Stargate: Atlantis has been a bonafide science-fiction stronghold since 2004. As the show progresses through its fifth season, the Pegasus Galaxy is changing more than ever. That means a new dynamic for writer and actors alike.

Just ask writer Joseph Mallozzi and Robert Picardo, the actor who portrays Commander Richard Woolsey.

The two were happy to talk about this season, which debuted in early July, at length. In fact, I could probably describe the majority of the season for you, but I'm no spoiler.

Mallozzi has been writing for the show since its inception, but Picardo was just recently cast into the action after the sudden exit of actress Amanda Tapping (Colonel Samantha Carter ),  who departed to pursue a new role in the upcoming Sanctuary for the Sci-Fi channel.

“We said ‘Look, we love your character, but you have to make the call,’ and she made the call,” said Mallozzi. "I know it was a hard decision for Amanda and we were sorry to see her go.”

Picardo is confident that his character offers up enough depth to keep the audience intrigued despite the show’s loss. “There’s always the hope that she’ll come back and make guest appearances on the show and that the audience will enjoy watching me in the role, developing it...they get to see a character who’s not really cut out to be a leader try to build himself into one.”

It can’t hurt that Picardo is a science fiction veteran. Before Stargate: Atlantis, he spent seven years as “The Doctor” on Star Trek: Voyager. Rather than a fear of being typecast, Picardo thinks this experience will be great for the fans.

“Because the fan base is so loyal, they like seeing an actor that they know from one show take on another role in another of their favorite shows,” he explained.

Plus, while they’re both sci-fi shows, nobody could really mix up Stargate: Atlantis with Star Trek: Voyager. “Atlantis – I think, does action/adventure extremely well, but most importantly, to me, it has this sort of breezy humor, this ability to wink at the genre that Star Trek cannot have,” said Picardo.

And... his uniform is snazzy! “It’s kind of like a jogging suit. I do feel like I should break out into a run down the hallway, but I do like it. And it also has some slight leisure suit tendencies, too. I feel a little bit like an escapee from a late Seventies, early Eighties movie,” Picardo said. “But I look okay in it. I’m...it’s very good to have a trim butt in science fiction. I’ll leave it at that.” 

With this ability, Stargate has managed to keep itself fresh over the years initiating clever, stylized episodes that can be enjoyed no matter what genre the viewer prefers. This season, the writers are trying another new twist.

“We do our funny episodes. We do our serious episodes; the off-world episodes; the ship-based episode. And, you know, I just realized that we’ve never really done a horror episode,” Mallozzi said.

While horror and science fiction usually doesn’t amount to a sparkling success, Mallozzi reassures us that his love of horror and experience writing for the show will produce an excellent, horrific episode -- not a cheesy monster mini-movie.

We’ve also have reassurance from Picardo, who was disappointed not to be involved in the episode, but he’s still content, considering he’s had a good fill of work in the horror genre.

“You know, I’m one of very few actors who has pulled a bullet out of his brain on camera,” he reminded us.

Horror isn’t the only trick up the writers’ collective sleeves. How about a new alien race?

“I love the look of this race and we only used them in episode four, but they are a race that I would love to bring back,” Mallozzi dished. “And in fact, we’re already discussing the possibility of bringing them back as well.” Hint,hint...

“We go season by season really,” he explained. “It’s not like a bigger game plan in terms of several seasons down the line. At the end of every season, we leave with usually our season cliffhanger and we kind of have more or less an idea of where we want to pick things up with the first episode. We’re really not that much beyond that.”

This method came in handy when Rachel Luttrell, the actress who portrayed Teyla, announced her pregnancy. Rather than minimize her role, or shoot her scenes around the pregnancy as if it were not happening, the writers were able to add in a storyline in which Teyla has a baby of her own.

“There’s an instance where the infant is threatened but it only comes later on in the season - the back half of the season,” Mallozzi said. “Up until then, it’s really more of a struggle. We’re kind of exploring the struggle that I guess Teyla has to go through as a mother and an off-world adventurer.”

Perhaps it’s this new role as mother that allows Teyla to open up to Commander Woolsey. As Picard will tell you, Woolsey is not an easy man to deal with.

“Although he still has kind of insufficient people skills perhaps to be a leader, he’s developing them now that he’s assumed command,” he said. “I think there’s something inherently interesting in the Monday morning quarterback, the guy who sits at one end of the briefing room and tells everyone what they should’ve done and how they’ve screwed up.”

In reality, Picardo gets along extremely well with his fellow cast members. However, this close bond can be tricky in a professional environment, especially when he’s around David Hewlett (better known as Dr. McKay).

“It’s very rare that I work with an actor where I’m afraid I’m going to, you know, I’m going to break out laughing during a take. But he is as close as I get to making me lose it.”

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jessie   |2008-08-09 10:15:58 Yes - that looks like it is going to be a great episode. I find it interesting watching his character shift from a person that is strict to follow the rules, to someone that is now breaking some of those same rules himself. Reply 0   1

Morjana  - http://morjana-subductionleadstoorogeny.blogspot.c   |2008-08-09 02:41:53 Thank you for your article. Looking forward to 'Ghost in the Machine' on August 15th! Reply 0   1

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