gategrrl | Tapping/Carter to appear in 14 episodes of Atlantis..I feel sorry for you Atlantis fans,

I have to agree with others when they ask what are the Boys at Bridge smoking these days?

AT/Sam is not this huge draw as far as I can see. The character herself is usually coming in dead last in a popularity poll.

Granted, Weir is no prize catch either and I think they should have bent over backwards to keep the original actress because she did a very good job with Weir, someone who was completely out of her depth and out of her expertise but trying to do the right thing in the best way she could. She was believeable. The second one? Oy! Still, to replace the amount of time one excruciatingly boring character spends onscreen with another one equally as boring if not more so?

I'm glad I was never really into SGA.

You know...I wonder if Jessica Steen met with the boyz, realized what kind of writers/producers/management they are and said thanks but no thanks.

I'm guessing that a regular gig in Vancouver *has* to be better than a few guest starring roles in primetime...so there had to be something that kept her from signing.

I guess maybe we're seeing some of that now/

That makes sense.

I agree that Weir wasn't designed to be a lead character and should have been recurring, but the Boyz @ Bridge definitely have a bad habit of just giving up on a character that's not working the way they want instead of trying to fix it.

Honestly, I just didn't know that demoting your lead actress down to recurring was "done" in the business. To me, that sounds like a huge professional insult to Tori.

I can't recall a time when anything like that has happened on any tv show before. An actor is either the lead or they're fired, they don't get demoted, and the only time I've seen actor or actress out for any length of time is generally health related, or some established actors might negotiate off for a few episodes for personal reasons. But then I remember TPTB are the ones who started treating their third lead/lead female like their second lead and wrote the second lead out for a while, and it sort of makes "sense."

I get the impression they're making all these cast changes to make room for Tapping, and not just onscreen, but on the payroll. SGA is mostly on its own now, so they're probably counting their pennies.

I just can't get why Tapping still had a year on her contract when no one else did. From what I've read, all the original cast members had been negotiating annually since the five years on Showtime ended (it was often cited as one reason why the production costs rose each year). Browder signed for two years as the "new guy" and I'm betting Claudia Black did as well, and I don't think her recurring role in season nine counts.

So why is Tapping's contract different? Or was it planned out this way so they could move her over to SGA if SG-1 didn't get another season? Or are they blowing smoke up our ass about it being a contract fulfillment thing?

My concern is once she's there, will she do the one season and leave? I somehow really doubt it. I think Carter's there to stay, so I think I'm on the way out the door. ::sigh:: You know, I once joked about "Sam Carter: Destroyer of Shows" and it's not funny anymore.

I've heard that:

1. She had already signed to do season 11, so she's technically "under contract" to Bridge. That's why they're moving her over to SGA.

2. An offhand comment went along the lines of "we put Tapping on Atlantis because the other actors would probably be too busy to do the show." Which, to me, sounds like if they didn't give her work, no other studio would because Tapping isn't a bankable actress.

I don't know why because the decision makes no sense unless I take into account that the Boys at Bridge are in love with Sam and probably have wet dreams about her. So why not penalize another show with a character that has such negative perception as long as they can indulge their voyeuristic inclinations?

Or am I being too snarky?

I still don't get why she'd already signed to season eleven, when no one else had and she had within her power to negotiate by the season and apparently had in the past. Is she that desperate for work or what? Maybe she just likes the work environment, especially with her baby to consider. She might have a hard time finding a job that's as flexible about her keeping her daughter onset.

And why would signing for another season for SG-1 translate to a season on SGA? If a show in the Law & Order or CSI franchises ended, I wouldn't expect any of those actors to be moved to another show in the franchise. They're contracted for that show, not the franchise.

I have heard of cases in which actors are contracted to a studio (we're talking MGM level, not Bridge level) for a certain number of projects, but that's generally for movies, not TV. I'm thinking it's a smokescreen because they probably intended to move Carter over to SGA all along, but they're making it sound like they have to do it, so we're supposed to just accept it.

I still don't get why she'd already signed to season eleven, when no one else had

I thought that MS said that everyone was signed for season 11 but him? Or was that back when they were negotiating for season 10 and I'm just mixed up? *g*

And why would signing for another season for SG-1 translate to a season on SGA?

That's what doesn't make sense to me.

When Kim Delaney left NYPD Blue to star in Philly, a show developed and written for her by Stephen Bochco (creator and producer of NYPD Blue), it was written into her contract that if Philly didn't last for a full season, she'd be written back onto NYPD Blue. Her exit from NYPD Blue was left open-ended. Then Philly ran for 17 episodes and, apparently, that was considered a "full season" because she wasn't brought back onto NYPD Blue full time. (She was brought back a full season later for one or two guest spots, but that's it.)

So...it's possible that AT had it written into her contract that they'd write her onto Atlantis if SG-1 was canceled. Wasn't it a year or two ago that they told MS that they'd send Daniel to Atlantis if SG-1 got canceled?

Wasn't it a year or two ago that they told MS that they'd send Daniel to Atlantis if SG-1 got canceled?

That they did! What I think has happened is that they are keeping Shanks in consideration for the 3rd series and if they moved Daniel over to Atlantis, they couldn't spin him off on his own show. And if that's the case, the only other viable actor to move to SGA would be Sam.

It could be. I might also be that MS really is busier now and maybe doesn't want to commit to being on Atlantis--especially since Atlantis already has a full cast. He really seemed to enjoy the first episodes of season 9 where he had a lot to do, so it might not be that appealing to him to go over to a show that already has established main characters.

Or...who knows? *g* I'm not sorry that it's not Daniel going to Atlantis, though I think that makes more sense than Sam. I've liked Atlantis well enough, but...I don't know. I think it would bug me even more to see Daniel on the backburner on Atlantis. OTOH, I'd love to see him in a guest spot on that show for 2 or 3 episodes or something like that--if the storyline focused on him somewhat and let him interact with the other characters. That could be fun, not that I think it'll happen. *g*

Huh.

Maybe her husband owns MGM? :)

(I don't really think that...but it does seem like *someone* is pulling strings behind the scenes to keep her in the spotlight)

No one's mentioned Mitch Pilleggi during all this - Carter is going to show up in her own shiney ship. That probably means that Pilleggi is gone, too, to make way for the Fabulous Carter, National Universal Treasure.

Yeah, I've been wondering about that. Did we see Caldwell in 14 episodes a season? Do we really need Carter for that many? I'd much rather the role of Caldwell be expanded than have one episode with Carter.

So maybe if we're lucky, the 14 eps Carter is in are the same eps Weir are on and we'll have 6 episodes to look forward to next year.

Wow. Where is everyone reading this? *g* I feel so out of the loop.

I agree that Weir would have worked better as a recurring character, but the reason why they're doing it bugs me.

She's going to be the Captain of a spaceship? You've got to be kidding.

I bet--- 14 episodes take place in space and 6 take place on the planet.

I'm so glad I don't watch SGA.

I do really feel sorry for the SGA fans. Once upon a time I campaigned for Carter to take command of Atlantis. Now? Not so much.

Look at it this way: now, Carter can become a genuine Kirk/ette, flygirling her way around the Pegasus Galaxy.

;-)

Oh, just make me barf! :-)

Tapping/Carter to appear in 14 episodes of Atlantis..I feel sorry for you Atlantis fans,

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