Formspring Question #413--Dialing the Gate or Jumping the Shark? Edition

SG1 had trouble after Meridian hitting the “team dynamic”. First they had to intro Jonas, then intro new sci-fi viewers, then RDA cut his hours. That feeling is few and far between in S7/8, even though the finales are some of the best of the show. RDA leaving for S9/10 was good—a lot of eps suffered as they had to work around his sched. 9/10 feel very different (not least because the entire cast does the comedy) but it allows SG1 to feel like a cohesive unit again. A family, even.

I am coming around to Joe Flanagan’s way of thinking. He and the cast of Stargate: Atlantis got the impression the creative team behind the Stargate franchise acted as though they could do no wrong. Fans would eat up anything they put on screen, so why worry? Hence, there were characters were added and dropped willy nilly in Stargate SG-1, the final two seasons were a whole new storyline, etc. I have not done much with Stargate: Atlantis as of yet, but there was a tension regarding the quality of writing of which I am aware. The cast felt they were abruptly cancelled in favor of a third pin off which was, for all intents and purposes, Stargate Galactica. It mercifully flopped.

I will have a much better perspective once I have reviewed the entire series, but thus far, I suspect much of the loss of team dynamic has a lot to do with the production schedule. Filming ten episodes back-to-back is a lot of work for a relatively small cast. If an actor or two needs to drop out an episode or two in order to avoid learning pages of dialogue and enduring minor stunts, I am not surprised even though there is a noticeable lack of team cohesion because of it. I do not think it is a coincidence the cast of Stargate: Atlantis is so large. The more characters present, the less burden the individual cast members have to bear.

I remain cautiously optimistic the late season changes on Stargate SG-1 do not ruin my enjoyment.