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How about we go through who isn't to blame?
1. Sam Carter, Amanda Tapping, and Sam-fans
Amanda Tapping did not walk into the offices at Bridge Studios, slam her fist down on Brad Wright's desk and say, "Put Carter in Atlantis, dammit, and kick Higginson's character out!" We do not even have hard proof that Elizabeth will be removed as expedition leader, let alone that Carter will replace her. And even if this was the case, your fury is still misplaced - both against the character of Sam Carter and the actress who plays her.
ETA: Apparently, Sam Carter comes to Atlantis with her own ship. Ship's captains do not take permanent control of Atlantis. So if anyone should be frothing over Sam 'replacing' their favourite character, it seems as though it should be the Caldwell fans.
2. Teyla and the Teyla-fans
There is no 'fair' system of 'who should have their storylines cut from the show'. Screentime and minor storylines may be picked up later. The writers apparently have stories they want to tell about Teyla now, even if they haven't been inclined or able to tell them in past seasons. And if it's a question of less screentime for Elizabeth, why take it away from a character who already has almost no screentime, who has several aspects in common with Elizabeth as well as a lot of differences, and would provide a Pegasus diplomatic (subtle, tactful) angle to Elizabeth's Earth-based negotiation skills (direct, forceful)?
3. The Sheppard/Teyla fans
As a pairing, Sheppard/Weir was always unlikely at best. Joe Flanigan said as much in interviews. So did Torri Higginson. Brad Wright implied it from the first ep. The interaction between the two was primarily as friends and colleagues - no matter how many people read into the interactions as a pairing. Superior numbers work in a democracy; but the show isn't a democracy. Elizabeth's departure from the show has little to do with 'making Sheppard/Teyla palateable' to the audience, or 'leaving the way free for an unlikely ship'.
ETA: Rule #1 about Amanda Tapping and any 'ship support' comments made by her: she will answer with a leaning towards what she thinks the audience wishes to hear. I love the actress, but she's a 'politic ship supporter' - six years of interviews with her about the Sam/Jack pairing makes that very clear. Plus, you know the occasional comments of support by interviwed guest actors on a show has so much impact on the writers.
4. TPTB
Yes, I know this one is probably the hardest to swallow.
These guys are doing a job. It's probably a pretty cool job, but at the end of the day, they, too, are employees. They are subject to the whims and laws of the Sci-Fi Channel production company, of MGM/Sony, of the fickle gods of television programming market forces, and of the actors hired to play their parts.
Brad Wright might have been the one to break the news, but he isn't necessarily the person who made The Unkindest Cut.
Torri may have opted to spend time doing something other than Stargate. An MGM executive may have said, "The brunette who leads the show - she's not doing much, we don't want to pay her a full retainer. She's going to be a recurring character." Sci-Fi Contracts may have said, "We're optioning Amanda Tapping for another season of Stargate - she's gotta have a speaking role in at least fourteen episodes. Make it so." Any of these situations - or all of them, or parts of all, or just a few - may have happened. None of them may have happened - something else may have required the change(s) that are coming to the show.
However, a lot of these projected situations are beyond the capabilities of TPTB to control. They're unlikely to be the ones making the waves, they're just on the surfboard with the arching tube crashing over their heads, probably desperately hoping that they make it out and don't get dumped.
I'm not over-fond of the way TPTB have been writing the show. I don't hide that opinion. On the other hand, I realise what a difficult job it's been, writing for two shows and (IMO) shorting both. And Rob Cooper might write a pretty damn awesome script, but the man's got a really weird vision when it comes to showrunning.
They might be to blame - I acknowledge that. But until we know more, why don't we hold our peace and wait for the bigger picture? It might waiting until Season Four has screened, but the wait might be worth it. And if it isn't, we can all scream very loudly at each other and at the studios.
ETA: In the interview, Brad Wright actually states that Elizabeth will be a recurring character for a while. This is quite probably a non-permanent change. Which suggests that Torri Higginson had something she wanted to do for a while, so they minimised Elizabeth's role. It also (along with Carter's command of a ship) puts paid to the idea that Sam is 'replacing' Elizabeth.
--
I may need to go lie down. I'm showing signs of sanity in fandom, and we can't have that!
ETA: Updated 8:30am with clarifications and new bits of information that have come to light.
1. Sam Carter, Amanda Tapping, and Sam-fans
Amanda Tapping did not walk into the offices at Bridge Studios, slam her fist down on Brad Wright's desk and say, "Put Carter in Atlantis, dammit, and kick Higginson's character out!" We do not even have hard proof that Elizabeth will be removed as expedition leader, let alone that Carter will replace her. And even if this was the case, your fury is still misplaced - both against the character of Sam Carter and the actress who plays her.
ETA: Apparently, Sam Carter comes to Atlantis with her own ship. Ship's captains do not take permanent control of Atlantis. So if anyone should be frothing over Sam 'replacing' their favourite character, it seems as though it should be the Caldwell fans.
2. Teyla and the Teyla-fans
There is no 'fair' system of 'who should have their storylines cut from the show'. Screentime and minor storylines may be picked up later. The writers apparently have stories they want to tell about Teyla now, even if they haven't been inclined or able to tell them in past seasons. And if it's a question of less screentime for Elizabeth, why take it away from a character who already has almost no screentime, who has several aspects in common with Elizabeth as well as a lot of differences, and would provide a Pegasus diplomatic (subtle, tactful) angle to Elizabeth's Earth-based negotiation skills (direct, forceful)?
3. The Sheppard/Teyla fans
As a pairing, Sheppard/Weir was always unlikely at best. Joe Flanigan said as much in interviews. So did Torri Higginson. Brad Wright implied it from the first ep. The interaction between the two was primarily as friends and colleagues - no matter how many people read into the interactions as a pairing. Superior numbers work in a democracy; but the show isn't a democracy. Elizabeth's departure from the show has little to do with 'making Sheppard/Teyla palateable' to the audience, or 'leaving the way free for an unlikely ship'.
ETA: Rule #1 about Amanda Tapping and any 'ship support' comments made by her: she will answer with a leaning towards what she thinks the audience wishes to hear. I love the actress, but she's a 'politic ship supporter' - six years of interviews with her about the Sam/Jack pairing makes that very clear. Plus, you know the occasional comments of support by interviwed guest actors on a show has so much impact on the writers.
4. TPTB
Yes, I know this one is probably the hardest to swallow.
These guys are doing a job. It's probably a pretty cool job, but at the end of the day, they, too, are employees. They are subject to the whims and laws of the Sci-Fi Channel production company, of MGM/Sony, of the fickle gods of television programming market forces, and of the actors hired to play their parts.
Brad Wright might have been the one to break the news, but he isn't necessarily the person who made The Unkindest Cut.
Torri may have opted to spend time doing something other than Stargate. An MGM executive may have said, "The brunette who leads the show - she's not doing much, we don't want to pay her a full retainer. She's going to be a recurring character." Sci-Fi Contracts may have said, "We're optioning Amanda Tapping for another season of Stargate - she's gotta have a speaking role in at least fourteen episodes. Make it so." Any of these situations - or all of them, or parts of all, or just a few - may have happened. None of them may have happened - something else may have required the change(s) that are coming to the show.
However, a lot of these projected situations are beyond the capabilities of TPTB to control. They're unlikely to be the ones making the waves, they're just on the surfboard with the arching tube crashing over their heads, probably desperately hoping that they make it out and don't get dumped.
I'm not over-fond of the way TPTB have been writing the show. I don't hide that opinion. On the other hand, I realise what a difficult job it's been, writing for two shows and (IMO) shorting both. And Rob Cooper might write a pretty damn awesome script, but the man's got a really weird vision when it comes to showrunning.
They might be to blame - I acknowledge that. But until we know more, why don't we hold our peace and wait for the bigger picture? It might waiting until Season Four has screened, but the wait might be worth it. And if it isn't, we can all scream very loudly at each other and at the studios.
ETA: In the interview, Brad Wright actually states that Elizabeth will be a recurring character for a while. This is quite probably a non-permanent change. Which suggests that Torri Higginson had something she wanted to do for a while, so they minimised Elizabeth's role. It also (along with Carter's command of a ship) puts paid to the idea that Sam is 'replacing' Elizabeth.
--
I may need to go lie down. I'm showing signs of sanity in fandom, and we can't have that!
ETA: Updated 8:30am with clarifications and new bits of information that have come to light.
no subject
I also wish we knew more about the circumstances of the recent news - if Torri did want to have less screentime then that's quite different than TPTB forcing it upon her. It's times like this that I wish TPTB were more communicative with the fandom, and not in a Joe M. "some of you are acting like shrill, uninformed lemmings but I'm not going to bother to inform you either" sort of way. O_O
no subject
I hate to break it to you, but you belong to the wrong race for that.
And I wonder how many people would retract their rantings or apologise if it turns out that Torri asked for the time out. If she said it was her choice, would the Lizzie-fans throttle back, or would it be "but we love Elizabeth and who cares what the actress wants!"
Actually, today, someone mentioned that Torri was rumoured to be looking to leave last season, which was news to me.
You know, in all the time I've been in fandom, Joe Mallozzi has never been particularly tactful. I'm kinda surprised people are expecting it of him now.
no subject
I wish that Torri did ask for less time herself and TPTB are accomodating her. But then why couldn't TPTB just say that? I understand the use of NDAs for some contractual changes, but I don't see how her leaving of her own voilition would have to be kept secret. Unless of course, TPTB and/or SciFi are really the ones who decided it and they don't want to admit it to the fans. As the silence goes on, I'm leaning more toward the latter possibility.
You know, in all the time I've been in fandom, Joe Mallozzi has never been particularly tactful. I'm kinda surprised people are expecting it of him now.
Yeah, I'm thinking back to his fan sniping tactics on the Ask Joe thread at GW and the later mess at his GW blog before he shut that one down. He gave as good as he got, that's for sure, and while that's fair and all it doesn't exactly scream professionalism either.
For me, it's more of a "OMG, what did he say now??!!" reaction whenever he comes up. :P
no subject