Saturday, October 27, 2012

starTREKgate

Science fiction television's most conspicuous shows - STAR TREK and STARGATE.
Or most prolific, anyway (not counting the curious history of DOCTOR WHO). Eight series between two franchises. Their runs were perhaps more concurrent and lasting than any two sci fi franchises will ever again be. Before STARGATE: UNIVERSE went off the air, at least one TREK or SG series had been on for the past quarter century. Nineteen of those years saw two airing concurrently. Five years saw three available.
I'm not here to wax rhapsodic about two titans, however. TREK is a titan, SG is...well, at its best it was better than you may think, but only one of these franchises will be alive generations from now. SG will be sooner forgotten, and justifiably so. But TREK fans who turn up their noses will miss some sci fi fun...
Plus the chance to see beloved TREK actors doing their sci fi best in another milieu! Perhaps with a different accent (or forehead). Tellingly, the flow of actors only ran in one direction; no SG regulars moved on to any TREK. So let's honor the time that TREK actors logged on SG's watch. Was there any official relation between the two? Of course not. It's even possible they had to look at each other warily, as products vying for the same market. But there was affection...many a time, SG writers slipped TREK references into their scripts. There is a temptation to dismiss TREK actor appearances on SG as, well...slumming. Cashing a paycheck. But if you can accept certain SG limitations going in (a lack of character depth, occasionally obvious writing, and chemistry that sometimes failed to launch), you might find a few gems. So i hereby present you with...
STAR TREK ON STARGATE GUIDE
-armin shimerman
In 1997, during his sixth year as DS9's barkeep, armin pops the SG cherry with a one-off on a middling SG1 episode called "The Nox". He plays a beatifically benign alien with lotsa hair and deceptively advanced power. It was SG1's first season, and the appearance, like the show itself, didn't have much juice. He was even outshone by another hairy alien pacifist...leading to the theory that the SG writers were careful to not give TREK actors too great a role, for fear of seeming like a wet blanket franchise in need of help from mommy. They were willing to use TREK actors to bolster their cred and court crossover fans...but they didn't want these actors outshining their own in the process.
-dwight schulz
In season 2 of SG1, the incandescent actor who lit up two TREK series (and um, THE A-TEAM), does a one-off as the title character of "The Gamekeeper", playing a holographic ringmaster to an alien race in permanent virtual reality stasis. To be fair, the writers gave him free rein to shine...but on an episode as drably derivative as this, that's a mixed blessing.
-rene auberjonois
DS9's odo took a flaccid character on a subpar TREK series and turned in a performance that was always better than it should have been. Here, he dips into the SG world with a one-off in an SG1 season 4 entry entitled "The Other Side". He plays the leader of a warring alien nation which seeks an alliance and trade with Earth...but all is not as it seems. The writers found the balance they'd sought...he doesn't outshine the stars, but his moments are perfect.
-marina sirtis
NEXT GEN's empath drops into an SG1 season 4 entry entitled "Watergate". At first, it seems like the writers maybe wanted to make her look bad, as the episode starts shakily and her russian accent is more bizarre than anything coming through the gate. But eventually she shines a bit, in a fun little undersea adventure.
-john de lancie
The arrogant, insouciant puck of the TREK universe, john boldly goes where no TREK actor has gone before, signing on for a recurring SG1 role as colonel frank simmons, a self-serving officer with ties to an illegal shadow agency. Starting with season 5's "Ascension", he does five episodes over two seasons, in scenarios ranging from blah to forced.
-john billingsley
Ouch. ENTERPRISE's wonderful denobulan doc is tossed into the worst SG1 episode ever, season 6's "The Other Guys". Just...painful.
-jolene blalock
ENTERPRISE's otherworldly first officer signs on for two episodes over two seasons, as a jaffa leader of a tribe of warrior women. The reality isn't as perfect as the premise, but it's fun.
-"Arthur's Mantle"
This season 9 entry from SG1 double-dips into TREKdom, with appearances by worf's brother (tony todd) and wes's father (doug wert). And i'll skip over SG appearances by more obscure TREK actors rick worthy, robert foxworth, robert knepper, wallace shawn, and alan ruck, for all you completists out there.
-colm meaney
The stalwart o'brien (TNG, DS9) takes on the recurring character cowen in STARGATE: ATLANTIS's premiere season. He does three episodes over three seasons, as the leader of a nuclear-age planet planning an ill-conceived attack on the wraith. The first two are middling, but the third one's pretty nice.
-connor trineer
The most singular, successful foray for any TREK actor in the SG world. ENTERPRISE's trip does ten episodes over seasons 2-5 of ATLANTIS, as the tragic wraith/human hybrid michael. Perhaps by the time SGA came around, the writers were less afraid of giving a juicy opportunity to a TREK actor. You feel horrible sympathy for the character, appalled by what he does and by what is done to him. As great as his work on TREK? Nope. But pretty cool.
MICHAEL-A-THON
"Michael"
"No Man's Land"
"Misbegotten"
"Vengeance"
"The Kindred"
"Search and Rescue"
"The Prodigal"
-robert picardo
The only TREK actor to play the same character in multiple SG series, and be a series regular (SGA season 5). As civilian official richard woolsey, he appears in 28 episodes over all three series, starting with SG1's season 7 "Heroes" (which also features saul rubinek, so great in TNG's "The Most Toys"). Woolsey often came off as flat and obligatory, but there were some nice moments when he finally became a regular.
-nicole de boer
DS9's uneasy trill drops in on SGA for a final-season one-off in "Whispers", as part of an all-estrogen SG squad who get stranded on a planet with sheppard and rodney and a bunch of zombie wraith.
-"200"
No TREK actors here...but a stitch-funny SG1 season 10 spoof of TREK (and most other sci fi, really). SG's finest moment?
TREKGATE-A-THON
"The Other Side", SG1
"Watergate", SG1
"Prometheus", SG1
"Birthright", SG1
"Arthur's Mantle", SG1
"Inauguration", SG1
"Coup D'etat", SGA
"Inquisition", SGA
"Whispers", SGA
"200", SG1

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