Picardo on 'Stargate: Atlantis'

TrekToday · June 18 2008, 09:32 PM

Taking a character who is not a leader and turning him into one will be a challenge for Robert Picardo.

As reported by newsarama.com, Picardo's initial enthusiasm for his new job was tempered with a bit of caution due to how the character had already been established. "Frankly, when they hired me for the job, I went 'Oh God, that's interesting!'," said Picardo. "Of course I love working here. I love the company. I'm treated beautifully and I love coming to Vancouver. So all the outside things were like 'Yes, yes, of course I want to do it!' Then there was a little voice going 'Wait a minute! You've set this guy up as kind of an annoyance, a bit of a prig. I come in and evaluate you so you all better watch out and be on your best behavior! I'm going to find out who screwed up!' Now suddenly he's the guy in charge and he's a briefing room guy. He's a think tank personality. Woolsey is not a leader. He evaluates other leaders. He's got a terrific legal mind, he knows the military rule book, knows all the rules about protocol, eliminating collateral damage, and acceptable losses but he doesn't make decisions. Woolsey just comes in and tells you how you screwed up."

In addition, Woolsey is not the bravest of men. "I thought it was very interesting but we've also set up that he's not terribly courageous," said Picardo. "We had great comic mileage in the SG-1 episode 'The Swarm', where Woolsey is running away faster than anybody else. So we had set up certain precedents that I was a little concerned about because I didn't want to suddenly become a different character. But on the other hand, I thought if the writers are choosing to do this, it's for the exact reason to put someone in charge who's not a born leader, to see what happens, how he develops, and how he's accepted."

Picardo also spoke about the differences between working on Stargate: Atlantis and Star Trek: Voyager. "There's a kind of freewheeling humorous, we're winking a little at the genre thing, that they do on 'Stargate' very well," he said. "'Star Trek' tends to take itself a little too seriously. They were either very dramatic shows, or if we did a humorous show, it was always a little like 'Oh, we're doing humor on 'Star Trek',' especially on the original series. I shouldn't say this in print but it was always a little painful when they were funny on 'Star Trek'. My character on 'Voyager', because of the way he was presented, I could go either way. I could be a real buffoon, a windbag, be self-involved, and we could get a lot of comic mileage from him. However, the audience accepted me with gravity when I was in a dire situation so they would follow me in comic or dramatic stories. What I like about this show is they do both at the same time."

To read more, head to the article located here. Thanks to Trekweb for the story.

Temis the Vorta · June 18 2008, 09:39 PM

Sounds interesting, but isn't that basically McKay's character arc? Not that McKay is making much progress on his arc. I guess this is another example of how secondary characters are allowed to develop because the writers don't want to muss up the dynamic between main characters, so the secondary characters end up being more interesting.

Mr. Laser Beam · June 19 2008, 01:08 AM

I don't know why he's so surprised that Star Trek takes itself seriously. Of course it does. That's part of what *makes* it Trek (and why I like it so much).

Broccoli · June 19 2008, 02:33 PM

Babaganoosh wrote:

I don't know why he's so surprised that Star Trek takes itself seriously. Of course it does. That's part of what *makes* it Trek (and why I like it so much).

I don't think he was surprised. He was asked what the differences between the two shows were.

Pioneer · June 19 2008, 07:02 PM

It will be interesting to see how this "Woolsey as Leader" thing plays out.

Mr. Laser Beam · June 20 2008, 01:43 AM

Pioneer wrote:

It will be interesting to see how this "Woolsey as Leader" thing plays out.

How many 'leaders' has SG:A had, anyway?

That must not be a very popular posting, if they keep clearing out like that. What's this, the third? Fourth?

AntonyF · June 20 2008, 08:09 AM

And he is right that Star Trek said "Let's do a humour episode this week" rather blatantly.

But SG1 has its humour music. So they may have it within a dramatic episode, but every time the comedy character comes on screen you have to have that bombastic comedy music.

Oh, and I think he's trying to guess why they want him on SGA, but they probably don't know. Talk about lurching from one problem to another over the last year. It's turning into Andromeda. We just need to radically change a female character now and it's done.

Temis the Vorta · June 20 2008, 09:25 PM

Oh, and I think he's trying to guess why they want him on SGA, but they probably don't know.

The one thing Stargate excels at is glomming into fan favorites from other series to shoehorn into their shows. I just wish some better sf/f shows out there would start grabbing the Browders, Trinneers, Picardos, Pileggis, etc of the world.

Not to mention the BSG cast, who will be at liberty soon. If I see any of them on Stargate, I'm throwing my TV out the window. (This time, I'm serious.

).

Not that I begrudge them the paycheck of course. I'd blame the people who weren't hiring them.

DWF · June 21 2008, 12:43 PM

Temis the Vorta wrote:

Oh, and I think he's trying to guess why they want him on SGA, but they probably don't know.

The one thing Stargate excels at is glomming into fan favorites from other series to shoehorn into their shows. I just wish some better sf/f shows out there would start grabbing the Browders, Trinneers, Picardos, Pileggis, etc of the world.

Not to mention the BSG cast, who will be at liberty soon. If I see any of them on Stargate, I'm throwing my TV out the window. (This time, I'm serious.

).

Not that I begrudge them the paycheck of course. I'd blame the people who weren't hiring them.

Aaron Douglas, Grace Park and Tahmoh Pennikett were all on Stargate SG1 long before there was a new Battlestar Galactica.

Temis the Vorta · June 23 2008, 12:07 AM

DWF wrote:

Temis the Vorta wrote:

Oh, and I think he's trying to guess why they want him on SGA, but they probably don't know.

The one thing Stargate excels at is glomming into fan favorites from other series to shoehorn into their shows. I just wish some better sf/f shows out there would start grabbing the Browders, Trinneers, Picardos, Pileggis, etc of the world.

Not to mention the BSG cast, who will be at liberty soon. If I see any of them on Stargate, I'm throwing my TV out the window. (This time, I'm serious.

).

Not that I begrudge them the paycheck of course. I'd blame the people who weren't hiring them.

Aaron Douglas, Grace Park and Tahmoh Pennikett were all on Stargate SG1 long before there was a new Battlestar Galactica.

And I was thinking of...none of them!

Douglas is good. Park and Penikett could fall off a cliff for all I care.

June 18 2008, 09:32 PM	#1
TrekToday Rear Admiral	Picardo on 'Stargate: Atlantis' Taking a character who is not a leader and turning him into one will be a challenge for Robert Picardo. As reported by newsarama.com, Picardo's initial enthusiasm for his new job was tempered with a bit of caution due to how the character had already been established. "Frankly, when they hired me for the job, I went 'Oh God, that's interesting!'," said Picardo. "Of course I love working here. I love the company. I'm treated beautifully and I love coming to Vancouver. So all the outside things were like 'Yes, yes, of course I want to do it!' Then there was a little voice going 'Wait a minute! You've set this guy up as kind of an annoyance, a bit of a prig. I come in and evaluate you so you all better watch out and be on your best behavior! I'm going to find out who screwed up!' Now suddenly he's the guy in charge and he's a briefing room guy. He's a think tank personality. Woolsey is not a leader. He evaluates other leaders. He's got a terrific legal mind, he knows the military rule book, knows all the rules about protocol, eliminating collateral damage, and acceptable losses but he doesn't make decisions. Woolsey just comes in and tells you how you screwed up." In addition, Woolsey is not the bravest of men. "I thought it was very interesting but we've also set up that he's not terribly courageous," said Picardo. "We had great comic mileage in the SG-1 episode 'The Swarm', where Woolsey is running away faster than anybody else. So we had set up certain precedents that I was a little concerned about because I didn't want to suddenly become a different character. But on the other hand, I thought if the writers are choosing to do this, it's for the exact reason to put someone in charge who's not a born leader, to see what happens, how he develops, and how he's accepted." Picardo also spoke about the differences between working on Stargate: Atlantis and Star Trek: Voyager. "There's a kind of freewheeling humorous, we're winking a little at the genre thing, that they do on 'Stargate' very well," he said. "'Star Trek' tends to take itself a little too seriously. They were either very dramatic shows, or if we did a humorous show, it was always a little like 'Oh, we're doing humor on 'Star Trek',' especially on the original series. I shouldn't say this in print but it was always a little painful when they were funny on 'Star Trek'. My character on 'Voyager', because of the way he was presented, I could go either way. I could be a real buffoon, a windbag, be self-involved, and we could get a lot of comic mileage from him. However, the audience accepted me with gravity when I was in a dire situation so they would follow me in comic or dramatic stories. What I like about this show is they do both at the same time." To read more, head to the article located here. Thanks to Trekweb for the story.

June 18 2008, 09:39 PM	#2
Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Location: Tatoinne	Re: Picardo on 'Stargate: Atlantis' Sounds interesting, but isn't that basically McKay's character arc? Not that McKay is making much progress on his arc. I guess this is another example of how secondary characters are allowed to develop because the writers don't want to muss up the dynamic between main characters, so the secondary characters end up being more interesting.

June 19 2008, 01:08 AM	#3
Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Location: The visitor's bullpen	Re: Picardo on 'Stargate: Atlantis' I don't know why he's so surprised that Star Trek takes itself seriously. Of course it does. That's part of what makes it Trek (and why I like it so much). __________________ It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

June 19 2008, 07:02 PM	#5
Pioneer Captain	Re: Picardo on 'Stargate: Atlantis' It will be interesting to see how this "Woolsey as Leader" thing plays out. __________________ Looking to build Element #137 (Feynmanium)

June 20 2008, 08:09 AM	#7
AntonyF Administrator	Re: Picardo on 'Stargate: Atlantis' And he is right that Star Trek said "Let's do a humour episode this week" rather blatantly. But SG1 has its humour music. So they may have it within a dramatic episode, but every time the comedy character comes on screen you have to have that bombastic comedy music. Oh, and I think he's trying to guess why they want him on SGA, but they probably don't know. Talk about lurching from one problem to another over the last year. It's turning into Andromeda. We just need to radically change a female character now and it's done.

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