It’s only natural on a long-running franchise: cast members decide they're done with the show
before the show is done with them. Whether they’re moving on to new opportunities,
ready to retire from show business, or are driven away by conflict on the set,
there are moments in the life of a hit show where the actor leaves but the show must go on.
As a result the characters we've come to know and love themselves set out for greener
pastures. Or are recast with another actor. Or, worst case scenario, they get killed off.
Stargate SG-1 was no exception. Running for 10 years across both Showtime and the SCI FI Channel
in the United States, the series certainly saw its fair share of cast changes over the years.
In each case the writers had to think creatively to write the character out of the show – and in
a few cases to bring them back again later. In fact, every single member of the show’s
original cast ended up written out at one time or another. Everyone, that is, except for one.
#1 – Michael Shanks (“Daniel Jackson”) The fifth year of Stargate SG-1 signaled a
turning point for the show. After five successful seasons Showtime decided it had had enough,
and wouldn’t be bringing the show back for a sixth. Key storylines from the pilot
had been resolved, and series co-creator Jonathan Glassner had already moved on.
Canadian actor Michael Shanks had taken on the role of archaeologist and linguist Dr. Daniel
Jackson, played by James Spader in the Stargate feature film. And though he started out with a
spot-on impression of Spader’s Jackson, over the years Shanks made the character his own.
Daniel got a haircut and hit the gym, learned to use military weapons, and started taking
antihistamines for those allergies. By Season Five he was a real action hero.
It was at this point that Shanks decided to move on with his career.
He was looking to try other things, and also not shy about the fact that he felt the show’s
writers as of late hadn’t been giving Daniel a lot of distinctively “Daniel” things to do.
Maybe he'd reached the end of where this character was going. And the end of the series
on Showtime felt like a natural time to move on. MGM, though, wasn’t ready to let the show go yet.
They convinced SCI FI Channel to pick up SG-1 for a sixth season. Taking Daniel’s place on the team
would be the Kelownan wiz kid Jonas Quinn, eager and enthusiastic and played by actor Corin Nemec.
Jonas was introduced in the episode that saw Shanks written out: Season Five’s penultimate
story “Meridian.” After SG-1 finds a planet experimenting with a highly volatile variation
of naquadah, Daniel exposes himself to a lethal dose of radiation in order to prevent an explosion
and saves the Kelownans from their own hubris. It looks to be a grisly end for the person who is
the heart of the SG-1 team, until the ascended being Oma Desala turns up and offers to help
Daniel ascend to a higher plane of existence. In the end he voluntarily chooses to go,
asking the team to stop trying to save his body so that his spirit can move on.
Daniel’s journey was just beginning. And after numerous guest appearances in Season Six,
Michael Shanks was back on the call sheet full time in Season Seven.
#2 – Corin Nemec (“Jonas Quinn”)
Jonas was the young guy coming onto the team to take Daniel’s place in Season Six,
but at the age of 31 Corin Nemec was already a veteran actor with dozens of credits to his name.
Nemec had the unenviable role of stepping into the shoes of a beloved character on a popular TV
series. He was no Daniel Jackson, but the show’s writers made every effort to make Jonas likable.
He studied Dr. Jackson’s journals and read every mission report,
and had a photographic memory. He was affable and curious, and didn’t just fall into his place
on the team but had to earn the respect of his teammates ... especially Colonel Jack O’Neill.
Jonas Quinn grew over the course of the season, as fans got to know the character.
When the show was renewed for a seventh season, producers extended an olive
branch and invited Shanks back. He agreed. That meant there wasn’t space on the team for two
characters who essentially provided the same function (let alone room in the budget for
another salary). After one year on the show, Nemec’s contract was not renewed.
Jonas and Daniel did get a great team-up in the opening two-parter,
as Daniel returned to his mortal form and Anubis moved to seize control of Jonas’ home planet.
After Anubis’ ship is destroyed and the villain is sent running, Jonas returned home – it seemed
somewhat reluctantly – to help his people to rebuild and unite with their rival nations.
#3 – Teryl Rothery (“Dr. Janet Fraiser”) Technically, actress Teryl Rothery was never a
part of SG-1’s main cast. But she was so essential to the core of the show that she deserves an
honorable mention here. Rothery wasn’t in the main credits, but was a frequent guest star –
introduced early on in the show’s first season. As Stargate Command’s chief medical officer,
Dr. Fraiser appeared in around half of the episodes in a typical season.
As the show began production on Season Seven, the writers had every intention of this being
the show’s last year. A plan was already forming for an SG-1 feature film about the discovery of
the lost city of the Ancients, which would set the stage for a spin-off: Stargate Atlantis.
The fact that the show was only going to air a handful of episodes after the fateful
two-parter “Heroes” is cold comfort, though. Somewhere between network executives at SCI FI,
and writer-producer Robert C. Cooper, the decision was made to kill off a key member of the team.
This served a dramatic purpose for “Heroes,” a M.A.S.H.-inspired look at the dangers and
sacrifices of military service from the vantage point of an outside camera crew.
Cooper was convinced that, in order to have its desired emotional impact, the episode
needed a death that mattered to the audience. A guest star or supporting player wouldn’t do.
The lot fell to Dr. Fraiser, who is killed by a Jaffa staff blast while
providing aide to a fallen soldier in the field of battle. Truly a hero’s death.
Rothery was understandably disappointed to be written off, and other members of the
cast – who by now had become like family to her – were sometimes vocal in their disappointment
over the decision. But it did make “Heroes” an indisputably powerful two episodes of television.
By the end of the season, though, cast and crew heard the news:
the network wanted them to come back for yet another year anyway.
#4 – Don S. Davis (“General George Hammond”) Don Davis was a natural father figure for every
member of the SG-1 team. General Hammond was on the verge of retirement when asked
to take charge of the new Stargate program, and for seven years he brought his courage,
strength, and wisdom to this front-line command. Davis had previously worked with Richard Dean
Anderson on the set of MacGyver, where he was a stunt double for series co-star Dana Elcar.
Hammond’s exit from Stargate Command felt organic to the story,
if somewhat abrupt. A new president was elected, and after learning the astonishing truth about
the Stargate program he set about taking stock of what it was and what it ought to be doing.
Although the Air Force would continue to serve at Stargate Command, President
Hayes put a civilian in charge: Dr. Elizabeth Weir, a diplomat with experiencing bringing
different nations to the table in common cause. The President recognized General Hammond’s service
and his ability, though, and gave him a new mission. After sending good men and women out
into the field to risk their lives every day, Hammond himself got to take on a task vital to
Earth’s survival. With Anubis’ fleet bearing down on Earth, he took command of Prometheus – Earth’s
most advanced ship. He and the crew engaged the enemy during the Battle of Antarctica,
risking their lives to protect SG-1 while the team uncovered an Ancient weapon buried under the ice.
After his heroics Hammond would not return to the S.G.C. Actor Don S. Davis was forced to reduce
his workload due to ongoing health concerns. He made several return appearances in later years,
commanding Prometheus again in “Prometheus Unbound,” giving a speech for the Air Force
in “The Fourth Horseman,” and playing an alien version of General Hammond on Stargate Atlantis.
He even voiced Puppet Hammond in SG-1’s two-hundredth episode.
Don Davis’s final appearance on Stargate came in the 2008 movie Stargate: Continuum. He passed away
in June of that year of a heart attack, at the young age of 65. Stargate paid him a final tribute
by naming a ship for him – the U.S.S. George Hammond, commanded by Colonel Samantha Carter.
#5 – Richard Dean Anderson (“General Jack O’Neill”)
It’s not a stretch to say that Stargate SG-1 became the hit that it was in large part due to
its leading man. Already a household name as TV’s Angus MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson took over
from Kurt Russell and made Colonel Jack O’Neill a deep and complex character, whose humor and wit
concealed a deep and personal family trauma. Anderson gave his all to the series for five
long years, helping to establish Stargate as a top-tier science fiction series and a pillar of
the Vancouver film and television community. In Season Two of the show he and his partner
welcomed a daughter, Wylie. That’s why Jack is sidelined at the start of the episode “Spirits.”
Anderson got a few days off from filming. In Season Six the actor agreed to stay on
for another year, to help the cast and crew transition to the SCI FI Channel. But he
wanted more time at home with his family in Los Angeles, and so his deal included more days off.
In this season Jack was sidelined several times, and even written out of one episode entirely.
This continued into Season Seven, when Anderson agreed to sign on for another year.
His promotion to command the base in Season Eight was also part of the strategy to keep the actor
around for just one more year. The newly promoted General O’Neill would take over for Hammond,
sending the team on missions ... but rarely going off-world himself. That kept the beloved actor
and character on the show, but gave Anderson far fewer shooting days to spend in Canada.
By the end of the eighth season Anderson was ready to bid the show farewell,
so that he could be at home to help raise his now 6-year-old daughter.
General O’Neill was off to Washington to take charge of Homeworld Command. But Anderson would
be back for numerous guest appearances on SG-1, Atlantis, and to help launch Stargate Universe.
#6 – Amanda Tapping (“Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter”)
Although today she’s known as a prolific Canadian director,
Amanda Tapping is synonymous with the character she played on Stargate for more than 12 years.
She was a main cast member on SG-1 for all ten seasons, after which she joined
her cast mates in two movies – Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum.
When SG-1 ended and Tapping still had one year left on her contract with MGM, she even crossed
over to take charge of Atlantis as a full-time cast member during that show’s fourth season.
So if Amanda Tapping was a part of the television franchise from the very start to the very end,
what’s she doing on our list? Colonel Samantha Carter had taken command of SG-1 back in its
eighth season ... but then, the writers were faced with the prospect of temporarily writing her out
for the first five episodes of Season Nine. Tapping and her husband had a child during
the break between filming, and she received some well-earned maternity leave. As the season begins
SG-1 has disbanded, with Jack off to Washington, Teal’c helping to establish the new Free Jaffa
Nation, and Daniel getting ready to finally visit Atlantis. Colonel Carter has taken a
new assignment with Area 51, leading Stargate’s research and development.
She has a short video chat with Cameron Mitchell soon after he arrives at Stargate Command.
But otherwise Carter is gone for the first five episodes of the season.
(Claudia Black was brought in for an arc to replace her on a temporary basis.)
Fortunately, Tapping was written out of Stargate only temporarily. By the time we get
to “Beachhead” and the Ori are trying to invade our galaxy, Sam is back to help save the day.
So who’s the only member of Stargate SG-1’s original cast who never had to be written
out? Of course it’s Christopher Judge, who played the stoic Jaffa warrior Teal’c day
in and day out for 11 years. That’s all ten seasons of the television series,
plus the two SG-1 movies. Judge also made a couple of guest appearances on Stargate Atlantis,
including his very memorable match-up with Jason Momoa’s Ronon Dex in the episode “Midway.”
Visit us at GateWorld.net to explore more about the history of Stargate.
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