Could Eli be coming out of stasis soon? We are thrilled to welcome David Blue back to Dial the Gate to catch up on his career and discuss the possibilities that a fourth Stargate series could bring!

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read:
Welcome to Episode 440 of Dial the Gate. My name is David Read. I appreciate you being with me here for this episode. I am thrilled to have back to the show, it’s been too long, but he’s finally here, Mr. David Blue. How are you, sir?

David Blue:
I’m good. It has been too long, although I don’t like to think about that, how long it’s been.

David Read:
We’re all getting way too old, way too fast.

David Blue:
I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never age.

David Read:
Well, you’ve certainly shrunk.

David Blue:
That’s true.

David Read:
You look fantastic, even more fantastic than the last time.

David Blue:
I appreciate that. God bless you for saying that ’cause I don’t feel it, but thank you.

David Read:
No, it’s true. I have lost 100 pounds this …

David Blue:
Damn.

David Read:
… past year as well.

David Blue:
Wait, this past year?

David Read:
From January of ’26 to September, I lost 85 pounds.

David Blue:
This is a horrible question to ask, but when did you gain that weight? Because I feel like the last time I saw you in person, it didn’t feel like you were gaining.

David Read:
COVID.

David Blue:
Wow.

David Read:
I was about 260 the last time we met, and then COVID, and I got up to 300, and I got down to 205.

David Blue:
Well done. It’s not easy. I know.

David Read:
No, it’s not, but what was that journey like for you, if you could summarize it for a five-story elevator pitch?

David Blue:
Five-story, that’s a very specific amount of time. I’ve mentioned it before.

David Read:
I didn’t want it to become the driving topic.

David Blue:
No, that’s the only reason. You only wanted to bring me on here to talk about weight loss.

David Read:
That’s it. That’s exactly right. It’s for the good of everyone.

David Blue:
It’s funny, ’cause I always feel bad with conventions, ’cause a lot of times, we’re telling the same story over, but our job is to make it as interesting as the first time. The CliffsNotes, because I’ve sort of talked about this on streams and interviews before, I’ve yo-yoed my whole life. I gained weight for a role, and then started working pretty heavy, and then when I booked Stargate, I don’t know how many times I have to tell this story, ’cause people always seem to miss that I have told this. When I got the show, I immediately, before we shot a single frame, approached Brad and Rob and said, “Hey, I wanna lose weight as a human. But then, also, it makes sense for the character, for Eli to lose weight as we’re struggling to find food and survival and everything. So is it cool if I do it during the show?” And they were like, “Oh, my God. That’s amazing. We’d love that.” So I took it on myself to lose the weight, track my journey. It wasn’t easy. I had gained enough weight, and was low-energy and having some health problems. Luckily, a lot of the people in the Stargate cast were and are into fitness. I would go take a weekly yoga class alongside Brian J. Smith. Sometimes Elyse would come. I took it on myself. I’ve always studied nutrition and weightlifting and fitness, but I took it on myself to really figure stuff out and got my diet on point, and I worked out as much as I could. I lost 45 pounds from Episode 1 to Episode 40, and then I lost another 45 when we ended, which is why it’s always funny to me, ’cause if you look at my Facebook page–

David Read:
You can watch the change.

David Blue:
You can. But that’s what I always try to tell people, and I don’t do it flippantly, but people are like, “How are they gonna explain–?” And I’m like, “They don’t need…” It was always the plan. If you watch the show and you pay attention, as I’ve sort of mentioned before, we’re on level nine, not even five right now, of the elevator. As I’ve always told people, if you watch the show, there’s even some episodes we shot out of order, where I wanted to make sure that the audience didn’t go, “Why is he skinny and then gained some weight back?” So I would zip up my hoodie to hide that I had lost some weight.

David Read:
I did not know that.

David Blue:
And the little things like that, it’s always bothered me when people are like, “Why didn’t you lose weight?” I’m like, “I lost 45 pounds, and then 90 overall.” People would notice, but…

David Read:
Doesn’t camera add 10?

David Blue:
What is that joke from Friends? “How many cameras are on you?”

David Read:
“Pivot.” That’s the only one I know.

David Blue:
My dog is laying over there right now, Little Miss Harley Quinn, next to her couch that says “Pivat” on it.

David Read:
Aw. If she decides to get up, be a doll and call her over so we can see her. I’m not gonna …

David Blue:
Maybe.

David Read:
… make you move her right now, though.

David Blue:
I’ll happily introduce– If you ever watch streams, she’s the mascot of the stream. There’s literally a camera on her during streams.

David Read:
Harley Stream.

David Blue:
She is the best. She is …

David Read:
Harley Cam.

David Blue:
… cutest. She will only come here if I pick her up, so maybe at the end.

David Read:
Aw. No, I think that’s a good idea. Folks, in the live chat on YouTube, submit questions to David. Antony …

David Blue:
Don’t go home.

David Read:
… is in there along with Jeremy. Thank you guys for getting those over. I’ve got a few already. I’d like to actually start with– Have you seen Project Hail Mary?

David Blue:
Of course.

David Read:
Is it not one of the most fun experiences that you’ve had at a movie theater in a long time?

David Blue:
Yeah. Part of the reason I–

David Read:
It was for me.

David Blue:
Yeah, no, 100%. I agree. I’ve always been somebody who tries to see, when I am available, movies as soon as they come out, and this one was important to me ’cause I hadn’t read the book, and I– Everyone I knew was saying, “Oh my God. This is amazing. This is amazing. This is amazing.” I was nervous–

David Read:
Amaze, amaze, amaze.

David Blue:
I was nervous going in, though, ’cause I was like, “Oh, man. The bar is set really high,” ’cause everyone I like and trust their opinions loved it, and it still impressed me.

David Read:
It still met– Isn’t that wild?

David Blue:
It still blew me out of the water. I laughed harder in that theater than I have in years. Ryan Gosling is charming as hell, but the actual puppet itself, every single piece of it was so beautifully done, …

David Read:
I cried, man.

David Blue:
… I didn’t want the movie to end.

David Read:
And it doesn’t feel like two and a half hours.

David Blue:
No. I wanna go see it again probably, but I’m so grateful that I saw it and it really was amazing. And literally, it was one of those movies, I saw it with a friend, and afterwards I turned to them and I was like, “This is one of those rare times where I see something and it reminds me why I do what I do ’cause I wanna be in this.” Like, “I wanna be part of this. This is amazing.” I loved it.

David Read:
James, I think, has a long career ahead of him after this as the puppet and as that voice. Gosling is amazing. What James did with that character transcends the cinema experience. I put Rocky almost up there with Gollum in terms of puppetry.

David Blue:
It’s interesting ’cause actors, we do acting. We act, which is why it always blows my mind when people are like, “Why are you doing this?” ‘Cause I get paid to act. It’s what I’ve always done. And one of the things as a voiceover actor that’s really fascinating is you’ll get an audition sometimes that’s like, “This is a potted plant, and it only makes noises.” And you’re like, “Ugh, how am I gonna even do this?” And when you see an amazing person like him who can take something relatively basic and make it …

David Read:
It has no face.

David Blue:
… so full of emotion and catharsis and connection, it’s inspiring. Whether it be Groot or Gollum or Baymax. Baymax is a great example. An emotionless robot that actually had emotion. As an actor, I get in my head about it when I have voiceover auditions because I want to make sure that I’m providing that as well as these people, like my friends, like Yuri Lowenthal, who are absolutely amazing voiceover actors who can communicate a turn with a syllable. It’s just so impressive.

David Read:
I look at a character like Rocky and it reminds me that I don’t have to see myself in a character at all in order to relate to them. Does it help? Sure. But you can have an inanimate object blow you away. Well, it’s not inanimate. That’s not true. An animated object.

David Blue:
But even an inanimate– An ex and I had a stuffed animal that I bought her in the first year of our relationship, and when we broke up, I was like, “I don’t want anything that reminds me of this relationship. Can you take it with you?” And she didn’t, and I struggled for months what to do with this stuffed animal ’cause I couldn’t throw it away. That was our friend. Anthropomorphization is real. You can look at a blade of grass that influences you emotionally. It doesn’t have to have a movement and a personality.

David Read:
Quick story. I had a bad experience–it was my fault–with a non-Stargate actress at a convention years ago. I had her as my wallpaper on my computer, but it was with a piece of software that was broken, and I couldn’t get her off. I had to reformat the machine.

David Blue:
That’s tough. Although, hey, I don’t know who this person is, but I will say, I remember when I first became friends with Lexa Doig. At a certain point, I was like, “I need to broach the subject,” so I said to her, “I don’t know how to say this. When I first moved to LA, I had your FHM cover on my wall. Is that weird?” And she’s like, “Hell no. I’m glad. I’m glad I did that magazine.” And there are some people you meet who will take it as a compliment, but it’s probably a better idea to get that wallpaper off just in case.

David Read:
That’s the thing. It was Virginia Hey. And Lexa is amazing. What an extraordinary human being. I have a question from Partholon Place who actually has managed to ask a question that I haven’t even considered.

David Blue:
Ooh, my favorite kind.

David Read:
Let’s go really cosmic here. This is about the nature of Destiny. This changes an assumption, so it’s probably not true, but it’s fun to play with for a second. He asks, “Do you think, David, that it’s possible that the now ascended Ancients still need Destiny to fulfill their purpose? If they were constructing it while they were figuring out ascension, and they were gonna need it on our plane to help them fulfill something where they exist.” I never thought of that before. That’s a great question.

David Blue:
First of all, I have to disclaim. You’ll notice this chair headrest has seen better days. It’s ’cause I have a new chair coming. But it’s not gonna be here till next week, and it’s gonna be a Secretlabs, so I apologize for this horrible mess …

David Read:
Dude.

David Blue:
… behind me. I can’t wait. I should’ve gotten that when I started streaming.

David Read:
Change your life. Change your ass’s life.

David Blue:
I was like, “Why spend the money on a Secretlabs?” That’s why. And by the way, Secretlabs, if you’re watching this, you can send me a free one if you want. But it goes back– To answer the question for that wonderful name that also sounds like a Greek restaurant, I think it goes back to, not to be Captain Metaphor here. It goes back to depending on your belief and philosophy, fate, and all of that. Because if you’re looking at it from the lens of The Matrix, where, “Would you have knocked it over if I hadn’t told you,” was the idea of what the Ancients were doing tied into this longer plan? In which case, of course it’s part of it. Or was it purely about becoming ascended, in which case they pulled the parachute, and they’re out. I don’t necessarily believe completely in predestination, but I do believe in that sort of spiritual guidance and path of it all, more so, Adjustment Bureau or Quantum Leap, if you will. And in that world, I’d like to believe that it plays a part, but I don’t know. It’s an interesting question.

David Read:
I agree. Louis Ferreira recently watched the show.

David Blue:
I’ve heard of him.

David Read:
He came on the show, and we talked for over two hours. Extraordinary guy. He walked for most of it up in his place in the mountains. And then we came back to his place, and we sat down for a little while. It was a very interesting conversation. But he went and then turned around and watched the series, and of course he loved it. And we texted a little bit while he watched it, and not only did it remind him of all the positive experiences that he had while making it, but he really got the mythology and what it was that you guys were all working to achieve even more than he did when he was reading it. And I think part of it is because it sits with you differently when you bring it back from your past. And frankly, now that there’s a fourth Stargate on the horizon, I can rewatch the last 15 minutes of the show without shutting down on the inside. Because you never know what’s possible now that it’s in production again if this new one is successful.

David Blue:
Preproduction, to be clear, ’cause I’m getting a lot of messages from people saying, “Were you just filming it?” It’s not filming right this second.

David Read:
It’s not filming until September.

David Blue:
A lot of people who don’t know the industry, and trust me, I get messages and emails from most of them, think that it’s in Season Two, or it’s already been filming. Preproduction means it’s being written and prepared. It’s not filming yet. But I have a few mixed feelings about it, because number one, I’ve told this story before too, so forgive the people in the audience, all five of you who heard me say this.

David Read:
I haven’t heard it.

David Blue:
I was a huge Star Trek fan. Always have been. And I grew up loving Next Gen. That was my jam. And then when DS9 came out, it wasn’t as much for me, but I still watched it. My friends and I would talk about the episodes. When Voyager came out, it really wasn’t for me. And then Enterprise, I was like, “No. Not gonna bother.” And I loved Quantum Leap. Still didn’t watch Enterprise. And then weirdly, I never would trash any of the other shows. They just weren’t for me. And I still love Next Gen and the original. But what’s crazy is I always suffer from insomnia, and during the pandemic, I got into the habit of going back and watching shows that I used to love. So I watched all of Next Gen. And when I finished it, I was like, “Might as well give Deep Space Nine another try.” Loved it so much more than when I was young. Then I was like, “Let me give Voyager another try.” Loved it for what it was. “Let me give Enterprise a try.” Aside from being friends with Connor Trinneer and seeing him way too naked, loved it more than I thought I would. And there’s a lesson there. Number one, the most important one, I think, for all of fandom, is if it’s not for you, go to a different campfire and listen to a different story. Stop trying to put out the campfire. But number two, it may not be for you, or it may not be for you right now.

David Read:
Allow yourself to change.

David Blue:
And it’s wild. I consume way too much entertainment. I watch so much stuff, and I see this happening in a lot of friends and also fans online, where people are starting to blur the line between quality and meaning for yourself. I’ll say that when we were making the show, a lot of us loved it and believed in it then. And I love watching that it even grew. There were millions of people who loved it back then. I like watching the millions more who’ve joined the ranks of that since. I still have always said that I liked the ending, even though it wasn’t meant to be an ending at all.

David Read:
Oh, God. I liked it.

David Blue:
I liked it. It wasn’t meant to be an ending. We were going on a hiatus. We weren’t finishing. But I loved it for what it was because it became this sort of choose-your-own-adventure for fans, where they can imagine what happens next and they can debate about it, and I always loved that aspect. And new show or not, that still exists for me. Nothing changed in that. Whether or not they bring the stories that are canon into this new show is up to those writers and producers, God bless ’em, but it doesn’t change how meaningful the ending was to me as a fan, let alone as an actor in it. But then I know I also stand apart a little bit, because I was a viewer of Stargate before I ever got cast, and a lot of the other people in my cast weren’t. So I kind of came into it with a little bit more of the lore, and the legend, and the mythos. Not as much as some of my friends, who called me and said, “What color is your chevron?” but a little bit more of an understanding of what we were building. A little bit.

David Read:
I so get all of that, and I think one of the things that frustrate me about this decade is that we can’t just take information in anymore and be like, “Well, OK, that’s an interesting opinion.” If someone approaches you with a different opinion about something, you’re supposed to defend it as though someone is threatening your identity. And I don’t think that that’s a reasonable expectation. I was the same way with DS9. I saw it here and there when it aired, and then I fell in love with it when I binge watched it while I worked in radio, in between being on air, and I loved it. SGU, by its end, became my favorite of the three for a plethora of reasons, and when people say that they didn’t watch it or that they don’t like it, that’s OK. It doesn’t invalidate any of your thing.

David Blue:
No, it doesn’t, but also, I’ve gotten into trouble, not really, but it’s an unfortunate thing with fandom, and I mean that in the broader sense of the term. I’m relatively accessible to fans and the public because of streaming, because of socials, because of who I am. Probably too much. But I also defend fans and fandom. I believe in fandom. And part of that is I believe it can be better than it is. And this has been since I was a kid, and I loved Next Gen. And I would get into near fistfights with people who just hated Next Gen, and I’m like, “What is the problem?” And this is the metaphor I’ve come up with. Fat kid coming out. There’s all sorts of food I like. If you were to ask me my favorite food, I’d probably list five or six things. But on any given day, a meal can be delicious, and then I like that, and I like that. You don’t have to like it. The problem is, I think, a lot of people have misunderstood the fan assignment, and forgive the metaphor, if someone’s eating a sandwich that they love on their couch in their living room, you don’t need to run into their room, knock the sandwich out of their hand, and tell them, “That’s a gross sandwich.” And the funny thing is, more often than not, if you tried the sandwich, you’d like it.

David Read:
In many cases.

David Blue:
And I hate the pun, but I’ve used it 100 bajillion times, it’s gatekeeping, and I saw this back when I was a kid loving Star Trek or Red Dwarf or anything. People want to tear down something that isn’t for them, and nine times out of 10, it’s ’cause they didn’t really try it. My friend Anthony and I, we sort of bonded over this ’cause I said it a long time ago, and I wish I could remember exactly how I said it. But I relate it to the campfire thing. Sit at a campfire and listen to a story. If you like the story, cool. If you don’t, go to a different campfire. But it’s as simple as that. and I kind of wish, watching it happen over and over again. Starfleet Academy. I’m watching my friends on a show, watching fans of a franchise tear the franchise down because it’s not for them. Even if that’s true, go watch something else. And I’ve never understood it. And one thing that I’m very grateful for, that I’m always trying to be clear about, is people, especially on socials, get this wrong. They love to come in with this flag of representation for everyone, and say, for instance, “No one liked this!” And I’m like, “There’s 1,000 comments below you saying they loved it.” And there’s millions of people ratings-wise who watched it and millions more since. That alone should make you go, “Wait a minute.” But it doesn’t.

David Read:
They can’t all be hate watching it.

David Blue:
They double down on it. And I think it’s this inability to get out of your own shoes. And also, this judgment, this feeling of, “It has to be what I want it to be.” But you’re not a writer, you’re not a producer, you’re not a director, you’re not an actor. It’s not gonna be what you want it to be. When I see Project Hail Mary, no spoilers, I can’t be like, “But why isn’t there a Klingon in this?” ‘Cause that’s not their story, and it’s not my story. I’m here to listen to that story. And that’s why I’ve grown to love all the other Star Treks. That’s why I can watch whether it be Prodigy or whether it be, what’s the Star Wars one that’s about kids? The Skeleton Crew, and love it. Absolutely love it, going, “Oh, this is more Goonies than Star Wars. Cool.” And have a blast. It doesn’t have to be the thing that you thought it was when you bought the ticket.

David Read:
But Prodigy, to be fair, in my opinion, was false advertising because it was put on Nickelodeon, and as far as I am concerned, it’s up there with Picard Season Three for me.

David Blue:
I agree with you.

David Read:
I had no idea.

David Blue:
Honestly, it happens all the time, ’cause, forgive the education–you don’t need this, but maybe the viewers do—people seem to forget that trailers are cut by different people than the people who make the project most of the time. So, for instance, Thor: Love and Thunder–I loved that movie. However, …

David Read:
Really?

David Blue:
… even leaving the theater, I thought to myself, “They misadvertised this. This is a kids’ movie.” I wish I had known that coming in. I enjoyed it. I won’t say love.

David Read:
I turned it off. I couldn’t get through it.

David Blue:
I enjoyed it. You wanna know why? Because I got to go into a dark theater, forget my life for a couple of hours, eat popcorn and laugh. It’s entertainment. It’s not meant to solve the world. It’s probably ’cause I consume way too much entertainment. But literally, it’s about, did I enjoy it or forget my life, or whatever it was meant to be? But with that as an example, the trailer was not honest. It wasn’t marketed correctly, and sometimes that happens. But I don’t blame anyone for it, ’cause I still had a good time.

David Read:
I’m gonna be honest, I think that SGU’s biggest problem, and this is Brad and Rob’s perception, is that it was 10 years ahead of its time. It was too early. And I cannot tell you, Dave, how many times I hear that, where people are like, “I didn’t like it then, but I like it now.” And when I ask why, it’s because shows like Breaking Bad and that kind of series broke me in and let me understand it. And I truly think that Brad and Rob were prescient when they created it. They created it the way they did because they were ready to create something new and different that was still in the fabric of what it is that they love. That was probably their chief reason for it. It’s up to you to decide whether you’re going to jump off your horse onto the caboose and go for the ride. I’m thrilled that more people are. I cannot …

David Blue:
Same.

David Read:
… tell you how thrilled.

David Blue:
Even as Brad told me when we first started filming the show, I asked him, “So are you trying to do something completely different?” He’s like, “We don’t wanna isolate the family we have, we wanna add to it.” I’m not gonna sit here and act like I’m some sort of sage or anything. I love the compliment that people have: “I feel like it was ahead of its time,” or, “I grew to love it.” Anytime someone’s like, “I didn’t like it then, but I finally watched it, and I do like it now,” I’m like, “Great, welcome to the family.” But I disagree. I think it was ahead of its time in how it’s all moved that way. But I don’t think it was ahead of its time, I think it was perfectly timed. And the biggest problem, in my opinion, is the perfect storm of MGM going bankrupt, Syfy rebranding, and I hate to say it, and I hope I don’t get a lot of backlash for this, but it’s true. The negative trolling side of fandom, because whoever unfortunately wrote that press release that was poorly timed, where they said the cancellation of Atlantis in the same paragraph as the announcement of SGU. One had nothing to do with the other, and the combination of all three of those things, and that added up to what even caught me by surprise, somebody who grew up in the world of Star Trek, in the world of Star Wars, in the world of all these– In a time where nerding out and being a nerd was dangerous, and looked down on and caused bullying. Even I was unprepared for how many people would be so embroiled in their opinion of what they thought it should be that they were gonna create websites, and hate, and actively campaign. That’s why I speak out about it, not to belabor that point, because when I watch it happen …

David Read:
No, you’re passionate about it.

David Blue:
… a decade later to a friend of mine on Starfleet Academy, and I’m like, “It’s the same thing. No one’s learned anything.” And to me it’s that, but of course Brad and Rob would know better than I do. I love what they did with SG-1, I loved what they did with Atlantis, I absolutely love what they did with Universe. I think it was really smart and creative. And everyone who’s made me rewatch it, it holds up, which is a sign of how good it was. But I don’t think it was too early, I think the audience was a little too late.

David Read:
I agree 95% with what you’re saying there. You can’t control–

David Blue:
Which side?

David Read:
And I love this. You cannot control how people are going to respond to what it is you’ve created. Whether you call it art or not. The following is excluding you, because I know your heart and what you put out there, because I read it. My problem with social media now is that–and this is a huge problem with social media. I did not wanna make this whole podcast about this, I’m sorry.

David Blue:
We can move on after this. It’s fine. I’ll probably just [inaudible].

David Read:
The willingness to absolutely tell your own audience, who has just watched you on TV, to go to hell.

David Blue:
That’s not great.

David Read:
Rather than going, “Thanks for your feedback,” Wink. That’s what I take issue with.

David Blue:
I personally– Sorry, go ahead.

David Read:
I know writers who have written for shows who legitimately do not like half of their audience before they put pen to paper. If it’s up there near 50%, I don’t think you have any business writing for that audience.

David Blue:
I agree. Although I will say this. I will counter with this. And I say this as not only somebody who has been relatively forward-facing on social media since its inception, but also as a person on the influencer digital creator committee of my union. I agree with you 75%. And I truly think social media is horrendous. And by the way, everybody who’s watching, if you do follow me, thanks. Don’t unfollow me from saying this. I’ve always joked, ’cause I played a villain on Henry Danger in Danger Force that wanted to destroy the internet. And people love to ask me, “How would you play this role?” And I’m like, “I don’t wanna destroy the internet, but I do think that if I could set off an EMP to destroy social media, there would be statues to me in the future.” I think it has, much like every tool that humans invent, it could have been used for good, but instead it is destroying us. Our attention spans, our tact, our emotions, everything. And one of the things that I will say, I agree with you. I don’t think– Number one, creators should not even be listening to notes from the people. You create a thing, you put it on stage, and if people like it, they watch it. But I will also put some responsibility on the audience, because I’ve said this before, possibly to you, but when I grew up, I love Next Generation. I would have loved to get a signed autograph from Jonathan Frakes. It was impossible where I lived. In order to write him a letter, I would have had to get a phone book in Los Angeles, hope he was in it, ship it to me, write him a letter, put it in the mail, and hope he opens it someday. Cut to now, where somebody can go, “Jonathan Frakes should die!” And he’s pooping, and he just goes, “Oh, oh,” instantaneously. And I think there is a huge amount of people, not just audience, who forgot to learn how to be online. It goes back to the same thing. The showrunner should never say eff you then, ever. You should get off social media. However, I also understand the frustration sometimes, ’cause I can speak to my own. And I try not to, but I’m not perfect. If 1,000 people are like, “Like the show, thanks so much, it inspired me.” But then five people are like, “You’re a piece of crap, I hate it, everyone hated it.” And you go, “Well, that’s not true, ’cause these people like it. But I appreciate your opinion.” And they’re like, “You should die,” it gets under your skin to a point …

David Read:
Of course it does.

David Blue:
… where– You never should lash out, but I’m not going to judge any creator, artist, or anybody for lashing out. They should learn their own lesson to step away, and not. But also, I do think audiences, and people in general, need to learn what needs to be said, what’s an opinion versus a fact. And also, that basic thing: I get along with you, but not everyone is for everyone. You don’t like everybody, so why does everybody have to like you? But then that also means that people are human and they make mistakes. And they like different things. I hate cilantro ’cause it’s disgusting. Do I want you not to ever have cilantro? No. Just don’t try to feed it to me. It’s as simple as that.

David Read:
I know that pretty much no study that has been done has concluded that social media has been a net positive for society.

David Blue:
We had some things, Arab Spring and …

David Read:
We all know that it’s not a net positive 100%.

David Blue:
… we’ve had a few things that have happened. But net positive? Absolutely not. And I see this. I won’t, but I could probably load up– What’s weird is it’s very segmented. On Threads, it’s mostly positive. On Instagram, it’s mostly positive, but somewhat vaguely inappropriate. Facebook seems to breed this sort of vitriol that I really wish would go away. And I’m not talking about people who don’t know things they should know, like, “Is this Season Three?” or “Is that you in the pilot of SG-1?” No, I was like six. What are you talking about? But I’m talking about– You haven’t heard about this?

David Read:
No.

David Blue:
I know, ’cause people send it to me once a year. In the pilot of SG-1, there’s a gunner, a background actor, a military guy who’s operating a big gun that people always send me the screencap going, “Is this you?” First of all, he’s just a heavyset white dude. So, no. Secondly, I’m not a time traveler. No, I was not in the pilot of SG-1.

David Read:
You were 15 or 16.

David Blue:
I was probably younger, I don’t even know.

David Read:
’97.

David Blue:
This is kinda why I do it. A lot of people in my life tell me not to bother. They’re like, “Just block and move on.” And I do, 99% of the time. But every once in a while, I think of all of my friends and me at conventions, and how we should try to be a little better. And I try to use it as an example of, “Hey, maybe you don’t need to do that.” Even a backhanded compliment, honestly, “I hated it when it first came out. I thought it was the worst thing in the world, but it kinda grew on me.” You didn’t need to say the first part. You coulda just said, “I ended up liking it.” I remember to this day, ’cause we used to watch episodes at my place when they aired, as a cast. We would all get together and we’d watch the show, and then we’d play Rock Band.

David Read:
You were the Michael Dorn of Universe.

David Blue:
Pretty much. I dare not say that. I remember when our first or second or third episode aired, when IMDb had message boards. It said, “I want to airlock Elyse Levesque.” Not Chloe, but Elyse Levesque. And I was like, “She just read that right next to me. You didn’t need to say that.” I agree with you, but I do think that people need to start taking some responsibility on themselves for how they interact with other people. But who am I?

David Read:
I’ve done a lot of soul searching in the last 10 years.

David Blue:
I’m thinking in the last 10 minutes while you were talking.

David Read:
In the light of #MeToo and everything else, I always grew up with the expression, “Anyone has access to a phone. You don’t know their state of mind.” So when they call you, you don’t know who you’re dealing with.

David Blue:
I like that.

David Read:
And in the last several years, I have seen a lot of stuff online about reminding me to be more patient with neurodivergent people. Because as an example, as a slice of that, there are certain things that they cannot control.

David Blue:
For sure, but that’s also a different situation than what I’m talking about.

David Read:
When I’m reading a comment online, I don’t know who has sent that, and for me to say, “You should do better,” suggests that I know that they can. And I have to remind myself that anyone who has a phone has the ability to post. So, I need to internalize that, “Wow, that’s an idiot,” or maybe that’s a bot now.

David Blue:
But I can only speak from my own personal thing, which I try to do, and I don’t say that I always succeed. Let’s say here’s an example that’s not related to the show. During my fitness journey, I couldn’t sleep. I went to the gym at 3:00 in the morning, and I posted a picture from the gym. And somebody posted and they said something along the lines of “Ew, gross. You used to be attractive.” And I said–again, I’m not perfect and I mess up–but I didn’t go, “How dare you describe yourself,” whatever.

David Read:
If I was your friend, I would tell them to go fuck themselves.

David Blue:
But I said, …

David Read:
So, I get it.

David Blue:
… “Hey, hey, just so you know, that’s actually not a really nice thing to say. Because I am me and I’m allowed to look and do what I want. And there’s other ways to frame this.” And here’s the difference. The response oftentimes can be, “OK, I see what you’re saying. My bad.” In which case, we’re good. But this one person in this example responded with, “No, I’m just honest, and you’re disgusting, and also the show sucked. I wasn’t a fan.” You’re like, “Oh, you’re not– You don’t have issues communicating in any way. You’re just a dick.” And I think that’s the thing. And again, it’s about responsibility. It’s my responsibility to make sure that I don’t fly off the handle and interact with people with the biggest, most understanding kindness and gentleness that I can. But it’s just as much the responsibility of the audience seeing a Broadway show to not scream at the woman, “Finish her charts,” ’cause they also love her in The Pitt. Which they’ve been doing for the past few weeks. It’s a symbiotic relationship. That’s a horrible thing, ’cause it’s not symbiotic, it’s a communal relationship. And I think– I’ve thought about this way too much, and we’ve talked about it a lot on my streams and in my community. Something happened with the pandemic where humanity at large lost the reminder that they’re part of a community. And I think all of us, let alone fandom, could benefit from that. And that’s everything from, “Oh, that’s not for me. I’m not gonna watch it,” to, “Hey, I don’t like that person, so I’m gonna not engage with them.” You know what I mean? And here’s a good example of another show, The Boys. I went to producers to play Hughie on The Boys. I really wanted that job. I had never watched it. I’ve heard for years now everyone loves it, and I’ve never got around to watching it. I was filming a couple weeks ago, and I had a day off, and I was like, “Ah, might as well watch the pilot.” I have now caught up on The Boys. I have watched every episode that has been released. It’s great.

David Read:
You’re getting ready for it to land.

David Blue:
I loved it. And my responsibility over the past few years, several years, whatever, was not to tell people, “Why are you watching that?” It was to not engage in the conversation of people who were. And I think it’s that. I think we all need to, especially in the modern world, remind ourselves what we’re capable of and the kind of world we wanna be in, and do our best to be that world. Not to be all woo-woo about it.

David Read:
No, you’re right.

David Blue:
Is everybody on YouTube like, “I’m out. This is boring.”

David Read:
No, there’s 250 people watching, and I, David, I am fascinated. I love this. I feel like I’ve burned through most of our time together. How much time do I have with you?

David Blue:
By the way, if you want more time, I can stay longer, as long as you want that.

David Read:
How much time are you good? Can you give me a five-minute warning?

David Blue:
Sure. How are you on time?

David Read:
Because I have …

David Blue:
If the audience wants it–

David Read:
… nothing else booked this afternoon, and I have missed the hell out of you, and I’ve got 20 questions from fans that I haven’t even touched because I’ve been taking in every detail.

David Blue:
If you’re willing. First of all, I enjoy talking with you. But also, I don’t wanna sit here– I’m gonna answer your question, but I wanna be clear about this. I don’t wanna sit here and soapbox. I hope I haven’t. But I do think …

David Read:
No, you haven’t.

David Blue:
… this thing is so important to me as a fan, ’cause I’m tired of getting into fights with people over things that I like just because I said I liked it. But also, I think it’s an important reminder for everybody because it’s stressful, man. I go to the gym and people are ready to kill each other on the road, I miss thinking about other people, including what they like. So it’s important to say it. That being said, I can give you another hour if you want one.

David Read:
I have plenty to talk about with you.

David Blue:
Let’s do it. Audience, give me a thumbs up in the chat. I’m not watching it, so you have to tell me if you want to go for one more hour.

David Read:
If you want another hour, give us a one. If you don’t, give us a zero.

David Blue:
Don’t tell me how many zeros there are.

David Read:
Antony, start counting. No. This is not to excuse anyone. I think that people felt helpless and hopeless in the pandemic, and they realized just how much power they do or don’t have. If the pandemic– I think it gave us two things, personally. I’ve said this for years now. It accelerated anything that was moving in a direction already. It accelerated much faster, whatever that was. And number two, it proved just how far people can be pushed.

David Blue:
Interesting.

David Read:
It has made a lot of us very distrustful of one another now, for many, for good reasons. But I think that all of this accelerationist bullshit is catching up to us. The amount of technology that our young people are consuming now. My best friend has four little kids, and we were watching a TV show on Disney+ for them. And the two-year-old is sitting in my lap, operating an iPad in ways that I can’t dream of. He’s about to make a mistake with a hand gesture, and the computer responds to him in a way that I didn’t know it could do. And he can’t sit and watch any video for longer than 45 seconds. He moves it to a smaller screen up here in the corner, and he’s watching two sometimes. And he’s two years old. I’m looking at–

David Blue:
I had an acting coaching client come to me, a new one who’s younger, and they said to me, “If you have any notes for me, can you just make sure they’re not longer than a sentence, ’cause I can’t pay attention beyond that.” It’s tough.

David Read:
To finish my thought, that’s the point. It’s happening to all of us, us too, with these devices. I looked around, and the other little ones were on their iPads as well. Zach and I were the only ones watching this Disney kids movie. And I looked at him, and I said, “Zach, let’s flip the channel here.” This is not their primary screen. They’re not even watching. And he turned to the kids and asked. And I said, “No. No.” And I’m in his house. I’m like, “No, they’re not watching. We’re going to change this.” And I said that to him that way because he respects me and knows that I love them, and knows that I can say that to him. And then he was like, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m the father here.” It’s one of those things–

David Blue:
It’s interesting.

David Read:
He’s always frustrated about losing control with them. And I have no place to talk because I don’t have kids, but I have to remind him that it starts with him. And he says that he needs to hear that too, so it’s not gonna be a winning battle.

David Blue:
It’s interesting. I spend way too much time thinking about this, ’cause with the pandemic, I spent a lot of time alone or streaming—thankfully for the Twitch community—or teaching and coaching. But I think what you said is true. I also think part of the problem is, this is my theory anyway, as an armchair sociologist. I think the whole world was told, “Oh God, stay inside and survive. Take care of yourself and survive.” And then when the pandemic ended, we all forgot to turn that off and go back to being a planet, a community. I’ve seen people blowing through stop signs for several years. People only follow rules that they wanna follow. We lost the community civilization aspect of all things. And on the flip side, the way that I agree with you, we all were trotting along with our lives and our world, which was fallible, and then somebody pulled the curtain back. And we saw four drunk chipmunks at the wheel, and we went, “Uh, nobody look over there.” We all learned. It’s the same thing with, not to get all deep about it, but just to use it as a point. I’ll admit ignorance in this. It’s the same thing with racism and Nazis. I thought we were done with Nazis. I thought that was handled by my grandparents. Turns out, no. I think it showed us not only that people are way more selfish inherently than we knew. It also showed us that things are way more broken than we knew. It also gave us the helplessness of, “But what do we do about it? Nobody knows.” And the combination of all those things is terrifying, and reminds me of the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot episode, “Encounter at Far Point,” when Q calls the warring humans up and says, “What about this? You guys were a warring species.” And Picard says, “We had to go through that to become …

David Read:
“Grievously savage …

David Blue:
… who we are now.

David Read:
… child race.”

David Blue:
And I think, I have to hope that we’re going through these growing pains because we can emerge the other side better. But I do think, again, part of the responsibility is on each person to be better, to do a little better, and to fight and vote and protest and all these things.

David Read:
You’re more American.

David Blue:
You’re absolutely right. Somebody on socials said it really well today. They said, “I am not the person I was in 2019. I don’t even recognize that person.” And I can definitely agree with that, for better or for worse, mostly for worse, I think. But it’s a fascinating thing.

David Read:
A person who’s more innocent.

David Blue:
I joke about this a lot. If you were to travel back in time to yourself in 2019, and say, “Just so you know, next year there’s gonna be a global pandemic. The entire world’s gonna be stuck inside for months on end. Also, Nazis are back, and also this, and then we’re gonna find out a bunch of stuff about aliens, but it’s gonna suck. It’s not really great stuff about aliens. However, this is gonna happ–” You would go, “Crazy person, can you please take them away?”

David Read:
I can’t take all of that.

David Blue:
It’s wild how much has happened. It’s crazy how much has happened in this period of time. But again, as much as I can get mired with depression and anxiety into those things, I choose to try to look at the optimistic side of things, which is, I have seen moments where we can be better. And you can blame things like Star Trek and Quantum Leap for this, or Stargate. I believe in humanity. It’s humans that are the problem.

David Read:
I agree.

David Blue:
I think we can be better.

David Read:
One of my favorite scenes in Season One of Picard is when Picard quotes Shakespeare to Q: “What a piece of work is man.” I’m just like you in that regard, humanist all the way. We will figure it out.

David Blue:
I think we can.

David Read:
It’s not gonna be bloodless, but we can, and I believe that we will.

David Blue:
Have I mentioned this to you before? There’s a movie with John Ritter and Belushi. Have you heard of this one?

David Read:
No.

David Blue:
So, I haven’t re-watched it in a while. It’s called Real Men, 1987. It’s Jim Belushi and John Ritter. No spoilers, but essentially it’s about a normal everyday man who gets roped into being part of a CIA operation alongside a special agent. And there’s a part, this is not a big spoiler, but also the movie came out in ’87. You all had time. There’s a part where Belushi says to Ritter, “We need you because we have a meeting with these aliens who said, ‘We wanna give you humans a gift. We either wanna give you a chemical that will purify all your water, or a gun that can blow up your planet.'” And Ritter goes, “Well, obviously we want the water thing.” And he’s like, “No, the gun.” And he says, “But if we blow up the planet, then no one’s left.” And I love this quote. Belushi says, “Yeah, but it’s about who pulled the trigger.” And it’s that for me. And that’s why Star Trek got it right, that’s why Battlestar got it right. I think the problem is, unfortunately, human beings have to see the bottom of the barrel before they start to climb out of it. And I hope that’s what we’re seeing and have been seeing now, because it’s terrifying to keep seeing lower parts of the barrel. And I have to believe we’re capable of it.

David Read:
No, you’re right. “The High Ground,” Season Three of TNG, Yuta of the clan Tralesta. “Once you’re dead, once I kill you, what happens to me doesn’t matter.” Or the guys in “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” in TOS. One’s black on the left side and the other’s white on the left side.

David Blue:
But stop making Star Trek political.

David Read:
Exactly. What do you think of the announcement for SG4? We’re back, baby.

David Blue:
Are we officially calling it SG4?

David Read:
I am calling it that. I’ve been calling it that since two years before it was announced. I gotta call it something.

David Blue:
Wait, does that mean officially I was on SG-3?

David Read:
Technically yes, but you already have a name and it’s SGU.

David Blue:
Got it. I’m excited. I posted about it on social and a lot of people ran with it, but I’m stoked. As I mentioned, Martin and team were kind enough to reach out to a lot of us ahead of time with a very lovely email, which I will not share. First of all, being nice about family and everything, and kind of laying out some basic plans and saying what they wanted to do. And number one, the Martin of it all, sadly I didn’t have a lot of interactions with him on SGU ’cause he was more of a consulting producer, but I knew of him and I’ve heard nothing but wonderful stories the whole time. And then have grown to love a lot of his stuff, like Blindspot and what have you. I can’t think of anyone better to be at the helm of that. And not only from what I’ve heard from him in that email, I’m in the industry enough to have heard a lot of the pitches that were going around about potential new shows over the past six or seven years. Even had one of my own. And it was really interesting the way they’re going and what he’s doing with it. And as I said in that post, Eli would be, and 100% I will be set to watch it, because I cannot wait to see what tales they’re telling. And as they’ve said in the announcements, but people keep forgetting, it’s not an erasure. It’s not the previous ones. It’s telling a story, I think they said in the thing, in a different part of the universe, but it’s telling a new story in the same world. And what more can you want? That’s amazing. I can’t wait.

David Read:
There’s plenty of people who are going to disagree with me. And you know what? That is A-okay. They can fly a kite. The show must be made 51% at least for the little 10-year-old girl who’s watching on her dad’s lap. They are going to be watching in the next 30 years. This show is not mainly for me. It’s very much for me, but it should not majority be for me.

David Blue:
I get it.

David Read:
It must take care of the people who came before as best it can and who loved it, but it must be there to cultivate its new audience. And I think that Project Hail Mary possesses the whimsy that the best of Stargate can possess and has nearly the exact same tone that everything that I’ve been hearing about what’s coming next is gonna have.

David Blue:
I agree with a lot of what you’re saying, but this is me personally. First of all, as somebody who grew up loving Next Generation, who was younger than the audience of people they were aiming to make that show for, it worked wonderfully for me. Same thing for Quantum Leap. But then again, my parents were nice enough to let me watch entertainment probably well before I should’ve. It was also a different time. We had more access to it …

David Read:
It’s true.

David Blue:
… back then. I’m gonna use Star Wars as an example. I love all the Star Wars, Rebels, Clone Wars, more so Rebels. I like Skeleton Crew. I don’t think you need to say, “We need to make a new Skeleton Crew so that the young people have access to it.” I think Skeleton Crew is great. I think, make a good story. And the people who love it now, and this goes back to that lesson I was talking about, should watch it with new eyes of a new story in a world that they love, created by the people who created the things that they love. And I think if it’s done well, which I think it will be, it will be accessible to 70-year-old fans, seven-year-old fans, and everybody. I don’t think you necessarily have to even– Not that it’s our place to do this, to ascribe a tone to it, but I don’t think you even necessarily have to do that. Would I show a seven-year-old cousin–I don’t know, I’m just making up a familial relation–would I show them Dark on Netflix? No. And if I do, somebody should call the police. That’s horrible. Would I show them Battlestar Galactica, the remake? Yeah, maybe fast-forward some of the scenes. But I think–

David Read:
A couple of the scenes.

David Blue:
Sorry, that was probably a bad reference. A lot of Tricia Helfer in that one. But I do think it’s gonna be more accessible without having to necessarily do that. It’s the same argument that happened with SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe. The creators were the same. A lot of people acted like, “How dare you?” But they made the thing that you love, so it’s not unheard of. To me, and I will always say this, SGU does– There’s no argument about it. It’s part of the franchise. It is. Sorry if you didn’t like it. The dozen of you or whatever, you’re welcome to that. Was it a different tone? Yeah, ’cause it was about survival and it was about humanity and the darkness in some humanity. And that was a different focus. I don’t really call that tone, per se. Because in my opinion, and I don’t mean to challenge you on this, if that’s how you feel, then you should have loved Thor: Love and Thunder, ’cause that was a kids version of a Marvel movie, and more colorful and funny and entertaining and silly, which was more for kids.

David Read:
I got to a point with it where my time will be better served elsewhere.

David Blue:
Sure, that’ll be fine.

David Read:
It doesn’t mean that it’s–

David Blue:
No, and I’m not saying–

David Read:
It’s not for me right now, is what I’m really saying.

David Blue:
And I know you well enough, unless you’ve changed in ways that I’m not aware of, to know that you wouldn’t poop on entertainment.

David Read:
No! You’re scaring me!

David Blue:
Film critic Hulk said a long time ago in an interview, or a chat maybe, with him, where he said, “I stopped saying I hate something, because somebody pointed out to me, what about the writers, directors, producers, artists, everybody involved in that? You can say it wasn’t for you, but don’t say you hate it.” But to speak to the positive side of the new Stargate. I’m gonna say the new Stargate. I can’t say SG4. Whatever it is, I’m strapped in. Now, for me, as somebody who loves everything, whether it be The Boys, or For All Mankind, or Schitt’s Creek, or whatever tone it is, I’m gonna watch it with those lenses. And I believe and hope they’re gonna be amazing with it, and I hope that there’s worlds where we can cross worlds, for lack of a better term. But, I don’t have any expectations, and I try not to, …

David Read:
Yeah, I don’t.

David Blue:
… because that helps ensure that I’ll like it. If I go in as somebody who’s not writing or producing it with any expectation of what I think it should be, that’s only gonna lead to disappointment.

David Read:
No. I agree with 99.5% of what you just said.

David Blue:
Up from 95! I was at 95 before.

David Read:
But let me clarify a point, that initial comment about the 10-year-old girl watching the show with her dad is largely directed at my audience right now, many of whom feel that the show should be made specifically for them. I think that it should be made for everyone.

David Blue:
And that’s always been the problem.

David Read:
I can’t believe, frankly, that Project Hail Mary was PG-13. It had no business being PG-13. There’s no curse words in it. It’s intense. But I know seven-year-olds who would love it. There are certain things that are more universal.

David Blue:
Why was it PG-13?

David Read:
I don’t …

David Blue:
Because of–

David Read:
… know. I think that they were afraid …

David Blue:
I’m assuming without spoiling anything–

David Read:
… that if it was PG, it would’ve been– People would’ve looked at it and gone, “Oh, this is too…”

David Blue:
It’s probably more the survival and death risk and all of that. But then again, I grew up–

David Read:
But it could have been PG.

David Blue:
But also, we grew up in a different time. I grew up in a time where we snuck in to watch Showgirls, which was NC-17 at the time. But also, I watched Nightmare on Elm Street when I was a kid, and it’s arguable whether that messed me up or not, but I don’t think it did. But no, I agree with you. On that point, I 100% agree with you. Thank you for clarifying because, to quote Brad, if you have– Let’s pretend it’s Comic-Con. Let’s pretend it’s San Diego Comic-Con, and we have this small room, and we’re all dressed up in our SG-1 gear, and we love the show. Wouldn’t you love to move it over to Hall H and have 100 or 1,000 more people? And it’s not about isolation. It’s about growing. I hope my nephews discover Star Trek: The Next Generation so I can geek out about it with them. Todd Stashwick, who’s a friend of mine, he was so excited to finally show his kids Star Wars, and he’s covered in Star Wars tattoos. He’s like, “I can finally show them.”

David Read:
I would love to meet him one day.

David Blue:
I’ll introduce you. He’s great.

David Read:
Aw, man.

David Blue:
Could not be more jealous that he’s a captain in Star Trek.

David Read:
He’s a true fan, though. He gets it.

David Blue:
Absolutely. I think he’s at a Starfury right now, actually.

David Read:
That’s it. He knows the importance of Wolf 359.

David Blue:
100%.

David Read:
He loves that scene for every ounce it’s worth. I’m sorry, go ahead.

David Blue:
That’s why we became friends is he liked SGU and I liked The Riches.

David Read:
I’m thrilled to hear that.

David Blue:
But I think the thing is people– I’m so sorry. I don’t mean– Any audience members who are watching, I’m not in any way trying to act like I’m on a soapbox or browbeating you; I truly believe this, though, not only as somebody who has existed as a member of fandom for all of my life, but as somebody who is part of fandom as an actor, let alone writer, producer, director, but then also somebody who’s been streaming since the pandemic, and I’ve reconnected personally with a lot of wonderful community members and some toxic people who are no longer around. And I truly believe this. You, whoever it is that’s holding onto that thing, you can’t act like everything that is made is what you want and it has to be how you want it or it’s bad. Think of it literally, like that old day of going to a movie theater. I remember watching Avengers: Endgame, and my friend Yuri Lowenthal invited me, so the two of us went to go watch it. And of course, I know that I’m sitting there with Spider-Man from the video games, but the audience doesn’t, because he’s the voice of Spider-Man in PlayStation games. Spoiler alert, when a really amazing thing happened in that movie, and the whole audience cheered as a group, like, “Ah!” That’s the community of entertainment, and it’s not about gatekeeping and isolation and holding things precious. It’s about loving a thing and sharing your love of it. You should be excited to bring in a new generation of people who love it, and you shouldn’t look at something that rubs you the wrong way–I’m saying a choice–as isolating you. It’s just a part of the story that wasn’t your favorite.

David Read:
100%.

David Blue:
But that kid who watched it, that might be the reason that they become a quantum physicist and become Sam Beckett. Or that might be the person who makes the next spinoff that you love. Or you may change your mind in five years and watch it and be like, “You know what? Actually, that was pretty cool.”

David Read:
Wow. I can’t say it better. It’s an extraordinary time that we exist to have access to the content that we have. And if you don’t enjoy it, you have 1,000 other campfires to sit at, and that’s OK.

David Blue:
Or light your own campfire.

David Read:
You know what? All the better. That’s 100% right.

David Blue:
I’m not even talking about fanfiction stuff. If you wanna do that, go for it. But I loved Star Trek so much, that when I was in school, I read Vendetta, Metamorphosis, Imzadi. I have a signed copy of Imzadi signed by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry.

David Read:
Aw.

David Blue:
I loved all of that stuff. I know what’s canon, I know what’s not canon. But at the same time, I love stories. It’s why I do what I do. And if you really have a problem with it, go write your own.

David Read:
Go create.

David Blue:
Understand they’re not canon.

David Read:
You’ve got these things now, but you can create.

David Blue:
But also just try.

David Read:
Absolutely.

David Blue:
You don’t like Thai food. Have you tried it? No. Try it.

David Read:
It’s too spicy. A couple of dishes.

David Blue:
How dare you? It’s delicious.

David Read:
Look, my dad’s best friend was Vietnamese, and so I’m partial. He had a Vietnamese restaurant.

David Blue:
Fair. Fair.

David Read:
Shout-out to Tony.

David Blue:
Hi, Tony.

David Read:
That’s great. I cannot wait along with everyone else for whatever it is that it’s going to be. There’s a long way to go. I mentioned this yesterday on a pre-recorded show that’s gonna air while I’m gone. I feel like we’re clacking up the roller coaster together, and we’ve got some clacking still left to do. But it’s one of those now, where we’re coming out of the void between the galaxies, and we’re gonna see whatever is next on the other side.

David Blue:
Metaphorically.

David Read:
That’s it. If this first one is successful, the sky’s the limit on what can grow alongside it. That’s what I’m really excited about.

David Blue:
Yes, I have to, because I agree with you, but much like Star Trek, Star Wars, any of the Stars, it also opens up the same danger, which Marvel, DC, which is–. For years, we all grew up like, “Why aren’t there more Star Wars? Why aren’t there superhero movies?” And there finally were. We’re like, “More! More! More!” And then they started releasing them and we’re like, “Too much! Too much!” And then we started getting really mad about, “Well, not that one. That one’s not Marvel. That says it’s Marvel, but it’s not.” And this is what I’ve always said since SGU, when we were on the air, I said, “If you don’t like it, fine. Maybe you don’t need to make a website, SGUSucks.org, but that’s fine.” The vitriol of it is part of the reason it’s been so long since you’ve seen a new one. Keep that in mind when the new one approaches, however you feel about it, and I hope that everyone loves it and it’s the most groundbreaking TV show of all time. But if it’s not for you, talk with your friends over beers about how it’s not for you, but don’t start campaigns to try to get it canceled or websites or blogs or any of this crap, ’cause all you’re doing is damaging the franchise that you claim to love. This new Star Trek thing, granted it’s partially because of the new owners, but the new Star Trek thing and how people reacted to Starfleet Academy, is going to prevent you from seeing new Star Trek for a while. And I wanna make sure that fans of Stargate are pre-loaded to understand. Go into it with fresh eyes, hope for the best, but if it’s not for you, remember you love that franchise and move on.

David Read:
It’s true.

David Blue:
I can’t wait. I agree with you. I am stoked. It’s wild to me. I was so worried that what happened and the way that people reacted to it and still do somehow was gonna prevent it from happening again.

David Read:
No.

David Blue:
I was very excited during the pandemic when I heard some of the pitches. “Oh, this is cool.” And I think I told you at the convention, Ben Browder and I started having weekly phone calls through the pandemic, and we would talk about our ideas and what we had heard. And I’m so excited that they decided to finally move forward with something. I wish it was filming in the US, but I’m really excited that they’re doing it, and I can’t wait. I cannot wait.

David Read:
For sure. MorrisQPR. We’ve talked about this, but speak about it a little bit here. If you were in charge of bringing SGU back, how would you approach it story-wise? Obviously, you’d have to …

David Blue:
I have the best story.

David Read:
… consult Brad.

David Blue:
100%. Wow.

David Read:
Make sure that we’re getting certain things, certain details right.

David Blue:
That’s the biggest thing that I think a lot of people need to understand is there’s a thing called rights.

David Read:
Right.

David Blue:
And you need to own the rights, otherwise you can’t do the thing. Number one, what’s really interesting is I’m friends with a studio exec who’s part of this world, and we were chatting about it. And when I heard from other people that there were all these pitches for a potential new Stargate, I sat down. This was during the pandemic. For the first time, I sat down– For those of you who don’t know, I have some broad-stroke and specific ideas of where Season Three was going to go, which I’ll never repeat, but they’re awesome and cool, and that’s as far as I know, that’s canon. Nothing else is. I never really thought about it beyond that, until I heard people were pitching. And I thought, “Is there a story that I can create that isn’t just about–” And I’m gonna challenge people on this. I don’t wanna wrap up SGU. I wanna continue it. I wanna continue all the Stargates. Nobody wants to cameo one time and “OK, goodbye.” You wanna work for a long time. I came up with an idea that I never actually ended up pitching. But I have an idea that ties all four franchises together in a really interesting and fun, funny, and cataclysmic dramatic way that I would love to do. I just never got around to writing it or pitching it.

David Read:
Are you still– Her name is escaping me right now. Ginn.

David Blue:
Julia McNamara.

David Read:
Are you still working with her?

David Blue:
We wrote and pitched and have been trying to take out three separate pilots for the past several years. Right now, she is currently working on two of her own projects. We love writing together, and there’s actually three shows that we’re currently developing, two right next. But also, I am trying to take the time, but failing miserably, to write this feature that I am writing, and my Patreon is launched now for. Because it’s an idea that I actually had the last time that you and I saw each other.

David Read:
Say a little bit more.

David Blue:
It wasn’t you specifically who did it, but the last time I saw you was in Vancouver, right?

David Read:
That’s correct.

David Blue:
I think it might’ve been one of my last conventions I did. No. Never mind. There was one other. At that convention, seeing a bunch of friends, Mike Dopud and DeLuise and all these other amazing actors, I remember looking around the room and thinking, “Man, there’s a lot of my friends who are, at this moment in time, currently available. We should make use of that.” And on the flight home, I had an idea, and I outlined it, and I fell in love with the idea. And then life got in the way. It’s no good excuse, but life got in the way. Last year, I finally went, “I need to actually do something.” Partially as I was starting to develop the idea, I went to a convention in a city in the UK that will go unnamed. It was me and Richard Dean Anderson and Amanda Tapping and Brad Wright and Alaina, and–

David Read:
Really general, folks.

David Blue:
… a really general convention. And a bunch of other shows as well. Jason Momoa. I remember I sat down for a drink on the patio with Amanda and Richard and Brad, and somebody mentioned the movie that I was developing. And I’ve never experienced this in my life, and I’m sorry. You’re probably not watching this, Brad, but I’m sorry to repeat what you said. I’ve pitched so many things to Brad over the years, and it’s always the same Brad response, but I told him the idea for the movie. And he looked at me and he went, “Shit, that’s a good idea.” And I was like, “Oh, I need to make this.” And since then, I’ve pitched it to a few people. I had a meeting with a production company a couple weeks ago that is really intrigued by it. Essentially, I launched this Patreon, and I hate crowdfunding, I really, really do, but to have the time to write it and develop it fully, I had to. And then the goal is to get it written in the next several months max, and then start in pre-production and then either get it produced or crowdfunded, which I think the fans would love, and get it made in the next year, year and a half maximum. I’m focused on that at the moment.

David Read:
So, I’m waiting with bated breath for the title of the Patreon so I can pull it up for everybody.

David Blue:
Sorry. It’s on all my socials. I didn’t expect to have it loaded. It’s really complicated. It’s patreon.com/4DavidBlue. Number four. I think that’s it.

David Read:
OK. Good.

David Blue:
It’s also any one of my socials. If you look at my linktree in it, there’s a link to it. But again, I hate crowdfunding, but it’s there to help me do it. Wow. Whoa. So many things are happening. There you go. But essentially, I’m avoiding too many spoilers, because I want to reveal them to people who are on either the Patreon or eventually when we’re announcing the cast, but I’ll just say this generically. It is starring and about a lot of your favorite Stargate actors, a lot of them. And they’re all interested and attached. They loved the idea and where their characters are in it. And then also, I’ve realized since then that I can bring in some other fun fandoms, and we’re gonna be crossing over with some of your other favorite franchises. It’s gonna be fun and funny, and heartfelt.

David Read:
I’m getting Galaxy Quest vibes, man. There’s one of my favorite Wil Wheaton quotes: “Galaxy Quest was the best Star Trek movie.”

David Blue:
I think Jonathan Frakes said the same thing in a video recently.

David Read:
There’s truth in that.

David Blue:
And 100%. I told the story before, but we as a cast, me being the nerd that I am, I mentioned Galaxy Quest and a few people hadn’t seen it, so we all got together and watched it together as a cast ’cause we’re like, “This is us!” You’re not wrong necessarily, but I’m still for it.

David Read:
I’m oversimplifying, but yes.

David Blue:
No, I probably shouldn’t say too much, but I would say it’s definitely for the fans, but I see a broader reach in it. This is something I wanna have in theaters, not in streaming. I think this is an indie movie that could go big, especially because of the storylines, which even the people I pitched a couple weeks ago to, somebody else who’s also a huge part of Stargate, loved. Everyone who hears the idea thinks it’s time for this and they love it, and the people involved, I think it could be a lot of fun, which is why any day that I’m not writing it– I just finished filming a movie a few weeks ago that I was hoping they would’ve announced by now, but they haven’t, so I can’t speak …

David Read:
Not yet.

David Blue:
… too much on it. I was working for three weeks nonstop and I was mad that I wasn’t able to write this movie. I wanna get it written and I wanna get it produced and I wanna get it into your eye holes, ’cause I really think– I’m gonna put it this way. I hate crowdfunding. I respect it, especially when it’s something for like D&D dice or the new Fireball Island game or something. I’ve always avoided it. I just don’t like to ask fans for money. I just don’t. However, in this case with this movie, when the movie’s done being written, the Patreon now is to write it, but when it’s done being written, I’m gonna try to get it fully produced, but if I can’t, I’m gonna put it out there for crowdfunding, because I think this is something that the fandom, specifically the Stargate fandom, wants to see and will really enjoy. And because of that, I feel like I’m making it for you, and I’m gonna be like, “You wanna help get it made?” So, we’re gonna do a bunch of perks and tiers for that, but long story short, I fell in love with the idea flying back from, what was it, GateCon?

David Read:
I remember I talked to you there.

David Blue:
Flying back from GateCon.

David Read:
I’m not surprised …

David Blue:
I fell in love with the idea.

David Read:
… that it gave you something.

David Blue:
Because the truth is, for those of you who don’t know, amongst nerddom, a lot of us are friends, but in the Stargate world, 99% of us are family. Richard Dean Anderson, when I was at that convention in the UK, the person watching my dog, Harley, said, “I want one thing as payment for watching Harley. I want Richard Dean Anderson’s autograph, ’cause I was a huge MacGyver fan.” And I was like, “Oh God. Now I have to approach RDA and ask him for his autograph.” And I did in the green room, and without missing a beat, RDA signed that. “Of course. Show me pictures of your dog.”

David Read:
He’s a dog lover.

David Blue:
Ben Browder and I chat all the time. Connor and I chat all the time. We are just a family and I wanna show that to the audience, and I want people to understand that. We all talk, we all know each other. When I was filming a couple of weeks ago, I got a text from a friend that they were filming with Joe Flanigan. It’s a small little community, and that’s what I love about it. It’s why, me as a nerd, I feel like I’m cheating. I get to go to a convention, when I’m invited. I don’t have any on the docket right now. But I get to go to a convention and meet some of my favorite actors behind the scenes when I’m not giving a panel. I get to geek out with Rhys Darby over What We Do in the Shadows. No, sorry, Our Flag Means Death, not What We Do in the Shadows.

David Read:
The name didn’t ring a bell. I’m rooting for you for Gate Cruise.

David Blue:
That’s another example of social media. Just to disclaim, because I feel like I need to do this en masse. I just keep getting messages and DMs asking if I’m going. I just posted on Facebook the other day to be like, “Hey, just a heads-up, I’m not going ’cause I wasn’t invited. I’d love to.” And some people were like, “Oh, way to try to beg an invite.” I was just answering the question.

David Read:
You were responding. That’s great.

David Blue:
I would love to go. I haven’t heard anything about it.

David Read:
I know a couple of actors who were asked, but they can’t because they get seasick.

David Blue:
That’s funny.

David Read:
If you don’t wanna put the patch behind your ear, I understand. I think that each–

David Blue:
Or get hantavirus. Too soon? Too soon, I’m sorry.

David Read:
I think each branch of this beautiful tree that we have should be represented. But that’s just me; I’m not creating it.

David Blue:
No, I agree. That’s actually been a pet peeve of ours for a very long time. Not the cruise. When certain conventions go, “It’s an all-Stargate con,” and you’re like–

David Read:
We should make something for everyone. I agree. That’s it. You were in Alaina’s conversation at GateCon. It was one of my favorites out of the entire convention. I put a bug in your ear about if you could define this thing with one word, and then you ran with it on stage, and then I clipped it on Dial the Gate. I was like, “This is what I wanted.”

David Blue:
The last soapbox I’ll get on, and again, I’m sorry, I didn’t intend–

David Read:
You’re fine.

David Blue:
Just like you didn’t intend to talk about that stuff, I didn’t intend to talk about any of this stuff. But I will say this, because I think this is a PSA that fans need to understand. I got in trouble for saying this at that one in the UK. Fans– Now when it comes to the content, the TV show or the movie, your vote with that is your dollars or your viewership, that’s it. When it comes to conventions, you guys have all the power. If you want Amanda Tapping at a convention, email the convention. Don’t tag them on socials, everyone ignores it. Email them or call them and say, “Hey, I’d buy a ticket if Amanda Tapping was a guest.” If you want Jewel Staite, same thing. If you want a few people, same thing. And the more people you get to do that, the more likely that con, who is a business, will go, “We’d make more money if we had Amanda Tapping. We should get Amanda Tapping.” As much as we appreciate it, there’s really no actual benefit in reaching out to an actor and saying, “I wish you were at that convention.” Use that energy to reach out to the conventions near you, or that you’d attend, and say, “Could you invite this person? ‘Cause I’d come if you did.” They see the dollar signs. There’s a lot of power in that, and I really wish fandom understood how much power they had, so I could stop saying it and getting in trouble for saying it.

David Read:
That’s for sure. I think it all factors in. kathiescall wanted to know, what is more daunting for you, a day of physical stunts or a day of total technical lingo? That’s an interesting question.

David Blue:
That’s a tough one. It’s changed. Nowadays, ’cause I used to have an amazing memory. Even then I would mess up. There was an episode of SGU where I completely boned an entire paragraph of sci-fi stuff, but I used to have a great memory and I like science. But as I’ve gotten older, that memory has started to be a little bit more shaky. I love the physical stuff, ’cause I never got to do that when I was overweight. They wouldn’t let me. It’s still fun and challenging, even though it hurts. Nowadays, I think more daunting would be the technical thing. On this thing I just did, I had to do a two-page monologue to a group of 50 background, and I was like, “Oh, God. What are words? How do words work again?”

David Read:
“Brain, brain, what is brain?”

David Blue:
Honestly for me, I may or may not have experienced this a few weeks ago. Kathy, was that her name?

David Read:
Yes.

David Blue:
The one who just asked?

David Read:
That’s right.

David Blue:
The truth is, it’s a third option: intimacy scenes. That’s way more daunting for me.

David Read:
Is it–

David Blue:
‘Cause that’s not something anyone has ever wanted to see me do.

David Read:
OK, it’s from a perspective of self-consciousness.

David Blue:
100%.

David Read:
Dude, …

David Blue:
I would rather–

David Read:
… you are an Adonis.

David Blue:
God bless you, tell everyone you know.

David Read:
But still, that little voice inside of you is saying, “No, he’s not.” Is that what it is?

David Blue:
What’s funny, to speak weight again, I lost 90 pounds-ish from Stargate Episode one until several years ago.

David Read:
To 40.

David Blue:
The pandemic hit and I sprained my Achilles tendon day one of the pandemic.

David Read:
Really?

David Blue:
Yeah, day one. I watched Creed II, and I was like, “I’m gonna get in the best shape of my life in this two weeks we have off.” And I went for a jog, and I sprained my Achilles tendon. I spent the first few months of the pandemic laying on the couch, unable to work out, drinking bourbon and eating pizza. I gained like 15, 20 pounds back. Part of the reason I became a certified personal trainer is because I then lost it again. And people always ask me, “How did you do it?” And I’m like, “Let me be able to officially tell them.” But not only do I absolutely have body dysmorphia, but I also struggle with my weight, ’cause I love food. I know how to work out, but I also love food. I will always have broken mirrors, but whenever I’m doing a scene in any state of disrobe, that’s far more daunting to me than a fight scene, which is just choreography, which I find exciting, or the dialogue, which is harrowing, but I usually get it. I did that two-page monologue in two takes.

David Read:
I’ve got a few tangents from this; thank you for those answers. The Stargate historian in me wants to know which episode it was that you had that difficulty, because I remember being on set in certain scenes and a couple of them when I was there, the actors were having a terrible– One of them in particular was having a terrible time with the technical jargon.

David Blue:
I probably know who you’re talking about.

David Read:
It brought everything to a grinding halt. And on film, you can’t tell ’cause they rallied around behind it together.

David Blue:
I’ve worked with, not in Stargate, but I’ve worked with actors who are like, “Line,” they’ll say it. “Line,” they’ll say that line. I’m not like that. I wanna do the whole scene. It’s very rare that I drop a line and forget a line during a scene, even nowadays. Very rare. So when it happens, I feel like I messed up. That’s just not how I work. I’m not as good as episode names as you all. I can only name “Air,” “Air,” “Air,” “Darkness,” “Light,” “Water,” “Earth,” “Time,” “Life,” “Justice,” “Space,” “Divide,” “Faith,” “Human,” “Lost,” “Sabotage,” and then it starts to get blurry. Whichever one we were in the tunnels, the dusty tunnels, really in–

David Read:
“Lost.”

David Blue:
Was it “Lost?” I believe it was “Lost” because two things happened in that episode. I have a clear memory. I was supposed to be drawing two orbits, and I drew them while I was messing up the line, and I think it was directed by Robert Cooper, if not written by. And he went, “Two things, David. One, that’s not your line. Two, please stop drawing boobs.” He’s like, “Orbit, orbit, planet, planet.” I’m like, “Oh, you’re right.” It was that episode. I don’t remember what the dialogue was.

David Read:
Answer me, let me know if I was wrong. I totally get that. I wanna ask you, going back to the body dysmorphia, because I struggle with my weight, and I may have to have a conversation with you about what it is that you’re specifically offering. Obviously I struggle with my weight. I just announced earlier that I lost 100 pounds.

David Blue:
i’m not trying to self promote–

David Read:
I’m asking for it, though.

David Blue:
I know, but to the viewers, I wanna be clear. I’m not trying to self-promote, but also, because social media and the algorithm sucks, I get messages all the time asking about it, and I always respond, “Well, there’s a link in my bio.” It’s because I’m just trying to help with the information. I wanted to be able to healthily answer that for people, but go ahead.

David Read:
There’s the scene in Season Two, I forget who it is who comes to the door, opens the door, and …

David Blue:
Oh, God.

David Read:
Julie is startled, and your shirt is on the floor. And it puts a smile to my face every time that I think of that scene, because we know the fragileness of Eli. And how there’s nothing about him that’s insincere, and we’re very much in the mindset of the character at the door. It’s like, “Come on. This guy, he deserves a moment with someone because he never gets intimacy ever.” Like a lot of people on the ship don’t. But this guy has a chance. Get the hell out of there and let them be together.

David Blue:
How much insider info do you wanna know that may or may not ruin your perception of that scene?

David Read:
I want to know what you are willing to share as my friend.

David Blue:
I’ll share, but I have two things to that. I’ve said them before, but I don’t know that you– I don’t know why. I felt like we talked about this, but I was wrong.

David Read:
Never talked about this with you.

David Blue:
Number one, and this is my favorite anecdote ’cause I love making it a self-deprecating joke about me. That was the first love scene I ever did, and I wasn’t even on set. I’m not in that room. I’m not. It’s just my shirt. I was in the office having a meeting during filming. I love telling people that my one sex scene, I wasn’t even there. But number two, and I have told her this umpteen times ’cause Julie McNiven and I are still very good friends. We talk almost daily. I have so much respect for her as an actor in general, but thank you, Julie, because the way you answered that door and how out of breath you were, it made it look like Eli was good at it. And thank you for that. ‘Cause it would have been so easy for her to be like, “Yeah? Sorry.” But instead, she’s like, “Hello?” And I’m like, “Yeah! Go Eli and get it.”

David Read:
And let me tell you, they know how to party on Lucia.

David Blue:
Apparently.

David Read:
I would know the people who designed the planet in Stargate Worlds, so she’s been around.

David Blue:
Now I’m just thinking Star Trek. I’m thinking Star Trek Undiscovered Country where he kicks him in the knee and he’s like, “Not everyone’s genitals are in the same place.” I’m like, “Wait, wait, how is the Lucian Alliance different? Hold on.”

David Read:
That’s right, exactly. No. “He says he wants your coat.” “I’m afraid not. Besides, it wouldn’t fit.” That’s awesome. So much of your function was the plot-forwarding information. But one of the things that I think they got better with as each of the shows grew older was balancing that. I had Bill Dow on yesterday who was specifically a plot-forwarding character for a couple of seasons, but the more that they had him on the screen, the more that they wrote for him because he was delivering more than that, and they responded to it in kind. It just works.

David Blue:
It’s tough when you’re talking about entertainment, TV and film. It’s really easy to be utilitarian in a character. But even, for lack of a better term, the elevator operator has a whole life you may or may not know about. That’s a huge compliment to Bill, and he deserves it. But especially when I was overweight, I played a lot of those characters. On Moonlight, I was a vampire computer hacker, and I was there to provide information and hack into computers. That doesn’t mean Logan can’t be fun and interesting. I have to give all the credit to the writers there, and for most things. They created these amazing characters and moments. And to this day, probably one of the best compliments I ever got, all of us got, Carl. I asked him once, well into filming.

David Read:
Binder?

David Blue:
Yeah. I asked him once, “What’s this experience been like for you?” ‘Cause we’re a new cast, we’re a new show in the same world.

David Read:
Carl’s done everything.

David Blue:
He’s done everything. And he said something really interesting. He’s like, “It’s actually been really interesting. We don’t have to write as much.” And I went, “What?” He’s like, “You guys bring so much to what you’re thinking and doing and whatever. We don’t have to write as much in dialogue, ’cause you’ll do it with a look.” And I was like, “Oh, that’s so cool. I love that.”

David Read:
Literally not writing as much. He’s not talking about conceptualizing.

David Blue:
Yeah, literally.

David Read:
You guys are showing and not needing to tell as much. That’s a great compliment.

David Blue:
I loved that. Again, the writers and the producers of Stargate from its inception are brilliant, brilliant people and creatives. And our job is to bring something to it and not mess it up. But they were great at that. A lot of them are.

David Read:
No, that’s absolutely the case. And it’s why so many of them are coming back to participate in it. I’m not saying a lot, but Brad and Joe, that’s no small potatoes, alongside Martin. Absolutely. I know the answer to this, but Duke and Ramble does not know. Do you believe that Eli managed to get the pod fixed?

David Blue:
I’m very well aware. As I said, Duke, was it?

David Read:
Yeah.

David Blue:
So, the quick story is really simple, and I’ve said this at cons too. I hope saying it here won’t prevent me from getting invited to cons. During the last few episodes of Season Two, I walked up to Brad Wright and I said, “Hey, I’m curious, where are we going next season?” And he told me some stuff. And then we were canceled. And then when we were canceled, we were gonna do two movies to continue on, similar plot. And I’ve always said I will never repeat what he told me, because mostly it’s not my story to tell; it’s his. I would never betray his trust. I told him that at that convention, I’m like, “By the way, just so you know, I’ve never told anyone.” But number two, and this still applies, because if I say it and it spreads on the internet, it’ll never happen. And I would never take that away either. I love what I was told. It’s awesome. And I’m talking about not just Eli, but where the story goes. It’s really cool. I hope they find a way to do it someday, whether with this new show or something beyond. But mostly for me, it’s his story, it’s not my place. But I will say–

David Read:
I wasn’t asking you to share any of that.

David Blue:
But I will say, you bet your ass I survived. What the hell, man? I went to work. One weird thing that I’ve always taken offense to is when people say something along the lines of— and they don’t mean it—, “They need to have Atlantis rescue you guys.” I’m like, “Excuse me, I am the captain of this ship right now. And you think I can’t figure out a way to save us? How dare you, sir?”

David Read:
I was watching “Space” last night for a new project. I’m verifying some information. Louis turns to you and says, “Eli, fix the ship.” And you’re like, “Why is it always on me? Why not him?” And it pans over to Brody, and Brody’s like…

David Blue:
Peter Kelamis.

David Read:
Yes, absolutely, you are in control of that ship. You thought of that before you got rid of Rush.

David Blue:
I’ve always loved and always will love what they wrote for Eli’s storyline. For those of you who don’t know, I asked if I could add this reference into the show. It didn’t exist, and they gave me permission where Eli literally quotes, or references Last Starfighter. Because it’s always, to me, felt like Last Starfighter. He is nobody who is brought on and he becomes who he is. And I love that storyline. I’ve always taken offense when people are like, “Do you need help?” I’m like, “What do you mean help?” I won’t say much about what my pitch would have been for the continuation, but it was along those lines.

David Read:
What’s the Last Starfighter reference?

David Blue:
I forgot the episode, it’s in Season Two. I think it’s Carl’s episode. It’s weird that I remember this. I’m in Wray’s quarters, and we’re talking, and I say something like, “Well, screw The Last Starfighter because it’s not like what I thought it would be.”

David Read:
OK, got it.

David Blue:
That was me. I went up to Carl and I said, “Hey man, Eli actually hasn’t done a lot of TV/movie references in a while. Do you mind if I add one?” He’s like, “What?” And I said, “I’ve always felt that Eli’s story is very close to Last Starfighter, and it’s weird that I haven’t mentioned that as Eli yet.” And he’s like, “I love it. Do it.” It’s one of the few– I’m not an actor who oftentimes asks people to change things. That’s maybe one of three times in the entire Stargate show where I asked, “Can I do this?” Or, “Can I adjust this?” Or in the case of “Time,” write this. But he was nice enough to let me. Actually all three times they were nice enough to.

David Read:
Nickslock wants to know, are you finding people still coming up to you talking about SGU? Do you ever get caught off guard in the street with that?

David Blue:
Not often in the street.

David Read:
I know that you live in LA, so there’s a lot of that down there.

David Blue:
It’s been interesting. I’ve always felt– I’m lucky enough, and I wanna be clear about this. This is true of any actor. Again, I don’t know why I care, PSAs. Every actor has done many things. Just ’cause you know them from one thing doesn’t mean it’s all they’ve done. But I’m so excited to have fans. However, I can always tell when someone’s walking up to me what they’re a fan of. I can tell an Ugly Betty fan. I can tell a Moonlight fan. I can tell a Stargate fan. I can tell a Henry Danger fan. However, from losing the weight, I don’t get recognized as much for Stargate or Ugly Betty. In fact, the most I usually get is, “Has anyone ever told you you look like David Blue?” Or you resemble him or something.

David Read:
A lot of actors get that.

David Blue:
I saw a musician talk about this. I think it was Sting. He was like, “Do you hate it when people are like, ‘Can you sing Roxanne?'” And he’s like, “No. I wrote it because I wanted to connect to people with it.” And I would never be frustrated or upset when someone is like, “Oh my God, you’re Eli.” That’s amazing to me, because it means the story and the character and my work meant something to them. The only time it would ever upset me is if they think that’s all I’ve ever done or I’m not capable of more. Which is why IMDb exists. Anytime someone’s like, “You haven’t worked since,” I’m like, “But look. Long list.” And a PSA to other actors: don’t be a dick about it. If somebody loved your work, …

David Read:
I’m thrilled.

David Blue:
… that’s awesome.

David Read:
I’m thrilled you feel that way. Mandy Patinkin with his, “My name is Inigo Montoya,” line is the opposite. And it’s a shame, but also I can agree that I don’t wanna say it forever. That’s a hard thing.

David Blue:
If you’re Sting, you don’t wanna be at your new record release and people are like, “Stop playing that and just play Roxanne.” That’s annoying.

David Read:
Or Stephen King, stop asking about The Stand. Ask me about The Dark Tower.

David Blue:
Actually I’m on book two. We’re reading it for the book club, which is one of the perks for my Patreon. I’m finally reading The Dark Tower series and loving it. Good Lord. I think a lot of people do. For those of you who don’t know, I respect the hell out of fandom. We would not have a job without you. You are the audience that we are doing the play for, so thank you. I also know that my job is a combination of my work and writers’ and directors’ and producers’ and cinematographers’ and editors’ and sound people and all this stuff. So, it’s not just me, but I will always be grateful if anyone who likes what I do, beyond grateful, especially when it connects to you and it means something or it influenced you to go into a field or changed your life, that’s amazing to me. The only thing that I would probably speak for a lot of people and say is, “My name is David. So, if you see me across a crowded room, don’t yell Eli at me.” ‘Cause I haven’t been called that in more than 10 years.

David Read:
God. Fandom pulled it up. It’s “Resurgence,” written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. That’s the line. “Screw The Last Starfighter reference because all those hours playing Halo didn’t prepare me for this.”

David Blue:
I think I might have added Halo as well.

David Read:
It’s good stuff.

David Blue:
Thank you for looking that up. As an actor, I would never say to a writer, “Can I change this?” The only other time I really did it, and I was terrified, was the episode “Time” where I emailed Robert Cooper. And I’m glad I did. That turned out good.

David Read:
Tour de force for the two of you. You with a Kino on your head and a camera on your head, and him. Now, I could go down that route.

David Blue:
You know what? You’re right. That’s two then. So, the other two were in “Time.” There was the monologue at the deathbed with Chloe where I asked why it changed, and he said, “Do you wanna write it?” And I wrote that monologue. That’s in the show. I wrote that one.

David Read:
I did not know that, David.

David Blue:
He liked it, and he’s like, “Keep it.” And then the other one was the camera. When I read the script and I saw that I’m wearing a camera, I said, “Do I get to operate the camera?” And they said, “No, no, no. We’re gonna use the camera guy.” And I begged and begged and begged and begged, and they said, “We’ll give you one take to see.” And I did it, and they loved it. Almost every– 99.9% of the Kino from Eli’s point of view is me operating the camera.

David Read:
How did you line up the shots? Did they give you a viewfinder?

David Blue:
So, essentially they built this amazing rig. It was a backpack that was the camera, heavy as hell, attached to this with the camera on top, attached to Geordi La Forge glasses that allowed me to see through the camera. So, it was an interesting challenge, ’cause there I am acting in a scene with Robert Carlyle, and then I’d have to pan and zoom while talking to him. And then I would decide. I’m like, “This is a good place to zoom out.” And it was— And I’m trying to remember my lines at the same time.

David Read:
It doesn’t move fast.

David Blue:
It was great. I think the only shot from Eli’s point of view that wasn’t me operating the camera is the explosion, because they’re like, “We can’t risk your life during this.”

David Read:
Do you have your Kino nearby?

David Blue:
I can go get it.

David Read:
I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. And they’re both screen used. How y’all doing? Thanks for sticking around. This is a great time. I’m glad–

David Blue:
First time somebody online said, “Show me mine and I’ll show yours,” and I didn’t end up on a website.

David Read:
Hey- One, two, wow, there we go. Man.

David Blue:
I have that thing, but then also, I think I’ve shown you.

David Read:
Pull it back a little bit. There we go. Man. Battle damage.

David Blue:
The only Kino I believe that you can absolutely tell what episode it’s from.

David Read:
Which one is it?

David Blue:
This is from different episode. This is from “Justice.”

David Read:
That’s from “Justice.”

David Blue:
And also we had to pretend it was magnetic. It’s not.

David Read:
Good.

David Blue:
But this is from “Time,” because it get shot down, which ironically is my favorite episode. Which is funny, because when they sent it to me, I remember saying internally, I was like, “Ugh, why’d they give me a damaged one?” But then I’ve come to realize it’s the only one that you know what it’s from.

David Read:
“Time.” That’s awesome.

David Blue:
They’re heavy. Which one’s yours from?

David Read:
Mine is from the Kino sled. Don’t get upset. A fan bought it and cannibalized it.

David Blue:
What?

David Read:
Don’t get upset.

David Blue:
Why?

David Read:
Because he wanted Kinos. Mine is from the two, because they’re two halves of a sphere. This one is from the sled, and I can’t get it to focus. But I am thrilled to have it nonetheless. I have a glyph that I know was stolen from the DHD from Stargate SG-1, but it got to me years later. And I have no idea who stole it, but I know that it’s authentic, and I’m sorry that it was stolen, but I’m also happy to have it. So, it’s one of those catch-22s.

David Blue:
It’s tough. This is a dark story. It’s tough, because number one, there was another show that I auditioned for the same month that I auditioned for Stargate, and it was called Defying Gravity on ABC. It was Paula Garces and Tony Hale.

David Read:
Good show.

David Blue:
I really wanted it. I auditioned to be, ironically, …

David Read:
It was going places.

David Blue:
… the nerdy guy who carries a camera everywhere. Really weirdly prophetic. They actually shot across the studio from us in the same lot. And when they got canceled, they had an auction of their clothes and their stuff, and I bought his shoes. So I had the sneakers of the guy who got the role that I didn’t get while I’m filming across the hall in a different show that’s still going on.

David Read:
That’s awesome.

David Blue:
When we were canceled, for those of you who don’t know, we were canceled abruptly. We didn’t know. I was in LA, and some of my castmates were on a cruise ship. I found out on Twitter. We didn’t have a chance to grab anything. By the time we got there, those of us who lived in Vancouver–I didn’t–the whole set was broken down. But I got there, and I visited the studio and saw the empty sound stage where Destiny used to be, and it was terrifyingly small. It was weird. But they said, “Hey, if you want, we have some things over here for auction if you wanna go through it.” And I open the door, and it was a chair from the SGC, and I’m like, “What am I…?” I have to move back to LA. I’m like, “What am I gonna do, ship a whiteboard?” But one of the things they offered me, I didn’t know they were gonna send this. I asked for this on day one of filming SGU, and somehow they remembered and they sent it to me. I said, “Can I have a Kino?” And they did.

David Read:
Before you filmed “Air.” Wow.

David Blue:
I asked when we started. I used to joke with Brian and Elyse, I’m like, “If we all have action figures, this is what mine’s coming with.” I want one. They said, “Absolutely.”

David Read:
It was probably John Lenic.

David Blue:
They fulfilled their promise. They offered me one other thing, and they said, “Do you want the Kino dispenser?”

David Read:
The gumball machine?

David Blue:
Yeah. I was like, “Where am I gonna–” I know all the fans are gonna get mad at me for this.

David Read:
My office.

David Blue:
I’m like, “Where am I gonna put it? Am I gonna put it next to my couch in the living room?” What I should have done is said yes and then given it to a fan or something. But I just said, “No, I’m good.” ‘Cause it’d be weird if people came over years later and they’re like, “You want a beer?” “Yeah.” “Hold on a second.” Hit the Kino dispenser and a beer rolls out or something. It felt odd. Peter Kelamis was nice enough to get us all of our chair backs, so we have those as well.

David Read:
That’s good. OK. Makes a lot of sense. How much more time are you good for? I wanna quit it any–

David Blue:
I can do ten more minutes.

David Read:
OK, perfect. Nickslock: what made you want to become an acting coach?

David Blue:
I’ve directed ever since I was in college, and coaching is a bit like that. For me, it happened naturally. I’ve always been a teacher and a director, but friends were asking me to help them with their auditions and stuff. You know what it really was? Acting coach or audition coach? Which is the question? ‘Cause they’re two separate stories.

David Read:
Coach acting.

David Blue:
OK. So it actually happened after Stargate, really. I came back to LA, fresh off a series, having not really auditioned very much, ’cause I was in every episode for 40 episodes. I had very little time off. I think I only had two auditions the whole time I was in Vancouver. One was to play Jake Gyllenhaal’s brother in a movie and one was to be a murderer opposite Ryan Phillippe. I jumped back into auditions. All of a sudden, the show was canceled, and the very next week, they’re like, “It’s time to get a new job.” I started …

David Read:
Just life.

David Blue:
… auditioning. I went in. I was up for some crazy things. I got really close to a few amazing things that almost happened right after Stargate. But I also was not really feeling confident in my auditioning anymore, because I learned this, I believe this, acting and auditioning are two separate muscles. They complement each other, but they’re different. When you’re auditioning all the time, this is atrophying. When you’re acting all the time, this is atrophying. I studied all over town again, and I couldn’t find anybody who was really covering what I needed, which was what do you do when you’re looking to improve but you’re already working. And I wanted to provide a non-technique-based place for people to get better, and that’s what I’ve cultivated, and now teach at the union and other things. And it’s about being a better actor and a better auditioner, not about a gimmick.

David Read:
100%. Finding the truth in something.

David Blue:
I wanna help people. I love helping, I love getting a call from a client or a friend. Julie is my reader for most auditions and I’m Julie’s reader for most auditions, and we help each other.

David Read:
Another person.

David Blue:
I love what I do and I wanna help other people succeed.

David Read:
That’s awesome, man. Gateship1, I read the question– You know how Despair puts out those anti–Those motivational posters on the walls and it says like, “Ambition,” underneath it. Despair is opposite of that.

David Blue:
OK.

David Read:
I’ve always wanted one for “Letdown.”

David Blue:
OK.

David Read:
It’s when you’ve just been placed in the friend zone, and it’s a photo of Eli sitting next to Chloe. Because that expression, it’s in the eyes. It’s like, “You’re such a good friend.” It’s like, “Mm, …”

David Blue:
We’ve all been there.

David Read:
“… screw you.”

David Read:
God. Did he really love her …

David Blue:
Yes.

David Read:
… as much as implied?

David Blue:
Yes.

David Blue:
I absolutely think so, from moment one, sitting over sandwiches. But I also think, and this is why anytime someone is negatively, “Oh, she should’ve chosen Eli,” or whatever, no, that wasn’t his person. And this is what made the Ginn thing the worst. We’ve all been in this in life, where you love someone and then that ends and you meet someone else and you feel something so much stronger that you’re like, “Ooh, was I in love with that other person?” I think it’s that. He loved her, and did have feelings for her, but when he met Ginn, he learned what love really was. Which is why I always hated the deleted scene in “Common Descent,” I think. The one scene we didn’t shoot that’s in the script.

David Read:
Coporal Barnes?

David Blue:
Yeah. The original script, for those of you who don’t know, has Barnes and Eli breaking up. Me talking to camera saying, “We broke up.”

David Read:
I did not know this.

David Blue:
I have the script downstairs. I have all the scripts-

David Read:
After the baby was born?

David Blue:
After the baby was born. There’s a Kino with Eli, small little monologue, where he’s like, “So Barnes and I are done.” And I always loved it because it showed that, as much as they tried to make something work, it was always Ginn for him. And then we didn’t shoot it ’cause we ran out of time, and I hate that that’s not in the show. Because it looks like Eli just found someone else, and I really think that Ginn was his person. Plus, I love working with Julia McNiven and I wanted her back.

David Read:
Even if she was a ghost, in terms of not being able to contact her.

David Blue:
Or whatever. I know some things that could’ve happened.

David Read:
One of my favorite lines of yours in the entire series is in “Malice,” and you go to Louis and you say, “Colonel, give me a gun.” It says it all. You don’t want to go down …

David Blue:
They were never gonna let me.

David Read:
… that route.

David Blue:
I looked too cool during the weapons training. Have you heard that? When we started the show, we did our first table read in the Stargate Atlantis Gateroom. The whole set was still up and I was geeking out. And they were like, “We wanna do military training for all the military people in the show.” And I went, “Can I also do it?” They’re like, “But you’re a civilian.” I’m like, “But I just wanna do it.” I learned with them how to clear a room, load a gun, reload the clip, all of that stuff. And I have a video of all of us shooting in front of the Stargate Atlantis Gate, shooting semi-automatic weapons. I have a video of mine, and Brad came up to me and he’s like, “You’re a civilian. Don’t ever look that cool firing a gun ever again.” And then they never gave me another gun. I think the problem is I looked too good. I don’t think so. They just wouldn’t let Eli have one, and I’m curious to see what would’ve happened if they did, ’cause Eli would’ve– Colonel Young was right there; Eli would’ve burned the world to the ground.

David Read:
It would’ve been interesting to see him going on his own path alongside or near enough with Rush, and getting to the end. I don’t know if he would’ve been able to pull the trigger, though. I think Rush would’ve had to pull the trigger.

David Blue:
Not to be all storyteller about it, I don’t know that he would’ve been able to, but I think the story of if he did, and then what does that do to him.

David Read:
Oh, God. That’s true too.

David Blue:
It’s always tough because–

David Read:
We make choices that we can’t reverse.

David Blue:
I was actually complimenting Robert Carlyle to a client recently. If you guys re-watch the show, you’ll see this. Robert Carlyle has this insane ability to make his eye twitch a little. And I asked him once, I was like, “That happens sometimes when your character’s lying. Are you doing this intentionally?” He’s like, “Yep.” I’m like, “Holy crap, man.” And there are moments. And this is what’s great about The Boys, this is what’s great about Breaking Bad, this is what’s great about Rush, this is what’s great about Gaius Baltar. Really good villains, every other episode you’re like, “Oh, but actually I feel for them now.” And then the next one you’re like, “Kill him, he’s horrible!” And then you’re like, “Oh, but I get it.” That’s a good villain. And Rush was 100% that. And what I loved about SGU was at a certain point Young became that a little bit. And I’m the child they’re fighting over.

David Read:
That’s it. Two quick things for you. One, an actress, Simone Bailly, shared this story with me. And I’m curious to know if this was you. You can yes or no this one.

David Blue:
Oh, no.

David Read:
It was one of the big crowd scenes. I swear it’s gotta be you the way that she said it. A person was crop dusting the set.

David Blue:
Definitely not me.

David Read:
No, no, no. And then someone said, “Whoever it is, stop farting now.”

David Blue:
That was not me. First of all, I would never crop dust the set. But secondly- No, I know, but immediately I’m like, “That’s not me.” I never had– There’s something, not to be all trauma and our weird brains about it. I’ve never– I’m so grateful to be on set working whenever I can. I never wanna be the squeaky wheel. And I’ll make jokes–

David Read:
It just sounded like Eli, though. When I heard that, it was like that was–

David Blue:
No, no. Honestly, I would be too afraid that I was gonna ruin a take or piss off production, especially back then. I’m a little bit more of an adult now. But I would never have wanted to do that. I would bet that was– I would bet Louis. If not Louis– No, all my money’s on Louis. Which is funny because I would also bet that he’s the one who did it. That’s a Louis thing, to crop dust and then yell, “Why is anyone crop dusting?”

David Read:
It’s entirely possible. He has been wonderful to me. I had a friend that I visited with in LA. I went out for his bachelor party, I was the best man, and I told Louis that I was gonna be in town and he said, “Come up into the mountains and come to my town and I’ll take you out to dinner.” He took us out to dinner and ice cream for my friend who is a huge SGU fan.

David Blue:
Yay.

David Read:
He is an awesome human being. I asked him, October is the 17th anniversary of “Air Part 1.”

David Blue:
Bleh.

David Read:
For my 100th episode, I had an Atlantis cast reunion. I would love to do a cast reunion with as many of you as possible over Zoom. Would you be interested? And he said, “I’m there.” Would you consider coming?

David Blue:
I would. I wish it would be in person.

David Read:
I would totally make it in person.

David Blue:
Several years ago, pre-pandemic, I don’t remember why. Might’ve been John Lenic inviting us over. I remember we got an invite to his house. A lot of us talk on text or socials for sure, sometimes phone calls. But I remember showing up and it was John Lenic, Julie McNiven, Ming-Na, Brian J. Smith, Elyse, me, I think Louis. And it was like no time had passed and we were laughing and having drinks. It’s one of the reasons I’m sad I don’t really have any convention invitations on the schedule, and I love reconnecting with these people. They become and became family. We were proud of what we were making, and also got along. Not only did I have a talent crush on every single actor in that show. On a day off, I’m taking yoga with Brian J. Smith, I’m going out drinking with Elyse. Lou Diamond Phillips is cooking for us. We’re playing Rock Band in my place. Or we all rented a cabin in Whistler and partied for two days, singing Rent at the top of our lungs while drinking. And I have a video of Jameel singing the solo in Seasons of Love. We enjoyed each other’s company as far as I know. There’s no world where I wouldn’t wanna see those faces again, whether digital or in person. And I celebrate all of their wins. Brian J. Smith is gonna be on the new Boys prequel, Vought Rising.

David Read:
Can’t wait.

David Blue:
Louis was doing House of David. Elyse just directed, I think, her first short. Ming is killing it nonstop. I have a saved voicemail from Lou Diamond Phillips that he left me nine months ago, ’cause I love listening to it. And he’s constantly working. They’re a good group. I would be honored to be there to say hi to them again.

David Read:
It would be wonderful to have the heart and soul of the show. And you cannot say that you weren’t because I won’t let you. No take-backs.

David Blue:
I’ll take the compliment.

David Read:
This has been wonderful. Two hours, one minute. Thank you.

David Blue:
Thank you for having me. And I am with you and all the fans. I cannot wait for the new one. I cannot wait to see what stories they have to tell us, whether I or other people can join them or not. Trust them, be excited, and get other people to watch it. Let’s make Stargate a franchise that not only never dies but lives forever.

David Read:
That’s it. Brother, I will be in touch with you forthwith. I have a couple of things to ask you about. This conversation’s made me very excited. Much love.

David Blue:
Ditto.

David Read:
Truly.

David Blue:
To be continued.

David Read:
You take care of yourself, OK?

David Blue:
You too, man.

David Read:
Be well, sir.

David Blue:
Bye.

David Read:
Bye-bye. That is David Blue, Eli Wallace in Stargate Universe. That was cool. I know that getting over the loss of one show that you feel had the rug pulled out from under it is one thing. I’m just very pleased over watching people’s reactions to SGU in the years since, so many of them discovering what I saw in it. And it’s a satisfying thing for me to have one of them come on and give vindication back that it was a true family and that it wasn’t something that was artificial. And it’s one of the reasons that it’s so hard for me to watch still, to this day, getting to the end of the run when they’re all putting themselves into pods and Joel’s music starts playing. I can’t do it, man. And then November 19th came last year–actually, for me, 11 days before–and I found out that there were plans to bring it up again and I could watch that scene again, because the door is open again to that universe. Pardon the pun. My name is David Read. You’re watching The Stargate Oral History Project. If you enjoy Stargate and you wanna see more content like this on YouTube, do me a favor. Click that Like button. It does make a difference and will continue to help us grow our audience. And if you have Stargate friends out there, do me a favor and consider sharing this video with them. It is awesome to have folks continuing to spread the word about this. And if you give the Bell icon a click, we’ll notify you the moment a new video drops and you’ll get my notifications of any last-minute guest changes. And clips from this episode will be released over the course of the next few weeks on the Dial the Gate YouTube channel. My profound thanks to all of my Patreon subscribers. I’m right there with David in terms of not asking to take money from fans. Then I reached the point where I couldn’t do the show anymore on the level that it deserved, and these people in front of you here rallied around me. And in a week, my life had completely changed. And we’re cooking some stuff for you guys, me and the army of people who are behind me, that you guys are really gonna get excited about, and I can’t wait to share some of it with you. Some of it imminent, hopefully before I leave town next week. You guys made that possible. So thank you. We’ve got a number of shows coming up for you, including while I’m gone. Thanks so much to my amazing crackerjack team, Jeremy Heiner, Antony, Lockwatcher, for pulling off this episode as moderators. You guys, I can’t do this show alone. And it’s great. I’m grateful to have people watching. I can’t do the show without the moderators. So it’s a win-win. And I’m thrilled that David gave us an extra hour. He did not have to do that, to sit down and—he’s always honest—but to really explore and just go from one idea to the next. I cannot tell you how many times over the years I have been compared to Eli. And it’s like, “No way.” OK, there’s some truth in that. Thanks, Dave. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I appreciate y’all tuning in. I’ll see you on the other side.