In our continuing series of interviews dissecting each season of Stargate SG-1, Joseph Mallozzi returns to explore the depths of Season Seven! It was the show’s second year on the Sci-Fi Channel, and changes were definitely going to be afoot.

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Timecodes
0:00 – Splash Screen
00:16 – Opening Credits
00:51 – Welcome and Episode Outline
01:51 – Call to Action
02:27 – Guest Introduction
03:15 – Producing SG-1 Season Seven
07:03 – Tell us about building out Season Seven and Atlantis
11:20 – “Homecoming” (SG-1 7×02) and getting Daniel back
17:16 – “Revisions” (SG-1 7×05)
21:23 – “Avenger 2.0” (SG-1 7×09)
23:55 – Bringing Ba’al back
27:29 – “Fallout” (SG-1 7×14)
30:26 – Improvement of Two-Parters
34:06 – Loss of a character (SG-1 7×18 Heroes Part 2 )
38:10 – “Lost City” (SG-1 7×21&22)
40:52 – Favorite Dialogue Coming to Life
42:25 – Favorite Superhero
45:30 – Lyrics for Atlantis and Ori Vocalizations
47:25 – Spin-Off For Any SG-1 Character
49:30 – Wraith vs Ori
51:23 – SG-1 Lost City Feature Film
52:11 – Stargate and Star Trek Crossover?
52:56 – Any disadvantages in shooting an American show in Canadian locations?
54:19 – Biggest Diva Worked With
58:29 – Dark Matter reboot
1:00:43 – “The Changeling” (SG-1 6×19)
1:01:17 – Character or Story?
1:01:38 – Judge Dredd
1:02:02 – Stargate Extinction
1:02:29 – Upcoming Projects
1:04:55 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
1:07:59 – 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 Read:
Welcome to Dial the Gate. My name is David Read, thank you so much for joining us, this is Episode 53. Joseph Mallozzi is back for Part 5 and we’re gonna be discussing Season Seven, primarily, of Stargate SG-1. However, if you have other questions for him, you are more than welcome to submit them into the YouTube chat right now at youtube.com/dialthegate. That’s the normal process that we go through for these episodes. I have a series of questions with Joe; we talk for a little while about the main content and then we bring in the fans on youtube.com/dialthegate. Get your questions in over there, my moderators are standing by. Thanks so much to my team, Tracy, Keith, Jeremy, Rhys, Sommer, you guys are the best. To Linda “GateGabber” Furey and Jennifer Kirby as well, the team that makes up Dial the Gate. Before we really get started into it here, if you like Stargate and you wanna see more content like this on YouTube, it would mean a great deal if you click the Like button. It really makes a difference with YouTube’s algorithm and 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 on the Subscribe icon. Giving the Bell icon a click will notify you the moment a new video drops and it’ll get you notifications of any last-minute guest changes. This is key if you plan on watching live. Clips from this live stream will be appearing over the course of the next several days and weeks on GateWorld.net. Thank you again for tuning in and Joseph Mallozzi is back. Hello. I was showing this off initially ’cause I asked Joe about whether or not this is true in television and he says this is more in film than it is in TV. In television, it’s more of a combined effort. That’s right?

Joseph Mallozzi:
Correct.

David Read:
OK, got it.

Joseph Mallozzi:
The only addition I would make to that photo is, in film, one hand is reaching out for the director child, while the other hand is actually pushing the writer child underneath the surface of the water. That is more appropriate to film.

David Read:
Let’s back up and go by Season Seven one more time. You were brought over to Syfy Channel for a sixth and final season.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes.

David Read:
Now Season Seven is coming about and “What are we gonna do? We have more stories to produce now.”

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes, exactly. One of the ways that Robert Cooper, who was the showrunner at the time, sought to keep things alive, if you will, was by bringing back Daniel, the character of Daniel Jackson. Specifically, because Richard Dean Anderson was looking to lessen his time on the show, so it made sense to bring back a familiar face.

David Read:
Did you guys approach Michael?

Joseph Mallozzi:
That was all Rob. He actually called Michael up and they had a conversation and discussed, and in the end, they came together with an agreement and Daniel came back for Season Seven.

David Read:
What do you think SG-1 would have been like had it continued without Daniel and Corin stayed on? ‘Cause I’m assuming Corin would’ve been willing to stay on for Season Seven.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I would assume. I really liked working with Corin. I still like Corin very much, I was sorry to see him go. It’s hard to imagine how the show would have progressed because I was thinking about it the other day and the fact that those Daniel stories just became such an integral part of those later seasons, his relationship with Vala. Then I think about Atlantis and the fact that he did a couple of the crossover episodes. Obviously, it was a story that was very near and dear to that character. So, it’s really hard to imagine what it would be like without him in those later seasons.

David Read:
I would’ve been interested to see a show that had, I suppose it’s a writing bandwidth thing, it’s a money thing, it’s a how many people can you fit into the shot frame, you know? Because it’s one of the things that Brad always talked about is it’s 16:9, it’s pretty conducive to fitting four people into a frame, you know? Then you guys expanded to five with Vala. It would’ve been really interesting to see a show that had Corin and Michael both on it. But the advantage of Vala was she occupied a space that she created, that Claudia and you guys created together that really wasn’t there before. A rogue element that Corin and Michael would have overlapped.

Joseph Mallozzi:
That was the issue in the end. Even though the characters were very different, they essentially played the same role within the team.

David Read:
The role, that particular part, I think cannot be overstated. I think it’s one of the things that, if I may be perfectly honest, was sometimes lacking on Atlantis, that moral voice. I know Weir was
that voice, but she was often on Atlantis…

Joseph Mallozzi:
That’s true.

David Read:
… and not a part of the team itself that was making the calls at that moment.

Joseph Mallozzi:
That’s true.

David Read:
Very different dynamic. Season Seven, we are upping the ante with Anubis. You have to put him into a place where he’s escalating his power. Tell us about building out that season and when during the season was the discussion for a spinoff really coming into play where you had to really start dealing with that in that writer’s room as well, in terms of strategically moving the pieces around?

Joseph Mallozzi:
What year did Atlantis premiere?

David Read:
2004.

Joseph Mallozzi:
2004. That’s the next year of Season Eight.

David Read:
Season Eight.

Joseph Mallozzi:
We were picked up for a seventh and presumably final season. We broke Season Seven with a mind to really building towards that showdown with Anubis, building up Anubis and tying up all the loose ends, or as much as possible, given the fact that we had already, what, like, 200 episodes under our belt. Maybe less. Then, of course, late in the game, we discovered that we were actually coming back for an eighth season. That was probably the network’s call to create that Sci-Fi Friday time slot where it has SG-1 as a lead-in and handoff to Atlantis. I think the plan was to do that for a season and obviously make SG-1’s eighth season its last. But we’ll get to that in time. So, really at that point, it was full focus on Season Seven for us, while Brad and Robert behind the scenes were feverishly working, spinning ideas for the Atlantis spinoff.

David Read:
OK, so you kept your head down with SG-1. The show was also really beginning to build momentum in its popularity. It’s not like you guys were not known when it was on Showtime, but when it came to SyFy channel it just started to explode. That was the season that got the TV Guide cover, Season Seven. I suppose because you kept on working, it was just another season for you; you had plenty of stuff to keep you busy. Was there any kind of a notice or a recognition at the time that you can recall that the series was beginning to pick up momentum in terms of viewership and interest and broader acceptance into the mainstream?

Joseph Mallozzi:
To be honest with you, we were on the inside and to a certain degree insulated from all that.
We were so focused on writing scripts. I spent a fair amount of time online, and I was already well aware of the passionate fan base. Now that you mention it, the TV Guide cover was a pretty big deal back then. The numbers kept on going up. We kept on building, which was great. When you’re in a situation like that, it’s hard to think of ending, of things waning.

David Read:
That’s very true.

Joseph Mallozzi:
You just think you’re creating, obviously a product that, that audiences respond to and hopefully those audiences will tell their friends and things will continue to build.

David Read:
When you picked up your first story for this season, the episode where we lose Jonas where he goes back to his home planet, where we resolve the second half of the opening arc of that season, it was, “Homecoming.”

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes.

David Read:
Tell us about bringing Anubis to Kelowna and finding a way to get Jonas in a situation where he can sacrifice himself for Daniel and for his people so that they welcome him back.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Like I said, I had a lot of respect for Corin, a lot of respect for the character. I guess more than anything I wanted to leave the door open for a possible revisit or return and have the character go out on his own terms. But like I said, rather than kill him off, have him sacrificed in another way. Basically, he makes a sacrifice for his people and ends up conveniently leaving, I wanna say, a spot for Daniel, but certainly it was not lost on the audiences that with Daniel’s return, Jonas’ position in the team became somewhat tenuous, I guess.

David Read:
Someone else would have to feed Jonas’s fish. I can’t ignore the fervent fan response that stirred up after Michael left. That was going to be, I guess, tempered now that a lot of the Save Daniel Jackson camp was basically getting what they wanted. They were gonna get Daniel back. Those guys, to this day, take the credit for that.

Joseph Mallozzi:
To be honest with you, the decision was Rob’s purely because of Rick’s reluctance to continue committing to a full schedule. But in essence, that was it. Rob said, “Well, you remember him talking to me in the office of thinking of bringing Michael back?” I love Michael but I personally couldn’t stand those Save Daniel Jackson fans. I was like “You do realize that if you do this, they’ll think that it’s because of them.” That, for me, was a reason not to do it.

David Read:
Don’t give the dog the bone.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes, exactly. But Rob was like, “No, it makes sense. Overall, it’s good for the show.” I was like, “Well,” he was a showrunner, so I deferred to him.

David Read:
Daniel had a huge fan base, there was no denying that. Michael had created a character that was so much the heart and soul of that show. In Season Six you proved that it could work without him, but at the same time I think Rob was right. If Rick is going to continue to… he still wanted to be involved in the show, otherwise he wouldn’t have done it. But if his role was going to be minimized a little bit more year after year then probably bringing Michael in to fill in some of that space was probably for the best. At this point, when Daniel came back, and I don’t want to understate this, that character changed, in terms of his … his wonderment was gone. I wanted to know, was that a deliberate mindset that you guys put yourselves into? He is essentially a fallen angel now, for all intents and purposes. Was it also “Because Rick is leaving, we want to show that Jack has more or less rubbed off more on Daniel, let’s give him a little bit more of Jack’s snark?” Or was it just something that…

Joseph Mallozzi:
No.

David Read:
… it needs to fit with someone, and it fits with Daniel best over the course of the rest of the series?

Joseph Mallozzi:
It was more of the former, but a lot of that had to do with Michael who felt that his character had progressed past that, past the Daniel Jackson he was in those early seasons. He’s heading off world, he’s firing a gun. He always emphasized the fact that he was a warrior now.

David Read:
Very much so. He knew how to handle himself with a P90. In so many respects, in terms of temperament, it was no longer the same character. Sam also had some growth; her life was at the base. I can’t understate this enough. One of the things that … and we’ll get to it again in “Chimera,” but I want to make sure that we hit it now. You give her a line, “There’s no zoo in Colorado Springs.” I remember going online and reading, “Well, the writers didn’t check. There’s the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.” It was, “Uh, that’s their point.” She’s out on the surface.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Exactly.

David Read:
Let’s set that aside for a minute, I want to get to “Revisions” next.” This is a real sci-fi story
where you have a population in a bubble that is shrinking. Tell us about the genesis, the nucleus, if you will, for “Revisions.”

Joseph Mallozzi:
So, I came up with the idea, and I pitched it and it was a slightly different version when I pitched it. It was a lot darker. Rob Cooper, he liked the kernel of the idea. As so often happened with Rob, he liked the kernel of the idea and then he spins it his way. I remember we went to lunch and he was like, “We should do this…” Then I countered and I wouldn’t say it was a heated exchange, but certainly it was a lively spinning session. Then we ultimately got the story we got. I just like it because it’s one of those, our former visual effects supervisor, James Tichenor really loved the episode because it was a pure sci-fi one-off. It’s one of those classic tales where SG-1 goes off world, encounters an alien civilization and the story completes itself over the course of that episode. It’s not… I wouldn’t say encumbered by, but certainly it’s not tied into any of the preexisting mythology or anything that has come before. One of the things I always loved about Stargate was the ability to tell those standalone stories, but also the serialized stories. But for me, coming up with those standalone stories was always the most satisfying because those were the hardest ones to pitch and to do.

David Read:
Because you’re not connecting it to anything else structurally that’s already in place and you’re taking a risk. It may work, it may not. You hit something very prescient in that episode with the link devices. Neuralink, what Elon Musk is working on. The internet, what we all have now. Was any of that going through the back of your mind?

Joseph Mallozzi:
Less so the Musk.

David Read:
Yes. That was happening then.

Joseph Mallozzi:
But certainly, neural links and neural syncs are something that have been explored in sci-fi for ages. We love taking those sci-fi chestnuts and giving them a new spin by putting in a completely different context and then they’re different, completely different takes. So, again, it was an interesting device to get us what was ultimately a bittersweet tale guest starring…

David Read:
Christopher Heyerdahl.

Joseph Mallozzi:
…Chris Heyerdahl. In yet another role.

David Read:
His first role.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Was that his first role?

David Read:
That was his first role in Stargate.

Joseph Mallozzi:
It was great.

David Read:
Unless he was a background player at some point.

Joseph Mallozzi:
No.

David Read:
I don’t believe so.

Joseph Mallozzi:
No.

David Read:
What a coup; discovering and weaving that guy in throughout the rest of the series. The franchise, I should say, Atlantis. That is one of my favorite standalone episodes because of its implications for what can happen to us if we let technology completely take us over and do its own thing. I think it’s a fear in a lot of us who think about free will and self-determination. This thing is literally wiping people out so that it can maintain the hold.

Joseph Mallozzi:
It sounded pretty implausible then, but nowadays!

David Read:
Kinda spooky.

Joseph Mallozzi:
It’s happening.

David Read:
Geez.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Social media.

David Read:
There is a collective thing happening here now.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes.

David Read:
For better and for worse. “Avenger 2.0.” Whose idea was it to bring back Jay Felger?

Joseph Mallozzi:
To be honest with you, I don’t recall. We loved him in “The Other Guys.” That was an opportunity and we always kinda liked the comic episodes. In retrospect, this one is not my favorite.

David Read:
Why not? When you finished the final draft, were you dissatisfied with it?

Joseph Mallozzi:
No.

David Read:
Or is it in terms of how it came about on the screen?

Joseph Mallozzi:
No, that isn’t… Sometimes that’s the case, but in this case, it wasn’t. Every time you write a script, for the most part, you think you’re delivering the best possible product. Then there are those occasions when, in time, you go back and you think about the episode and you think, “Ah, some of those things missed the mark.” I thought the Felger character ultimately was a little too OTT, over the top.

David Read:
OK. Got it.

Joseph Mallozzi:
That was, I guess, my… yeah.

David Read:
Some things just don’t age well. You can look back at it and go, “I know what I was trying to do. I know what I wanted to do. I don’t think I hit it, but God knows I tried.” Not every one of them is gonna be a home run.

Joseph Mallozzi:
No.

David Read:
It has some interesting ideas in it. You have the first real episode that you come back to later on and that indicates how the Gates talk to one another. There’s a lot of Stargate-y mechanics elements into this episode. The DHDs all send each other updates as the universe continues to expand, as the galaxy continues to spread out. Ba’al attacks it. This one, I think, also really began to show Cliff Simon’s potential involvements in the continuing series. What was it like getting Cliff back and building on the mythology of Ba’al?

Joseph Mallozzi:
I was always a big Cliff fan.

David Read:
Awesome.

Joseph Mallozzi:
It was the episode “Summit.” “Summit” was redesigned as a means of introducing a handful of System Lords and deciding based on the performances who we would bring back. I think we introduced Ba’al in that episode, I believe. Cliff was great. As you said, you got a sense of it here, but it’s not until later episodes that his character comes out, his true character comes out. By true character, I mean I’m always a big fan of villains with an underlying sense of humor and that’s what Cliff was able to bring with Ba’al. That’s why he fast became my favorite System Lord. It’s all a discovery process. It’s the same case with the character of McKay, who he introduces as a foil for Carter and a real pain in the ass and then the opportunity presented itself and we ended up putting him on Atlantis. He developed into, not a completely different character, but certainly a more likable one. It was the same thing with Ba’al.

David Read:
What you achieved with McKay was something very unique in that, especially with the fan base, I expected when McKay went to Atlantis and he was announced on that lineup, I was like… “Oh, boy…” “I love David Hewlett. “I am gonna love watching him. The fandom is gonna eat him alive.” because he was a meanie to Carter. That’s not what happened. I don’t know if it’s because Atlantis really grew its own fan base and fandom or if it’s because people decided to bury the hatchet with him and give him a chance. McKay has always had these warriors who are just ready to stand beside him and battle and say, “Don’t mess with the man.” He’s got his issues and everything else, but there’s always been a big “Yeah, but” with McKay, but McKay is brilliant. The character just works when, in comparison to some previous characters, the fandom didn’t accept them as much.

Joseph Mallozzi:
A lot of it has to do with, as you said, David Hewlett. He’s fantastic. I keep saying humor goes such a long way towards allowing audiences to connect with characters and McKay was a humorous character that you really grew to love. We were talking about the McKay situation; to a lesser extent, it’s something we did with Woolsey in the later seasons of Atlantis, this pencil-pushing bureaucrat pain in the ass who becomes quite lovable in the last season of Atlantis.

David Read:
In his very own ways. That’s absolutely true. You had the chance to bring back Corin. You opened that door and he walked back through it for one episode of “Fallout.”

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes.

David Read:
Corin came up with the story. Did he approach you guys with a pitch, or did you reach out to him and say, “Hey, we’d like to have you back this year. Do you have any ideas?” How did that go down?

Joseph Mallozzi:
No, he actually approached us with a pitch. He sent it in. I remember the working title was “Turn of Events,” which we were like, “Well, that could really apply to pretty much every episode of Stargate.” So, yeah, he wrote an outline and we gave him notes and ultimately, Paul and I took over, and it was nice to have him back. I remember bumping on the fact that him and his girlfriend had the exact same haircut, made them look like siblings, which was kind of creepy.

David Read:
Gosh. How do you think that episode pulled itself off in comparison to an episode like “Avenger 2.0,” when you were finished with the final draft and it moved to the screen and you got your final result?

Joseph Mallozzi:
I would say this episode was better than “Avenger 2.0” in my humble opinion. I look back at Season Seven, and I think, for me, it kinda was my least favorite season of the show, just in terms of stories. There were standouts for me. The standouts were “Fragile Balance” because of Michael Welch’s performance as young O’Neill.

David Read:
So, good.

Joseph Mallozzi:
He was terrific. Revisions, which you mentioned, just because it was a pure sci-fi show episode. “Lifeboat,” for Michael Shanks, is a tour de force, which I thought was incredible.

David Read:
Brilliant.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Then there’s some good episodes. I liked “Evolution I and II,” and of course, the “Heroes” two-parter.

David Read:
Some of the best Stargate that you guys did. Not arguably some of the best, definitely some of the best. Arguably “the” best.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes. Then finishing off strong with “Lost City” I and II. But, in terms of our contribution to the Stargate canon in Season Seven, I thought we’d done better work on other seasons.

David Read:
We had this conversation over Season Six. In trying to at least not be able to dig too deep because we don’t have a ton of time, but what is it that makes a season successful? You think about it as that number, Season Seven, Season Six, how do I feel about it? Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts? In terms of Season Seven, I would really have to agree with you on many levels that, when I look back on my favorite seasons of SG-1, Seasons Three, Four and Five for me, particularly Season Four, in terms of consistently, great episodes that I loved. Every fan is gonna have their own frame to that because a lot of it has to do with when they discovered it, with when they were really getting hooked into it and what was happening in their life at the time, I think has a great deal to do with that. For Season Seven, I think that the mythology was getting denser. You guys were having much more to deal with on your plate in the office. There’s an underlying tension there because there’s an expectation to perform. You’re going to be expanding the writing staff very shortly and at a certain point, you do have to ask yourself, “Geez, what have we not done?” I would have to say that your multi-part stories in Season Seven got better, when you really look at it that way. The bigger stories that you were wanting to tell were really some of the best. “Evolution,” a solid two-parter, you know? “Heroes” and “Lost City,” those are movies in many respects. Am I in any way off track?

Joseph Mallozzi:
No, no, you’re right. You’re absolutely right. You ask different people and they’ll give you different answers as to which season was their favorite. What makes a great season and for me, what makes a great season is kind of the takeaways in terms of either the big stories, the big moments, or really the big character moments. Again, when I think of this season, I think of those two big two-parters, just because they were so important to the Stargate story kind of as a whole. Basically, it drew on the mythology and how far we’d come. Then there were those bigger moments, like I mentioned, Michael Shanks’ performance in “Lifeboat,” which, again, it’s kind of one of those one-off sci-fi stories, but had a really interesting moral and ethical dilemma at its heart. Those, I think, are always the best stories. Then I just think of “Fragile Balance” again, just because, it’s not that I didn’t think an actor could come in and get O’Neill; I was just surprised by how dead-on Michael Welch was able to get O’Neill.

David Read:
He attributed a lot of that to Peter DeLuise, working side by side with him to make sure that he got Rick right. It just works. There are some great stories in this season and we can’t move on to Season Seven without bringing up the tragedy of the loss of one of our dear favorites. Tell us how you felt and what it was like to realize that, “You know what? We’re gonna have to really put our money where our mouth is on ‘Heroes’ and lose one of our favorites.” We’ve talked with Rob about it, I’m interested in your perspective.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Really, again, it was Rob’s story. I didn’t disagree with him that in order to tell that type of story, you want to feel the impact of loss. The thinking at the time, when the episode was being written and shot, was that this was our final season.

David Read:
You’re done.

Joseph Mallozzi:
So, that was part of Rob’s explanation to Teryl, that this was the last season in any case so you’d be going out with a bang, and your character, literal thing. It’s an amazing two-parter, incredibly impactful and especially considering we did go on for another three seasons after that without Doctor Fraiser.

David Read:
I know. It felt like for a little while there was kind of an audition of doctors coming in to kind of fill in that role. Like SGC was really having a bit of a time trying to find the right person to fill that slot. It wasn’t really until Lexa Doig came along that you guys kind of settled in again to someone else. It’s a testament to that character, that she was so successful that you couldn’t find, “Oh, here’s Jane Doe. We’re gonna slot her right in and it’s perfect.” There was an ingredient that I think the show was continually trying to find. Maybe you would disagree with that in terms of finding another doctor to kind of fit that slot.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I would have to review, but I think we tried a couple of different possibilities before settling on Lexa.

David Read:
You had Dr. Brightman, who was played by, gosh, for Pete’s sake… You had Carmichael, was it Carmichael? It was what’s his face from… David, how unprofessional. “Learning Curve.” He had played one of the Orbanians, so he had come back and then you had Dr. Brightman as well. I think there may have been one more until we settled on Dr. Lam.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Unfair to them because they were following in the footsteps of the wonderful Teryl Rothery.

David Read:
Teryl Rothery.

Joseph Mallozzi:
What made the Dr. Lam character stick, I think, besides Lexa’s wonderful performance, was her personal connection to Landry. That made for an interesting story beneath the surface.

David Read:
There was emotional skin in the game. For sure, absolutely. Season Seven, it will go down as one of the more pivotal ones in Stargate lore. You guys were building up to blowing out a mythology. “Lost City” had a fair number of changes before you put it out on the screen. Atlantis was originally supposed to be in Antarctica and was supposed to rise out of the ice and blow Anubis to hell. That’s not what happened.

Joseph Mallozzi:
No.

David Read:
You tweaked it to an outpost.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yeah, that was all Rob and Brad. “Lost City 1 and 2” were supposed to be our series finale, and as it turns out, it wasn’t, yet again.

David Read:
Was the story of “Lost City” ever considered for a feature, that story in and of itself? That’s what I remember at the time, reading that it was going to be a movie, that particular story, and then you truncated it into a two-parter for the finale.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yeah, that’s what I do recall as well.

David Read:
Great way to end it. Then when we came back, you had two of these things. Went from 22 episodes to 40 a season.

Joseph Mallozzi:
It’s crazy to think now given how much work just 10 episodes, now everything is 10 episodes.
Producing a 10-episode season, to think that we produced 40 episodes of television a year is downright crazy.

David Read:
That half of ’em weren’t mediocre is amazing, that the caliber of the shows were as strong as they were. That Sci-Friday block of SG-1, Atlantis and Galactica, that started after the New Year, people talked about that for years. I would meet people just randomly who were science fiction fans in general who recalled Sci-Fridays as being some of the best. That was must-see viewing. We don’t really have, at least for me, I don’t have that anymore. I haven’t even seen Mandalorian Season Two yet. It’s not at the top of my list.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I haven’t seen Season One yet.

David Read:
Well, see, there you go. Maybe that’s just us. Maybe we’re old.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Maybe.

David Read:
That kind of programming just doesn’t really exist anymore as far as I’m concerned and that’s a shame. It’s great to look back and have these wonderful stories. I have some fan questions for you.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Great.

David Read:
Keith Hommel, from Season Seven… or maybe take it broader, a favorite moment that you’ve had from the Stargate episodes that you’ve written where what you wrote on the page really came to life, where the actors, or one of them in particular, as you say, made a meal of it. Something that sticks out.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Let’s see, Season Seven?

David Read:
Yeah, since we’re focusing on Season Seven.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I would probably go back… This was a year, by the way, I noticed that we wrote the fewest number of scripts for the show for some reason.

David Read:
I was looking at that. I wondered what that was.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I guess we were just kind of busy with other aspects. I guess, for me, it was “Revisions,” and a lot of it had to do with our friend Christopher Heyerdahl who delivered just an incredible performance. That last line where he approaches Carter and says, “Tell me about her.” Basically, his lost wife that he no longer remembers. That episode, I think for me, was a very much a pleasant surprise, yes.

David Read:
It set the tone for a great performance to come in the terms of Todd and Halling. Let’s not forget Halling.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes.

David Read:
Theresa MC, “Who’s your favorite superhero?”

Joseph Mallozzi:
Gosh, that’s a tough one. It would probably be two… Sorry, that’s my…

David Read:
Hello, Suji.

Joseph Mallozzi:
… in the background. I’ve been fond of Deadpool, way before the movies. No one even had an idea of creating a big-screen adaptation of the character, back when Joe Kelly was writing him back in comics. He’s more of an antihero. If I had to pick a superhero, I would probably say Spider-Man. It’s no secret that he’s sort of a character who wisecracks a lot. If I’m not mistaken, Deadpool was actually created as almost a response to Spider-Man. If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna send my dog into the next room. Hang on.

David Read:
Absolutely. That’s the thing with these live shows, folks. You never know what you’re going to get, you gotta roll with the punches and just keep on going, like me earlier with muting Joe’s mic.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Sorry. Go ahead.

David Read:
No, you’re good.

Joseph Mallozzi:
OK. That’ll keep her busy for a while.

David Read:
Gotta get her taken care of. I’m surprised you didn’t say Green Lantern.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I like Green Lantern. I find that he’s a character like Superman where there really is no limit to his abilities. People could say, “Oh, the imagination.” But I mean, yes and no. Whereas characters like Batman, specifically Batman, are characters who have to make the most with what they have.

David Read:
With what circumstances.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yet still be the equal of those great heroes like The Flash, Green Lantern and Superman.

David Read:
Teresa brought up specifically Batman because Shepherd and McKay are constantly bringing him up. I’m sure that was definitely partly your doing.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Batman is more of my DC favorite.

David Read:
Go-to.

Joseph Mallozzi:
The Batman and Robin stuff, I think, who brought that up? Each writer was responsible for a different, I think it was Brad was responsible for all the Wizard of Oz references. If Jaws was ever mentioned, that was Rob. I think the Batman and Robin was probably Rob. For me, it was always the food references. When we get to Universe, there’re tons of them.

David Read:
“O’Neill’s trying to make me eat colored gelatin” – Teal’c. Redux — so this is, I think, is a question for Joel Goldsmith, may he rest in peace — “Did you guys have any input in the language and the lyrics for the Atlantis and Ori music vocalizations?” That’s a great question.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I did.

David Read:
Did they have any meaning that you remember?

Joseph Mallozzi:
That would really be more a question for Rob and Brad because they were all over that and they worked very closely with Joel. Joel would always give me a call to discuss one of our individual episodes. For the big picture things, he would always consult with Brad and Robert.

David Read:
Miss him, man. Jakub Olejarz, “Was Jay Felger fired following Avenger and was there ever a third story nugget that didn’t percolate into a script?”

Joseph Mallozzi:
There was not. There was no nugget. Jay is probably still kicking around somewhere in SGC.

David Read:
I would think so. I would think he would have his place. Russell, “When you were writing “The Fourth Horseman,” did a solar flare send you forwards in time to 2020? Did you ever think how scarily close you were to how last year has, and part of this year, has gone?”

Joseph Mallozzi:
It’s interesting, huh? You work in science fiction, eventually you’re liable to get something right.

David Read:
Look at The Simpsons. Everyone’s like, “Simpsons was right again.” I’m like, “Yeah, it’s ’cause they’ve had like 3,000 episodes.”

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes.

David Read:
“At some point in there, they’re gonna get it right ahead.”

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes.

David Read:
Geez, man. Chantal Leo, “If you could create a spinoff for any one SG-1 character, who would it be for and what would it be about?” Teal’c PI!

Joseph Mallozzi:
I love the fish out of water stories. So, very much I would love a Teal’c settling into human society story. That would be a ton of fun. Then, of course, elements of his past. Dangerous elements of his past will crop up every once in a while. He has to sort of keep everything on the down low and that will be part of the story; him having to deal with the issue while keeping the rest of the neighborhood none the wiser.

David Read:
“Affinity” was a pretty good shot at that. When he announced that he was acquiring his apartment on Tuesday, or whatever it was in “New Order,” I was anticipating a whole season arc to that, but at least we got “Affinity.” That was one of those things where, if you could’ve spent a year every two or three episodes having this, I think that would’ve been fascinating to watch.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes, I agree. I totally agree. This show was really not that serialized. I think that type of a through line would’ve worked best if the show had been a little more serialized or we could’ve checked in with him and done aspects of his life that wouldn’t have necessarily related to the story. We were very economical with the scenes we included in each episode because each scene had to drive the story forward somehow.

David Read:
The overall story. That’s one of the arguments that Larry David always made when he would talk about Seinfeld. We had these great scenes. We have 22 minutes of TV, precious seconds to get this story out and every one of those characters typically had a story. That’s a lot. Seinfeld is one of my favorites, I’m sorry.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Mine too.

David Read:
Elizabeth Lee, “Was there ever any consideration to throw the Wraith against the Ori?”

Joseph Mallozzi:
No. I think that would be overly complicated. It’s the same as kind of a Goa’uld-Wraith potential crossover. I think Brad and Robert were especially mindful of trying to keep the two shows separate, even though we did have the crossovers.

David Read:
Caldwell was a Goa’uld. That was a great twist.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Eh.

David Read:
Eh?

Joseph Mallozzi:
We’ll talk about that.

David Read:
You didn’t love it? OK, that’s fair.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I was not a huge fan of those kinda crossover elements because I felt that they overly complicated matters. They were rewarding for longtime fans, but for more casual viewers, they’d be like, “What’s going on? What have I missed?”

David Read:
That’s fair.

Joseph Mallozzi:
It’s like when I used to collect comic books and I’d get to the end of the comic book and it’d be like, “To find out how this story ends, go pick up The Incredible Hulk No. 71.” I’m like, “I don’t read Hulk.”

David Read:
It’s a bait and switch. That would piss me off. I think “The Pegasus Project” is one of the best episodes of SG-1. It doesn’t rely on a piece of Atlantis; it just utilizes that set and those characters.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I think Brad does a great job, but that’s Brad. He is Stargate.

David Read:
He is Stargate.

Joseph Mallozzi:
He is SG-1, he is Atlantis. He’s a terrific writer, so of course he’s able to sort of marry all those elements in a way that doesn’t feel bloated or overwhelming.

David Read:
Raj wanted to know, “How similar or different do you think an SG-1 “Lost City” film would have been compared to the two episodes that we got?” The effects would probably have been more intense?

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes. I don’t know if they would have been honestly that different outside of the ending, with the city of Atlantis. No, I don’t think it would have been all that different, but that’s really more of a question for Rob since he was the writer.

David Read:
OK. Aside from the Arctic sequences in Continuum, I think “Lost City” really holds up against anything like you did with Continuum or maybe even Ark of Truth. It’s really there. Jet Isen, “Do you think we could possibly expect a crossover between Star Trek and Stargate?”

Joseph Mallozzi:
I think it’s unlikely. Not because I wouldn’t be happy to do one.

David Read:
CBS.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I think in that case, it would really be dependent on CBS and they’re far away from MGM.

David Read:
I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that in a comic book form. Star Trek has done a Doctor Who crossover. Or Doctor Who’s done a Star Trek crossover. I don’t know how that works.

Joseph Mallozzi:
There’ve been a ton of comic book crossovers, for sure.

David Read:
George Fotis Drimatsotis, I think that’s probably Greek, “Any disadvantages in shooting an American show in Canadian locations with a Canadian cast, even the usage of Canadian-specific slang?” You guys were very specific to steer away from Canadian slang because it was in Colorado.

Joseph Mallozzi:
We tried to be as cognizant as possible with regard to the slang, to writing.

David Read:
One of the reasons that it was done in Canada was you could get a bigger bang for your budget with the dollar at that time.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I think I remember it was 40% at one point, 35, 30, 40%.

David Read:
That’s a big deal.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Then you’ve got the tax credits on top of that. In Ontario, conservatively, the tax credits are 25% of your budget.

David Read:
I’m trying to think of any disadvantages. Canadians are cool, man.

Joseph Mallozzi:
But the fact of the matter is, the more shows you do, unless you’re drawing from a talent pool in Toronto or LA, you tend to see the same actors over and over again.

David Read:
That’s true. There’s only so many people in that pool. That is a very legitimate response, true that. In a funny way, Matthew Hall says, “Who was the biggest diva in a funny way that you’ve worked with, even if it was just a one-off?”

Joseph Mallozzi:
In a funny way on Stargate?

David Read:
Funny way.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I’m trying to think.

David Read:
I’ve heard rumors, but those are people that we couldn’t mention. Funny, funny diva.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I’m trying to think.

David Read:
Was Richard Kind a handful?

Joseph Mallozzi:
No, actually he was a delight. He was fun. I remember when he was on set and there was a scene where he walks off, and he’s like, “Can I try to ad-lib something?” We’re like, “Sure.” Then he ended up ad-libbing and we ended up keeping it. A fun diva? I can’t think of a fun diva– that feels more like an oxymoron.

David Read:
To be fair, in any type of situation when you do 364-some-odd episodes of television– you’re gonna have people on that you’re like, “We’re not having that person back.”

Joseph Mallozzi:
For me, there have been some guest stars, one in particular who people are like, “Oh, it was so much fun probably to work with that individual.” I never used to say anything, but no. No.

David Read:
There are situations where, I think at one point, I had heard cue cards were required on set because they couldn’t keep their lines straight. If I’m remembering correctly. But in that particular situation, that you were able to get as good an episode as you did, that’s movie magic, man. No one will ever know who it was.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Editors are the unsung heroes of the industry. I’m not even gonna mention, but I did an episode of television once where the guest star was terrible. So, terrible that when they did their first take, the on-set producer turned and looked at me and said, “You look like you’re gonna pass out.” I think basically my face turned white… because it was an actor that I didn’t really wanna cast.

David Read:
So, you were already…

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes, somewhat reticent. I thought the episode was ruined and then our editor did such an amazing job. People watched the episode, and some are like, “This actor was amazing in this episode.” Looking back, man, I’m thinking “If you only knew.”

David Read:
Your dying breath, you can make a “tell all.”

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes.

David Read:
Oh geez. Fifty years from now, Darren and I have always talked about, we’re gonna make an unauthorized story. When you guys are long gone and we’re almost out of the picture, we’ll release it.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Long gone?

David Read:
Long gone, like 50, 60, 70 years from now. It’s one of those things where there’s some big names out there and you’re lucky to get them and it’s like, “Oh crap, this is not working.” In other circumstances, you find these diamonds in the rough where it’s like they’re brand new and they were on your show, one of your shows, first before they really exploded out there.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Jason Momoa.

David Read:
Jason was definitely established before. He had his run on Baywatch, but everyone gives Game of Thrones credit for his real explosion because Game of Thrones was an explosion.
But so much of what Khal Drogo is, was Ronon first. I’m sorry, but that’s the case.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Absolutely.

David Read:
Iwasmurloc, “Any consideration of a Dark Matter reboot at any point in the future?”

Joseph Mallozzi:
Absolutely. In fact, I was talking to Jay Firestone, president of Prodigy Pictures. He emailed me and was like, “Dark Matter movie?” I’m like, “Well, let’s talk Dark Matter series.” There are two places where we could take it and he’s gonna float the idea to one place and then, depending on what kind of reception he gets, I may sort of put together a little pitch and approach the other place with my agent.

David Read:
All right.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I already have an idea of how we can address the three-year time jump; a miniseries would be perfect. It would allow me to really tie things up.

David Read:
There’s a lot of those now, we can always hope. Jutao, “Since alternate universe travel is possible in Stargate…,” I guess this ties into an earlier question, “…what would be a good crossover for Stargate with another sci-fi space franchise?” Dark Matter. I think Dark Matter would fit.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Dark Matter would fit. In fact, we were in talks with MGM on the heels of Dark Matter cancellation. We have a device called the Blink Drive from Dark Matter that would allow us to travel to alternate realities. That was a possibility that sadly went away but tonally, Dark Matter, if you enjoy SG-1 and Atlantis, you may like to try Dark Matter.

David Read:
There were some writers I think that were involved. Absolutely. I’m trying to think of another show that it would work with. You could probably pull it off in Farscape.

Joseph Mallozzi:
I was gonna say Farscape.

David Read:
Really?

Joseph Mallozzi:
Farscape, Dark Matter, SG-1 or Atlantis.

David Read:
Absolutely.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Farscape.

David Read:
AkosTamasNovaki, “Any consideration to releasing “Lost City” I and II and the extra battle scenes in “Avalon” together as a DVD movie?” That’d be an interesting idea.

Joseph Mallozzi:
That’s a question for MGM. Alas, that’s all out of my hands. People ask about the soundtracks. I think it’s a great idea, but ultimately, that decision rests with the studio.

David Read:
DrEssex, “In ‘The Changeling,’ Daniel Jackson as the spirit guide was well done; compassionate yet pushing for growth to heal the soul. Was it an easy decision to evolve him in that way?” That was Chris’s story. Having Michael back in that episode and having him back in “Abyss,” whoof, man oh man. What a tour de force for all of those actors.

Joseph Mallozzi:
A real treat for the fans as well.

David Read:
Absolutely. Rmrv, “Do you feel conflict in a story is paramount to a good story, or are strong characters more important?”

Joseph Mallozzi:
I think I’ve always said viewers tune in for the hook, but they stay for the characters. So, our characters are hands down the most important thing about a story.

David Read:
Absolutely. BarryBarry, “I noticed you’re a fan of Judge Dredd. Do you read 2000 AD?”

Joseph Mallozzi:
I do. I haven’t been reading a lot of anything lately, but yes, I have a subscription set up at Rebellion.

David Read:
There you go. Rhys finally asks, “What do you think would have happened to Atlantis after it went to Earth if the series had carried on?” We’ve already answered this one.

Joseph Mallozzi:
The answer to that question is in the Stargate Extinction film script. That would have seen Atlantis make its eventual return, its triumphant return, to the Pegasus Galaxy.

David Read:
Pegasus Galaxy. There you go. I hear Tsuji. We’re not gonna keep her waiting any longer.

Joseph Mallozzi:
No. That’s OK. My wife has taken care of her.

David Read:
Joe, this is continuing to be a wonderful treat, walking through all these memories with you.

Joseph Mallozzi:
It was.

David Read:
I really appreciate you taking the time. Before we let you go, I wanted to bring up your podcast with The Companion, Gator’s Gonna Rate. So, congratulations on this.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Thank you.

David Read:
When can we expect… Is it out, has it started debuting yet?

Joseph Mallozzi:
No, not yet. We record our first episode tomorrow. We’ll be discussing…the fans weigh in on the best Stargate fight, hand-to-hand combat. Former stunt coordinator, now big-time director, James “Bam Bam” Bamford will be joining us as a special guest.

David Read:
That’s terrific. He’s a good guy.

Joseph Mallozzi:
He is.

David Read:
Any updates on Powder Mage? Still trucking along?

Joseph Mallozzi:
It’s still chugging along. I delivered an overview that I ran by Brian McClellan, who’s the author, who’s a terrific, terrific guy. I just wrote the pilot episode, so we know what that pilot episode will be. The next step will be to finalize a pitch. Meanwhile, our partners over at Frantic Films, JB Sugar and his assistant Ella, are putting together a pitch deck with a lot of beautiful illustrations. We’re gonna start going out and gauging interest. Hopefully it’ll be a busy ’20, late 2021 ’22; Powder Mage, a new Stargate, new Dark Matter.

David Read:
Yes, please. All of it.

Joseph Mallozzi:
My Timescape series and various other goodies.

David Read:
You better get some sleep now my friend.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Yes, yes, yes.

David Read:
You’re gonna be in for it, I think. I think there are some sunny days ahead, so please God.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Fingers crossed.

David Read:
I don’t know what we’re all gonna do. Joe, thank you again.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Thanks for having me. This is always a delight.

David Read:
Absolutely. We will catch you next month with more stories to tell and SG-1 Season Eight.

Joseph Mallozzi:
All right. Looking forward to it.

David Read:
You take care of yourself, sir.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Thank you.

David Read:
Bye-bye now.

Joseph Mallozzi:
Bye.

David Read:
Joseph Mallozzi everyone, writer and executive producer of Stargate. Thank you for joining us. Would you like to own a piece of the Pegasus Dial Home Device? Boy, I sure would. For the month of February, that’s the wrong button. For the month of February, Dial the Gate is partnering with Empire Movie Props to give away this piece of the DHD from the Atlantis episode “Phantoms.” To enter to win, you need to use a desktop or laptop computer and 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 our special guest to ask me in a round of trivia. There’s 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 March the 1st. If you’re the lucky winner, I’ll be notifying you via your email right after the start of the New Year to get your address. Big thanks to Empire Movie Props for making this item available to a member of our audience. Now for merchandise. Dial the Gate is brought to you every week for free and we do appreciate you watching, but if you wanna support the show further, buy yourself some of our themed swag. We’re now offering T-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts and hoodies for all ages in a variety of sizes and colors at RedBubble. We currently offer four themed designs and hope to add more in the future. The word cloud designs have both a solid background or a transparent background option, so you have some flexibility between choosing a light or a dark color. Do keep that in mind when you’re making your selection because it’ll tell you there in the parameters. Checkout is fast and easy and you can even use your Amazon or your PayPal account. Just visit dialthegate.redbubble.com and thank you for your support. We really appreciate your interest in the show and if you like what you’ve seen in this episode, it would mean a lot to me if you click that Like button. It really makes a difference with YouTube’s algorithm and will definitely help the show grow its audience. Please also consider sharing the video with a Stargate friend and if you wanna get notified about future episodes, you can click the Subscribe icon. Mika McKinnon, Stargate science consultant, will be joining us in about 45 minutes. We have a lot of ground to cover with Mika. Extremely excited to have her. She’s one of the reasons that I created this show was to sooner or later get her on and get her input. This is an extraordinary person, and she is one of the most enthusiastic people that I have ever met when it comes to science and science fiction. It’s gonna be a really good time having her on so I hope you can join us. So, Mika is coming up next, followed by Martin Lloyd himself, Willie Garson. So, stick around. I’m David Read for Dial the Gate. We’ll see you on the other side.