DragonCon interview with Stargate Atlantis' JOE FLANIGAN!

[wraithfodder]

Brand-new interview with Joe Flanigan (Stargate Atlantis). Interesting stuff!

http://dailydragon.dragoncon.org/2009/joe-flanigan/

EXCERPT:

This year is Stargate Atlantis star Joe Flanigan’s first year at Dragon*Con.  I sat down with Joe to get his thoughts on his co-stars and the cancellation of Stargate Atlantis, as well as his views on a variety of matters.

DD:  Based on published reports on the internet, you’ve been made to sound as if you’ve spoken out against the new Stargate Universe series.

JF: I have?  I don’t remember ever speaking out against it.  I think the feeling was, from David Hewlett and I, that it was odd to cancel us but yet to spin off a new show at the same time.  I don’t think that anybody is speaking out against Universe at all.  I have absolutely nothing against the new show and I encourage people to judge it on its own.

DD:  So it’s more a case of speaking out as to why Atlantis was canceled.

JF:  I think mostly because David and I haven’t been given a proper explanation and I don’t think anybody has, and I think everybody’s running around wondering if we’re doing the movie or we’re not doing the movie.  I think everybody wants their cake and eat it, too.  I think they want the fan base but they don’t want to necessarily listen to the fan base also.  I’m also a businessman;  if somebody gives me a reason as to why something doesn’t work (…) I’ve been on many shows that were canceled or failed for many reasons and I get it.  I just get it.  We’re just looking for a compelling reason.  We’re confused why—the show was doing so well, and if you look at the DVD sales you’ll know how well the show was doing. Why, if it’s a favorable economic model, why would you change or cancel it?

 REST AT LINK ABOVE

Yeah, even we the fans would like a decent explanation...

Comments

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

"............they want the fan base but they don’t want to necessarily listen to the fan base also......"

Fans are what makes ratings.
It isn't magic where they develop a new show and it doesn't matter
whether anyone watches it or not............that may be true of film, but not of tv series work.
That is NOT the way it works....
WE make or break a show......
PERIOD.
That is the problem in this equation.
NOBODY cared about what WE thought.
The bozos that be were too busy thinking of themselves
to consider the consequences.
AND it is what will shoot down SGU.
I am sorry, I don't feel anything but betrayal when I see those
trailers.
FIRST, because of what they did to JF and the rest of the cast
SECOND, because of the way WE were treated.
I am NOT going to forget this.

[gavet97.livejournal.com]

I saw The Flan this past weekend at Dragoncon and I have to say how amazing the whole experience was. (Other than him missing his flight Friday, and therefore his first panel, and then him leaving early and missing his Monday panel.....)

But anyhoo......he struck me as very much an actor's friend. He joked with the other cast members on the panel and had fun with the fans. I think he can easily see it from the business side and "our" side. I see his point about SGU. They were treated unfairly and we get it. TPTB don't.

And he was smokin' hot too. Did I need to mention that at all? =)

[chensuu.livejournal.com]

Very well said! And I agree with you completely.

Joe really has a way of getting to the heart of things doesn't he?

[mcsheplovers.livejournal.com]

Very interesting article! I know David tweeted on the subject of the cancellation in the past---basically saying that he had *no* idea why it was cancelled. I love that JF and the others keep in touch and that they want to keep in touch because they really like each other. I was watching those MGM vids the other day, and the one of David's last day where he hugged Joe.....they both seem so choked up! It killed me. What a waste.........


Beth

[nialla]

"I think they want the fan base but they don’t want to necessarily listen to the fan base also."

I luvs you Joe! [fangirlz]

[tavabean.livejournal.com]

Here is why I think Joe and some of the others may not have thought they, as actors, were valued by TBTB. These are exerpts from someone who attended the Comic Con SGU party in San Diego:
http://www.pajiba.com/trade_news/stargate-universe-comic-con.php
"I approached a trio of middle aged men heatedly discussing the role of CGI and actors in the future. I thought that they might be writers since they clearly weren’t pretty people but weren’t carrying bags and tape recorders like the journalists. Two of the men insisted that while actors were important, perfect CGI meant that their appearance could be effectively “skinned” on. The third man, who looked a bit like Jeffrey Katzenberg, argued that while he might sound like an analog dinosaur, he felt that actors brought something indefinable that layered CGI always ruined...."

Then:
"The presentation started then as two of the three guys who had been talking about CGI so animatedly (faux Jeffrey Katzenberg included), mounted a little platform, took the microphones, and introduced themselves as Brad and Rob."

[the-scary-kitty.livejournal.com]

I think they want the fan base but they don’t want to necessarily listen to the fan base also.

This is why SGU will likely crash and burn and take the entire Stargate franchise with it. Rule #1 of running a successful business: Don't piss off your customers. And boy, are we pissed off!

Give 'em hell, Joe!

[the-scary-kitty.livejournal.com]

I think Joe even mentioned in some interview having just such a conversation with Wright where Wright basically said that the actors were not as important as slapping the Stargate name on the show. Geeze. *thwaps Wright upside the head*

[vecturist.livejournal.com]

I think though there is a fine line between respecting the fan base and catering to it. TPTB at SPN and Heroes are certainly aware of the fans, although I will admit Heroes lost me after season 2.

[nialla]

Sounds like somebody's got into the George Lucas brand Kool-Aid. In new Jar-Jar flavor!

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Hmm, very interesting....

[the-scary-kitty.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely. TPTB at 24 are much the same way; they respect the fans, always try to have their finger on the pulse of what the fans like so that they can mix it up with their own ideas to create something we'll all enjoy, but without either pandering to us or flipping us the bird.

TPTB at Stargate, however, crossed that forbidden line long ago, and there's only so long they can keep it up without getting burned.

[gatedialer.livejournal.com]

Another reason why Joe kicks frakking ass. I want an answer as well.

[gatedialer.livejournal.com]

I completely agree. How can you want the fanbase and not give a crap about listening to them? Ugh, I officially hate Brad and Rob.

[cimmerdeux.livejournal.com]

I think it all comes down to the Golden Rule our parents taught us: 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. If TPTB want to be treated in a certain manner than they have to treat people in that manner. You can't treat actors and fans poorly and then expect nothing but respect and admiration in return. A lot of show runners don't get into it with their fans. If they have any interaction at all it's usually polite and brief. They may pay attention to what the fans think or they may not but if they aren't, they don't throw contempt in the faces of the fans or get in arguments. That always makes me think that someone "doth protest too much."

When show runners and writers start 'telling' fans what they should like and not like and 'telling' them whether their opinions are valid or not or insinuating that since they make shows, they know what's 'good'; well, that's the writing on the wall for me.

I understand not being able to cater to the fans' every whim, there lies anarchy and eventual contempt (no one likes a suck up LOL) but don't act like a condescending jerk either. It's a symbiotic relationship after all, not a parasitical one.

[nialla]

They could at least fake giving a crap about listening. But no, they want us to sit down, shut up, and watch the show. I hate to break it to them, but TV doesn't work that way anymore.

[gatedialer.livejournal.com]

Word.





LOVE the icon, btw.

[immertreu.livejournal.com]

This article was in my Google Alerts this morning but I loved to read it again. I could hug Joe Flanigan for speaking out what he thinks without caring who's listening. I wish there were more honest people like him in the business.

And I want an explanation, too!

[katikat.livejournal.com]

I loved the "I played a bumbling dodo brain" part XD He's so funny!

[kodiak-bear.livejournal.com]

For me, I think actors make or break shows. Successful series depends so much on good casting. SGA had great casting, mediocre writing. It doesn't surprise me to hear that they don't value the actors. Look how free they were with the toss-out button in SGA.

One of the hardest parts of SGU for me is once I get past the bitterness of what they did to SGA (and not just the cancellation, but the constant fucking up in throwing out actors, inserting new, making it a rotating door for SG-1, etc) is that the new cast of SGU is so unappealing.

[rootortoise.livejournal.com]

Oh joe..this is why i luffs you so much!!
Hes so right...about everything. Except i am judging SGU before watching lol....i hope it fails miserably, im not going to give it the time of day. Joe F and the team dynamic was the only reason i carried on watching SGA...certainly wasnt the creative eps..the few clever eps they did were few and far between!! SGU doesnt appeal anyway and even if it did, same TPTB same old shit.

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

Yes he does. I think he realizes how we feel out here.


"I am NOT going to forget this."

I mean what I said in my post;
it is my hope that I am not alone in this feeling.
They cannot do that and expect us to move on.
AND YES, I am fully aware that this is NOT a matter of life
and death, but it still ticks me off.

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

"he was smokin' hot too. Did I need to mention that at all?"

Not really, as that is pretty evident even on film....but in
person would be so much more interesting.......
It just makes me want to go to the one in LA even more.
At least he won't miss a flight then.
:P

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

"actors were not as important as slapping the Stargate name on the show."


Pretty evident in what they are parading out with SGU
I guess they feel anything will sell?
Am I getting this right?
Even if it shatters mirrors eh??

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

And boy, are we pissed off!


****VIGOROUSLY APPLAUDS****