News Archive for the tag 'richard dean anderson'

Feb 08 2010

Why Michael Shanks Thinks Stargate SG-1 Is Assigned To History

Published by Stargate Archive Team under News

It looks like Stargate SG-1 may finally be dead, at least according to star Michael Shanks, who played Dr. Daniel Jackson on the series, which ran for 10 seasons and spurred two DVD movies in 2008 and two Syfy spinoff series.

“Given the amount of time lag that’s gone on between us doing the movies, I suspect that we might be very far away from, if ever, doing another DVD movie. This might be the closing of the book on that particular [chapter of the] franchise,” said Shanks, whom we caught up with while he was promoting his guest-starring role as Hawkman in The CW’s two-hour film Smallville: Absolute Justice.

“Never say never. It’s always a possibility. But I think everybody’s moving on to a certain point, and with the new show doing well, everybody’s focusing their attention on that. The SG-1 idea is somewhat on the back burner, which is a little bit unfortunate, because I think one more story would have been a great way to bring Rick (Richard Dean Anderson) back in and really go there. But you know, business is business.”

The newest Stargate series is Syfy’s Stargate Universe, which is set to return with the second half of season one on April 2 and which has already gotten a second-season renewal. While SG-1 isn’t returning anytime soon, the same can’t be said for Dr. Daniel Jackson. He’ll guest-star in two upcoming SG-U episodes.

“It’s the job that never ends,” said Shanks. “I just finished the guest spot on Supernatural as well. I’ve covered all the ‘S’ shows that shoot in Vancouver. I think that’s about it. I may have covered all the ‘S’ shows that are on television. I have to find a different letter to move on to.” Hmm … Smallville, Stargate, Supernatural … yep, that could be all of them.

As far as his Supernatural gig, the episode is called “99 Problems,” and he plays a man who is part of a “Bible-thumping militia” that’s fighting to stop the apocalypse. “I think I get my ass beat by both Jared [Padalecki, who plays Sam] and Jensen [Ackles, who plays Dean] at different points in the show. It’s a lot of fun,” he said.

“The reason why I did that was because it timed in perfectly, because pilot season is underway. I’m reading for Danno in Hawaii Five-O,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t know what to say about that. I haven’t read the script yet, so I’m going, ‘Really?’ I’ll have to wait and see.’”

If cast, Shanks would be appearing with Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim, who’ll be portraying Detective Chin Ho Kelly, a role played in the original series by Kam Fong, the Hollywood Reporter announced today.

While he doesn’t have any information about how they will reboot the iconic police procedural, which ran on CBS from 1968 to 1980 and spurred the famous catch phrase, “Book ‘em, Danno,” Shanks knows one thing. “I’m sure there’s some updates, because I don’t think we could pull off that kind of brow furrowing with a straight face in this day and age. I’ll tell you one thing, to go to Hawaii to shoot a series would be a dream come true, that’s for certain. Not a bad gig there. … I don’t feel too bad for the people on Lost. Oh, you’re on Lost. Poor guys. Yeah. Boo-hoo. Go back to your cabana and have another mojito [laughs].”

What do you think? Is it finally time for us to bury Stargate SG-1? And would Shanks make a good Danno in a new Hawaii Five-O

News article courtesy of Sy Fy Wire

Dec 25 2009

Richard Dean Anderson Confirms Hub Convention Appearance

Published by Stargate Archive Team under Conventions

In a very brief message, Richard Dean Anderson has confirmed that he has agreed to make his first every Australian convention debut.

He will be appearing at HUB Productions Stargate 2010 conventions in Sydney and Melbourne in March of 2010.

Nov 12 2009

Stargate Revolution Is The Working Title For The Third SG1 Movie

The working title for the third Stargate SG1 movie has officially been revealed by Joseph Mallozzi, and is to be entitled ‘Stargate Revolution’.

Stargate Revolution will reunite the cast of the long-running show, including former lead Richard Anderson.

Although Stargate Extinction was given the green light by MGM back in Spring 2009 for production, MGM placed it on the back burner much as it did for its counterpart for the Stargate Atlantis movie ‘Stargate Extinction’.

The script for SG1 movie has been written by Brad Wright and Carl Binder, who are presently serving as executive producers on Stargate Universe. Brad Wright informed fans at this year’s Vancouver Stargate Convention that “I had a story idea that would bring O’Neil back in a big way, and would be set sometime between Continuum and the start of Stargate Universe”.

Nov 06 2009

Is Stargate Universe’s Dr. Rush Evil Or Misunderstood?

Published by Stargate Archive Team under News

You’ve got to wonder if Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle), the single-minded genius on Syfy’s SGU: Stargate Universe, is on the right show. Maybe he hopped over from Caprica before anyone noticed and now it’s too late. However it happened, Carlyle’s character is so morally ambiguous we don’t know if we can trust him.

Looking at his deeds just in the six episodes that have aired so far, you really have to wonder: Is he evil? Maybe not evil like Darth Vader or the Master, but evil like Battlestar Galactica’s Gaius Baltar or Lost’s Ben.

Stargate_Universe_Carlyle_rush-thumb-550x366-28041In the very first episode, Rush claims he didn’t dial Earth because of the danger to Earth in dialing from a volatile planet. OK maybe. But he also sent dozens of people into an unknown situation that just happened to be the dilapidated Ancient ship, the Destiny.

Over and over again, we question the motives of this Machiavellian scientist, who too often seems willing to sacrifice people to make sure he can continue his life’s work, which includes exploring the secrets of the Stargate and now the Destiny.

Executive producer Brad Wright has said people aboard the Destiny are “in a position where we have to trust the son of a bitch who put us in this situation, because he has a lot of the knowledge that we need just to stay alive.”

It shouldn’t surprise us that the amazing Carlyle has been so convincing as Rush, considering he’s played everything from a policeman to a psychopath to a male stripper to a James Bond villain to a cannibal to Adolf Hitler! There’s no denying the Scottish actor has range, and it’s range he’s put to good use as Dr. Nicholas Rush.

Here are some of the questionable things Rush has done on SGU since the pilot episode.

Tried to seize power

In “Air, Part 2,” Rush used the communication device to contact Earth and returned to the Destiny with news that Lt. Gen. Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) had put him in charge of the expedition. Fortunately, the people onboard did not believe him, and Col. Young (Justin Louis) soon got better enough from his injuries to squash Rush’s power play.

Unmoved by senator’s sacrifice

Stargate_Universe_Carlyle_rush_Camille-thumb-330x219-28057When Sen. Armstrong (Christopher McDonald) sacrificed himself to save the Destiny’s air supply by closing a door to a damaged shuttle in “Air, Part 2,” it didn’t seem to bother Rush one bit. In fact, before the Senator took it upon himself to save the day, Rush suggested they rate the people aboard based on their skills, so they could determine who was most expendable to be sacrificed. What a guy!

So not a hero

When the Destiny dropped out of faster-than-light drive and found a planet with the lime needed to fix the air filter problem in “Air, Part 3,” Rush went with Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith) and others to the planet. He quickly became a liability and was unable to continue. On the way back to the gate with Greer (Jamil Walker Smith), Rush taunted him and seemed ready to give up. On the other hand, Scott nearly died trying to find the lime. Of course, Scott’s a hero.

Willing to sacrifice others

During the same episode, when Palmer, Curtis, and Franklin decide to take their chances on another planet, Palmer and Curtis go through the Stargate. In order to stop Franklin, Rush orders Greer to shoot him. Franklin took a bullet to the shoulder and was most likely spared death on the planet. But was Rush’s interest in stopping Franklin to save him, or perhaps because Franklin had the only Stargate remote control? And when the Stargate’s about to close and the Destiny’s about to leave, Rush tells Eli (David Blue) to put his hand in the gate to keep the event horizon from closing, while Greer and Scott are rushing toward him with the lime. But is Rush trying to save them … or get the lime?

Stargate_Universe_Carlyle_rush_control-thumb-330x219-28042Mentally unstable

When the ship’s power begins to run out in “Darkness,” Rush struggles for days to solve the problem without sleep, coffee or nicotine. His nervous breakdown proves he’s human, although it doesn’t solve the problem.

Messes with their minds

The Destiny suddenly heads directly toward a sun, and it seems like everyone’s doomed in “Light.” With only one working shuttle, Young decides to hold a lottery offering a handful a chance to live on a nearby planet. Rush takes himself out of the running, saying he’s going to go down with the ship. But when the people aboard the ship don’t die as the Destiny sucks up power directly from the sun, Rush is the first to figure out that the ship is solar powered. Having survived certain death, Young comes to believe that Rush may have known all along that the Destiny wasn’t about to meet its destiny. (Well, actually we figured it out at the beginning of the episode. We must be geniuses.)

Unmoved by sacrifice, the sequel

When the Destiny’s water supply mysteriously begins to disappear in “Water,” Young and Scott try to harvest water from an ice planet. When Scott is trapped in a crevasse, Rush tells Young to leave him and bring the ice back to the ship. Of course, Young (who’s also a hero) isn’t about to sacrifice young Scott. And with a little earthquake and a little determination, he doesn’t have to.

Doesn’t want to be rescued?

In tonight’s episode, “Earth,” IOA scientists hatch a dangerous plan to get the crew back to Earth. Since Rush’s plans most likely don’t include going home anytime soon, we don’t think he’s going to be happy.

News article courtesy of SyFy Wire

Aug 05 2009

Robert Carlyle Missed Out On The Stargate Spoiler Memo

Published by Stargate Archive Team under News

Stargate Universe legend Robert Carlyle fortunately didn’t get the memo saying that stars of the third spin off ser series shouldn’t tell reporters what’s going to happen,.

Carlyle headlines the mismatched destiny crew as Dr. Nicholas Rush, the reclusive leader who is responsible for an accident that sends a group of soldiers, scientists and civilians through a Stargate onto the runaway Ancient vessel Destiny.

The rest of this article contains spoilers, please read at your own disretion.

Take one recent episode. “I was floating in a tank, and that was kind of bizarre, in actual fact,” Carlyle said in a group interview last month at Comic-Con in San Diego. “A bunch of aliens actually got me. Of course, Rush is left on a planet, which is what he deserves, and then the aliens come and pick him up and stick him in a tank. So that’s where you suddenly pick me up again, floating in it. So that was quite cool.”

Destiny capBut wait, there’s more. “We do all die, and then we come back to life,” Carlyle revealed. “It’s a very, very interesting episode written by Robert Cooper called ‘Time.’”

Also look for Stargate SG-1 star Richard Dean Anderson to return to his old stomping grounds, reprising the role of Gen. Jack O’Neill. “He was lovely,” Carlyle said. “He really was. He was very humble about the whole thing, in fact. I think he also understood, very quickly, that this is a different thing. He said it was a different show from the one that he had been used to, and, of course, Gen. O’Neill comes back. I think that he’s in four or five of the episodes, but you don’t actually need to know who the guy is at all. He’s so solid with his character, and that’s fantastic to act with.”

SGU is built around the same mythology as the two previous Stargate series but is nevertheless intended to stand alone for viewers new to the franchise. “I guess we have to obviously give a nod to SG-1 and Atlantis, because we wouldn’t be here if those shows hadn’t been there,” Carlyle acknowledged. “I don’t think it’s necessary to have watched any of that, at all, in fact. I mean, I guess you have the issues of this general, and even if you hadn’t seen him before, he would just seem like another character, so we don’t have to be familiar with the past to take on the future.”

stargate_universe9_jpgAboard the Destiny, the major friction will take place between Carlyle’s Rush and Col. Everett Young, played by Louis Ferreira. “Myself and Louis Ferreira are together a lot, and we go on extremely well, because we have to, because we’re at each other’s throats,” Carlyle said. “It’s very, very tense stuff.”

Younger characters provide passive-aggressive tensions for Rush. David Blue plays Eli, a genius slacker. “Rush is kind of like Salieri, and Eli is a Mozart,” Carlyle described. “That’s what’s going on. He needs this boy. This boy is probably much more clever than him, but he’s not going to let him know that.”

Rush might seem hardened or gruff, certainly antisocial, but Carlyle said he is not mean or vicious. “I think he’s got a wicked sense of humor, but he keeps pretty much to himself,” Carlyle said. “I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who takes pleasure in other people’s discomfort or anything like that. He would be quite happy on his own. He’s troubled in terms of his wife. His wife is dead, and he wasn’t exactly there for her, and this is what caused an awful lot of Rush’s problems. He’s a very, very lonely man.”

Spoiler information courtesy of Scifi Wire

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