MGM created the Stargate Superfan panel in 2019, which brought together 10 fans from around the world with the hopes that this group would assist in shaping the future of the franchise internally at the studio. The studio ended up changing direction later that year, but the group has elected to stay together, keeping in touch regularly to this day. David brings them in for a 90 minute one-on-one in this poignant and memorable episode!

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Timecodes
0:00 – Opening Credits
0:27 – Welcome and Episode Outline
02:48 – Guest Introduction
04:01 – Sommer
08:12 – Nicole S
10:25 – Marcia
14:19 – Nicole RG
17:12 – William
21:53 – Yvie
24:40 – BraZat
28:52 – Sonia
32:53 – Specific Memories
34:58 – Sommer’s Superfan Memories
38:44 – Marcia’s Superfan Memories
43:52 – BraZat’s Superfan Memories
45:22 – Yvie’s Hand-Painted Jacket
47:14 – Sonia’s Favorite Episodes’
49:54 – BraZat’s Favorite Episodes and the Eye of Ra Prop
54:33 – Yvie’s Favorite Episodes
58:27 – William’s Favorite Episodes
1:05:25 – Nicole RG’s Favorite Episodes
1:12:08 – Marcia’s Favorite Episodes
1:18:25 – Nicole S’s Favorite Episodes
1:22:01 – Sommer’s Favorite Episodes
1:28:58 – Thank You, Superfans!
1:32:48 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
1:35:16 – End Credits

***

“Stargate” and all related materials are owned by MGM Studios and MGM Television.

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TRANSCRIPT
Find an error? Submit it here.

David:
Welcome everyone to Dial the Gate, my name is David Read. Thank you so much for joining us for this very special episode. Hope you had a wonderful holiday. We are bringing in a number of my friends, the Stargate Super Fans. When Kieran Dickson, Jenny Stiven, Beth Walloch and I were at MGM, we brought together a group of wonderful people to help us move forward with the franchise in terms of getting some more specific fan feedback for where we wanted the show to go. GM ultimately went in a different direction and the annual Stargate Super Fan Project became one group of fans. We were gonna have a new iteration of them every year, but that group has decided to stick together and we’re gonna have the majority of them on in the next few minutes here. This is a pre-recorded show, I’m gonna have them on to ask them about how they got invested in the show, what some of their favorite memories are while they were working together as a team of superfans and some of their favorite specific episodes and why. Some of these answers you’re gonna find pretty poignant. After we have that, we’re gonna show you some Stargate art in a little bit of relation to what we just talked about in the group and then we’ll let you go. Before we really get started here, if you like Stargate and wanna see more content like this on YouTube, it would mean a great deal if you click that like button. It makes a difference with YouTube’s algorithm; it will definitely help the show grow its audience. Please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend and if you wanna get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon. Giving the Bell icon a click will notify you the moment a new video drops and you’ll get my notifications of any last-minute guest changes. This is key if you plan on watching live because these talent are working and schedules change all the time. Clips from this livestream will be released over the course of the next several days on both the Dial the Gate and GateWorld.net YouTube channels. All right, with that out of the way, let’s bring in the Stargate Super Fan panel. Hi, guys.

Sommer:
Hi.

Nicole RG:
Hi.

Nicole S:
Hey.

David:
Welcome to a special episode of Dial the Gate. Welcome to the show.

Marcia:
Thank you.

Yvie:
Excited to be here.

David:
You what now?

Yvie:
Excited to be here.

David:
It’s great to have you. You guys, this is another arm of my Stargate family. Back in the day, when Keiran and Jenny and Beth and I were at MGM, we built you into this community. The original idea was, let’s create a panel of folks that have a true investment in the franchise, to help us go forward and give us feedback and paving the way for future endeavors. MGM went a different direction. We were gonna have new superfans every year, but you guys ended up being the ones, the only, and the best.

Sommer:
Woo-hoo.

Nicole RG:
That’s right. Thanks, David.

David:
I’m happy to have you in my life. Out of this group here, I have Sommer Roy to my top left. She is basically one of my de facto producers in Dial the Gate and she is one of my moderators as well. How are you?

Sommer:
I’m doing pretty good. I’m recovering from a recent procedure, but I’m doing great.

David:
I’m glad to have you with us. How did you discover Stargate? What got you involved?

Sommer:
I used to watch it. It came on every Sunday, so I didn’t get to watch them in order or anything like that. When I was starting college, my dad and I would watch it on Sundays and I loved it. When I discovered it, it was just, “What is the show? I need to watch it.” Back then, we didn’t have cable, so you couldn’t binge-watch it or anything like that, I lived out in the country. Every Sunday I would be glued to my screen and sometimes they would have specials where they would show more than one and that was a great day. When I met my husband, he also very much loved the show. He lived in Canada, so it was very popular there. It just became something I really enjoyed, I could get into it. The science was fairly accurate; they try really hard to make it real. It’s not just a lot of gobbledygook words. The humor, the sense of family in the show, and adventure, it just had everything.

David:
Hello, Sonia. Welcome to the show.

Sonia:
Thank you.

David:
Sonia Belikoff, everybody. I’m always amazed by the number of people I encounter. If there were any of the sci-fis that I would think were really grounded and as realistic sci-fi as possible, Stargate would probably be at the top of the list. I think that they really did make it good. I think part of it has the advantage it’s in the here and now, so it’s here and now of technology. There’s something to be said for this particular franchise really going out of its way to make sure, and not every episode is always that, but they’re trying to make it as realistic a portrayal of the Air Force and of our current society, and of the science as best as they can given the constraints of whatever story they’re trying to tell.

Sommer:
Exactly. As somebody who loves to learn different things, I really enjoyed hearing about the Egyptian history and things like that that they meshed to fit the context of the show. A lot of that base mythology is solid and true, so it was really interesting to me. I recently found out that I have an Egyptian background. It’s really a lot more special to me now because I was always drawn to that part of the show.

David:
Wow. Did you do the heritage DNA test?

Sommer:
I did.

David:
Wow.

Sommer:
I did. There was some unknown stuff in there too and I really think that’s the Furling right there.

David:
Sommer is a bit Furling-obsessed.

Sommer:
Yes.

David:
I really appreciate having you on my team and thanks for coming back to share some thoughts and some memories with us. I’m gonna come back to you in a minute, OK?

Sommer:
OK.

David:
Hello, Germany. Nicole Saelzle, hello, how are you?

Nicole S:
Hi. Great.

David:
So, what’s been going on with Stargate Project? How did you fall in love with the franchise?

Nicole S:
We’ve been doing really good lately. There’s lots of interest, there’s lots of new interest. There’s many fans coming back and that’s really cool to see. My mom got me into Stargate. She hates it when I say that, but it’s true.

David:
Why?

Nicole S:
I don’t know.

David:
We are in the era of nerd.

Nicole S:
She watched it and at some point, I joined, and that’s it.

David:
What keeps you coming back? Why do you keep watching the show? It’s been off the air for 10 years. What the heck are you doing?

Nicole S:
The mythology. There are so many episodes, you go back and still discover things. There are all those small little things embedded in the episodes that you discover once you go back. I think there are so many episodes that you can watch them back-to-back because it’s a certain character involved. I like watching it on DVD because you can skip certain episodes and complete the character arc, for example. The mythology and so on.

David:
Considering that they did 360-somewhat episodes, it always blows me away how consistent they are, especially in the later seasons on the earlier mythology. Some of the characters may flub a planet’s address or something like that, but generally speaking, they’re pretty tight on their own internal mythology. Ms. Marcia Middleton. How are you doing?

Marcia:
Hey. I’m doing great. Thank you. Good to see you, everybody.

David:
Marcia, how’d you fall in love with the franchise?

Marcia:
Oh my goodness, you got an hour? As you know, I watched the movie from the beginning. I went to the theater, sat in the middle. I’ve always been interested in Egyptology and that kind of thing so the movie itself intrigued me. When the screen started and David Arnold’s music came up, I was fully immersed in the world that Roland and Dean created. I watched the movie quite a few times. You know what happens when you love something, it becomes part of your DNA, never suspecting or even thinking that it would become a series. I watched Stargate. I started to collect things from Stargate the movie. There wasn’t that much to collect, so you can really do it if you want to. When they announced the series, I thought, “Hmm. OK. Who’s doing this series?” Richard Dean Anderson, who I liked from General Hospital because he used to be on that soap, and of course, MacGyver and all that stuff. I said, “OK. It’s on where? It’s on Showtime? That means that you have to pay money? OK. I’m gonna have to invest in this.” I sat down and I set the stage. “OK.” The very first episode came up and I liked the way they bridged from the movie to the series. They knew they had to tweak certain things and change things, yet the music was there, the atmosphere was there and then there was the new, too, so that bridged, and it opened up another whole universe of Stargate stories. The cast, they gelled very quickly, of course, Don S. Davis and so many. They became a joy to watch and every week, it became one of my things to do. Over the years, I’ve become involved deeply in Stargate and have really been enriched by the series.

David:
I don’t think we often appreciate just how successful “Children of the Gods” is as a Stargate 2. It really achieves what someone looked at as being a pretty daunting task from the feature film, ’cause the feature film is so broad in scope. It really had that hook. “Children of the Gods” is what I saw first and then I saw Stargate the next day. It’s a compelling two hours of television, for sure.

Marcia:
So, you watched “Children of the Gods” first and then watched Stargate the movie?

David:
Yeah, I was expecting either The Outer Limits or Poltergeist: The Legacy on Saturday night on ABC. It was syndicated. One had aired, I can’t remember which, and then this two-hour thing came on and I watched it.

Marcia:
That’s interesting.

David:
The next day NBC was airing Stargate, the feature film, as its Sunday night movie, so I think it was fate. Thank you for sharing. Nicole Rodriguez Galdo. Hello, hello.

Nicole RG:
Oh, no. Hello.

David:
How you doing?

Nicole RG:
I’m all right. How are you?

David:
I’m doing OK. Tell us a little bit about your Stargate story.

Nicole RG:
I talk about it so much that it’s burned into my memory now and I don’t know if it’s interesting anymore. I was five years old, bored, and my dad had forced me to watch an episode of Stargate somewhere in the middle and I was like, “I have no idea what’s going on.” I want to remind everyone I was born in 1998, so when I was four, that was around Season Four of Stargate. I was very young. After my dad force-fed me Stargate, he left, and I was like, “Well, he left his DVDs here, so I’m just gonna have to watch them when he’s not around.” I stole them, I watched them, and I watched most of Season One. There was no “Children of the Gods” ’cause he had the individual DVDs from the magazines. There was no movie for me, so I literally picked up Season One and then Seasons Four and Five, and that was how I watched it. I had to figure out what happened between from the recaps where they were like, “Previously on Stargate SG-1,” and I was like, “I have no idea what that is, but I’m gonna assume what it is.” It came out of a desire to bond with my dad a bit more and be into similar stuff so when we hung out, we had something that we could share. I was like, “If I watch this, my dad will watch it with me and we’ll have a great time.” As a kid growing up, I feel like it taught me a lot of life lessons. It made me somewhat more intelligent at the time, for a five-year-old, I like to think. That’s pretty much it. I’ve been obsessed with it the whole time and then when this opportunity came up to be a super fan, I was sitting there like, “Oh, my God, I missed out on all the Stargate stuff as a kid because I was born during Season One of SG-1,” and I was like, “This is my time to catch up and be part of the community.”

David:
Is Stargate and a love of the franchise something that you and your dad still share?

Nicole RG:
Yeah. My dad, now that I’m an adult and I can buy stuff, I bought him all of Atlantis on Blu-ray and then all of SG-1 on DVD ’cause that’s what we did. Growing up, my dad would buy me things that I couldn’t afford, but not himself, and then he’d just steal my stuff. Now that I’m an adult, I was like, “Stop stealing my stuff. Here you go.” I still have his Stargate DVDs that I stole when I was a kid. Don’t tell him. I hope he doesn’t watch this.

David:
Thank you for sharing. We’re gonna come back to everybody in a minute to discuss individual favorite episode memories, but Mr. William Murphy.

William:
Hey there. How are you doing, sir?

David:
I’m well, man. How are you?

William:
I’m doing great. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you. It’s been too long.

David:
I know it has. How is life at the nuclear power plant?

William:
Life at the plant is fine, been chugging along and keeping our heads above water like everyone else in these zany times, going just fine.

David:
So, what got you into the show?

William:
Not as family endearing or exciting as others, but I saw the film in the theater, I remember that vividly. I mean, I was quite young. Not quite as young as Nicole, but young enough. Thought it was a great movie, figured it was a one-off as far as the storyline. It was great, it was cool. I grew up in rural Georgia, definitely in the internet’s infancy, so not a lot of chatter about what’s coming out or what is and isn’t. Certainly, had no idea what’s on Showtime and what’s not. Quite literally, I was up late on a Saturday night, studying in high school, I was working on a project or something. I had this 9-inch black-and-white TV that I got for $5 at a garage sale. We didn’t have cable even at the time, so as it happened, my room or maybe that 50-foot stretch of brass wire I bought at a RadioShack that I had hooked up to this TV as an antenna wrapped around the ceiling of my room helped. I was the only TV in the house that had decent reception of a certain CBS affiliate in Atlanta. At 11:35 on a Saturday night is apparently when Stargate SG-1 aired in syndication. It was some intermediate episode in Season One that I’m gonna talk about. It’s one of my favorites, so I won’t say which yet. I was like, “Whoa, is this it? That’s Stargate from the movie.” On my grainy black-and-white TV, I watched this episode and it was great and I made a point to keep watching it. Obviously, midway through Season One, interpolated on who’s who from the film and then it kept going. Once I got to college, I had cable and boy was that a change, seeing them in color and on a TV screen larger than nine inches. It went from there. Got hooked on it in college, this had been in 2001. The SyFy Mondays, where they put the four show episodes back-to-back on Mondays on SyFy channel, got me caught up real fast and loved the heck out of it.

David:
You’re one of the more analytical ones among us, as already established with your job. How truthful do you think it tried to be to the real-world science?

William:
I think you said it best earlier, talking to Sommer, when the realism helps by having a science fiction program set in the present time. More of the fantastical elements are somewhat grounded by necessity. I think overall they did a very good job. They made a point throughout the entire run of the show, all three franchises have some very, very strong science consultants to make sure that they stayed as true as possible. You gotta take some leaps, it’s science fiction after all. Superconducting devices that create stable wormholes and hyperspace generators and little Mister Fusion naquadah reactors and stuff like that. But overall, the technobabble was solid, especially with my background in nuclear discussions about how neutrinos worked with the Crystal Skull aliens. We talked about it before, Daniel Jackson’s radiation exposure in “Meridian” and how that was based on an actual real-life event that occurred in the ’40s, actually kind of two of them, what are called criticality accidents, that were very tragic. I think they were very respectful to science and that’s obviously something that kept me engaged throughout the entire run of the franchise.

David:
That’s awesome, man, and it helped grow, I’m sure, your interest in your field.

William:
Absolutely. It definitely helped sustain it through some frustrating nights of, “Why the heck am I doing this? I should’ve just gone and been a weatherman” or something like that.

David:
Hello Australia. Yvie Cahill, you are muted.

Yvie:
Hello from down under.

David:
How are things down under? How you doing?

Yvie:
Unpleasant and hot, but it’s OK.

David:
It’s your summer. That’s right.

Yvie:
I know. It’s a few days into summer now, so it’s gonna be like the planet Netu quite soon.

David:
Great reference. How’d you fall in love with the franchise?

Yvie:
I actually came in quite late to the franchise. I started watching, I think, about 2013, so I think much of the show was done by then. I was introduced to it by my then boyfriend, who is now my husband. He actually came from a Stargate family and he wanted to do a rewatch. He hadn’t seen it since I think it had aired. He sat me down and we started watching it. It took me a couple of episodes to warm up, but by probably about midway through the first season, I was totally, totally hooked.

David:
Of SG-1, so you started at the front?

Yvie:
Yeah, I started with the movie, of course, and then went into SG-1. Had to watch it chronologically and I think it was those key universal themes that really got me in, the really likable characters, the teamwork, loyalty, perseverance, things like that, really got me hooked. Also, I developed a bit of an obsession with Sam and Jack and I became a bit of a Sam and Jack shipper. I guess the lack of official proof by the end of the eighth season got me interested in reading a lot of fan fiction and from there, writing my own fan fiction. I guess that’s where I would sit with the franchise.

David:
Do you know about the deleted scene from “Trio?”

Yvie:
Of course, I know about the deleted scene from “Trio.” When I need a boost, I watch it quite frequently. This is how sad my life is.

David:
For those out there who are wondering, what happens in that scene?

Yvie:
Keller and Carter are talking about how she has a relationship with someone a little bit older than her in Washington and they’re waiting for him to retire. So, big flash neon sign, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack.

David:
So, we’re gonna go from Australia to France. BraZat, hello.

BraZat:
Yes. Hello.

David:
Nice beard, man.

BraZat:
Thanks. Containment, COVID, I don’t have time to… the barbers are closed, so I made this.

David:
Yes, understood. I have to do a little self-work here about once a week, so I totally get it. Love you’re sporting the Stargate Superfan shirt. Can you show that off?

BraZat:
Yeah.

David:
No, can you show it a little bit more?

BraZat:
Yeah, sure.

David:
There we go. Fantastic. So, how did you fall in love with the franchise?

BraZat:
It’s quite a peculiar story. I grew up in a family where to watch TV was, by far, the last performed activity. In fact, with my brothers and sisters, we were mostly at the music school. So, TV, just for movies with parents, sometimes, but no more. It was a Saturday evening at the end of 2005. Yes, quite late. I was zapping on TV channels in secret so that my parent don’t know. Shh. Then it appears an episode of Stargate. At this time, I still didn’t know anything about Stargate, even its existence. Nothing. It was the episode “There But For The Grace Of God.” I thought to myself when I found out the episode, “Oh, these movies look so cool. Sci-fi, the sort of story set on Earth.” As you said before, it’s a new time, accurate, realistic. I liked this immersive side of the show. I just said movie because I never watched a TV series before that day. Just imagine, I didn’t know what a series was before Stargate. I decide to buy the complete series on DVD. After receiving them, I literally… I don’t know if we can say in English, devoured the series. Just watch, watch, watch. I watched a DVD per night, approximately one or two DVD per night.

David:
Geez, man. That’s a lot.

BraZat:
Yes, four episodes at once per night. In the morning, I slept during the high school classes. Imagine. “Was that a yes?”

David:
At least you got your priorities straight.

BraZat:
Yes. True also.

David:
Tell me about what’s behind you. Are these replicas?

BraZat:
Yes.

David:
I don’t think the Homeworld Command flag was…

BraZat:
No. The fact is, the SGC is a screen-accurate replica, I think one of the only worldwide. I don’t know where is the original, it’s probably stored somewhere. I use this during conventions, events, with my custom groups to make pictures with people, with fans, to have a shooting set, in fact, for people. The Stargate, the Homeworld Command, it’s come from Universe. There is a big logo in the wall, in the service, in the O’Neill desk room, the office.

David:
Yeah, the Pentagon. I sold it at Propworx, I don’t know who got it.

BraZat:
Stitch will have to get it.

David:
And there’s my answer.

BraZat:
I just decided to make a flag. I suppose that if Universe still continued, it could have a flag like this one. So, it’s a perfect replica of the logo, but in a flag.

David:
I suspect if we saw more of O’Neill’s section of the Pentagon, we would’ve seen something like it. Very cool, man. Thanks for coming.

BraZat:
Thanks.

David:
Sonia Melinkoff of Nerdy Novelty Design.

Sonia:
That’s me. Hi.

David:
How are you doing?

Sonia:
I’m good. I’m sorry I was a little bit late.

David:
No, glad you’re here for the party.

Sonia:
It’s very early.

David:
So, before we get into a little bit of your business, tell us how you fell in love with the franchise.

Sonia:
So, I watched the movie when I was 10, I saw it in theaters. I remember liking it. It was fun. It was a sci-fi movie. It was great. Then I forgot about it, ’cause I was 10. I didn’t watch the show when it first came out. I actually started watching it in 2003. I was at a college party and what do people do at college parties? They watch sci-fi shows, obviously. They put on the movie and I was like, “Oh, yeah, I like this movie.” It’s fun ’cause I like sci-fi. I like any sci-fi. They’re like, “OK, now we’re gonna watch this TV show based on the movie.” I was like, “What?” I was aware that it existed, but I had never watched it. We watched “Children of the Gods” and I was like, “This is really good.” Ny friend’s like, “Oh, I have the DVDs if you wanna borrow them.” I did and I basically binged-watched it instead of doing homework. It was fine, my grades were fine. I didn’t know what binge watching was. I think I got up to, it was 2003, so it was up to Season Six or Seven, I think. Then I started watching it on Syfy and I was hooked.

David:
How did this grow into a passion that you were able to monetize? As many inquiring minds would like to know.

Sonia:
So, for people that don’t know, I own an oven mitt business. I don’t actually have any with me right now, ’cause I didn’t think to bring it on here. I make my own dresses, like this. This is a Sci-fi dress. People asked me to make them dresses and it’s hard to make clothes for other people ’cause even two people the same size can have completely different bodies. I was like, “What can I make that fits everybody?” So, I made an oven mitt, posted them online, got a huge reaction, and now I make oven mitts. Actually, one of them is Stargate, but it’s hand drawn by…I have an artist who works on it. I’m supporting independent artists. I have a whole bunch of nerdy Sci-fi fandoms so I basically turn my own nerdiness into an oven mitt business. That’s random, I know. Also, I have a degree in physical anthropology, which totally helps me sell oven mitts. A lot of the Daniel Jackson stuff, his background was really interesting to me. I actually did go on some digs and it was kinda cool seeing a character that I was like, “Oh, that’s not how you do it, but that’s still fun.” Shows like that don’t really let science get in the way of a good story.

David:
It’s a tricky balance. You could spend the entire time of 44 minutes filling in the detail and minutia of why something is done the way it’s done, or why they made the choices to make it the way that it was. That’s often what Carter’s business was; to explain it so that we could then hang a lantern on it and move on. But you’re right.

Sonia:
That’s a term.

David:
I know. I dropped it. I figured someone recognized it. It’s a tricky balance and I think all of us would agree that Stargate did a pretty good job at walking that tightrope. I would like to open the next question to the floor. Feel free to unmute, any specific memories that you guys have had on this journey as super fans that you would like to share with one another and with our viewing audience since you guys got this whole thing started? Yvie, you unmuted first. I’m gonna go with you, and then Nicole.

Yvie:
OK. I actually have one that I share with Nicole, so she might wanna butt in. I actually went over to the UK to go to Cal Mah, in Telford, with Nicole. We actually shared a house with Alexis Cruz.

Nicole RG:
He’s a friend of mine.

Yvie:
He’s a friend of Nicole’s dad.

David:
He’s a wonderful human being.

Yvie:
Anyway, had a bit of a sort of an interesting, I guess, sighting. When we were in the hotel in Telford, we were about to go out to go eat something and we passed Peter Williams on the way through. Alexis runs up to him and goes, “Daddy!” and gives him a huge hug.

Nicole RG:
Peter’s like, “Son!” and then he leaps.

Yvie:
And then Peter goes, “My son!”

Nicole RG:
We were trying to go get lunch.

Yvie:
Nicole and I looked at each other like, “that is perfect, perfect.”

David:
Not all the actors can be reasonably relied on to do this, and you can’t blame them because there were so many shows, but for some of them, they were fans of the show and they watched it. So, little things like that are absolutely gems.

Yvie:
It was a beautiful, beautiful scene.

David:
Anyone else have moments from over the course of this time together? Sommer, you unmuted first, then I’m gonna go to Marcia.

Sommer:
Oh my gosh. I had really never been to a convention, ever. When I found out that I was chosen, I was like, “Oh my gosh.” It was only a week or so later we were in California. It was a very unique experience for me because I’d never been to anything like it. I’ve always wanted to go, but I have a lot of medical stuff that prevents me from travel. It was great to meet all of these guys because they were from everywhere, but we had so much in common because we shared this love of Stargate. It was really cool. Then I went to Chicago and my favorite moment from there is when I met Bra’tac.

David:
Tony Amendola.

Sommer:
Yes, Amendola. Ginny, a friend of ours, was standing around, and he recognized her. I was in my wheelchair and all of a sudden, he came up behind me and Ginny was in front of me and he hugged Ginny. I look up and there’s Bra’tac. I’m like, “Oh! No way!” That was the funniest meeting. I was able to talk to him later. He always tells Don Davis, “Hammond of Texas.” I’m from Texas, I said, “I’m Sommer of Texas.” That was my favorite thing. I had always dreamed about doing that and it was so cool to be able to do that.

David:
I was so blown away with your creativity. You had made these little…I don’t remember if it was keychains specifically. But little thank yous, little physical thank yous for so many of these cast and crew. I was lucky enough to get one.

Sommer:
Nice.

David:
Did Stargate help fuel your creativity?

Sommer:
Oh gosh, yes. I have a little bit of jewelry that I make, Stargate stuff. I’m always trying to think of ways, how can I incorporate Stargate into my work. I’m so passionate about Stargate and I’m passionate about sculpting and creativity, so it definitely comes together. I made a pin set that I wanna start making a lot more. But it’s the staff weapons, I made pins that are staff weapons. I really enjoyed that and I definitely wanna make more of those, ’cause those are really cool.

David:
You take the front end of it off and start writing with it?

Sommer:
Uh-huh.

David:
Is that how that works?

Sommer:
Yeah. It’s actually open at the end and you can write with it. It’s pretty neat. So, I got the idea. I’m like, “A pin? Hey, I can make that into a staff weapon.” I made this little box. I had two sets of ’em sitting on the bar, one set of pins sitting on this golden Egyptian box and they actually sold it at auction in Chicago. It was really great to be able to donate to that.

David:
That’s really cool. The next time you make another one, let me know. Let me know how much it will cost ’cause I would love a staff weapon pin. Marcia, you raised your hand.

Marcia:
Oh, wow. As most of you know, I’ve been involved in fandom for a long time as a staff member at conventions. One of the things I love to do is to bring fans together. Creating programming, nurturing talents and bringing fans and stars together to create magic is something that I love to do. I worked as staff for Dragon Con for many years and started to bring in more Stargate guests, more Stargate programming. We’d heard about this convention in California called San Diego Comic-Con and although I had never been…

David:
Just a small one.

Marcia:
Just a little one. Dragon Con itself is pretty large; it’s about maybe 80,000. They told me, “This is even bigger.” I said, “Really?” We decided to take the trek across to San Diego and go to Comic-Con one year, just to see what it was like. It just so happened that at that time, I was also granted the directorship for the new Stargate track. We created a new Stargate track at Dragon Con. I said, “OK, flying across the country, maybe I’ll meet some Stargate actors and have some fun.” I was looking in the program guide, then it was all printed, not like now. I’m looking through and I’m going on like, “Is that Dean Devlin?” Dean Devlin was going to be at Comic-Con promoting Flyboys, the movie that maybe you haven’t seen, but it’s not that bad. I said, “Oh my gosh, the creator is going to be there. That’s what I’m gonna go see. If I don’t do anything else, I’m gonna go see that panel.” That was my very first panel. 12 noon on Friday, I went to see Dean Devlin’s panel, Flyboys. Afterwards, sometimes you get a chance to ask a question. Thankfully, I was able to ask him the question about the Stargate trilogy and how he felt about Stargate becoming a franchise. He kind of spoke about that for one of the first times, getting out his feelings about how he felt. After that, the panel was over, I walked up to him and I told him what I was doing at Dragon Con, the new Stargate panel, and I asked him if he would do something. He said, “Sure.” Dean Devlin is a fan person. He gets us. He gets us.

David:
He’s a huge sci-fi nerd.

Marcia:
Yes. So, he said, “Sure.” We chatted and got together later and he ended up doing a video for us to show at Dragon Con. It’s still up on YouTube, if you wanna see it. He set it up in the corner, I think, of his living room and did a little minute or so about how he loved fandom and wishes he could be there. That is one of my favorite moments from the beginning of my Stargate journey and then it’s taken off from there. Being able to do panels and bring Stargate all over to a lot of people who otherwise would not be able to get together and not even know that fandom existed, so that they could get together, is something that I treasure. Of course, knowing you guys is something that is wonderful.

David:
You guys, this is a pre-recorded show. It’s technically the 25th show that I’ve done in two months. Marcia, isn’t scheduling a bear? Oh my God. It is the hardest part about this. Everyone’s like, “Oh, you can get them on your show.” It’s like, “I can,” but it’s not easy to coordinate. So, I can’t imagine Dragon Con.

Marcia:
We had, the first year, we had 10 Stargate guests. We invented the term mega panel. If you wanna see some of them, they’re up on YouTube. We had Don S Davis, Rachel Luttrell, Jason Momoa, everybody on stage at the same time. Being able to do that was super fun because watching people interact… doing this with so many people is tricky, David. I don’t know how you do it. Being on stage with that many people is fun and it’s a balancing act and you’re right, scheduling is fun. You’re doing a great job.

David:
Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate having you all on. BraZat, you put your hand up a minute ago.

BraZat:
Yes, it was a really small story at the event in UK that Nicole was at before, Cal Mah.

David:
Cal Mah.

BraZat:
Yes, at this time, I met Jenny and his team for the first time and Nicole too. We were in the night and there is a little party with actors. We drink some stuff. We dance and we were a small group, four or five people, including Jenny and Nicole, and I don’t remember why, but Nicole was turning to cry a little bit. I think she will be able to say it now.

David:
She’s about to now.

BraZat:
I don’t remember. I don’t know why. I just took from my pocket, a Kleenex, to give her. For first contact, it was fun and wonderful in a way. It’s a great souvenir.

Nicole RG:
Thank you, Bra for being there for me. Thank you. Appreciate it.

David:
Anyone else? Yvie?

Yvie:
Me again.

David:
Hello again.

Yvie:
Hello. I wanted to share, just in case you guys hadn’t seen it already, I do a little bit of painting. I’m not any good, but I have a bit of a passion for it.

David:
Doesn’t matter. Art is art.

Yvie:
I actually made this jacket for Cal Mah last year and it infuses my two great passions, which is Stargate and Vincent van Gogh. I’ll try and hold it up. How’s that? Can you see it?

David:
Oh my God. That is so cool.

Sommer:
That’s so awesome, Yvie.

Yvie:
I even did the chevrons and I tried to do the individual symbols.

David:
Can you pull it up again and talk about more specific parts of it a little bit closer so that we can see a little bit better?

Yvie:
Yeah. I’ll try. Maybe put it on my head.

Sonia:
Raise it up a little higher.

Sommer:
Wow. That is so cool.

Yvie:
I did it for a bit of fun. I did the individual symbols.

Sommer:
That’s hard.

Yvie:
I did a bit of finger painting and it was loads of fun, but it’s an old jacket that I got from a second-hand store.

David:
The starry night Stargate look, that’s extremely cool. I’ve seen the original in New York. It’s one of those that’s like, “Oh my God, I’m in the presence of something holy.”

Yvie:
I wish I could see it. I’ve seen a photo of my parents’ photo. But no, I haven’t seen it in real life. I have to make up my own.

David:
That’s great.

Sonia:
So, is that the “Stargate-y night,” huh?

Yvie:
Yes, Sonia, I love it.

Sonia:
I’ll be here all week.

David:
Mic drop. Guys, one or two of your favorite Stargate episodes, and Sonia, I’m gonna start with you and work my way backwards up the board…and why.

Sonia:
One of my favorite episodes, it’s really hard to come up with two episodes that are my favorite. Every one of them is my favorite, obviously, but what I really like is “Point of No Return” from SG-1. I like Willie Garson and his character and that was not relatable because I’m not from another planet, but sci-fi nerds secretly want to be like, “You know what? I’m not just interested in outer space. I am from outer space.” That whole paranoia thing, it’s real and he is from outer space. The episodes I like are kind of the more comedic ones, and that had a good level of both comedy but also a good story. I love that one. All three in that series, “Point of No Return,” “Wormhole X-Treme” and then “200,” were the three Willie Garson episodes. They’re all good. “Point of No Return” was kind of the first one and I really like that one. I’m a huge SG-1 fan, but I actually picked an Atlantis episode. It was “Duet.” Some of you know, Rodney McKay is my favorite character. Even though I’m like, “SG-1, 100% favorite show of all time,” Rodney is still my favorite character, ’cause he’s likable and not likable, but you love to hate him sometimes.

David:
David Hewlett had to walk a line.

Sonia:
Seriously. He was really good at that.

Sommer:
The evolution of his character is just amazing.

Sonia:
Yes, he does.

Sommer:
He did such a great job.

Sonia:
I feel like that episode has everything that I love about both Rodney and David Hewlett, because he’s also a huge goof. I felt that episode was the epitome of why I like that character. It’s funny. Again, it’s a good story. Every episode is a good story though. I feel like I’m gonna repeat that if I talk about every episode. Those are my two that I picked.

David:
BraZat, one or two of your favorites.

BraZat:
Yes, it’s me. I am sure you will find the first time. I will show you something, and David, you will have to find, but it will be very easy.

David:
I do recognize that. Is that a replica in the middle?

BraZat:
No, it’s original screen-used.

David:
Are you sure?

BraZat:
Yes, I am. I know you have one. We both have one. You’re even mute.

Sonia:
I like that it was right there. You could go grab it.

David:
So, which is this one then?

BraZat:
‘Cause I meant one of two.

David:
Turn it around. So, they’re both production made… they’re the exact same.

BraZat:
Mine is more shiny. It’s more shiny. I don’t know. It’s more translucent.

David:
Yes, it’s shiny.

BraZat:
I know you had one.

David:
It’d be hard to tell which one was technically the screen-used one at that point.

BraZat:
I know, it’s quite difficult to know.

David:
You’ve definitely got the ring, so that’s cool. All right, now that we’re done comparing sizes, would “Full Circle” be one of your favorites?

BraZat:
Yes. The fact is, the request to speak about my two favorite episodes is really not a simple question. I am sure many fans or super fans also feel there are so many episodes, so many great stories, as said before. I’m not speaking about my two favorites, I will not be able to. Let’s say two that I appreciate a lot. “Full Circle,” the last of Season Six. There are quite a lot of elements which led me to choose this episode and I will not be able to tell you in a specific order. Those points, as you know, I am a big fan of set decoration work made by the studio’s set department. I love the decorations inside the pyramids, Stargate room, the large room in the basement, especially the treasure room. The work of the materials, more specifically, the foam or the polystyrene paints to simulate stones. In a lot of episodes, they made that. It’s very impressive. It’s always fascinated me, the paint job. It’s magic for me to make foam and simulate stone, steel, whatever.

David:
Paint. You can make it look like wood. You can make it look like metal. It’s extraordinary.

BraZat:
It’s talented people that were behind this department. This episode, for me, is one of the most representative sets of the series, because in a way, it has a continuity with Roland Emmerich’s movie and the prior episodes, with Abydos. The hidden room, for example, the Ra hidden room with the treasure, it’s a clearly wonderful set for me as a prop and fan collector. I’m always amazed by the hundreds of props used on this set, mostly because all are in relation with Egyptology. We must not forget that the culture of the series is mainly based on this. It must have been quite a story to have managed to find in various prop houses, to collect and set up so many items. On my part, it was thanks to Stargate that I got interested in mythology. Quite a lot of elements for me.

David:
Thank you for sharing. Yvie Cahill, favorite episodes?

Yvie:
This is a tough one, as many of the others have said, and I didn’t want to bore you with my analysis of “Window of Opportunity,” ’cause I think we all discussed that, we all mentioned that the last time around.

David:
Let’s get it out of the way, “Window of Opportunity” holds a special place in all of our hearts.

Yvie:
It certainly does. It certainly does. I was sort of going through all the episodes that I really appreciate and there’s a long list obviously. Each season has at least five or six episodes or more that I really love. I went back to Season One and I think it’s probably the first episode that, I guess, really got me hooked, especially on the whole Sam and Jack relationship, and that would be “There But For The Grace Of God.” I really love this episode. Obviously, there’s a couple of little flaws, but I think overall, I really like that you’re really in the moment with Daniel. You’re confused and towards the end, even though a lot of the main characters do end up perishing, and some of them quite terribly, you’re not really bothered because I think the writers have highlighted enough differences between the alternate reality and the SG team that we know and love, that you’re not really concerned all that much because they’re different people.

David:
It still hits you, but you’re right, at the end of the day, ours are still OK.

Yvie:
“But that’s not the characters that I love, so it’s OK.”

David:
Like Teal’c said, “Ours is the only reality of consequence.”

Yvie:
Exactly.

David:
What a jaded answer.

Yvie:
You kinda get caught in that moment at the very end when Daniel’s standing there waiting for the gate to dial. He’s like, “Come on, come on.” Even though I’ve seen the episode probably half a dozen times, my heart still races waiting for that gate to dial. Then that moment where Teal’c, he hasn’t met him before, but Jack mentioned him and there’s almost this moment of recognition there. I think everything that Jack has said has sunk in and I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think that he deliberately shoots him in the arm, not fatally wounding him because he realizes that something important has happened and he needs to play his part. I could be mistaken. There was this split second where he kind of looks at Daniel and he’s like, “This is the guy. This is the guy that Jack was talking about” and shoots him in the arm. Teal’c’s a very good shot, as we’ve seen in previous episodes, and he had him at point-blank range and he decided not to kill him, but only wound him slightly on the arm. I actually rewatched the episode yesterday and I actually had to giggle a little bit. When they’re trying to defend the mountain, you see Walter with a shotgun wearing a cardigan. I was like, “That’s just perfect.” It’s like the perfect mix of fluffy and lethal. It’s great.

David:
One of the things that my dad said when we were watching that episode, “When your base is under attack, doesn’t matter your position, everyone’s an infantryman,” at that point.

Yvie:
That’s exactly right. Doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. Just gotta go out there, defend the base.

David:
Thank you for sharing. Mr. Murphy, please share.

William:
Yes, sir. Two I’ll fire off real quick. Even though it’s got some nostalgia since it was the first episode I watched, the Season One SG-1 episode, “Solitudes,” is still one of my absolute favorites.

David:
I was expecting Yvie to bring that one up considering the Sam and Jack connection.

William:
I thought she was headed and I was like, “Oh man, do we double-dip on this?” I mean, it’s got some very astute moments, “it’s my sidearm, I swear,” et cetera. That episode, beyond the fact that it was the first one I got into, I get hooked on survival epics and epics of any kind, but this one was so pivotal, especially in the early series. Given it was latter third of Season One, but laying down the fact that the Goa’uld didn’t build the Stargate network, that was a “what” moment, as far as broader lore. The second Stargate or the Beta Gate being on Earth and the major ramifications that had all through the series.

David:
Until we blew it up in Season Six.

William:
Even before then, it was the bailout after SG-1 had to use the Alpha Gate in “Nemesis.”

David:
That’s true.

William:
To save their own rear ends. Major ramifications. As a fan watching it over and over again now, you guys were a few football fields away from Atlantis, the outpost, the weapons platform’s right over there, guys. It’s right over there and you don’t know it. That’s pretty freaking cool. First episode Martin Wood directed. First time Siler showed up. I have straight up used that line, that dialogue with Hammond, which was a little Star Trek-ish reference, but the whole deal of, “It’s gonna take 24 hours minimum.” Hammond, very Kirk-esque, “you have half that,” and Siler says, “No sir, it doesn’t work that way. 24 hours is the best I can do.” I have literally said, “No sir, it doesn’t work that way” to my management at work.

David:
How did they react to that?

William:
It varies. I’m sure it’s hurt my performance review more than once, but that’s the fact of it. I can’t help myself. If I could legitimately quote sci-fi in real life, I’m gonna do it. That one is a killer episode. It had moments of every character really expanding their horizons, really developing. Epic episodes like that, in my opinion, really give the actors a chance to really flex. On that note, that gets to my second, which is honestly my favorite episode of the entire franchise, and that’s the Stargate Universe Season 2 premiere, “Intervention.” We’ve talked about that before. That episode is a tour de force for Alaina Huffman. It is really cool, especially for SG-1 or the Stargate franchise. I’ll say period, unfortunately, for cinema and American cinema to let a female character – it’s definitely an ensemble cast — have a moment, not just a moment, an episode like that. You can talk about the Lucian Alliance and the fighting for Destiny and Rush playing the bluff card on the pulsar, hiding in the hydroponics bin, all that. But that episode was Alaina Huffman. That was her deal.

David:
She could have led that show, as far as I’m concerned. As good as TJ was.

William:
You’re absolutely right and that really speaks to how powerful that whole cast was in general. Through Season 2, Universe really got its traction. That episode really, I think, set the theme. It was when she was talking to Caine and her “was it a vision, was it not” kind of deal, he has a line that stuck with me. He said, “On the edge of the universe, who you are and what you believe means everything.” I think that was the thesis for the entire season, where they had those episodes where every single character got to develop in a serious way to where they transitioned from, as Young called it, being the wrong people in the wrong place, to being the right people where they were meant to be. That episode set that off. The montage to Mumford & Sons at the end was, I’ve watched it 1,000 times if I’ve watched it once. It’s absolutely glorious.

David:
For the detractors out there of Stargate Universe, if you take that season as chapter two of five, really, in many respects, the end of a three-act play, it’s got it.

William:
It’s killer. Absolutely killer. A lot of people got disillusioned with the show because a lot of the characters were flat out not likable. They didn’t come out of the woodwork with five degrees, speaking 23 languages, in their spare time they invented a longer-lasting light bulb. These are flawed people and I’m a flawed person and to have the opportunity to see them get over their flaws, true, real issues, and expand and grow, for me it was real moving. That episode really kicks it off and man, I love it.

David:
It’s interesting because I always look at Sam… I love Sam, but at the same time, in many respects, she was perfect, but the thing was, she wasn’t perfect. She also had vulnerability and all this other stuff. It wasn’t until later that they were like, “You know what? Let’s show these sides of her personality as well.” That’s what we start to see in episodes like “Singularity” with Cassandra. Those things had to come out later. Whereas with SGU, they started pretty raw on all of them from the beginning and worked their way into, like you say, the people that they were meant to be for this mission.

William:
I think you’re absolutely right. You can argue McKay was a good example of some strong development, starting as a guest star on SG-1, but really developing in Atlantis. Ronon Dex would be another character that comes to mind as having some real development. Even beyond Carter, Jackson is just this wunderkind, and O’Neill, special ops, ninja. Same thing with Sheppard, although he did have a bit of a blight with his background, which they go into in “Vegas,” which is yet another episode people aren’t necessarily a big fan of. I love seeing that; good character development, and “Intervention” really went there for me.

David:
I appreciate your nuance. Nicole Rodriguez Galdo, your thoughts on some of your favorite shows.

Nicole RG:
Hello. I wanted to say thank you, William, for pointing out some great things about Stargate Universe. People don’t appreciate it enough, so thank you so much for coming in and doing that. I’m not gonna talk about Universe, but I thought I’d say thanks, appreciate you. I’m gonna move on to SG-1 now because let’s face it, it is the favorite. I have a lot of favorite episodes and it does shift throughout how I’m feeling and how old I am. We’re not gonna talk about “Window of Opportunity,” but get that out of there. I really love, specifically, I think there’s one in Season One which is “Torment of Tantalus,” for similar reasons that William mentioned earlier. It was the setup for so many things later on, talking about the universal language and having Ernest stuck on this other planet for so long and still holding out some hope. The character was great, the story was phenomenal; Daniel’s constant striving to learn and get new information about their creation and where they came from is beautiful. I really loved the way that that set up the alien races that we later see, discover as time goes on, or not… poor Furlings. Hey, Sommer. I love that one, I thought that was phenomenal. I’m gonna go completely left field and do something crazy, which is my current favorite is “Prometheus Unbound.” Which is a different one, because it only includes one official member of SG-1 for all of it, which enhances the beginning. I really love that episode because it’s a side of Daniel that you don’t really get to see. I’m gonna call it the Jack side of Daniel, or the Michael Shanks side of Daniel; the more honest, more brutal character. He’s not being the sweet, sincere kind of person. He’s being like, “Hey, look, OK, let’s get our stuff together, let’s do this. You’re annoying me. Stop it.” I think that Claudia Black was such a brilliant addition to the team. When I was a kid and I watched that I was like, “This woman’s amazing, she’s hilarious, I love her, I need her to come back.” When she did I was like, “Oh my God, best thing ever to happen to the show.” We’re so lucky that the show became Fargate SG-1. I don’t care, Farscape’s great. I also love the fact that Don S. Davis got to come in and do a bit of action and got to be his own hero; not sending SG-1 to save the day, he’s saving the day. Then having Walter piloting the ship, having Novak introduced before she appeared in Atlantis. I love that.

David:
Great first episode of two episodes, or three, at that point.

Nicole RG:
Brilliant. It was a brilliant moment. I was sitting there like, “Damn, you’re a hilarious lady. Where are those hiccups at?” I’m really glad that Stargate is really genuine and they always remember their characters, even the ones that don’t appear too often. When they started popping up in other places, I’m like, “Yes, yes, yes, let’s go.” Claudia Black and Michael Shanks have the best chemistry I’ve seen in a while. I’m obviously Sam and Jack for life, but they had so many moments and it was such a unique relationship to see on the show, where it was so dysfunctional and it was either romantic or friendly or both and it was a weird mix. I just thought that the relationship that came after that was so different. I hadn’t seen it in Stargate before, or ever, and it was just so chaotic, but beautiful. I thought the evolution from that first meeting and all that weird tension and then all the callbacks, like in “Avalon” when she’s like, “Isn’t that where I…” and he’s like, “Uh, no.” Then there’s more comments later on where he’s like, “Yeah, this is a military vessel” and she’s like, “Yes, I know, darling, I’ve stolen it before.” I’m like, “Yes.” It’s the comedy; it’s so well done. For an episode that’s stuck just inside the ship and didn’t go anywhere, it did a great job on a lower budget, and I just thought this is when the writers do some really amazing work; when they’re given only a set to work on and then just one additional actor and they just make magic happen with limitations. I just thought Claudia Black’s the best, Michael Shanks and her have amazing chemistry, Don S. Davis rocks, Novak’s cool, love it, 10 out of 10.

David:
I think pretty much all of us would agree that the attention to internal mythology that the writers paid was really one of the reasons why we kept on coming back, because we were rewarded for past viewings in future content.

Nicole RG:
Exactly, that’s why.

David:
People who were coming in could understand it and appreciate it, but for the rest of it, that’s for us. “200” is all for us.

Nicole RG:
For sure.

David:
So, you brought up “Torment of Tantalus” and I wanted to share.

Nicole RG:
Oh no.

David:
That was my favorite for a really long time. It’s the start of Stargate SG-1’s core mythology. Thank God for Robert Cooper.

Nicole RG:
Oh my God, it’s the castle. Is that an original drawing?

David:
This is the original. This is the castle from “Torment of Tantalus.” This is one of my preciouses. The amount of detail – I don’t know if it was Ken Rabehl or one of the others earlier on – I love this thing, obviously.

Nicole RG:
I’m so jealous.

BraZat:
All the art David shows are always pieces of art. The drawings are always just…

David:
Exquisite.

BraZat:
I had the pleasure to have a lot of them in my hands. They’re always just beautiful pieces.

Nicole RG:
That’s not his book, is it?

David:
These are…

Nicole RG:
Beautiful.

David:
These are three of Ernest’s calendar pages.

Nicole RG:
“Catherine agrees.”

David:
“Catherine agrees.” That’s exactly right.

Nicole RG:
Wow. I’m gonna cry, I’m so jealous.

David:
Marcia Middleton.

Marcia:
Hello.

David:
Hello. Some of your favorite Stargate episodes, please.

Marcia:
OK. First one is “The Serpent’s Lair” because when you’re watching a show and you like it for the first season, going into the second season is really important, ’cause that’s like the sophomore death knell. If you don’t come out strong and bring an audience with you, then it can tank. We all know the season ender was fantastic and then we waited for the opener and I love this episode because it has some major, what I call, badassery in it. We have, of course, Peter Williams, just a shift of his eyebrows shows evilness and his power. We see Alexis Cruz as Klorel and the fight he does with his double character. We also see Bra’tac come in and Jack has to take a backseat; he’s not the leader in the heroicness of this episode. He has to pull back in order to save the Earth. I think their interchange is funny and also telling for what happens later on in the series; that collaboration, that cooperation is gonna be what saves worlds from invasion and so on. Also, I love General Hammond and how he is back on Earth and directing the best and the brightest to the Alpha world. Yet, he tells Samuels, Samuels wants to go, he says, “No, you’re gonna stay here with me and get fried by whatever happens. You’re gonna stay here, so there you go.” I love the strength of General Hammond and it was no nonsense. He didn’t throw a fit. It was like, “that’s it. It’s done.” I love also the jokes about the ships when they’re asking, “Well, you have ships, don’t you?”

David:
Shuttles.

Marcia:
They’re like, “Yeah, we have…” I’m thinking tugboats.

David:
“The shuttles. They’re a formidable craft, yes?”

Marcia:
I start to see that whole gelling of the interplay and the working together of the different characters. I would have liked to have seen what the new home world looked like. I wish they had shown us a little glimpse of what they had.

David:
With Season Six and” Allegiance,” that’s the same Alpha site, as far as we know.

Marcia:
My first episode is the getting into the sophomore season and taking us on from there. My second one I’ve talked about before and it’s different. It’s “Show and Tell.” As I think Yvie might’ve said, as you grow and live and things happen to you, your choice of episodes and what episodes mean changes. “Show and Tell” is about, as we know, a little boy who comes through and they don’t really know who he is. Does he have a bomb inside or what? What is he doing here? He keeps talking about mother and we’re like, “Mother? I don’t see anything.” Poor little kid is delusional. Then when we find out what mother is, it was a huge shock. I thought that was fun to do in that episode and the way that they brought in the technology where you could only see with the special gun, I forget what it’s called, but you could only see then. I really like the interplay between Jack and Charlie. I thought the actor that played Charlie was really, really good. It’s difficult to play off of something that you can’t see and make people believe that you are feeling that and talking to that. For a young person, I thought he did really well. Of course, most of you know, my son passed away this summer, suddenly, in July. The word “mother” takes on a different meaning. Some of you also don’t know that my daughter passed away a few years before that. So, “mother” this year is something entirely different. There won’t be somebody calling me mother right now, but when I look at this episode, I can feel even more of what a relationship like that means, even for somebody who is an alien. I wanted to share with you; I do fan events at a Stargate panel that we had a few years ago. We did crafting of badges. We did this badge here, I don’t know if you can see, is the badge my son made. I saw this on his refrigerator and I said, “Let me have this with me when I talk to…” It’s not anything fantastic, but it’s something that people had fun making together. Isn’t it cute?

David:
I think it’s fantastic.

Marcia:
“Show and Tell” is my next episode.

David:
Thank you for sharing yourself with us. Nicole Saelzle, your favorites.

Nicole S:
One of my favorites is “Avalon.” It’s probably not the first choice of many. For me, it felt like a new beginning. You have this new sort of team. I mean, of course, Carter and Daniel and Teal’c are still there, but it still feels like a completely new team and the dynamics and the chemistry shifts. I like the Ori arc because it’s so different from the Goa’uld story. So, for me, “Avalon” is one of my favorites because it has, again, this adventure. Mitchell, at some point, says something like, “We have to get out and explore things and there’s so much more to discover.” It’s true, it feels like it’s going to another level. They discover more about the Ancients. I think there’s so many mysteries left that can be explored, so I really like this one. The other one I really like is “Brotherhood” from Atlantis. It’s also that kind of adventure and sort of mystery and exploring the galaxy. That’s what I really like about Stargate; you go out and explore those planets and meet new people and cultures and learn so much. “Brotherhood” has all this and also the Genii are, I think, really great enemies.

David:
They’re a good wild card. That’s what they kept on using around the office. They wanted a race that wasn’t just black or white, that had a lot of gray in them. Depending on the situation, they could help you or they could turn on you real quick. Thank you for sharing.

Sonia:
Can I add something?

David:
Yeah, go ahead, Sonia.

Sonia:
From what Nicole said, that’s one thing that I really love about Stargate. It was almost Star Trek-esque, where every episode was, “explore new life, new civilizations.” I think a lot of people probably agree, but that was one of the really cool things about the show. Just wanna add that.

David:
Absolutely.

Marcia:
Can I jump in with a…

David:
Yes! Of course, go ahead.

Marcia:
With the Stargate/Star Trek episode. One of the other ones I was gonna talk about is “Brief Candle.” It’s so Star Treky that it’s funny. I love the growing older and you don’t know why and you have to figure out before the show is over. That’s just Star Trek.

David:
Stargate clearly had a lot of its influence from Star Trek and most of it was very positive. Joseph Mallozzi, we just had him on a couple of weeks ago for his second episode and he made the comment that – neither of us combined could figure out who it was who said it – that pretty much all the stories have been told. There’s only a certain number of stories that are out there in terms of the raw mechanics when you break ’em down, but it’s what you do with your characters that makes it interesting. Sommer Roy, last but not least, some of your favorites, Sommer.

Sommer:
I think my favorites are a little abstract. It’s not what somebody would normally choose. My first favorite is “The First Ones” with Chaka. The reason why it’s my favorite is because I’m a little person. I’m three foot seven, I have a lot of medical issues and so I’m in and out of hospitals a lot. My father actually had a surgery and I was used to my father being beside me, but having to be beside my father was tough. For the first time, I got to experience the other side, ’cause he had a surgery to remove throat cancer. I was quite distraught and my husband was back home, I was in a different city and I went back to the hotel and everything was looking a little bleak. I turned on the TV and there was Stargate. It was just there and it was “The First Ones” and I had never seen that episode before. There I was in my little hotel room, watching Daniel interact with Chaka and it just came into my life at a time where I really needed something that was comforting. Just to have it there, I can’t even explain it. It feels like family to me. It feels like home. It feels comforting. It really gave me a lot of comfort in that time. Everything turned out really well with my dad. I had shared Stargate with my dad growing up, so it had that double meaning as well. That’s one of my favorites. Plus, even the show, aside from the meaning of it, is a great show; where they discover the Unas and they actually learn to communicate. They wanted Daniel to stay at the end, as a matter of fact, or Chaka did. I love that they bring his character back later on and develop that, it was really nice to see that. So, that’s my first one. My second one is odd as well, it’s “The Other Guys,” with Patrick McKenna and John Billingsley. I like it for a lot of reasons. One, it shows a lot of creativity with the writers. It was out of the norm and it really shows where they could go with stories. They didn’t just stick to one thing. They could go out of the box and still make it work. Patrick McKenna, I really love him. I had seen him before in a show in Canada called The Red Green Show where he played this nerd. He had the same personality here on Stargate. I also really loved the fact that Patrick McKenna, or Felger in the show – they brought him back later too – but he was a really big fan of the team. It felt like me; a Stargate fan watching it and then all of a sudden, hey, you get pushed into that situation and now you are in the show. You are a part of that team that you’ve been idolizing forever. Of course, Coombs and Felger, their back and forth was absolutely hilarious. Jack’s reaction to the whole situation was great. “He brought Coombs with you. Oh, now I’m comforted.”

David:
“We’re on a mission, you nit.”

Sommer:
Exactly. I really loved that, because it felt like they were putting a fan inside the show. It really struck that nerve with me that I really enjoyed seeing that interaction. Going back to my first episode, “The First Ones,” you had mentioned earlier where I made some thank you key chains to give out. That really came from my heart, because this show has been there for me in many different ways that I’ll discuss with you at some point later, but in all aspects of my life. Will was talking about quoting the show, we do that all the time. My husband, he’ll ask me, “When’s dinner ready?” I’ll say, “When the candlelight is fired…” I’ll use those terms, or I’ll say, “My fron is hurting,” or, “My cosars are hurting” and “everything is cruvus with me.” We do it all the time and it’s integrated into our life, almost daily. Anytime I see blue Jell-O, I have to have it, because it’s blue Jell-O. It’s such a huge part. Anything that’s a circle is a Stargate in my life. We got a new dryer last month. It’s a circle and it lights up blue on the inside. I’m like, “Yes!” Exactly. So, yes, everything about it, it’s integrated into our lives. That’s my two episodes.

David:
Sommer, you are one of the strongest people I know.

Sommer:
Thank you.

David:
Stargate has gotten you through some of the harder parts of your life. Gary Jones will be asking Sommer some more specific questions about her journey in a new fan show that he’s doing for Dial the Gate. We’re saving one specific one for him, so thank you. Guys, this has been absolutely tremendous. Thank you, thank you so much for stopping by. You are my extended Stargate family and it is so wonderful to have you finally as part of the show. I wanted to give it a couple of months for us to ramp up our audience a little bit before bringing you in. It is just tremendous to have you all here with us.

William:
I appreciate any opportunity to see everyone and talk and you’re a delight, sir. Thank you, as always.

Sommer:
Very much so.

David:
Thank you, Sir.

Sommer:
We love you, David.

Sonia:
I miss everybody.

Sommer:
Yes, we do. I really wanna get together again at some point.

David:
I think we can consider that as read, that when this whole thing is over and the clouds finally part on us, whether it’s next year or whenever it’s going to be, that there will be conventions again and we will all be getting together again. So, thank you.

Sonia:
One of my last ones I saw Sommer at.

Sommer:
Yes! It was in Austin.

Sonia:
February.

Sommer:
I live near Austin and I got to visit with Sonia. It was such a great thing to be able to do that, but I miss everybody. We just all click really well together. We actually try to stay in contact over Zoom. Every two to three weeks, we have a Zoom session. Since we’re all over the world, it’s hard with timing, because it’s late for some people and really, really early for others. We try to make it work, because it’s just nice to get together and chat and say hi.

Nicole RG:
I wanted to say one thing about that. I just wanted to say that Sommer, you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. I love you, you’re wonderful. I just wanted to say that when I first saw the video and I saw you guys and we all came together in that chat, it was like I’d finally found my Stargate family, ’cause I didn’t really have one. I felt very isolated as a fan. Going to LA and actually having a good time with you guys and, quote/unquote, “partying” with you guys, and just chilling and eating and being able to talk, you’re all awesome. Yvie, I love you. I love everyone. You’re all so talented and unique in your own ways. I appreciate each and every one of you for your own special reasons. David, thank you so much for doing this.

David:
You’re welcome. This is a great group of humans. You won’t find better, in my opinion. Creative and intelligent and nuanced. It delights me to no end that you’ve all elected to stick together. We are missing a couple, Noah and Taylor, shout out to them. It’s terrific that you guys have continued to remain a very tremendous family. Community is all what Stargate’s about. When you go to these conventions, the show is very tangential almost to what the experience is when people get together. When people get the chance to get together, if you have a chance to go to Gatecon, when we’re through this, or one of the other events, please do it. Gatecon’s always closest to my heart. If you get a chance, go.

Sommer:
That’s the plan.

Sonia:
I have my ticket. I’m waiting.

Nicole RG:
We have our tickets.

David:
I know that they wanna do another one. I know that they wanna make the last one up. So, this is gonna be tremendous. Guys, thank you so much. This meant the world to me.

Sommer:
Thank you, David.

Marcia:
Thank you.

Sonia:
Thank you.

David:
Thanks to the super fans for coming on and making this episode possible. They’re a tremendous part of my Stargate life and it’s fantastic that I get to share them with you guys. So, thank you so much. Before I let you go, Dial the Gate has partnered with 3D Tech Pro for the month of December to give you a chance to get your very own desktop Stargate and customized Ancient key chain. To enter to win these items, you need a desktop or a laptop computer, and you need to visit dialthegate.com. Scroll down to submit trivia questions. Your trivia may be used in a future episode of Dial the Gate, either for our monthly trivia night or for a special guest to ask me in a round of trivia. There are three slots for trivia, one easy, one medium and one hard. Only one needs to be filled in, but you’re more than welcome to submit up to three. Please note the submission form does not currently work for mobile devices. Your trivia must be received before January 1st, 2021. If you’re the lucky winner, I will be notifying you via your email right after the start of the new year to get your address and what word you want for your Ancient key chain. Be sure to check out our partner’s website for more Stargate-related merchandise at 3dtech.pro. I also have some related Stargate art. So, we brought up the Jack and Sam shipping. I don’t usually favor one shipping group over the other, but Jack and Sam have definitely been in discussion today so I thought this was very appropriate. Flidget Jerome created a very Stargate wedding. “It’s that time of year again, my mama’s birthday,” Flidget Jerome says, “so of course it’s time for more chibis.” She asked for Jack and Sam wedding chibis this year, so here they are. Very nice birthday present for Flidget Jerome’s mama. Thank you, guys, so much for joining us. If you enjoyed the show, please consider clicking that Like button. It helps with the visibility of the program and consider subscribing as well if you haven’t subscribed yet. My thanks again to the Stargate super fans for being such a tremendous part of the Stargate community and in my life as well. Guys, I appreciate you, the audience, for continuing to tune in. We’ll have some more episodes for you really soon. See you on the other side.