Amanda Tapping, 10 years of SG-1, two movies and now taking command of Stargate Atlantis (in season four): Would it be fair to say you still love Stargate?

Tapping: If it weren't fun then I wouldn't still be here. It's an amazing gig. It's kind of an embarrassment of riches for me at the moment. There's the joke that I'm sort of the Kelsey Grammer of sci-fi, but it feels completely different this year for me playing her, so ...How is the Sam Carter on Atlantis going to be different, beyond her new rank as a full-bird colonel?

Tapping: She now has to make decisions that affect thousands of people. Carter being in charge, having her own command, changes her character so much that it's not at all boring. And you have the new, longer hair, too.

Tapping: And I have hair. When we finished season 10 it wasn't a cliffhanger, and I had been growing my hair and growing my hair, and then I did this other series, Sanctuary, and when I went to the producers I said, "There's no cliffhanger this year; does Carter have to cut her hair?" Because every year we ended and I had to match my hair exactly to the year before. So it always meant in the hiatus cutting my hair, and I was always like, "Boo hoo." It sounds silly, but I'm a girl, and after 10 years I wanted to have a new hairstyle. They said, "No, you know what, there isn't actually, and there's nothing saying that the time between Atlantis and Stargate has to be concurrent. There can be a bit of a spread there." And so, yeah, they let me keep long hair, which was great. Yeah, I know it's goofy, but I'm so happy. It's the little things.Do you feel any pressure, now that you've joined Atlantis?

Tapping: Pressure on me only that if it fails, I'm sure that there will be a lot of detractors out there who will say, "Ah, it's because they brought Sam Carter over." So I feel a certain amount of pressure to kind of prove myself in that forum. But the franchise is alive and well, and we've just finished the second SG-1 movie and there's, I think, a very strong possibility that there'll be more ordered. The franchise is doing OK. I'm just happy to be along for the ride. I just grabbed onto my surfboard and went, "OK, here we come, next wave."What is the flavor of Stargate Atlantis, and how does it differ from your experience on Stargate SG-1?

Tapping: SG-1 is a bit more irreverent. SG-1 has certain sense of humor to it. Even though we're stuck on Earth on a military base, in a way we're more accessible, because we're present-day human beings on Earth, whereas Atlantis has a bit more otherworldly feel to it, and the show is a bit darker in a lot of ways. It still has an amazing sense of humor because of the nature of the characters on it—they all have a sense of humor. But it's a lot different. I don't think it's as self-deprecatingly funny as SG-1 was. Are you satisfied with how the Ori storyline was concluded in The Ark of Truth and how things were wrapped up?

Tapping: I am, actually, yeah, I am. Because I think it still had a human quality to it. It wasn't just a blow-'em-up, shoot-'em-out ... There was still a very human element to the story, so I am happy with how it ended.Tell us about working with Ben Browder in the Arctic for Continuum.

Tapping: Oh my, it was unbelievable. It was amazing. We lived on an ice floe, a moving ice floe, in plywood [huts], 8 by 8, with a kerosene heater and six bunks. We chipped our own ice to make water and worked in minus 58 degree Fahrenheit, and slugged through wind and hail and all manner of inclement weather and did not want to leave. When it was over I did not want to leave. But for coming home to my daughter I would've been happy to stay there another week. It was really beautiful. I mean, I had this moment of "Oh my God, I'm on a snowmobile on the Arctic Ocean." I was giddy. It was fun. I had gotten up at 2:30 the last morning so I could see the northern lights, and it was unbelievable. Did you think the timing was right to end Stargate SG-1?

Tapping: That's a hard question. In some ways, yes, I do, 'cause 10 years is a long time and I think the fact that it didn't end succinctly, that we've got these movies to carry on ... The first movie is a definite wrap-up of season 10 and all of the Ori storylines, so we sort of finish that storyline out. And now the movies can be stand-alone. It was weird for us, because every year we thought we were going to be canceled, and then they kept bringing us back. So this year I had another year on my contract, so I was like, "Oh, well, for sure it's coming back for another season," and then we all individually got called into Rob Cooper's office, where he said, "The show has been canceled." Like we all knew we'd hear those words one day; you have to, it's inevitable. We'd had a decade-long run, but suddenly to hear those words, it was like, "What? Canceled, SG-1 in the same sentence? Impossible." But now that we're just doing the movies, it does make sense. We're having a lot of fun doing them, and I think, yeah, in some ways [the series] ran its course. Ten years is a good run.Michael Shanks, what do you think accounts for Stargate SG-1's ongoing appeal over the years?

Shanks: It's the use of mythology in a very liberal kind of way, to take unexplained mythology from our past and to convolute it and put our own take on what it is supposed to represent. People are always interested in that. We are always questioning our past and, of course, the presence of aliens in our history as a people and whatnot. And I think one of the things that's always been a great success of the franchise is [how we] take people from the present day, to allow the audience to relate to them better. Hence the use of our pop-culture references and the self-deprecating style, as well as specific technologies that we can use to get out of situations very quickly. [This approach] allows the audience to relate to us a little bit better than it did, probably, to Star Trek groups. We don't have all the answers and we are kind of going out there without a safety net and making mistakes as well. So we are much more relatable in that way.How has the chemistry among the titular tight-knit elite unit known as SG-1 helped maintain interest in the series?

Shanks: The characters are very different people from very different backgrounds that seem to find some sort of cohesion and friendship within a very odd mix of people. I think people really enjoyed the camaraderie and the friendship aspects that we managed to find, away from the page. And I think that is a big component of the success of the show. We still have a lot of fun off-camera. That translates on-camera, on-screen as well. That we are good friends and mock the hell out of each other and still get along after 10 years.How has the dynamic among the characters evolved over the last couple of years, as the cast has changed?

Shanks: For the first eight years we had Richard [Dean Anderson] on board, and that was the eight years of longevity. And chemistry, it's as much a testament to our chemistry as it was to his star power. And everybody was a little bit "Ewww" at the idea of continuing to move on without him involved in the show. But I think we were very lucky to add the people that we added. Bill Bridges, obviously, and Ben Browder and Claudia Black, who just are—it's such a cliché, but it is absolutely true—a wonderful breath of fresh air and energy to the show. You can't replace Richard Dean Anderson, so don't try. But to add a new group of people that fall so easily into working with us, it really was the beginning of a new show for us. And we found the chemistry very quickly, and they've just become a part of the Stargate family.After 10 years, SG-1 truly is a family affair.

Shanks: There is a tremendous family aspect to this show. I met my ex in the first season of the show, and my current wife actually came on as a recurring character later on. Ten years of doing anything is a long time, and we have evolved so much as people. A decade of our lives spent together, watching each other, learning, growing and having kids. I was a single guy who just turned 26, and I'm turning 37 this year. So it's a lengthy portion of my life that has passed. I was a single guy, and now I'm married and I have three children, one of which is 8 and has grown up with the show in her life.You directed and co-wrote a couple of SG-1 episodes. Might there still be a future for you in the Stargate universe?

Shanks: I'm not entirely sure. I know that the franchise is continuing to exhibit signs that it's not going away anytime soon. In terms of what my involvement will be—I directed, I wrote and whatnot, but the people that have been here for so long are looking to the future and looking to do other stuff other than Stargate-related material. So whatever happens with us in this realm, I think it will be on a part-time basis. We will have to wait and see.You will be working with Christopher Judge on a TV pilot, playing Lucifer. Is that something you are looking forward to?

Shanks: Yes, it is a slight departure from what I've been playing for the last 10 years. With Christopher playing an angel, I mean, that's a whole—you have no idea how ridiculous that is. So we are definitely going against type with this new project that we're doing. MGM is going to finance the pilot for it, and we'll have to wait and see what happens with it. But we are very excited about the future, and as evidence, after working together for 10-plus years, the idea we would want to go and do something together after this is a testament to our, I would say friendship, but I would say also more to our patience with each other.When do you start shooting?

Shanks We are not entirely sure yet. We're in negotiations right now, and there is a whole bunch of people that are attached to it that have some sort of work conflicts. We'll have to wait and see. But we are hoping to do it before the year is out.You finished filming Stargate: The Ark of Truth this summer. What did you think about how the movie wraps up the Ori storyline?

Shanks: I don't think there is a way to please everybody. We had a two-year arc of that particular aspect of the storyline, and to spend two hours trying to wrap it all up really quickly, I don't think is going to please everybody. So it's hard to say if it's an apropos wrap-up to it. But I think it's satisfying enough that we don't have to leave it lingering. So it was satisfying that we finished the storyline, but Rob [Cooper] still had the presence of mind to write the characters going back up the ramp and ready to take on the next challenge, so to speak. So we can at least end with the aspect these characters are continuing to explore, and we can live on in the imagination of the viewer.Christopher Judge, Stargate SG-1, as a movie versus a television series: Could you tell the difference as an actor?

Judge: The biggest adjustment is the much slower pace. Because when you get used to working at a certain pace, working slow affects everything. It's much harder to not eat, it's much harder to ... In TV, you have enough time to shoot a master, some coverage, either you get it or you don't get it, and you move on. In this format, you can stay there till you get it. Especially for some of our stuff, when we had emotional stuff to do, to have to do it that many more times is very difficult. And that's all due to the lessening of the time constraints, the lessening of the money constraints.

The great thing about switching to a different format is that it's so different from the day-to-day grind of doing the series. And we've all had different time off, and it's not the rush-rush-rush series pace. Let's face it, we've been doing this for—this is our 11th year; none of us are spring chickens anymore. In fact, I don't think any of us were spring chickens when we started.Do you think it was the right time to end the series?

Judge: Yeah. I think we told a lot of great stories. And I think it was time to end the series, to be able to move on to something else. And I think the goal for a very long time has been, not necessarily to end the series, but to move on to a two-hour format. I see a lot of scripts before they go to distribution—which means that everyone gets a copy—and there's some great stuff that has to be lost because of financial concerns, time concerns. If you saw our two-parter last year that had the dragon and Merlin—I forget the title of the episodes, because there are only 218 to remember—some concessions had to be made, just because of pure logistics. And I think that was frustrating to people. A great job was done within the parameters allowed. But with this whole new situation, you don't have to make those concessions anymore. I think that is alleviating a lot of frustrations as far as the writers, the directors, because now, if you think it, we truly can shoot it.Looking back at the series as a whole, what have been the high points or favorite storylines for you, whether as an actor ...

Judge: God, that's hard to say. I always enjoyed the kids' stories, the ones where kids are involved. I think our definitive story was "Heroes." I think "Heroes" probably captured the true essence of what the show was about from the humorous aspect, from the human aspect; the battle scenes and stuff were just absolutely feature-quality, and the effects were feature-quality. You can't afford to do a show like that every week, but I think that so encapsulated everything that encompassed Stargate.How much influence did you have as an actor have on shaping your character?

Judge: When we started, [the producers] didn't know what Teal'c was. In our screen tests, there were three Daniel Jacksons, three Sam Carters, three Gen. Hammonds, and there were 10 Teal'cs there. And they were all colors. They were not really sure what they wanted this character to be, so they allowed me a great deal of influence in the original shaping of the character. And it has continued through the arc of the show, from the way he talks and the pronunciation of "Ja-ffah" as opposed to "Jaffa," and "Go-a-oould" as opposed to "Goa'uld," and things like that. I mean, that was all stuff that when we originally did—and I would save certain words, you could see people go like that, and it actually sounds kind of cooler. It was nice to be involved that much in the building of the character, and [my involvement] continues to this day.Ten years on the air, with the saga continuing next year: What do you attribute Stargate's success to?

Judge: Well, I think a lot of it was because we came along at the right time. A lot of science fiction has caught up with us, but in 1997, when we started, there was that new millennium looming over us and there was a lot of wonder, a lot of excitement; and, I think, there was a resurgence of science fiction at that point. We came along at a time where, not to be disparaging, but let's face it: the Star Trek franchise was dying out, X-Files had peaked and was on its way down, and we happened to come along where there was a gap in programming. There was the right formula, there was a movie that had been successful and that could be expanded on, and you have MacGyver and then three other mooks. And then you have a guy like [longtime writer and executive producer] Brad Wright, who already had success with The Outer Limits [running things], and all the pieces fit; the timing was right and it just all worked. And we were lucky enough to grab a fan base.

I think the creative possibilities of that are exciting now, because now people's ability to suspend disbelief is much greater; people are more willing to accept things that you see on the screen that years ago you'd be like, "Oh, that will never happen." Now it's just a matter of when it will happen.What can you tell us about The Ark of Truth?

Judge: Nothing. It's the closure for the Ori storyline. And it's big, big, big. It's a great conclusion for that arc. In a series, it would have taken three or four episodes to tell that story, and we were able to do it in one contained movie. I think that's what's great about the [show's new] format.How about the second movie, Continuum, and its time-travel story?

Judge: It was fun, it was fun. It was a fantastic story. But for us around here, fun is always job one. And a lot of it was the fact that Brad was actually on set every day. Over the years, no one's really gotten to know Coop and Brad, 'cause they've been the guys locked up in the tower writing the stories. But to have them actually on set, and for people to see that they're funny and engaging and human ...