Are TPTB killing Atlantis?
Nitcentral's Bulletin Brash Reflections: Stargate - SG-1, Atlantis, etc: The Gate Room (aka the Stargate Sink) [general topics + SG-1 topics]: Are TPTB killing Atlantis?
By Callie (Csullivan) on Monday, January 15, 2007 - 2:39 am:

Major spoilers for characters only for Season 4 (no plot points):

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So far we know that Carson Beckett will “disappear” (possibly killed off) towards the end of Season 3. Now Brad Wright has just done an interview in which he reveals that Elizabeth Weir will only be a recurring character in Season 4.

Presumably Paul McGillion (Beckett) was written out so that they could afford the salary of Jewel Stait (formerly of Firefly) who will be the new doctor. I imagine that Torri Higginson (Weir) is being phased back to a recurring character so that they can pay her less and therefore be able to afford Amanda Tapping’s salary. Sam Carter was originally going to be a recurring character in Atlantis once SG-1 went off the air; now it appears that she will be in at least 14 of the 20 episodes of Season 4.

I was already not confident that Atlantis would go beyond Season 4, simply because it was no longer tied in with SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica in the USA and I feared that it wasn’t a strong enough series to stand on its own. Now that they’re effectively removing two of the most popular characters, I suspect that many fans will vote with their remote controls unless the storylines are absolutely amazing.

I can’t understand why TPTB believe that Jewel Stait’s arrival will bring in thousands of Firefly fans. They were fans of Kaylee, not Jewel, and won’t come flocking to any new series that Jewel happens to appear in. Ditto with fans of Sam Carter: if they’re not already watching Atlantis, I doubt that that many fans will flood over to the show once SG-1 goes down.

May all the gods help us: Brad Wright and Robert Cooper are doing a Berman/Braga, completely ignoring the views of the fans and killing off what was a really good series.

Another bad sign is that Joe Flanigan (Sheppard) who initially moved to Vancouver, has now moved his family back to America. Rumour has it that he’s well in with Brad Wright, so maybe he knows something we don’t?!

By KAM on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:31 am:

That is odd behavior.

Not being a fan of Weir her being in the show less doesn't bother me (pleases me actually). However just replacing one character with another is curious.

Did Paul McGillion have problems with one, or more, of TPTB?

Was Sci-Fi insisting on bringing in "popular actors"?

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