While some may know actress Jewel Staite in the science fiction realm for playing Kaylee Frye in the short-lived, yet still beloved TV series Firefly, we also can’t forget about her years playing Jennifer Keller on Stargate: Atlantis. Jennifer was introduced in the Season 3 finale and became one of the show’s most important characters for the rest of its five-season run. That said, someone pointed out how Jennifer was handcuffed a lot during Atlantis, and now Staite can’t unsee it.

It’s been over 15 years since Stargate: Atlantis ended on the then-Sci-Fi Channel, but evidently there are still things about the show that can still take Jew Staite by surprise. On her Instagram page, she shared the below video of her reacting to a quick compilation of the times Jennifer Keller spent handcuffed or having her hands bound:

Ok, so Jennifer Keller fell victim to the damsel in distress trope quite a bit on Stargate: Atlantis. I do like how Jewel Staite’s expression goes from, “There’s no way” to “You actually make a good point” as those pictures are being shown. With the amount of times she was handcuffed, it probably would have been wise for Jennifer to learn the art of lockpicking so that she’d be able to get out of these uncomfortable situations.

Jewel Staite actually first appeared on Stargate: Atlantis as a Wraith named Ellia, but after Paul McGillion’s Carson Beckett was killed off in the episode “Sunday” (McGillion would go on to play a clone of the character in the final two seasons), Staite was brought back to play the new Chief Medical Officer for the Atlantis Expedition. Jennifer Keller was also caught in a love traingle with Jason Momoa’s Ronon Dex and David Hewlitt’s Rodney McKay, and she would ultimately declare her love to the latter in the Season 5 episode “Brain Storm.”

Unfortunately, as already mentioned, Stargate: Atlantis ended after half a decade on the air, so fans didn’t get to see Jennifer and McKay as a couple for that long. However, perhaps there’s hope for seeing one or both of them again. Last November, it was announced that a Stargate revival TV show is in the works, which has tapped franchise vet Martin Gero as showrunner and will be exclusively streamable with a Prime Video subscription. Revival means the new series will be set in the same continuity as the previous shows, so maybe there will be opportunities for Jewel Staite and David Hewlitt to reprise their roles.

We’ll let you know if that ends up happening, but for now, Stargate: Atlantis can be streamed with a Hulu subscription, Jewel Staite most recently appeared in four episodes of Resident Alien Season 4, and that series is accessible with both a Netflix subscription and Peacock subscription.

Before he was starring in blockbusters like Aquaman, Fast X and The Minecraft Movie, and even before he was performing opposite Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones, Jason Momoa was best known for playing Ronon Dex on Stargate Atlantis. Momoa joined the Stargate SG-1 spinoff in its second season and quickly became one of its heaviest hitters, figuratively and literally. More than 15 years after Atlantis concluded, the actor recently looked back on his “beautiful time” working on the show, and it has me looking forward to the upcoming Stargate series even more.

Jason Momoa has been making the rounds lately promoting the Prime Video subscription-exclusive The Wrecking Crew, the first of his 2026 movies. While talking with Jonatan Bloomberg from MovieZine, he spent time reminiscing on Stargate Atlantis when Bloomberg shared how much the show’s meant to him and asked if the action experience he gained from there helped pave the way for where his film career went. Momoa started off by saying:

Introduced in the episode “Runner,” Ronon Dex was a soldier who hailed from the planet Sateda and was captured by the Wraith after they attacked his world and killed the woman he loved. Rather than immediately feed on Ronon like the Wraith usually do with their victims, they instead recognized him as being stronger than the average human and made him a Runner, i.e. a target they repeatedly hunt for sport. Upon meeting the Atlantis team, they disabled Ronon’s tracking device and invited him to join them

Whether he was using his own fists, the sword he made from the metal of a Wraith ship, or his unique energy pistol, Ronon Dex could be counted to take down many bad guys alongside the other Stargate Atlantis protagonists. It’s not hard to see how Jason Momoa’s experience on the show led to him taking on action-heavy roles in Hollywood. The actor continued on about those early years:

Jason Momoa remained on Stargate Atlantis for the rest of its five-season run, with the show coming to an end in 2009. All these years later, he still looks back on playing Ronon Dex in a positive light, and it’s safe to say that his career would have turned out much differently if he hadn’t been cast as the character. As he concluded:

Listening to Jason Momoa reflect on Stargate Atlantis reminded me of how it’s been 15 years since the last live-action Stargate show, Stargate Universe, ended after just two seasons. But as already mentioned, that dry spell will be ending at some point with Prime Video’s forthcoming Stargate series. With the exception of Martin Gero being tapped as the showrunner, all we know about this project is that it will be set in the same continuity as the previous Stargate shows rather than a full-on reboot.

Given his movie star status, we can probably rule out Jason Momoa leading this new show, but maybe a guest spot could be arranged for him to reprise Ronon Dex. Feel free to revisit Stargate Atlantis with your Hulu subscription or over on Pluto TV. Catch Momoa in theaters later this year playing Lobo in Supergirl and Blanka in Street Fighter.

The big news regarding Jason Momoa this weekend has been all the hype around the final season premiere of his Apple TV+ series See. It was exactly at that premiere that eagle-eyed fans of Momoa from early on in his career may have spotted a reunion from another of the actor’s popular shows. That would be none other than Stargate: Atlantis, as a couple of the actor’s longtime co-stars popped up for a pic at the Season 3 premiere.

You’d be forgiven for not noticing the big Stargate: Atlantis reunion as it was buried in a photodump of other photos from the See premiere. Both Joe Flanigan and David Hewlett made multi-episode appearances in See, so their appearance at the event makes total sense, but it's still nice to see the three reunited and looking so good so many years later. 

It’s also, in my opinion, worth noting that Joe Flanigan looks nearly unrecognizable with grey hair and facial hair. Don’t get me wrong, he’s aging like fine wine, but scrolling through it took me a second to get to any sort of aha moment. In fact, I don't even thinking I would have made the connection when he appeared as "The Military" if Flanigan's appearance on See hadn't been announced in advance.

David Hewlett also nodded at the reunion in a comment on his own Instagram post, noting: 

It’s been well over a decade since Stargate: Atlantis wrapped its run on cable and it’s been nearly two decades since the show got the greenlight and embarked on the journey to winning over Stargate SG-1 fans. In the time since, Jason Momoa has shot to superstardom thanks to his "gate"-way role (sorry) in Game of Thrones as Khal Drogo and subsequent work as Aquaman in the DCEU, among other gigs. Momoa may have taken on plenty of badass roles at this point, but he’s still interested in creating for the television format and fans of the actor have reaped the benefits of that.

He's also clearly still interested in working with some pals from his past, and I wouldn't be too surprised if a Stargate: Atlantis reunion of this ilk happens again sometime in the future. At least a girl could hope. 

Unfortunately, See is heading into its third and final premiere, but not before it has made a mark as one of the first shows to really jumpstart those Apple TV+ subscriptions. The Apple TV+ series may be ending, but from the images, it certainly seems like it will be going out with a bang. 

When Stargate Atlantis first became a spinoff of the hit series Stargate SG-1 back in 2004, the case was under no illusion about how the fanbase felt. In fact, as part of Comic-Con at Home this year, the cast (sans one Jason Momoa and one Joe Flanigan) reminisced about the early days of the sci-fi series and knowing that fans weren’t really on board with the idea of another show taking over. Or so they thought.

When Stargate Atlantis was greenlighted, Stargate SG-1 was in the latter part of its run. Don S. Davis had left the original show before Atlantis hit the airwaves and series lead Richard Dean Anderson would follow at the end of Season 8. In fact, the first season of Stargate Atlantis was airing while Anderson’s final few episodes also hitting the schedule.

With this in mind, Torri Higginson recalled during a recent Comic-Con at Home panel that the cast itself earnestly felt what a segment of the fanbase was feeling, that the new show was “killing” what SG-1 had brought to the table. The first time they were really able to interact with Stargate fans was, in fact, at Comic-Con and Higginson admitted:

I can only imagine. The panel, which Rachel Luttrell says was in Ballroom 20, is a large room at the San Diego Convention Center that has a seating capacity of 4,800 people. That’s a lot of people to be staring at from a hot stage all rigged up with lights right on your face. Per Luttrell, the first time the Stargate Atlantis cast was in that position it was “terrifying,” though I'd also have to guess being in a giant room full of rapt fans had to be validating in some ways too.

Rachel Luttrell also said during the panel that she really wasn’t away of “the impact of Stargate SG-1" before she signed on as she was younger and "naive" about the franchise. Once she realized what she’d gotten into, the “pressure did kind of settle in.” David Nykl also described working a room at conventions as kind of developing a “third self,” or a version of himself that told true stories and wasn’t fully a character, but who wasn’t really his own personality either in order to play to the crowd. In general though, it has to be difficult to pick up the mantle as a spinoff of an already successful franchise. It's like you are the annoying younger sibling until you find your own way with the fans.

Years later, Stargate Atlantis has been off of the air for more than a decade -- believe it, the show ended in 2009. The cast and crew, including Rachel Luttrell, David Nykl and Torri Higginson have all gone on to different projects (with Nykl taking a notable role on another Comic-Con favorite, Arrow, a show that also featured Luttrell in a one-off episode). But Stargate Atlantis found its niche within the Stargate franchise even withe the naysayers early on, ultimately airing for 5 seasons and 100 episodes on Sci-Fi.

Throughout his lengthy career, Star Trek favorite Robert Picardo hasn't been exclusively known for science fiction projects, and in fact has acted in far more non-genre projects. And yet, despite his numerous appearances across the vast spectrum of film and TV projects, there's always going to be a section of his fanbase that knows him specifically for his much-celebrated work in sci-fi. After all, he was a key part of both Star Trek: Voyager and Stargate Atlantis, and after working on both of those shows, it's been pretty hard for him to shake that association.

Robert Picardo spoke about that ever-present topic during the Stargate Atlantis reunion panel at this year's Comic-Con@Home, and how his legacy as a well-rounded actor, despite his wide range of credits, can't thwart fans from viewing him as a sci-fi guy. Not one to complain about such things, Picardo addressed a similarity that he's noticed over the years between the Stargate and Star Trek fandoms, saying:

Not all Star Trek fans are familiar with Stargate, and not all SG fans are rabid about ST, since that would be a highly improbable statistic. But according to Robert Picardo, he's met his fair share of fans that adore both. Of course, it would also track that anyone who'd appeared in both franchises would be approached more fervently by fans of both projects, as opposed to those who only enjoy one or the other.

Robert Picardo also talked a bit about his experience playing the role of Stargate Atlantis' Richard Woolsey, and taking on a character that wasn't initially such a joy to be around. Picardo spoke specifically to how his character shared characteristics and motivations that many others across the U.S. did at the time, particularly those in Woosley's age range. On what he thought was truly fun about playing that character:

Robert Picardo teased some time ago that he was set to return to Star Trek via Picard, though fans haven't heard any updates on that front, which isn't great. We've since learned that some plans were put on the back-burner for Picard Season 2, so Picardo's Doctor may no longer be a part of the season at this time. Hopefully, though, we can see him back in Star Trek soon, even if that will just bring the sci-fi fans out the woodwork even more.

Catch episodes of Stargate Atlantis over on Hulu, and all of Robert Picardo's work on Star Trek: Voyager on Paramount+. For more on Picardo and his thoughts, be sure to read up on what he thought of former co-star Jeri Ryan's return in Picard as Seven of Nine.

Kirby Morrow, known best for his performances on Hallmark and Stargate Atlantis and his legendary voiceover roles, has died. A cause of death was not immediately reported for the actor. He was 47 at the time of his passing.

The news of Kirby Morrow’s death was originally announced by his brother, Casey, in a Facebook post (via GateWorld). In the sweet message, Morrow celebrated his late brother’s work and stressed how it was the fans that motivated him to do the best possible work that he could:

On the small screen, Morrow, a Canada native, was best known to the Stargate community for his role on Stargate Atlantis in which he played the recurring role of Captain Dave Kleinman, the weapons officer on the bridge of the U.S.S. Daedalus. The character would also make a 2009 appearance on Stargate Universe. And before he took on the role of Kleinman, he also had smaller roles on Stargate: SG-1.

Morrow is also known to Hallmark fans for his role in 2013’s A Ring by Spring. In the rom-com, he plays the role of Tom, the love interest of Rachel Boston’s Caryn.

Throughout his lengthy career, Kirby Morrow made appearances on numerous shows, ranging from Hallmark’s When Calls the Heart to ABC’s The Good Doctor. He was especially a fixture in sci-fi, horror and superhero shows, with credits in Arrow, The Flash, Legion, Supernatural and Fringe, among others.

Aside from his roles in the live-action realm, Kirby Morrow became a prolific force within the realm of voice acting. Morrow famously lent his voice to the role of Goku on Dragon Ball Z for several years, and he also voiced Miroku on Inuyasha. His other notable anime roles come in massive franchise like Gundam and Death Note.

Anime was only one aspect of his voice acting career, as he has credits in a variety of other animated shows. He voiced Scott Summers/Cyclops in X-Men: Evolution. He also lent his voice to the character of Anakin Skywalker in a few LEGO Star Wars animated TV specials. His most famous role, however, is arguably that of Cole (the black ninja) on LEGO’s Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. The actor is credited for 97 episodes, making Cole one of the longest-running characters in his career.

It's not often that someone amasses as many acting credits as Kirby Morrow, and it's even rarer that someone can have such an impact on a medium. His body of work, especially in voice acting, is nothing short of incredible and, as someone who’s enjoyed many of his projects, I can definitely say that his wide-ranging talent will be sorely missed.

We here at CinemaBlend extend our condolences to the family and friends of Kirby Morrow during this time.

Apple TV+’s See is about to be at the heart of a Stargate Atlantis reunion between Jason Momoa and one of his co-stars from the cult-favorite series.Stargate Atlantis fans have a lot to celebrate heading into Season 2 of See. Joe Flanigan of Stargate Atlantis fame is coming to See for a reunion with Momoa.

For reference, Stargate Atlantis ended over a decade ago in 2009, and according to what Joe Flanigan told his Cameo followers, 2020 and See will re-team Momoa with Flanigan, who is one of his good friends and co-stars. Flanigan understandably did not reveal too much about his role in See Season 2.

Secrecy tends to be the best policy when it comes to television plot points. That said, Joe Flanigan did reveal that he is completing the quarantine protocols that his fellow TV stars have undergone to start filming the Apple TV+ series. Deadline reports that filming will resume on Season 2 on October 14 after its coronavirus-caused delay.

So, production is not far off at this point, and neither is Jason Momoa’s on-screen reunion with Joe Flanigan. On Stargate Atlantis, Momoa starred as Ronon Dex, while Flanigan took on the role of John Sheppard. Both actors stayed with the show throughout its five-season run. Now Flanigan will get to co-star opposite Momoa.

Here is hoping that the Apple TV+ series taps into Jason Momoa and Joe Flanigan’s past rapport via Stargate Atlantis. Fans often love when shows give little nods here and there to actors’ history with one another. Perhaps Flanigan’s See character will have some sort of past with Momoa’s Baba Voss? I for one would be surprised if the actors’ respective roles have zero personal history, though.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that Jason Momoa has re-teamed with one of his former co-stars, and it is unlikely to be the last. Earlier this year, it was announced that Momoa would co-star with fellow Game of Thrones alum Peter Dinklage for a vampire movie. Unlike Momoa and Joe Flanigan’s time on Stargate Atlantis, Dinklage and Momoa did not share any scenes during their time on Game of Thrones.

Jason Momoa’s reunion with his Stargate Atlantis co-star comes with more on-screen history. Season 2 of See has not received a premiere date yet, so stay tuned. It will eventually arrive on Apple TV+, in all likelihood well after this fall’s schedule finishes up its run.

Jason Momoa is well-known for playing Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe films Justice League and Aquaman, as well as Khal Drogo in HBO’s Game of Thrones, but he wasn’t always such a household name. Now that he’ll be starring in Apple TV+’s new series, See, Jason Momoa is back in Vancouver for the first time since his days on Stargate Atlantis, and being back there is reminding him of his time on the show and what it taught him.

It’s been quite a long while since Stargate Atlantis was cancelled, but Jason Momoa does credit the sci-fi spinoff for teaching him the ways of the Hollywood machine. The series, which followed a group of military personnel and explorers who travel the galaxy to find the lost city of Atlantis, end up having to battle the Wraiths, who have threatened the civilization. Momoa first appeared in Season 2's “Runner,” playing the character of Ronon Dex, a Runner who eventually joins the Atlantis Expedition.

Jason Momoa says his time filming Stargate Atlantis, which lasted for 78 episodes across the remainder of the show's run, was quite the learning experience for him as an actor. Here's how he put it in an interview with Esquire:

Of course, Stargate Atlantis wasn’t Jason Momoa’s first acting gig, but it was certainly the one that required the most from him and gave him the most material early on. Plus, it was his biggest break in genre TV at the time, with his previous roles coming on shows like Baywatch and North Shore.

Jason Momoa went onto say that being on Stargate Atlantis wasn’t necessarily the best situation in all respects, but it was a steady job that taught him a lot about the ins and outs of filming that previous roles had not. Back then, the Aquaman actor had a lot less income to work with, too, so his life has utterly changed since the last time he filmed in Vancouver, often referred to as Hollywood North.

Interestingly, Jason Momoa has done a lot of sci-fi and other fantastical work since being on Stargate Atlantis, but his new Apple TV+ series, See, is his first venture into a dystopian future. The series, which also stars Luke Cage and Desperate Housewives alum Alfre Woodard, explores a future where the human race has collectively lost the ability to see. (Not something Game of Thrones fans would have wanted to deal with.)

Everything changes, however, when two children are born with sight. The series is helmed by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence, and is set to premiere on AppleTV+ on November 1, 2019.

Want to know what else is coming to TV this fall? Check out our complete TV guide with premiere dates for every new and returning show through November.

With the arrival of James Wan’s DC film Aquaman last year, Jason Momoa finally achieved the movie star potential he has shown for so long. The film grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide and cemented the actor’s place on the big screen for years to come. But while Aquaman is no doubt Jason Momoa’s biggest role, it is far from his first or most badass.

Jason Momoa has been an actor for two decades and in the time since he got his start on that pillar of 90s television Baywatch, he has become known for playing a very specific type of character. Basically, whether he’s playing a superhero from an underwater kingdom, an alien from a far off planet, a frontiersman from the past or anything in between, Jason Momoa almost always plays a badass.

It makes total sense; the 6’4” muscle-bound actor is tall, dark and can grow a great beard, so he isn’t going to be playing a meek accountant or the shy guy in a comedy. He looks and sounds like a tough badass and that’s what plays. But what are Jason Momoa’s most badass roles, which are the characters that you’d least want to trifle with?

Here are Jason Momoa’s most badass roles on both TV and the big screen over the past few years since he started to become a household name.

Bullet to the Head (Keegan)

While we often use the term ‘badass’ as a compliment, it can still apply to villainous characters as it does for Keegan in Bullet to the Head. Jason Momoa’s most famous roles see him playing a hero, but in this film he plays the villain opposite Sylvester Stallone’s protagonist. Bullet to the Head finds Sly’s hitman teaming up with Taylor Kwon’s D.C. detective when their respective partners are killed as part of a mobster’s plot.

That mobster isn’t easy to take down though, in large part because he has enlisted the help of Jason Momoa’s Keegan, a skilled hitman and former mercenary. Bullet to the Head is a pretty standard action/crime movie, but with Sly and Jason Momoa’s charismatic villain, it is highly watchable entertainment. Oh yeah, speaking of those two, their characters’ final battle with one another sees them squaring off with axes. Very badass.

The Bad Batch (Miami Man)

It takes a certain kind of person to be able to eat another human being. You have to be either crazy, desperate, or badass? I’m not sure about that last one, but in 2016’s The Bad Batch, Jason Momoa’s Miami Man is one badass cannibal. The Bad Batch is set in a dystopian near-future where undesirable members of society (the bad batch), including Suki Waterhouse’s protagonist Arlen, are sent to a desert and left to their own devices to survive. There she meets Jason Momoa’s Miami Man, leader of a group of cannibals.

Far from being a mindless people-eater, Miami Man is a sensitive artist who has managed to survive in this harsh world and is now looking for his daughter. He has a protective spirit and in a badass display of butcher knife-throwing, saves Arlen from another cannibal who wanted to trade gasoline for a meal. The Bad Batch is most certainly not going to be for everyone; it’s a weird and not easily accessible film, but one that also deserves merit for originality and features a slightly different, yet still badass performance compared to what we are used to seeing from Momoa.

Braven (Joe Braven)

Being a badass doesn’t always mean being a highly trained killer or a fierce representative of a warrior race, sometimes it just means having the courage and the will to do what is necessary when the situation arrives. That is the case for Jason Momoa’s Joe Braven in the 2018 movie Braven. The film stars the actor as a family man and the owner of a logging company who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time when a drug lord’s product winds up at his mountain cabin.

When he is unable to reason with Garret Dillahunt’s Kassen and with his father and young daughter with him at the cabin, Joe has to protect his family and fight off the drug lord and his mercenaries. He uses a bow and arrow, fireplace tongs, wooden spears, guns, a flaming hatchet and an ATV to take his pursuers out in brutal fashion. Braven is a capable, old-school action movie and one that shows that Jason Momoa can be a different type of on-screen badass.

Conan the Barbarian (Conan)

2011’s Conan the Barbarian was supposed to be the film that turned Jason Momoa into a movie star, launching his career in the way the 1982 film of the same name helped put Arnold Schwarzenegger on the map. That didn’t quite happen; instead, the film disappointed critically and commercially, but that doesn’t take away from how ferocious and tough Jason Momoa’s hero is.

The swords-and-sorcery action film, based on Robert E. Howard’s character, finds Jason Momoa’s Conan, the last survivor of a barbarian village, on a path of vengeance to kill the warlord that murdered his family. Conan is a badass in large part because of his skills as a warrior, but also what he chooses to do with those skills. Over the course of the film, Conan becomes a pirate, escapes imprisonment, kills a bunch of bad guys, gets his revenge, and even takes a page out of Daenerys Targaryen’s book, becoming a breaker of chains by helping slaves take their freedom.

Aquaman (Arthur Curry)

Who could have ever imagined that Aquaman, the superhero who talks to fish and the butt of endless jokes, would one day find himself on any list of badass characters? That’s an incredible feat that shows what a reinvention in the comics and casting Jason Momoa in the feature film can do for a character. Arthur Curry is a reluctant hero, but when the situation calls for him to rise up, he does just that, protecting the ocean and helping those in need.

He is effortlessly cool, and no matter how badly he gets beat up -- and he does -- he shows his resiliency and toughness by always getting back up to fight again. Aquaman proves himself worthy of wielding Atlan’s Trident, he defeats his brother Orm in battle, becomes king and, as Freddy Freeman would say, commands an army of billions in the ocean. That’s pretty badass. Oh and Jason Momoa also manages to make Aquaman’s traditional orange and green suit look cool.

Frontier (Declan Harp)

Frontier is a period drama on Netflix set in Canada in the late 1700s. It chronicles the cutthroat battle over the fur trade in North America between the monopolistic Hudson’s Bay Company and the independent trappers and entrepreneurs like Jason Momoa’s Declan Harp. Declan Harp is a part-Cree, part-Irish outlaw who is the head of the Black Wolf Company and he seeks revenge against the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Lord Benton.

It takes a truly badass and capable individual to survive in the harsh wilderness of such a brutal time period and Momoa’s Declan Harp is perhaps the most ruthless of them all. Infamous for his wild and violent nature, Declan is a clever negotiator and skilled businessman whose mythical status obscures a deeply wounded person who is tilting at windmills to make things right. Frontier is gory show and Declan Harp is the one spilling a lot of the blood. He may not be the most badass Jason Momoa character, but of all the characters on this list, he may be the one you’d least want to cross.

Stargate: Atlantis (Ronon Dex)

This spinoff show of Stargate: SG-1, itself based on the 1994 Stargate movie, follows an expedition to the Pegasus Galaxy where the lost city of Atlantis resides. The galaxy lives in fear of the vampire-like race called The Wraith, a telepathic and predatory species that culls humanity every few hundred years. Introduced in the second season of Stargate: Atlantis, Jason Momoa’s Ronon Dex quickly became a fan-favorite character and this is the role that first put the actor on the radar of many genre audiences.

Ronon Dex is introduced as a runner, a person implanted with a tracking chip by the Wraith that they hunt for sport. Basically, he is The Most Dangerous Game’s Sanger Rainsford, living a solitary life on the run and eluding a technologically advanced race’s best hunters. Once he joins the Atlantis Expedition, Ronon proves an invaluable member of the team, the most capable fighter, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, firearms and weaponry. Ronon is the character that established Jason Momoa as a badass and a decade after Stargate: Atlantis went off the air, he remains the actor’s most badass role, save for one.

Game of Thrones (Khal Drogo)

Oftentimes the most obvious answer is also the correct one. Probably Jason Momoa’s most recognizable role alongside Aquaman is that of Khal Drogo on Game of Thrones. Although his time on the show was brief, Khal Drogo is easily the actor’s most badass role. Drogo is the leader of a Khalasar of horse-lords, a culture that only values strength, where any sign of weakness would see him deposed. Even in this brutal culture, Khal Drogo thrives and stands apart, a fearless and legendary warrior that has never been defeated in battle.

We only get to see Jason Momoa’s Khal Drogo in battle once, but it is enough to make it clear just how capable this badass warrior is and why King Bobby B was right to fear the Dothraki coming to Westeros. When his wife Daenerys is insulted and he is challenged, Drogo drops his knives and kills his foe with his own weapon, ripping out his tongue in the process. If you didn’t know much of Jason Momoa before Game of Thrones, his unrivaled badassery in this massive show made sure you wouldn’t forget him.

Jason Momoa’s time playing tough, intimidating and wildly impressive characters that can only be described as badass won’t be coming to an end anytime soon. In addition to his bright future as Aquaman in Aquaman 2 and beyond, the actor has a couple of awesome projects lined up. One of them is reuniting with his Bad Batch director Ana Lily Amirpour for a cameo in her female-led Cliffhanger reboot. I’d have to imagine he’ll be playing a skilled climber in that film.

He is also part of the amazing cast of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. In that adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi novel, he will play Duncan Idaho, the Swordmaster for House Atreides, a badass role if ever there was one. In addition, Jason Momoa will be starring in the new Apple original series titled See. In the dystopian sci-fi show he plays the fantastically named Baba Voss, a character described as a warrior, leader and guardian. In other words, a badass.

Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all of this year’s biggest movies and let us know which of Jason Momoa’s characters you think is the most badass in the poll below.

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Adventures in the Pegasus Galaxy will soon be available on Blu-Ray with The Complete Series of Stargate: Atlantis. Atlantis, which ran from 2004 to 2009, is coming to Blu-Ray in a complete series format on July 26th. This won’t be the first time the entire series was released to the public, but it is the first time the show will appear on Blu-Ray, save for the Fans’ Choice Blu-Ray that appeared on the market in 2009.

It’s a shame individual seasons won’t be offered on Blu-Ray separately; however, $199 bucks for a five-season, 20-disc Blu-Ray set seems like a reasonable deal. Or maybe I’m just too down with the Stargate franchise. I’ll get back to you after specs on special features are released. I am hoping the conversion of Stargate: Atlantis proves successful, as this will hopefully give MGM enough incentive to revamp Stargate SG-1 for a Blu-Ray release.

If you don’t give a shit about the Blu-Ray release but like the show, DVD copies of both Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate SG-1 are available in their entirety right here.

When the SyFy network announced the cancellation of Stargate: Universe as part of their ongoing move away from actual science fiction programming towards stuff douche bags might want to wear on a trucker cap with their Ed Hardy t-shirt, few realized that they weren’t just cancelling that one show. They were cancelling the entire Stargate franchise.

Universe was the third Stargate series to hit television, preceded by Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: SG-1. Though those previous Stargate shows no longer exist as weekly series’, they’ve had a second life on DVD in an ongoing line-up of straight-to-DVD movies supported the by shows’ massive fanbase. A Stargate: Atlantis DVD movie was supposed to be in the works, but after the unceremonious ending of the still in its infancy Stargate: Universe, they’re giving up the ghost.

Executive producer Joseph Mallozzi broke the news on his blog last week telling fans, “I’m sorry to say but the cancellation puts the brakes on whatever progress the SGA movie had made in the past month, shelving it indefinitely.” He followed that up by saying “the cancellation of SGU is very bad news” for anyone hoping for more Stargate: Atlantis. It’s probably bad news for anyone hoping for any more of any kind of Stargate ever. This seems like the end.

Science Fiction on television in general is in a pretty bad state. If you’re a fan of the genre, there’s really not much left. If you’re looking for great weekly science fiction, the BBC’s Doctor Who is your best (and maybe soon to be only) option now. The new season of Doctor Who starts soon. Jump in and support the last gasp of Sci-Fi on television, before there’s nothing at all left.

Welcome back to FlixWorthy, your weekly guide to Netflix streaming. Yet again we're bringing you a handful of new or notable selections from Netflix's streaming catalogue. Some will be classics, some will be little-seen gems, some will be shows you might have missed, and some...some will be crap so awful they simply has to be seen to be believed. Here's what's FlixWorthy this week, kids.

The Pillars of the Earth

(2010, TV-MA)

For those of you without Starz, here's your chance to check out one of the summer's biggest TV events. Starz has been promoting the hell out of this miniseries, which Ken Follett co-wrote with John Pielmeier (Agnes of God), based on Follett's best-selling 1989 historical novel. Centered around the decades-long building of a gothic cathedral in the fictional 12th-century English village of Kingsbridge, The Pillars of the Earth uses the focal point of the cathedral's construction to weave together a tapestry of civil war, religious strife, and the struggle to determine the future of Britain. The outstanding cast includes such talents as Ian McShane, Donald Sutherland, and Rufus Sewell as Tom Builder, the architect whose passion shepherds the cathedral through every challenge. With Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Starz has established itself as a major player, and The Pillars of the Earth further cements that reputation. If you're a fan of elaborate costume dramas or Shakespearean machinations, you'll find plenty to love in The Pillars of the Earth. The show is halfway through its eight-episode run, so you've still got plenty of time to catch up. You can read Kelly's review of the miniseries right here.

Double-Feature It With:

The Tudors

(2007, Not Rated, Two seasons available)

In many ways, The Tudors paved the way for The Pillars of the Earth, along with other elaborate historical dramas such as HBO's excellent Rome and Deadwood. Jonathan Rhys Meyers gives us an appropriately lecherous young King Henry VIII, long before he ballooned into a portly and bearded icon. The Tudors mixes political intrigue with a generous dose of soap opera, and the results are addictive. Only the first two seasons are streaming, but hopefully seasons 3 and 4 will be added at some point.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

(2009, Rated R, 94 min.)

The Men Who Stare at Goats finds George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou? mode, playing a role that deftly undercuts his leading-man looks and charm. In O Brother, he played the leader of a trio of well-meaning doofuses bumbling their way through a Depression-era retelling of Homer's Odyssey. In Goats, he plays Lyn Cassady, an eccentric who claims to have been trained by the United States government to be a psychic "warrior monk"...or, in the common shorthand, a Jedi warrior. After a chance encounter in Iraq introduces Lyn to journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan MacGregor), the two set out on a trip to track down Lyn's mentor (Jeff Bridges), whom Lyn believes needs his help. Along the way, Lyn tells Bob the history of the government's attempts to create an army of soldiers capable of remote viewing, walking through walls, and, of course, killing goats with their minds. Believe it or not, the movie purports to be based on real events, specifically events chronicled in the book of the same name by journalist Jon Ronson. Goats is uneven, but it's surreal, silly, and gains a lot of mileage out of its too-crazy-to-be-true concept.

Double-Feature It With...

The Hudsucker Proxy

(1994, Rated PG, 111 min.)

Not the Coen Brothers' most acclaimed outing, The Hudsucker Proxy has nevertheless attracted a cult following over the years -- and rightly so. Tim Robbins stars as well-meaning but naive mail clerk Norville Barnes, who stumbles into the CEO's chair of Hudsucker Industries after the corporation's patriarch leaps 45 floors to his death (counting the mezzanine). Screwball comedy of the finest sort unfolds, during which Norville invents the hula hoop and hotshot reporter Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) fast-patters with the best of them.

Stargate Universe

(2009, Not Rated, One season available, HD)

I've tried. Over the course of 13 years and multiple spin-offs, I have tried and tried again to get into Stargate. I missed SG-1's original premiere back in the Showtime days, owing to a lack of cable, but I tried it on DVD. I tried it when they attempted to entice us Farscape fans in by casting Ben Browder and Claudia Black. And yes, I tried again when SGU premiered last year. I've finally given up. Much as I like the original Stargate movie, whatever alchemy attracts me to that production just hasn't carried over to any of the series for whatever the reason. Maybe it's the lack of Kurt Freakin' Russell. Nevertheless, I've come to peace with the fact that the multifarious Stargate spin-offs just aren't for me...but they are for quite a few fans, given how the franchise continues to flourish. This latest incarnation aims for more of a Trek/BSG vibe, featuring a crew trapped aboard an ancient, runaway starship and having adventures along the way. Hmm, maybe it's more Lost in Space/Space: 1999 than Trek/BSG...

Double-Feature It With:

Stargate: Atlantis

(2004, Rated TV-PG, All five seasons available, HD)

If SGU appeals to you, you can also watch all five seasons of its predecessor series, Stargate Atlantis. If you want to get the full Stargate experience, you'll actually have to pop some DVDs into your player, because, with the exception of a few standalone movies, none of parent series SG1 is available streaming.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

(1975, Rated R, 100 min.)

Needless to say, watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show in your living room is going to lose a certain something. Unless, of course, you invite over a pack of costumed friends who know all the cues and appropriate things to shout/throw at the screen. On the other hand, you're much less likely to be pulled onstage and humiliated like the lowly "virgin" you are. Rocky featuring an insanely catchy soundtrack and a gleefully twisted storyline involving alien transvestites, cannibalism, and boot-knocking in nearly every conceivable combination. Tim Curry is at his Tim Curry-iest as the cross-dressing Dr. Frank N. Furter, chewing every bit of scenery in his most iconic role. Also along for the ride are Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors (ASSHOLE!) and Susan Sarandon as Janet Weiss (SLUT!). Look, you really ought to just track down a midnight showing of this thing if you've never had the full Rocky Horror experience, but if you're just looking for an excuse to sing along with the soundtrack, this is an acceptable substitute. Barely.

Double-Feature It With:

Cannibal! The Musical

(1996, Rated R, 90 min.)

Speaking of musical cannibalism, why not follow Rocky up with a musical about cannibalism called Cannibal! The Musical? Based on the tale of notorious 19th-century long-pig enthusiast Alfred Packer (played by South Park's Trey Parker), Cannibal! explores the lighter side of killing and eating your fellow man.

Swamp Thing

(1982, Rated PG, 92 min., HD)

We take our current comic-book renaissance for granted these days, what with our Iron Mans and our Dark Knights. We sometimes forget how many forgettable or outright horrible attempts were made during the last few decades to bring various comic-book characters to the screen. From Dolph Lundgren's unfortunate outing as The Punisher to The Hof's blasphemous attempt to channel Nick Fury, the track record prior to X-Men hitting was not a good one. (Although you should totally watch the god-awful '90s Justice League pilot if you can find it.) One of the many dubious entries on this long walk to respectability was Swamp Thing, horror maven Wes Craven's campy adaptation of DC Comics' shambling, eco-friendly plant man. Ray Wise stars as an unfortunate scientist who becomes Swamp Thing after an experiment gone awry, and who then finds himself facing off against rival scientist Anton Arcane (Louis Jordan). Adrienne Barbeau plays an inappropriately cleavage-y government operative so Swamp Thing will have somebody attractive to carry on the movie poster. In the right hands -- Alan Moore, Joshua Dysart -- Swamp Thing can be heady, compelling stuff. Wes Craven was perhaps not the right hands.

Double-Feature It With...

The Toxic Avenger

(1985, Rated R, 82 min.)

One goopy, green mutant deserves another. The Toxic Avenger introduced low-budget experts Troma's best-known character, a hapless janitor who gets dropped into a dump truck filled with toxic waste and then decides to fight crime. With a mop.

To read the FlixWorthy archives, click here!

For those of you who just love those corny movies Syfy airs on Saturday nights, you’ll be happy to know that the network has plenty of whacky scifi-fun in store for you. What’s on the horizon, you ask? Mega piranhas, Morlocks, ravenous crockodiles and a sharktopus among other creepy beasties.

I know, you’re probably asking yourself what a sharktopus is. From the brief description included in the list below, a sharktopus is a hybrid animal that’s part shark, part octopus. Yeah, and you thought Jaws was scary. Now imagine him with tentacles! There’s no date set for the film (appropriately titled Sharktopus) but it stars Eric Roberts (Heroes, Crash).

Stargate Atlantis fans who want to see David Hewlett back on the small screen can check out Morlocks, which also appears to be waiting for a premiere date.

Below is the list of movies and their descriptions, as posted by Syfy.

I’m writing this from Colorado where the Scifi channel is hosting a digital press event. This weekend we were fortunate enough to spend some time with Amanda Tapping, star of Stargate Atlantis as well as the new Scifi series, Sanctuary. Tapping, who is just as gorgeous in person as she is on the small screen, is equally friendly. She’s also very enthusiastic about Sanctuary and was kind enough to talk with us about the show. We’ve got the video of the interview for your viewing pleasure.

Tapping talks about Sanctuary as well as her thoughts on fan-fiction, being a working mom, and leaving SGA to do Sanctuary.

Sanctuary premieres on Scifi this Friday, October 3rd at 9:00 p.m. Scifi has videos and info about the new series up on their website. There’s a great Sneak Peak video on there as well.

We’ve got a clip from this week’s episode of Stargate Atlantis, which is titled “The Ghost in the Machine” and is set to air this Friday night at 10:00 p.m. on the SciFi channel. I’ve never seen an episode of this series so I can’t say whether or not the video is all that spoilery so read and view at your own risk.

TV Guide lists the following description for the episode:

“A puddle-jumper mishap leads to a series of Atlantis power distruptions which are linked to a former ally.

In the video below, the characters are reading what appear to be encoded messages on a monitor. The person sending the messages reveals him/herself by name and the characters all seem surprised by it. I’m telling you this because the name listed means nothing to me (since as I said, I don’t watch the show) but if you’re a big SGA fan and don’t want to know any specifics about the episode before it airs, you might not want to watch the video.

The popular Sci Fi series Stargate Atlantis is about to return with a new season this Friday night. We had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call with Stargate executive producer Joseph Mallozzi and actor Robert Picardo. They were kind enough to answer questions about the series, fan reactions, the characters and the upcoming season.

Since the interview’s pretty long, we cut it up into parts. Here’s the first part. As they talk about the new season, consider yourself spoiler-warned!

Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis will premiere on Friday, July 11, 2008 at 10:00 p.m. on the SciFi Channel

PART 1

Joseph Mallozzi: Okay. You know, I’ve always been a big fan of horror and one of the things that - you know, one of the great things about Stargate is that we can do such a variety of different types of stories. I mean, we do our funny episodes. We do our serious episodes, the off world episodes, the ship based episode. And I just realized that we’ve never really done a horror episode. And we’ve done monster movies but never really kind of a scare fest. So I mean, you know, I pitched stuff to the guys and they really liked the idea. And I spoke to Will about it and he’s like yeah - Will Waring, who is our Director who directed the episode and he’s also a big fan of horror movies.

So we actually did a little mini horror movie for the episode, "Whispers". What we did, Joe Flannigan and Paul McGillion -- two of our regulars -- joined a team of - an all female team on an off world adventure.

I mean, one of the things about TV, (office) episodic television in general is, at the end of the day you kind of know that your heroes are going to come out of it in one piece, more or less, unless you happen to be Carson Beckett (and trend A) or what have you.

So I thought I was important to add this all female team for kind of two reasons. One, with Amanda leaving, I thought there was kind of a gender imbalance in the show that I kind of wanted to address by bringing in, or at least introducing some potentially recurring female characters. And two, have the audience invest in characters that you don’t really know whether they’re going to survive or not. And it was just really a fun episode. I went by a couple of days ago and Mark Savelo, our VFX Supervisor, he was just showing me some of the temps on the visual effects and gosh I hope it’s not one of these episodes that angry parents write the network about.

Hopefully, it’ll be an atypical episode and I’m hoping that people will enjoy it - especially fans of the horror genre.

What’s coming up story wise and for the teams this new season, and how it’s going to be different from previous seasons?

Joseph Mallozzi: In previous seasons - You know, season one was set up and season two was (telling). And season three, I think, we’re stepping out and exploring more, sort of a variety of stories.

Throughout those first three seasons, though, we were always I guess securing resources with SG-1 - be it a series or the movies and as a result I guess it taught you - because of the time constriction, we weren’t able to really sit back and plan out the season quite as concisely as we could have which is what we did in season four.

We realized okay, there was an imbalance in some of the stories being told. I mean, there were a lot of McKay stories but one of the things we set out to do in season four that we did in season five as well was, you know, give each character a story and then, you know, a spotlight and really focus on them, and give them a chance to really step up.

And we did that again in season five. And where in season four we wanted to deal with some of our standing villains. We kicked off the Wraith/Replicator war. We got rid of the Replicators. We weakened the Wraith and now season five is kind of a step forward in a couple of ways.

One, in a big picture way we are introducing a couple of new races. We’re suggesting that with the Wraith weakened in the Pegasus Galaxy, there are a number of civilizations that are basically standing up and assuming power. So in a big picture way that’s what we’re doing.

In another big picture way we have a new commander on the Atlantis expedition with Carter leaving.

What we said in season four was, with the threats that Atlantis is facing -- especially with regard to Wraith -- the military essentially flexed their muscles and wanted to exert some influence over the Atlantis expedition. So Carter was appointed as a compromised candidate. In season five, with -- as we said -- the Wraith, back on their heels the (IOA) in turn flexed its muscles and they appoint Richard Woolsey as the new interim leader of the Atlantis expedition. And that will be a big change and frankly, it’s been a great change. We’ve been big Bob Picardo fans for years and what started off as a couple of episodes in Heroes and through a recurring role which eventually when the opportunity presented itself there was no hesitation. We said, if Bob can do it, we would love to have him on the show and Bob was kind enough to make time for us I guess.

Robert Picardo: This is very interesting for me to listen to as well because I find out, all the secret things that the Executive Producer has in store. I was a little worried momentarily when he made reference to a bit of a gender imbalance. I thought that by Episode 20 perhaps he’d be given full reign to (pull) the feminine side - at least that he’d be, cross-dressing on the base. But I’m happy to hear that that’s not in the planning.

I look forward to seeing you in the new role - or bigger role, I guess, is the word.

Robert Picardo: Well thank you. I appreciate that. I’m looking forward to seeing how the, you know, the dedicated fans of the show accept the new leader who is not nearly as cute as the previous two.

Joseph Mallozzi: Some fans may argue differently. Sorry.

A question for Robert. You haven’t gotten to talk enough yet. How did you get mixed up with these guys on this level? Was it as simple as them asking and you saying yes?

Robert Picardo: Yes, I think they have a tradition of using actors from the other franchise, the name of which I dare not speak, as some casting. Many of my colleagues from the different Star Trek shows have been guest stars. And I think that they either last from one to four episodes. In fact, I think around the fourth time they asked me back, I was flipping to the end of the script to see if I was killed yet. But I managed to outlast them all and it’s been a lot of fun working with both casts, and with the Writer/Producers. They’ve really built the character from his initial impression of being kind of a hardnosed, you know, a vicious blame layer.

I call the characters that are coming to find out who has screwed up and whose head is going to roll in his initial appearance. And in Heroes: Part 2, they really fleshed him out. Although he still has kind of insufficient people skills perhaps to be a leader, he’s developing them now that he’s assumed command. I think there’s something inherently interesting in the Monday morning quarterback, the guy who, you know, sits at one end of the briefing room and tells everyone what they should’ve done and how they’ve screwed up.

Now that he’s suddenly making the decisions himself, it’s a very interesting dynamic that has its own kind of built in dramatic tension. He’s used to evaluating others but not to having that responsibility rest solely on his own shoulders. And in fact, we have an upcoming episode where his own new command will be evaluated by someone who’s taken over his old position. So there’s a lot of fun layers to explore this year.

Are you drawn to Sci-Fi? Is there something about the genre that pulls you in or is this almost also sort of like all of the people that make Sci-Fi, they watch Sci-Fi and that puts you on their radar, and they know to reach out to you? Is it - or is it some combination of both?

Robert Picardo: I think it’s a combination of both. I’ve been working on Star Trek for -- there I said it -- for seven years, I really came to appreciate what it was about that kind of storytelling that developed such a loyal fan base - that, you know, the regular viewer of science fiction has the interest and the capacity to really imagine the future, to dream of a better one and to kind - and I think even to project themselves into the future in a certain way, that that’s part of their psyche and personal passion.

That’s why they watch this kind of program. And once I appreciated what it was about the storytelling that made it special and that made the fans so loyal, I really began to enjoy it and I think to flourish in it as an actor. I really used my own imagination a lot and made a number of suggestions during my tenure on Star Trek. But also, I - because the fan base is so loyal, they like seeing an actor that they know from one show take on another role in another of their favorite shows. So it does work both was. I can’t honestly say that I set out at the beginning of my career to spend, you know, ten years in a jumpsuit. It keeps you in the gym regularly as well.

One of the challenges that you had in Star Trek was a hologram real to people but isn’t that the challenge that you always face more or less with any character you do, just like right now?

Robert Picardo: Of course. When an actor gets a role, especially in series television where he really is the part. The audience never thinks of another actor playing that role. If they accept you in the role, then they can’t separate the actor from the character. But we always have to devote a lot of attention and imagination to what the character’s back-story is, where he comes from, what his education is, previous work experiences and his personal life, and all of that stuff that’s off camera that will help inform the part that’s on camera.

With Woolsey, his back-story was sort of slowly revealed through various guest appearances. It’s not like when I set out at Star Trek, I made all the decisions and just - and set on my journey with what I understood the writers wanted from that character. And of course, it was different from any other character I played because when you’re playing a new technology that’s basically booted up in the first episode, you have no back-story. So that was the challenge of that role because there was really nothing to depend on. It was starting with a clean slate and building the character piece by piece.

I have to tell you though after seven years as a hologram, I’m happy to be back playing human beings. I was afraid of getting out of practice. So I’m glad to be flesh and blood again, and to have the ability to change and even to age. Nobody wants to play - I’ve talked to Brent Spiner about this. You don’t want to play a character indefinitely who’s not supposed to age.

With the first half of season five already on film, what would you say will be the turning point for viewers and ratings while continuing the second half and potentially a sixth season?

Joseph Mallozzi: The turning point? You know, I’m kind of hoping - it’s not so much a turning point but a build from last year’s strong finish. I don’t recall off the top of my head what the numbers were but, I know that, “ Last Man” -- our season finale -- finished very strongly. And hopefully that’s something we can continue with the premiere: “Search and Rescue.” You know, and I’m sure some of you may have seen it along with the few thousand who happened to be cruising You Tube over the weekend or a couple of - last weekend.

And the reaction was overwhelming, positive from what I saw. I think it’s awfully indicative of what’s to come this season, a variety of action, character development, hopefully what the fans have grown to love and really desire from the show. In terms of standout episodes, off the top of my head I’m very happy with the first half. But of course, one of the big episodes -- sort of like last year – “Be All My Sins” was a big midseason two-parter - the second part of the midseason two-parter.

In a similar way, the midseason two-parter is going to be very big this year. It’s “First Contact” and “The Lost Tribe.” And of course, Daniel Jackson will be dropping in for an appearance and that’s going to be huge for a lot of the SG-1 fans who I’m sure have missed him and, have been asking what the hell is taking so long for Daniel to come on over to the Pegasus Galaxy.

Well they get the chance in the midseason two-parter. And, you know, like last year’s “Be All My Sins Remembered,” it’s full of surprises and action, and spectacular visual effects and some really nice character moments, particularly with regard to McKay and Daniel Jackson who are two characters that really haven’t had a chance to sort of play off each other. And they play off each other really, really well. I mean, one of the things I said was these two guys -- Hewlett and Shanks -- are the fastest talking actors in Sci-Fi bar none. And as a result Martin Gero wrote both scripts and they were almost like 60-page scripts which is - there are usually, a 60-page script is usually long. And I think “First Contact” was exactly to (top) and I’m not sure what “Lost Tribe” was - maybe a minute over. So, a lot of rapid fire talk between the two. And hopefully it’ll be an episode that the fans will love just as much as last year’s midseason two-parter.

You talk about character development and we’re going back to Woolsey - what adjustments will we see as Woolsey takes over as the new leader of the Atlantis expedition versus previous appearances where he was a little indecisive or trying to take control, et cetera? What adjustments will we see?

Robert Picardo: Woolsey appears briefly at the end of the season opener, “Search and Rescue,” which is a very exciting, action-oriented episode. He comes in and rather abruptly relieves Carter of command with his characteristic gruffness and lack, I think, of interpersonal skills. So that’s your first experience of him. In the very next episode, which is called “The Seed,” he faces the first major crisis at his new command. It’s a very dramatic outing for the character. There’s not really much humor in that first one. And he learns the lesson that he can’t simply follow the rulebook and do this job. I mean, he - by his own estimation, he’s broken protocol about five times in his first crisis. And that puts him -- at the end of the show -- in a personal crisis because he’s always sort of defined himself as someone who knows the rulebook, evaluates others ability to live by it and now in his first series of crisis command decisions he’s broken his own commitment to protocol and - in order to save a beloved member of the crew.

So he learns and in so doing - and so having that conflict, I think he earns the respect or the beginning respect from Colonel Sheppard because he demonstrates a capacity that he hasn’t shown thus far. The very next episode of “Broken Ties,” although there’s plenty of adventure in the A story, there’s also kind of a B story of Woolsey getting used to the technology of the base. He’s the kind of guy who will end a briefing room meeting and tell everybody what to do. And then because they are - he’s a little late following everyone out the door, it’s because he’s collecting his notes.

Then he doesn’t know how to get out - he doesn’t know how to open the door. I mean, he’s running the base but he doesn’t know how to use the technology yet and literally can’t get out the door. And there are two or three quite humorous moments, throughout that episode. And what was gratifying for me as the performer is that it shows right off the bat that the character has the gravity in the dramatic situations but they can also use his settling in and his own character (foils) to get some comic moments as well.

Joseph Mallozzi: One thing I want to add with regard to those three comic beats - well the last one I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s a last scene were we find Woolsey in his quarters. It was actually pitched out by Bob at the beginning of the season and he said you know what I think would be great for the character? I would love to do this and we thought about it. I pitched it out in the room. I said, Bob pitched this and everybody loved it, and we worked it into “Broken Ties.” So, when you watch that moment just keep in mind that that was Bob’s idea.

Robert, are you worried at all about the shoes that you have to fill with Amanda being such a loved part of Stargate?

Robert Picardo: Of course. In the same way that when I got my role on Voyager as the artificial intelligence character in that cast, I was concerned that I would be measured against Brent Spiner’s character because he’d been the android on the Next Generation and now I was the hologram on Voyager. But nonetheless, we were going to mime some of the same issues and storylines. And I thought he had done that so successfully and was so popular that I would inevitably be measured against him.

Fortunately in that case, I was defined by the writers and as much as I could by my own work as differently as I could be from him, and it turned out to be a non-issue, I think. And I not only am a fan of Amanda as a character on the show -- I think her work is wonderful -- I’m a huge fan of her personally. She is one of the loveliest people you will ever meet and work with.

So there’s a lot - both as an actor and as a character, there’s a lot - it’s a loaded situation to walk into. Fortunately, the rest of the cast has been very welcoming to me and also Amanda left, of course, for a spectacularly successful reason and that is to star in and produce her own new series for the Sci-Fi Channel. So although it’s daunting to replace such a popular character, I like to think that I’m not replacing her, that I’m simply - that she’s moved on. There’s always the hope that she’ll come back and make guest appearances on the show and that the, you know, that the audience will not only enjoy watching me in the role and develop it - to see a character who’s not really cut out to be a leader try to build himself into one.

Joe, I was wondering if you could talk about your favorite memory of Don Davis?

Joseph Mallozzi: I’m sure you guys all heard the very - the heartbreaking news that Don passed away on Sunday and I just heard about it yesterday morning. And last night I just stayed up and I wrote up a special blog entry for him, in his memory. I don’t know if there’s a specific memory. I’m sure all you guys know better than anyone that people come across great in sort of a public persona but when you actually sit down to meet them face-to-face, a lot of the time they’re not quite as, I guess, likeable and their on-screen personas.

With Don, I think he had a bigger heart, was even nicer than the Hammond character that he played. He was one of the first actors to warmly welcome me to the set way back in season four. We became friends. I - over the course of my nine years of working on the show, I’d say that I’ve enjoyed working with a lot of prime people but in all honesty, there are only three that I would be bold enough to call my friends at this point.

One was Chris Judge. The second is the guy who’s on the conference call with me today, Bob Picardo, and the third was Don. He was a very easygoing guy and I guess one of the best memories I have of him is that the occasional (calm) that I attended. And I’d see kind of the fans approach him with a certain amount of trepidation. Some fans were somewhat reticent to. I guess fans and really impose on him. But I mean, he was always incredibly welcoming and always very charmed, and charming to the fans. As I said in my blog, whenever fans would approach him, they would approach him as sort of, being - in a sense that he was - they were approaching General Hammond. But once they got to know him, they got to know really Don Davis who would be, a very warm-hearted, incredibly self-deprecating man who, sadly will be incredibly missed by not just obviously the fans but any and all - anybody who ever worked with him.

Robert, with SG-1, obviously it was very successful. It was on the air for ten years. Now with Atlantis, you guys are going to mark your 100th episode this season. To what do you attribute the success of the Stargate universe?

Robert Picardo: Well, I think - it’s hard for me to separate my feelings from - I’m a guy who came from seven years on the competing franchise so when I look at what Stargate does well in comparison to where I’ve been before, I think Star Trek does some things very well. It’s very philosophical and cerebral. But its formula is very different from, I think, the success formula that Atlantis does. Atlantis does action adventure extremely well but most importantly, to me, it has this sort of breezy humor, this ability to wink at the genre that Star Trek cannot have. Star Trek just has to be - has to take itself very seriously. That’s the mold. And Stargate Atlantis and certainly Stargate SG-1, you know, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Richard Dean Anderson was the first Stargate star on television and his characteristic humor. It has the ability to really let the audience in on the good humor, the joke of the fact that we know we’re going to save the world every week and that we can wink at that a little bit and have that kind of fun with it.

So to me, the offhanded humor of the show is what I’m enjoying the most and what I find most exciting having come from sort of a more rigid formula background. Not to take anything away from my former employer and what it did well and continues to do well, but I think that that combination of action adventure and humor that’s very much in the - sort of the Indiana Jones style is what I find the most fun.

With Stargate, obviously there’s so much back-story, there’s so much really good mythology. I’m wondering about attracting new fans. What is it about the series that would make it attractive to someone who’s never seen it, who wants to start picking it up in season five?

Joseph Mallozzi: Well one of the nice things about the show is that despite the fact that it does have a significant amount of mythology, it’s not really serialized. I mean, there’s an overall season to season arc but it’s a very easy show to get into just because we do so many standalone episodes like, for instance, “Whispers” that we were referring to or last year, “Harmony.”

You’ll always have a little connection to the past episodes. But it’s not really a serialized show where basically you really have to have watched the previous seasons or even the previous couple of episodes to know what’s going on.

Like I said, one of the great things about the show is the variety of the types of stories we tell. You know, serialized versus standalone is one example of that.

I was wondering how do you reinvent yourself as an actor after such notable roles?

Robert Picardo: Well I think that that’s what attracted me to become an actor is exactly that challenge, that every time out you’re creating creating someone different. So it’s not so much how. I’m chomping at the bit to do that all the time. And what’s wonderful is when you get the opportunity to do it. So I don’t look at that as - that is the fun part. So that’s never a chore. And what I - I’m also hoping - this is sort of a reference to the previous question as well. I’m certainly hoping to bring whatever Star Trek fans are out there that haven’t sampled Stargate, you know.

I don’t think there are that many of them because there’s a lot of crossover in the fan bases. But I’m hoping that if they were fans of mine from Voyager that they will - and they don’t know Stargate, that they’ll come and sample the show because it’s a great time to get into the series because they’re going to follow my character’s - my character is starting out this year - really starting out as the commander. So that’s a great window into the series if you haven’t watched it before because you’re going to experience it, you know, from the beginning of my tenure and my journey will kind of be linked to yours as a new fan.

So I’m hoping that those 77 Star Trek fans out there that haven’t watched yet are all going to join and are all going to be sitting in front of the TV on July 11.

Now in terms of Woolsey, how can leadership evolve out of someone who’s not a leader?

Robert Picardo: Well again, that’s the fun part. When I - when Joe first called me last November and said how would you like to assume the command, my initial response -- which I don’t think I said out loud -- was you’re kidding because I didn’t think of the guy as the leader. He’s the theorist. He’s a briefing room guy and not a real event guy. He’s not the guy who’s used to being in the fray. In fact, we had a certain amount of comic mileage on Atlantis by having him put in dangerous circumstances, and he’s not a very heroic guy.

So I think that my initial surprise at the offer turned out - sort of then transformed itself into the most fun part of the challenge. Again, we’re in a world now were everybody changes careers several times during their lifetime and supposedly our children’s generation will change them as many as a dozen times throughout their lifetime. So to see a guy in, you know, in middle life or even a little behind middle life going I now have to put aside everything I’ve done thus far and done successfully thus far, and try to reinvent myself.

It’s an interesting challenge and a fun one, both as an actor and a character. So I’m really having a ball. And it’s exactly because he’s an unexpected choice for this job, and that’s what I think the viewers hopefully will respond to as I have.

Did you like Woolsey from the (start)?

Robert Picardo: Did I like Woolsey?

Yeah, did you like him or did he have to grow on you?

Robert Picardo: No, when I first met him - when I first made my convention appearance - his personal appearances that of course, all the science fiction actors make, after two or three appearances as Woolsey and this character - I would be asked questions about working on Stargate and they’d say I really like your character. And I would say you’re kidding because I thought of him as kind of a jerk early on. But again, his very second appearance which I think was called “Inauguration,” you saw that even though he rubbed people the wrong way and was seen as someone who came in only to find out who’d screwed up and as I said, assign blame - that at least he was driven by a personal passion that was quite positive and ethical. He really believed in the importance of civilian oversight of a secret military operation so that a rogue element did not come in and take it over, and would no longer serve the interest of, you know, of the public.

So the fact that he really - the audience responded, I think, right away to the fact that Woolsey meant well even though he - you know, even though he annoyed people. And in subsequent appearances, the writers fleshed him out, gave him some foibles and made him, you know, I think gave him his own kind of weird charm so that I think that - and that journey hopefully will - is continuing right now in season five.

So I think that it was a bold thing for the producers to do, to pick a guy like this who did not - you know, doesn’t seem to be necessarily the first choice for a leader, but to have him try to make himself into one, I think, is the really interesting and creative choice.

PART 2

The cast changes keep coming for Sci Fi Channel's Stargate Atlantis. Season Four of the Stargate SG-1 spinoff kicked off last year with Amanda Tapping replacing Torri Higginson as commander of the Atlantis expedition. Now, according to Zap2It, veteran sci-fi actor Robert Picardo has been cast to replace Tapping, who'll be busy filming a Sci Fi Channel version of her Web series Sanctuary.

Picardo, best known as the egotistical holographic Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager, will officially join the cast and start filming episodes for the fifth season of Atlantis later this month. Picardo has previously guest-starred on SG-1 and Atlantis as Richard Woolsey, a representative of the International Oversight Committee and a constant pain in the ass for Lt. Colonel John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) and crew. The appointment of Woolsey as Atlantis' head honcho is an unexpected but welcome change for this series. Replacing Tapping's dull Colonel Carter with Picardo's contentious bureaucrat is sure to spark some life into Atlantis, which has been floundering ever since Higginson's exit. Picardo talked to Gateworld about his character back in 2006. Here's what he had to say about Woolsey and his experience in the Stargate universe:

"I read the first script and I seemed like, kind of, a bad guy -- but he seemed to be at least an honorably-intentioned bad guy. He meant well. ... Producers Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie are also fans of mine, as I am of their work. And they seem to enjoy having me back. The character has become more layered and considerably more sympathetic than his first appearance."

Tapping will guest star as Carter in a few Season Five episodes. Season Five will also see the return of Michael Shanks’ Dr. Daniel Jackson from Stargate SG-1 and fan favorite Paul McGillion as Dr. Carson Beckett. McGillion, who makes his first return to Atlantis in a Feb. 22 ep after being killed off in Season Three, is slated to guest star in five eps next season. Check out this photo gallery to get a sneak peak at McGillion's return.

New episodes of veteran TV series are going to become somewhat of a hot commodity as we head into midseason and the writers strike goes on. One of the few shows returning with new episodes this month is the SciFi Channel’s Stargate Atlantis. We’ve got a clip from the latest episode, set to premiere on Friday night as well as a few videos of the cast answer questions from their fans.

According to Tvguide.com, in this week’s episode, titled “Be All My Sins Remember’d”, “The team takes on Replicators in a two-pronged attack as the Apollo and the Daedalus face an armada, while McKay works with a Wraith scientist to thwart their common foe. Further complicating things, Larin resurfaces.”

Stargate Atlantis airs on Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. on the Sci Fi Channel.

Check out the playlist below, which contains videos of the cast answering fan questions: