By Kate O'Hare
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Actor Ben Browder had a strange moment not long ago while participating in a photo shoot for his new show, "Stargate SG-1," which launches its ninth season on Friday, July 15 (the same day "Stargate Atlantis" and "Battlestar Galactica" begin their sophomore seasons), on Sci-Fi Channel.
"I was standing there," recalls the actor, who for four seasons played American astronaut John Crichton, who was propelled through a wormhole into uncharted space on Sci-Fi's Friday series "Farscape," "and there was a moment I thought, 'I'm the new one in the mix.' Then I realized, 'No, wait, Sci-Fi Friday night. I've been here longer than everybody else.' Actually, someone commented, 'We got the new guy over here.' I said, 'Sci-Fi Friday night? Were you here in 1999? No? Shut up.'"
With "Stargate" star Richard Dean Anderson scaling back his involvement (although he does appear in two of the first three episodes, at least), Browder is playing new SG-1 team leader Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell (no relation to the same-named actor). He's a fighter pilot who was seriously injured (but not seen) while saving the SG-1 team in an episode called "Lost City."
The SG-1 team -- Brig. Gen. Jack O'Neill (Anderson), Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), Lt. Col. Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and alien Teal'c (Christopher Judge) -- already know Mitchell, and flashbacks will flesh out his history.
After spending years in Australia doing "Farscape," Browder says, "I stepped through a wormhole and wound up in another portion of the universe -- Vancouver."
Browder also reunites with "Farscape" co-star (and on-screen love) Claudia Black, who reprises her "SG-1" role of thief Vala, introduced last season in an episode called "Prometheus Unbound."
"I love working with her," Browder says, "and she really plays a different character, so that part of it is easy. It's good to have someone around that you can occasionally turn to and go, 'How bad was that? Do I need to go again?'"
Also joining the "Stargate SG-1" cast this year for new adventures hopping through alien portals to distant worlds is Beau Bridges ("10.5," "The Agency"
as Gen. Henry "Hank" Landry. He comes out of retirement to replace old pal O'Neill as head of Stargate Command.
"You can quote me," Browder says, "as a confidently heterosexual male -- Beau's gorgeous. He's tremendous fun to have around. He knows his business; he's got great stories."
Also on hand in a recurring role is Lou Gossett Jr., as the alien Jaffa leader Gerak.
"The second Lou hits the set," Browder says, "you know you're in the presence of Lou Gossett. Watching Beau and Lou, especially when they're on set, there's some very good lessons for a younger actor."
Although Crichton named his gun Winona, Browder has no plans to name any "Stargate" weaponry.
"Privately. I may have named my weapon," he says, "but that's a John Crichton thing. Crichton is the man who names every inanimate object he can get his hands on. That was his way of making the world less alien and more personal."
While replacing Anderson is a daunting task, Browder feels he's up to it. "Interestingly enough," he says, "I was given a hat the other day that said 'O'Neill' in it. It fit OK. I don't know what that says. As they handed me the hat, and it said 'O'Neill,' I thought, 'I don't know how I feel about this. Ah, it's good. I'll wear it.'&q
uot;
"But you know what? No one is ever going to replace RDA, what he meant to the show and to the franchise. He came up and shot a couple scenes, so I got to see him in his natural environment."
"Stargate Atlantis" is also shuffling cast members, with Rainbow Sun Francks (Lt. Aiden Ford) becoming a recurring character, and Jason Momoa, as Ronon Dex, joining the team. Also appearing is Mitch Pileggi ("The X-Files" as Col. Steven Caldwell, commander of the Earth warship Daedalus.
"Battlestar Galactica," in its second full season (it launched as a miniseries), faces the challenge of following up its cliffhanger season finale. In the final moments, fighter pilot Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Grace Park) -- secretly a synthetic human created by the mechanical Cylons -- shot Galactica's Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) in the gut.
Also, Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), president of the civilian government overseeing the ragtag fleet of survivors of a Cylon holocaust, was slapped in the brig for challenging Adama's authority to fulfill an ancient prophecy. She sent fighter pilot Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) back to her devastated home world of Caprica to retrieve an artifact.
"Season one really ends at episode seven [of season two]," series creator Ronald D. Moore says. "Adama's been shot; we have people stranded on the planet Kobol; Kara's back on Caprica; Laura's in jail.
"Adama does not get back on his feet again for several episodes. It's touch and go with him for a while. (First Officer) Tigh's in command. He gets them out of a tight situation in the first episode, but Tigh's not really the guy you want in command of the fleet. He makes some bad choices, and things go from bad to worse.
"Divisions form in the fleet. Laura gets out of jail and leads an insurgency; the fleet is split into two groups. Kara, back on Caprica, encounters a resistance movement. There are a lot of things happening."
http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|96042|1|,00.html
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Actor Ben Browder had a strange moment not long ago while participating in a photo shoot for his new show, "Stargate SG-1," which launches its ninth season on Friday, July 15 (the same day "Stargate Atlantis" and "Battlestar Galactica" begin their sophomore seasons), on Sci-Fi Channel.
"I was standing there," recalls the actor, who for four seasons played American astronaut John Crichton, who was propelled through a wormhole into uncharted space on Sci-Fi's Friday series "Farscape," "and there was a moment I thought, 'I'm the new one in the mix.' Then I realized, 'No, wait, Sci-Fi Friday night. I've been here longer than everybody else.' Actually, someone commented, 'We got the new guy over here.' I said, 'Sci-Fi Friday night? Were you here in 1999? No? Shut up.'"
With "Stargate" star Richard Dean Anderson scaling back his involvement (although he does appear in two of the first three episodes, at least), Browder is playing new SG-1 team leader Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell (no relation to the same-named actor). He's a fighter pilot who was seriously injured (but not seen) while saving the SG-1 team in an episode called "Lost City."
The SG-1 team -- Brig. Gen. Jack O'Neill (Anderson), Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), Lt. Col. Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and alien Teal'c (Christopher Judge) -- already know Mitchell, and flashbacks will flesh out his history.
After spending years in Australia doing "Farscape," Browder says, "I stepped through a wormhole and wound up in another portion of the universe -- Vancouver."
Browder also reunites with "Farscape" co-star (and on-screen love) Claudia Black, who reprises her "SG-1" role of thief Vala, introduced last season in an episode called "Prometheus Unbound."
"I love working with her," Browder says, "and she really plays a different character, so that part of it is easy. It's good to have someone around that you can occasionally turn to and go, 'How bad was that? Do I need to go again?'"
Also joining the "Stargate SG-1" cast this year for new adventures hopping through alien portals to distant worlds is Beau Bridges ("10.5," "The Agency"
as Gen. Henry "Hank" Landry. He comes out of retirement to replace old pal O'Neill as head of Stargate Command."You can quote me," Browder says, "as a confidently heterosexual male -- Beau's gorgeous. He's tremendous fun to have around. He knows his business; he's got great stories."
Also on hand in a recurring role is Lou Gossett Jr., as the alien Jaffa leader Gerak.
"The second Lou hits the set," Browder says, "you know you're in the presence of Lou Gossett. Watching Beau and Lou, especially when they're on set, there's some very good lessons for a younger actor."
Although Crichton named his gun Winona, Browder has no plans to name any "Stargate" weaponry.
"Privately. I may have named my weapon," he says, "but that's a John Crichton thing. Crichton is the man who names every inanimate object he can get his hands on. That was his way of making the world less alien and more personal."
While replacing Anderson is a daunting task, Browder feels he's up to it. "Interestingly enough," he says, "I was given a hat the other day that said 'O'Neill' in it. It fit OK. I don't know what that says. As they handed me the hat, and it said 'O'Neill,' I thought, 'I don't know how I feel about this. Ah, it's good. I'll wear it.'&q
uot;
"But you know what? No one is ever going to replace RDA, what he meant to the show and to the franchise. He came up and shot a couple scenes, so I got to see him in his natural environment."
"Stargate Atlantis" is also shuffling cast members, with Rainbow Sun Francks (Lt. Aiden Ford) becoming a recurring character, and Jason Momoa, as Ronon Dex, joining the team. Also appearing is Mitch Pileggi ("The X-Files"
as Col. Steven Caldwell, commander of the Earth warship Daedalus."Battlestar Galactica," in its second full season (it launched as a miniseries), faces the challenge of following up its cliffhanger season finale. In the final moments, fighter pilot Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Grace Park) -- secretly a synthetic human created by the mechanical Cylons -- shot Galactica's Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) in the gut.
Also, Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), president of the civilian government overseeing the ragtag fleet of survivors of a Cylon holocaust, was slapped in the brig for challenging Adama's authority to fulfill an ancient prophecy. She sent fighter pilot Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) back to her devastated home world of Caprica to retrieve an artifact.
"Season one really ends at episode seven [of season two]," series creator Ronald D. Moore says. "Adama's been shot; we have people stranded on the planet Kobol; Kara's back on Caprica; Laura's in jail.
"Adama does not get back on his feet again for several episodes. It's touch and go with him for a while. (First Officer) Tigh's in command. He gets them out of a tight situation in the first episode, but Tigh's not really the guy you want in command of the fleet. He makes some bad choices, and things go from bad to worse.
"Divisions form in the fleet. Laura gets out of jail and leads an insurgency; the fleet is split into two groups. Kara, back on Caprica, encounters a resistance movement. There are a lot of things happening."
http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|96042|1|,00.html