It has come to my attention certain creative elements of the production team of Stargate SG-1 seem to be of the opinion Daniel's departure from the team will in no way impact upon either SG-1's ability to function or their effectiveness in future missions. Nor will Stargate SG-1 itself be lessened in quality, popularity or be in any way affected by Daniel's absence. No member of the team is indispensable, I believe was the phrase used.   Furthermore, they did not feel the contribution the character has ALREADY made to the existing the team dynamic, the extant canon record or the current state of the popularity and success of the program was important enough to warrant making the effort necessary to create present and future story lines and arcs properly accommodating Daniel's character and utilising his many unique talents and skills in order to keep him an active, functioning and vital member of SG-1.

In case it's slipped their minds I want to take a moment to remind them of what the character has done in the past to not only significantly contribute to the success of SG-1's adventures not to mention the continued existence of every one of it's extant members and the very planet they are fighting to save on a daily basis, but to promote the popularity and success of the show that now thinks it can get along just fine without him.

In the interests of brevity I'm not going to cite chapter and verse of every single contribution Daniel has made to the success of every single mission.  I'm going to confine myself to that part of the record which clearly shows when Daniel's presence on the team and his actions have been utterly unique and have made an indelible difference to not only the existence of the team and its various members, but to the Earth itself.

I'm sure he's done SOMETHING important in the last five years. Besides being decorative.  Let's find out, shall we?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

....Stargate the Movie.

Daniel opens the gate. Oh, that's kind of important, isn't it?  Only gets the whole ball rolling in the first place and makes the entire program POSSIBLE,
Daniel makes first contact with the Abydonians.
Daniel breaks the communication barrier, finds out the truth about Ra, passes it on to Sha'uri (who later passes it on to her people and incites the rebellion that drives Ra away) - and finds Earth's address. So the team can get home again.
Daniel saves Jack's life and gets killed himself in the bargain.  Fortunately for all of us he gets better.
Daniel stands up to Ra and learns about his plan to destroy the Earth.  This is rather key, for if he hadn't found this out and told the others about it so they mounted the raid to stop the Naquadah shipment from being sent back through the gate with the bomb, well, there would have been no Earth to go back to for any of them, would there?  Needless to say there would also have been no future SGC or SG-1.  And there also wouldn't have been a bomb to blow up Ra with and liberate the Abydonians, because the damned thing would have already been blown up on Earth.  So by doing all of this Daniel basically not only saves the Earth for the first but hardly the last time, but saves the Abydonians as well. 
Daniel saves Jack's life AGAIN by resisting Ra's command to publicly execute Jack and the team and by turning his staff weapon on Ra provides the distraction the boys need to get the team's weapons into play so they all can escape to fight and eventually win the day. 
Daniel shows Kasuf the true face of one of his 'gods', thereby planting the seed of rebellion Sha'uri feeds with the information about their past Daniel previously gave her which ultimately results in the Abydonian Cavalry showing up in the nick of time to turn the tide of a losing battle and panic Ra into fleeing. (so ultimately Daniel saves all of their lives for a third time). So Jack and Daniel can blow him up in orbit and remove the threat without removing the Abydonians and themselves as well.
Daniel helps Jack take Ra out with the bomb.
And finally, gets Jack and the boys home.

...Children of the Gods

Daniel reopens the Abydos gate, discovers the DHD and the cartouche room on Abydos, which gives the SGC the gate address information the SGC's entire exploration program is based on until they get more addresses in The Fifth Race.
Daniel makes the gate work, for a second time, by giving Sam the 'hint' she needs about interstellar drift.  (So much for 'visionary genius').
Oh, Daniel's presence on the team is also responsible for another key occurrence in the canon record which ONLY comes to pass in realities where he is in fact a member of the SGC.  Without Daniel reopening the Abydos gate in time for Apophis to go strolling through it on his quest to find a suitable host for his queen and thoughtfully providing him with a wife to kidnap to fit the bill who consequently needs rescuing the expedition to Chulak doesn't happen.  During this little jaunt they encounter Teal'c, recruit him and he becomes the final member of SG-1.  Who has proven to be pretty indispensable himself in that capacity and who has also provided the SGC with a vital source of intelligence about the Goa'uld and the universe out there they would not been able to acquire any other way and the information that ultimately leads SG-1 to contacting several of our key allies like the Asgard and the Nox.  No Daniel - no Teal'c.  Without Daniel on the team automatically remove Teal'c from the SG-1 equation and erase every single contribution he makes to the canon record right from the start.  Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.

So, so far we've got no Daniel on the team = no gate, no Earth, no dead Ra, no SGC, no dialling program, no Teal'c,  no offworld allies, no SG-1. Yep, the guy's been sitting on his hands, all right, hardly any justification for keeping him around at all.

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SEASON ONE

...Broca Divide

Daniel succeeds in getting the mandate of the Stargate program expanded beyond its initial, militaristic, 'lets go out there and get the goodies' focus to include more humanitarian goals and concerns. 

...The First Commandment

Daniel saves Jack and Sam's bacon by helping to devise the strategy to unmask Hanson in front of his followers and his timely intervention saves Jack from getting thrown into the Stargate and squashed like a bug on Earth's iris.  But if Teal'c wasn't there to explain the Goa'uld device to them, help them to find it and give Daniel the info he needs for forming de plan Jack would now be dead and Sam would be a goddess with very bad skin.

...The Nox

Just wanted to point out here this is another planet SG-1 travels to and another future offworld ally encountered based on information and a gate address supplied by Teal'c.  (So they wouldn't even have gone there if Teal'c wasn't there.)  Yes, it is true Daniel suggests the course of action that gets them killed, but given the predicament they are in, the information they currently have and their need to get their hands on the homing device Apophis has that will enable them to find their misplaced Stargate it is also the CORRECT course of action to take.  And Jack is the one who makes the decision to go for it, based on Teal'c's judgement and advice.  Daniel suggests, but Jack decides, so the ultimate responsibility for what happens rests on his shoulders not Daniel's.

...Thor's Hammer

Daniel's faith in Kendra despite appearances allows them to find, assist and liberate Jack and Teal'c from the Hammer.  Again, this is a planet they travel to based on information (and gate address) supplied by Teal'c. Who wouldn't be on the team....yadda yadda....

...Torment of Tantalus

Daniel's curiosity and tenacity launches the mission that leads to the rescue of Ernest and the discovery of Heliopolis.  This discovery creates a chain of events which will lead to the crucial first contact with the Asgard and the recreation of the Hammer previously destroyed, (and also make possible the saving of the alt, alt Earth in Point of View), but also because of what he learns on Heliopolis he insists they travel to 'the Place of Our Legacy' and through THAT adventure the SGC gets the additional gate addresses, the address of one of the Asgard homeworlds, the dialling program and the power device Jack makes which will be put to further use in Point of View, plus the key to the deciphering of the language of the Ancients - without which the Earth would still be caught in Malachi's  time loop and Jack by now would probably be well and truly wacko.

...Fire and Water

Daniel saves his own bacon.  Something he gets to do a lot, more so than any of the other members of the team.

...Enigma

First off SG-1 are all set to bail on Volcano World when Daniel spots the downed Tollan.  Who would have gone un-rescued if he hadn't done so, not that they're grateful or anything for the service. Daniel risks his life and the wrath of Maybourne (as well as a very real threat he be removed from the Stargate program for his actions) to engineer the escape of the Tollan to the Nox planet.  As the civilian components of the team only Daniel and Teal'c are free to act against 'orders', and although Teal'c is with him in the gateroom, Daniel is the only one to take the heat for what happens. He's also the only one able to cut through Omac's extremely justified hostility and suspicion and get the man to trust him so he can help them. And we get another offworld ally out of the deal. (Also, they wouldn't have known about the Nox without Teal'c and therefore wouldn't have had somewhere to send the Tollan to get them out of the NID's clutches.)

...Solitudes

Oooh, no brainer here.  It's solely, absolutely, utterly and completely only due to Daniel that Jack and Sam are not twin popsicles frozen solid and quite dead in a glacier in Antarctica right now.  Oh yeah, and thanks to Daniel figuring out about the second gate on Earth they not only rescue Jack and Sam, but get their hands on a second gate, which is going to enable the SGC to continue to explore the universe with the 'spare' gate when SG-1 uses the first gate to get off of Thor's ship in Nemesis.

...There But For the Grace of God

Daniel journeys to an entire alternate universe dedicated to the proposition any Earth where he isn't a part of the SGC program is destined eventually to be toast (a theme subtly reiterated in POV).  Why, you ask? Because as this episode unfolds it becomes quickly apparent the main reason the alt Earth is in the predicament it is in is because it did not have the advantage of the unique knowledge only Daniel could have provided nor did it benefit from the serendipitous chain of events leading to Teal'c's recruitment which were only made possible by Daniel being on the original mission to Abydos. As was previously pointed out.
Firstly it's entirely possible the alt SGC were largely ignorant of the Goa'uld threat.  Without Teal'c to provide them with intelligence and to interpret for them - or Daniel for that matter - they couldn't have known anything about the System Lords etc, (heck, until Apophis showed up our guys thought Ra was the only one) and they had no way of obtaining this info because they hadn't broken the language barrier.  If they had, they would have been aware of the contents of the radio message from the mirror planet - which they weren't - until Daniel translated it for them. (You didn't learn to speak it aloud on Abydos).  So not only were they caught flatfooted without any sort of warning when Apophis showed up, they probably hadn't the faintest inkling who the hell Apophis was or that there was a huge, hostile alien force out there capable of taking out the Earth and wanting to do so. Nor would they have had any knowledge about being the Tau'ri first world and there were a bunch of potential allies out there against an enemy they didn't even know they had.  This info came from Teal'c - who also wasn't there because Daniel wasn't there. In fact, one has to wonder what the heck they were doing out there at all, bumbling about in the dark.
If he had known about the System Lords it's doubtful General O'Neill would have been foolish enough to think a single bomb aimed at Chulak would have been an effective course of action.  General O'Neill himself is clearly not like our Jack, promotion notwithstanding.  He appears to still be very much the bitter, angry man he was during the Abydos mission (not having Daniel to help him realise a few hard truths.  There is also fairly good reason to suppose the original mission in this universe was  brief and probably tragic.  Without Daniel's participation the only possible way I can see any of them survived was if they basically went there, poked around a bit, then blew up Ra on the ground as soon as he showed up and by default the Abydonians as well.  Of course this doesn’t' explain how they found the cartouche with the address for Earth enabling them to reopen the gate (the DHD is still buried, btw, Daniel was the one to discover it) or the Abydos cartouche room without Daniel, which I believe they couldn't possibly have, which makes the whole premise of the alt SGC having an identical dialling program based on the Abydos cartouche with identical planetary designations completely impossible, but I digress) 
At any rate with the new information they gain about Chulak's existence and the gate address which Daniel supplies them, General O'Neill learns, much too late throwing a bomb at things and blowing them up isn't the way to solve every single problem.  A lesson OUR Colonel O'Neill could stand to profit from.
Daniel can't make a difference in the reality that is clearly already doomed by his absence, but what he can do is make a difference in the reality that still has a chance. Which doesn't take him long to figure out or to determine to do.  So through sheer force of personality he persuades the others to help him hold off the invasion force long enough to have time to make his escape  and furthermore causes the alt Teal'c to stay his hand and allow him to bolt - settling for wounding him in the arm rather than blasting him to smithereens as he should have done.
Daniel makes it through the looking glass and gets back home again with the intel that will save our Earth, all on his own without any help from his team who are still running around looking for him.  Now all he has to do is get them to believe him, which incredibly, they do not - in spite of the fact he's sporting a huge, smoking staff weapon wound on his arm he couldn't possibly have gotten any other way than the way he claims he has.

,,,Within the Serpent's Grasp/Serpent's Lair

Daniel ignores all the head patting and condescension he receives from his team mates in Politics and keeps at Jack until he finally agrees to mount the 'save the Earth' mission.  He doesn't lose sight of the objective of saving the Earth through the entire course of the mission, even to the point of compelling Jack to leave him behind and carry on with the job as yet undone when he becomes mortally wounded.  Left to his own devices he saves himself.  Again.  The rest of the team carries on and completes the mission, saves the Earth, gets all the credit, but only because Daniel made them go through the gate and get to doing it in the first place.
Ergo our Earth avoids the fate of the Earth in the alternate reality but only because of Daniel.

So at the end of the first season, the record of Daniel's unique contribution stands as follows.

Daniel saves the Earth - twice
Saves another world/members of another race - twice
Saves the entire team - three times
Saves Jack's life - four times
Saves Jack and Sam's life - twice
Rescues Teal'c (and Jack)  - once
Saves himself with no help from his team  - three times

End of season one final recap:  Daniel not on SG-1 =  No Teal'c on the team from the getgo, Jack and Sam both dead, the Earth reduced to a charred cinder by the Goa'uld.  Ooops.  End of not only SG-1 but the series as well.  Damn.

Has the boy justified his paycheque yet?  No?  Okay, let's move on to season two and see if you still don't think he's worth keeping around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEASON TWO

Now that the team has a year of going through the gate together under their belts they've come to learn how to truly function as a team.  The interaction becomes much more synergistic and interactive, where one member might initially grab the ball but it's passed off as appropriate until whoever is best suited for the job carries it over the finish line.  However, even though he might not always be the one to complete the play Daniel is invariably the one who gets them in the game.  Who first notices the most important clue, makes the connection, has the inspirational breakthrough.  Without his participation, input, insight and reasoning abilities many of the successful missions the team is able to pull off simply would not have happened. And, as we shall see, if they'd taken the time to listen to him more often some serious errors in judgement, not to mention some outright tragedies could have been avoided.

...Prisoners

Daniel doesn't do much here.  Only remember (while he is being suffocated)  that another SG team is going to be off world  and the address to that world so when they make their escape from Hadante they can gate there and meet up with a team with a DHD that can get them back to Earth safe and sound.  Without him they probably could have come up with a safe address but the eventual getting back home bit might have been a tad more problematic and taken much, much longer.
He also attempts to do something else, but unfortunately for the people of Vyas, he is unsuccessful.  Basically he is the only member of SG-1 who doesn't fall all over Linnea and give her the keys to the SGC (and access to the computer network) and does try to point out to his team mates he has doubts not only about her motives but the morality of what they are doing by bringing a convicted prisoner along with them, only to be patted on the head by Jack and informed, quite dismissively, that as an inexperienced 'innocent' he doesn't know the way things really work and he should think no more about it.  Hence The Destroyer of Worlds gets out into the universe, and the people of Vyas pay the price. Daniel did try to get them to think about what they were doing, but no.....Ignoring the input of the archaeologist is a unfortunate habit most of the team practice during the course of the series, perhaps it is the result of some alien virus TPTB have also fallen victim to.

Hey, it's a theory.

...Need

Okay, definitely of all of them Daniel is the only one who would have tried to save Shyla and consequently gets them captured, but that wasn't necessarily totally a completely bad thing. None of the team, particularly Daniel had a good time on this one, nevertheless as a result of this adventure they did learn some extremely useful information with regards to the dangers of using the sarcophagus, the ordeal in the mine was undoubtedly the catalyst for 'jump-starting' Sam's access to Jolinar's memories, the Earth gained a potential ally and a Naquadah source and the oppressed people of the planet were liberated from tyrannical rule and pointless slavery once Shyla destroyed her sarcophagus and recovered from the influence that was distorting her personality and judgement.  We can only speculate about this part, but hopefully Daniel's example and assistance from advisors from Earth helped Shyla to become the sort of leader her people really needed. None of this would have happened if Daniel had not been Daniel and tried to do what he felt was the right thing.  His attempt was ill advised and impulsive, but the end result for the oppressed people of the world who ultimately benefited? And yes, even though he is the one to get them in the fix in the first place and even though he is drugged out of his head he still DOES come through and gets SG-1 out of the mine.  Eventually.
Even when he gets it wrong he still manages to make it turn out right.

...Thor's Chariot

Even though he gets an assist from Sam this one goes under the category of Daniel saves the day.  And makes first contact with the Asgard - an absolutely key, pivotal event in Stargate's history. Thor might go on to develop a  thing for Jack but Daniel talked to him first.  Forget about the fact that without the Asgard the Point of View Universe goes boom, the Earth doesn't become a protected planet in Fair Game and probably ends up going boom, and if somehow it avoids getting nuked by the Goa'uld it'll get wasted by the Asgard themselves when Thor's Replicator-infested ship comes to call - without Daniel insisting on and persuading Jack to let him go check out the 'Hall of Might' option SG-1's illustrious career comes to a rather abrupt and ignominious end right here and now.  If Heru'ur had gotten his hands on them they probably would have lasted about as long as it took him to say 'Kill them.'  The poor people of Cimmeria wouldn't have been far behind.  But for the intervention of the Asgard, which only happened because of Daniel and Sam's trip to the Hall - series over. So long SG-1, it was nice to know you.
Again, in getting this to happen, Daniel is the one who did most of the work.  Sam might have known the numbers meant Pi - but she didn’t get them to the hall in the first place and she didn't work out what the runes meant. Nor could she have.  Not her field of expertise.  She assisted, yes, but she wouldn't even have been there to offer her 3.14159 cents worth if Daniel hadn't stuck to his guns and talked Jack into letting them make the attempt.  No Daniel on this one means death to the team, death to the Cimmerians, death to the second alt Earth and eventually death to our Earth (no protected planet) and the Asgard themselves, because without Sam to give them that breathing room they need in their war against the Replicators....

...Message In A Bottle

Even though this is another Daniel/Sam tandem effort again, the lion's share of the credit for winning the day has to go to Daniel for several reasons.  After Sam takes them erroneously down the 'seek and destroy' path Daniel makes the connection the virus is sentient and is attempting to communicate.  It's this realisation that leads Sam to advising Hammond to follow what turns out to be the correct course of action - doing the exact opposite of what they had formerly been doing.  When the alien entity finally is able to communicate its intentions and requirements it's Daniel who comes up with the idea to send it to the primordial world so that everyone wins.  And it is to Daniel that the entity looks and him it ultimately trusts and on the basis of that trust it allows itself to be sent through the gate and releases Jack and the base just in time for them to abort the self-destruct mechanism.
So once again, Sam does her fair share but without Daniel providing her with the clue she was going the wrong way in trying to deal with the entity it's doubtful they would have provided the conditions for it to be able to communicate with them in time.  And she had nothing to do with coming up with the ultimate solution to the survival for all parties concerned problem.  That was all Daniel.
So, no matter how you slice it, there's no way the Earth would have survived this one without Daniel.  Damn, the boy does it again.

...Spirits

Once again, it's Daniel who gets the ball rolling in the Save the Day sweepstakes.  Due to his unique propensity for talking first, shooting later.  Sam and Teal'c both go with the 'shoot first' plan, and get sent into limbo, Jack would have joined them if Daniel hadn't first taken a huge chance and attempted to communicate with Takaya (just guessing at the spelling).  He gets her to promise to hear him and Jack out in exchange for telling her where her missing comrade is.  Jack wins the 'spirits' over, gets them to leave without destroying the base and restoring the missing personnel, but Daniel is the one who negotiates the opportunity for him and secures Takaya's promise to listen to their side of things.  So once again, Daniel not there, base go boom.

...Fifth Race

Remember what I said back there when I was discussing Torment of Tantalus? How if not for Daniel insisting on going on THAT mission they wouldn't have discovered Heliopolis?  Well, doing that enable Daniel to observe some lovely script which he sees again on some MALP footage and rightly deduces the planet they just dialled up was once inhabited by one of the four races who was responsible for building Heliopolis.  Hence, they should go there.  Which they do.   And Jack has a close encounter with the device that downloads the knowledge of the Ancients into his brain.  Which he does not enjoy, but it ends up turning out very, very well and is an extremely good thing for the Earth and an alt Earth the whole thing happens. So far starters if Daniel hadn't been there they wouldn't have gone to THIS planet either twice over.
Oh boy, Daniel saves Jack's bacon all the way simply by not giving up on him and steadfastly believing in him. And figuring out what is actually happening to him. He furthermore provides a big assist in the saving of Sam and Teal'c on the double sun planet simply by telling Jack the problem because he knows Jack knows how to save them.  Which he does.  He further gets the general to allow Jack to go through the Stargate to the Asgard for his 'cure', by saying basically, trust him, he's done nothing bad so far,  let him go.
Daniel figures out what is going on, gives Jack all the support and trust he possesses, which is considerable and constantly goes to bat for him and believes in him which no one else quite does.  It's a difficult ordeal for Jack but the SGC gets quite a lot from this occurrence, a whole new data base of gate addresses the Goa'uld doesn't know about, a way to contact the Asgard, a power boosting device which will come in handy on another mission down the road, and most importantly, Daniel gets the key to the language of the Ancients.  Which they are also going to need to deal with that pesky time loop problem.  Jack gets to meet the Asgard and our expanded relations with them, along with Thor's fascination with Jack all spring from this encounter.  All of this is made possible mainly because Daniel has faith in his friend, goes with what he knows and makes everyone listen to him so Jack can get what he needs.
Jack is used by the knowledge to be the architect of his own salvation but Daniel is the one who sees him through and helps him get there when no one else will.
So at the very least without Daniel's persistence Sam and Teal'c and the rest of the temporary SG-1 would be crispy critters and Jack would really have no brain.  Which ironically would make Daniel the only remaining member of SG-1!  And then there were none?

...One False Step

Another team effort that gets where it is going because Daniel puts all the pieces together and makes the inspirational connection that leads Sam to the appropriate course of action to correct the problem. She might have eventually gotten there on her own, but maybe not, and maybe not in time to save the little naked bald guys.  However, it's unlikely they would have been able to solve this problem without him.

...Show and Tell

No biggie.  Daniel only saves Jack's life - again -  by taking out one of  the  Reetou after  the colonel gets hit and goes down.

So, here we are again at the end of season two.  Doing that recap thing again.

Daniel saves the Earth -  once
Saves another world/members thereof/an alien race - four times
Saves the SGC - twice
Saves Jack  -  twice 
Saves Sam - once
Saves Teal'c - once
Saves the whole damned team - once
Generally saves the day - three times

Final score - no Daniel on the team = The SGC blown up/destroyed twice and the Earth overrun by an alien virus, a whole bunch of aliens out there either dead or still enslaved, the whole team dead on Cimmeria, Jack, Sam and Teal'c toasted/and or brainless, in short, everyone, once again dead and the Earth destroyed, no matter how you slice it the Earth and SG-1 are still gone, gone, gone and the show is over.  Bearing in mind, lest you have forgotten the original premise here, this is all due to contributions only Daniel could have made because of who he is and what he alone can do.  No one else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEASON THREE

...Seth

Jacob Carter shows up at the SGC with what he thinks is a hopeless quest.  Find a Goa'uld in a haystack.  Daniel gets the job done and finds him lickety split.  The team then  goes out and gets their Goa'uld.

...Fair Game

Daniel is not only a team player, he's more than capable of putting aside his issues and personal agendas and giving his all for the cause and once again, that's exactly what he does here.  He might not have been the only one who could have swallowed his hatred and made nice with the visiting Goa'uld for the sake of the Earth and the SGC, but he was the only one who was willing to make the effort and volunteered for the duty.

...Legacy

If getting stuck with Machello's slug had happened to anyone else but Daniel (with the exception of Sam, her protein marker would have just shut the thing off and then no one needed to have been further inconvenienced)  I doubt very much that Teal'c would still be alive.  If anyone who didn't posses Daniel's observational skills, his intelligence or his persistence had been the one invaded once the slug made the switch to Teal'c, in all likelihood the person would have returned to normal, but the connection with their former state and what was happening to Teal'c - wouldn't have made the mental leap.  And definitely when it comes to stubbornly insisting he be heard and not giving up until he is, again, Daniel fights to win, especially when a friend's life is at stake.  And he fights plenty in this one.  He fights to understand what is happening to him, fights to convince McKenzie and Jack he's back to normal and then fights against reasoned medical scepticism to be heeded and taken seriously when it comes to knowing what is wrong with Teal'c. Sam takes the saving of Teal'c the rest of the way but none of them would have known what to do for him if Daniel hadn't once again put it all together and made them search for the proof of his assertions.  Not bad for a guy who was written off as nuts, pumped full of drugs and locked away.

...Point of View

Any universe where Daniel isn't in the Stargate program is toast revisited.  Doctor Carter says as much at the briefing when she informs them there aren't too many alt Earths that aren't crawling with Goa'ulds (something Daniel sees for himself as he and Kawalsky are looking for the correct alt Earth with the mirror control device) and speculates Daniel's participation in this Earth's Stargate program is one of the factors contributing to our Earth's survival.  Couldn't agree with you more, Doc!
Daniel is the one who comes up with the idea to save the Doctor Sam's Earth by contacting the Asgard - who the SGA haven't met yet, probably because if THEIR SG-1 had made it to Cimmeria, which isn't likely, because the inspiration to look for benevolent alien allies came from Daniel and Teal'c was the one who told them about Cimmeria and gave them the address and neither one of them is with the SGA - they wouldn't have had Hammer issues because they wouldn't have had a Jaffa on their team because Daniel wasn't a part of the program, which means Teal'c isn't as well... yadda yadda. 
This whole 'Daniel not being around and not doing what only Daniel can do' really does snowball, doesn't it?
Doctor Sam tells Major Sam she knew about the Goa'uld coming  to trash Earth for six months but couldn't figure out a way to stop them.  Not quite sure how she managed that, but without Daniel on the team they still didn't have Teal'c and all his insider info therefore still can't know about being Tau'ri and what is really going on out there and can't have gone to half the places SG-1 has gone (Cimmeria and the Nox planet for starters those addresses came from Teal'c  - so not only did they not meet the Asgard but they haven't met the Nox as well and without Daniel noticing the about to expire Tollan on what was left of their old homeworld, presuming the SGA even went there, they wouldn't have met the Tollan either.  If Doctor Sam didn't have an encounter with Jolinar and I'm guessing she hasn't because  as a civilian it's not likely she goes through the gate much.   Especially being female and the alt Jack's wife - that precludes them from ever finding out about the existence of the Tok'ra as well. No Teal'c to tell them about them, etc. ) So as far as I can tell the SGA, like the first alt Earth's Stargate organisation have to have been wandering about the universe clueless and friendless until their luck finally ran out and the Goa'uld showed up to stomp them.  They could use a friend or two out there and thanks to Daniel's inspiration and the success of the mission SG-1 embarks on that he thought of, the SGA gets one as well as the salvation of their Earth.

I hope they get as lucky as our guys did if and when the alt Thor shows up with his ship full of Replicators....

...Past and Present

Bearing in mind what I said back in Prisoners Daniel is the only member of the team not to get conned by Destroyer of Worlds' benevolent old lady' act in the first place - him being the only one to defend Kira is the only reason why the Vyans don't get screwed over TWICE for the errors in judgement made by the SGC and SG-1 in particular.  Bad enough she got sicced on them in the first place, but once they make the connection Kira and Linnea are the same person Hammond is prepared to clap her in irons, Jack to shoot her - neither one of them would have let her work on the antidote without Daniel going trust her and Sam saying - well, we're not going to be able to do it without her.  Daniel also comes up with the idea how Kira can avoid having to kill herself or letting Jack shoot her when she takes the antidote and remembers who she is.
So the Vyans get their memories back, and the Destroyer of Worlds loses hers to become Kira again and she's returned to Vyas to become hopefully a useful and productive member of their society.
But unless they go back there I guess we'll never know whether taking the same kind of risk with Kira they took with Teal'c was justified or not....

...Devil You Know

Ya know, every time I see this one  I just have to shake my head.  Two highly trained air force officers, one of them a former Special Forces trained Colonel and an Air Force major who also happens to be an astrophysicist, and a who knows how many thousands of years old Tok'ra agent all go to exactly the same place and go through exactly the same ordeal Daniel does, and not ONE of them is able to do what he does - have the presence of mind after he's been drugged, emotionally manipulated AND slapped around to be not only observant enough to notice their little communication device thingee sitting in plain sight on the table but to have the balls to act on the spur of the moment and actually succeed in getting his hands on it.  And it's a damned good thing he does, because as it turns out if he hadn't done so, SG-1 would have once again come to the end of their journey, almost immediately afterwards,  blown to smithereens  with Netu.
So Daniel saves all their asses by procuring the one essential little piece of hardware they absolutely need to be able to contact Teal'c and get themselves rescued.
I suppose it's silly to even point out Teal'c wouldn't even have been there TO rescue them...(and you just know Aldwin wouldn't have bothered trying to go back for them he would have just dropped the Tok'ra bomb and got his ass out of there ) ...you know where THIS is going....

...A Hundred Days

Daniel figures out the Eudorans are about to get flattened by the impending meteor shower and gives them plenty of warning to be able to evacuate in time to save themselves.  He's not responsible for the fact a lot of them choose to ignore his warning (must have caught the same virus SG-1 and TPTB are suffering from), don't exercise their get out of Dodge before doomsday option and consequently - um - die.

...Pretence

Teal'c (who wouldn't be on the team but for Daniel) definitely saves the day here by going behind Jack's back and enlisting Lya's aid to hide the weapon that takes out the Goa'uld mothership about to lay waste to the planet, but Daniel's arguments (with an impassioned assist from Jack) save Skaara.  But the Tollan ultimately owe their continued existence to his presence because if not for him Teal'c wouldn't have been there for them. Several times over.  And who knows, it might be largely due to Daniel's influence and example Teal'c makes the rather monumental decision to disobey the orders of a man he respects, follow his instincts  and do the right thing.  And it is a huge thing for him to do - considering his past experience and conditioning

...Maternal Instinct

Finding Kheb in the first place wouldn't have been possible without the two pieces of the puzzle both Bra'tac and Daniel possessed that enabled them to locate the gate address. Which is in the database of addresses Jack programmed into the computer when he was a walking Ancient's encyclopaedia.  It turns out that Oma Desala wouldn't have let Apophis get his hands on the Harcesis child after all, but it's a good thing for SG-1 and their Jaffa allies Daniel makes friends rather easily or I daresay our team would have ended up just as fried as the Jaffa when the bullets started flying. Plus, they make contact with a representative of yet another alien race.  Who not only is really, really powerful but likes him.  Which could come in handy if they meet again.

...Crystal Skull

This is another Daniel saves his own ass again.  He works out what's going on and what the team has to do to get him back in phase and convinces Jack - through Nick - to trust him, and do what he needs to be rephased.  Daniel becomes solid again, always good, and they make contact with yet another friendly alien species disposed towards interacting.
If getting zapped into another dimension by the skull had happened to anyone else it's doubtful things would have turned out quite as well all around, particularly for the poor schlep stuck walking through stuff and talking to themselves for the rest of their lives.

...Nemesis

Oh look, SG-1, save the world without Daniel, you say.  Yes, it can be done, but....
In the process of doing so, and saving their own asses they appropriate the SGC's Stargate effectively cutting themselves off from Earth and ending the Stargate program (no gate, no program - sorta kinda can't have one without the other, as the Goa'uld tried to demonstrate by attempting to confiscate both gates in Fair Game).  Except....
We have a spare gate!  Hurrah!  And why do we have a spare gate - along with a Colonel and a Major still on SG-1 and not frozen solid and dead (it never hurts to remind you of such things.)
Because way back in Solitudes Daniel figured out it had to be there and sent them looking for it and they found it in Antarctica - along with the Colonel and the Major.  So, all Hammond has to do to keep the SGC on line and open the door back home for SG-1 is to break out the spare and hook it up.  Which he does.
Ergo thanks to a substantial contribution by the suddenly in season five superfluous archaeologist the Stargate program is saved and we get to have not only the entire fourth season of adventures during which this manifestly, irrefutably invaluable member of the team is increasingly, inexplicably DE-valued and marginalised right into the Fifth season - which also wouldn't have been possible without the existence of the second gate - where he is practically relegated to the status of wallpaper and not coincidentally, the resulting quality of the viewing experience of the majority of the episodes in which he has not been a fully integrated and involved member of the team have been about as exciting and emotionally engaging as watching paint dry.

Season Three recap:

Saves Teal'c - once
Saves another world - directly twice, indirectly once
Saves the entire team - twice
Saves the Stargate program
Comes up with the plan of action - five times
Enables them to contact a new alien race - twice
Saves himself - once

No Daniel on the team = Teal'c dead and the Tollan and all of SG-1  - dead.  SG-1 definitely all dead on Netu.  Doctor Sam's Earth  gone up in flames and the Doc herself and Kawalsky eventually done in by entrophic cascade failure.  No encounters with ghosty wispy aliens of any sort. No more going through the gate ever again. Once again, hate to keep pointing out the obvious, but for the boy the team is dead and the show is over. 

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SEASON FOUR

...The Other Side

Daniel is the only one who objects to the SGC giving aid to an 'ally' they know nothing about.  And gets a lot of flak for his moral position.  All he's asking for is for the SGC to take the time to make an informed choice before blithely getting into bed with what turns out to be a bunch of racial purist fanatics bent on global genocide.  I don't know that I agree with Jack's final solution to the problem, but for Daniel speaking up and being a pain in the mitka the Earth would have been responsible for helping wipe out the entire population of a planet not residing in the underground bunker.  And who knows, once the Eurondans had won their war, didn't need us or our heavy water any more and found out how racially 'impure' their 'kindred' were, how they would have 'thanked' us for our help. Not to mention how some of our other allies would have reacted to finding out how we'd abetted and made finally successful a deliberate campaign of global genocide.

...Divide and Conquer

Daniel the diplomat in fine form.  He drafts up the treaty between the Earth and the Tok'ra and impresses the heck out of the Tok'ra's chief guy while so doing, and while Jack and Sam are still en route to stop Martouf from assassinating the president is the only one to notice something is not right with their friend. Very observant lad.  He tries to take Martouf aside and deal with him on his own, to head him off at the pass (pretty brave considering he knows how strong he is and he has to be armed as well) and sounds the alarm in the nick of time when it turns out that's all he can do to avert disaster.  Which he does, and then the troops arrive and take it from there.

...Window of Opportunity

Daniel translates the text on the site and gets the information they need to shut off the loop.  Granted, Jack and Teal'c help, but Daniel is the one who persuades Jack the only way it's going to happen is if they 'learn and remember'.  Plus I'm sure he provides an endless source of amusement for Jack during all those lovely loops.  He certainly seemed to enjoy watching Daniel get knocked on his ass during two of them.

...The First Ones

Definitely no one else could have done what Daniel did in this one.  Make a friend.  Maybe that doesn't sound like much in the grand scheme of things, but the Unas are sentient, intelligent beings and rather than looking for his first chance to kill him and escape (like the rest of SG-1 would have done, without question) Daniel tries to understand and communicate.  Which is the whole point of what they are out there to do.  Maybe the Unas aren't as 'important' as the Nox or the Tollan or the Asgard, but they are a unique race of  sentient, alien beings and an opportunity to learn and discover, which is exactly what Daniel does.  Even at great personal risk to himself.

...Scorched Earth

Oh boy, another Daniel saves the day without question.  By taking the only possible course of action which has a chance of succeeding.  I'm sorry; I don't care how much of a boom the Naquadah reactor would have made there's no way it would have taken out the ship.  Sam should have known that.  If two stinking Naquadah enhanced warheads - yielding in excess of one thousand MEGATONS each - let's just THINK about this one for a moment - couldn't make a dent in a Goa'uld force shield what damage could a little bomb do to a ship that was obviously light years ahead of the Goa'uld in technology? And you can't tell me that ship didn't have shields AND weaponry.  Maybe the Gadmeer were a peaceful civilisation, but the whole reason why they were on that ship in the first place was because they'd been stomped almost into extinction by a hostile force.  This ship is their last chance for survival.  They clearly want to survive.  Therefore, the ship that is taking them to their new home and then recreating it for them so they can survive is gonna have the ability to defend itself and it's payload, plus a pretty hefty imperative to do so.  The whole idea that the Naquadah reactor could have had a snowball's chance in hell of taking it out is just stupid. The ship detected the damned thing before it went off and was capable of disposing it anyway, so the whole thing is moot.  It wouldn't have worked.  Period.  Another instance where Daniel had the clue to the solution all along, but no one would listen to him, bringing about the whole unnecessary foolishness with the bomb.  So he just dusted off the fact his team mates wouldn't listen, AGAIN, and just did what he knew had to be done.  The only thing that could be done.  Communicating.  Reasoning with Lotan and showing him he could not allow an act of genocide to take place. Thereby not only saving the Enkkarins and his team mates but also finding them the best possible solution for their ultimate survival problem - their homeworld and a way to get there.  The Enkkarans get what they want and so do the Gadmeer.  Win win.  All it took was a little talking.  Nobody gets hurt, or blown up.

...Beneath the Surface

Again, even with his memory wiped and forced to believe he is someone else Daniel is still Daniel.  He's the one who starts questioning things first, starts remembering and putting it all together first and is the one who makes Jack/Jona and Sam/Thera listen to him and start questioning their own perceptions and memories as well.  Gets there first and doesn't give up until he gets the others to listen to him.  Once his suspicions are aroused doesn't let go until he starts finding answers.

...The Curse

As one of the only two people on Earth who can read Goa'uld (another ability that makes him kind of indispensable) he's therefore the only one who understands the threat the Isis Jar represents when he sees it.  Thanks to him Doc Fraiser gets a Goa'uld corpse she can finally study - and comes up with a Goa'uld  anaesthetic, which does indeed prove to be effective in the field.  Takes a while to work, but it does make Osiris back off and leave without killing the unconscious Janet, Sam and Daniel himself.  He holds off the newest Goa'uld threat all by himself just fine, and manages to get the dart into her/him and while he doesn't stop Osiris, he does save all their lives.

...Serpent's Venom

Daniel is specifically requested for the mission because of his linguistic expertise.  He has something the Tok'ra need - an ability to translate an Earth based language their linguistic experts can't decipher without him.  Sam and Daniel work nicely in tandem on this one and get the job done - but Sam wouldn't have been able to reprogram the bomb without his translation of the manual.  They succeed in their task but don't accomplish their ultimate goal but it's not their fault the Tok'ra didn't anticipate Apophis bringing a whole bunch of ships he shouldn't have been able to hide and blowing up Heru'ur.

...Absolute Power

Daniel is chosen to receive a difficult lesson because he is probably the only one capable of understanding the ultimate point of the exercise - you can't dance with the devil and not become one yourself.  Some things are not worth the cost and there is no way to use what the Goa'uld know and are without becoming them.  Gaining access to the Goa'uld genetic memory might gain the Earth some technology and some short term victories but ultimately it would corrupt us as surely as it has corrupted the Goa'uld.  Daniel gets it.  He'll make sure we don't get it either.  Or at least he would, if he was still around....

...Entity

Daniel tries to communicate with the alien who takes over Sam and ultimately realises her consciousness is still trapped in the computer.  So they figure out how to put her back in herself and she's all better and not dead.  Which I'm sure she enjoys as much as we do.  Although we'd like to enjoy a little LESS of her and more of Daniel.  Or any of Daniel, now.....
 

Recap!!!  (hey, you knew I was gonna!)

Daniel saves the Earth from repeating itself 
Saves another world 
Saves the team
Saves Janet
Saves Sam twice
Saves himself

No Daniel on the team = all of us going in circles for the rest of our lives, SG-1 getting terraformed with the Enkkarins or blasted to smithereens by the ship 'cause who knows how the ship would have retaliated after the bomb FAILED to take it out in order to protect the Gadmeer, Sam stuck in a computer - which granted would have made it impossible for her to take over season five, but we like her better the way she is, Jack and Teal'c the only remaining members of SG-1 and the SGC needing to find a new medical officer.

But at the end of the day the Earth is still screwed and the team, once again, is no longer with us.

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SEASON FIVE

...Beast of Burden

Daniel does what he does best - goes to bat for the underdog.  He takes immediate responsibility for the part he played in Chakka's abduction - by teaching him to trust humans - and seeks to right the wrong.  Whether the way it turns out is 'right' or not - the Unas are not animals, they are sentient beings and it is no more right to enslave them than we know it is not right to enslave members of our own species.  How they accomplish their own emancipation is probably something we will never know, but they have the right to try, and Daniel makes sure they get it.  He also tries to provide Chakka with the peaceful option, but whether or not he will decide to take it - that will be up to him and his followers.  However, from the look Daniel gives Chakka, how much he communicates to him he'd be disappointed in him if he didn’t at least TRY to minimise the carnage - I'm betting Chakka will be a lot more 'humane' in his dealing with his former oppressors than they ever had any intention of being with him or his kind.  Simply because his friend Daniel expects him to.  That's a HELL of a testimonial to the power of the man's personality and the tremendous ability he has to influence and inspire everyone around him simply by being who he is.

And you wanna throw all that charisma, passion, conviction and power to do good out the window for a guy who is best known for having REALLY weird hair and wearing loud shirts? Maybe Parker Lewis can't lose, but man, we sure have.  So has SG-1 and the Earth.  We don't need no anagrams and substitute L*I*A*N*D*E(R).  The original D*A*N*I*E*L will do just fine, thanks ever so much.

...Rites of Passage

Okay, maybe it's not huge but Daniel is the only member of the team who routinely takes the initiative and gets the ball rolling and just - does - while everyone else is standing around scratching their heads going - d'uh, what do we do next?  He puts his hand on the glowing hand on the clearing and gets them into Nirti's secret lab and out of wandering around in the forest trying to figure out their next move.  There was only one correct next move.  He figured it out and made it.  Hey, it's what he does.

...The Tomb

Daniel gets them in the pyramid - ah - ziggurat. Teal'c may be hot stuff with Goa'uld, but he can't read Babylonian.  Apparently.  Once inside the pyramid Daniel also does all the translating and informing them of exactly what is going on, including the fact there happen to be a set of rings somewhere in the joint.  Something Teal'c has no problems finding the controls for once Daniel tells him he should be looking for them, but that he doesn't seem to realise could and should be there until Daniel says they are.  So even if by following orders he opens the tomb and gets them in trouble he also saves the team's butts by discovering the existence of the escape route and giving Teal'c the idea to go look for it.

...2001

Ah, another Daniel saves the day ep. A fitting way to end this little dissertation.  Pretty much the way it began.  With Daniel saving the Earth.  Most emphatically.  Sam does the legwork, gets the Aschen to admit what they are really up to, but Daniel comes up with the plan she uses, and he is the one who finds out the Aschen are hiding something from us in the first place.  By doing what he does even when no one else believes him.  Following his instincts and not giving up until he finds the answers, even if it means he places himself in personal danger to get the job done.
I find it really interesting that although up to this point in time Daniel is the one who has been doing all the diplomatic duties for the SGC - he is not the one automatically tapped to accompany the Ambassador to the bargaining table.  That task falls to Sam and Jack.  What does the General want Daniel to do instead?  Nothing short of finding out the truth.
Hammond is a very good commander in this one.  Glowing reports of the Aschen and their intentions aside, he wants to be absolutely sure. It never hurts to double check.   He sends the best man for the job out to get the straight goods on the Aschen, and he trust Daniel will leave no stone unturned, literally, until he finds out exactly what George wants to know.  No matter what it takes.  Which he does.  Which is fortunate for the Earth.  Once again.
  Daniel is the one who insists they descend into the underground city and check it out because he already has a 'feeling' he hopes he's wrong about, and then further insists they go into the ruins looking for more information.  Not idly bumbling about exploring as some people have suggested.  Seeking answers.  That's what he and Teal'c were sent out to do, and by God, he's going to do it, no matter what. I get the impression he's not happy about making the discoveries.  He wants very much for the Aschen to be a 'good thing' for Earth.  But the truth is more important than high ideals and aspirations so he puts aside whatever hopes and personal agenda he might have had for the pending alliance as well as any consideration for his personal safety during the course of the quest and does everything he needs to do to get the straight scoop on the Aschen.
Daniel knows it's dangerous to go further into the ruins without Teal'c pointing this out to him, but he doesn't have any choice.  They have to find out what's really going on; the fate of the Earth could depend on it.  And does, but he doesn't know this yet.
So he does his job.  He goes looking and he finds the answers.  Without the substantive proof Daniel discovers in the underground city (and his linguistic ability enabling him to make sense of what he finds) -  the Aschen are indeed a threat - the treaty would have gone ahead and we'd all be merrily, blissfully heading on our way to eventual extinction.
Once again there is no other member of SG-1 who could have done what Daniel does in this ep and without his participation on this mission, his instincts, his courage, his linguist ability and his tenacity not to mention coming up with the scheme Sam uses to get the Aschen to incriminate themselves - the Earth woulda bought the Aschen bill of goods and subsequently, eventually, bought it.

Recapping the Season: TPTB really haven't given Daniel a lot to do this season, but even with the shameful way his role is being reduced he still manages, in the space of four episodes to
Liberate an enslaved race
Save the team
Save the world!  Again!

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CONCLUSION

Which brings me to my final summation.  I have only watched the show up to Episode 100, but my overall tally of the highlights of his total contribution to the SG-1 efforts is as follows.

As a result of his actions and his actions alone
The Earth is saved 4 times
Another world/members of another world are saved 8 times
The lives of the entire team are saved 8 times
And as for the time he saves the lives of the other members of the team individually (not counting the eight 'team saves' cited above)
Jack - 6 times
Sam - 5 times
Teal'c 3 times
Himself (all on his own without and assist from any members of SG-1) 5 times (even though I haven't listed it in the previous tally I'm counting the recollecting his marbles in Legacy).

While it is true the other members of SG-1 have returned the favour and gone to bat for the Earth without him on a couple of occasions, not one of them has as impressive and consistent a record of doing all of the above. Not to mention the other ways he's found the right answer, provided the essential piece of information, come up with the correct course of action and all the other ways he's made a difference not listed in this final tally.  What's more, not one of them would have made it past the first season to do anything without Daniel.  Jack would have bought it on Abydos, Sam would have gone up with the rest of the Earth when Ra's bomb took it out, and Teal'c would still be Apophis' First Prime going about his business never even dreaming there was such a world as Earth or an organisation called Stargate Command possessing a team called SG-1. Completely cancelling out all the good he has done for the Earth and many other alien races out there as a consequence of being a member of SG-1 for the past five years.  Not to mention trying to be a force for the liberating of his own people.

Stargate the movie was about Daniel Jackson.  His story, his fight, his accomplishments were what the whole thing was all about.  He made the gate work, made the whole adventure possible, made the success of the mission possible and no attempts to shift the focus from him and onto newly created for the series characters who did NOT exist in the movie or trivialise his accomplishments  through suggesting in alt universe scenarios what he did was not necessary and could have been accomplished without him cannot change this fact.  His story has been the key thread which drives the majority of the successful plot arcs, he is the very heart and moral centre of the team and the lynch pin around which the entire dynamic revolves.  Remove Daniel from Stargate and you have nothing - no mythos, no history, no context, no romance, no passion, no drive, no wonder, no accomplishment.

You've got a big honking ring with a bunch of scientists standing around staring at it scratching their heads.  Right up 'til the Goa'uld start nuking the crap out of us.

What's more, Daniel's actions have proven to be absolutely essential to the team's ultimate success in a grand total of 46 out of 100 episodes.  He's managed to make a difference in almost half of the total number of episodes his character is has participated in, either entirely on his own or as an irreplaceable, absolutely necessary contributing factor to the team effort and dynamic.

What's even more astonishing to realise, when you examine events in the entire course of the series it becomes apparent that more than any other member of SG-1 - as Jack often says - Daniel is always right.  You can count on the fingers of one hand - and not use all of them - the number of times Daniel has made a serious mistake or been wrong about what he knew had to be done.  Or been mistaken in the action that he took.  He has consistently demonstrated more than ANY other member of SG-1 his instincts are accurate, his judgement practically unerring and his ability to stick to his guns and keep on going even when he has no support or no encouragement from his team mates - even to the point of them actively resisting him and refusing to believe him, plus his willingness to put aside his personal agendas and do whatever the situation requires no matter how he personally feels about it - he's truly in a class by himself.

And this is the man TPTB considers is expendable and not worth their time and effort.  All I can say is I'm very glad Daniel hasn't felt the same way about us, his team, his friends and his world for the last six years.  Some thanks for the man who's lost literally everything he held dear and didn't waste a minute feeling sorry for himself about it, just kept on going and got the job done.  Time and time and time again.  Now he's been tossed aside as if everything he sacrificed, suffered for and accomplished has meant absolutely nothing.  That's thanks for you.

Daniel deserves far better than what he's been given.  The record speaks for itself.  And for Daniel.

Respectfully,

Phoenix Emrys

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