Stargate SG-1‘s third season ended with a bang: the introduction of the Replicators, tech-bugs who have taken control of Thor’s ship and brought it to Earth. Colonel O’Neill and his team must beam aboard and figure out how to stop the critters from infesting Earth and gaining a foothold in our galaxy.
But one member of the team had to sit this one out, for reasons beyond the show’s control.
“Nemesis” opens with Jack visiting Daniel Jackson, who is recovering from an emergency appendectomy. It was a moment of art imitating life, as co-star Michael Shanks talks about in this conversation with “Dial the Gate.”
“We were in the middle of shooting the episode ‘Crystal Skull,’ and it was Canadian Thanksgiving,” Shanks said. “All day from Sunday to Monday morning I had flu symptoms … and as Monday progressed I was getting worse. And finally we decided that it was best for me to go to the hospital and at least get a look at. And the whole time I’m thinking, ‘I’ve got to get to work tomorrow.’ Because you know in our business you can’t just not show up — you can’t get somebody else to fill in your job in the morning.”
“I get to the emergency ward at Vancouver General Hospital … and [the doctor] says, ‘I think we’re going to have to go into surgery with you.’”
Check out this clip from the conversation:
Shanks says that his doctors had to talk him out of putting his life on the line, impressing upon him the seriousness of appendicitis.
“I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. How about I go home’ — because I’m thinking about working in the morning — ‘how about I go home … and if I feel worse I’ll come back and then we’ll do surgery.’ And he goes, ‘No!’ And I’m like, ‘Why?’ And he goes: ‘Because you’ll die.’”
The actor was under the knife within an hour, and his appendix ruptured on the table at the beginning of the procedure — a highly dangerous occurrence.
When he let Stargate’s production team know that was unable to report for work, the writing team took the simplest approach to writing Daniel out of the finale. Robert C. Cooper rewrote the season finale so that Daniel himself gets appendicitis and can’t join the mission to Thor’s ship.
“Sometimes the easiest answer is the most obvious one,” Shanks laughed. “So it all worked.”
Head over to “Dial the Gate” on YouTube to find the full interview with Michael Shanks! While you’re there, subscribe to GateWorld’s YouTube channel for more Stargate content.