The fan community has been a little polarized about SGU. What do you think is at the bottom of that, honestly?
It's a mix of things. First of all, it's not like it's the first time this ever happened. Daniel Craig got cast as James Bond and before it came out everyone was "He's horrible! He's horrible!" and then it came out and people were like "Oh, he's best Bond ever." Even Robert Pattinson got cast in Twilight and people were all "He's wrong for the role, you're ruining it, you're ruining it" and then it comes out and everyone forgets -- they love him to death now, it's kind of a selective memory, a revisionist history, they don't remember that they hated him before they ever saw it.
And we kind of had that feeling going in. We knew -- and I think Comic-Con was the best example of this, Ming-Na and I were joking, on video I think she has it, where we're like, "I hope we go out there and there's at least five people, sitting out there waiting to hear from us." And they showed the trailer, and we walked out and there were like four thousand. And people were so excited. It's like this trailer alleviated a lot of fears that people had about what it was going to be.
It's just a mix of -- and I'm not claiming to make any decisions -- it's a mix of bad timing in announcing the show [alongside the cancellation of Stargate Atlantis]. And it became a sore spot. People loved the show, and it got taken off the air for whatever reason, and then they had this new direction that they wanted to try. And people kind of needed someone to blame. So they wanted to blame this new show. And I get it. I get that it's an easy target.
But from the beginning I've kind of made a point to say, "We're not trying to replace anyone." We don't want to! I said from the beginning I don't want Eli to be the new McKay, or there's the new Jackson or the new O'Neill. Because I love those characters. And it would never in a million years be even conceivable replacing Hewlett or Shanks or anybody.
I want to expand the family. I want to bring in new fans and old ones as well. I want to explore new stories and push the envelope about what they do and how they do it. And I felt like that's what this show was doing and once the fans watched it, they'd get that idea.
And there's still some nay-sayers, of course. And as I've said to people whom I've met at conventions -- 99 percent of people who walk up to me say they love the show. And, god bless 'em. And then one percent say they don't. And my first question is always, "Did you watch it?" And they say, "I watched six or seven episodes," and I say "Okay! Well then, thank you for giving it a chance. I really appreciate that. And I hope that you find something else that you really like."
It's interesting that you mention pushing the envelope, because some of the concerns beforehand were that it sounded familiar -- gritty like Battlestar, lost in the delta quadrant like Voyager, younger, hotter stars, and so on.
Yeah, and I would say to people too, any show that comes out -- even, as a writer, trust me I know -- there are taglines to the show. It has to be "This meets this meets this." Every show is that. You sell a show, you compare it to other things. If your show is in a school, you compare it to Friday Night Lights or Glee. If you do a show in a police station, it'll be compared to The Shield or Hill Street Blues. It's going to happen. So if you're in space and you're considering something darker and more realistic, you're going to be compared to Battlestar or Firefly. It's the way it is.
And if you compare us to shows that I respect, like Battlestar, I'm like, "Thank you." I consider that a compliment. You kind of have to hope that people feel it and like it for its own entity.
And that's what's most exciting about season 1.5 coming up, is that we're finally getting to the place where people are getting to know SGU as its own show. "This is the tone of SGU," not how it's different from SG-1. Because of that, people are going to start getting really excited about what's happening. And trust me, the first episode or two -- I keep saying it will blow people's minds because it's so cool, and the excitement is ramped up, and it's really interesting to watch what happens -- as a fan, let alone somebody who's involved.
So what can you say about the bottom half of the season to draw in people who're still on the fence?
You know, I would disclaim this, and it sounds like the kid who gets beat up too much trying to protect himself [laughs], but I always say that people should keep in mind that we were shooting this -- none of what you're going to see is a reaction to what anyone said. Keeping that in mind, now that you're getting to know these people, it's not just about finding air and finding water. And this is what makes it more exciting for me, it's not just about "Who can I trust? Who's sitting next to me?" It starts to be, "Oh my god, we have to work together now." And there are these crazy outside influences that are new threats that really change the game and people have to realign alliances and Eli has to figure out a way to come into his own.
I see the second half of the season as a rollercoaster. The first half, we were kind of going up, preparing. There were little dips. And then in the second half we get these crazy twists and turns -- things you're not expecting, and revelations you're not expecting, things about the people that you never would have guessed. That builds and builds and builds, and I'll tell you right now, it comes to this great season finale that'll just blow you mind -- I mean, watching it myself, I was yelling at my own television going "Nooooo!!" [laughs] And I'm already shooting season 2 and I'm still saying that. Very exciting. And the old fans are going to flip out, over many things, many many many things this season. But especially in the first two episodes [of season 1.5] I think they're going to be very happy.
