The members of the Producers Panel were introduced to the audience as they came out to take their seats on stage. The panel included (left to right) N. John Smith (Co-Executive Producer), Brad Wright (Executive Producer), Paul Mullie and Joseph Mallozzi (Supervising Producers), and Robert C. Cooper (Executive Producer).
Brad Wright:
[Begins speaking but the microphone is not working]
Thanks, everybody, that's a great introduction. Is this on?
[The audience responds that they can't hear, and the mike is adjusted.]
Hello?... There we go.
I just wanted to say thanks. This is our second convention that some of us have been to. It's such a thrill. I did want to say one thing too about... I don't know how many of you have seen the episode Wormhole X-treme...?
[Roaring applause and cheers from the audience]
That was written by Paul and Joe right here.
[More applause and cheers]
That really was, in every conceivable way, as much as possible, our gift to you guys. Because we knew that you would get all the jokes!
[Laughter and applause]
And, we really appreciate all the support. So here we are! Go ahead...
[Several audience members shout out in unison, "Blooper reel!!". There is laughter as the panel tries to understand what they said. Brad asks, " 'Wolverines'? What is that?" They call out again, and as Brad understands and repeats it, there is loud applause and cheers from the audience.]
Brad Wright:
There's a blooper reel of all the stories that never made it to the show... Actually, you know, the thing about blooper reels is that, it kind of shows your dirty laundry. Not everybody on our show wants their dirty laundry shown, so...
[The audience responds by jokingly calling out comments like "Tough!", "We wanna see!", and "We'll pay for it!", with more laughter and applause. Another audience member is called on for a question.]
Audience Member:
We have something for you, Joe. May I...?
Joseph Mallozzi:
Absolutely. Come on up.
[The audience member approaches the stage with a gift for Joe Mallozzi based on his scene from Wormhole X-treme -- a box of doughnuts.]
Audience Member:
We know that you really, really needed this...
Joseph Mallozzi:
Oh, the doughnuts! [Laughter from the audience]
Brad Wright:
Oh, the doughnuts from the show!
[There is more laughter and applause as Joe thanks her for the gift and opens the box to begin eating one of the doughnuts.]
Brad Wright:
A really funny thing... if we did a blooper reel, it would be in this. Joe actually auditioned for that part.
Paul Mullie:
I didn't find it believable at all.
Brad Wright:
The audition that he gave, for the "Doughnut Guy"... Do you want to do it again, Joe? No? I had tears coming down my face.
N. John Smith:
They cut my lines... [The audience "awws" and laughs.]
Brad Wright:
Actually, we did.[More laughter]
Question [Katja]:
We've got a question for you guys. Just to illustrate who we are, I'm going to ask all Martouf, JR Bourne, and Lantash fans to stand up. [A number of audience members stand to cheers and applause] And the question is, now that season five isn't seeing Martouf back, he already told us, JR Bourne fans... When in season six are we going to see our favorite snake-head back?
Brad Wright:
Well, you know, nobody dies on Stargate. [Laughter] That's just the way it is. We worked really hard to get him in in season five. And the thing is, on Stargate there are logistics, there's practical considerations when you make a television show. I mean, availability is the least of it. If you don't have somebody as a regular, you can't just do whatever you want, and that's what's happened so far. But we're trying, and we have tried, let's put it that way.
Paul Mullie:
[Testing the mike] Hello...
Brad Wright:
Paul just wanted to say hello... [Laughter]
Question [Pam]:
Hi, this isn't a question, it's more of a thank you. I was lucky enough to go on the studio tour today, and I understand that the 40 of us have John Smith to be thankful for, and I just can't thank you enough. [Loud applause]
N. John Smith:
You're welcome. Thank you. I'd like to take all of you people through there, but it's just about impossible to do that. But it's our pleasure, and if you meet us again, we'll do it again, I'm sure. It's sort of hard to... we've also talked about having tours when there's shooting involved, but the stage, as you can see if you've been there, it pretty tight. It gets pretty disruptive, there's not a lot of room to stand back and look. Exterior locations, like when we're out at Stokes Pit or something like that, that would be a good place. We could probably put four or five hundred people out there and nobody would even know it.
Brad Wright:
You don't really want to be out there... [Calls of "Yes we do!" from the audience] Oh! While we're shooting! Oh, I see! [Laughing]
Question [Gail]:
Hi, I was one of the lucky winners too, and thank you very much. Um, now you made me forget what I was going to... Oh yeah, I know what I wanted to say! The set is great, and you're right, it's really kind of tight. But, one little suggestion, a working elevator. It got... Thank God for everybody who went, because I'm kind of halfway stuck in a chair. I got literally lifted up and down the stairs, and they took the chair and all and put me on the ramp so I could get on the ramp. But, question for the writers of the hundredth episode. Thank you so much for doing it for us. Whatever made you come up with that concept? Because, the hundredth episode is a big deal for a program, for a TV show.
Robert C. Cooper:
Actually, they don't get paid if they don't come up with it... [Laughter]
Question [Gail]:
But it's a big deal, and to do something so specific for us... I mean, maybe I shouldn't tell you this but I have four copies of it.
Robert C. Cooper:
Do you know you can watch one, multiple times? [Laughter and applause]
Question [Gail]:
I have cable satellite dish, and I got it on Saturday night at the early program, and then I got to see it again at the later program, and yeah, that's what I do all weekend is watch Stargate.
Paul Mullie:
I was going to say that the actual concept for Wormhole X-treme came from Brad, who picked it up. He had the idea to bring Martin back in a way, to be brought back and to come up with the idea for the show that was similar to our show. And I guess, I don't know, he was going golfing that day or something, he didn't feel like writing it, so he made us write it. And it was a really enjoyable experience.
Brad Wright:
I was going golfing that day. [Laughter]
Question [Kitsuen]:
I'd like to know if the team, SG-1, will actually stay intact for season six?
Brad Wright:
[There is a pause as Brad repeats to himself] Stay intact... umm...
Paul Mullie:
Ooh... We'll let Brad answer that question.
Brad Wright:
Robert, why don't you field that one? Okay. Um, the truth is, there are going to be some changes in SG-1. [Stunned whispering, "oh..." from the audience] I know, it was disappointing to us too, and it is Michael Shanks' choice... [Surprised "oh" from the audience] ...that he move on and do other projects. But, I promise you this. It is not the end of the character in Stargate. Daniel is just no longer going to be a member of SG-1. [The audience is silent] And I know it's a bomb. [Laughter] And I'm sorry. But, Michael wanted to move on and do other things, and we had a long talk, and it's absolutely, it's a purely affable parting, and he's going to... he will be back, on the show. Hopefully he will be back in the feature film, which is something that we were planning on, so... But everybody else will be back. [Applause]
Question [Kim]:
Hi, my name is Kim. We've been asking just about everybody that's come up here... [Loud negative reaction from the audience, anticipating the "boxers or briefs" question] As the writers of the show, would you tell us what the hieroglyphs on the wall say? [Loud reaction of relief from the audience over the different question]
Brad Wright:
It's "No Smoking." Rick said that. That's what he said in season one, and I'm sure that's what it actually is.
Paul Mullie:
Over and over and over... [Laughter]
Did anyone answer that?
Brad Wright:
Did people answer?
Audience Member:
[As people call out "yes"] They went on and on and on. Somebody said, "There's one true god, Apophis."
Paul Mullie:
Oh, I know who said that. [Laughter]
Brad Wright:
Yeah, he did hit a planet, so he might be gone. [Laughter]
Question [Cindee]:
Hello. We did want to thank you again for making Wormhole X-treme. There were a number of us that night we saw it, immediately backed away, and said, "You know, they did that for us." That was a lot of what was going on, and we did recognize that. But, I wonder if you realize the degree to which we've been analyzing it? [Laughter] Every split second of that episode. And, a friend who couldn't be here sent me an email that I got yesterday, saying, "Has anybody said anything about this scene," in terms of, is this something we were just missing, or out of context, and that's the scene where Jack goes into the security office to get the license plate. [Agreement from the audience] Is that anything? I told her if I had a chance, I'd ask. Does that connect to anything? Is there something we're missing?
Brad Wright:
No. [Laughter]
That's a scene that Joe and Paul wrote in order to get the information back to Daniel and Carter. Some of the episode was...
Joseph Mallozzi:
...actual story. [Laughter]
Brad Wright:
Three or four minutes of that scene...
Paul Mullie:
Yeah, at least five pages of the script was real story.
Question:
Hi. Are we ever going to meet the Furlings?
Paul Mullie:
We've been lobbying for that, Joe and I, since we came on the show, the first thing we asked them was, "So who are the Furlings?"
Robert C. Cooper:
How do you know you haven't met them?
Paul Mullie:
Actually, Joe does a great impression of the Furlings. [Encouraging laughter from the audience]
Joseph Mallozzi:
[Laughing but avoiding an impression] ...This little Ewok walking around.
Brad Wright:
You know, Robert Cooper wrote the name "Furlings" as one of the four races in The Torment of Tantalus in season one. And, the truth of the matter is, as writers, what we do is we just come up with names that sound cool.
Paul Mullie:
Except that. [Laughter]
Brad Wright:
And let's be honest, Furlings would have to be covered in fur, so there's that production consideration. But Robert is going to do a big two-part Furlings episode next season.
Robert C. Cooper:
I am? [Applause]
Brad Wright:
You'll have to watch it next season, so there's a story.
Question:
I have two questions, one very quick, here. When are you going to bring back Rothman? [The audience responds that he's dead.] They can bring anybody back. It's science fiction!
Brad Wright:
That true, but, aliens tend to come back better than people who have been shot. [Laughter] Multiple times by a P-90 at close range.
Question:
My other question that I'm curious about now, is there anything you can tell us about the movie?
Brad Wright:
Anything we can tell you about the movie? Um, we would like to do one. It really comes down to going to MGM, and saying, "Here's the idea for the movie," which we've already done, and they say, "Hey, that's a great idea for a movie." And then they have to give you a lot of money to make the movie. And you have to have deals in place with everyone, and those negotiations and that specific process... Of course, a lot of it depends on how well Stargate continues to do. Worldwide, the show does very well. And most of you are from all over the world. [Laughter at the wording of his statement]
Paul Mullie:
Yes, most of you are from planet Earth... [More laughter]
Brad Wright:
So we are hoping to do the film, and we'll know before the middle of next season. We have to know by the middle of next season whether or not it's going to happen, so...
Question:
Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about the... There's been a lot of back and forth kind of wars between the people that support the Sam/Jack thing, [Negative reaction from the audience] ...and there's also been some speculation over Daniel and Janet. Could you tell us maybe a little of where that may be going, because personally I'm interested in both of those. [Reaction from the audience calling out "Don't go there!"]
Robert C. Cooper:
You have to understand you can't go through what our characters go through, and working closely together... And I think if there's any, for lack of a better word, affection, that goes back and forth between them, then it's only natural. Do we have plans to have O'Neill and Carter marry next year? No. [Cheers and applause] You know, we did one story, we did one little sort of through line that dealt with the fact that it's only natural for people who have been through the kind of things that O'Neill and Carter have been through to develop feelings for each other. And the fact of the matter is they couldn't pursue those feelings in any way. There really isn't anywhere else to take that.
Brad Wright:
We never really had any plans for a big relationship, or a soap opera, or an ongoing love affair. And to be honest, Richard Dean Anderson and Amanda Tapping wouldn't want that to happen. We were following what we perceived as their lead on screen, it was a little look every now and then, and is there something here? And as writers, how do you tell 22 hours of story every year? We'll grab anything! It seems to be working, and we'll try to monitor it. What I thought was funny, as a lurker on the Internet myself, was the power of the two camps. And yes, that was really me who wrote that letter by the way last year. But, I mean I never thought it would be such a war. [Laughter from the audience, admitting that the "war" is "still there"] [Laughing] ...It's still there. Well please, try to get along. [Laughter and applause]
Question:
From Chain Reaction, at the end of the show, that marvelous line that Jack said about, telling General Hammond that he would have to buy back his soul at some point, is there any plan to stretch that wonderful line into a story?
Brad Wright:
[Thoughtful pause] There is now! [Laughter] I think that was in reference to the fact that he, basically ended up working with Maybourne in a way that... and letting him go. And he's already been back this year.
[Calling out from the audience: "More!"]
Joseph Mallozzi:
[Meaningfully] Chances are, he may come back before the end of season five...
[Cheers and applause from the audience, as the rest of the panel reminds Joe that Maybourne has already been back.]
Robert C. Cooper:
Chances are? Really!
Joseph Mallozzi:
So, chances are!
Paul Mullie:
He doesn't know! [Laughter]
Joseph Mallozzi:
Don't spoil it!
Robert C. Cooper:
You really should watch some of the episodes you didn't write. [Laughter and "ooh"s from the audience]
Question:
Hi, we were talking, some of us, yesterday, and the question came up, will we see more Amanda and Christopher, or more Sam and Teal'c, scenes together? [Calling out from the audience: "Actually talking! For more than two seconds!"]
Brad Wright:
They're together in the episode we just finished, quite a lot. You know, I have to tell you, we don't say, "Hmm, let's put these two people together for this..." We come up with stories first. And we try to drive the story with the right combination of characters. It seemed, for example, to take, right of the top of my head, it seemed right to have Teal'c and O'Neill in Tangent. [Agreement from the audience]
Paul Mullie:
It's also because their areas of expertise are closer together, so if they're going to do something, if something military needs to be done, it's going to be O'Neill and Teal'c. They're going to take care of it. Whereas, Daniel and Sam would tend to do the more intellectual things, solve problems and stuff like that. So they would all, kind of, wind up pairing off like that. It wasn't because we were seeing the same, we don't want... "Let's keep these two apart."
Robert C. Cooper:
You know what, it seems that way sometimes from the conversation on the Internet, in Between Two Fires where Teal'c and Carter were sitting together on that bench, talking. And I'll give you a little tidbit of information, there was actually no dialogue written for that scene. The director just shot a very long shot leading up to the original dialogue, and he thought, well, hmm, why don't they talk? So we wrote some additional dialogue to put in there at that point.
Brad Wright:
If you look closely, you can see their lips aren't moving. [Laughter from audience]
Question:
[Dan Shea, seated in the audience, stands to ask a question.]
Hi, I have a question for Mr. John Smith? That's Mr. N. John Smith? I was wondering if he thought it was fair that during lunch, that he and Rick Anderson get the choice of seafood, salmon, and sea bass, and the rest of the crew have to eat Kraft dinners? [Laughter and applause from the audience]
Brad Wright:
Before we answer that question... There's going to be a big, "Death of Siler" episode... [More laughter]
N. John Smith:
I already told Dan we're going to replace him as the stunt coordinator next year, as well as a stand-in. But no, we're going to eat salmon or fish every day, that's part of our routine, we've been doing that for five years now. It's more a habit than anything. But Dan, you can have it if you want! [Laughter]
Question:
This is for all of you. I know, Brad, you're not a con virgin, so...
The audience groans as the "boxers or briefs" question is asked again. Responses from the panel include, "Nothing," "I'll never tell," and "I don't even know what people are talking about."
Question:
I'd like to thank you for the effort that you put in to bring Martouf back. But more than that, I'd like to see Jack revisit the Hundred Days thing. [Groans and "No!" from the audience] How will he deal with intergalactic child payments? [There is much calling out from the audience.]
Brad Wright:
Let me answer that question. I think Rick wants to revisit that issue, that story. We wanted, before we went back to that planet, to have a story to tell there, and we wanted the child to be, not an infant, so... [More groans from the audience] What if JR Bourne plays his son? [Cheers and applause] You'd like it if we could do that, wouldn't you? [Laughter]
Question:
You're going to have to bear with me, 'cause I'm still reeling with what you said, Mr. Wright. I like the cool special effects, and I always loved science fiction, but my favorite aspect of Stargate has been how the characters intereact with each other, their relationship, the way they care for each other, the way they work with each other. And I can't imagine the team being anything but the four people that it started out with. I mean, it's really hard, it was just dropped on me, and of course I'll watch season six... No, really, it's not that bad, I will watch! I'm having a hard time thinking about how these people will get on, and considering the depth of the relationship that they have with each other, and what they've all been through. I mean, you've killed them, and brought them back! So I was wondering, will you deal with, on the show, what the effect of Daniel's not being there is? I don't know how you've decided to deal with it? And if so, could you tell us how you will deal with it? I don't know... Will you, and how will you?
Brad Wright:
Well, we don't want to give away the story. Robert Cooper has written the script already, it's a wonderful, wonderful story. I think you're going to enjoy it, it's going to be moving. And absolutely, the team is going to feel the loss, and we're going to make that a major part of the series. We have to. You're right, we can't take a member of the family away and not have everybody acknowledge that, I agree with you. But in Michael's defense, these guys are people, and they have lives to live as well, and not everybody can devote their energy to something forever. And season six was never... I mean, everybody had to renegotiate with the sixth season. It was something that... Everybody's original deal was only... Most series only ever go for five years. Six seasons is fairly amazing for a show like ours. So, I promise you we will do our best to retain that team dynamic that everybody tunes in for. And I think it's an opportunity. We all look at it, the writers of the show, all look at it as an opportunity. [Applause]
Question:
Hi, I have a comment and a question. I apologize if I get the credit wrong, but I wanted to thank Joe and Paul for writing Threshold. As a Teal'c fan, that was an awesome episode.
Joseph Mallozzi:
[Laughing at the misplaced praise] You're welcome!
Brad Wright:
Actually, I wrote that! [Applause]
Question:
Well, I definitely think you deserve a thank you for that... [Agreement and applause from the audience]
Joseph Mallozzi:
It was way better than A Hundred Days. [Laughter from the audience]
Question:
My question is, can you give us an example of how a story evolves between an idea, to becoming an actual finished shooting script?
Brad Wright:
Threshold's a good example of how a story happens really really quick. The first episode of this season, Paul and Joe and Robert, well all of us, actually, did the two-parter that linked the seasons together. And Robert realized very early on in writing the teleplay for Enemies... He was going to try to deal with the whole Teal'c turn within that episode, and then as we were putting it up on the white board, which is part of the process, you look at the scenes, what's happened in the scenes, what's happened in Act 1, what's happened in Act 2... Robert realized that we weren't going to be able to properly deal with Teal'c's turn at SG-1 without being a threat. So, that became the groundwork for a couple of episodes around Threshold
Robert C. Cooper:
There's always, I think, two steps. There's the first idea, the sort of "the door in," we call it, where somebody comes in and kind of pitches this little kernal of an idea for a show. And it's usually not until that second good idea intersects with it that everybody goes, "Oh! Yeah, that's a whole episode." One of the things with Threshold, for example, was, "Yeah, yeah, we're going to deal with Teal'c's turn back, but how?" And then it wasn't until we started realizing that we were going to go back to some of the key moments in Teal'c's life that led him to make the decisions he made in the pilot, that we all got really excited about the story. So, there's always, I think, for me, anyway, two steps. There's the one where the story first comes on the horizon, and you say, "Okay, yeah, that's probably an episode," but there's also that moment where you figure out what that key element that you just can't wait to see is. That cool moment that, you just, you know you want to see it, as a member of the audience. Right? [Applause]
[To Be Continued]
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Transcript written by KateR. Gatecon 2001. September 20-23, 2001.