I don't mean to put Flanigan down, or say that he's as successful as he'll ever be. But I think that more doors are open for actors from highfalutin TV shows (e.g. Jon Hamm of Mad Men).
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Is Joe Flanigan the worst scifi lead actor ever?
- Thread starter Starfleet Engineer
- Start date
Well, yeah. He was basically the same dude in Warehouse 13 as he was in Stargate anyway.
Blasphemy!
I thought Flanigan was ok in Stargate. Never could get over that hairdo for a supposed military man though.
He and McKay (well Zelenka) were the only things that made SGA watchable.
Granted DH may have better acting chops, but he could not have carried the whole show. That is coming from a lady that loved Rodney.
Kevin Sorbo does win for worst Sci-Fi male lead ever. Andromeda was awful after he took over. It had some promise, but when Rev Bem went out the door....
He and McKay (well Zelenka) were the only things that made SGA watchable.
Granted DH may have better acting chops, but he could not have carried the whole show. That is coming from a lady that loved Rodney.
Kevin Sorbo does win for worst Sci-Fi male lead ever. Andromeda was awful after he took over. It had some promise, but when Rev Bem went out the door....
Nevermind Rev Bem. What about Tyr Anasazi? That was a fantastic character. He was so dastardly machiavellian, jumping back and forth between helping Dylan and stabbing him in the back. And he had some of the best lines in the show (like that one episode where him and Hunt are getting pursued by a group of "inferior" Nietscheans).
The actor who played the role did an amazing job with it. Hell, he apparently got so into it that he put up Tyr's writings online! How many actors put in-character writings of their character online? They were remarkably well thought-out and well-written, too. He obviously had a clear grasp of what being a Nietschean meant, and the inner workings of Tyr's mind. Talk about an asset! No show had ever been so fortunate as to have an actor that skilled and into it on their show. And likewise, no show has ever pissed on an actor like that as badly as Andromeda did.
Nope. I've put it on my Netflix list.
All I know is that Joe Flanigan is Laurence Olivier compared to Jason Momoa. Now I realize he wasn't the lead actor, but damn he was awful...
RobertScorpio
Pariah
I guess you don't remember Jack Webb. And I never quite understood how 24 worked but I do think there's less torture scenes on Stargate Atlantis though.
SG:A doesn't need torture scenes. They torture the audience instead.
LOL!!! that was good...
SGA is just boring to me. We got season one and watched five episodes and..eh...I moved on. JASON OF STAR COMMAND is proving to be a better show already!!!
Rob
This is what I was thinking. I just started catching up to SG:A. I'm on S3 now and he doesn't really "pop" on screen the way many of the characters from SG1 did, but I put the blame more on the writing than the actor. If you look at the situations he's put in and the lines he's given, there's not much "there" for him to work with. He's the action hero dude counterpoint to McKay who sorta wisecracks like O'Neil sometimes, that's about it.
I don't think he's terrible, but I don't think he's any kind of extraordinary talent either.
I'm very impressed with his talent. The writers usually gave him nothing and he often had to coast through entire seasons on charm alone. He & Dr. McKay were the only things that kept that show watchable.
I concur with all the others who say that Kevin Sorbo was the worst. He may have been a decent actor but the show totally went into the toilet when he fired Robert Hewitt Wolfe because his writing was "too clever."
I'm also not a big fan of David Duchovney. He was good whenever he allowed himself to be humorous but mostly he just sleepwalked through The X-Files. Mulder & Scully could be renamed "bland & blander."
I concur with all the others who say that Kevin Sorbo was the worst. He may have been a decent actor but the show totally went into the toilet when he fired Robert Hewitt Wolfe because his writing was "too clever."
I'm also not a big fan of David Duchovney. He was good whenever he allowed himself to be humorous but mostly he just sleepwalked through The X-Files. Mulder & Scully could be renamed "bland & blander."
I had the same problem with Eliza Dushku on Tru Calling. I kept forgetting that she wasn't Faith anymore, so I kept waiting for her to just fight her way out of the problems.
Yeah, he kinda sucks. And while Ben Browder was great on Farscape, he was boring beyond belief on Stargate SG-1. Give me John Sheppard over Col. Mitchell any day.
Does that mean that Flanigan should never be allowed to direct himself?
But yeah, Momoa, while not the lead, was dreadful and entirely devoid of personality. He wasn't even one-note; he was way below that, if possible.
I'm honestly shocked to see no votes for Kirk "Sitcky Fingaz" Jones as Blade. Great source material, terrible acting on a terrible show. The only good part of that show was the delightful Bill Mondy, but even he couldn't keep me around due to his status as a recurring guest (see also: Mark Sheppard on Bionic Woman).
Californication..David is amazing on it.
WHAT?! Duchovney was fantastic; no one else could've played that role. He often seemed bored outside of cases because Mulder was supposed to be bored. And I'd never call Gillian Anderson bland, she's a great actress.
I agree. The hanging will commence at dawn!
I've never been able to watch Buffy, not so much acting but the fake Joss dialogue put me off the show
One of the worst
How about Starbelch and Apollo?
What? You obviously didn't sit through the entire series run of Xena. I haven't liked many of Lawless' later roles and frankly she seems like one of the most scatter-brained, uninvested people in the business, but she CAN act her balls off when she wants to. She has incredible range.
As opposed to Sorbo, who is just cute, bless him.
Insofar as thread subject...I always thought Teyla was the worst. I literally cringed whenever she came on screen.
You're lucky you missed the 80s
Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, and the Man from Atlantis
....or was that the 70s?
Like I said, the man is brilliant when he tries. But "Mulder was supposed to be bored" is not really a defense. Well, maybe it's a defense for Duchovney but certainly not the show. The addition of John Doggett to The X-Files was a much needed shot of adrenaline.
If we can count leading ladies as well, Jayne Heitmeyer was excruciatingly bad as Renee Palmer on Earth: Final Conflict. She was passable in Seasons 3 & 4 when Liam Kincaid was there to carry the show for her. But when she became the sole lead in Season 5, yikes!
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