Having been a fan of Stargate SG1 since about the age of 12, and of the subsequent and highly popular spin-off series Stargate Atlantis, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk with Joe Flanigan. Starring in Stargate Atlantis as Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, Flanigan is deeply ingrained in the Stargate legacy, having been on the show since it's inception in 2004 to it's (untimely) cancellation in 2009.
Once the queues had subsided and it seemed like we were in with the chance to chat with Joe Flanigan, Josh and I made our way to the table to meet the man who throughout my mid-to-late teens had played the dry-humoured Colonel...
BJ: Joe Flanigan! How's it going?
JF: Good! Good good good good. How're you guys?
BJ: We're good, thanks. I was just wondering whether you'd mind sharing a few words about Stargate?
JF: Yeah of course, go ahead.
BJ: Ok, well, obviously a lot of people were incredibly disappointed when Atlantis was cancelled after the Stargate franchise had been one of the longest running SciFi shows on the air. Did you feel it ended at the right time?
JF: Oh no, the show definitely ended too early. Without a doubt. It could have gone for another five years. It was a strange set of circumstances, and it has to do with the decline of the DVD market, which is partly responsible. The producers were getting anxious about all sorts of different issues. In any normal set of circumstances, we would have kept going, but the circumstances were not normal, so we were cancelled essentially to be replaced by what they thought of as a newer, fresher show that they could make more money off of, which is of course Stargate Universe. But unfortunately, their plans went quite horribly awry, and they actually ended up losing quite a bit of money. And our show, really, you know, it got cut off too early.
BJ: Yeah, especially as you said in your talk about Vegas (bloody loved that episode!); it was really taking the show in a new, fresh direction, but then it got cancelled.
JF: It was the penultimate episode, and we shot that knowing the show was going to be cancelled. It was always kind of a little bit of a tragedy, I was always like “aaah, that's a shame, this is such a great episode, too bad we didn't do this three or four years ago.” So, that's the way it goes, in TV land.
BJ: And sadly it was replaced with Stargate Universe. It's a shame that Universe didn't quite match up to the calibre of shows like SG1 or Atlantis...
JF: Well, it wasn't really trying to be SG1 or Atlantis, it was really trying to be Battlestar.
BJ: Yeah, they attempted to blend the two, which could have worked, but I didn't feel it was that successful.
JF: It could possibly have worked, but it would have to be under different helmsman-ship. The strength of Stargate was the sort of self-deprecating, wink of the eye, adventurous quality that we had. Not in anyway great pretence of sending messages and having intense drama, that was not really... I think the strength of Stargate. You know, they took what was successful, and they changed it, like when they made a new formula for Coke. They all ran back to the original formula, they realised it was wrong, so maybe they'll do that. Who knows, we'll see what happens.
BJ: Fingers crossed! There was word of an Atlantis movie, but nothing's been said about that since about 2009?
JF: Yeah, the studio, MGM, has been suffering, it went bankrupt, I mean there were so many problems. So, we are largely a victim of their problems, and their problems are significant. If they had been Warner Brothers or Sony it would have been entirely possible we would have kept going. MGM was just a mess, and they're reorganising and... But I'm sure they'll become successful again in the near future, but right now it's just a matter of cleaning up the mess. They lost a lot of money.
JF: Oh yeah, absolutely! Provided we could get all of our group back together.
BJ: Yeah, if you could get the entire cast back...
JF: If they couldn't get everybody back together, it's questionable, but yeah, no, absolutely. That'd also be weird if there were new people doing it, it wouldn't be the same. Although, you'd be surprised what Hollywood will do to save a bit of money! “We'll take Laurel out, and Hardy out, and it'll be called Laurel and Hardy with different people!” You know, they'll do that.
BJ: “Sod David Hewlett, we don't need him! Nor that Flanigan fellow!” Nah, wouldn't work!
JF: Maybe they'll do an SG1 movie, or a Universe... I don't think they'll do a Universe movie. It wouldn't have the audience for it.
BJ: It really didn't take off and keep the spirit of Stargate alive as much as I'd hoped.
JF: It didn't. I also think that they really upset the fan-base. You've got a real loyal fan-base that's been nothing but supportive, generous and instead they go “oh, we don't need that fan-base any more, we're looking for a younger, hipper, cooler audience. If you don't like it don't watch it. We're going in a new direction and don't need our pre-existing fans.” Which is a really, really reckless approach, and it had very disastrous consequences as a result. The fans have not really forgiven that.
BJ: At the end of the day, a franchise is supported mostly by it's fan-base. The cast can be fantastic, have some great scripts and all the money in the world, but it'll be the fan-base that makes or breaks it.
JF: Absolutely. Assuming the fan-base... Well yes and no. Assuming the fan-base watches the show when they are needed to watch the show and buy the DVDs. If the fan-base is massive but they download everything, that show will disappear also. You need money to make a show, if your revenue streams are drying up and people are taking things for free, there's no way to make quality programming. It's one of those things.
BJ: Yeah... And are you currently working on any new projects?
JF: Oh yeah. Look at that. [He lifts his right arm, pointing to a swollen elbow.] I've just finished a film with Jean-Claude Van Damme (Six Bullets), and I play ex-Mixed Martial Artist world champion, and I had a tattoo that ran from here [points to shoulder] all the way down to here [points to wrist], a scar here and another scar here [points to cheek and eye brow]. When I came back from work and into the hotel, people would actually get out of the elevator. They were scared of me! And I was like “hey, this is kinda fun... Oh, you're restaurant is crowded, there's no tables available? Watch.” So it was interesting. We did a lot of stunts, and it still kind of hurts, but it was a lot of fun.
In case you were wondering why my elbow looked like it had a giant tumour; I hit it. Actually, somebody else hit it, it's somebody else's fault! With a machine gun. It was shot in Romania, and the rules of stunts in Romania are a lot looser... “Alright, we blow things up.” Yeah, great, what're you using? “We use dynamite, that's how you blow things up.” They do actually use dynamite – they're a lot looser with the rules, so you gotta be careful.
JH: We've got to wrap things up now.
BJ: Oh, blimey...
JF: Oh, right, I just gotta sign this, sorry.
BJ: Thank you for your time, it was a pleasure meeting you.
JF: Yeah, you too. Take care.
Joe Flanigan's latest film, Six Bullets, is due for release some time in 2012, and he also recently guest starred in the season four premier of Fringe; Neither Here nor There.
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