Mallozzi: All Atlantis Writers Going To Universe

[Temis the Vorta]

Gurgh, well so much for SG:U. But would a staff of new writers even make a difference? Stargate keeps its budget down by doing everything on the cheap (with only 2M viewers, they can't afford a "real" TV show budget), and good writers wouldn't be cheap to hire so they'd end up with bad ones anyway, just new bad ones.

Just what do think their budget is anyway? Part of the reason why SG1 was cancelled is because it's budget was too high for the ratings it was getting.

I figure the budget is minimal, with the 1-2M viewership level they achieve. Certainly a lower budget than a show that is expected to get w/n the 7-10M range in order to survive, which you see on network TV.

So I take into consideration that they don't have the budget to do better than they have been doing, especially when it comes to hiring the best writing and acting talent. They just can't afford it. Doesn't mean I'm any happier with the results just because I understand why it happens.

And if SG-1 was cancelled for going over budget, that just makes it all the less likely that they'll have the budget to achieve a level of quality higher than their accustomed sub-mediocrity.

They can get fresh, new writers and pay them scale. Everyone has to start somewhere and "good" writers can be an undiscovered talent who aren't going to command big salaries

Someone has to recognize and seek out that new talent, and that certainly hasn't been happening.

Maybe it isn't the budget at all. It's the good old boy network. The current gang of sub-mediocre, burnt-out writers are happier continuing to work with each other than risk being threatened by lower-paid writers who are fifty times better than they are. Hire people like that and sooner or later someone higher up the food chain is going to wonder why the burnt-out hacks are still on the payroll.

But the budget is to blame for the poor acting talent. That's not the good old boy network.

 

[DWF]

Gurgh, well so much for SG:U. But would a staff of new writers even make a difference? Stargate keeps its budget down by doing everything on the cheap (with only 2M viewers, they can't afford a "real" TV show budget), and good writers wouldn't be cheap to hire so they'd end up with bad ones anyway, just new bad ones.

Just what do think their budget is anyway? Part of the reason why SG1 was cancelled is because it's budget was too high for the ratings it was getting.

I figure the budget is minimal, with the 1-2M viewership level they achieve. Certainly a lower budget than a show that is expected to get w/n the 7-10M range in order to survive, which you see on network TV.

So I take into consideration that they don't have the budget to do better than they have been doing, especially when it comes to hiring the best writing and acting talent. They just can't afford it. Doesn't mean I'm any happier with the results just because I understand why it happens.

And if SG-1 was cancelled for going over budget, that just makes it all the less likely that they'll have the budget to achieve a level of quality higher than their accustomed sub-mediocrity.

SG1's budget was around 2 million per ep. and it was an either or deal, either htey lost Atlantis as a series and go with Universe and SG1 DVD movies . So I really don't think they're going to do Universe for less than 2 million per ep. at the very least.

 

[Barbados Slim]

Maybe it isn't the budget at all. It's the good old boy network. The current gang of sub-mediocre, burnt-out writers are happier continuing to work with each other than risk being threatened by lower-paid writers who are fifty times better than they are. Hire people like that and sooner or later someone higher up the food chain is going to wonder why the burnt-out hacks are still on the payroll.

But the budget is to blame for the poor acting talent. That's not the good old boy network.

That's the big problem is Cooper and Wright want to keep their friends employed. They all write together but the problem is it's a team of hacks. Other, bigger showrunners do the same. JJ Abrams works with the same people on everything. Joss Whedon brought back a ton of people from Buffy and Angel for Dollhouse. Difference is, they're all talented writers.

As for acting, that's not budgetary either. BSG is pretty low budget, which is why I think they're smart for pulling the plug after four seasons, when they know it'll get too expensive and creatively may suffer. But it's got a huge recurring/supporting cast and they have tons of talent. That's where casting comes in and Stargate's EPs just don't cast very well. They did a good job with the main cast members but guests and recurrings are pretty Canadian standard.

But it's hand-in-hand. If you're not a great writer, you're not going to develop a character with a distinct voice. Without that distinct voice, you'll not have be as focused in the casting phase. The sides the actor reads won't give them a good idea of the character and the audition is then corrupted. The EP and casting director start caring more about look than performance and next thing you know you got Rainbow Sun Francks.

 

[DWF]

Maybe it isn't the budget at all. It's the good old boy network. The current gang of sub-mediocre, burnt-out writers are happier continuing to work with each other than risk being threatened by lower-paid writers who are fifty times better than they are. Hire people like that and sooner or later someone higher up the food chain is going to wonder why the burnt-out hacks are still on the payroll.

But the budget is to blame for the poor acting talent. That's not the good old boy network.

That's the big problem is Cooper and Wright want to keep their friends employed. They all write together but the problem is it's a team of hacks. Other, bigger showrunners do the same. JJ Abrams works with the same people on everything. Joss Whedon brought back a ton of people from Buffy and Angel for Dollhouse. Difference is, they're all talented writers.

As for acting, that's not budgetary either. BSG is pretty low budget, which is why I think they're smart for pulling the plug after four seasons, when they know it'll get too expensive and creatively may suffer. But it's got a huge recurring/supporting cast and they have tons of talent. That's where casting comes in and Stargate's EPs just don't cast very well. They did a good job with the main cast members but guests and recurrings are pretty Canadian standard.

But it's hand-in-hand. If you're not a great writer, you're not going to develop a character with a distinct voice. Without that distinct voice, you'll not have be as focused in the casting phase. The sides the actor reads won't give them a good idea of the character and the audition is then corrupted. The EP and casting director start caring more about look than performance and next thing you know you got Rainbow Sun Francks.

That's not really accurate, most of the SG1 writers and directors are long since gone and many of the Atlantis writers have only been around for at least five years or less. Vancouver isn't Hollywood and doens't have it's near limitless resources of writers and directors or actors either for that matter. Battlestar Galactica no Canadian writers on their writing staff that I know of.

Still the collective people behind the Stargate shows created two long lasting SF TV shows, which is no mean feat in today's television. And if Universe were out of Sci-Fi's hands I'm sure that it would have a long life.

 

[Hoser]

Crazy.
Stargate, Stargate: DS9 and Stargate: Voyager.

And keeping the writers.
Meh, could be worse.

 

[USS Kongo]

Keeping the exact same writing staff from Stargate: Atlantis to Universe, huh? Hmmm. My hopes for the new series have just dropped sharply.

Sean

 

[Harvey]

I must have missed this thread while I was off-line from the internet last week, but it's nice to see it now. On this news, I find myself torn.

On one hand, the notion that the series is open to much more serialized storytelling than Stargate has previously been invested in (outside of, perhaps, Stargate Atlantis' first season) is a very good idea, especially since the series will be confined to a limited subset of characters.

On the other hand, the idea that all of the Atlantis writers are going to be retained is practically the death knell of this series. Mallozzi and Mullie haven't written a very good script in a long time (at least they're not being involved as executive producers on this series, as far as I've read). They need to be cut loose as soon as possible, unless they significantly rise to the challenge of this new series. But I seriously doubt that will happen, because Stargate has become a good old boys' club of writers in the past few years (and it is still hurting from the loss of Glassner after season three and DeLuise after season ten of SG-1, IMO).

 

[sidious618]

Boy, does this suck. I'm much less interested in seeing this show now.

 

[Kirby]

I'll still watch the show regardless of who's writing it until it just becomes too awful to watch. I've decided that I either have OCD about Stargate, or I just enjoy turning off my brain on Friday nights. I really wish they would have kept a few of the writers and brought in some new ones, but hell, it's their show, and I'm not really paying anything to watch it.

 

[bigdaddy]

So, how long will it take the brave crew to meet another hidden faction of Replicators?

I give it till the mid season two parter.

Nah, they will at least save that for the season finale.

And they don't have to hire "good" writers, hire some new writers no one has heard of and if they do a good job keep them, if not boot them. However it's clear they will never ever fire the bad writers.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Keep the writers, yes. I actually like Joe's wit and story pacing.

Instead of writers, just make sure the producers come up with characters that are actually compelling. On Atlantis, the rotating door of characters entering an leaving is testament to writers not knowing what to do with 'em after their description sheet runs out. That, and don't kill off the popular one for a single good story idea.

Mark

 

[Barbados Slim]

^^
You do realize the writers are the producers. They create the characters, cast the parts and decide who dies of an exploding tumor that they've crafted. Joe is the main cause of your complaints.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Brad Wright and Robert Cooper are the only truly half decent writers on the show and I was truly hoping they would cut away the Mallozzi-led chaff for Universe

I predict the pilot will be OK and the subsequent series bland and lifeless (my general thoughts for Atlantis)


Hugo - I'm sorry. It's just... I react to certain doom in a certain way. It's a bad habit.

 

[Hermiod]

Given that they canceled Atlantis early to make way for this, it's the least they can do.

 

[Jax]

The pilot has been called Air

not filling me with excitement

 

[ATimson]

That's not really accurate, most of the SG1 writers and directors are long since gone and many of the Atlantis writers have only been around for at least five years or less.

Uh... Gero and Binder have been around for exactly five years, starting with Atlantis S1 (albeit as freelancers). Alan McCullough has been around for four years. Everybody else has been around since S1 (Wright/Cooper) or S4 (Mullie/Mallozzi) of SG-1.

As for losing the SG-1 writers--they lost Jonathan Glassner at the end of S3, Katharyn Powers at the end of S4 (though I'm not sure if she was on staff at all after S1), and Damian Kindler (joined S6) at the end of the series. I don't think they ever had anybody else on staff; a few repeat freelancers like Heather E. Ash and Peter DeLouise, but you can't exactly call them "gone" if they were never with the show on a long-term basis anyways.

So the SG-1 writers are hardly "long since gone"--they've only lost one member since the series ended. And if you're talking about the S1-4 staff, not only are half of them still around, but their successors were around on the show longer than they themselves were!

Vancouver isn't Hollywood and doens't have it's near limitless resources of writers and directors or actors either for that matter. Battlestar Galactica no Canadian writers on their writing staff that I know of.

Not all of the Stargate writers are Canadian; at least one of Gero/Binder was participating in the WGA strike.

 

[Harvey]

I think Peter DeLuise was credited as some permutation of a producer early on into SG-1 and all the way to the end of that series.

And I think that all of the Stargate writers on Atlantis at the time of the strike were Canadian--except for Carl Binder, who participated in the WGA strike until it ended.

 

[DWF]

That's not really accurate, most of the SG1 writers and directors are long since gone and many of the Atlantis writers have only been around for at least five years or less.

Uh... Gero and Binder have been around for exactly five years, starting with Atlantis S1 (albeit as freelancers). Alan McCullough has been around for four years. Everybody else has been around since S1 (Wright/Cooper) or S4 (Mullie/Mallozzi) of SG-1.

As for losing the SG-1 writers--they lost Jonathan Glassner at the end of S3, Katharyn Powers at the end of S4 (though I'm not sure if she was on staff at all after S1), and Damian Kindler (joined S6) at the end of the series. I don't think they ever had anybody else on staff; a few repeat freelancers like Heather E. Ash and Peter DeLouise, but you can't exactly call them "gone" if they were never with the show on a long-term basis anyways.

So the SG-1 writers are hardly "long since gone"--they've only lost one member since the series ended. And if you're talking about the S1-4 staff, not only are half of them still around, but their successors were around on the show longer than they themselves were!

Vancouver isn't Hollywood and doens't have it's near limitless resources of writers and directors or actors either for that matter. Battlestar Galactica no Canadian writers on their writing staff that I know of.

Not all of the Stargate writers are Canadian; at least one of Gero/Binder was participating in the WGA strike.

Yeah you just confirmed what I said the Altantis writers have been there for five years or less and if you notice few of the Atlantis writers did much writing for SG1 in the years that they ran together. And only Binder was apart of the writer's strike last season. And my point still stands thye don't have the limitless resources that American studios have in terms of exerienced writers among other things.

 

[Broccoli]

The pilot has been called Air

not filling me with excitement

What's in a name? It is about as nondescript as "Rising".

 

[Barbados Slim]

American studios have in terms of exerienced writers...

First, this is an MGM production. Based here in Century City CA. Second. The world is filled with writers. The hiring process is that a writer has their agent send a spec script, usually an episode of a different series, to the EP/showrunner. Then an interview and hiring if they fit into what the EP wants. This could be someone from anywhere in the world, as long as they're willing to move to where the writers work. In Stargate's case, it's Vancouver. But most shows that are shot in Vancouver (BSG, The L-Word, Smallville, the list goes on) are written out of production offices in Los Angeles.

Most people in this town would easily go through a paid move to Vancouver for a lucrative job on a long-standing TV franchise, even as a stepping stone to someday write on bigger shows or create your own (remember, Whedon started off writing for Rosanne).

Even then, there's far more than ten people that write for television in Vancouver, since it's the film & TV center of Canada.

So, if Cooper & Wright really wanted a fresh take on a Stargate show, he should've ditched the entire group and started anew.

Even Prince had to get rid of the Revolution at some point.