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

[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 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*

[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??

[nialla]

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

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Hmm, very interesting....

[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.

[aqualegia.livejournal.com]

That's very interesting....