Robert C Cooper Talks About Changes To Stargate Universe

[DWF]

http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/12/syfy-renews-stargate-universe-sanctuary-season-second-.html

THR: What have you learned over the course of the episodes you've done so far?
Cooper: We think the cast is phenomenal and are just doing a great job bringing the characters to life and embracing the concept of playing multi-dimensional people with flaws. It takes some courage to show a character's negative side. We have a lot of things planned for the second half of the season, which will be a much more serialized show.
THR: Can you give us an idea what to expect?
Cooper: Col. Young has left Rush on the planet. The implications of that, the real division that will cause amongst the crew, the judgment of those characters and the actions are going to have a big impact on the show.
THR: Will you have as many scenes back on Earth?
Cooper: It's certainly been a hot topic of debate. It's very valuable in terms of tying the crew to Earth, and some have suggested the crew should be more isolated. There's also a debate about the moral issue of how the [body swapping] stones are used and whether it's right for a person to do certain things in the body of the another person and that's interesting too. I think there's some value in terms of seeing who they're missing and the political ramifications of the Destiny's mission back on Earth. We're not going to abandon the stones, but the emphasis of the second half of the first season is more heavily weighted to what's going on with the ship.
THR: Seem to me some of the complaints are from either people who want it to be just like previous "Stargate" shows, or more like BSG, and can't seem to appreciate that "Universe" is trying to be it's own thing.
Cooper: It's tough because we're dealing with, in once case, 15 seasons of with a certain fanbase and there are certainly a vocal group of those fans who are unhappy. And anytime you're in a post-"Battlestar" sci-fi world you're going to get measured against it because they've declared that's where the bar is set, and we're just striving to make a good show. Hopefully as it goes on, people will began to appreciate it for being its own thing -- that's all we can hope for. It sometimes takes awhile to overcome those expectations. I can't really be upset that people came to love something I had a part in creating. But as a creative person you have to move on and have to grow. I don't think we could have been successful in the exact same vein as what we did before, we had to evolve.
THR: I've appreciated that the show has been very alien-lite. Will that continue?
Cooper: The show was always intended to be a drama and about people who are struggling to survive. There is a sci-fi element, but it was never going to turn into the "alien of the week." However, there is a big story point coming up that does introduce an alien race that's a very cool CG alien. It's more along the line of a "District 9"-type of alien. Our interaction is handled in a very "Universe" way -- they're not the typical "Stargate" alien bad guys.

It does seem like they've been reading at least one BBS.

 

[OmahaStar]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

So were all the grammatical mistakes from the interviewer's side, or was this sort of an email-based interview?

 

[Brent]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

I like this

We're not going to abandon the stones, but the emphasis of the second half of the first season is more heavily weighted to what's going on with the ship.

and looking forward to this

here is a big story point coming up that does introduce an alien race that's a very cool CG alien. It's more along the line of a "District 9"-type of alien. Our interaction is handled in a very "Universe" way -- they're not the typical "Stargate" alien bad guys.

 

[Lindley]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

Would have been happier if he had been more willing to acknowledge the criticisms. Several of them are valid.

 

[DWF]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

Would have been happier if he had been more willing to acknowledge the criticisms. Several of them are valid.

I thought he did without giving away any spoilers though.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

Personally, I'm glad they don't sound gunshy about the direction they've taken.

 

[PG15]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

Note that he's mainly talking about the 2nd half of the first season, which was already pretty much in the bag by the time the show premiered.

 

[sidious618]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

Would have been happier if he had been more willing to acknowledge the criticisms. Several of them are valid.

I thought he did.

 

[Kaijima]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

The problem that Universe faces is that it's a "disruptive" entry in the franchise. It backs up and reboots the way that Stargate is executed (not the continuity of the Stargate universe). Such a disruption will always cause a lot of prior fans to feel betrayed and also to claim that the new style is inferior to the old one because it doesn't contain every element they've grown to identify with.

But the secret is that Universe may - and this seems to be happening - reach out to a new audience who weren't interested in Stargate or who didn't like how Stargate had become built up and locked in to a particular style.

Universe dispenses with a lot of staples, such as mostly episodic stories, aliens of the week, a new planet or location every week (part of the adventure aspect of Stargate) and focuses on interpersonal drama. For a lot of people this will be seen as refreshing and intriguing; those who didn't like how much Stargate was like Star Trek in those regards.

The trick of course, is not alienating the majority of the existing fans. So far it seems Universe hasn't really been doing that - only the "hardcore" fans are truly upset, the people who must have their favorite show be produced one way and one way only.

 

[DWF]

Well they are getting new writers as well next season.

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com...ebrity-skinflints-pooch-pictures-the-mailbag/

TBA writes: “- Are there any new writers on board for season 2?
- Any changes in the tone/style/storytelling/main cast?
- I’m still hoping that the Trust or Kinsey pops up again… Any chances on that happening?”
Answer: Yes to the new writers and no to the Trust or Kinsey. As for tone/style/storytelling/main cast – there are plenty of developments in the back half of the season that will carry over into season two.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

The problem that Universe faces is that it's a "disruptive" entry in the franchise. It backs up and reboots the way that Stargate is executed (not the continuity of the Stargate universe). Such a disruption will always cause a lot of prior fans to feel betrayed and also to claim that the new style is inferior to the old one because it doesn't contain every element they've grown to identify with.

Frankly, I don't think this darker tone would have been so disruptive had that been the direction they had taken with Atlantis. Especially since SG-1 & Atlantis were on at the same time for several years, it might have been easier for them if they'd decided to run 2 parallel tracks with SG-1 as the light show & Atlantis as the dark show. But since SG-1 & Atlantis were nearly identical in their lightness, they created a rut that is much more difficult for the franchise to get out of.

 

[Corran Horn]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

The problem that Universe faces is that it's a "disruptive" entry in the franchise. It backs up and reboots the way that Stargate is executed (not the continuity of the Stargate universe). Such a disruption will always cause a lot of prior fans to feel betrayed and also to claim that the new style is inferior to the old one because it doesn't contain every element they've grown to identify with.

Agreed. It's a more serious and realistic Stargate series (if you can apply realism to Stargate) and because of that the presence of SG-1/Atlantis O'Neill and his normal O'Neill-ness shows you just how unrealistic O'Neill had gotten towards the end of SG-1 and Atlantis. It just doesn't fit anymore.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

And frankly, I prefer a bit more lightness in my sci-fi escapism. I don't want Stargate turning into Galactica. Hell, I was sick of Galactica being Galactica after a couple seasons. The problem with sci-fi, or any fiction for that matter, trying to do a "realistic" exploration of how humanity reacts to extreme disasters is that the results are almost never entertaining. The moral of the stories seem to be, "Humans become contemptible pricks when faced with insurmountable adversity." Perhaps that's true, but it's not entertaining. And even if it is true, can we learn anything from that?

 

[Agent Richard07]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

And frankly, I prefer a bit more lightness in my sci-fi escapism. I don't want Stargate turning into Galactica. Hell, I was sick of Galactica being Galactica after a couple seasons. The problem with sci-fi, or any fiction for that matter, trying to do a "realistic" exploration of how humanity reacts to extreme disasters is that the results are almost never entertaining. The moral of the stories seem to be, "Humans become contemptible pricks when faced with insurmountable adversity." Perhaps that's true, but it's not entertaining. And even if it is true, can we learn anything from that?

"Realistic" doesn't have to mean contemptable characters. It just means being authentic. You get a real exploration of an issue as opposed to just a fun ride. A fun ride is good, but so is a more in-depth "what if" scenario. Some of us want shows that provide that alternative and I'm glad that the Stargate franchise is giving it a try (for the first time since the 1994 movie of course).

 

[joVuNik]

Re: Robert C Cooper Talks About Chamges To Stargate Universe

But the secret is that Universe may - and this seems to be happening - reach out to a new audience who weren't interested in Stargate or who didn't like how Stargate had become built up and locked in to a particular style.

That's how it is for me. I watched the original movie way back when, but just could not get into SG1 and didn't even look at Atlantis. When I saw SGU's trailer, it looked intriguing and I have not been disappointed. I'm liking the direction of this show as opposed to its predecessors.

It helps that my brother is a hardcore fan of anything Stargate so if I do have questions (watching SGU) i can ask him lol!

 

[Michael_One]

I'd like to see SG:U get back to the sense of wonder, like when Destiny refueled at that star.

I'm tired of Dr. Rush and his manipulations and lies; its almost as if he's nuBSG Baltar except without the sex appeal. By now Col. Young would have locked him up somewhere.

 

[SheliakBob]

Well. I'm guardedly optimistic. I'd become deeply bored of the show and thought the stones thing was already over-used and the limited time for interaction with any given planet is a built in rut. But at least "Justice" wound up going somewhere interesting. Heck, I'll admit it, it even surprised me. I'm interested enough in where that goes to tune into the next episode for reasons beyond, "It's what's on SyFy right now".
And ALIENS! It's about frikkin' time. To be honest, I'm bored with these people. I don't really care about any of them. Eli and Rush are the only ones that I can even remember the names of off the top of my head. That's how little I care about the rest. And I don't particularly like Eli or Rush.

This show is never going to make it into my list of SF tv that I am a fan of. It's like a new "Space Above and Beyond". Watchable while it's on. Forgettable when it's not.

Damn. I do miss Atlantis! Now that was a fun show! Flawed, but fun.

 

[Broccoli]

I'm tired of Dr. Rush and his manipulations and lies; its almost as if he's nuBSG Baltar except without the sex appeal. By now Col. Young would have locked him up somewhere.

Heh...funny you say that...

 

[Starbreaker]

If they can come up with concepts as good as Time, I'll be happy. As it is, it's something that's not must watch for me, but I am enjoying it to a degree.

 

[Kpnuts]

I love how these guys ALWAYS in interviews refer to other series/movies when making comparisons with SGU or an upcoming plot/alien on SGU. Why the District 9 comparison? Can't you guys think for yourselves without the need to draw parallels to other shows all the time?