Joseph Mallozzi Part 14, Writer and Executive Producer, Stargate

David Read: Hello everyone and welcome to 127 episodes of Dial the Gate. My name is David Read. We are joined by Joseph Mallozzi, Executive Producer of Stargate Universe in this episode to discuss season one of that series. Before we roll into that if you really enjoy Stargate and you want to see more content like this on YouTube, it would mean a great deal to me if you click that Like button, it makes a difference with YouTube’s algorithm will help the show continue to grow. Please also consider sharing this video with the Stargate friend. And if you want to get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon. Giving the Bell icon to click will notify you the moment a new video drops and you’ll get my notifications of any last minute guests changes and clips from this live stream will be released over the course of the next few weeks on the GateWorld.net YouTube channel, they are our partner. As this episode is a live show Joseph Mallozzi has joined us to take your questions live. So if you are in the YouTube audience @youtube.com/DialtheGate, my moderating team, I believe it’s Sommer and Tracy today, are taking your questions for Joe. And in the second half of the show we will turn everything over to you guys for those questions. But until then, it’s me and Joe, Joseph Mallozzi, Executive Producer Stargate Universe. Welcome back, sir. How are you?

Joseph Mallozzi: I am great. How are you?

David Read: I am good. We are on the third and final show. And like you said earlier, it’s kind of sad.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah.

David Read: What was it like doing a third one of these things? And what was the first meeting like where you heard that they wanted to? Or I guess SyFy wanted to.

Joseph Mallozzi: Um, no, I mean, they had been discussing doing a spin off for a while and I refer to Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, the co-creators of Stargate Atlantis and Brad was a co-creator of SG-1. And they’ve been talking about ending SG-1 with the seventh season and then spinning off a new series called Stargate Command. But then we ended up getting the pickup for the for the eighth season or was it the ninth season, the 10th season? And so they ended up working on a totally different spin off, which turned out to be Atlantis. And so they did that one and then, Atlantis was getting into I think fifth season they had started talking about this third spin off, and they wanted to do something very different. And I remember them going in, they had the idea and they pitched it, they kind of soft pitched it meaning I think they didn’t have a whole lot of details. But they had a kind of a sense of what the show was going to be they and they pitched it.

David Read: To SyFy.

Joseph Mallozzi: I believe it was SyFy, yeah, and SyFy loved it and they asked, “What is it called?” And I’m not sure which one of them basically just on the spot suggested a placeholder title and named it Stargate Universe and they loved it and then, “Great Stargate Universe” that Stargate Universe was born. And as was the case with Atlantis, they worked on the pilot while we were in production on Atlantis. And then we heard we got the the green light, which is great. And then shortly afterwards, we heard that we received the red light on Atlantis season six, which was not so great. So it was kind of a bittersweet moment for us or month I guess. And then we ended up rolling into Stargate Universe and breaking stories for Stargate Universe which was totally very different. But Brad and Robert wanted to do something different. So.

David Read: Absolutely. Did you think when you first heard this pitch for a third one? Did you think automatically this was something that you wanted to do? Or after so many years of this was it time to potentially, not absolutely, but potentially consider another chapter in your life.

Joseph Mallozzi: You know, when you’re in a long running series, in the back of your mind, you’re always thinking maybe this is the time to step off and try something new. But as someone once told me, “That’s crazy talk.” And I think 99 times out of 100 when someone leaves a successful show to embark on their illustrious solo career it doesn’t work out for them.

David Read: You and Martin Gero are the exceptions.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was always appreciative. So I mean, yes, there was that 1%. But the majority don’t. So I was always appreciative of the opportunity afforded me on Stargate and I frankly love the franchise, I love the characters, and the prospect of doing a third Stargate Universe, Stargate series, but doing something very different intrigued me.

David Read: What intrigued you the most about this premise? What were the new directions that you were going to be able to go off and that was like, “You know what, I think I can sink my teeth into this one.”

Joseph Mallozzi: I mean, conceptually I loved the idea of a ship show. I mean, it’s kind of classic sci fi. But with a Stargate angle, so that really appealed to me. I really love the kind of the ensemble dynamic. And that’s another thing that always appealed to me. And I’ve always been a big fan of ensemble shows. And you know, I mean, SG-1 and Atlantis were ensemble as well. But I guess, not to the extent that Universe was in that the cast of characters were, there were so many of them, and so many of them who were, not necessarily background characters, but more kind of peripheral characters. Initially, Brody or Park characters, Volker, characters like that, who were really, really supporting players. And yet, because of the performances by the actors, you know, Peter Kelamis, and Jennifer Spence and Patrick Gilmore, we ended up giving them more to do and the characters grew. And as a result, our cast grew, our cast of characters grew. And that was a lot of fun.

David Read: They furthered the plot. One of my frustrations about Star Trek Discovery, is that Sonequa is great as the lead, but her entire bridge crew would have in a show like Next Generation have had episodes that focused on them. And we never get to meet them because it’s not an ensemble show, it is her show and maybe like two or three peripheral characters. And in Atlantis, it was it was Flanigan and Hewlett’s show. And I agree, I think that with Universe expanding the palette so that more people had a chance to shine really lent itself to I think further storytelling.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, I agree. I agree.

David Read: And I have to say, originally Destiny being pitched as a ship show, I wasn’t sure if it would work. Because if the ship becomes the vehicle, then what’s the purpose of the Stargate? But then as you watch it, the Stargate really takes the place of transporter and shuttle craft. And still, the ship still has its own limitations. So I think it works.

David Read: I was surprised in circumstances where it was like, we had people who did indeed miss the timer, and the ship will go on without you unless there is some exterior circumstance that gets you back on board you’re not coming back. Who among the core cast were you really impressed with in these initial episodes as the show was growing?

Joseph Mallozzi: And I love the limitations the fact that it was a ticking clock that when planet came in range you had a window in which to get down to the planet, explore, and then get back onto the ship. If you miss that window then you weren’t catching the shuttle bus down the road. That was it.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, it’s hard for me to answer that question because one of the things that I remember being struck by the fact that they were all very, very, very strong, top to bottom. And I mean, it just became more and more apparent as the show went on. But it’s very rare that you have such an incredibly strong cast from top to bottom. I mean, usually your leads are always great. And then your supporting characters can be great, in which case they pop out. Or sometimes they’re, hard to say, but adequate and they just serve the function. But in this case, I mean, just right across the board, just a really, really, really strong and very deep cast.

David Read: Yeah, some recede into the background as the show goes along because some are working better than others, just by nature of the material, and the actor working together. So I get it. What about bringing in the Communication Stones once again? Was this always a core component of the show? Or was this a few weeks in, “Oh, you know what, let’s go ahead and…

Joseph Mallozzi: It was always a core component of the show. And Brad and Rob always argued that the reason we use the Stones, and I think it’s something that they pitched to the network that the network also liked as well, is that it opened up the show and allowed them to not only communicate with Earth, but ultimately would get us off the ship. And we getting off the ship is easier said than done. Even though the Universe budget was healthier than Atlantis or SG-1, you would eat up a lot of that budget just by virtue of let’s say, this being such a huge cast and like the amazing visual effects. The idea is like SG-1 and Atlantis we’re always offworld, but you’re always visiting these forested planet, and people would kind of get on us like, “Oh, it’s always a forested planet.” I would always argue that if they were going to explore a planet, they would more often than not really explore a planet that would be capable of supporting life, and what did Star Trek call them, Class M planets? And yeah, and so by virtue of that fact, you were more likely to see trees and vegetation similar to similar to that of Earth.

David Read: But you’re not going to pick plants to eat on desert worlds.

Joseph Mallozzi: Right, right, right.

David Read: To be fair.

Joseph Mallozzi: Right. So I think Rob and Brad, were mindful of that. So they wanted to vary the looks of the planets. There the problem was that it was like, if you were going to go offworld a lot of the time, it would just bust your budget. Just because you didn’t want to do forests all the time we’d have to create these amazing sets or mattes. On the other hand, they felt that the ship, just being on the ship all the time would feel claustrophobic. So that’s why they introduced the Stones.

David Read: Okay. All right. I loved the design of this craft. James Robbins, his artwork is just absolutely stunning. Rob took Darren from GateWorld and myself on a tour of the ship before the show had aired and it was Jules Verne. I mean, it was like it was like walking into a Jules Verne novel. And James Robbins said, “We built this set with steel. We built it to last for several seasons to amortize that over the course of potentially five seasons of show.” What did you think of his design?

Joseph Mallozzi: I thought it was amazing. I remember the first time I walked on the set, it was that it wasn’t even fully constructed. But it just had a design unlike anything we’d seen on Stargate. It was kind like a steampunk look, and then sort of, those corridors had kind of almost like a dark foreboding feeling and when I did Dark Matter, Production Designer, Ian Brock was very much influenced by the look of Destiny in designing the interior of the Raza. So I just love the look, just the everything from top to bottom, by top to bottom, I mean, not only to texturally the walls, the architecture, but the ceilings and floors. That was one of the big things Rob always kind of hated about the SGC is that it just the floors were painted concrete, and the ceilings, there were no ceilings. Whereas Destiny, I mean, you can shoot up, you can shoot down. It was just an amazing set.

David Read: And the fact that you guys chose to do from a production standpoint unconventional lighting, which is one of the things that I noticed early on in watching it and in talking with you guys was like, “You know what, we’re not going to fully light some of these scenes know, some of these people are going to be slightly in the dark.” And it’s going to kind of be an indication, you can lend it to their personalities or their objectives that way but it was going to be just, it was going to feel more real.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, um, yeah, the lighting was kind of a I know a point of contention amongst viewers. I mean, this is kind of the issue, when you produce a show, you see the very best quality, so you’re watching it on the kind of the best screen you’re seeing. So it looks amazing, if you have the visual effects, to the lightings, to the sound, and then you broadcast it, and it goes out on their conventional, analog televisions, and people at home can see anything. That was the big complaint. And ultimately it lent a certain atmosphere. And it was really a beautiful show, but I know many viewers kind of complained because they couldn’t see anything.

David Read: I think one of the things that has spurred a lot of the chatter in the past recent years of people going back and rewatching the show now and discovering that they like it is partially due to the fact that we have enormous televisions now, and if we turn off the lights, we can see it. So I think that there’s an advantage there to this industrial boom of flat screen TVs and home surround sound systems.

Joseph Mallozzi: It’s funny you say that because I have noticed an increasing number of fans who, actually Stargate fans and non Stargate fans alike, who either discovered Universe for the first time or gave it another chance and suddenly said, “Wow, this the show is great. It’s really too bad it only the two seasons.”

David Read: Exactly. Let’s get the elephant out of the room. Or at least address the elephant.

Joseph Mallozzi: Which one, yeah.

David Read: The elephant that was, boom Atlantis cancelled, boom SGU is launching, which led to the greater impression that one was literally substituted for the other in SyFy Channel’s eyes. And Atlantis fans and some frankly Atlantis cast members did not take it well and chose to exercise their First Amendment rights to say what they wanted to. Thoughts on that before we get into this?

Joseph Mallozzi: No, it’s something I mentioned in our discussion of Atlantis’s final season. That idea I honestly did not think it would be Atlantis final season. I thought we would do a season of Universe. The first season of universe and the final, probably the final season of Atlantis.

David Read: Or movies.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah.

David Read: Yeah.

Joseph Mallozzi: But I was honestly expecting that sixth season. So it came as a surprise to me that we didn’t come back. And ultimately I don’t know the reasoning. I mean, basically, I have to say I reached out to the studio. And they said even though I think financially it didn’t make sense for them to do a sixth season of Atlantis, there were other reasons to do it. I think they suggested one of the reasons was obviously to use Atlantis as a lead in. So and then when I spoke to the network, they seem to indicate they wanted that a Atlantis so I’m not really sure what…

David Read: And then it just didn’t happen.

Joseph Mallozzi: And it didn’t happen. And like I said I was disappointed and I know people were like, “You guys canceled Atlantis.” I actually took a pay cut to go on Universe which I appreciate, like I wanted to do the show. But certainly I was financially worse off without a sixth season of Atlantis. So believe me, I would have loved to have done a sixth season of Atlantis, especially because we had kind of spun kind of very rough ideas of stories we wanted to do for the sixth season. And I mentioned I want to do that Wraith hybrid two-parter for the mid season two-parter. I thought it would be fun and I was genuinely disappointed, as disappointed in the fans. And I think at the end of the day was so whatever the reason I think it was poorly handled in that it certainly gave the impression that one had to be canceled for the other. And really, there’s no way to sort of argue out of that. I don’t think of that point.

David Read: Well, on the one hand, Season five was arguably the best season of the show, produced. You guys, you were figuring stuff out as you went along and it got better and better. And second to that, fans had already been programmed to be able to recognize and kind of get fat and happy with their circumstance of having to Stargates running, so we’re just going to do this again. And that’s not what happened. So, what stories other than the ones that you wrote that we’re going to get into here in a moment really stood out to you from your peers for that first season? So you know…

Joseph Mallozzi: I’m gonna, I’m gonna bring up the last but off the top of my head, the opening three-parter, which was originally a two-parter. Oh, there was just so much [pause]

David Read: Oh, we lost Joe.

Joseph Mallozzi: Fire.

David Read: I’ve lost you Joe. Can you back up? The two-parter was originally a two-parter?

Joseph Mallozzi: Yes. Originally a two-parter, the opening two-parter became a three-parter. And in much the same way that, was it Light and Darkness was actually one episode and then became a two-parter. Yeah, so hang on. So I mean, really for me, the opener was, really stood out for me. I love the way that it kind of bridged old Stargate, with new Stargate, Rick, and Daniel guest starring, which is something maybe will happen in the new spin off?

David Read: I can only hope.

Joseph Mallozzi: That happens. Yeah.

David Read: Absolutely.

Joseph Mallozzi: So like that sort of introduction to the cast of characters and just love that set. That Destiny set was very much a character and just that opening of them kind of flying through that gate, coming in hot. It just kind of stayed with me. And then of course the design, the introduction of the ship, the introduction of this kind of new FTL window, the jumping. I just, that was amazing. And then of course, I mean, obviously the first two episodes were great. And then there was a trip to New Mexico that Rob took for part three of Air that was just gorgeous. And it goes back, it goes to what I was saying about the fact that you want new looks for planets, you want to differentiate the looks and I mean, White Sands was gorgeous. So

David Read: Have you been?

Joseph Mallozzi: I have not been. I did not go.

David Read: I’ve gone twice, it’s one of those, twice? Three times, three times. So my favorite places in the country and you guys used it to perfection. So and the Bisti Badlands, which we’ll get into in season two, was another stunning season. But White Sands really showed, that as far as I was concerned, really showed that you guys were serious in growing the production value and really just putting every penny onto the print. It was solid. I loved Rob’s episode Time. I think so.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, I was gonna get to that, I mentioned, no, no, no, I mentioned like, another one that stood out for me was Water. Which we visited another planet sort of very Hoth-like and just kind of a beautiful episode. But yeah very much if I think of standout SGU episodes probably my favorite is Time because I just love a good time travel episode. And I remember we were breaking the episode in the room and we kind of broke it in the room or Rob had the idea but he didn’t have the ending. He’s like okay, “I don’t have the ending. I’m just gonna go away and come up, see what I can figure it out.” And it was quite something, what he came up with was quite something and it was sort of a lot of fans were like, “Is part two next week? What’s going on?” And you know, I just love, love the way that episode ends. It just…

David Read: Was Butch Cassidy a part of the discussion when you guys were all together or did he come with that later to button up the ending?

Joseph Mallozzi: I think probably came up with that at the end. I mean at the end the script stage I mean you beat out the episode and you know often it’s not super detailed and you leave it to the writer to come up with the details involved. It was fantastic. I just remember we ended up building that jungle set on one of our stages and get rain and it was just quite the episode just from a production standpoint but also from a finished episode standpoint. Which is really one of my I think top five favorite Stargate episodes.

David Read: It looks great. I agree it’s definitely up there and the unconventional ending I was among those who are like, “Wait, what is what’s going on?” And it took me about two or three minutes to process it and I was like, “Okay, we’re seeing part two of three, at least, loops and we have to infer the next one.” Which I think is great you want to make your audience think that’s how you do it.

Joseph Mallozzi: And it does Yeah.

David Read: Absolutely. Let’s get into your stack for this season, Space which I believe was 11?

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, a late episode, yeah.

David Read: Episodes were broken up into additional pieces it turned out to be 11. I think that this was one of the more frustrating things as a viewer that this episode was retained for after the midseason break. I think that had it been a part of the group for the first half, I think that Universe may have had a stronger performance because this is where everything begins to expand. That the buildup that we’ve done for the first 10 episodes, of getting to know people, is starting to pay off a little bit.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, and it could well have landed, should have landed before the midseason break but it didn’t because like I said the opening two-parter became a three-parter. And Light became Darkness and Light. So that’s an extra two episodes. It got pushed, so what was it episode 11?

David Read: It was 11.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yes, so it would be nine. So would it be nine so, yeah, I mean in that respect you’re right it probably would have benefited from airing before the midseason, before the midseason break.

David Read: What are your thoughts on Young leaving Rush to die at the end of Justice?

Joseph Mallozzi: Love it, I love complicated characters. I love good people who do bad things almost as much as I love bad people who do good things. It’s something that obviously we’ve never done in the previous two Stargate shows. And that’s what kind of appealed to Brad and Robert, this opportunity to really delve into kind of the darker side of these characters and have them make these kind of darker decisions. So we did a bit of that in Stargate, but not to this extent. I mean, we talked about Sheppard feeding that guy to the Wraith. Was it McKay and Mrs. Miller?

David Read: Miller’s Crossing.

Joseph Mallozzi: Miller’s Crossing, sorry.

David Read: Right. There you’re close.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So in that, but then again, I mean, it was dark, but there was really, it wasn’t really, he didn’t really, I guess he crossed the line in some respects. But I think like, was he dying or something? And he really sacrificed himself and Sheppard allowed him to do it. Whereas here, Young is getting rid of a nuisance. There’s no really explaining away what he did.

David Read: And a political enemy at that.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah. Yeah. And I love the fact that Wray ends up calling him out on it in the next episode,

David Read: She sure does, “You shouldn’t have left him on the planet.” But I mean, at this point he had placed he had, I would argue more than a nuisance, he was set up to be a murderer. And it’s like, okay, at a certain point you guys have got to find some way to make peace. And it takes several moves into the first half of season two before that is beginning to be resolved.

Joseph Mallozzi: It is a huge “holy shit” moment. I mean, were you surprised? Were you shocked?

David Read: I, yeah, I was really shocked. I was like this ends here? He really did and I was I wanted to really like Young and I mean, he was never going to be like a Jack. Don’t get me wrong. But after he did that, it’s not that I disliked him because I didn’t dislike him. It was like I didn’t know where to put him in my mind. And that’s, I think, what you guys were going for.

Joseph Mallozzi: Exactly. Exactly,

David Read: Exactly right. We have a great adversary that is just touched on in season three with the departure of some season three, episode three, with the departure of a craft off the hull of the ship, which says, it’s another another nod that yes, this is a continuing story, we’re going to be leaning into into other things. And you return this species in this episode, they park themselves right in front of us and tell us in English, “Surrender.” I’m trying to remember the Nakai I think it was the Nakai.

Joseph Mallozzi: We never named them.

David Read: Never on screen.

David Read: I’m assuming that was a production name.

Joseph Mallozzi: Name them for the, yeah,

Joseph Mallozzi: Ah, no, I just named them that because everyone was, I think we refer to them as the aliens. Fandom was like, “What are they called? What are they called?” And I thought, “Well, I guess they do deserve a name.” So…

David Read: This was one of the cooler species because I forget who it was, I think it was Image Engine, who had developed the Replicators, largely, and then they went on to produce the Prawns for District Nine. And then you guys were like, “Hey you can do total photorealistic bipeds. Let’s have some for the show.” And they looked amazing. They were so cool. How do you think they were pulled off?

Joseph Mallozzi: I think amazing. They did such an amazing job, of course, overseen by our Visual Effects Supervisor, Mark Savela, the amazing Mark Savela. But Brad and Robert, in particular, were just, they didn’t want to do rubber mask aliens any more. And that’s one of the things that is this was a very different show. But we were never able to do full CGI aliens in the past really, because they were just so prohibitively expensive, and they never really worked out. Was that episode where…

David Read: The Reolel with Lieutenant Tyler in the Fifth Man in season five. It’s one shot. It looks cool. Let’s take two shots. But you’re right, you can’t really sink your teeth into it.

Joseph Mallozzi: No, I mean, I was thinking of the episode where were they join Landry at his cabin?

David Read: Yes, okay. The mutant bear.

David Read: Yeah, it just, it really didn’t work. But these aliens did. And I remember that the fandom very impressed and being very excited at the prospect of finally encountering aliens, and not just people in rubber masks. Yeah.

David Read: Yeah. I mean, arguably other than the Oranians like Tenat and Jup, you had a story reason for humans. And at this point, you’re so far out there in the universe that the only life you’re going to encounter is going to be non-human.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yep.

David Read: And I mean, the Ursini, in the second season, they were cool. We’ll get to them. But I think the Nakai were something special. And I really wanted to know what their story was. Would you guys have kept that nebulous and kept them just like pecking at Destiny like ducks throughout the series run? Or would you have gone into that?

Joseph Mallozzi: I think sort of as time would have gone on we probably would have revealed a little more. I’m not sure if we were fully reveal. I don’t think we would fully reveal everything. But yeah, I mean, after a while the pecking, well while interesting, it’s a little frustrating. So we would have, yes, revealed more.

David Read: Was there a larger game plan for them that was planned?

Joseph Mallozzi: You know, this is a question for Brad, because he had a larger game plan for a lot of the elements, including like the major arc related to the background radiation, and he explained some of it. And he always told me after the show was canceled, he’s like, “I’m not going to reveal it. I don’t don’t reveal it online in the event that I get the opportunity to finish the story, I want to surprise the audience.” And so…

David Read: Well, I mean, the thing that terrifies me is that something’s going to happen to him and we’ll never know. It’s like, please

David Read: Okay, and David Blue knows. So yeah, I always want to have his wishes are paramount.

Joseph Mallozzi: He told me.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah. So hopefully you’ll get the opportunity to tell us in a kind of a roundabout way if the fourth series goes. It was,

David Read: Yeah.

Joseph Mallozzi: Maybe check in with Destiny

David Read: Right. And I would hope that in a tangential way, their circumstances could at some point weave into the plot. So. that would be nice. All right, let’s have a look at, so Divided, you did these two back, so it really is a two-parter in many or three-parter I suppose in many respects with Justice. The first real come to blows moment for the show with the cast, the crew of the ship being split right down in two.

Joseph Mallozzi: First I have to say that I did not write this episode, I wrote Space.

David Read: Okay.

Joseph Mallozzi: And Paul wrote, Divided, but as partners we shared the on screen credit, but I love this episode, just the dynamic of two factions facing off in the ship, and just that sequence where they start putting their plan into motion and sealing off decks. It’s just one of my favorite sequences of the series.

David Read: It’s a great departure from and arguably like SG-1 would have never done this. It’s one of those things where it’s like the heroes are the heroes, the villains are the villains. And it’s another great example of making a grayer show where they’re more like us than they are like any of these heroes that have been depicted before. And you risk turning the audience against some of the characters because of some of the things that they do. And I think in the long run, it works.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, I agree.

David Read: Subversion. Dr. Rush and Homeworld Command investigates when Colonel Telford is suspected of spying for the Lucian Alliance. So Lou Diamond Phillips character was always kind of a wildcard figure. I mean, obviously, he was a US Air Force Colonel but at the same time something was going on with this guy. And I think that was pretty apparent midway through the show that season one that something’s happening here. How was it having Lou Diamond Phillips on the show?

Joseph Mallozzi: I love Lou. Lou was a great actor and just an incredibly nice guy and a gourmand. He does love his food. So I do appreciate that. But Lou was fantastic and his character was always I thought that very interesting. And that he was a real thorn in Young’s side and even as his character developed and you find out sort of what’s going on. You don’t really know how much of it is outside influence or how much of it is him. And he’s one of those classic characters that you start off hating but ended up really liking. The kind that redeem themselves and I was a big fan of a good redemption arc and Telford’s was great.

David Read: Was the intention to get him on Destiny by the end of that first season. Because, I mean, we’re talking to a pretty big actor here who’s stepping in to lend his weight to the show. And was there a potential for him to become a complete regular in season two?

Joseph Mallozzi: Um, I don’t recall that being the plan. Because if that was a plan then he would have been a regular in season two,

David Read: I see. Okay.

Joseph Mallozzi: You know, I can’t speak for season three, what the plans were for season three. He was an interesting character, but I think the reluctance to have him actually on the ship stemmed from the fact that he served a lot of similar functions that Young did, even though sort of the characters were kind of at loggerheads by the time I think season two rolled around. He was like I said, he had redeemed himself so we’re kind of missing that initial conflict between these two characters.

David Read: Right, he almost was the guy who was on Earth just at that point and nearing in the end just going to bat for Destiny. He was kind of their ambassador at that point, because you’ve been out there and managed to come back and so he’s got the guilt for that. And then what else are you going to do? That was supposed to be his mission. Rhona Mitra guest starred as Kiva in the last two episodes, the last three episodes, I believe, of the season, which was Subversion and Incursion one and two. Powerful presence, she ended up getting killed off at the end of the season. But it was you guys were growing the Lucian Alliance into a threat for Destiny. And I loved the continuing story from SG-1 all the way through saying that, “Again, this is a continuing universe and there are consequences”. What did you think of that casting? And how did how did the season resolve in your mind?

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, she was great as Kiva. I mean, as I mentioned the fact that Paul and I wrote a script separately. He wrote Sabotage, and I was writing Incursion, which was originally a single episode. And then as I was writing it, this rarely happens, usually at the outline stage you realize you’ve got to two separate, you got two episodes. But as I was writing it, I realized as I was getting to the end I needed a fourth act. I realize there’s no way I’m going to be able to wrap this up in two episodes.

David Read: You’re running out of runway.

Joseph Mallozzi: Exactly. And they’re like, “Great, okay, so do a two-parter.” And so I wrote the final two episodes. I remember Brad saying, “I can’t believe we thought this would be one episode, because there’s just so much going on.” And yeah, very dynamic episode. I mean, I kind of like the Lucian Alliance. I mean, when we originally introduced them, and some of the fans were like, “Oh, these guys are kind of buffoons.” But, again we kind of redeemed them.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, exactly. We got Mike Dopud involved and onboard, yeah, working with Mike. So I mean as a season finale it was also just a lot of fun. I think, I was trying to think back to all like the season finales I’ve ever written. And I wrote them down and all of them them usually end with, I think, capture and all hope is lost. I think back to Camelot, I think back to what was it? Was it the…

David Read: Well yeah, you evolved them. Gave them black leather.

David Read: The Siege

Joseph Mallozzi: The Siege.

David Read: Yeah, for season one of Atlantis.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, yeah.

David Read: Well, in both of those respects, for Camelot and the Siege, Camelot is essentially the ending of the first season of a new show, if you want to look at it that way. So when in each of those situations, at the end of a season one of a new idea, you really want to go balls to the walls, and it makes sense. So and I love that shot of Young looking up and the Pulsar shutting everything off again and that’s a great way to end it. I think that it would have been a mistake to do this episode as just a one episode because the character beats, those quiet scenes where they’re all trying to figure out, “Okay, what’s the next move?” Are what make Incursion wanting to work. And my favorite moment from this episode, well in addition to Chloe absolutely putting Eli in the friend zone. “You’re such a good friend.” He’s like, “Oh, thanks so much, damn.” Is Wray holding the radio and talking to Kiva saying, “In our government the military takes orders from a civilian government.” And then hands the radio off to Young, who’s actually been telling her what to do. And it’s like this is not a good example of our society working the way it’s supposed to. We’re kind of at a stalemate of our own onboard ship and have had to set our issues aside to deal with this other threat. It’s a great first season. And when it ended prematurely, and we’ll get to that in season two. Man, it tore me up inside, man.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, same.

David Read: So let’s go ahead and look at fan questions. Shall we?

Joseph Mallozzi: Excellent. Let’s do it.

David Read: Let’s bring them in here. Be helpful if I have them up. Okay. Jonas wanted to know, “Exactly how old is Destiny, Joe? What a great way to start. Right.

Joseph Mallozzi: So this is a question for Brad Wright. Any any questions related to the the Ancients or the history, I direct you to Brad Wright and or Robert Cooper.

David Read: All right. That’s fair. I did ask him before episode one of Dial the Gate launched. It was my question. I wanted to confirm the Destiny was older than Atlantis and he said, “Yes.” So there is that. Georgeflaxman, “Joe, now that you’ve read Brad’s script, can you tell us anything about it?”

Joseph Mallozzi: Absolutely not. If anybody’s going to tell you anything about the script, it should be Brad. I mean I basically kind of laid out sort of what appealed to me about the script. And the fact that it’s what I’ve been saying all along that you can’t just create a show that appeals to the existing fan base. You have to create a show that is fresh and new. That new viewers who don’t know anything about a Stargate can jump on board, yet at the same time is full of, let’s say elements, characters, callbacks, that longstanding fans can delight in. And that’s what it does. It has like, an important thing for me is a sense of humor, and it’s got that and some great characters. Like I said, more than a few surprises.

David Read: Okay. Does it evolve the story?

Joseph Mallozzi: Oh, yes, absolutely. It does evolve the story.

David Read: That was my first one, does it evolve the story and is it funny? And so that’s solid?

Joseph Mallozzi: Yes. on both counts.

David Read: All right. Harley parks, “Stargate Universe, his music track was just amazing. Will the atmosphere be the same?” I guess they’re inquiring into that… These are Brad Wright questions, folks. Just so you know.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah. I mean, sadly, Joel Goldsmith…

Joseph Mallozzi: Who was responsible for the music on all three of the previous Stargates passed away, so in that respect it won’t be the same but once we hopefully once the show gets into production I mean, Brad will be showrunning, who was the showrunner on the other three productions, so you can expect the same level and quality.

David Read: Oh my God.

David Read: And Neil Acree who did a lot of the music alongside Joel, he’s still very much around.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yes, yes, we follow each other on Twitter.

David Read: There you go. Exactly. I want so badly for a compendium of Joel’s Stargate music to be released, particularly from Universe which I’ve gone to the trouble of ripping it from the Blu Rays just so that I can listen to it. Particularly a lot of the music from the Pilot and from Darkness and Light and the Finale, which I think that final piece of music may be the best piece of music that he wrote for the fans.

Joseph Mallozzi: It is really memorable. It’s beautiful and just the perfect accompaniment to the ending, to the finale. And I honestly I don’t understand why MGM never released the soundtrack and most fans have been asking forever.

David Read: I know. I had my hands on the Atlantis soundtracks while I was there working with MGM for a plan to use some element of it for Stargate Command. I never had physical access to Stargate Universe and Neil and I have tried to put our heads together and figure out where it was. And I don’t know maybe on a hard drive somewhere with the Goldsmith estate, so we’ll have to see. f7supercereal, All right, hello. “Destiny is always I think referred to in the neutral gender “it” despite ships being traditionally referred to as “she.” Was this a deliberate choice?” That’s a good point. I don’t think Destiny was ever referred to as a she.

David Read: To be honest with you I didn’t even think of it.

David Read: And I don’t think Atlantis was either. Atlantis was a ship too.

Joseph Mallozzi: I don’t recall. I don’t remember. Yeah.

David Read: Okay. Nico Kißler, “Can you tell us how far the negotiations with Amazon are and will you be involved too?”

Joseph Mallozzi: I will not be involved. I was just asked to read the script and provide by my thoughts. And I have no idea what the timeline, just the fact that the deal is finally closed. The deal with MGM suggests it will happen sooner than later.

David Read: Okay, that’s fair. Parker Brown, “Is there hope of reintegrating SGU with the proposed new Stargate series?” I think you’ve I think you’ve touched on that Joe.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, I mean, like I said, this show has to basically stand on its own, which generally from the pilot very much will. Having said that, there is the possibility to tie up some loose ends with regard to let’s say, Atlantis or Universe, that’s fine. Once we get our, once Brad gets the show’s feet on the ground.

David Read: Kevin McCabe, “Biggest question, Joe. Was there ever fish in Jack’s pond?”

Joseph Mallozzi: I believe that were always fish in Jack’s pond and Jack was just screwing with them.

David Read: I think so too. Well, I mean, if you’re not gonna put any bait on the end of your lure, you can say that there are no fish in your pond because you’re never catching one that way. Manuela solahoue, I apologize if I butchered that Manuela. “How many Stargates are in the Universe Joe?”

Joseph Mallozzi: Lots and lots, lots and lots and lots.

David Read: I would think it would have to be in the hundreds of 1000s. Maybe 10s of 1000s. But there’s got to be a lot.

Joseph Mallozzi: It’s fair approximation in the universe. Yeah. I mean,

David Read: Is it your opinion that the Ancient, well this is an Ancient question I guess for Rob. But is it your opinion that there were networks potentially in Andromeda or some of these other galaxies out there that the Ancients took a look around?

Joseph Mallozzi: In my mind? Yes, there were other networks in other galaxies.

David Read: Okay. Yeah, I would think so.

Joseph Mallozzi: In my mind, we never really discussed it. But.

David Read: Absolutely. Elizabeth Lee, “Is the wormhole drive introduced in the end of Atlantis to make a useful appearance, either with Atlantis itself or especially the ship going to catch up with Destiny?” These are all, guys, these are all Brad questions.

Joseph Mallozzi: No, actually, the wormhole drive was something that I wanted to do. And we never found the opportunity to introduce it and then basically ended up introducing in the finale, I just, again, in retrospect I wish we’d introduced it earlier. So that it didn’t seem sort of like kind of a Deus Ex Machina [in the finale.]

David Read: That’s true. Did did it concern you that it would have made hyperdrive travel obsolete? And that would have given perhaps too much strength to Atlantis?

Joseph Mallozzi: No, because we had a way to address that issue which kind of set up Staregate Extinction.

David Read: Okay, very good. I always thought that it was one of the more clever ideas from Atlantis, where you turn on this lightning rod basically, and it makes hyper hyperspace and subspace, basically a detonator. If you can’t go near it you will die. And I thought that was always just a great idea. You can’t turn Stargates on and you can’t go into hyperspace. That was cool. Justin Case, “I loved SGU. I was wondering, however, why things grew as dark, particularly with Rush, and then stayed there for so long.”

Joseph Mallozzi: Um, I don’t know how to answer that question. I mean, the idea being that we didn’t want to just resolve issues quickly, we want to let you know realistically, kind of in the real world you have conflict with someone and ideally you resolve that in a week or two. But especially if you’re working in close approximation with this individual it takes a while for things to work out.

David Read: Okay. And also, we were looking at five seasons, that was the story target, right?

Joseph Mallozzi: Yes.

David Read: So you’re just beginning to get knee deep in stuff by the time the plug was pulled.

Joseph Mallozzi: And they did end up achieving an understanding.

David Read: Yes.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, eventually.

David Read: Absolutely. When we get to the episode that introduces the, oh, it’s Twin Destinies, that exchange between them. You know, I’m saving this for next season.

Joseph Mallozzi: All right.

David Read: I was happy that Young came around to Rush eventually, let’s put that way. Applied Focus, “I would have loved an SGC anthology show that would have been following various missions from several teams. And we can check in on Atlantis Project or Icarus as a broader Stargate show.” That’s an idea.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, it’s an idea. I mean, but in that case you’re dealing with a revolving cast. So you have the costs of the revolving cast. The fact that you’re going offworld every episode brings up what we talked about, the fact that are we revisiting forested planets all the time, if not, then how are we going to change up the look. So I love the idea, but it just would have been very, very expensive. But from a story standpoint, I always liked the close ended stories. You go to off planet, encounter some difficulty, and then wrap it up by episode’s end.

David Read: That’s fair.

Joseph Mallozzi: For some reason though, anthologies don’t sell well.

David Read: They don’t.

Joseph Mallozzi: No.

David Read: Oh, I love them.

Joseph Mallozzi: So do I.

David Read: Interesting. Yeah. Lockwatcher, “Joe, was there any actor you wanted to get on the show that you just couldn’t get for one reason, for scheduling or they just weren’t interested?”

Joseph Mallozzi: I honestly can’t think of an actor that we wanted that we didn’t get. None really come to mind. I’m trying to think. And…

David Read: I read somewhere for Threads that the Anubis character in the diner was thrown at John Goodman. But I don’t remember if that’s true or not.

Joseph Mallozzi: This is news to me.

David Read: Yeah, I would have just…

Joseph Mallozzi: Absolutely news to me.

David Read: But the actor who portrayed him was great. He’s unfortunately passed on. But I mean, that would have been interesting to see John Goodman in that role.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, I mean, it would have been interesting. I have never heard, this is a first for me. Maybe it was the case, but I don’t…

David Read: Teresa Mc, “From the Atlantis episode Submersion were there any plans to salvage the Wraith cruiser on the bottom of the ocean?”

Joseph Mallozzi: No, there were no plans simply because we would have been carrying an extra expensive set.

David Read: A wet one that that? All right. This is esoteric but I’m gonna throw it at you. Dan Ben, “In the pilot of SGU, why didn’t Sam, why didn’t the Hammond have Asgard weapons on board?” It’s a fair question. Was it that the Odyssey was the only one equiped with that? I don’t think it because I don’t think it was. Yeah. So the Ha’taks are in orbit of the Icarus planet and we’re throwing conventional weapons at them. That’s a fair point.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, I don’t, to be honest I don’t recall.

David Read: Okay.

Joseph Mallozzi: This is a great question for Brad and Robert. Right. They wrote[ the episodes]

David Read: The Odyssey had Asgard beam weapons.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yes. Yeah.

David Read: And I’m pretty sure that the Daedalus did too. Maybe the Hammond just wasn’t outfitted with them yet. All right, Sommer, hello, Sommer, “In SGU there seems to be more drama within the crew, instead of the old formula where it was us versus evil in the universe. Which of these styles do you personally prefer writing for?”

Joseph Mallozzi: Ah, I very much prefer writing the style that we saw on Dark Matter, which is an episodic format existing within the backdrop of a serialized storyline. Very character driven with a heavy dose of humor.

David Read: It’s almost a hybrid so you can get the best of both, I think that SG-1, I think that all the shows really pulled this off well. Yeah. So Raj Luthra, “Was the design of Destiny meant to look like a chevron from a bird’s eye view?”

Joseph Mallozzi: I believe, yes, that was the intention. Good catch.

David Read: Yep. Absolutely. William Arends, “How does Joe see the character of Dr. Rush, who as the chief engineer, so to speak of SGU, has a darker personality than either Carter or McKay, but almost has a religious desire to find the meaning of life?”

Joseph Mallozzi: Why?

David Read: How do you see the character, I guess it’s like what was your impression of the character and how Robert Carlyle pulled him off?

Joseph Mallozzi: Um, you know, I mean, the character is pretty much how you described him and Robert Carlyle was like, such a huge get. And he was amazing. I’m sure Brad or Robert already talked about this, the fact that he came on to the offices and basically pitched Brad various levels of his Scottish accent. And he says, You can go, I think he had like five different levels from a very thick Scottish accent…

David Read: Unintelligible.

Joseph Mallozzi: To none, I think, Brad picked a two, which was basically not the lowest, easy to understand. And it was funny because I could understand him perfectly when I would watch the dailies or in the episodes, but when I would see him in the lunch line and he would talk to me, half the time I didn’t understand what he was saying.

David Read: Yes, so…

Joseph Mallozzi: His natural accent is so thick.

David Read: Alaina tells the story of first meeting him, and he’s very soft spoken, he’s very gentle. And talking to her, and she was like, “Oh, my God, we are screwed. No one’s gonna understand this guy.” And then when he’s on screen, he’s right there and she’s like, “Oh, okay. All right. This is gonna work.” He just dials it up. Harley parks, “The Raza started in cryo tubes while SGU ended in cryo tubes.” Coincidence?

Joseph Mallozzi: Everybody points that out. That is a coincidence but an interesting one, never the less.

David Read: There you go. Raj Luthra, “Any details on a planned to arc for season three of SGU?”

Joseph Mallozzi: Ah, no, actually, we never got that far. Unlike Stargate Atlantis, where we kind of beat out, we actually pitched out a bunch of stories that we kind of put on the whiteboard. We didn’t even get a chance to work out an arc. I mean, I remember, you know on my blog surely after the cancellation, I pitched out like a bunch of ways that could have gone from from having being in stasis for what we know, whatever, maybe three or four years and having Telford lead a team onto to the Destiny to rescue them to, maybe a little lengthier in them, and capturing another spacefaring race, to them being out for like centuries and Earth being long gone,

David Read: That’s a great idea.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, yeah. So who knows what we would have gone with.

David Read: I loved the, for me personally as a viewer, I was disappointed that we were leaving this galaxy at the end of season two. Because that twist at the second half of the season, I thought led to all kinds of things that we could mine with having another race of humans in that galaxy who were more, pretty much more advanced than we were, and resources that we could mine. But those damn drones, had us reconsider. I would have loved to have had an SG team from that race connect to us and and lend us a hand.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yep, great, great idea.

David Read: William Arends, “Was there ever any thought to not killing off Rhona Mitra’s Lucian Commander Kiva?”

Joseph Mallozzi: Ah, yeah originally but we ended up going, ended up.

David Read: Things change. The One with the Many Zs, “When the Incursion script became a two-parter, the two episodes before it moved down a slot. You lost the initial 17th episode. Do you recall the plans for that episode in season one?”

Joseph Mallozzi: I don’t think they were really plans at that point? I think we’d kind of left the, I think we kind of left the finale open. Well, was it supposed to be the finale? I don’t, I honestly I don’t recall. I mean, we just we’re moving episodes around like from the very beginning of the season. Like I said three, the two-part became a three-parter, the single episode became the two-parter and once again we ended with a two-parter.

David Read: A solid one. ThatDudeRightThere, “Who decided on the songs for the episodes, the real world songs?”

Joseph Mallozzi: Oh, that was all Brad and Robert. They decided, if it’s not K-pop, I don’t know it. And lets just say is a good thing that I wasn’t picking the songs back then or you know some of them are Black Pink.

David Read: That scene in season two with Brody. [Sings] That’s so apparently the batteries. That was something that was done in blocking and they’re like,”Keep it, keep it in. It’s great.” So it’s the little beats like that, that bring the characters alive, I love it?

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, yeah.

David Read: Ivan Telenchev, “What was the story, the in Universe story behind the reuse of the Vanir/Evil Asgard spacesuits from Atlantis.” The ones that were 100 Gs a suit, according to you.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, something like that. What was he in Universe? Did we have an in Universe?

David Read: There was no in-universe explanation. It’s assumed that group of Asgard came across Destiny at some point and just copied the technology. That’s a twisted way to wrap around a reuse of production assets, which is really all it is. And then just update the helmet. So. Philippe Canat, “I would have liked to see a little bit more of arguing between Eli and Dr. Perry.”

Joseph Mallozzi: Okay, interesting.

David Read: Yeah. “And David, get Kathleen Munroe on the show.”

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, she was fantastic.

David Read: I love that actor. I will reach out to her and see about getting her on the show. Let me see. I’m not gonna ask that, that’s a Brad question. Erika Stroem, “Joe, if you had an unusual favorite meal on a Stargate planet, what do you think it would be?” I’m surprised we’ve never asked you this question.

Joseph Mallozzi: An unusual favorite meal?

David Read: Yeah. From another world.

Joseph Mallozzi: Well, I don’t know what they would offer. What would be on the menu?

David Read: I don’t know. Hopefully something that wouldn’t kill us. Yeah, the potatoes from, wasn’t it was supposed to be as like a sweet potato. Yeah, that scene with Greer. Oh, man, that was funny. Like, “Oh, it’s so delicious.” And everyone’s like, “Oh, really?” [Aahhh!] That was solid.

Joseph Mallozzi: I would be totally up for trying some alien food. More like kind of the vegetables. I’ve never been a fruit fan. But yeah.

David Read: Winston Alexander, “Were there any plans to do a Stargate Universe multiverse after season two’s Common Descent when you introduced the split?” We get that with Epilogue.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah. Yeah.

David Read: Carl Binder one of my favorite scripts of his.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he wrote a lot of fantastic scripts, but that is also one of my favorites, absolute favorites.

David Read: Tracy wants to know, “Joe, how is Suji?”

Joseph Mallozzi: She’s great. She’s actually crying right now because…

David Read: I heard her.

Joseph Mallozzi: Oh, she ate already. Oh, I don’t know why she’s crying. But yeah, she sadly she’s not walking. So she kind of stopped walking like three weeks ago, so now we’ve got her an attachment to her wheelchair so she can still kind of move her legs and hopefully ensure that her muscles don’t totally atrophy. So.

David Read: Do you have a diet, a specific diet for her?

Joseph Mallozzi: Um, just food she likes. She’s almost 17 so she at the age where whatever she enjoys.

David Read: You know that’s fair. Absolutely. Guanaalex. Guanaalex, “How much is Claudia Black like Vala?”

Joseph Mallozzi: I’d say not that much like Vala.

David Read: Really?

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah.

David Read: Let me see here. Juan Manuel.

Joseph Mallozzi: Let me see, actors who are like their characters. Some Brian J. Smith was very similar to his character.

David Read: Brian, yeah. And definitely David Blue. So in terms of their interests were very, very compatible.

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah. Yeah. I guess their interests just in terms of personality though.

David Read: Right. I think that David is stronger than Eli was. In terms of…

Joseph Mallozzi: Yeah. [inaudible] just as you brought, you know, yeah. Scott was a very likable character like a good grounded human being. And Brian was the same way as like, Ivon Bartok used to say about Brian, “He’s easy to root for.” Whenever he [inaudible] landed something. He’s got something. I mean, you’re happy for him. He was such a good guy.

David Read: Absolutely. I would have to agree with that. Theresa Mc, “Would you cast David Read in the cameo role in the new series?”

Joseph Mallozzi: Absolutely. Absolutely.

David Read: Oh, man.

Joseph Mallozzi: If I was running the show, but I’m not so this is [inaudible]

David Read: Juan Manuel Perez, “Did you ever beat yourself up not making a Furling episode?”

Joseph Mallozzi: No, not at all. I actually never wanted to see the Furlings.

David Read: You got to keep some things for mystery. I think the Furlings were completely unlike the giant koalas that we saw. I think that the koalas were just, “Okay, get off of us now. Here you go. Here’s something.” Would you agree or do you think that’s potentially that’s similar to what they looked like?

Joseph Mallozzi: Um, we always joked that if we ever did find the Furlings they would be these gaunt, kind of hairless beings. But yeah, I don’t know. I prefer to think that maybe they’re extinct and we’ll never know.

David Read: Yeah. I think that they flew.

Joseph Mallozzi: Oh, maybe. Maybe.

David Read: That’s, I won’t go any further than that. All right, Joe, thank you so much for coming on and discussing another chapter…

Joseph Mallozzi: My pleasure.

David Read: …of the show and taking so many fans [questions], but we had a lot of fan questions today. Thank you all.

Joseph Mallozzi: Great. Can’t wait, next month is it going to be the wrap up?

David Read: I know.

Joseph Mallozzi: Dial the Gate.

David Read: I know it’s the end of our monthly meet and greets. I still would like to have you back in the future. Just a little I mean, here and there. So I’m very thankful to have you on the program. There are certain actors that I’d like to bring on to have a roundtable with you. And yeah, so next month we’ll wrap up our journey together.

Joseph Mallozzi: All right.

David Read: Thank you, thank you so much.

Joseph Mallozzi: Thanks for having me, as always.

David Read: Take care yourself.

Joseph Mallozzi: All right, see you guys.

David Read: Kisses to Suji.

Joseph Mallozzi: I will.

David Read: Bye bye. Joseph Mallozzi, Stargate Executive Producer, thank you so much for these wonderful questions everybody. I really appreciate you submitting. Theresa Mc, “Of all the spaceships that appeared in the entire Stargate series, David, which is your favorite?” Oh, ah. There was something about this ship that I can’t put my finger on it. I have always been in love with this design. And I think a lot of it just has to do with, in terms of my love for the ship, has to do with the mythology that was behind it, and a mythology that was never completely explained. And I think when you put those things together, I think that this is probably the ship for it. So it’s half of the design and half of its significance to the broader Stargate story. A chunk of my heart was put into stasis with that crew, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next with them. So, that’s what I got for you guys. I really appreciate y’all turning in. Dial the Gate is brought to you for free and we do appreciate you watching. And if you want to support the show further buy yourself some of our themes swag, we’re now offering T-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts and hoodies for all ages, as well as cups and other accessories in a variety of sizes and colors at dialthegate.com/merch. Checkout is fast and easy. You can use your credit card or PayPal, just go to dialthegate.com or straight to the Merchandise button at the top of the page. And thank you so much for your support. Another question, “Can we get Will Waring on the show?” I think I’ve reached out to Will, it’s been about eight or nine months though, I will reach out to him again. I think he said, “Yes.” It was just a scheduling issue. So I need to do a better job of keeping up on that. Work and life and other things have gotten in the way. But what I typically do is about once every month or so I just sit down and I send out 20 invites. And then the ones that we get back are the ones that we have moving forward for the next month. I need to get back into the rhythm of sending out a set of invites every single week. That’s just how we’ve been doing it. So my thanks to my producer, Linda “GateGabber” Furey, she is my right hand in publicity and helping make the show go around in terms of outreach. So thank you, Linda very much. As well as my moderating team Sommer, Keith, Tracy, Jeremy, Rhys, and Antony, you guys are great. And big thanks to Frederick Marcoux at Concepts Web. He is our web developer that makes dialthegate.com possible. Thank you so much for tuning in. Next week Robert C. Cooper is back for part six of his ongoing interview series with us. We have discussion on seasons three and four of his episodes of SG-1. So everything from Deadman Switch to Watergate. We covered about six or seven episodes, and it was a good conversation. So we will be bringing him in next week that was prerecorded and that’s going to be airing this coming Saturday the ninth at noon Pacific Time, 3pm Eastern. Followed by a new discussion with Kevin Szabo who runs 3dTech.Pro. He’s responsible for Atlantis and the Replicator. I think that’s it from this set. And also little guys like this one. So he created this Puddle Jumper which actually has a pretty complete interior and also the secondary look of the Replicators, he designed this as well. And if you want to check out the items that he has available, go to 3dTech.Pro, and we’ll be having him on in a prerecorded episode next week to discuss his design process for creating and bringing to life these little critters and spacecraft. So he will be airing at about 2pm Pacific Time on the ninth. Thank you so much once again for tuning in. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I appreciate your time. We’ll see you next week and on the other side.