episodes l fan fiction l multimedia l fun stuff l research l shop l links l updates

email us l site map l home

stargÅtefan.com : fun stuff > conventions > gatecon 2000

First up, have to say Vancouver is utterly gorgeous and the people are all very nice. Traffic compared to LA is *nothing* don't let them tell you otherwise. Could easily live there. The air was crisp and clean and about 75 degrees every day with puffy white clouds and blue, blue, skies and bright sun. Everyone confirmed this was typical summer/early fall weather there and that it lasts for about 160 days on average. City is charming. Neighborhoods all look like Catherine Langford’s as seen in the episode "1969" and like the children's playground in "Learning Curve". Also, have confirmed sighting of trees. And trees. And...oh...look...more trees. This was an ongoing comment from most of the cast, crew, bus drivers and, yes, even the fans.

So first up in our group of actors was Don Davis (AKA General Hammond). Initial impressions. Good lord that man is big. You really lose the effect when he stands besides RDA and CJ but he is a very impressive height with a booming deep voice that simply drips southern charm. I can easily see why they made him a Texan, he comes across just like most Texans I know (although he is originally from the Ozarks, which are in Missouri). And he speaks like a professor. Very long and almost poetic answers that were deeply thought out.

Some initial bits and pieces from this interview...

How well does he get along with the rest of the cast? He said that it was a fun show and that he knew most people might say that but the proof in what he was saying was in the fact that they socialized together after work, went on vacations together, and that he could see himself still seeing them many years after all this has reached it's conclusion.

Who's the biggest practical joker? He smiled. RDA (who is referred to as Rick by most of the cast during these) "is the worst. With Chris not far behind."

Favorite episode-Show and Tell. "No parent can watch that episode and not be moved."

Also, apparently due to the fact that Teal'c does not have many lines it has been an ongoing joke on the set for the longest time of whether Chris would use "Look #1" or "Look #2" that day.

He makes the comment that in real life he and the actor who plays Jacob Carter are very close friends.

Description of his perspective of the show-"This is a show of four individuals who are very different but have formed a cohesive unit to stop a threat that is facing their world."

What is the greatest challenge to playing Hammond?

"To try not to be overcome by the emotion. To reign it in." He then comments that "Jack helps him through a very difficult time in an upcoming episode."

Also, he makes an abortive comment later that he sort of verbally stopped and then talked over which was something like, "Hammond has a lot of trouble sending them through the gate each week. Knowing that they may be facing an enemy with far superior forces than they have. Knowing that they may not return. And so he decides not to do it anymore." Now this statement was said completely separately from the above one at another time and cut off half way through and so it became unclear if he meant that Hammond merely felt this way about things or actually does this in an episode.

Next someone asked why doesn't his character send SG-1 out with better weapons, more zats, etc. His response stated that "he doesn't have the authority to take alien weapons from storage." He continued by explaining that the Pentagon wants to study these items and so are not willing to give them up for use. Also, since they already pretty much know that they're likely to be outgunned through the gate it is better to send as covert a group, as small a group as possible, since anything big enough to do damage would take a bigger force with heavier equipment and so would be more vulnerable to big losses. Thus, the small teams, and small teams have to travel light and fast with minimal armament.

What would he like to see? He'd like to see General Hammond in a relationship.

Also, apparently he's just finished a movie during the last break with Michael Shank's called "Suspicious Rumors". It's a very dark Canadian film where they both play very, VERY bad people. I believe the word he used was "abusers".

A-"Yes, normally in the course of a show you start with a bible. As the show broadens, the stories lead to new paths. As the episodes are written and characters appear they generate interest in the creative team itself making them want to explore these new avenues. Art is not static. It moves. Every episode that is filmed opens up new possibilities. What is happening is the writer's themselves have a need to express themselves and explore. Finding fresh avenues. However...that being said, feedback can be such that it can redirect them. "

Q-Yeah, like Tok'ra Spice!? (shouted from the audience)

A-"Do you remember a show called Hogan's Heroes?" (audience says yes) "Then...'I see nothing!' (which if you know the show from Hogan's Heroes he is quoting the German guard, Shultz who often saw things going on around him that were right on the nose but made no comment for fear of getting into trouble). He then added after a brief pause..."If the show turns off the audience. Which would affect the shows revenue...and so if there is a character that is... (delicate pause)...inappropriate...then...well... (pause as he gives the audience a significant look).

A-"He's a good man, conservative, well educated. As a young man he was a hands on kind of officer. In the Pilot we are told that he is on the verge of retirement, writing his memoirs. He cares so deeply for O'Neill and his teammates because he did experience that reality of being on the front line. He knows what it is to be afraid in the dark. To not know what's out there waiting for you. To know you have an enemy that is stronger than you and that is seeking you. So he understands these things and this is the basis for his concern for them. Each time he sends them through the gate, he looks after them and knows that feeling of fear for them. Also, he's a little bit of a poet. Loves those grandkids of his. And loves his dead wife-obviously since she's been gone for several years and he still wears the ring. "

Currently-They're finishing up filming Double Jeopardy (second to last ep this season) and then he's working on a project with MS. It's an option on a script based in part on a story from a song (I'm not kidding this is what he said) by Stan Rogers called, " The (Wreck?) of Mary Ellen.. "Both MS and I are involved with Stargate and wish to continue it so we can't do the project until the break sometime."

Next Up-Michael Greenburg, Peter DeLuise, Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper and the President of MGM

A- (From either BW or MG) "Goa'uld's, system lords, Apophis gets more powerful."

Cooper-"At the beginning of the year when we were creating the arc for the season we realized that in the first 3 years we opened up a lot of storylines."

"We do pay a lot of attention to fan response and the internet to what's happening. Besides newer storylines this year, the Russians, Asgards, Replicators, we felt responsible to go back to early stories and solve them/pay them off. A number of questions are going to be answered this year.

Audience-No more Tok'ra Spice!

Cooper-"We hear you."

A-"There have been a lot of coincidences that we have to smile at. But you have to remember that we are currently prepping the second to the last show and so even though you're reacting to these ones now, we've already had them done...But we do listen, read your stuff. For example one thought provoking situation was with Skaara. Skaara in the episode Within 'The Serpent's Grasp' was going to die. But everybody liked him so much and so we didn't kill him. The episode was actually finished and we replaced the original shot of Apophis getting away with an extra plate of Skaara in the background."

Cooper-"Truth is we get flattered by the level of response we get when a character dies. It's drama. What attracted me to Stargate is that it's not a perfect world. It takes place as if it were happening write now. These are people who are constantly faced with enemies with a higher level of advanced technology and they make mistakes. It's not perfect. There are consequences. SG-1 makes mistakes & people are going to die and it doesn't always work out for the best."

PDL-Hems and haws.

Brad-Oh, you never know. (Mischievous look like he would really like to have him back).

A-No it was originally scripted but apparently RDA absolutely loved it. And it was originally Homer Simpson but Brad made them drop the Simpson reference.

A-(PDL and Brad Wright start chatting over this).

PDL-"It's the theme thing!" (Points accusingly at BW) "See I'll have these great stories, with all these guys and they're blowing our guys up and doing this (starts acting out episode with lots of neat sounding stuff, picture Upgrades/First Ones type stuff) but then Brad goes..."

Brad-"What's the theme?"

PDL-(Looks crest fallen.)

Brad-Michael and I are fans of stories with strong moral themes.

A-Brad-"5:30 AM the production manager gets the call. It's in the middle of the second to the last episode, Crystal Skull. And MS is down. We're of course all very worried about him. It was very serious. Then well for the final episode we had to fix it. I had this alien thing happening to him and it was all very complicated and involved (Brad says this like he really rather liked his solution even though it was apparently very complicated) "and then Robert says to me..."

Robert-"Why don't we just say he had appendicitis?"

Brad-(looks dumbfounded like the light has gone on). (Says something like, "That would be easier, huh?") "So we filmed the hospital scene where Jack goes to visit him. To this day the line, 'Can I see your scar?' Just kills me! You know most of that was pure ad libs in that scene."

A-Brad looks at MGM guy. One of them answers, "We don't do bloopers What's really going on here is that MGM has, as a standard part of it's contract for tv shows, that they don't allow bloopers but Teryl when asked about bloopers said they had one for the first season. Comments that they didn't last year and that she can't wait for this years. Later still when the Production Crew were questioned about this discrepancy in answers the guys told us about MGM's policy and so "officially" they don't have bloopers and never will.

Urgo-General comments. Apparently that ep too was mostly ad libbed. (Everyone acts like it was a crazy but fun time.) Seems PDL’s father has extreme dyslexia and can't read very well and so just doesn't follow what's written. PDL was constantly going, "No, no, Dad!" (Which Brad Wright thought was hysterical).

Brad-"It was the most footage for a tv episode shot ever. (He's laughing as he talks about the fact that the dailies were so much fun to watch. He never knew what they were going to get.) "The episode actually ran 9 ½ minutes over when we were done. So we cut it. But then when we were done it was a minute and ½ short. So we added the Sam hallway scene then." (Note-a scene which apparently took a million takes because they had to fit the time exactly and Don S. Davis walks very slow and they were trying to speed him up. Teryl was laughing over this later. Also, from Brad and Michael and Roberts' reactions they love this scene. The audience did too.)

PDL-I learned as much as I could about everything. I picked up everything.

Brad-This man knows it all. The bible, the mythology of the show.

PDL-I go back and re-watch the episodes, over and over and over again looking for things. Looking for scenes we can use and things we can refer to.

A-It started out as an accident by Robert C. Cooper and just kept going. RDA tends to ad lib a lot of Wizard of Oz things as well.

Q-(Can't remember something about them and Stargate)

A-MGM Guy, "One thing we wanted to do is tell good human stories, not ones that were just science fiction special effects."

A-Brad-"Hope so" (Note-MGM guy smiles at this.)

A-Brad or Robert-"We like to leave threads to turn future stories on. Like Crossroads. You saw the end of that (describes scene and how it was even more powerful than what they wrote when on film). After that you *know* a confrontation is coming.

Q-What is the current official pitching policy?

A-Brad-Depends on the show. Some shows when the first start are open to anyone. But generally you need to submit through an agent. We like to read writing samples first, then we ask for a pitch. Mostly they're handled by phone because we don't have much time. MGM President-You can get an agent by looking through something like the Journal of Approved Agents.

PDL-Also, being a production assistant on the show helps.

Q-What about writing novels for the show?

A-There are more novels planned but that isn't handled by us. That's a different area of MGM that handles it.

At this point Amanda Tapping and (Kawalsky, Martouf, Apophis and Bratac) sneak into audience and start calling questions to the panelists. (They do this like mischievous little kids. Apparently this is modus operandi and not just something the con put them entirely up to since they did these sort of things constantly all weekend long.)

Amanda-Why did you kill Martouf?

Response (Brad or Michael)-Haven't you ever learned by now nobody really dies in this show?

Kawalsky (Jay) with Martouf by his side-When are *we* coming back then?

Robert-"That's all Rick's fault. We write smart stuff for him but he likes to play it dumb. Likes to have Jack use it to tease the others. We know Jack is smart but he likes to tease Carter with the fact that he doesn't 'get' her techno babble."

Robert-"That's part of drama. Everything can't be all nice all the time. There have to be some dark moments too. Where things aren't going well."

Q-Yes, but it seems like the Daniel and Jack and the others have been fighting a lot this season,, and not getting along and it would be nice to have some gaps in-between the down times. They seem to have been coming really close together sequentially. Is there a reason for this. (At which point another questioner jumps in with how she would like to see more "team" moments. And that relationship between Jack and Sam hasn't made her happy. The first questioner looks at her agrees, saying they’d heard that the people online are generally not pleased with this development.)

Robert C. Cooper- (Note Robert jumps in very quickly after this last statement.) "That's not true. It's been about 50/50 in the responses to it on the net. Besides this is drama, not everyone is going to be happy. And it was an attraction that was hinted at since the beginning and so is a relationship we had to deal with. Had to address. Of course, sometimes you write stuff and it turns out completely different when the actors and directors are done working with it. They can interpret and add nuances that maybe weren't intended to be as strong as it came out. But it's drama and we needed to address it. And now it's been addressed and the characters can deal with it and move on."

Q-It was mentioned by someone that the postings on the net are occasionally read. How much influence does it really have? Do they really read them?
PDL-You asked that question inside didn't you? Yes, we do read the net. Though understandably we don't have too much time for it.

Q-Actually, no, it was someone else in the audience. But I was just curious since it seemed to me the answer given was contradictory with (repeated Skaara example versus, you have no power over us speech). Why did he say that?

PDL- "That's because they don't want you to think you have any influence. But you do." Then he was off and running and doing the handshakes and stuff again.

Q-Why did an episode at the end of this season get bumped to next season? That seems a bit unusual. Was it due to the plot thread and it's arc being more appropriate for next season? Or was it a special effects thing or....?

Michael Greenburg-Actually we ran out of space. That episode is going to require some huge sets and we ran out of physical room for them right now with what we've been doing and so we had to move it back to next season. Episode 2.

A-Write to Showtime, Sci Fi Channel and Fox. Tell them that you subscribe and want the show. They count every single letter received as a representation of 50 people.

A-Address it to the President of Showtime, Sci Fi Channel, and Fox.

Next up Tony Amendola and Peter Williams (Bra'tac) and(Apophis)...

Initial impressions-Apophis has a Jamaican accent! It's too funny. Peter's accent just puts a whole new slant on Apophis. Plus, he's very personable. It's obvious that he enjoys meeting the fans and has a lot of fun as the baddest snake in town. As for Tony, he has a wonderful charm to him. He's got this grin that is the one we see on the show, which has a little bit of the charmer and a little bit of Zorro in it. Definitely a twinkle.

So what did they talk about? Well, they were asked about the costumes. Found out the helmets are quite heavy (60 pounds) and the face plates apparently close centimeters from your nose so they have to be very careful to lean their head back against the rear of the helmet so that their noses don't get scrapped.

When asked about his interpretation of the human host side of Apophis in Serpent's Song? Peter responded with that he used the scenes from the Stargate movie [note the ones that are included in the directors special edition of the movie] of the young host that Ra takes.

Peter was next asked about how he saw Apophis' relationship with each of the members of SG-1. "Daniel Jackson and I have a natural antagonism, especially since we both love the same woman. There is also a natural antagonism between me and Teal'c. (He mutters something derogatory about traitorish old employees.) While Apophis just wants to get rid of Jack altogether. But...he kind of likes Sam. (He gets a big grin and drawls out.) She's fine!"

A question is then asked about having to speak ancient Egyptian in Serpent's Song and what was that like, was it ad libbed? Peter responds that the dying speech was entirely scripted out. "However, there are two different languages there. On the show we have an Egyptology specialist who now makes certain the ancient Egyptian language that is spoken is correct. But we had a late rewrite. So one of us was speaking ancient Egyptian and one of us was memorizing gibberish. Guess which one. (He laughs).

A-Peter-"I think it had something to do with the fact that I could roll my eyes completely back, making them all white. Saves on special effects. (He demonstrates and the audience laughs.)

A-Tony-"There's a madness in Bra'tac. He has to control a sense of vengeance or berserk." He goes on to mention how this madness is contained, but that it's there because he's in conflict over the fact that his whole code is based on loyalty and honor and what is right and yet he is inherently betraying his god and the man he's supposed to protect (Apophis).

Tony goes on to tell us about a dream he has had about Bra'tac. He gives a little smile and says that he doesn't want Bra'tac to die or anything. In fact, maybe he should even say this since he wants Bra'tac to go on for a long time. A very long time. But he had a dream about how he dies. He says that it was a field at the base of a mountain and he was lying in the snow. A Jaffa comes, Teal'c, and picks his body up and carries it up the mountain. And it is a very steep climb and while the Jaffa climbs snow begins to fall. He reaches the top of the mountain and lays Bra'tac's body down on a pallet. The last image he has is of the snow falling, thicker and thicker, as Teal'c turns and walks away. And as the pallet gets farther and farther into the distance you can see the snow is piling up on it, covering it, almost symbolically mummifying it.

A-(There is much after as he goes through the list. It went something like. Rule the galaxy. Become a god. Have a big death scene. Be resurrected. Hm...seems like I've done most everything an actor hopes for. ) Actually he would like to explore the role of good versus evil more. He would like to see Apophis (the head of the evil side) confront Hammond or perhaps Jack again as he did in the Pilot or Nox. (He gets a sly grin.) That or maybe have them all kneeling before him again like in Jolinar's Memories. Kneeling is always good.

Next Martouf (J.R. Which stands for Junior. Apparently when he switched from his old job to acting he got rid of his first name which he never liked and went with Junior J.R. which is what he was called as a child by family) and Kawalsky (Jay Acovone) are up.

Impressions-Martouf is cute. I mean really cute. That smile we see on tv is even brighter in person. I can't tell you how many people commented on the fact that they thought Martouf was okay on screen but J.R. in person is yummy. I think there's something in his body language. There's something that just says, he's actually enjoying speaking to you and is having a good time. As for Jay. He's hysterical he has the timing of a comedian but I think he felt a little overwhelmed by everything, not quite certain what to make of the fan experience. This may be because he's not as immersed in the show since he's not on it regularly either that or his had so many encounters with fandom since his Beauty and the Beast days that he’s a little jaded by it. Don’t get me wrong he seemed very nice. But of all the actors I got the feeling we got the most "show" from him.

A-(J.R.)- "The first episode I did with AT, was the scene in Tok'ra when we take that first walk." (He says something about how he was very taken with her. There was definitely something there.) "Then as time went on Martouf was more attracted to Sam than Jolinar. It's going to be odd saying this but, she was human. He found that attractive."

J.R. was then asked what the key difference between his portrayal of Lentesh and himself. He says, that "Lentesh is more intense, more serious, he doesn't smile as much."

A-Apparently they speak normally and then a process called a "flange" is applied to their voices.

A-(Jay)- "Originally they wanted the guy from the movie. But he didn't want to do a tv series. And they said well what if we kill you off. Kill you off in the first episode. He only agreed if they'd do that. Well he canceled out at the last minute and they brought me in. They had done 4 or 5 scripts already, which had to be approved by (MGM) and so they couldn't change it even though I was willing to stay and they seemed to what me to too."

A-(J.R.)- (He gives a little sheepish smile.) "I actually thought he was going to die last season. And I thought it was a nice death. Done nicely. There was a nice last moment between Sam and I."

A-I think after the trip to hell, Jack and Martouf sort of bonded.

A-"Actually I read for the bad Tok'ra. But when I went in they asked me to also try out for this other part. The nice guy." (He comments on how that was a real switch because he was usually asked to play the villains.) Apparently RDA saw the audition tape and said, "That's Martouf."

Q-What are they up to lately?

A-Jay-new NYPD Blue episodes, small part in Castaway, and is slated to do a role in the new Crocodile Dundee III.

A-J.R.-Is doing Beggars and Choosers and the movie Big Sound.

(Note during all this interviewing there was a lot of joking between J.R. and Jay, who hadn't met before that day. So much so that J.R. was literally crying with laughter. They were just cracking each other up.)

Next Jay was asked to explain the concussion that AT got during the Enemy Within elevator fight scene with him. [I think there's no doubt that Jay felt very bad about this. He covers his face and mumbles "You had to bring that up. One of the worst days of my life." And even though he had a joking tone you could tell he meant it. That he really felt bad still even now for hitting her that hard and hurting her.] "We got a little over zealous. I was asking AT if she was sure she was okay about this and she said, 'No, go for it!' And so I did. So when she reached out to the elevator panel button I flung her back and I heard her hit hard. You know that sound a pumpkin makes when it hits the ground? I heard her head make that sound. And the camera's were still rolling and my back was to her and I thought, 'Oh, christ! She's hurt.' I was afraid to look. Even when the cameras stopped rolling. It was scary. (Jay mimics standing there facing forward and in a sort of sing-song, "Uh, Amanda. You okay?" without looking back.) You know when someone gets hurt on a set it takes the wind out of everyone's sails. You might as well all go home."

And then came the age old question that has become almost a classic in fandom.

Q-"This question is for both of you. Boxers or Briefs?"

A-Jay and J.R. looked at each other, then both leaped up, took two steps forward, undid their belts and pulled the front of their jeans down and said simultaneously, "Briefs". It was hysterical. The audience went crazy. You couldn't have timed their responses any better and what made if funnier was their briefs were identical. [Course I think that both of them were a little shocked that they actually did that later on but I think they were having a lot of fun at that point and so went with the moment.]

Then at the end Amanda Tapping and Teryl Rothery snuck into the audience again with the others from earlier. Jay saw them and pointed at AT and said, "Why don't you kiss him?" Because it had come up from the fans that they were very sad to see Martouf go and that he and Sam were never going to finish their relationship. So AT did and they did a big kiss. Lots of flashes went off.

Next up were Amanda Tapping (Sam) and Teryl Rothery (Dr. Fraiser).

Impressions-I'll admit, I've been very frustrated with Sam's character this year. I had originally liked Sam in the beginning but was starting to have my doubts now with some of the relationship changes they've been doing and the fact that she was wearing so much makeup and being such a "girl", and so wasn't certain I would like AT at all. But not only did I like her, I wound up being a major fan of Amanda Tapping by the time the weekend was over. She is wonderful. It's a shame she's a famous actress because she's exactly like how you'd want your very best friend to be. I heard more than once from different people how it would have been so neat to meet her on the street as a normal person and not as "Sam Carter". I had the opportunity to see her interacting with us for a total of about 11 hours if you add up both days and she was just too much fun. She was funny, and sweet, a total goof, and very genuine. And what was even better was that I felt like a number of things that had really bugged me about the Carter character's portrayal were things that were not AT’s idea.

As for Teryl Rothery, she's great too. She just exudes a sense of kindness and is so genuinely happy to meet the fans that you just can't help but smile back at her. And, the thing I think that I liked best about her is that she talked to us like we were people. People that were on her level and not just "fan's".

Other impressions: Teryl is very small. She's only about 5'2", which looks itsy bitsy next to Amanda's 5'10ish height, and especially next to Christopher Judge. Also, I'll admit I almost didn't recognize her because her hair is streaked with such light highlights that she looked at first glance very different from the Dr. Fraiser we know. That and her expression wasn't the serious one we're so used to. It was more the one with the little quirk to the lips that you see in episode Hathor when she's telling Sam about how they can get the male prison guards to come in and see them.

As for Amanda Tapping, she looks very much like she does on screen. Very willowy and with bright sparkly blue eyes. However, her expression is so much funnier than Sam's. Picture that fun smile she's got in Learning Curve when she draws the picture for Meren (spelt?) or her expressions in Upgrade when they're being naughty and you have Amanda Tapping's natural personality. Also, the shorter haircut she has in the show looks much better in person (I think it looks okay on the show, but it always seems to have too much hair spray in it or something. While in person it looks very light and fluffy and sort of gamine or pixish.)

Also, what was neat was that you could tell that these two people are genuine friends. They had a comradery and a way of looking at eachother and giggling and sharing that says that they are probably great fun on the set together.

First thing we learned was that AT and TR both have little character personalities they make up to amuse eachother during the long hours on set. There is Turly (Amanda) and Minnie (Teryl) who are hair dressers with southern accents and who you get the impression probably wear too much makeup, big floral prints and gossip under the hair dryer with their customers . Seems Minnie has a number of beauty catastrophes but "does a mean set of frosted tips". And then there's Turtle (Teryl) and Gazelle (Amanda). It was funny the expressions AT and TR used to introduce these characters. Teryl took on a shy deeper voice and sort of ducked her head. While Amanda got this huge goofy grin and bobbed her head up and down like someone who is *way* too happy and a little oblivious to the world. It seems these personas came to them during the filming of The Curse. When Janet Fraiser shows up for the scene where she's traveling she's got this hat and pack on and it made AT laugh and announce that she looks just like a turtle. Teryl thought this was funny saying she felt like a turtle and then she looked at AT and said, "If I'm a turtle what animal are you?" "Hm..." "I think you're a gazelle." Teryl said. And Amanda said it was astonishing because she had just decided that too. Thus, Turtle and Gazelle were born.

Apparently their little made up characters are very popular among the crew and when things get slow people will even comment. "Gee, we haven't seen Turly and Minnie around here in a while. Where did they get to?" As a sort of demand for their reappearance.

Anyway, the question was put to them about practical jokes on the set. To which both AT and TR looked at each other and then sort of shook their heads saying that most of what they did on set like that they didn't feel right about sharing, especially since most of it was verbal comments and not tricks or anything.

But after thinking about it for a moment Amanda did chip in with a couple of small things. Apparently, RDA and CJ both do fart jokes...a lot.(So much so that every single cast member and crew member mentioned it independently of each other. I might add. Sigh. Typical boys). Also, during her close ups all three of the guys think it's great fun to try to crack AT up. It seems to be a favorite past time of theirs.

Also, she says that Christopher Judge (Teal'c) likes to grab a hold of the back of your uniform when you're having to run around corners so that you end up running in place. (Imagine big hulking Chris grabbing hold of the back of your shirt so all you see is this bobbing gun barrel trying to get around a corner, Amanda described.) Mostly, AT admits, "We just try to crack each other up, or there are dirty hand gestures, or jokes. Also, even though we're the only two "true" military ones of the team, Rick and I are couple of complete klutzs."

Q-What is your favorite episode/scenes?

A-(AT) "My favorite would have to be Singularity where we get Cassandra, POV with Jack, and just kissing Jack."

A-(TR) "The introduction of Fraiser in Broca Divide, where she goes in to experiment on Jack."

(They look at each other and confer). "The one where we save the base"

Both-"Hathor!"

Seems they both loved that one. TR especially liked the part where Sam gives Fraiser the gun and Fraiser says how she hasn't used one since basic and Sam says she just needs to point it and shoot. Remembering her own expression on that makes TR laugh.

When asked about the character's relationship with each other. They tell how the writer's originally wanted to make Fraiser and Sam rivals but they both put their foot down and said, "No, way. We're not doing it. Why can't these women be friends?" And until the writers started agreeing, they deliberately interpreted scenes in the beg that were supposed to be rivalryish as being between friends. Now, AT says their characters are, "Best friends who are raising Cassandra together."

Someone then asked about the story where Thor smacked Carter on the butt.

AT laughed at this and said that it was while filming Small Victories. She was turning away from the animatronics dummy that's Thor and the handlers had him reach out and smack her butt. Well, "He's so real, I forgot for a moment. And so I just responded automatically and slapped him. But then I felt bad and apologized." She made a face at the fact that she'd just apologized to a dummy. "Then realized what I had done!"

Someone asks what is "puff and ruffle"?

AT explains that Puff and Ruffle is what happens any time a new pretty woman joins the crew. "A little dance goes on with the guys." She mimics puffing out her chest and preening her feathers a bit. Teryl does too. "We now grade them on it." Her and Teryl exchange conspiratorial grins. AT elaborates on each of the guys "technique". "Rick will come up to her and say with concern, "Hey, you look cold? Are you cold? Could somebody get her a jacket. Meanwhile Teryl and I are like...(they mimic freezing arm rubbing beside this new woman and getting completely ignored). And, Michael, well he's more subtle, all he does is walk up to them and those eyes do the rest. (AT melts in her seat). Then there's Chris he shakes their hand and just lays on the charm (AT puts on this huge grin as she mimes shaking someones hand)."

"Even Don does it." (Teryl points out who has been nodding and agreeing with all this.)

"Oh, yes. He'll be walking across the cafeteria, spot our new guest and say, 'My,god, you're a beautiful woman.' and not even break stride." Amanda agrees and mimes someone getting whiplash as they carry their food tray.

What about Anise? Someone asks.

They both look crestfallen. "Me and my lab coat." Teryl says indicating she can't even compete with Anise and her...attributes.

"I have no chest." AT points out, "And wear military clothes and combat boots." She puts on a sharky grin and shakes hands with an imaginary Anise indicating how thrilled she was to meet her. "Hi! How are ya? I carry a gun."

AT continues, "I felt very threatened by her. It was really upsetting and creepy."

Anyway, someone in the audience asks what the Puff and Ruffle was like among the guys on the new actress playing Anise. There was no Puff and Ruffle at all on the guys part for her according to both AT and TR. AT says that the guys kept coming up to them and giving them hugs and telling them over and over again that they were completely supporting AT and TR. They then hastily add, "Oh don't get us wrong the actress who played Anise was lovely it's just...well..."

Next comes the question of where does Sam live. We've seen everyone else's place.

AT makes an "I know" gesture and says how she's been bugging the writers forever about that. How we never see her go home, "She lives under the stairs of the SGC with the other science geeks." She jokes. The writers have simply told her that she's got a place somewhere. "Well, why don't we show it some time?" "Why?" They ask. "Well, we've shown Jack's place, and Daniel's place, and even Teal'c's room. I kind of want to know what Sam's looks like. What kind of stuff does she have?" But apparently the writers don't see why AT or the rest of us might want that. She sighs and says, "So I've decided that she probably has one of those upscale converted lofts and maybe even a motorcycle."

Someone next asks why Sam never says "yes" to going fishing each time Jack asks. AT laughs and says that the next time her character gets asked she's going to say yes, even if it's not in the script.

A-"I wanted to feminize Sam without being a Tok'ra about it. We all let our hair grow and things over the hiatus and it started out okay. But then it got too long and out of hand. Our airforce consultant looked at it and said, well, 'put up or shut up' is wrong more like 'put up or cut it'. I didn't want to hassle with putting it up, not with going through the gate and missions and things. I was sitting in makeup one day and (the makeup assistant?) came in with a new haircut and I grabbed her elbow and dragged her out to the producer and said, 'This is what I want. Can I cut it this way.' And I did."

Someone asks a question about Emancipation, until Amanda realizes it's about the knife scene she has an "ick" expression on her face. She says, "As for Emancipation. I just want to say, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' (referring to the whole over done, "I am woman here me roar" theme) "But yes, the knife scene was something I did learn. We trained on it for three days. And both I and a stunt double did it. They wouldn't let me do it for the really fast takes though because I'm a klutz and they could just see me falling at the wrong moment when the blade was supposed to be slashing past me."

When asked about the concussion in the elevator, she responds much as Jay did with the fact that they both had reacted much harder than they had in practice causing that. She notes that Jay apologized over and over again for it. "It's funny too. Because I remember being thrown back and the pain and then I literally saw stars. And then, you know that gate effect? (She points to herself). Well, I went through it for real. Everything went kind of black and I sort of did this graceful little slump because I was already in the corner. Afterwards, everyone was hovering over me asking if I was okay and I said, 'Sure. Sure. I'm fine.' And then tried to stand up and it was like, 'whoa' as the room spun. They made me go to the doctor after that."

Q-What are some of your favorite scenes that you've done with MS?

A-(AT) FIAD, the pen scene. It didn't actually come out the way I expected, but Michael does emotions so well and so deeply that it came out better than I thought.

"Also, the scene with Machello when he's dying. And Fire & Water when we thought he was dead. He wasn't even there and yet his presence was so powerful that it felt like he was. (She laughs, realizing these are all very serious scenes.) I guess I like crying with him."

(TR puts in at this point.) "I like fixing him."

[Everyone in the room laughs..]

"How's the scar?" (Someone in the audience shouts.)

"Very soft." Teryl responds.

The next person comments to AT that she does the techno language stuff very well. Makes it very believable and asks is it hard to do?

Amanda replies, "No. But that's because I actually take the time to learn what she's saying. I figure it out in layman's terms and then sort of translate it. That way it's not just memorizing stuff but rather I understand what it is I'm saying."

A question is asked about whether she had any training on how to do things the proper military way.

Amanda replies that in the beginning (she throws an apology to Tom their Airforce consultant who is sitting in the front row) an ex-Navy Seal, named Marshal Teague, who taught her a bunch of stuff about how to hold her gun and deal with all the tiny things like the different packs and pockets on their outfits. Then they have an airforce advisor look over each script and they have Tom check and make sure they're doing things right. Also, their gun expert who has military experience makes certain their fingers and stuff are all in the right places when they're shootingor using weapons.

Next she is asked about what she would like to have explored in her character that hasn't yet been done. She says, "What I like is that we're not stereotypes. Sam struggles between being a soldier and a scientist. She has to be loyal to a chain of command and still fulfill her needs as a scientist. I would like to explore Jolinar more. And I would also like to see how Sam is dealing with killing Martouf. How does it affect Sam to have killed him? She's a soldier and has killed before but still...When she lies her head down at night what is she thinking? How does she deal with it?"

Someone next asks her about how she gets along with the others in the cast.

"Growing pains and sibling rivalries aside, we've grown together and are just blessed with a great bunch of people."

Next someone asks Teryl about Dr. Fraiser's background. She responds that we know that Dr. Fraiser is divorced, and what kind of ex she has from the description in Hathor, that she's raising a child with the help of Sam. Then she said that she believed, "Fraiser is driven by a need to prove herself. I see her as growing up like me, in an Air Force home, and being similar in how I needed to prove myself to my father. Also, I love her compassion. It's what makes her different from the other doctors. It makes me cry at the end of Holiday, when Machello says to them, 'Thank you for my holiday.' It's that sense of compassion in that moment that I feel in her. Also, I think there's a mischievous side that allows Fraiser to get out of stuff smoother than might otherwise be the case."

Also, found out that the hallway scene in Urgo was added at the last moment as mentioned above. The two of them confirming how funny it was getting the take for that scene and agreeing it's one of their all time favorites.

The panel wrapped up with one last question from the audience. Amanda's husband snuck in and got the microphone as if he was going to ask a question but actually he was there to wish her a Happy Anniversary, which made her go all teary eyed.

Impressions- When you first see him there are 2 things that strike you. First, my goodness he has a great smile. The guy is constantly smiling with such good humor and laughter that you wonder how in the world he manages the pouty frown as Teal'c. The second thing you notice is he is very big. Not just tall. But big. He looks like the whole football team. But what's interesting is though he towered over all of us and especially Teryl Rothery, he "fits" next to Amanda Tapping. They look proportional side by side with her being so tall. I bet seeing all four of the gang lined up must be great.

Also, the first thing CJ does it would seem to each fan audience is play Simon Says. He seems to think it's hysterical that he can get all these people to do what he wants. But he doesn't tell you he's playing Simon Says. He just has everyone stand up. Then does it. We all caught on real quick. But people still messed up because you're not expecting to be playing the game and aren't paying attention to it and more to him.

He also commented. "You guys are rowdy. I like that." Because the crowd was very participatory all weekend.

Anyway, the first thing the audience asked Chris is about jokes on the set. He says the cast isn't into as much physical humor that it’s mostly the teamsters who do that, but rather they mostly just rib each other.

However, he did relate the infamous "bear story" where the cast and crew tricked him into thinking there was a bear and scared him (since he's from Los Angeles he admits that there isn't much wild life down here except what you see on Sunset Strip and so when he'd been golfing and seen a bear for the first time out in Vancouver he'd sort of tripped out and told everyone about it. Needless to say they took advantage of that when out on location one day and tricked him into thinking there was a live bear by having a crew member dress up in a furry coat.)

CJ said yes, that the small smiles and emotions he's now exhibiting are a deliberate and natural progression. He wanted to have Teal'c have more emotions. Since he reminded the audience Teal'c is human. He only lacked emotions before because "he had so many things he had to take care of. He was in the wrong head space for it. Plus...he's had sex which makes him smile more."

He says he was very worried in the beginning when he first started doing Teal'c. He asked Michael Shanks and Jay Acavone, "Do you think anyone will get what I'm doing?" He explained that an actor fears stillness and silence and that was what Teal'c was all about. But that MS reassured him that, "Sure they will." And over time he's become very comfortable with it. And that, " Now this season I think he's almost talked too much." And then he adds, "Because everyone is used to him not saying much now when he says *anything* it automatically becomes important."

So he's toned down the scowling. "The last episode Teal'c really scowls in is Urgo. And Dom was relentless. His goal was to make Teal'c laugh. Which is why I'm not in the episode much. Especially in the pie eating scene. There wasn't enough footage where I was keeping a straight face." He gets reflective for a moment, "Actually I think that first year there was too much of the scowl. I go back and look at the expression and think, 'Nobody can be in *that* bad of a mood all the time.' He looks like he's constipated."

Somebody asked a question about whether he feared Stargate might be the pinnacle of his career. Does he think he'll be type cast? Christopher responded that he didn't think so and that he was even now working on a special project for the future. Unfortunately, for the project to ever get off the ground would pretty much require him to be a part of it full time and so is not feasible right now.

What's his favorite episode? The Nox. "I think the Nox taught us something. It says who are we to decide for someone else how they should live their lives. It's a great learning episode."

Someone asks about One False Step, (one of our tour bus guides was an "alien" from that episode and said that the guys had played baseball with the white plants). Who started the baseball playing? Chris admits it was RDA who he calls Rick. "He is the biggest kid I've ever met. And he's got so much energy. I don't know where he gets it from. He's usually the one that starts the ball playing."

This naturally falls into the question of how does he see Teal'c and Jack's relationship. "O'Neill and I are bit antagonistic. Both are macho. Both are alpha males. When they are not engaged in battle together as comrades there is a sort of a strain. But I think we've also shown scenes showing how much they actually care for each other too."

Q-How was it playing each other in Holiday.

A-Chris smiles, and says "Rick calls me to his motor home mansion and sort of sits me down. He tells me, 'Well, just thought we should talk about this episode. I mean we don't want to have too much fun during it. After all there is a serious element to it.' " Chris says he just looked at him (he'd figured out what this was really about) and said, "You don't want me using all your ticks do you?" To which RDA replied, "No, because it's not fair. *You* don't have any!"

And he also mentions how he went home with a whole stack of episodes that he was going to re-watch to study his mannerisms and says that he had so much stuff he could do on O'Neill after only a half hour that he didn't need to watch any more.

Note-It was around now that Lia (spelt?) called on Chris' cell phone. I believe he said Lia was his girlfriend. She was calling to give him an update on his daughter (age 3) Katrina Jasmin. Turns out Chris has 3 kids ages (9, 5, and 3). It was very funny. He answered the phone and talked to her while up on stage. We could hear everything he said. He even had the audience call, "hello" and "goodbye" to her.

He later points out that having the cell phone go off during rehearsal is a big no-no. That they're a really laid back group, but it's the one thing that sparks off everyone's sense of irritation. And that one day during rehearsal his pants started ringing. (Seems he always keeps the cell phone close because he likes his daughters to be able to check in with him. Sometimes they just want to call him up to say, "Hi, Barney's on." Click. But he says that he loves that and wouldn't miss it for the world.) Anyway, he hears it ringing and everyone gets that look on their face and they're trying to figure out who it is and CJ puts this big scowl on his and starts accusing people all the while knowing it's him. He then tries to sneak out into the hall and answer it, but gets busted. Whoops! (I think he said it was Brad Wright that caught him.)

Next, someone asked about the Teal'c and Daniel friendship and whether it was true that he and MS were friends in real life as well. CJ replied that he and MS were definitely best friends and even went on trips together, but in a strictly heterosexual way he hastily added. They love to play golf and take trips and ski. He then added that, "Secrets is one of my favorite episodes. It shows the depth of caring between the two characters. There isn't a lot of interaction between them in the show and I think this episode shows how much Teal'c thinks of him. Also, there is something so poignant about the Daniel and Sha're arc. It really touches me."

Q-Window of Opportunity-Was the golf originally a part of the script?

A-Chris says, no. That it was added at the last minute by Brad Wright and that there had been rumors about it all day on the set but he didn't know anything about it until he came into his trailer and saw the clothes and golf stuff waiting for him. "I kept every one of those golfing outfits!" Then when asked about WOO and what he would have had Teal'c do without consequences. CJ just gets a sly grin on his face and says that it's a good thing they're on cable.

Someone in the audience then commented that MS is directing this week and how was that going? Chris grins and says he was giving him a really hard time, then he gets serious and says that Double Jeopardy is a the second biggest they've ever done since the pilot and that even seasoned directors would have a hard time on it.

Chris then goes on to say how MS has worked nonstop on it and that he called him last night at 1 AM to see how it was going. "I called Shanks last night at 1 AM to say, 'What's up?'"

Then he plays a sleepy Shanks, "Huh? Did I oversleep? I'm late for work! (pause, bewildered tone). Why's it still dark outside?" Chris starts laughing and says how it took a good five minutes for him to explain it was one in the morning and not the afternoon. "Michael it's 1 AM not 1 PM. That's why it's still dark outside. Everybody's still asleep."

"It is?"

Chris laughs. "He was so beat."

Audience member shouts out. "You think he'll ever speak to you again." Chris laughs again and says, "Best thing about being my friend is that every ten minutes you're (he's ?) not speaking to me."

Someone asks about the magic fingers bed in Point of No Return. Chris says he had no idea that it was a real one. That he thought the tech guys were going to make it work and so he nearly jumped out of his skin when the bed started moving on its own after he put the quarters in. After that he used up several rolls of quarters on it.

At this point, someone in the audience was talking and had the hiccups. CJ stopped everything. This beautiful smile crosses his face and he says. "Is that the hiccups? I *love* the hiccups. There's something so cool about your body doing stuff that you can't control." He leans forward and watches avidly like it's a major sporting event.

Someone asks for it and he recounts the well known story of how he and AT and MS all met during their screen tests. And how they were the only ones in the room that ended up bonding and becoming friends while anxiously waiting for hours and that there was just a natural rapport between them. But that when they left they had no idea if any of them would get it. And so when they showed up for work and saw it was all three of them out of that roomful of people they just knew it was destiny. So they dubbed themselves The Three Amigos. He then adds as a side note that that is the most filmed shot on the show. A close of RDA and then he makes a gesture of the director waving his hand and says some technical film term, "And the three of you guys."

A-Chris-"You ever look back at school prom pictures and think, 'My god what was I thinking?!' I was so desperate to have hair that I went for whatever they would give me. But I was *so* sick of it 2 or 3 episodes into this season. It was awful. We had to bleach it every day and it got so bad that little bits of it were falling out and (he makes faces like he really *really* hated the thing). Then when BW came to me, when we were getting ready to film BTS, he was really worried. 'Uh, Chris. We don't think the work camp would let you keep it. So we want you to shave it off.' I think he was expecting me to be really upset and argue because I had made such a big deal about wanting hair. But I walked over and hugged him. (You get the impression this shocked the living daylights out of BW.) (Chris shakes his head over the whole goatee fiasco.) I like to think it was a baaaad nightmare and didn't ever happen."

Next up someone asks about why he would have left SG-1 in Crossroads. "I think it is worth any sacrifice to keep true love. This was a case of a true love having gotten away from Teal'c and now getting the opportunity to regain it. I think he would have still worked with the SGC and been available to help them on missions when things got too difficult for them, but he would be with her."

He's also asked if it's true that he did an episode of MacGyver. He laughs and says they have a saying on the set that, "If you're alive and an actor you've done an episode of MacGyver." This is apparently because EVERYONE on the show practically has some connection to it. And, yes, he did do a MacGyver early in his career.

Q-So what does Teal'c do in his spare time?

A-Chris says how he's been trying to figure that out to. After all it can't *all* be Kel'noreem all day long. He says that he thinks that if you were ever to pan down from that serious meditation expression on the screen you'd see that Teal'c is actually playing Game Boy when he's supposed to be meditating. Also, "'I get the scripts and it says Teal'c runs in from the hall. Teal'c runs into the embarkation room. Teal'c comes into the briefing room.' And I keep thinking, where is Teal'c running in from? The only answer that's come to me so far is the bathroom."

Someone next asks Chris about his favorite scotch since he's a big scotch drinker. They talk about it for a moment and then he smiles. "Okay, we've talked about scotch, golf, and sex so far. (He sighs.) All three of my favorite things. Heaven!"

Chris was next asked if it was harder to react to stuff on screen that wasn't there (the CGI) or to things that were there that he was supposed to pretend weren't (namely MS in Crystal Skull).

Chris responded that in the beginning the CGI was tough because you didn't know what was there. He gives an example of Thor's Chariot and how in the scene where the 4 of them are walking out and look up at the end to see the Asgard ship arrive. "We were told. Okay, up there is the big ship. It comes out of the clouds. It zaps the people down there and there. It zaps the pyramids." He says so you're just reacting to this picture of this single ship and a few people in your head. And so we do this (he makes facial gestures along with ho-hum sounds) "Hm...a ship, people, people, pyramid. Yawn. Yep." "But when we got it back and saw the special effects. It was like this HUGE massive thing and these armies of people and there we are responding like it's hardly any big deal." It was terrible.

"Michael was so upset. He came into my trailer and literally destroyed it." Chris mimics MS. "Look at us! We don't deserve to be actors. This is crap. Absolute crap." (Chris puts his head in his hands like this is tormenting MS how bad they must be.) He goes on to add that now the art department gives them sketches and the production crew tells them in much greater detail what they're supposed to be seeing and then they just magnify the mental image that comes to mind by 10 and then the reactions seem to come out okay and so it's gotten much easier.

In fact it's harder to react to stuff that is there and isn't supposed to be such as in Crystal Skull, he adds. "Especially when Michael is saying stuff under his breath and you're supposed to be pretending he's not there."

"Also, in the briefing room scene where the grandfather is supposed to be telling us what he's saying and we're supposed to be pretending we can't hear him. Well, we must have done that take a dozen times because every one of us kept forgetting and turning to him (MS) and going, 'What?' " Chris shakes his head ruefully remembering it.

He also comments on how his acting style is very different from MS's. "See MS and AT are Shakespearian trained. They're theater trained, while I'm from LA where we mostly go with tv and movies so we prepare very differently. They'll get their first draft scripts and highlight them and write comments and make notes. They go through it word for word. While, me, I probably shouldn't say this, but it's what a lot of actors do, I just immediately flip to see what parts are Teal'c's. Then the revised script comes out. And they (he shakes his head in amazement) go through the revised one with the original and see what's been changed and make *more* notes. Me, I just toss it aside, 'cause I know there's still a final one coming. Then we get that one and they compare the first, to the second, to the third and make even *more* notes and start asking all these questions and things. (He laughs.) They don't even bother giving the changes to Teal'c anymore. Sometimes the day we're filming is the first time I look at it. I like to be surprised. I like the freshness of feeling the emotion when it's still new for the scene."

Oh, almost forgot. During this a woman in the audience whose family obviously had met CJ previously at Wolf Con and stuff said she'd brought something for him. She hands him a large black t-shirt. On the front in white writing was the words JUNIOR with a big arrow pointing at where the pouch would be. (Note-it looked like a man's shirt and not a maternity shirt.) CJ seemed genuinely delighted by the gift and immediately stripped off his own shirt (exposing his wonderfully naked back to us, lots o' muscles) to don the new shirt and wore it the rest of the time. Needless to say this got lots of catcalls and flashbulbs going off.