StarGate Subtly Skewers Sci-Fi
By Kent Gibbons -- Multichannel News, 6/10/2007 1:19:00 PM
Friday night's episode of Stargate SG-1 on Sci Fi Channel scored a subtle dig at the hand that feeds the show but that won't be feeding it for much longer.
The episode, Family Ties, is one of only three remaining in the space drama’s record-setting 10th and final season. It features the brilliant Fred Willard as a guest star, playing the con-man father of the character played by Claudia Black. Willard, as Jasec, has Amanda Tapping's Col. Major Carter trying to figure something out, and she's having trouble doing the calculations:
Jasec: “It’s no wonder. I don’t mind telling you, I’m a bit disappointed in this facility. I was expecting more.”
Carter: “Well, at times, so do we. But the truth is, the Stargate program just doesn’t get the support it used to from the people in charge.”
J: “Why not?”
C: (Shrugs.)
J: “That’s too bad. Because after all your Stargate program has accomplished for this network of planets, I would think the decision makers would show it the respect it deserves.”
C: “Ay, yup.”
Actor Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) disclosed in a blog on TVGuide.com that news of the cancellation came during production on Bad Guys, which came two episodes before “Family Ties.”
That segment from writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie and director Peter DeLuise could have been about the cancellation of a show that’s been a Sci Fi Channel mainstay -- or that news of the cancellation broke among the cast and crew last August during a party celebrating the show's historic 200th episode.
Only two more episodes left, Dominion and Unending, according to GateWorld.net. The last title sounds like a plug for the two made-for-DVD Stargate SG-1 movies MGM is making. Spinoff Stargate: Atlantis remains on Sci Fi.
