...and so was I! What a blast! There were panel discussions with SG1 and Atlantis cast and creators. Those of us lucky enough to get a ticket for autographs in the SciFi channel booth afterward, got autographs (and photos!) with all the Atlantis cast. I will post a link to these as soon as my talented and more technically able pals (Arcady and Linz) help me out. Meanwhile, I will post my notes from the con. I hope some of you will find this interesting. I don’t pretend that I got a complete transcript of the con as I was taking notes, photos, and care of my 7-year-old son who wasn’t quite as interested in the panel discussion as I was. But most of it is here.

EDIT: PHOTOS are here: San Diego Comic Con Photos. I still need to add the captions, but you can at least see them. Thanks, Linz!

SPOILER ALERT: Some of what was said included what might be considered spoilers. But even though I avidly avoid spoilers, I had already heard all of the minor spoiler info. mentioned in the panel. But I will white these passages out anyway. I am simply going to go to white text during that part rather than interrupting the flow by announcing every spoiler.

Both panels included executive producer, Robert Cooper; director, Martin Wood; series creator, Brad Wright; MGM executive, Hank Cohen, who introduced the panel and an executive from Scifi channel Tony ____ (sorry, missed his last name...will research that and edit). SG1 cast included Chris Judge and Michael Shanks. Amanda Tapping was scheduled to be there, but was called away due to a family emergency. The Atlantis cast panel included Torri Higginson, David Hewlett, Rainbow Sun Francks, Rachel Luttrell, and Joe Flanigan.

They began each session with appropriate clips from the program, “From Stargate to Atlantis: A SciFi Lowdown.” It was fun to watch Chris and hear him laugh when Michael makes the “Chia-Teal’c” joke in the video.

They asked each panel member to make a statement, so Robert Cooper began by saying that they were happy to do Season 8 because they really didn’t feel that the show was “done” in Season 7. He went on to say that it was always a challenge to go season after season not knowing exactly when the series would end. He tantalized us with this statement as well: “You’ll be satisfied that we’ll answer questions and (give) resolution to character arcs in the second half of Season 8.” He particularly mentioned the Replicators, regarding this (but a little later on).

Brad was asked to follow up on this and he gave Robert a look and said “What he said!”

Chris took this opportunity to interject his joy over a major change for his character: “I have hair!” Upon which he tossed his hat into the crowd and rubbed his hand exuberantly over his head. He told the story of the annual conversation that he and Brad would have regarding this...they playfully recreated their annual conversation for us:

Chris: Hey, Brad... Brad: No.

Brad quipped that he finally promised Chris that he could have hair in season 8 when he had no inkling that there could be a season 8 and that’s how it finally happened. Chris looked triumphant and then noted that he is happy this season also because he gets to be nude so often...for which he thanked TPTB on the panel. Hmm, he seems to have a one-track mind.

Chris frequently stole the show with his wisecracks. They were about to open the panel up to questions when some of us in the crowd pointed out that Michael hadn’t had a chance to make a statement. Chris headed him off at the pass by quipping “He’s still sweating out the booze from last night.” Michael replied, “Here we go!” (Michael did look a bit hung over...hmm, similar situation at the Burbank con two weeks ago...). Chris noted that “we laugh more than on any other show.” No wonder one of TPTB remarked later (was it Brad? I didn’t catch who): “You have no idea how long it takes to get a shot.”

They finally took questions and I will simply list some of the information we gleaned from the responses:

— Don Davis will be back as a guest on both SG1 and Atlantis

— the Sarah/Osiris story arc will not be explored this year

— the character of Dr. Weir was intended to cross both series (this was decided by Robert and Brad) and (ie, the change in actress was not because Jessica Steen wasn’t available for the series). Brad didn’t answer the real question which was why the actress was changed, but I spoke to him later about it privately and he told me that Torri Higginson has a strength about her that they really liked. Not that they were unhappy with Jessica Steen’s work, she had done a fine job, but they liked Torri’s strength to carry the new series. I am paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it.

— Chris Judge wrote an episode called “Sacrifices.” Note: more joking here...he took the question and couldn’t remember the title of his episode. Robert Cooper supplied it for him and they razzed Chris for his poor memory, then noted that titles often get changed. More quipping ensued when Brad said the original title was “My Big Fat Jaffa Wedding,” and that’s why Chris was wearing his “Fat Albert” shirt.

Note: Brad pointed out that Robert is their resident encyclopedia, which Rob demonstrated later by explaining the “Comtreya” greeting that one fan gave the panel (yes, it’s that same woman from every other Southern California con you’ve ever attended. I even saw her red, white, and blue beanie in a picture from last year’s ComicCon. You’d think the whole panel would be used to her by now. She didn’t ask a question, she just offered Chris her house-painting services and directed him to pick up the red envelope on the table in front of him. He looked surprised and picked it up with wide eyes, saying “How’d she get this up here? ComicCon: Where security is job one.”

— Jolene Blalock will return in the episode “Sacrifices.”

— Michael was asked yet again why he left the show in Season 6 and he joked “Because I have Rob Cooper.” When laughing and joking ensued and they were going to go on to the next question, Michael jumped in and said “Wait! I wasn’t serious...that’s not in print, is it?” To which many of us replied “It is now!” He pretended to look shocked and said “You guys are fast!” Then he went to great pains to set the record straight and said that he needed a break from the show. (Apparently he’s gotten bad press about that before...must be trying to prevent that. I thought this was interesting because it was clear to everyone that he was joking. But in print, that could look bad. Damned context!).

— Re: Potential Season 9: Chris and Michael razzed Tony (the Scifi exec) about this...Chris moved over next to him in a mock threatening manner and Michael leaned in to help harass him. Tony, who had said very little during the panel discussion, paused carefully and then quipped “I did not have sexual relations with that woman!” Who says network execs don’t have a sense of humor?

— Re: Pranks: The audience was already anticipating the direction this response would go when the panel all looked at Chris. Martin referred to the episode “Avatar” noting that Teal’s is all tied up and gets stabbed and he yells “Ah” but then had a “flatulence” attack. Seems to be a common problem on that set.

— Re: Production hurdles: Brad semi-joked “Money,” which drew a laugh and a look over to Tony. But then he spoke seriously about the fact that they will have produced 174 shows by the end of this season and are tied for the longest running scifi franchise in history, so that the biggest challenge is telling a fresh story each week. Robert pointed out that it’s hard to make both shows at the same time and still have good stories. He noted that what people always write and say about SG1 is how much they love the way the team has bonded, so they are working to create that kind of team in Atlantis.

— Re: props (actually, a semi-joke follow up to Brad’s joke about money as a production hurdle): Martin commented that the cargo ship was built for one episode and then was used all the time. Anubis’ ship was the cargo-ship remodeled. Because of the cost of building such sets, they decided to do something smaller for Atlantis, hence, the Puddle Jumper.

— Re: Any accidents or explosions on the set: Michael quipped “Sure, Chris used to be white.” Then Martin came in to tell about a time when Chris was supposed to throw a smoke grenade into a cave. Chris had to open it and was already getting burned, so he was swearing up a storm. He threw it perfectly into the cave, but was swearing so badly that they couldn’t use the shot. Chris looked appropriately sheepish.

— Re: Stargate movie: Hank Cohen (MGM exec) took this question and said that there will be a lost episode made for home video. It will take place in Season 2 and will include all the characters who were regulars in that season. He didn’t elaborate beyond that. He did announce that they are starting on an SG1 feature film. Again, no details. But coming from him and told with such authority, it sounds like it must be seriously going to happen. Big woo hoo from the audience. He asked us what we’d like to see on the dvds and many of us shouted “bloopers!” Hopefully he got the message.

— Re: how the DeLouise family got involved in SG1: After quipping that “they were just outside the buildings in the rain,” Brad said that Peter had been directing a lot of other things and was asked to direct an SG1 episode (Serpent’s Song) and then it was just obvious that he should continue. Then “Urgo” came along and Dom just seemed perfect for the role (he noted that there are 15 minutes of outtakes from that show). And Michael DeLouise seemed like a natural for “Wormhole Extreme.” He didn’t bring up David.

— Re: Claudia Black guest-starring in episodes: she will do a 3-episode story arc.

They kept saying “we have time for one more question” so many times that Hank finally joked “I think we have time for one more season.”

The final question of this panel was something no one seemed to comprehend and turned out to be an inside joke. The panelists couldn’t see the audience because of the lights and didn’t recognize that the question came from the actor who played Heruur (Douglas Arthur?). When Chris finally realized who it was, he jumped up and gave him a thumbs up sign. Members of the audience scrambled to get a photo with him (I shot from a distance, not very good).

Then the SG panel left and the Atlantis folks filed in. Hank joked that they were all virgins to all this convention stuff. Then he had them roll the Atlantis Lowdown clips. It was interesting to watch the cast members avidly watch their own scenes. Rainbow Francks was particularly animated...he shot out his arm in response to Lt. Ford’s dramatic actions on screen.

Then Hank directed the panel to speak in turn about the show and the characters. Robert discussed how Atlantis was in the works since Season 5 of SG1. They didn’t know at the time that there would be a season 6 and they didn’t want to do Atlantis concurrently with SG1.

They went ahead and took some questions for the producers, and Brad and Robert were asked to discuss how much the traditional legends of Atlantis will figure into the show. Robert said they didn’t want this to be a retelling of the historical legends, but their own take on it. Brad said they’ve adapted it like they have done with the ancient gods in SG1. “The story is true, but Atlantis is on another planet.”

Someone wanted to know if David Hewlett got a lot of hate mail from angry women for McKay’s “dumb blond” remark in “48 Hours.” He feigned ignorance of the subject. (I took it to mean that he has been razzed about it).

Another question brought up the issue of whether the Replicators will come to Atlantis. Brad said that for the first season at least, they are keeping the two series apart from each other. The Replicators play a huge role in Season 8’s end, so they won’t be in SGA.

Someone wanted to know about the perceived difference in how the shows are shot. The response was that the style is about the same, but that they are using a wider lens and a more steady cam. They attributed most of what the audience might be noticing to the vast difference in the sets: SG1 so frequently uses the SGC with nothing but grey walls whereas Atlantis is colorful and actually has windows!

In response to a follow-up question which compared Atlantis to Star Trek: Voyager. (Fan: “No offense.”) they commented that for a spin-off you are challenged to make it different enough that it pulls in new viewers, but connected enough to the original series that the old fans cross over. They are focusing on creating a new team in Atlantis that bonds to each other, therefore they aren’t going to visit earth all that much.

Then each actor was given a chance to talk a little about his/her character. Torri and Rachel each talked about how their characters sort of parallel their real lives at the moment - facing new challenges and adjusting to a new life. Rainbow joked, “My guy was second-in-command behind Sumner and Sheppard killed him!” (so he’d better watch out). He pointed out that Sheppard isn’t the same type of military officer and Joe Flanigan quipped back “But he’s still in command!”

Hank jumped in here and talked about how they were trying to create a strong, humorous character with Sheppard, but that he has his own voice (so we shouldn’t be finding ourselves comparing him with O’Neill).

Joe reflected “My character is less shell-shocked because he’s too ignorant...he’s like a kid in a candy store...”

Torri was asked how it felt to take on a role already established by Jessica Steen. Torri said that she had auditioned for the role before knowing that and got the role on her own merits - her own reading of the character. Then she went back and watched Steen’s performance in “Lost City” to get the background on the character and noted a bit about Steen’s style. At first it was a little intimidating (my word) but, she says, “I got over that...she’s mine now!”

Someone asked if there will be any romance between the characters and Brad acknowledged that sexual tension is okay, but he doubts there will be any romance...unless it develops (he implied between the actors., I think). Joe joked “Those Wraith women are getting interesting....”

Finally, they were asked how many writers they had for the show (and the fan offered his services, to which Hank replied “go write it”) and they said they are writing with the same team as SG1 except for the addition of Martin G. (sorry, missed the last name. Edit forthcoming).

Then the panel session ended and most of them filed out. Joe Flanigan lingered behind, taking photos with fans. I was lucky enough to get up there in time to say “just one more?” as he was starting to walk away and he took pity on me and came back for a photo. Then he was hurried off for promotional photos outside on a balcony overlooking San Diego Harbor. We could follow and shoot photos through the large windows of the convention hallway. After they finished, they milled around a bit and occasionally David Hewett would turn around and wave to us. I stopped shooting long enough to realize that he was actually smiling and waving at my son who had his nose pressed up to the window. David seems perfectly comfortable with all this attention and you get the feeling that he really appreciates the fans and wants to make them aware of it. His efforts were appreciated.

Then they were all “dismissed” apparently, and headed off to leave the convention. Some of us tagged along for a bit and got a few more shots.

There was quite a long trek downstairs to find the Scifi Channel booth. This place is NOT for the faint-of-heart. It is a HUGE convention. Someone told me that last year 17,000 people had attended in the course of the weekend and that this year was even bigger, as they were using the entire convention site. And this site is huge in my estimation. Very crowded in the exhibitors halls. But loads of fun. You see people dressed in all kinds of costumes - medieval knights and ladies, well-known popular comic-book characters, scifi characters, movie characters, etc. All of those who were dressed up immediately stopped and posed when they saw me taking a picture. People were really nice everywhere we were.

At the Scifi channel’s booth, people were milling about watching various Scifi show epsisodes. When the SG1 cast arrived they started playing the season 8 premiere. Lots of people sat down or stood around to watch. Later they played the Atlantis premiere. The Scifi personnel handed out freebies like buttons and light-up suckers (guess what my son liked). Finally the stars came to sign autographs. The sessions were scheduled and you had to have been there in the morning to get tickets. They were handed out randomly, I believe, and autographs were free. Scifi provided the photographs. I was not there when the tickets were distributed and owe my good fortune of getting one to a couple who only wanted the SG1 one and gave me their Atlantis one. As I said, people are so nice!

It was a very crowded area for waiting in line for autographs, but it was fun talking to other fans and making some contacts. I ran into more than one person that I had seen at another convention. People were very helpful with advice about the various booths and what they had to offer. I was able to speak to Brad, Robert and Martin while they were hanging around the booth. Martin was commenting to Robert that he was surprised that fans were recognizing him, and Robert replied that the fans who really follow the show are like that. Upon which I said hello and confirmed what he said. I then asked for their photo and they happily obliged. They are very approachable people. I shook hands with them and thanked them for the show and was able to ask Brad a few questions. They also were happy to sign my Atlantis premiere TV guide - they seemed pleased to be asked (especially Martin).

Finally we got our turn to get autographs. My son went ahead of me and was treated very pleasantly by Joe Flanigan. Joe shook his hand and asked him a question (my son can’t remember what and I was too busy taking a picture to pay attention!). But when I spoke to Joe, I asked him “Were you ready for all of this?” and seemed to take it all in stride “Yeah, this is great. I especially love these guys (referring to my son).” They all seem to like kids (this always surprises me as I never liked little kids much until I had one of my own. The Scifi staff did move us along, but I was able to snap a photo of each one of them as I went along getting their autographs. I was also able to say a few words to each of them, although very brief. I really just told them that I was enjoying their performances and they were all very gracious. Of course I had to get my comment in to Torri that I love that she is portraying such a strong, intelligent, yet feminine woman, which she appreciated, as that is something she enjoys about the character. When I was talking to David, I got the feeling that if I’d been allowed to stay there and ask questions he’d talk to me all day. I got moved along, though, so that got cut short. But he made sure I got a good photo of him before I left. A very positive experience.

And so the SG portion of the day ended. There were tons of vendor booths to browse, so we meandered, finding that Creation Entertainment had finally gotten some Atlantis photos and that many booths were selling SG1 items, some of them from overseas.

Overall, it was a great day. If any of you ever plan to attend, be sure to go to the ComicCon website (http://www.comic-con.org/) and read up on all the registration and parking issues. They are very good about explaining how to get there - you really need to park away from the con and ride the trolley or walk in. You can pm me for advice if you like. I took notes on my map so if I go again I won’t get into the traffic jam I experienced this time (I tried to park in the convention garage - full!).