Irreconcilable Differences

By: Dana Jeanne Norris

I first saw "Stargate: The Movie" in a packed theater sitting shoulder to elbow to knee with fellow Science Fiction fans. My friends and I had been waiting with bated breath for the movie to come out; it seemed to be made especially for us, filled with Egyptology, fantasy, mythology, outer-space exploration and James Spader.

Before Monday morning rolled around, I'd seen it six times. Did I mention James Spader?

The instant Jack stepped back home through the wormhole I wanted a sequel. There was simply no possible way it could be left like that; Jack and Daniel were now friends, what happened next? Daniel had not only physically saved Jack's life by stepping in front of that staff weapon blast, but he'd done it literally, convincing him that living was more important than dying.

As far as I was concerned then, and now, Stargate is All About Daniel's Journey. It's about the great friendship between Jack and Daniel that started in the movie and moved on. It's about exploration, mythology, and hope. There simply had to be more than just one movie. How could Devlin and Emmerich not make a sequel?

Three years later Showtime announced a new TV series based on the movie Stargate. It would be called "Stargate: SG-1" and would star Richard Dean Anderson in the Kurt Russell part of Col. Jack O'Neill. MacGyver as Jack? Okaaaaaay. I could wait and see on that one. The question for me was: who was going to play Daniel Jackson?

I couldn't believe my eyes when the first team photos came out; who was that boy in the glasses and blonde hair looking like he was supposed to be Dr. Jackson? He didn't look old enough to shave yet, and he was the one chosen to fill James Spader's boots?

My hopes plummeted.

Watching the first episode, "Children of the Gods," was an eye-opener. The new Jack was going to take some getting used to since the attitude change between characters was so large. Captain Carter had to improve; will anyone ever forget the infamous line about her reproductive organs being on the inside rather than the outside?

And then we went to Abydos and met the new Daniel. I perked up in the cartouche room when Daniel and MajorDoctor Carter started in on their science talk. Okay, this kid I'd never heard of seemed to know how to be James Spader being Daniel, but I wasn't sure he could carry it off week after week.

The final scene between Daniel and the Abydonians; remember it? They've surrounded Daniel, he's telling them he has to leave; they're confused, scared, grieving, and Daniel is barely able to force the words out, trying to be strong as the tears fall from his eyes. I realized then that not only would young Michael Shanks have no problem filling James Spader's boots, he would be outgrowing them before anyone realized it.

However, I still had doubts about his ability to grow facial hair.

~~~~

In those first couple of years, the show kept the themes from the movie alive: mythology, exploration, the growing friendship between Jack and Daniel. Adding to the feast were the new characters: Teal'c of Chulak, Captain Carter, General Hammond, Dr. Janet Frasier and the others who appeared semi-regularly.

Very soon, they were as well known as family. I was there without fail every Friday night, excited beyond belief to find out what was happening to the team this week. The friendship between Jack and Daniel, their quick back-and-forth bantering and teasing, even their disagreements were wonderful to watch. The two actors both had a remarkable sense of timing and a chemistry together that almost made speech unnecessary. It was ... magic.

So what happened? Sometime between the third and fourth season something... changed. The President of MGM Television Entertainment went to a different job and his position was taken over by Hank Cohen. Jonathon Glassner, one of the two men who created the series left the show, leaving Brad Wright in sole charge. Two new writers came on board, Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, and the producers stopped taking scripts from outside the studio writing team.

All of a sudden—no, it was not a slow change—the characters began acting out of character (The Other Side, Scorched Earth for example). Major Carter developed a crush on her commanding officer, and suddenly had the answers to every problem that the SGC and SG-1 ran into. Nothing was too difficult for the character who became known in fandom as Super!Sam. Colonel O'Neill, who in turn began to appear bored with life—and Carter—took great satisfaction in seeing how many inappropriate one-liners he could spew per episode, gradually losing that credibility as the military leader of the team upon which the more fantastic elements of the show were grounded. Teal'c became quieter and more invisible.

And Daniel? It seemed the writers had forgotten exactly who he was, what he represented and how important he was to the show. From being an important, integral, member of the team and Jack's best friend, he starting backsliding into "geekhood," and was shoved further and further away from the rest of SG-1. The dialogue between Jack and Daniel, once so much of a joy to see and hear, became painful as their conversations degenerated into bitter confrontation.

Recurring characters began to die-unsatisfactorily. Robert Rothman, fellow archaeologist and friend to Daniel, was killed in "The First Ones" because Brad Wright, according to an interview, wanted to "shock people." Martouf, a very popular character, was destroyed in the unpopular "Divide and Conquer," presumably to make way for the Big Romance between O'Neill and Carter. The Goa'uld, once strong and scary, almost overnight developed weaknesses that hadn't been apparent before and were easily destroyed. Gradually, every recurring character that had been introduced in the first three seasons was either killed off or simply disappeared.

As Major Carter was being pushed to the forefront next to O'Neill, Daniel was fast disappearing into the background, until eventually he was left helping Teal'c hang curtains as they propped up the walls. A show that began with a movie about Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill had suddenly become the Jack and Sam Hour.

The mythology was barely there by the end of season five, exploration had pretty much gone by the wayside, and the four members of SG-1 appeared to no longer know who they were, what they were doing or even what planet they were on. The episodes, once so full of character development, strong plots and thought-provoking themes, changed to stories filled with plot holes, big explosions, and no character development at all. In fact, many weeks saw episodes that could be filled with Any Four Actors, rather than the ones who'd been there up till then.

One of the new writers mentioned how they'd written their episodes without ever seeing the show itself, and seemed to take pride in that fact.

Michael Shanks, wanting to keep the integrity of Daniel Jackson intact, left the series.

Daniel Jackson, after what has to be the most painful, hideous death any writer could concoct for a character, "ascended" to a higher plane of existence, leaving behind a supposed best friend who, after all those years, could only tell the dying man "I think... I might... have grown to admire you a little."

There was a sixth season with a new character that couldn't fill anyone's slippers, let alone the boots Michael Shanks left in Daniel's locker.

Fan outcry brought Shanks and Daniel back.

I had high hopes. I believed the writers, producers, SciFi and MGM when they said the show would once again be about mythology, exploration, the stuff we enjoyed in the first three years. Even after all the nastiness and accusations that flew back and forth during the Save Daniel Jackson campaign, I believed that these people would do what they said they would.

Fast forward to April, 2004, and we've reached the end of Season 7.

Yes, Daniel is back. But contrary to the promise made by Sci-Fi and Bridge Studios, the show has not gone back to its roots. Mythology is still pretty much invisible. There's little exploration, less team interaction than ever before, and Jack seems to have a terminal case of "Daniel who?"

The Jack and Sam "Ship" agenda reared its illegal, ugly head in episode after episode after episode, causing scenes that would normally seem perfectly innocent to take on a sluttish slant. The more Sam and Jack were pushed together, the more the team grew apart.

Episodes became more and more military and hackneyed, with episodes and characters being created in "homage" to Star Trek and Star Wars, but only succeeding in looking old, tired and boring.

With a few exceptions, the writing reached a new low; production values took a dip. Mistakes that would never have appeared on screen in the early years suddenly began popping up in episode after episode. The speed with which these 22 episodes went rushing through production turned what could have been good episodes into mediocrities.

The new big, bad Goa'uld came bouncing on to the show, his mouth filled with the most ridiculous, clichéd words imaginable. He wouldn't scare a kitten, let alone a human. How could he? He had no face for us to connect to. He was a ludicrous copy of-at least to this Star Wars fan-the original Emperor with his black robes and chilling demeanor. Now that was a true Bad Guy!

Major Carter has developed into a character that is so over-the-top unbelievable that some fans have actually stopped watching the show entirely. Colonel O'Neill has gone from a tactically smart leader to a man who appears bored with life and only opens his eyes in order to spit out silly one-liners that are meant to be funny. Teal'c appears regularly only in episodes penned by his actor, Christopher Judge, or Peter de Luise.

And Daniel? He seems to spend most of his time with original guest characters of the week or else alone, separated from his team. Once again, as in seasons four and five, most of the writers don't seem to know what to do with him.

I'm expecting Season 8 to run along the same lines as Season 7. I've given up on ever seeing the great Jack and Daniel friendship scenes I so loved in the past and that hooked me in the beginning. I'm resigned to the fact that a show I loved so much for it's uniqueness and inventiveness has degenerated into a clichéd science fiction show with spaceships and explosions and complete lack of character development.

And then you have "Stargate: Atlantis," the highly touted spinoff, that reads like a badly penned horror flick, complete with Blue Meanies that suck out your brains. The creators of this "new" show, while trading heavily on the already well-known "Stargate" name and using the popularity of the original show to sell their spin-off, are busily and very obviously showing most of the Original Fan Base that they neither care about what we like or even want us around anymore.

I'm extremely disappointed that something I fell in love with ten years ago is now in the process of divorcing me.

Ten Things I Know...

Ten Important Things I Know About Stargate: SG-1
By: Tenaya

1) USE THE STARGATE. The show is called Stargate: SG-1. The audience is choosing to watch this show, the one that is clearly labeled as containing both a Stargate and SG-1, so I think we can take it as a given that both the writers and the viewers should be okay with the use of the Stargate. It's a doorway that can take the story and our team anywhere, so I have to ask: Why are there now so many Earth based stories? I actually had a strong pang of fond nostalgia when SG-13 was shown exiting the Stargate in Heroes Part 1, and I thought, "Ohhhh! I remember when SG-1 used to do that! That was so fun!"

2) THE SHOW DOESN'T WORK WITHOUT DANIEL JACKSON. Why do I bring this up now that he's back? Because, as a rule, Hollywood is contemptuous of their audience, feeling that they only deed to appeal to the lowest common denominator, the not-too-brights. There was a ground swell of support to bring back Daniel because this audience, the one that watches your show, knew Daniel was important.

Now, after Season Six has been seen, most folks agree that Daniel really does need to be on SG: SG-1 for it to work. And those that can't bring themselves to actually say that, will mutter something about, "The show seemed to be missing something." I bring all this up to prove the point that you should listen to what your viewers are saying...even if their opinions don't concur with your own.

3) VILLAINS NEED TO BE PERSONAL TO BE GOOD. Apophis worked as a villain because both Teal'c and Daniel had personal issues and a history with him. Kinsey is great because he is a very real threat to what the audience loves about your show (the Stargate and SG-1.) Other excellent villains were Hathor, Tanith and Ba'al. Currently, you have Anubis who is robed and faceless; you might as well just hang a sign on him that says, "Insert generic villain here." His dialogue is also generic and clichéd. I forget he's in the show until you have a character remind me. Your Super Soldiers are also generic and faceless. Remember, Bill Murray in Caddyshack? Was he fighting a gopher with a personality or a hill of ants? Conflict without characterizations is pretty bland and easily forgettable.

4) DR. JANET AND GENERAL HAMMOND. The Stargate storyline is delightful because it's epic and mythic, fitting with ease into the monomyth of Joseph Campbell's The Hero with the Thousand Faces. Janet and Hammond are archetypes of the Mother and Father. Janet protects and nurtures our heroes. Hammond is the most wonderful father figure one could have: brave, wise, protective, compassionate, hard when he needs to be, and shown to be loving of his "children." Between the two of them, they made the SGC a safe haven for both SG-1 and the viewers.

Apparently, Season 8 will be minus them. I have to ask, have the writers considered the vacuum these two will have left? And are they working to restore some balance to the equation now that two of their major supporting characters have been removed? And I'll add that as a viewer, I will very much miss both Janet and Hammond.

5) THE SYSTEMATIC DESTRUCTION OF THE SHOW'S MYTHOS. Every other show out there collects guest characters as time goes by. SF shows will also collect new worlds and civilizations. These things add richness and depth to the storylines and frankly, the viewers like the return of a good character. I have never seen a show so determined to destroy all the wealth of their background. Pretty near everyone SG-1 have ever met or worked with are dead or long forgotten. These were your riches, not loose ends to be tied up and killed off.

6) TEAL'C IS UNDERUSED. Teal'c is a wonderful character and Christopher Judge is an excellent actor. You would think the writers would love to explore the character of Teal'c and let Judge strut his stuff. It's a major crime that the only time this happens any more is when Judge gets to write the scripts himself. That is so sad and such a waste. Thankfully, Judge is getting to be quite an accomplished writer. The viewers got lucky there.

7) THE LACK OF JACK. It's noticeable and it affects the quality of the stories. I understand that this situation can't be helped and we'll all just have to deal with it as best we can. I will say that some episodes have managed to use his limited time much more effectively, so hopefully this unevenness was just a learning curve of a difficult situation and Season 8 with be smoother yet. Remember, Jack is most enjoyable when he shares his scenes with the other team members, not transient guest stars.

8) TALKING DIRECTLY TO YOUR AUDIENCE. This is intrusive and irritating. It does no good if you have to have multiple characters stating that Jonas is a good man and a part of the team, but you never show it. You keep telling us that Anubis is big and bad and scary, but you've never shown it. I don't mind when exposition is used to cover stuff that would be boring to film, but for the big stuff? Show, not tell.

9) SAM AND JACK. This has become the smelliest of albatrosses to have ever hung around someone's neck. The scenes lately have been painfully awkward to watch. There are so many reasons to not go there, but it's obvious that someone high up thinks it's just great, despite the monstrous inertia against it. Society has multiple laws against sexual relationships between a superior and subordinate for good reason. Jack would be no "officer and gentleman" if he engaged in a relationship with Carter and he'd be court-martialed. Sam would never again be taken seriously by the USAF and her career would be at an end. I was horrified to see in "Inauguration," that during an investigation of the SGC, the President and Vice President were discussing the Sam and Jack Relationship, because in Real Life, what would've followed, would've been highly unpleasant and destroyed them both.

10) SAM. I used to like Sam Carter. She was a bit over the top in the first few episodes, but then she settled down to be an interesting character. She was bright and an over-achiever, but Amanda Tapping played her in such a way that she was believable. She was a cool, dynamic female character that wasn't just on the show for her T&A. Season 4 hinted that she had a thing for her commanding officer, and that lessened her, pushing her towards the stereotype where the woman's main value comes from her being the leading man's girl. Sam deserved better than that. Season 5 and 6 made her expert at everything, exposition girl and 99% infallible. Again, she lost believability and Sam deserved better than that.

In the current season, she did some self-searching about her fixation on her boss and decided, in a whole episode dedicated to this epiphany, to move on. She got herself a handsome and fun boyfriend, Pete, who managed to bring back some vitality to her character. She actually looked ten years younger than she does when she is mooning after O'Neill. Strangely, in the episodes since Pete, she seems to still be hovering around O'Neill, and in the season ender, The Lost City, Part 2, she behaved in such a way that my Needs-a-Therapist-Badly meter just hit the peg.

I think Sam has serious control issues when it comes to intimate relationships. Think back to when Sam shows the most interest and emotion for her romantic interests. She's grief-stricken when Martouf dies in Divide and Conquer, Orlin dies in Ascension, and Narim is killed in Between Two Fires. When Daniel dies in Meridian, she sobs regretfully that she never told him how she really felt. And when does she really show her intense feelings for O'Neill? When he is presumed lost on both 100 Days and Paradise Lost. When he's shot and unconscious in Heroes Part 2. When he's dying of a fatal disease and being put in stasis in both Frozen and The Lost City Part 2. All of these moments have one thing in common: she's safe to emote because the object of her feelings is either dying or being put in a situation where she won't have to deal with the flesh and blood man anymore.

The Lost City was the final straw and made me immediately think of those women that like to marry men locked away in prison for life. Sam has a boyfriend, but seeing O'Neill being put away in stasis was like a heroin to a junky; she just couldn't resist. He's now the perfect man, completely safe to love as she will never have to deal with the strong, sometimes difficult, sarcastic Jack in real life, the fine officer that would never break regulations and destroy both of their careers. And apparently Pete is forgotten like he didn't exist, or discarded as a casual one-night stand.

In The First Commandment, it was hinted that Sam's ex-fiancé was abusive towards her; maybe she needs to find a good therapist to deal with some lingering issues. And maybe the writers need to rehab Sam back into the interesting character she was in the earlier seasons, instead of the sad, unsettling character she is now.

S7 Less Than Heaven?

Finding Season 7 Less than Heaven?
Don't be Sad, Get Mad!

by Phoenix Emrys

Good morning, campers! Season 7 has officially ended. The last episode of what has been undeniably the most anticipated and promoted season of the entire series has finally aired. It's all over but the weeping. And I know there's been a fair amount of that, alas. Which is a damned shame, considering how euphoric and optimistic we were going in. After what for many of us was a year-long hiatus, a year's dry spell abstaining from watching Stargate because without Daniel, it just wasn't Stargate we had high hopes and expectations for the upcoming season we joyfully dubbed 'Seventh Heaven,' because it heralded the return of our beloved Daniel to his team and to us. We had much to celebrate. Daniel was back! Our Original Team was back! Stargate was back! So much was possible now!

Most of us avidly anticipated Season 7 because we could see the possibilities and we were promised much. What could have been and SHOULD have been now that Daniel had returned.

What we SHOULD have seen in Season 7, which should have been DANIEL'S year...

Daniel was back, therefore a dominant theme in this season should have been his return and how it affected both him and the friends he'd left behind. He'd been gone a whole year, existing as an energy being, and now he'd returned without any memory, not only of his past but of his entire time as a member of Oma's glowy collective, therefore what had happened to him, why he had been cast out, how he regained his memory and coped with remembering what he'd been and done and why he'd been de-glowed' - how he and his friends dealt with all of this should have been one of the major story arcs of the season. Logically, you would think. The actors and the writers waxed eloquently, and again, you would think logically, RDA's reduced availability for the season would create more story opportunities for the other main cast members to be featured front and centre and we could expect to see much more quality interaction between them in the upcoming Season 7 than was possible in the past. The actors were all happily looking forward to this. So were we. At last, the team was back! Daniel was back. Jack and Daniel would be back! And we were going to get more Daniel and Teal'c, Daniel and Sam - and gasp! Dare we even hope it - some actual SAM AND TEAL'C!!

Whee!!

Yes, if logic was indeed something which prevailed in the writer's room at Bridge Studios that is what we would have seen in Season 7. However, we all know what happened.

Daniel was returned to us in the season opener, however aside from a few poignant scenes after he returned to the SGC any further in-depth exploration of his predicament and his adjustment was tabled in favour of a Star Wars rip-off 'we must stop the Emperor - I mean the non-scary pile of animated, bad cliché-spouting Goa'uld laundry from taking over the universe' story during which much of the episode was wasted on a last ditch attempt to rehabilitate the sixth season speed-bump before he was thankfully, finally, permanently shuffled on back to Kelowna except for the blip that was Fallout..

Those promised and much anticipated 'moments' for the other three members of the cast to shine? Episodes showcasing characters equally divided between all three? Further exploration into previously neglected dynamics and relationships between certain characters? Team episodes? Jack and Daniel? Daniel and Teal'c? Sam and Teal'c?

Admittedly early on a few crumbs were tossed to the literally starving. Mighty tasty they were, and we gobbled them greedily. However, such early season gems adhering to the promised program such as Orpheus, Enemy Mine, Lifeboat, Birthright, and Fragile Balance soon gave way to the depressingly familiar formula of 'One Member of SG-1 interacting with the whizzy new OC of the week.' Or 'SG-1 plays guest star to the whizzy new OC of the week'. Been there, seen this, hated it, had really been hoping we'd left it behind with the speed-bump on Kelowna. Especially as, contrary to what we had been led to expect, the 'One Member of SG-1' front and centre doing all that interacting was not all of them, but only one of them. The same one.

Sam.

Again.

So much for the remaining three being featured equally now that RDA was stepping back and making more on screen time for everyone else. As we wearily watched the season wear on all our hopes for the wonderful and varied character interaction we'd been anticipating between all our favourites was ground into dust by the relentless rolling of 'Samgate'. Jack and Daniel? Daniel and Teal'c? Sam and Teal'c? Didn't happen, did it, campers? While that in itself wasn't enough of a bitter disappointment, it got oh, so much worse.

Season 7 did have a theme, and a major story arc, and we're not talking about the barely there, on again, off again lame-o not so big and bad Nuby nonsense/Lost City folderol. Nor was it about Daniel, or anything having to do with his return or the loss of Abydos (we still have no idea not only how he feels about it but if he even KNOWS what happened to his adopted planet and his family. We assume someone told him, but we don't know for sure). Other than his time as a card carrying Ancient (a fact that was strangely forgotten, not even mentioned in the Lost City, you would think something like that would merit some acknowledgement, even in passing) being briefly touched on in Orpheus (for which we profusely thank Mr Deluise) and a mention in Resurrection his memory had mostly returned (for which we profusely thank Mr Shanks) that was all the time the writers devoted to the ramifications of Daniel's return and his existence for a year as an Ascended Being. These important, glaringly obvious character exposition issues crying out for further exploration we were crying out to see were evidently not a part of the writers' season 7 agenda. They had bigger fish to fry.

Can you say 'ship?' Say it or we will whack you repeatedly between the eyes with it until you do!

Forget possibilities, rich and varied character interaction – ANY sort of logical and positive character development. Toss it all right down the window - the only burning issue the writers felt worthy of exploration and amplification in Season 7 was Sam's love life. And the only relationship that got the spotlight cast on it was the illicit, illogical, absurd, nauseating, dishonourable and downright degrading to both characters but especially Sam - supposed 'attraction' between the major and her commanding officer.

Sam and Jack. Ugh. Once they'd sucked us in with a few token 'team' episodes, a showcase ep for Daniel here, one for Teal'c there - (one of which Christopher Judge had to write himself!) and lulled us into a sense of false complacency with a little taste of the Jack/Daniel interaction we really wanted, the writers grabbed that ship hammer and proceeded to bang us over the head with it, mercilessly, without ceasing until most of us were not only crawling away whimpering to be put out of our misery but were also vowing, by the end of the final, dire, shippy frame of the Lost City to walk away from the show and tell them what they could do with their Season 8.

How to keep your audience begging for more, guys!

Yep, here we are at the end of the Seventh Season.

Boned again.

This shouldn't come as any great shock, actually, because if we've learned anything over the past four years we've learned we can 'trust TPTB'…to screw us over and do exactly what they please - if they think they can get away with it. If they believe they can continue to shovel an unending pile of Samage down our throats with an overflowing order of 'ship' on the side and we'll just sit there and swallow it - then that's exactly what they'll do.

However, they seem to have forgotten, or maybe they're hoping we have - they tried this once before and it didn't fly. When Michael Shanks left Stargate at the end of Season Five TPTB issued numerous proclamations from their ivory PTB towers declaring we WOULD love their 'fresh new perspective' and we WOULD embrace their raggedy stand-in. Daniel was gone. Jonas was in. Get over it. So there. Neener neener.

Well, a few of us said, 'I don't think so!' A whole bunch more joined in. Lots and lots more... And before the Boys at Bridge could say 'Oh Crap' after the airing of Meridian in the UK our complacent creators found themselves the focus of a huge, furious outpouring of extremely inconvenient displeasure with the product they were pedalling. So massive was the reaction and the protest they had to hire a special PR company to deal with it. We buried them with letters and jammed the switchboard at MGM for weeks. And that was just the first wave. Meridian aired in the US and it started all over again.

We wuz pissed. They knew it. We roared, they ran…straight to Mr Shanks. They brought Daniel back. Bye Bye Jonas. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

We made them quake in their boots, kiddies. WE made them tuck their tales between their legs and go running to Mr Shanks to ask him to return. We. Us. The fans. Their audience. The consumers of their product. The same people they want not only to keep coming back for season 8 but to keep on watching and float their new little enterprise, Atlantis for them. We did this. We did so. Oh yes, oh my. And don't you let them try and tell you any different.

They NEED us. They don't want us to know it, and they also don't want us to realise WE'RE the ones with the power, not them. Why do you suppose practically every PTB that did an interview after it was announced Michael Shanks was returning to the show followed up the admission with a curt 'but the fans had nothing to do with it'. Yeah, right. And if you just keep ignoring that elephant in the middle of your living room he won't really be there.

If we didn't have anything to do with it then why would they all have gone out of their way to deny our power and influence and to try and convince us we didn't have any?

Why indeed?

A friend who entered the fandom about the time Daniel left and observed the course of the campaign from the periphery offered me a startling perspective to that time and an important key to our success I want to share with you here, by way of encouragement. Basically, the Save Daniel Jackson campaign was hardly the first fan effort ever mounted to attempt to bring back a beloved character or get a show renewed, nor will it be the last - and good luck to Angel fans. However, what made us different, what got us so much media attention, and what scared the crap out of TPTB was that we took it that one step further.

We didn't just say we were unhappy and wanted Daniel back, we hurt them where they lived. We were 'different' and newsworthy because we dared to criticise and vehemently and vocally rejected their entire 'fresh new perspective'. We told them what they were pedalling was a PRODUCT for which we were the consumers and as such we had the right not only to not only say their 'improvements' stunk, but to demand they CHANGE it back to what we wanted if they expected us to buy it. We told them we WEREN'T going to passively sit there and take whatever they chose to give us or allow them to tell US what we would accept. We weren't just going to 'get over it' – as we were frequently, mockingly admonished, we had the right to protest and by God, did we or what! We realised we had the option of exercising that TV remote and it didn't stop there, our displeasure would and could have further, serious financial repercussions. We could and would vote not only with the TV remote, but with our pocketbooks as well. We told them we simply would NOT accept Jonas or any version of Stargate that did not include all of the members of the Original Team. They may have tried to tell us what we would buy - but we said strongly, clearly and by the thousands...

NO SALE.

We told them. We didn't back down, didn't shut up and didn't go away. And, what do you know, all of a sudden, new season on the horizon, Jonas is out and Daniel is in? And they would have us believe we had nothing to do with this? You bet they're gonna say that, and they're gonna try to convince us we were not a significant factor in bringing about Daniel's return to Stargate because they are absolutely terrified once we understand how much POWER we really have and start using it they'll be forced to produce the show WE want to see, not the half assed, self serving crap they hope to coast by with for the last 20 episodes of OUR show while they're got their eyes and their hopes pinned on their new cash cow, Atlantis. Which they're also hoping they can suck us in – I mean convince us to watch.

Yeah, right.

This is OUR show. OUR STARGATE. We're paying for it with our time and our money, we DESERVE to get our money's worth - and we have a right to demand customer satisfaction and the product please us, not them. TPTB work for US. They want us to forget that little, all-important fact, all the better to keep us passive and dis-empowered. But the truth is they wouldn't have squat if it weren't for us. They wouldn't have JOBS without us - they won't have a franchise without us, those yuztes have made a pile of money over the past seven years because of us and you know what, I think it's just about time they started earning it. They get paid to please YOU and ME and they're not doing it. I didn't sit still for their 'fresh new perspective' and you know what, I'm not going to roll over and take their 'Season Eight - Samgate/shipfest' either. That goes double for Atlantis. I'm a consumer and I'm NOT happy. I plan to let them know about it. A lot. You should too.

We have the power, people. We can make them listen to us. We did it before, we can do it again. Yes, I know we're unhappy, bitterly disappointed and depressed, but if we walk away, they've won. Don't let them! Don't be sad, get damned mad. Be heard! Fans of the Team and the Real Stargate Unite! If you're sick to death of the 'shippy new perspective', if you've had it to here with Samage and tawdry romance, if the only 'ship' on Stargate you want to see is 'FRIENDship', if you want more Daniel, more Teal'c, more Jack and Daniel then TELL them! PHONE! WRITE! Atlantis? Cha-right! Fix the show you've broken, first, and then we might consider it. Maybe…

Be loud, be proud, be persistent. It's the last thing they want, all the more reason to just do it! Be heard. It matters, you matter, every single voice is important, and we CAN make a difference. We got Daniel back. We can get OUR show back.

You deserve it, you have a RIGHT to demand it. Go for it.

We did it before, we can do it again!

Believe it!