Gary Jones, the man behind CMSgt. Walter Harriman, returns LIVE to Dial the Gate to take your questions and and share more memories from the production of SG-1!

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Timecodes
0:00 – Splash Screen
0:46 – Opening Credits
1:15 – Welcome
2:29 – Gary’s CBC Radio Show (The Debaters)
4:36 – Why There’s Less Acting Work in Vancouver
5:30 – Gary’s Characters Are Aging with Him
6:58 – SG-1 Characters Learned Alien Technology Off-Screen (“Prometheus Unbound”)
9:42 – How Gary Pretended to Fire Prometheus Weapons (“Prometheus Unbound”)
10:36 – What’s New with Gary’s Painting
12:04 – Gary’s MF DOOM Hand Painting
13:00 – Gary’s Graham Clark Painting
14:37 – Gary’s Street Photography
15:53 – Photographing from the Base of the Eiffel Tower
17:30 – Photographing Security at the Louis Vuitton Foundation
20:25 – A Photograph of a Strange Road Marking
21:13 – A Photograph of a Running Man
22:39 – Photographing Along the Seine
23:17 – Gary’s French Countryside Landscape
25:25 – How the Human Brain Understands Art
26:28 – Gary’s Dog Portraits
26:50 – Gary’s Old Pencil Sketches
28:12 – Gary’s Ansel Adams Sketch
29:03 – Gary’s RDA Sketch
29:59 – Gary’s Tibetan Monk Sketch
30:51 – One of Gary’s Commissioned Portraits
32:58 – Gary’s Fringe Play (World’s Greatest Guy)
37:07 – The Importance of Experiencing Different Types of Art
38:46 – Where Do Ideas Come From?
44:27 – “Don’t Hoard Your Silver Bullet”
45:21 – Finding a Title for David & Michael’s New Podcast
46:46 – David & Gary Are in the Same Wheelhouse
47:34 – Gary’s First SG-1 Audition
53:28 – Gary’s Second SG-1 Audition
55:27 – How Stargate Directors Let Gary Do Comedy
56:39 – Why Starring on One Show for 10 Years Is Rare Today
57:09 – Navigating Comedy on SG-1
58:16 – Gary Was Almost Fired by Mario Azzopardi (“Children of the Gods”)
1:00:55 – Gary Was Reading Vanity Fair During a Scene (“Deus Ex Machina”)
1:03:59 – The “How Come?” Room
1:05:42 – Gary Could Work as a Museum Curator
1:06:13 – The Origin of “Walter” (“2010”)
1:07:42 – The Origin of “Harriman”
1:09:15 – Gary’s Looking Great
1:10:29 – Gary Performed as Walter at the 200th Episode Party
1:11:52 – Gary Hosted as Walter at San Diego Comic-Con
1:14:40 – Gary’s Hosting a Lot of Events
1:16:02 – Gary Would Love to Host the Gate Cruise
1:17:12 – Shooting Puppet Scenes in “200”
1:18:47 – Changing Costumes in Seconds (“200”)
1:21:20 – Gary’s on Cameo
1:22:47 – Thank You, Gary
1:22:58 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
1:28:45 – End Credits

***
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TRANSCRIPT
Find an error? Submit it here.

David Read:
Welcome, everyone, to Dial the Gate: the Stargate Oral History Project. My name is David Read. Thank you so much for being here for this episode. Let me know if my levels sound a little bit low. I’m seeing some different settings here than I’m used to ’cause we changed a few things around. Gary Jones, Masters, Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman, Stargate SG-1. How are you, sir?

Gary Jones:
Great. Awesome. Retired from the SGC. I’m hanging out in my cool thrift-store T-shirt finds.

David Read:
I’m thrilled to have you back, as always. We’ve had a bit of a kick in the hoo-ha with the cancellation of the show. We were all excited that this thing was returning, and then… it was like, “Seriously?” I’m not sure what’s gonna happen next, and that’s where we’re all at right now. So, we’re looking forward to other activities, like being able to join each other at conventions and cruises and things like that. What’s been going on in your world?

Gary Jones:
I write for a comedy show on CBC Radio up here in Canada. It’s called The Debaters. It’s a very, very funny show that you can not live stream, but you can go on cbc.ca, and then you go to their streaming and you hit Debaters. And what it is, is The Debaters … it’s a debating show with two debates per half-hour show, but each topic, a varied topic, is debated by two stand-up comedians. So, there it is. Steve Patterson. There it is right there. Steve. We’re going to Edmonton, and that’s Steve is the host. And you can click on that and then scroll down and pick from any number of debates and have a listen. Very, very funny. All the stand-up comedians write their own material, and I’m a writer for other stuff on it. But it’s a great gig, and it’s been going for 21 seasons, so it’s pretty amazing to have a radio show that has lasted that long. It’s become sort of iconic in Canada now. So, it’s fantastic. And I was there from the very first workshop when the creator, who’s a friend of mine, had this idea to do a comedy debating show. He knew that, because I was an improviser and my mind sort of worked in that way, he said, “I need to workshop this.” So, we went into the basement of the CBC and got a couple of podiums, and then he took notes and he was like, “Try this, try that.” And then it got on the air. So, many people have come and gone on the show. I’m the longest-running person on the show. So, 21 seasons. Pretty great. That’s a good gig.

David Read:
Something’s working.

Gary Jones:
That’s a steady gig. As far as acting goes, it’s really odd up here. I hate to say it, it’s not really happening much anymore.

David Read:
The industry’s been eviscerated.

Gary Jones:
I do audition, but nothing.

David Read:
In terms of getting work, not so much. What do they say in Russia? “We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.” It’s frustrating, man. What do you think it is? Let’s cut through the crap. Not that we crap each other. What do you think’s going on?

Gary Jones:
I don’t know. I can only audition for the parts that I’m suited for. I’m 68 now, so my age range has gone from six—I can play 60 to 75, pushing it, I guess. But I use the sort of example of when I started out 40 years ago. I could play the part of teachers, and then I moved into principal, the school principal. And then I moved into school board member …

David Read:
“I played doctors, and then I played surgeons, and I played head of surgery.”

Gary Jones:
… who sits in an office. So, I’ve moved along much in the same way that the producers of Stargate, every time I came back from a break and a new season, I’d have new ribbons, and they’d promote me. And I’d go, “What? I’m promoted?”

David Read:
“What’d I do this for?”

Gary Jones:
I’d go, “Why?” And they go, “Ah, you just are.” I’m telling you that that was– Whenever I questioned anything, they’d be like, “What? Don’t worry about it.” And I remember there was one episode when Walter ended up piloting …

David Read:
Driving the ship. “Prometheus Unbound.”

Gary Jones:
… Al’kesh.

David Read:
You’re piloting an Al’kesh.

Gary Jones:
And I remember I was super excited about doing this. I was like, “Where has Walter gone? They’re really giving Walter great stuff to do.” And it was being directed by Andy Mikita who’s a really good buddy of mine. We were preparing to shoot the scene. And I’m sitting in the seat, and it’s all plywood. You know what I mean? Spray-painted plywood. And I sit in the seat and I go, “Andy, how do I know how to fly this thing? You’ve got me here. How do I know what I’m doing?” And he goes, “You just do.” And I go, “So, I’m not looking for the owner’s manual in the glove compartment or anything like that?”

David Read:
“How do you engage the hyperdrive on this thing? Where’s the ignition?” The rational explanation is he does more than just sit in that chair. As they bring technology back, he’s one of the technicians that learns how it works. The greater thing about it is that there’s no reason to hire 100 different technicians that have 100 different specialties. These are the people that we send to off-world, because Walter would be stationed at SGC. But in this case, Hammond actually says, “I’m taking Walter with me.” It’s a plus for you and us who are fans of you that … “Just move him over here.” Because at the beginning of the show, Jack didn’t know how to fly a Death Glider, but by Season Six he does. They captured them and they learned how to do it. It’s probably Walter who was teaching them how. “I’m not gonna do a barrel roll or anything. You can do that, but I’m gonna show you how to turn it off and on again.”

Gary Jones:
I think that’s what the problem–

David Read:
And that’s what the technician does.

Gary Jones:
His problem was finding reverse. And I kept saying–

David Read:
I think that’s Independence Day. They flip the thing. The crest.

Gary Jones:
I kept saying, “Colonel, just push down on the stick and then move it over, and it’ll go into reverse.”

David Read:
That’s right. Or the General Landry, “You have to hold the button down, sir.” “I like yelling at people. I don’t get the chance to do it here. Everyone knows what they’re doing.”

Gary Jones:
The other thing I remember that killed me when I was playing the Al’kesh was that I had to pretend that I was shooting lasers and whatever I was firing from it. And I was staring at a teamster leaning against the brick wall eating a donut.

David Read:
They eat while rolling?

Gary Jones:
That was my target. Teamster in the crosshairs.

David Read:
Put the donut right– Perfect. Beautiful. That’s funny, man. We’re live with Gary Jones on Dial the Gate. If you’re in the YouTube chat right now, go ahead and submit your questions to the moderators for free. Just put a question mark in the front of it and it’ll help them identify it. So, thank you, guys. Dude, have you continued to paint? Is there anything that you can show us off in this? I look forward to paint time with Gary Jones.

Gary Jones:
That’s my kids’ show that got canceled, but let’s not talk about that. I think from a long time ago, I did send you a whole bunch of paintings. So, you pretty much got those with you. Unless you need me to resend them, I could. What have I been doing? Do you want me to send you anything?

David Read:
If there’s anything that you have that’s recent. I’m trying to–

Gary Jones:
I’ll send you… I’ll flip through my phone and I can fire off a couple pictures.

David Read:
Zap them to me.

Gary Jones:
Just text them to you?

David Read:
OK.

Gary Jones:
What’s good?

David Read:
Sorry, we should’ve done this beforehand. Go ahead and do that, and then I’ll Dropbox them to myself.

David Read:
But it’ll take about 30 seconds.

Gary Jones:
This first one I’m about to send you is– My son got me starting to draw again years ago by asking me to draw him some rap artists. And this picture, that ring is a mask worn by a rap artist named MF Doom. So, my son said, “Hey, can you do me a picture of MF Doom?” So, I looked through and I thought, “There’s all these pictures that people have seen. What would be really cool to draw?” And hands are very difficult to draw, and so I gave myself the challenge of drawing that. I do a lot of sketches.

David Read:
Wow, dude. This is so cool. Look at that.

Gary Jones:
And I’ll show you another painting I did. I’m gonna send you a painting right now of the guy that I co-write The Debaters with. His name’s Graham Clark. He’s a very, very funny guy, and he did a 24-hour stand-up comedy gig where he was the only one on stage, where we were all sitting to the side writing jokes for him. I brought this painting that I did of him. A portrait. He didn’t even know. I showed up and I said, “Graham, if you wanna auction this off and get some more money for the club that you’re trying to get money for,” I said, “Feel free to.” And when he saw it, he said, “No way, I’m taking that and I’m gonna hang it in my–”

David Read:
He wants it for himself.

Gary Jones:
So, this guy’s name is Graham Clark, and this is a painting I did of him from a photograph I took of him one time when he was on stage.

David Read:
Send that along. Pull this here. Wow. You know who it reminds me of? It reminds me of Jay Brazeau. When he has his beard. But this beard is beautiful.

Gary Jones:
Graham’s known for his beard. The other thing that I’ve been getting into, which I’m really happy with, is street photography. I went to Paris. I was in Paris for a couple of days back in 2024, and I’ll send you a couple of these black-and-white shots that I took in Paris. Then I had a showing, and it was called Paris Two Jours, so it was two days. I’m sending you a couple of my black and whites. I also do commissions, and I sell these. That’s also what I’m doing, which is, like I said, street photography, painting, all sorts of stuff like that.

David Read:
Pull these here.

Gary Jones:
Here’s a little painting I did–

David Read:
Before we move past that, I still am transmitting to myself … the images here.

Gary Jones:
I’d love people to see these black and whites.

David Read:
I’m showing that now. Just a moment.

Gary Jones:
And these …

David Read:
Here we go.

Gary Jones:
… black and whites that you’re about to show were taken with my iPhone.

David Read:
Those filters are amazing if you know what you’re doing.

Gary Jones:
Believe it or not, this picture that you’re looking at right now was somewhere around the base of the Eiffel Tower. And we went to the Eiffel Tower, and I said to myself, “I am taking no pictures of the Eiffel Tower,” because what picture of the Eiffel Tower could I take that would be so amazing? So, instead of looking up, I looked down. And this picture right here was as is. Pair of high-heeled stilettos below a water fountain, and then a poster that says, “The Gospel Dream.” And I was like, “Oh my God.”

David Read:
You saw something in that spot that other people just see, “There’s street dirt down there.”

Gary Jones:
Street dirt, and it amazed me that they would be left there. That’s the kind of stuff that catches my eye.

David Read:
That’s really cool.

Gary Jones:
This, believe it or not, I can tell you a cool little interesting story about this. We were in the Louis Vuitton Foundation. The whole building is designed by the iconic American architect Frank Gehry, who’s since passed away. Anyway, we go inside here, and it’s full of Picassos and Monets and Jeff Koons, all high-end art. But because it was the Louis Vuitton Foundation, they dress their security people up in really smoking-hot suits. And as I was looking at them, they started to become art to me. So, I started surreptitiously taking shots of the security people …

David Read:
“Don’t mind me, guys.”

Gary Jones:
… in the Louis Vuitton. And one of them called me out. She came over to me. She said, “Did you take a picture of me?” And I said, “Yes, I did.” And she said, “OK, let me see it. Delete it. Get rid of it right now.” And I said, “OK. I’m sorry.” She was pretty upset with me. But I wanted to see them in their working environment, ’cause they looked beautiful to me.

David Read:
You can’t tell who this guy is. This is really cool.

Gary Jones:
And before I left, I went up to her and I said, “Look, I want to apologize for making you uncomfortable. My intention wasn’t to do that at all.” I explained to her about how I’m an artist and a photographer, and I see things slightly differently. And I said, “You and your co-workers became art to me. People come in here to look at the art, and you are the people who are ignored.” And she was like, “Yeah?” And I said, “So, in my eye, you guys were the beauty …”

David Read:
Part of the exhibit.

Gary Jones:
… of this place.” And she just softened. And she said, “Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve posed for you.” And I said, “Yeah, and that’s exactly what I didn’t want you to do. I wanted to capture you working, but being invisible, but I could see you.” So, for me, it was this idea of seeing the unseen and photographing them.

David Read:
Hammond says the same thing to Emmett Bregman in “Heroes.” The cameras change the nature of things just by being there, and that’s the point that he was getting at.

Gary Jones:
And then I was gonna send you this–

David Read:
We’re not done.

Gary Jones:
Go ahead. Show me and I’ll tell you.

David Read:
Look at that.

Gary Jones:
This killed me. It was like “What is this saying?” You can’t enter unless you’re a little girl or a man …

David Read:
With a peg leg.

Gary Jones:
… missing most of his left leg. This is it there.

David Read:
And one’s longer than the other. Look at that. That’s so weird. I can understand if they were the same length. I don’t understand.

Gary Jones:
I died when I saw that. I was, “What?”

David Read:
That’s weird.

Gary Jones:
So, I had to take a photo of it. A bunch of these photos that you’re showing, the ones with the rain– This one has a guy, if you zoom out on this one, you’ll see a guy running. Can you see him?

David Read:
He’s on the right.

Gary Jones:
He’s on the right, and he’s running down the street. And what I loved about this picture was that he’s on one side, and there’s a garbage can counterweighting it on the other. I love that shot. Very French.

David Read:
How cool is that?

Gary Jones:
And this shot, people go, “It’s like Henri Cartier-Bresson’s.” There’s a very similar shot where somebody’s skipping across a puddle. That wasn’t my intention when I took that picture. But we were only there for two days. One day was sunny, and the next day was raining. And my girlfriend had said to me, “I didn’t bring a rain shell.” So, I ran out of our Airbnb, and I was running around looking for a sports store to buy her a rain shell, and then all these photos appeared for me. So, I was clicking pictures in the rain. This is on the bank of the Seine River. And again, if you look at the way I’m… I love composition. So, this one is split with a tree. There’s a guy on the other side. He’s looking at me. And again, it’s counterweighted by this heavy metal ring that I guess they would tie boats up to many years ago. So, those are all still there, the ancient Seine River.

David Read:
That’s so cool, man.

Gary Jones:
Thanks, David. Thank you.

David Read:
You have an eye. You see things.

Gary Jones:
I’m really happy with those. And I’m gonna send you one quick painting, a recent one that I did. And this is about 10 by 10. Friends of ours have a house in the south of France. And we were driving back to their house from being out in the country. And as we came around the back way to get into this place, I looked over and I saw this — I don’t know what it was — little building up in a field. And when we parked, I walked back up and I took a bunch of photographs. And then I came home and I painted this. And I gave it to a friend of mine, so she’s got it hanging in her place. But it was cool to do a little landscape. And I don’t always do landscapes.

David Read:
I love your use of color.

Gary Jones:
Thank you, David. Thank you.

David Read:
This is so cool. I love nerding out on art.

Gary Jones:
Really?

David Read:
I can’t get into all the technical stuff, but I love …

Gary Jones:
David, I am not–

David Read:
… the nature of picking a subject and then having weight and counterweight in it, rules of thirds. Anything that’s not symmetrical, because I’m so drawn to symmetry when I create that I have to keep on telling myself, “Unbalance your focus,” and you get stuff like this.

Gary Jones:
So, it’s great to talk to you about. Not many people know about the rule of thirds, people who are the untrained eye or whatever. But if you look at this one, it’s cut in three. There’s sky, field, and then the grass down in front.

David Read:
And then offset vertically.

Gary Jones:
So, there’s the third., offset with that little building in the background.

David Read:
It makes, for whatever reason, our brains respond with a more pleasing approach than to something that is bound by constraints and boxed in. It’s beautiful. That’s really cool.

Gary Jones:
Thank you, David. I appreciate that. The thing is, people might not know about the rule of thirds, but I think people inherently know the rule of thirds without knowing that they know the rule of thirds, because they can look at something …

David Read:
They just can’t name it.

Gary Jones:
… [but] they can’t name it. They look at it and they go, “I get that. I sort of, on some level, understand it,” but they don’t know why. But of course, the artist knows exactly what they’re doing in the creation of the piece.

David Read:
They can be more deliberate in the act of creation, to go out of their way to do something like that. That’s more pleasing than something that’s random.

Gary Jones:
And then I guess the other thing that I was doing is, I’ve been drawing dog portraits.

David Read:
You saved this to last. I think I’ve seen the one that you sent of Rick’s dog, RDA’s dog, from a few years ago.

Gary Jones:
That was …

David Read:
That was cool.

Gary Jones:
… his dog …

David Read:
The Border Collie.

Gary Jones:
… Andy.

David Read:
Andy.

Gary Jones:
That was the first dog that I ever– Do you wanna see some of my old sketches? I don’t think you’ve ever seen these, my old pencil sketches.

David Read:
We can look at a few, but I got some fan questions for you as well. So, I wanna be mindful of your time.

Gary Jones:
What I’m about to send you is a pencil sketch I did of Ansel Adams, the famous photographer …

David Read:
Black-and-white landscapes.

Gary Jones:
… and of Richard Dean Anderson, a portrait I did of him, and then the next one is a Tibetan monk. And then we can move on to questions. But have a look at these and see what you think. So good to talk to you, David. It’s great to see you.

David Read:
Absolutely, man.

Gary Jones:
Always a pleasure.

David Read:
These are cool. Let me pull these up here real quick. Send that to meself. All right. These are wild. Some of it is a little scary. All right, here and then here. All right, so let’s start off with Ansel. Hands.

Gary Jones:
So, I have to say that this picture of Ansel Adams was taken by one of my all-time favorite photographers, a guy named Arnold Newman. And Arnold Newman was one of the first photographers to shoot artists, actors, philosophers, writers, anybody in the creative arts. I have a book of his called One Mind’s Eye, and he’s got all these insanely amazing black-and-white photographs. This picture of Ansel Adams I drew from his book. So, I’m pretty happy with that. And then the next one …

David Read:
This is someone we’ll recognize here.

Gary Jones:
… there’s a picture of Richard Dean that I drew.

David Read:
Is this from a photo?

Gary Jones:
Yeah. I usually– With this one in particular, I tell you what I’m really happy about is the hands. Hands are so hard to draw.

David Read:
Why is that? Even for AI.

Gary Jones:
I think it maybe has something to do with the number of bones and how the skin sits on the bones and the creases that occur because the hands are constantly moving. So, there’s all these different layers and little pockets and stuff. Hands and feet are hard to draw. I’m pretty happy with this picture, and I’ve got a bunch of these at home that I had copied and made. And then this last one …

David Read:
This looks like something out of Stephen King.

Gary Jones:
… this monk literally looked like this. I don’t know how old this guy was, but he looked like a Shar Pei. He had these folds, and he was staring into the camera in this really curious way.

David Read:
Was this your photo?

Gary Jones:
I did this from a photograph.

David Read:
You did this not from your photograph.

Gary Jones:
Not from my photograph. No. I found this in a book somewhere. Some of the things that I tend to draw are challenges to me. And it was, “How can I draw the creases in this guy’s face?” Look, it was amazing. So, I was pretty happy with that.

David Read:
I’ll never forget the conversation that we had. Gary takes commissions, as he’s already said, and if anyone wants a commission from Gary, email me at [email protected]. We’ve done one in the past where someone’s father, they submitted a photo to you of his father, and we had a conversation about the manipulation of the light through one of his lenses and how everything …

Gary Jones:
I can’t believe you can remember that.

David Read:
… that’s inside of that lens was distorted. Because you asked me, “What’s the most interesting part of that image?” “Everything that’s happening in there because the world is inverted and everything is weird.”

Gary Jones:
Can’t believe you can remember that.

David Read:
You have to see all of that to detect all of that in order to transfer it to another medium besides the photograph. You just see stuff, dude.

Gary Jones:
And as soon as I saw that, because he had thick lenses in his glasses and his head was slightly turned, so it was enough that– Sometimes if you look and somebody’s got really thick lenses, the shape of their head squeezes in? It was like that, and it was this pocket of light that was on one side, and I fixated on that. I couldn’t stop staring at that. That was the thing that got me… There it is. My God, David.

David Read:
Isn’t that wild?

Gary Jones:
David. Right there is …

David Read:
She submitted this.

Gary Jones:
… that little pocket of–

David Read:
And then he created this.

Gary Jones:
He submitted that. That was me. I had to pencil sketch it first.

David Read:
That is so cool.

Gary Jones:
If I could find the finished product, I’d find out.

David Read:
I’ve got it.

Gary Jones:
You do?

David Read:
Who do you think you’re talking to?

Gary Jones:
And she loved it. She was super happy with it. It was this young lady, and it was her father-in-law, actually. She loved it. She told me when it arrived. They took it out. They hung it up in their place right away. And I have to say, I’m not a trained artist. I didn’t go to art school.

David Read:
You’re trained from life.

Gary Jones:
I tend to make it up as I go along. So often I don’t know what I’m doing, but they seem to turn out.

David Read:
That’s awesome, man.

Gary Jones:
So, the thing is, you were asking me about acting and what am I up to. I notice that I have the ability to pivot, and I don’t know if that comes with age. Young people getting into the business now, I don’t know how they do it. I don’t know what is it in there … how they move forward if they’re not getting any acting work. If they go, “I’m an actor, and I’m not getting any work. What do I do?”

David Read:
How do you not get discouraged?

Gary Jones:
From years ago, ended up writing a fringe play with a friend of mine that I improvised with, Sean McDonald, very, very funny guy, and we had never written a play before. And we wrote a play, and it got into the Fringe, and then it got held over at the Fringe. This is in Vancouver. And then it got picked up by a local … a real theater, and the artistic director of the theater came to us and said, “This is obviously really, really funny,” but because it was a fringe play, it’s a one-act. And he said–

David Read:
So, it’s shorter.

Gary Jones:
It’s shorter. So, we maxed out. The max you could do is 75 minutes. And when we wrote it, how ballsy is this of us? We said, “It’s gonna be funny, so even though we have 75 minutes of stage time, we only should write an hour and five minutes of script because we have to assume we’re gonna get at least 10 minutes of laughs.” That’s how we wrote it. We said, “We’re gonna get 10… We have to. If we don’t get 10 minutes’ worth of laughs sprinkled throughout this play, it’s not worth writing.” So, we did. It killed. It was very, very funny, and we were in it.

David Read:
Wow. Killed in a good way.

Gary Jones:
Sean and I were in it with two other actors. It got held over at the Vancouver Fringe, and the artistic director of the Arts Club Theatre came and saw it. And he goes, “It’s obviously really funny. People love it.” And he said, “I’d like to put it on my stage.” And he goes, “But can you make it into a two-act? Because I need an intermission to sell booze.” And we were like, “Yeah, we can. We can do that.”

David Read:
So, you doubled its length or did you take some from the first act and transfer it?

Gary Jones:
No, we didn’t double the length. We went through the one-act and found a natural break …
David Read:
Break.

Gary Jones:
… where the first act would end. Then there’s an intermission. Then they come back. We made it even funnier. We were like, “Oh my God, we get to expand on this.” It was even funnier. So, he puts it on his stage. It gets held over for, I don’t know, two months or whatever in the summer.

David Read:
‘Cause it’s doing well.

Gary Jones:
This was back in 1994 when I was first starting writing, and it won the local theater award for best play of 1994.

David Read:
What was the title?

Gary Jones:
It was called World’s Greatest Guy. And it was amazing to go …

David Read:
I would like to read it.

Gary Jones:
… from just writing a fringe play to sort of being on stage accepting an award. Because you don’t write for that. You don’t write assuming that you’re gonna get an award. But the fact that it went that far was so cool.

David Read:
That’s cool, man.

Gary Jones:
That’s what I tell them. I also do some teaching, and I tell all my acting students, I say, “You’ve gotta branch out.” I go, “How many of you go to the art gallery?” And it’s rare. Maybe one person in the class. I go, “You should be going to the art gallery all the time.” I said, “Because when you go inside the art gallery, it’s like you’re in the nuclear reactor of creativity, and you’re seeing what somebody dreamed up.” And I said, “I go all the time ’cause I find it …

David Read:
You’re opening your mind.

Gary Jones:
… unbelievably inspiring.” And I look at things that I go, “Oh my God, I never thought that somebody would paint that or do a sculpture of that.” And it completely jumpstarts my brain. And they are always surprised because they’re film students.

David Read:
That’s their mode. That’s what they’re focused on.

Gary Jones:
That’s their mode.

David Read:
It doesn’t occur to them to go outside of that, per se.

Gary Jones:
No. So, it’s really interesting when I get that response. They’re so surprised when I tell them to be going doing other creative things that have nothing to do with film on the surface. I said, “But everything goes into the melting pot. Something you’ll see will ins[pire] … you’ll think of a story, or you’ll think of a character, or something will pop into your mind that …

David Read:
Completely unrelated.

Gary Jones:
… was so unrelated, that wasn’t there before, and now you have this thing that is taking over that you can write about.” So, I do tend to do that.

David Read:
Before we leave and go to fan questions, this may seem so mundane, but where do you think ideas come from? I run six days a week, sometimes five, three miles, and if I put on music or a podcast, I often find myself not even… It becomes noise because I’m thinking, and I’m thinking, and I’m thinking. And once I get done, I think it’s also the process of running and getting the blood flowing through the brain, increasing the capacity in your brain to pump the blood when running. I get so creatively stimulated. Once I’m done, pop in the shower, and I immediately have to get to work on something that I came up with or that was augmenting what I was working on while I was running. And there’s something about… I’m not comparing this to an art gallery, but there’s something about taking yourself out of your place. In my case, it’s going around the block. And in that space is the act of creation. Something is happening in there where our brains wander. Where do you think things come from? For you, where do you feel that… Obviously, the art gallery and exposing yourself to other people’s creativity.

Gary Jones:
An art gallery …

David Read:
But what do you think is happening?

Gary Jones:
… is just one of the places that I go to just to get stimulated. It’s a great question, David, because I actually had a conversation with another creative friend of mine the other day about this very question, and I told him that I used to think that my ideas came from me, came from within me. What that ended up doing was giving me a sort of sense of ownership, like I owned the idea. And I used to think that for a while until I started teaching and I realized that … I went, “I will never run out of ideas.” I had to consider myself like an idea factory. And I said, “So, where do they come from?” And I swear to God, David, my whole attitude changed. I feel now, rather than being the source of an idea, I believe I’m just the conduit for it. So, in other words, ideas that are out there floating in the air — they’re all out there — and they choose to, for whatever reason, drop into me. They drop into me. Every time I go, “Huh.” I get an idea, I go, “That’s interesting,” I feel like an idea dropped in. I’ll mull it over, and then I will start to put it down on paper or go to my computer and start making notes. I now see it as something that drops into me, comes through me, sort of leaves me, and becomes whatever it becomes through my own personal stamp. But what was great about discovering that was that, A, it means that as long as I’m open to ideas, there’s an infinite number of ideas that can drop into me. Some of them go nowhere. Others, you go down rabbit holes and they turn into something else, whatever. But it’s this idea of taking your ego out of it, not thinking, “This is my idea.” ‘Cause when I was teaching film students at the Vancouver Film School to pitch ideas, I said, “OK, you’re gonna do a two-minute elevator pitch. How many of you have had an idea that you’ve been carrying around?” So many of them put their hands up, and I said, “What have you done with it?” or, “Have you shared it with anybody?” And they go, “No. I don’t wanna share it because somebody will steal my idea.” And I said, “So, in other words, you have this idea in your head that nothing has happened with. You have done nothing with it. It’s an idea in your head.” And I said, “So, how are you gonna get it out?” They didn’t know. And I said, “You have to get it out.”

David Read:
You do.

Gary Jones:
You have to. You can’t hold onto it thinking, “This is my idea. Somebody’s gonna steal it.” And I go, even if somebody stole your idea, they would not be able to do it the same way you would be able to do it. So, you have to let it go and give ideas away. When I’m with friends now, if they’re working on something and they need a title or something, I go, “How about this?” I could give stuff away. With no expectation of it.

David Read:
Reciprocation.

Gary Jones:
Reciprocation, remuneration, nothing. I go, “What about this? Let me help you write a log line. I’m good at doing those.” And just I do it because people who are stuck in the creative process, they need help. If I can help them, I give it away. And the more you give away, the more it comes to you.

David Read:
That conduit is open.

Gary Jones:
That’s how I do it now.

David Read:
A couple of points to that. Number one is something that I brought up once on the show before. Melinda Snodgrass, who wrote a Next Generation episode, “The Measure Of A Man,” where Data is put on trial for whether or not he’s sentient. Season Two episode, amazing. Before she wrote that, she was hanging on to that idea and not wanting to share it. George R.R. Martin, of all people was a friend of hers, told her, “Don’t hoard your silver bullet.” You run that through. You’re gonna have more of them as long as you creatively–

Gary Jones:
Get it out of the chamber.

David Read:
That’s exactly right. The other thing is–

Gary Jones:
That’s what he’s saying. If you don’t get it out of the chamber, you can’t reload …

David Read:
You can’t reload.

Gary Jones:
… another bullet.

David Read:
And there, like you say, there will be others in there. Even if you don’t think so, you have to trust yourself to allow that to happen to you.

Gary Jones:
You’ve gotta believe it. You have to believe it. And you gotta know it.

David Read:
The other thing is, Michael Shanks and I are launching a new retrospective YouTube channel/podcast. I wasn’t happy with the names that we were coming up with together, so I suggested to him, “Let’s invite the fan community to come up with a name for us.” And two days ago we selected one. It’s one that the fans came up with, and we’ll be revealing that soon. We’ve already got the artwork for it. It all fell into place once we assigned that. It was like the flip side of it, except the fact that we are not the ones who are supposed to come up with this title. Let’s give it to the fan community. And they did, and all the other pieces fell into place once we found that piece. The music, everything.

Gary Jones:
It’s almost like you opened it up in reverse. Rather than saying–

David Read:
We went dance backwards into it.

Gary Jones:
And that I love. I love because, again, that is you and Michael taking the ego out of it, going, “No, it’s our podcast. We have to come up with a name.” So, you open it up to the fans, and lo and behold, they show up.

David Read:
And it’s simple. It’s not complicated, and it harkens back to the character’s story. A big pivot.

Gary Jones:
So great. I love hearing that, David.

David Read:
It’s cool, man.

Gary Jones:
Dude, you and I have never talked about art and photography and this kind of thing before. I’m blown away by how much we can connect talking about– I had no idea. Because most of my time with you has been spent a lot of times talking about Stargate and that kind of thing. You’ve been very supportive of my painting. But hearing you talk about photography, painting, the rule of thirds, and where ideas come from, I’m like, “You’re completely in my wheelhouse.” And I had no idea until now. It’s really great to find that out.

David Read:
Hey, I’m always thrilled to have you on, man. There’s always so much to learn. And you go down to the base of these ideas, and these things really are at the roots.

David Read:
I’ve got some fan questions. Are we good on time?

Gary Jones:
I’m fine. I’m good for time.

David Read:
OK. And Kylie B., “How was your audition for Stargate SG-1?” You talked about this a really long time ago. You shared it with Chris on the show that Chris and I did. But you didn’t share that beat here where Mario opened the door after the audition and said something and shutting the door. I’d love to get that little beat of the story here. And Jonathan Glassner was like, “Don’t sigh” during the chevrons and saying, “I’m doing this audition, and you want me to say, ‘Chevron One encoded. Chevron Two encoded.’ Is this good enough for you, Jonathan? ‘Chevron Three encoded.'”

Gary Jones:
I look back fondly at the whole process. But going through it, all these pieces were in place, but I was, “OK, how is this gonna go?” Originally my agent said, “They’re gonna make a TV show of Stargate from the movie.” She said, “Have you seen the movie?” And I was, “Yeah, I’ve seen the movie.” And she said, “Watch it again because there’s a guy in there who’s a technician. He wears a Hawaiian shirt, and he’s this ‘Hey, you need me more than I need you’ thing to the Air Force.” That kind of thing. A real tech genius.

David Read:
For the record, his name was Mitch.

Gary Jones:
Was it?

David Read:
Yeah.

Gary Jones:
So, I watch the movie. “OK, I can play that guy. He’s very off the cuff.” I get the sides– And this was what fans love hearing. Because the irony is how many times over 10 years I said, “Chevron One encoded, Chevron Two encoded.” How many times? So, I get the sides, and that’s what it says. Those are my lines in the audition. And it’s me at the thing going, “Chevron One encoded.” And then they’d cut away to some battle with gunfire going off. Then they’d come back to me, “Chevron Two encoded.” And they’d cut away, and then Michael Shanks is doing something. And every time they come back to me, all I’m saying is, “Chevron One, Chevron Two, Chevron Three,” and then, “Chevron Seven locked.” Because the show hadn’t been made– There are a lot of shows you can audition for. Like, if you were auditioning for The X-Files, you already know the tone of the show. So, I had no idea what the tone of Stargate SG-1 was gonna be. So, I went on a wing and a prayer. And I thought, “I gotta show up with something. What am I any good at? I’m good at comedy, so maybe I’ll make this funny.” Oh my God. Brad Wright and Michael Greenburg were there. Jonathan Glassner was not in that initial audition. But when I walked in, Mario Azzopardi was directing it.

David Read:
That’s right.

Gary Jones:
As fate would have it, he had just directed me maybe a couple of weeks prior in an episode of Outer Limits where I was a ballistics expert, and I had to come in, deliver this bunch of jargon about ballistics, and then leave. And I did it in maybe two takes. He was super happy. So, when I walk into the Stargate audition, he looks at me and he goes, “Hey, it’s you. Hey, Chief, how you doing? Hey.” And he goes–

David Read:
Maltese accent.

Gary Jones:
Thank God. He goes, “You’d be perfect for this.” And of course any actor who hears that goes, “I’m in.” So, suddenly I relax, “How you doing?” I sit down to read, and they’re feeding me my lines. And I start going, “Chevron One encoded. Chevron Two encoded. Chevron Three encoded.” I’m putting all this spin on all the chevrons. So, by the time I get to Chevron Seven locked, I’m full Jerry Lewis. And I actually said, [Jerry Lewis impression] “Chevron Seven locked.” That was how I delivered “Chevron Seven locked.” And I look over and I see Brad Wright sitting at the table — and I swear to God, he would confirm this — head down on the table and banging the table with his fist. He’s laughing so hard because I’m the only guy they called in who did anything with it. Everybody else read it …

David Read:
Straight.

Gary Jones:
… like that, straight. And I messed around. And then that’s what you’re talking about, that moment with Mario. As I’m leaving, I’m full of myself. I’m thinking, “I nailed it.” Then Mario walks me to the door, which is unheard of. And I’m saying goodbye, and he’s about to close the door, and I go, “So, was that in the ballpark?” Thinking he’s gonna go, “Chief, you were fantastic.” And he goes, “Yeah. But not that big.” And he closes the door. And I stand in the hallway and I go, “Not that big. Oh my God. I totally blew it.” I’m thinking, “What was I thinking?” I get a callback. I get a callback, which I can’t believe. And when I get–

David Read:
Didn’t totally blow it.

Gary Jones:
And a lot of times — many actors will tell you this — if you get the callback, you think that they wanna see what you did again. So, when I walked into the callback, Mario now is sitting next to Jonathan Glassner. And Jonathan Glassner is like Easter Island. I come in, but I’m thinking, “OK, I got a callback.” I go, “Hey, Mario, how’s it going?” And he goes, “Hello, Chief.” He doesn’t even make eye contact with me. I think he’s so scared of Jonathan Glassner.

David Read:
“Sit down.”

Gary Jones:
He’s, “Hi, Chief. Hello.” “That’s weird.” So, I start reading the same sides. I do Chevron One. I go, “Chevron One encoded.” “Stop.” Jonathan Glassner’s… I’m like, “What?” He goes, “Just say the line.” “OK.” “Start again.” “Chevron One encoded. Chevron Two encoded.” “Stop.” I couldn’t help myself. I was thinking, “You guys, don’t you need me to do it the same way I did it?” And he stopped me, and I just was like, “Chevron One encoded. Chevron Two encoded. Chevron Three encoded.” And I read all of them.

David Read:
“I could have phoned this in over a phone.”

Gary Jones:
I could have phoned it in.

David Read:
“Why am I coming in here, sitting down, and doing it like that? There’s no nuance.”

Gary Jones:
Nothing. And then I finish, and Jonathan goes, “Great. Thanks for coming in.” And I left. I was, “There’s no way I got that.” And then I got it. It was quite the audition process.

David Read:
That’s wild. Maybe they wanted to make sure that you could do it straight.

Gary Jones:
Yeah.

David Read:
But the interesting thing about that is, full circle, it came back around in the end. The comedy eventually was allowed to come in when we were in bonus land with Season Eight and beyond. Obviously the seed was planted in Season Four with the great scene between the two of you in the alternate future. But sooner or later they let what you were good at come into play, and that’s fun.

Gary Jones:
And you know what? I have to say it was the fact that I got to know it. All those guys who were assistant directors, like Andy Mikita and Martin Wood, moved up through the ranks. So, when I was on the show at the beginning, they were ADs. They became directors, producers. So, I knew all those guys. Peter DeLuise knew me from doing a show in Vancouver called Star Trek: The Musical, where I played Captain Kirk. He came and saw it a bunch of times, and he knew that I could do comedy. So, Peter would write episodes and give me funny stuff to do. They knew after a number of years… And that’s what I mean. To be on a show for 10 years is unheard of now. You don’t get those–

David Read:
Doesn’t happen.

Gary Jones:
You think of Seinfeld, nine seasons. My buddy Dean Haglund was on The X-Files for nine seasons, and then I was on Stargate for 10 seasons. That doesn’t happen anymore.

David Read:
Other than When Calls the Heart, I can’t think of anything that keeps on going and going like that.

Gary Jones:
Going, going. So, the chance to be able to flex my comedic chops in a show that was basically a family-oriented action-adventure sci-fi, it was a complete gift to me. They trusted me. And the way I sort of honored that trust was I knew, as a comedian predominantly, that I could play the comedy. And I was like, “OK, they’re giving me funny stuff to do. How am I gonna play this?” Because I could not take more laughs than Rick got.

David Read:
Correct. No, that was… You could not do that.

Gary Jones:
Rick was the star. If Rick’s gonna get funny lines, which he always got, I was like, “I can’t steal Rick’s thunder.” So, I had to learn to play it in a way that still was funny but was not taking away from him. And it was a really fantastic exercise for me to navigate this show and figure out where my skill set fit into it. To support it. It was pretty cool.

David Read:
Speaking on the range of the show, Matthew Hammond wanted to know, “Did you finish any books while waiting on set over the years, or did you read magazines?” From the Mario story that we also told. Were there any books in the mix?

Gary Jones:
No, it was just magazines. What’s the man’s name?

David Read:
Matthew Hammond. He’s referencing the penny that was thrown at the glass.

David Read:
One, two.

Gary Jones:
That was in the first episode. They had me sitting in the control room in the dark for hours after a 6:30 call. Because Mario was basically– It was a two-parter. He was trying to put the thing together. And when he finally came into the room, I was so tired. I was so exhausted. My eyes felt like sand. And I thought, “OK, I’m gonna close my eyes for a sec to give my eyes a break.” And in the five seconds that my eyes were closed, Mario looked up, saw me, and threw a penny at the glass and was like this [imitating sleeping].

David Read:
“No, no, no.”

Gary Jones:
“No, no.” Do you know that I almost got fired?

David Read:
From that?

Gary Jones:
Yeah. Did you know that?

David Read:
The second time, then he did this.

Gary Jones:
I did. When he did that first one on the first day, I was so full of adrenaline. I was so freaked out that I could see in the dark.

David Read:
“I’m not losing this.”

Gary Jones:
My eyes automatically got night vision. And I thought, “OK, I’ll never do that.” And I did it again the next day, ’cause again, I was so exhausted.

David Read:
It was a different day.

Gary Jones:
It was the next day. It was the second day. I was like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe I did that. I can’t believe he saw me with my eyes…” ‘Cause he thought, “Oh, you’re sleeping through my work? I’m trying to put this show together and you’re napping?” He was pissed off. He’s a completely different guy from when I auditioned for him. Anyway, the second day I did it again, and he throws the penny, and then he goes like this. Two strikes. And Ellie Harvie– Remember? We talked about this. Ellie Harvie got a call and said, “Hey, go and audition because they’re thinking of replacing this guy that’s on Stargate.”

David Read:
If I did, I completely forgot. I didn’t know that. Ellie Harvie, who ended up coming in seasons later and playing Novak, she’s a really good friend of mine. Ellie Harvie was one of the four actors in World’s Greatest Guy that Shawn and I wrote. I’ve known Ellie for a million years.

David Read:
She’s amazing. She’s so funny.

Gary Jones:
Ellie told me that she got a call from her agent saying that they were considering replacing me because Mario was like, “Get rid of that guy.” I didn’t know this. And Brad and the producers said, “No, we’re keeping him.” But if it had been up to Mario, I would’ve been fired.

David Read:
I’m glad we got you both. In the proper way.

Gary Jones:
And the other story about a magazine was that there was a big scene once with Baal up in the general’s office, the big banquet table. General Hammond’s table.

David Read:
The briefing room.

Gary Jones:
The briefing room. And Baal was on the screen, and he was gonna blow up Earth or something. He’s gonna destroy Earth.

David Read:
“Deus Ex Machina.”

Gary Jones:
And I was in that scene. And Peter DeLuise was directing it. And there were all these military personnel and techies and all this stuff. And I said, “OK, great. Peter, there’s lots of action. What am I doing?” And he goes, “No, sit in your seat.” And I was like, “Dude, I’m always in the chair. Get me doing something else.” He goes, “No, no, no. You’re fine. Stay in the chair and work at the computer.” I was like, “Oh, my God.” Because there were so many people in the scene, he had to block it a million times. I was reading my Vanity Fair. I’m flipping through Vanity Fair. But I always took a magazine to set.

David Read:
This is the story I was thinking of.

Gary Jones:
And I was in a flight suit and flip-flops. All I would hear was “Action,” and then they’d do the scene, block it. Peter would make his adjustments. They’d go, “OK, going again.” Then they’d be like, “Action. Going again. Action. Going again.” They did it a bunch of times. And I started ignoring it. And I was reading Vanity Fair. And then finally I hear, “Action. OK, cut. Moving on.” And I was like, “Moving on? What?” And I see all the crew are moving equipment out of the room. And I’m like, “Oh, my God. He filmed me, and I’m reading a magazine while Baal is threatening to blow up Earth.” I have to go to Peter and say, “Guys–” I have to make this choice. ‘Cause Peter earlier on had told me about this thing where, in some other episode — I can’t remember — he goes, “I wanna do it this way ’cause I don’t wanna end up in the how come room.” And I go, “The how come room? What the hell? What’s that?” And he goes, “That’s when you go show your rough cut to Brad and the other guy, the other producers. And they go, ‘How come you shot it like that? How come you used that angle? How come you did this? How come you did that?'”

David Read:
How come Gary’s reading a magazine?

Gary Jones:
And you don’t wanna answer those things ’cause it’s like you’re on trial. That stuck in my mind. And I thought, “Oh, my God. If I don’t go say something to Peter, he’s gonna be in the how come room going, ‘How come Gary is reading Vanity Fair in this scene?'” I go up to him and go, “Peter, I hate to say this. We have to shoot that again.” He’s like, “Why?” And I said, “Oh, God, dude. I was reading a magazine.” And he goes, “Don’t worry about that. I got that. It’s fine.” And I go, “What are you talking about?” He goes, “No, it’s OK. It looks like you’re reading a technical manual.” And I said, “OK, so even if I was, I’d be reading a technical manual while Baal is threatening to blow up Earth?” He goes, “Don’t worry about it.”

David Read:
You’re doing your job. “Just sit in your chair.”

Gary Jones:
And I thought, “The Earth’s about to blow up in 10 minutes, and I’m ordering parts for the Stargate.” I’m just checking out the warranty, “I don’t know, this thing.” You know what I mean?

David Read:
That’s funny.

David Read:
Thomas Dalton wanted to know, “In ‘2010’ your character consulted for the SGC in an alternate future. Is that a job you think you could do in real life?”

Gary Jones:
You mean as a curator? ‘Cause the Stargate was a museum.

David Read:
The SGC was a museum.

Gary Jones:
And I was [in] the museum. Is that a job I could do in real life? Yeah, I could do that. But let me tell you something hilarious about that particular episode that he might not know. That is the episode where I was named Walter. Because Rick and the other SG-1s walk in, and I’m this curator in a suit. And I look at him, and I vaguely remember them. And I go, “Colonel?” He looks at me and goes, “Walter.”

David Read:
“Sergeant.”

Gary Jones:
No, he says, “Walter.”

David Read:
He says, “Sergeant,” and then they talk a little bit. And then he goes back to you because he needs something from you. And he goes–

Gary Jones:
“Walter.” “Walter?” And I thought, “Did I misread the script? Is there somebody else behind me named Walter that I’m unaware of?” It wasn’t in the script. We did the scene, and they go up to him afterwards, and they go, “Rick, that was fine. But just so you know, Gary’s character’s name is not Walter.”

David Read:
It’s Norman Davis on his name tag.

Gary Jones:
He goes, “It is now.” Then he leaves. And I’m standing there. They look at me. The script supervisor looks at me and goes, “OK, I guess you’re Walter now.” I was like, “What are you talking about?”

David Read:
The executive producer has spoken.

Gary Jones:
And he left, and he’s not re-doing the scene.

David Read:
No.

Gary Jones:
So, they added Walter. Then I became, for a while, Norman Walter Davis. And I was like, “OK, fine, whatever.” But then the whole bus went off a cliff. A bunch of episodes later, when Don S. Davis had to deliver the line, “Open the iris, Airman,” because I was in the Air Force. And he’s standing behind me and going, “Open the iris, Airman. Open the iris, Airman.” They kept getting him to do it over and over and over again. And finally they sent him away and said, “It doesn’t sound like ‘airman.’ It sounds like he’s calling him Harriman. ‘Open the iris, Harriman.'” And so they said, “We’ll change your name to Harriman.” I was like, “OK, this is insanity.”

David Read:
This is insanity.

Gary Jones:
“What are you talking about?” I go, “I’m already Norman Walter Davis. And now I’m what, Norman Walter Davis Harriman?” And they said, “No, we’ll get rid of Norman Davis.” And I thought, “What show could that ever happen on where you have the same character, same job, and completely different name?” And I have 8x10s with Davis on one and Harriman on the other.

David Read:
You know what it is, Gary.

Gary Jones:
They gave me a brand-new name tag.

David Read:
You’re a temporal agent who’s altering time as you move forward.

Gary Jones:
That’s what it was.

David Read:
One more for you.

Gary Jones:
Let’s look

David Read:
Then I’m gonna tear you loose. CH0P.L0-7I, “Did you steal a sarcophagus, Gary? You haven’t aged at all.”

Gary Jones:
What?

David Read:
He thinks you look great.

Gary Jones:
That’s fantastic. That’s really good to– Thank you. Yes. I don’t know. It’s youthful energy, I guess. Back when I started Stargate, it was 1997?

David Read:
’97. Yeah.

Gary Jones:
1997. So, what’s that? Almost 30 years ago?

David Read:
It’s gonna be 30 years next year. Isn’t that wild?

Gary Jones:
I can’t believe it. I was 38 when I started Stargate and I’m 68 now.

David Read:
You don’t look it.

Gary Jones:
No?

David Read:
No, you look great.

Gary Jones:
Thank you.

David Read:
You look sharpie.

Gary Jones:
I appreciate that. I look sharpie. Stargate was a great run. The other thing about being on the air that long, remember when they were celebrating? I think it was a big deal. They celebrated the 200th episode. Remember? That was a big deal.

David Read:
Can you tell the story real quick about Comic Con that we talked about over the phone the other day? I don’t have that as part of the oral history.

Gary Jones:
It was really amazing. They were celebrating the 200th episode. So, up in Vancouver at the Bridge Studios, they got some local media in, some newspapers, and there were a couple of radio stations. Very analog, old-school. The cast was there in the Gate room. And the administration said to me, “Would you wear your flight suit and host the panel and field questions from the media as Walter?” And I said, “Yeah, in a heartbeat.” So, because that’s my background, stand-up comedy and improv, I thought, “This will be a blast.” So, I did. It was great. It was really fun. Because I knew the cast, it wasn’t like they didn’t know me. We knew each other.

David Read:
Threw it in.

Gary Jones:
Everybody was [inaudible], got lots of laughs. And me being in the flight suit added this other alternate weird reality to it. That went well. And then, a short time later, the administration came up to me and said, “Hey, we wanna know if you’d be willing to go down to San Diego Comic Con and do the same thing, because we’re sending the cast down because it’s a big deal in front of the sci-fi community.” And I was like, “In a heartbeat, I’d do it.” But they said to me, “Would you do the same thing?” And I said, “Yeah, for sure.” So, they flew me down, and I’m mid-flight to San Diego, and Joe Mallozzi turns to me and he says, “So, are you nervous about doing this?” And I was like, “Why? No, I’m doing the same thing in front of a few journalists.” And he goes, “No, it’s in front of fans. 4,000 fans.” I was like, “They never told me that. They said, ‘Can you go do the same thing?'”

David Read:
I.e. host.

Gary Jones:
I.e. host. And he goes, “So, now are you nervous?” And I go, “My God, Joe.” I said, “I am so pumped. Bring it on.” I said, “4,000 people? It will be glorious.” And I went down there. Inside the cavernous place, they had pulled the wall away. There were two ballrooms.

David Read:
It’s big.

Gary Jones:
They were both packed with people. And I got to host in front of 4,000 people, field questions from fans or whatever, have a big laugh with the cast. And that went really, really well. Really, really fun. Got tons of laughs—what a host and an MC should be doing. And years later, I meet a fan at one of the conventions who tells me, she says, “Really loved what you did at Comic Con when you hosted the panel.” And I was like, “Were you there? That’s so cool.” And she goes, “No. I wasn’t there. They put it on the 10th anniversary … Season 10, when you buy the box set, they put that segment into the special features, and it’s in there.” She goes, “You can get the 10th season and watch it.” I was like, “I had no idea.” So, fans who got the box set got to actually see me do something outside of my role as Walter, hosting in front of 4,000 people, getting big, big laughs and connecting with the cast, fielding questions. It was one of the funnest gigs I’d ever done. ‘Cause I host. That’s another thing I do up here in Vancouver. I’ve hosted so many events. They have a thing here called the Leo Awards, which is the BC television and film industry awards. I’ve hosted that show like nine … I’ve hosted it more than anybody else.

David Read:
More than anybody else. That’s wild.

Gary Jones:
Nine times. And Creation. When Creation was doing the Chicago gigs, they got around to eventually saying, “Can you host the weekend?” They would get me to host the weekend.

David Read:
MC.

Gary Jones:
And there was a woman then, Jane Lowther in the UK, who did these big events at Basingstoke. She had come and seen me host in Chicago, and I got another hosting gig to go to the UK and host those things for the weekend. I got to interview David Tennant or Rhys Darby. A lot of fans don’t know that until they see me on stage and they go, “He can do that as well.” That was really special to me, to be able to go down, and the chance to interview in front of 4,000 people was amazing.

David Read:
Mind-boggling.

David Read:
I’d love to see you MC the Gate Cruise that’s coming up in January.

Gary Jones:
The Gate Cruise.

David Read:
Give me a one in the chat if you think that Gary should MC the Gate Cruise in January. Come on, people.

Gary Jones:
Because hosting on a cruise is in my wheelhouse.

David Read:
Exactly. No, absolutely.

Gary Jones:
No, that would be–

David Read:
If you can stand in front of Ballroom 20 and 4,500 people, you can easily stand in front of a room of 1,000 fans on a cruise ship. There are nearly 1,000 now on Gate Cruise. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Gatecruise.com. There’s a few spots left.

Gary Jones:
I would give anything to host on a cruise like that because, again, I know all the cast, and the fans know me. And hosting is so second nature to me. But if the fans ever wanted me to do that, I would. I always show up. I love it. I love it. I have the best time.

David Read:
You know everybody, so it makes a lot of sense. Dude, this is great. Can I have room for one more question from a fan?

Gary Jones:
Yeah.

David Read:
Matthew Hammond, “What did you think of being turned into a marionette in 200?” Wasn’t that wild?

Gary Jones:
It was. One of the questions I get asked all the time is people say, “Hey, did you get to keep the puppet?” I’m like, “No, no.”

David Read:
Did you even get to see the puppet? The puppet was shot in LA.

Gary Jones:
It was. What happened was I didn’t know how they would shoot it, and they shot it in a certain way. I think there was green screen. And we had to shoot it in a way that then they would transpose it. And they gave the footage to the people who did Team America. And they made the stuff. So, I wasn’t there when they did it. But I remember having to act like we were marionettes.

David Read:
For the reference material. And then they shot clean plates, and then they put the two together with the puppet.

Gary Jones:
With Don.

David Read:
Wild.

Gary Jones:
Don and I standing, and him going, “Make it spin. Spinning is good.”

David Read:
“Spinning is so much cooler than not spinning. It has to spin. It’s round.”

Gary Jones:
And me going, “I feel so stupid.” It was fun. So, it was a blast doing the 200th episode. At the end, when they say, “Come on, Walter, come and join us.”

David Read:
“I don’t have the right outfit.”

Gary Jones:
I’m not in the right outfit. And they were like, “We want you, as close to real time, to leave the control room and come into the Gate room fully kitted out.” And you know what? All the years in theater paid off, because whenever you do a play and you have to make a quick change, you have to run into the wings, get …

David Read:
Costume change.

Gary Jones:
… kit on, get a hide, costume change, and come back in super fast. And any actor will tell you this. Every play they go into where they go, “We need you back on stage in 10 seconds,” first day you go, “I can’t do it. It’s impossible. There’s no way.” And then you work it out …

David Read:
You find a way.

Gary Jones:
… with all the people. So, I took my experience working in theater, and I said to the costume people, “OK, this is what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna have my boots ready. I’m gonna be up in the control room in flip-flops, in bare feet. And as I leave, I’m gonna walk down, and I’m gonna be underdressed and taking my — what do you call it — my flight suit off.”

David Read:
Flight suit. ‘Cause the camera’s waiting on you in position.

Gary Jones:
It’s locked, but they only wanna lock it for a few seconds. So, I literally, as I’m putting the jacket on, somebody’s zipping up the Kevlar vest, handing me my gun, stick a helmet on me, and then I come running around the corner out of breath, like I’ve just changed. It was so cool to see that. And we did it a few times to figure out who was gonna put my helmet on, who was gonna hold the jacket, who’s gonna hand me the gun. And we did it like that. Did it a few times, walked through it, and then we said, “OK, let’s go. Let’s do it super fast.” And that’s how you see me leave in one outfit and walk around and come in in another. It was amazing.

David Read:
That’s wild.

Gary Jones:
I’m so thankful for my theater experience to be able to understand how you can do that. And I could take charge of it. I basically told the costume people, “This is how we’re gonna do this.”

David Read:
That’s wild, man.

Gary Jones:
Incredible.

David Read:
Gary, always a pleasure to hang out with you.

Gary Jones:
Aw, David. Come on.

David Read:
You’re family at this point. Thank you so much for spending some time. And I’m gonna wrap up the show on this end, and I’ll give you a ring in a little bit.

Gary Jones:
That’d be great.

Gary Jones:
Fantastic. Thank you to all the fans for listening in and asking questions, and I’m always happy to talk to fans. Did you know I’m on Cameo too?

David Read:
What’s your Cameo? I didn’t know this.

Gary Jones:
I’m on Cameo.

David Read:
There it is.

Gary Jones:
I’m on Cameo.

David Read:
Hang on a second here. Let’s plug that. I’ll also put a link in the description below for everybody. Here we go, everyone.

Gary Jones:
I’m on Cameo.

David Read:
Very nice.

Gary Jones:
And those are really fun to do too.

David Read:
Those are a hoot. There’s an art to this too, ’cause it’s putting information in your head and making sure that you deliver what the fan wants.

Gary Jones:
And I’ll tell you, the fans ask for the bare minimum. “Could you wish so-and-so a happy birthday?” My Cameos are long. They’re five minutes. I tell stories and I try to connect even though I’m just talking into my phone. But I’ve gotten such great feedback from the fans because I try to go above and beyond what they ask for.

David Read:
Awesome. That’s so cool. We’ll put a link in the description below. Thank you, my friend.

Gary Jones:
Thank you, David. Wonderful to see you.

David Read:
Good to see you. I’ll be in touch really soon here.

Gary Jones:
OK. Take care, my man.

David Read:
Thanks, man. Goodbye.

Gary Jones:
Bye, everybody.

David Read:
That’s Gary Jones, everyone. Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman in Stargate SG-1. My name is David Read. You’re watching the Stargate Oral History Project. If you liked what you see, give us a Like. It does help the show. Will continue to help us grow our audience. If you have a Stargate friend out there who you think would enjoy some of this content, go ahead and share the show with them. And if you wanna get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon. I cannot do this show in a vacuum. I am so thankful for the support that I have been given through so many of you on Patreon. It has made the difference to continue to pull this show off. I was in a very different space earlier this year. There were a lot of things moving around. At that point, we still had the plan of another Stargate series, and now that’s no longer here. And I have no words other than gratitude and appreciation for everyone who has stuck through the process. We’re gonna continue to create new content for Dial the Gate, even though Shanks and I are also adding the new show on the side, and it’s gonna be pretty special. Someone asked– Let me see here real quick. I’ve definitely got a couple of questions for me. GatetravelersNLBE, “We’re very curious. When will we hear the name of the podcast?” Do I wanna say? How badly do I wanna nail myself down for this? Look around Dragon Con. So, the plan is to record that announcement two Wednesdays from now. The plan is. So, we’ll see. I’m very happy with the name. I’m very happy with the artwork that’s come out from it. We’ve got a guy building visual effects for the opening sequence right now. And then I have a composer who’s making a first draft of the music that is heavily inspired by M83, one of my favorite artists. I’ll say that. So, had a bit of a brainwave while I was at the drumline competition for my godson. I think I’ve got it. If this is the name for the show, then this is the tone for the project. So, that’s the game plan. Someone was asking about… Who was it that was concerned with… Let’s see if I can find this here. CH0P.L0-7I, “I’ve been scared of cruises, people getting sick.” They have a patch that you put behind your ear now for seasickness that eases that. It’s not a problem. Your doctors can prescribe them. So, if that’s you, get one of those, go into a dinghy, and see if you’re good, then you know you’re good for the boat. It’s not really like that. And if that’s for you, put yourself in the middle of the boat, midship, higher deck. You don’t feel anything. It’s fine. But I can tell you, my folks are gonna be going to this one, and that’ll be their 17th or 18th cruise. They got the bug, and that was it. It’s a great experience. So, thegatecruise.com, link in the description below. I’m gonna be there making some stuff happen with Michael Shanks and a couple of others. This is gonna be a really cool event, and it’s almost completely sold out. That’s what we’ve got for you for this episode. Next Saturday at noon Pacific Time, this is gonna be the 29th, Dion Johnstone, Chaka, Warwick, Wodan, Lieutenant Tyler. He’s back for another hour. This is a pre-recorded show. We’ve already got it filmed, and he was a great time. He’s also in the Steel Magnolias right now, and we’ll talk about that show a little bit. That’s a good interview, and that’s gonna be heading your way soon. I can’t thank my moderating team enough. These guys, you are all amazing. Anthony, Marcia, Enigma, Lockwatcher, Raj, Jakub, Stephen, they’re the true heart and soul of this team. Matt “EaglesSG” Wilson, thank you, Matt, for the O’Neill flying by in the opening. We finally got the guns correct. It was the regular O’Neill class before with no guns at the bottom. I think that was the one from “Revelations,” but we got the O’Neill from “Small Victories.” That’s the one. So, Frederick Marcoux at ConceptWeb who keeps dialthegate.com up and running. Venture Pictures does a lot of our visuals as well. This is a great team. I am so thankful for all of these folks for continuing to make this show possible week in and week out. So, that’s what we’re gonna end the show with. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I appreciate you all tuning in live and making a great time for Gary and myself, and the team. I’ll see you on the other side.