Strange Things in the Air....
So anyone that was anywhere near the internet yesterday and is interested in Stargate has probably heard the news. Spoilers for Season 4 of Stargate Atlantis ensue, read at your own risk.
The character of Dr. Elizabeth Weir is being demoted to recurring status. Sam Carter is being brought in to finish out Amanda Tapping's contract and strangest of all strange happenings, an un-known little girl is replacing our beloved Dr. Carson Beckett. Add this to the changes rumored for Battlestar Galactica and you have an unsettling picture of a network in serious trouble and a bunch of people scrambling to save their collective asses.
First things first. Okay. So Carson wasn't the most interesting plot-driving character on the show. I know this. I can almost see their point for making him go away, and possibly come back at some point in the future. Almost. What I can't see is replacing him with someone else... specifically a someone else who will most likely be even more boring and potentially story hindering than Carson ever was. Regardless of how useful TPTB think Beckett was or wasn't, the fact remains that he is a beloved character. Why take a chance? Why not just cut back his character as they are doing with Weir? Why hire a completely new person? There just aren't any good answers for these questions.
Amanda Tapping..... Well.... Hmmm.... Not being a huge fan of SG1, I can't say I've got any large emotional attachment to her character, Sam Carter. I don't dislike her, but then again, I'm not bubbling with excitement to see her on Atlantis. This of all the above decisions is by far the riskiest. Sam was one of the vaunted SG1, other half of the great Jack O'Neil. (say what you want about the ship, fact is, they were a dynamic pair when they were together.) Bring her in to a chemistry that is already set between John, McKay, Teyla and Ronon and you may have a really big mess. You can't put her on John's team, she outranks him and that would never do for our intrepid hero Colonel Sheppard to be replaced. The only place to put her is somewhere outside that circle- unfortunately Weir already occupies that spot. If spoilers are correct, Sam will command the Daedalus in place of the exiting Caldwell, (Mitch Pelegi supposedly won a full-time spot on another show for the fall) and so her role will most likely increase the Daedalus presence on the show and shift attention away from Weir and the running of Atlantis.
Interesting changes to say the very least… Now if Carter is kept in the periphery of the team and functions as Caldwell did only more visible, her time in Atlantis might be tolerable. If not... well... the jury's out on that one.
This brings me to the last part of this situation- Dr. Weir's new recurring status. Unlike some other very vocal members of the SGA fandom, I really don't see this change as a bad thing. Of all the mucking TPTB are doing, this one is the only one with the potential to do more good than harm.
There are those of us who for a long time have felt that Weir's role has been awkward and contrived. It has been transparent, to me at least, that they scrape and agonize to give her something- anything to do every week. It's gotten very old. Weir never should have been a main character; she should have been recurring from the start like Hammond on SG1. Pulling Weir back to recurring should end the weekly search to give her something to do and leave more free time to focus on the team itself and their missions. Seeing Weir mind the home fires and make some of the tough calls should be more than enough for the average viewer who tunes in every week to see Sheppard kick some Wraith ass. I know it's enough for me.
Now of course as a long time devotee to the growing romance between John and Teyla, I can only hope that Weir's reduced screen time will help to silence the loud and unreasonable voices that keep insisting there is a connection between Weir and Sheppard when there is not. Time will tell on that one, but I live in hope.
Some of these decisions are desperate, some of them are understandable, but unfortunately they smack of something in the throes of death. I hope I'm wrong in my suspicions, but what could drive the crazy decisions being announced for Sci-Fi channel shows? Here's a helpful hint to the execs at NBC- Universal, owners of Sci-Fi: Why don't you try replacing the people in charge instead of forcing producers and writers of beloved shows into making rash and potentially show-canceling changes? Just a thought.
The character of Dr. Elizabeth Weir is being demoted to recurring status. Sam Carter is being brought in to finish out Amanda Tapping's contract and strangest of all strange happenings, an un-known little girl is replacing our beloved Dr. Carson Beckett. Add this to the changes rumored for Battlestar Galactica and you have an unsettling picture of a network in serious trouble and a bunch of people scrambling to save their collective asses.
First things first. Okay. So Carson wasn't the most interesting plot-driving character on the show. I know this. I can almost see their point for making him go away, and possibly come back at some point in the future. Almost. What I can't see is replacing him with someone else... specifically a someone else who will most likely be even more boring and potentially story hindering than Carson ever was. Regardless of how useful TPTB think Beckett was or wasn't, the fact remains that he is a beloved character. Why take a chance? Why not just cut back his character as they are doing with Weir? Why hire a completely new person? There just aren't any good answers for these questions.
Amanda Tapping..... Well.... Hmmm.... Not being a huge fan of SG1, I can't say I've got any large emotional attachment to her character, Sam Carter. I don't dislike her, but then again, I'm not bubbling with excitement to see her on Atlantis. This of all the above decisions is by far the riskiest. Sam was one of the vaunted SG1, other half of the great Jack O'Neil. (say what you want about the ship, fact is, they were a dynamic pair when they were together.) Bring her in to a chemistry that is already set between John, McKay, Teyla and Ronon and you may have a really big mess. You can't put her on John's team, she outranks him and that would never do for our intrepid hero Colonel Sheppard to be replaced. The only place to put her is somewhere outside that circle- unfortunately Weir already occupies that spot. If spoilers are correct, Sam will command the Daedalus in place of the exiting Caldwell, (Mitch Pelegi supposedly won a full-time spot on another show for the fall) and so her role will most likely increase the Daedalus presence on the show and shift attention away from Weir and the running of Atlantis.
Interesting changes to say the very least… Now if Carter is kept in the periphery of the team and functions as Caldwell did only more visible, her time in Atlantis might be tolerable. If not... well... the jury's out on that one.
This brings me to the last part of this situation- Dr. Weir's new recurring status. Unlike some other very vocal members of the SGA fandom, I really don't see this change as a bad thing. Of all the mucking TPTB are doing, this one is the only one with the potential to do more good than harm.
There are those of us who for a long time have felt that Weir's role has been awkward and contrived. It has been transparent, to me at least, that they scrape and agonize to give her something- anything to do every week. It's gotten very old. Weir never should have been a main character; she should have been recurring from the start like Hammond on SG1. Pulling Weir back to recurring should end the weekly search to give her something to do and leave more free time to focus on the team itself and their missions. Seeing Weir mind the home fires and make some of the tough calls should be more than enough for the average viewer who tunes in every week to see Sheppard kick some Wraith ass. I know it's enough for me.
Now of course as a long time devotee to the growing romance between John and Teyla, I can only hope that Weir's reduced screen time will help to silence the loud and unreasonable voices that keep insisting there is a connection between Weir and Sheppard when there is not. Time will tell on that one, but I live in hope.
Some of these decisions are desperate, some of them are understandable, but unfortunately they smack of something in the throes of death. I hope I'm wrong in my suspicions, but what could drive the crazy decisions being announced for Sci-Fi channel shows? Here's a helpful hint to the execs at NBC- Universal, owners of Sci-Fi: Why don't you try replacing the people in charge instead of forcing producers and writers of beloved shows into making rash and potentially show-canceling changes? Just a thought.