Stargate SG-1: Don Davis very much missed
CM
SG-1. Granted, I have a loyalty to it and have watched each episode, but
they have all felt like filler.
One of the key reasons is that the focus of the show seems very much
redirected. Gone is the show that focussed on the interaction of this core
SG team to the aliens and events they encountered. The focus is much more
inward now. This is most exemplified by the reduction in the team size to
three people. Amanda Tapping can carry off the science geek that saves the
day. She might be able to carry off the military leader commanding the team.
But carrying off both is not working.
But the biggest gap is the lack of Don Davis. Only with his absence do I
truly realize what he brought to the show. He brought a certain gravitas to
the character. Jack's attitude was much more acceptable when played off
Hammond, knowing as viewers that the only reason Jack stayed employed is
because Hammond continually ran interference for him (and that he saved the
world a few times).
RAD can bring off parts of the role of General, but the O'Neill character he
has crafted over the years does not fit as the leader and administrator of
the SGC. We have seen a few episodes featuring this lack of fit, with the
usual resolution at the episode end. But it all feels so forced.
I am not saying bring back Hammond as a regular character. But let's see him
back, at least, as a recurring character to help support Jack and to show
there is a chain of command.
Eva
news:4oadnQB3S9o...@look.ca...
Season 8 spoilers and some Atlantis spoilers
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> To this point, I have not really enjoyed this eighth season of Stargate
> SG-1. Granted, I have a loyalty to it and have watched each episode, but
> they have all felt like filler.
Apart from "Avatar", I thought the episodes so far were good.
> One of the key reasons is that the focus of the show seems very much
> redirected. Gone is the show that focussed on the interaction of this core
> SG team to the aliens and events they encountered. The focus is much more
> inward now. This is most exemplified by the reduction in the team size to
> three people. Amanda Tapping can carry off the science geek that saves the
> day. She might be able to carry off the military leader commanding the
team.
> But carrying off both is not working.
I don't know why they decided not to add another member to SG-1 and I still
can't decide whether I like it or not. TPTB may have decided that with so
many changes happening very quickly, they didn't want their audience to have
to cope with a new character; after all, they got a pretty mixed reaction to
Jonas, although that was for different reasons. To be honest, I want Jack
back in SG-1 and someone else in Hammond's office.
> But the biggest gap is the lack of Don Davis. Only with his absence do I
> truly realize what he brought to the show. He brought a certain gravitas
to
> the character. Jack's attitude was much more acceptable when played off
> Hammond, knowing as viewers that the only reason Jack stayed employed is
> because Hammond continually ran interference for him (and that he saved
the
> world a few times).
Yes, I agree. He was in the background for most of the time but, as you
say, now he's gone, you can see how important he was.
> RAD can bring off parts of the role of General, but the O'Neill character
he
> has crafted over the years does not fit as the leader and administrator of
> the SGC. We have seen a few episodes featuring this lack of fit, with the
> usual resolution at the episode end. But it all feels so forced.
I think it's very much the case of reality forcing events on the show. RDA
wants a short working week so they make him a General and put him in the
office. Let's face it, last season it was very difficult to work around his
short hours because we expected Jack to do his job, ie leading SG-1 through
the gate, and so the lack of him was very noticeable and unwelcome by the
fans. Now just about all he does is paperwork and it's much easier to
explain his absence. I don't like it one bit but at least it doesn't
distract me as much as it did last season.
Could Jack have refused the promotion? Or at least refused the position
while accepting the promotion to General? After all, he is Jack O'Neill,
the saviour of the world, so they could have made him a General, if they
really had to, and they could have let him stay in SG-1.
Another point is that at the end of last season the President made a big,
*big* deal about SGC being headed by a civilian (IIRC). Which is why he put
Weir in charge, a total stranger and non-military. Now she's been shifted
off to Atlantis, what was stopping him to choose another civilian to take
Weir's place? I suppose you could say with Kinsey gone he didn't have to
appease him anymore so he put the military back in charge but I don't buy
it. I'd bet had RDA been working a normal 5 day schedule, Jack would *not*
be in charge of SGC now.
> I am not saying bring back Hammond as a regular character. But let's see
him
> back, at least, as a recurring character to help support Jack and to show
> there is a chain of command.
Given that DD left for health reasons, it may not be possible to bring him
back even for guest appearances. It may come down to Jack talking to
Hammond on the phone.
Eva
--
Join the Stargate SG-1 SETI@home Team
http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah/team_display.php?teamid=30516
Andrew Venor
> "CM" <te...@rogers.com> wrote in message
> news:4oadnQB3S9o...@look.ca...
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> Season 8 spoilers and some Atlantis spoilers
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> back even for guest appearances. It may come down to Jack talking to
> Hammond on the phone.
Not to give up too much of a spoiler, but Mr. Davis will be making a few
guest appearances on the shows this season.
ALV
Mark Jones
> RAD can bring off parts of the role of General, but the O'Neill character he
> has crafted over the years does not fit as the leader and administrator of
> the SGC. We have seen a few episodes featuring this lack of fit, with the
> usual resolution at the episode end. But it all feels so forced.
>
> I am not saying bring back Hammond as a regular character. But let's see him
> back, at least, as a recurring character to help support Jack and to show
> there is a chain of command.
I miss Don Davis, too. But he's pretty much gone (though I hear he
might make a cameo or two).
On the other hand, I think it's pretty much accepted that Jack only
pretends to be a dimbulb. It was a handy technique and has served him
well. But that was in the field, working with a small team who knew him
and knew better than to buy into that image, and interacting with
obnoxious bad guys who -didn't- know better.
Now he's the base commander and he may find that he's going to have to
stop playing the amiable dunce and start acting like a real commander.
It won't be easy, habits can be hard to break. But his professionalism
and his determination to safeguard earth will (I hope) trump habit.
This is an opportunity for character growth. O'Neill is going to have
to be more _like_ Gen. Hammond if he really hopes to fill Hammond's
shoes. Which means he can no longer afford to squander the goodwill of
his superiors on his own antics when he may need it to support and
protect the people he's in charge of now.
Lisa
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> > To this point, I have not really enjoyed this eighth season of Stargate
> > SG-1. Granted, I have a loyalty to it and have watched each episode, but
> > they have all felt like filler.
>
> Apart from "Avatar", I thought the episodes so far were good.
I've enjoyed them all, thought Affinity was a little on the slow side and
did have some rather glaring plot holes in it and some rather poor
characterisation, but other than that I think it's been really good, been
looking forward every week to episodes, which I haven't done for some years.
> I don't know why they decided not to add another member to SG-1 and I
still
> can't decide whether I like it or not. TPTB may have decided that with so
> many changes happening very quickly, they didn't want their audience to
have
> to cope with a new character; after all, they got a pretty mixed reaction
to
> Jonas, although that was for different reasons. To be honest, I want Jack
> back in SG-1 and someone else in Hammond's office.
I'm kinda ambivalent on this, I really think seeing a new aspect to Jack has
been fantastic and it seems to have given RDA a kick up the arse, he is
acting really well again, but I'm missing him on SG-1 desperately. Sam or
Amanda Tapping, not sure which, is not capable of pulling off being leader
and the authority needed to go with it, I just don't have the confidence in
her to do it. What might have worked was to appoint Jack as General, but to
have brought in a civilian as well, kinda had two of them working together
to run the SGC, which would still allow Jack to go offworld occasionally and
in the meantime do what we suggested when Daniel departed and bring in a
revolving fourth as and when necessary. There are plenty of people they
could use, although of course my vote goes for that lovely Grogan who has
been scandalously missing of late, he would make a very welcome addition
:-).
>
> Yes, I agree. He was in the background for most of the time but, as you
> say, now he's gone, you can see how important he was.
Absolutely, Jack does have the authority, did you see him this week when he
got all cross and stern with that annoying civilian man, changed from joking
to very pissed immediately, but it really isn't his role, whereas Hammond
just fitted the part admirably.
>
> I think it's very much the case of reality forcing events on the show.
RDA
> wants a short working week so they make him a General and put him in the
> office. Let's face it, last season it was very difficult to work around
his
> short hours because we expected Jack to do his job, ie leading SG-1
through
> the gate, and so the lack of him was very noticeable and unwelcome by the
> fans. Now just about all he does is paperwork and it's much easier to
> explain his absence. I don't like it one bit but at least it doesn't
> distract me as much as it did last season.
I've found it far less jarring this season, especially as we had some of
those lovely episodes at the start of the season just full of Jackly
goodness. Whilst it doesn't feel right seeing SG-1 going through the Gate
without him (not that they seem to be doing it very often!) it doesn't feel
wrong either because I know they haven't come up with Excuse Of The Week to
keep him away.
>
> Could Jack have refused the promotion? Or at least refused the position
> while accepting the promotion to General? After all, he is Jack O'Neill,
> the saviour of the world, so they could have made him a General, if they
> really had to, and they could have let him stay in SG-1.
>
> Another point is that at the end of last season the President made a big,
> *big* deal about SGC being headed by a civilian (IIRC). Which is why he
put
> Weir in charge, a total stranger and non-military. Now she's been shifted
> off to Atlantis, what was stopping him to choose another civilian to take
> Weir's place? I suppose you could say with Kinsey gone he didn't have to
> appease him anymore so he put the military back in charge but I don't buy
> it. I'd bet had RDA been working a normal 5 day schedule, Jack would
*not*
> be in charge of SGC now.
No, I don't think so either, they would have found someone else and Jack
would still be off Gating to other worlds.
>
> Given that DD left for health reasons, it may not be possible to bring him
> back even for guest appearances. It may come down to Jack talking to
> Hammond on the phone.
I expect to see him make the odd appearance, perhaps like Shanks did in
season 6?
Lisa
EvilBill
interruptions are enough to make one insane!!
>
> Season 8 spoilers and some Atlantis spoilers
>
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> big, *big* deal about SGC being headed by a civilian (IIRC). Which
> is why he put Weir in charge, a total stranger and non-military. Now
> she's been shifted off to Atlantis, what was stopping him to choose
> another civilian to take Weir's place? I suppose you could say with
> Kinsey gone he didn't have to appease him anymore so he put the
> military back in charge but I don't buy it. I'd bet had RDA been
> working a normal 5 day schedule, Jack would *not* be in charge of SGC
> now.
>
They're secretly plotting to put Anubis in charge so Jack can return to
SG-1 *ducks* <g>
--
"FREEZE MUTHA-STICKER, THIS IS A FUCK-UP!!"
EvilBill - http://www.evilbill.co.uk
My Quake2 FTP site: ftp://65.30.181.223/quake2/EvilBill/
Andrew Venor
> CM wrote:
>
>> RAD can bring off parts of the role of General, but the O'Neill
>> character he
>> has crafted over the years does not fit as the leader and
>> administrator of
>> the SGC. We have seen a few episodes featuring this lack of fit, with the
>> usual resolution at the episode end. But it all feels so forced.
>>
>> I am not saying bring back Hammond as a regular character. But let's
>> see him
>> back, at least, as a recurring character to help support Jack and to show
>> there is a chain of command.
>
>
> I miss Don Davis, too. But he's pretty much gone (though I hear he
> might make a cameo or two).
>
> On the other hand, I think it's pretty much accepted that Jack only
> pretends to be a dimbulb. It was a handy technique and has served him
> well. But that was in the field, working with a small team who knew him
> and knew better than to buy into that image, and interacting with
> obnoxious bad guys who -didn't- know better.
Not to mention having Jack play dumb is a handy story telling tool that
lets the writers have Lt. Col. Carter, Dr. Jackson, etc. explain
important stuff in the episode that the characters should already know
but the audience doesn't.
ALV
Bill Martin
<lisa.dug...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> Eva wrote
> >
> > Season 8 spoilers and some Atlantis spoilers
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[snips galore]
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> > Given that DD left for health reasons, it may not be possible to bring him
> > back even for guest appearances. It may come down to Jack talking to
> > Hammond on the phone.
>
> I expect to see him make the odd appearance, perhaps like Shanks did in
> season 6?
Well...
SPOILERING MORE THAN EXPECTED....
He's scheduled to show up on the episode where that Farscape chick,
Claudia Black, ends up trying to get ahold of the Prometheus.
P. Burrows
says...
> "CM" <te...@rogers.com> wrote in message
> news:4oadnQB3S9o...@look.ca...
>
> Season 8 spoilers and some Atlantis spoilers
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
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> >
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> back even for guest appearances. It may come down to Jack talking to
> Hammond on the phone.
Are we sure that is why he left?
P. Burrows
lisa.dug...@blueyonder.co.uk says...
> I've enjoyed them all, thought Affinity was a little on the slow side and
> did have some rather glaring plot holes in it and some rather poor
> characterisation, but other than that I think it's been really good, been
> looking forward every week to episodes, which I haven't done for some years.
But i think their titles suck - they should hire someone from Andromeda
(apart from Mrs Shanks ;) - the only thing they do really well is
comming up with weird and wonderfull titles.
P. Burrows
says...
> On the other hand, I think it's pretty much accepted that Jack only
> pretends to be a dimbulb.
Really? I've pretty much accepted he is just dense.
Andrew.Venor
Yes we are. Mr. Davis decided to retire from full time acting and spend
more time painting and sculpting after he was diagnosed with diabetes
last year. However we will see him this Friday in the first of several
guest appearances on the shows this year.
ALV
Lisa
S
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> Are we sure that is why he left?
Yes, he talked about it at a convention recently. He was diagnosed with
diabetes, has gone on a major diet, lost over 45 pounds I believe, stopped
drinking (and boy did he like his whisky<g>) and generally realised that
there is more to life than work. He also has a new wife, Ruby, to whom he
is very devoted and very much in love with, he wanted to do more of his art
work, so I guess the time was right to slow down on the work and devote
more time to his personal life.
>
Lisa
MadiHolmes
>> On the other hand, I think it's pretty much accepted that Jack only
>> pretends to be a dimbulb.
>
>Really? I've pretty much accepted he is just dense.
Then his job is done <g>
Madi"Hello, my name is Jack"Holmes
William Vojak
news:2oup4kF...@uni-berlin.de:
> What might have worked was to appoint Jack as General, but to
> have brought in a civilian as well, kinda had two of them working
> together to run the SGC, which would still allow Jack to go offworld
> occasionally
Bring in the Admiral from JAG. He could run the SG-C as well
as Hammond did! Talk about cross over shows. How about an
episode where a Naval officer gets killed at the SG-C, and JAG
has to come in and investigate :-) Of course Cmdr Rabb would
have to figure out a way to fly a F-14 through the Stargate to
rescue someone.
Bill Vojak
William Vojak
@nntp2.usenetserver.com:
Which is how he got that management job :-)
Bill Vojak
Mark Jones
>>>On the other hand, I think it's pretty much accepted that Jack only
>>>pretends to be a dimbulb.
>>
>>Really? I've pretty much accepted he is just dense.
>
> Then his job is done <g>
Heh heh. Exactly. And it'll come as a shocking (and brief) surprise
when Jack takes out yet another doofus who took his "amiable dunce" act
at face value.
(Another thing I like about Jack is how he never just takes someone's
word for it that his weapon either won't function or won't hurt the
speaker. He always tries it. And sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes
the bad guy gets a chestful of high-velocity lead.)
Mark Jones
> Bring in the Admiral from JAG. He could run the SG-C as well
> as Hammond did! Talk about cross over shows. How about an
> episode where a Naval officer gets killed at the SG-C, and JAG
> has to come in and investigate :-) Of course Cmdr Rabb would
> have to figure out a way to fly a F-14 through the Stargate to
> rescue someone.
"Eagles and Weasels", a JAG/SG-1 crossover fanfic in which the JAG
characters investigate how and why 16 Marines have been killed while
assigned to a "deep space radar telemetry" project under the mountain....
M.H.
thank you for posting that. I'm laughing like crazy
--
___________________________________________________________________
Mark Jones
> Mark Jones wrote:
>>"Eagles and Weasels", a JAG/SG-1 crossover fanfic in which the JAG
>>characters investigate how and why 16 Marines have been killed while
>>assigned to a "deep space radar telemetry" project under the mountain....
>>
>>http://www.fanfic101.com/x_eagles.htm
>
> thank you for posting that. I'm laughing like crazy
Glad you liked it. I love reading fanfic (well, the good fanfic), and I
especially like crossover fic.
Gactimus
All Hammond did was ask Jack what he thought.
MARTIN JARVIS
I think that everybody wanted to end the series at 7 but they just gave it
one last crack i think stargate SG1 is a cool programe but you can see
series 6-8 aint as good as 1-3,
are there any other stargate type programes comming out of the usa yet?
there was this cool show last year called odessey 5 but sky one cancelled
it:(
ciao martin
"CM" <te...@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:4oadnQB3S9o...@look.ca...
d
as well. Very good insights here as what he brought to the show.
Gactimus wrote:
> "CM" <te...@rogers.com> wrote in news:4oadnQB3S9o...@look.ca:
>