fill it wit water.  Lamont have to use his mind powers to call Margo to unlock door and save him.  De Shadow realize Khan Jr. going to blow up New York.  Have to stop him!

Da bomb!

He track him down.  Tim Curry try to shoot at shadow on de wall, but de real Shadow not hurt.  Which be kind of strange since, in earlier scene, Shadow gets pinned to wall wit crossbow bolts.  Why crossbow bolts effekt him but bullets don’t?

MEANWHILE, Shadow face off wit Khan Jr.  Margo’s dad snap out of mind control.  He and Margo chase rolling bomb through building in very funny scene.  Father try to defuze bomb but Margo save day by pulling green wire.

Tim Curry just de spice dis movie need.

Meanwhile, Shadow and Khan Jr. still fighting.  Crazy flying magik dagger make another appearance.  It being controlled by Khan Jr. but Shadow use his powerz and gain control of it and kill Khan Jr.  Which leave monster scratching his head.  If Shadow able to take control of dagger, dat mean HIS mind control stronger den Khan Jr.’s.  BUT earlier in movie, Shadow not able to control Margo’s mind but Khan Jr. able to do so no problem.  Dis not make sense.  Why?

MEANWHILE, roll creditz.  DE END.

Verdikt: Movie pull off fantastik magic trick.  It make logik – poof! – disappear!

Rating: 5 out of 10 chocolate chippee cookies.  +1 for sense of humor = 6 out of 10 chocolate chippee cookies.

Pleaze diskuss.

Monster would like to remind everyone dat dey can read past monster supermovie reviewz here: Film reviews by resident film criti…

Next week’s movie be Batman Forever featuring the alwayz understated Jim Carey as…De Riddler:

Tagged: Cookie Monster, Cookie Monster reviews The Shadow, superhero movie of the week club, SuperMovie of the Week Club, The Shadow

June 3, 2012: News of note!

Had dinner last night with Steve Barron who is in town to direct the miniseries Paul and I are writing.  Among the projects Steve has in the works is this intriguing hopefully-soon-to-be-series called Slingers:

Thoughts?

Some news of note:

Enjoy your swim!  Swimming Pools Are Public Toilet Bowls for Many: Survey | Healthy …

The medical term is Acute Trumashowitis: ILLNESS: People believe they’re stars of own reality TV programs…

14 Photographs That Shatter Your Image of Famous People.  This one’s my fave:

Eminem loves Alf. And birthday cake!

Would you like some wood pulp with that pancake?  No?  Too bad.  The 6 Most Horrifying Lies The Food Industry is Feeding You

Tough love! Man abandons daughter over bad grades

Remember to finish up watching The Shadow.  Tomorrow, guest reviewer, Cookie Monster, weighs in with his thoughts when our Supermovie of the Week Club reconvenes!  You can brush up on past reviews here: Film reviews by resident film criti…

June 2, 2012: Lifely Updates! The miniseries, the horror script, travel plans torpedoed, selling my car, Akemi’s corn soup, Jelly, and The Shadow!

Having finished a rough first draft of our four hour, sixteen act near-future miniseries, I’ve moved on to reading and reviewing Paul’s work on Part I (a robust 108 pages.  I have to admit, he’s done a might fine job on the rewrite, pulling everything together into a nice, tight, suspense-filled seat-of-your-pants narrative.  I have all of four notes concerning 1. His use of the term “raw deal” in relation to one character’s backstory, 2) Use of the term “flying” in a subsequent scene, 3) Some necessary elaboration on the accessing of information available online, and 4) I’m not so sure about Pokemon.  Aside from that, it’s great.  I’ll set it aside for a couple of days, and then go over it one more time with an eye to punching up the dialogue.  Tonight, we take a break to have dinner with the director who has flown in to Vancouver to begin prep on the miniseries which shoots sometime in July.

Once our work is done on the miniseries (in a couple of weeks), I guess I’ll be shifting gears to that rewrite of my horror script.  I’ve been asked to compress some of the build-up in the first 65 pages and get to the All-Hell-Breaks-Loose twist a little sooner.  A little more stalk and suspense in the late second act and through the third act is what a couple of readers have requested.

There’s also a comedy pilot I’ve been meaning to finish up work on, but I’m not sure where that will fill in my up-in-the-air schedule.  I was hoping to go away in June (Hawaii!), and then visit Montreal and San Diego (Comic Con) in July, but my dog-sitter’s availability may deep-six those plans.  I may be able to squeeze in a Vegas getaway at the end of July, but another trip to Europe to attend the wedding of some dear friends (Berlin, Paris, and Madrid) may also have to be scuttled.  On the bright side, Vancouver IS beautiful in the summer.

With a break in my schedule, I finally got around to asking my vet to write me a letter of reference for the Seattle Pug Rescue.  I’m considering adopting an elderly pug (or two) and they, evidently, want to make certain I’ll be able to provide the pooches with a good home. Anyway, my vet wrote a terrific letter that ended with: “His care is so fantastic that I hope to be reincarnated as one of his pets!”.  Stellar.

I’ve got to get around to selling my car.  Ivon suggests craigslist and I suppose that’s the way I’ll end up going but, to be honest, it just seems like such a pain in the ass.  How many kooks (or worse) am I going to have to wade through before making the sale?

As we head into the summer season, various farmer’s markets start popping up around the city offering the sort of fresh fruit and vegetables you’ll be hard-pressed to find at your local supermarket. The other day, we picked up some fresh corn and Akemi made a wonderful soup.

Boil the corn in salted water. Puree with some of the boiling water. Chill. Strain.

And serve! Dollop of foamed milk and sprinkle of paprika optional.

Dense, sweet, and delicious.  It made me nostalgic for the fantastic corn soup Chef Belcham used to make at Fuel/Refuel.

For some reason, the usually spry Bubba has slowed down in the last couple of weeks.  Jelly, meanwhile, keeps chugging along -

Cookie Monster asked me to remind everyone that the Supermovie of the Week Club reconvenes this Monday.  Up for discussion and review: The Shadow (1994).  The trailer looks promising:

June 1, 2012: We hit EAT! Vancouver! And then Eat! Vancouver hits us back and takes my wallet.

Today, Akemi and I met up with our friend Sheryl (and her boyfriend West) to check out the first day of the EAT! Vancouver festival, described as “the only consumer food, beverage and cooking festival in Vancouver” and “the ultimate Food Expo”.  These two facts together make me very, very sad.  I’m not saying it was a total waste of time, but I am suggesting your $16 entrance fee could be better spent on lottery tickets.

There were plenty of exhibitors offering free samples of everything from Greek yogurt and olive oil to chocolate and smoothies.  Ultimately, there was nothing there you couldn’t find at most high-end grocers but I suppose it’s an opportunity to get the word out about their respect products.  In addition to food, there were other retailers selling dog treats, kitchen products, and information on travel to Louisiana, Mexico, and the Philippines. There was also a separate booze section that was a little more interesting.

In terms of entertainment, we were treated to some sort of Chef Off on the big stage featuring some Food Network personalities, and a barista competition that was difficult to watch given the angle of the seating and the fact that most of the baristas worked with their backs to the audience.  A big screen offered a live feed of the action but, unfortunately, the bright lights pretty much blew out the picture so it was near impossible to make out what was going on.

As for the food – the main draw – there were some two dozen food stands, mainly local restaurants, selling 2-3 bite-sized portions of fairly unremarkable plates: quite a few mini burgers, some tacos, desserts.

Akemi in happier times (aka before we forked over our $32 to gain entrance to EAT! Vancouver).

We lose Sheryl and West at the cheese seminar. Apparently, they failed their finals.

The high point of the afternoon was meeting blog regular, JYS, who recognized me (I actually think it was Akemi he recognized) and stopped to chat. He gave me a tip on some great macarons and I thanked him by promising to visit the restaurant where he works and being hyper-critical about my meal.

While we were talking, an elderly woman stumbled over a pocket of cables and took a tumble right behind us.  Then, seconds later, another elderly woman tripped but managed to steady herself before eating carpet.  I suggested we step aside or risk being taken out at the knees.

Even the chocolate-peanut butter mousse was a disappointment. I mean, come on! The chocolate-peanut butter mousse!

On the way out, I stopped to snap some photos of the melon art at one of the Thai restaurant booths:

Too pretty to eat.  At least that’s what they said when I tried to eat it.

As it turned out, EAT! Vancouver wasn’t a total waste of my time.  I ended up buying two bottles of some lovely flavored oils:

Once you factor in their purchase price, the entrance fee, and the cost of parking, they came out to roughly $35 a bottle.

I’ll have to be sure to use them sparingly.

Mailbag:

Yates writes: “I’ll be at SDCC selling my wares – booth 1335, look for the guy with all the colorful puzzles – It would be great to say hello!”

Answer: I’ll track you down!

DP writes: “Here you go: the list of words to avoid to supposedly keep the Department of Homeland Security from cyber-stalking you.”

Answer: Yep, pretty much covered all of them while researching this miniseries.

Tam Dixon writes: “I thought prawns were just big shrimp? I’ve never seen them prepared like that.”

Answer: Went out for sushi last night.  Look at what they served us with our spot prawn aburi…

KEK writes: “The stuff done on BSG was groundbreaking, not even surpassed in SGU. The stuff we’ve seen on Stargate is relatively generic by comparison, with nothing really setting it apart too much from Trek or even Dr Who.”

Answer: The second sentence receives a huge ?????!!!! from me.  As for the first part  - yes, BSG did amazing things with, as you pointed out, a significantly bigger budget, but the aliens our VFX team created for episodes like Space and Awakening were second to none.

Debra writes: “Speaking of your guys, did I miss an update on the older adoption pair you wanted?”

Answer: Nope.  I’ve been busy working on this miniseries and wanted to go away for a little vacation before adopting.

Line Noise writes: “I’m curious about the origins of this mini series.  Was it an idea that you and Paul had on the shelf that your agent was shopping around? Or were you approached out of the blue by the producers?”

Answer: The latter.

Line Noise also writes: “If the latter, how much of the story was already decided by the producers before you started writing? Were you tightly constrained by certain elements or did you have free reign?”

Answer: They came to us with several concepts and there was one that particularly appealed to us.  They had some suggestions for the opening and potential dramatic developments but we were otherwise given free rein in building the story.  We broke the 16 act narrative over the course of a week, received notes on the outline, and started work on the script soon after.

Line Noise also writes: “How much interaction do you have with the producers during the writing process? Are you sending them regular drafts and receiving notes?”

Answer: As I said, we received notes at the outline stage.  We’ll receive our next round of notes after delivery of the first draft.  And then, depending on how tight the prep schedule, probably one last set of notes on the second draft.

Line Noise also writes: “I’m just intrigued because if cameras roll in July the producers must be pretty confident they’re going to get what they want from you.”

Answer: The outline was fairly detailed, breaking down every scene and beat in each act of the four hour event, so there won’t be any surprises at the script stage.  There will no doubt be notes, but they won’t be of the “I think the end of act 4 should be the end of act 2″ variety.

Ponytail writes: “I’m wondering if when you reflect back on your Stargate days, if the problems you had with production or people involved don’t seem so bad anymore, and you recognize it was all just a part of the process?”

Answer: Stargate was such a well-oiled machine that there were few if any big problems to deal with.  Sure, there were some minor hiccups along the way typical of any production – scheduling conflicts, disagreements on creative or other matters – but those were issues quickly addressed and just as quickly forgotten.  We had a show to produce!

mike mcginnis writes: “Two quick questions
1. can please do an SGA trip down memory lane?
2. if you get shanks to answer questions, could you also ask hewlett to stop by at one point and maybe flanigan?”

Answer: 1. Yes, eventually.  2. David’s web presence is bigger than mine and has made himself very accessible to fandom!  Having him do a Q&A here would be redundant.