TVSquad Talks To David Hewlett about "SGU's" Cancellation and "Stargate's" Future

[JamesG]

David Hewlett on "Stargate Universe" and the Future of the Sci-Fi Franchise
by Mike Moody
posted Apr 4th 2011

Smart, geeky, passionate and verbose -- not only could that description suit "Stargate Atlantis's" science wiz Rodney McKay, it also fits the actor who played him, nerd-for-hire David Hewlett.

Two years after viewers waved goodbye to McKay and Hewlett in the "Atlantis" series finale, the fan-friendly genre actor is resurrecting his most famous role tonight with a guest spot on Syfy's "Stargate Universe" (Mon., April 4, 10PM ET).




We got a chance to chat with Hewlett about bringing McKay back to "Stargate", a franchise that's in danger of disappearing from the TV landscape after the recent cancellation of "SGU".




Hewlett, who blogs about his work and life for Syfy's Blastr site, offered his thoughts about the future of "Stargate" and what it was like playing McKay on "SGU", a show he said exists in "a different world when compared to the other 'Stargate's."

The actor also briefed us on the status of his in-the-works pet TV project, 'Starcrossed,' which he described as Galaxy Quest meets "30 Rock".





In your first blog for Blastr, you wrote that you were "Stargate's biggest fan for life."

It must have been pretty easy for you to say yes when the "SGU" producers asked you to bring back McKay for a guest-starring role.

Yeah, that's it. I had so much fun. I always felt sorry for everyone else on the show. I would say, "Well I got the best character!" I think the writers enjoyed writing McKay, and you could tell.

And the issue with "SGU" is that it was such a different world when compared to the other "Stargates". I could bounce back and forth between "SG-1" and "SGA", but "SGU" was a very different world.

I was obviously concerned that, you know, you didn't want McKay to show up and not be McKay unless there was a good reason for that. I think, as ["SGU" co-creator] Brad Wright said when I got there, was that he was happy that he could sort of bridge those worlds without really breaking the rules of either of them, which I think was an important thing.



It's so difficult, because McKay wouldn't survive in an "SGU" world, for the most part. I mean, he'd be killed, basically!

And I know Brad said he had a hard time trying to figure out how to bring McKay back, but I'm really glad he did, and it's too bad that the show's not going to continue, but I wasn't gonna be turning that down in a hurry.











Almost every time I write about "SGU", I read a number of comments from certain "Stargate" fans complaining about how the show is too different from "Atlantis" and "SG-1".

What's your take on how the franchise has evolved with "SGU"?

That's such a difficult one, because it's so weird to be an actor on "SG-1" and "Atlantis" and then see "SGU" happen, and then getting a chance to become part of that.

It was interesting to watch the progression, because "SG-1" had a very unique flavor to it. "SG-1" was a unique phenomenon, and then "Atlantis" came on and we were definitely a spinoff.





I always liked to call us a compliment to the "SG-1" show, and I think that worked really well. I think we bolstered each other's ratings, and I think the fans were happy because they got more of the same but different, if that makes sense.

I always felt that the biggest problem that "SGU" had was the "Stargate" in front of it. If it had just been called 'Universe', it could have stood on its own as its own show with its own tone.






I think the biggest detriment they had was that people came from watching "Atlantis" expecting more of the same from "SGU", and it was a really different change of direction. And it's beautifully done ...

I think the problem they came up against was that they had a very strong existing fan base for something that was, I think, lighter. You know, I used to call us the "Disney of science fiction." I didn't mean that as a put-down -- what I meant was that we were the kind of science fiction that families sat down and watched together. We had kids and parents and grandparents and the neighbors come by all to watch our show. That's an amazing thing in this day and age.

But "SGU" is definitely an adult show for an adult audience, and it was a much darker show. So obviously the people who want to sit down wither their family, you know, they can't do that with "SGU". But that unto itself opens up a whole other audience.

It's just unfortunate that they hadn't had a chance to really spread their wings and become their own show. But I think that's the danger when you play with the tone of a franchise like this.





Was it a mistake or not? I don't know, I don't think so. They certainly did a great job with it. I mean, my God, the acting, the writing, the effects ... it's gorgeous. It's an absolutely gorgeous show.

But the problem, I think, is that it didn't bring enough from the original "Stargate" franchise. I think they were aiming for more of a "Battlestar" type audience, and "Battlestar" had the same issue, where it was a very, very highly acclaimed show ... but it didn't hit the numbers.

I think when you go for dark and edgy you lose out what's certainly not the sexiest demographic in the world for TV by network standards, but certainly a powerful one. The shows that allow for the communal activity of sitting down and watching television are incredibly powerful franchises, and that, to me, is what viewers got out of "Stargate: SG-1" and "Atlantis".












You mentioned the "SGU" cancellation. It seems like the future of "Stargate" is up in the air right now.

How do you feel about a world without "Stargate", and do you think the franchise will bounce back?

I think "Stargate" is the perfect franchise to apply to the multi-platform thing. I know they were trying to get games going and stuff, but it was a victim, I think, to the big shake-up at MGM.

But I don't think this is the last that we'll see of "Stargate". It would seem very foolish to me to let it go that easily. At the very least, I would hope to see some kind of movies, whether they're "SGU" movies or "Atlantis" movies or "SG-1"...

But if I was to guess, it would maybe be an amalgamation of the three.












I spoke to "SGU" cast member David Blue several months ago, and he had great things t osay about working with you.

You sound surprised.





[Laughs] I didn't mean to!

David said that you were one of the reasons he wanted to do "Stargate". What was it like working with him, and was there a bit of passing of the torch going on there?

The Eli character is very different than McKay. He's a smart nerd, but it's a very different type of character, and I love him and I love the way David does it.

David had sort of reached out a couple of times before to say hi, and it was really fun -- I got to sit and chat with him and scheme and plot like I like to do. I loved it, and I really enjoyed being back. It was really quite sad to see it over.




And the other guy it was nice to see was Justin (Louis Ferreira), who plays Everett. We grew up together. We were both young actors in Toronto fighting for parts and stuff, so it was nice to reconnect with him.

Now we're no longer running around in bars, were actually family men now, so it was interesting to see how we've grown up and compare notes.












You also got to reconnect with "Stargate Atlantis" vet Robert Picardo again for Monday's episode.

We never stopped. I think I'm just going to adopt that guy!





That's funny, because onscreen, I always thought that Woolsey and McKay had a bit of a strained relationship.
Has their relationship evolved since we last saw them together?

Well we can actually carry on a conversation without screaming at each other now, which is probably a good thing. It was weird because Woolsey was such an "SG-1" character, and he was so embroiled in the politics of "SG-1", that when he came to "Atlantis" I was not convinced. But he showed up and, strangely, he fit in so well by not fitting in...




So, yeah, he just showed up playing this complete dick, and I thought, "Well, how's this going to work, how do we do this? We've got two assh*les in the same scene all the time?"

But it worked, because with Woolsey, all of a sudden McKay was fighting authority in his own feeble way. It helped me add even more layers to McKay, so it was a welcome addition, and it was really nice to go back with him.




Going in as a guest star to a franchise that I've been a part of for years, Picardo was great to have there. I felt like I had an ally. I felt like he had my back, but it turned out I didn't really need that.

But just from a moral support standpoint it was nice -– it's nice to go anywhere with Picardo, actually.












Can you tell me about how 'Starcrossed' was originally conceived and what the status of that is now?

'Starcrossed' is in talks right now. We are in the process of trying to make it happen again. It's been sitting there festering for a long time. Basically, it's about time to get it happening, and thankfully Syfy are helping us as much as they possibly can, so we'll see what happens.

Obviously I don't have anything official on that, but that's up to them to say "yay" or "nay" eventually. But they are certainly making it possible for me to continue working on it, which is fantastic, because I love this idea.

We basically wanted to do Galaxy Quest meets "30 Rock", almost a fantastical comedy take on something that is so out of this world already, which is science fiction.





What we're working on right now is obviously making it financially viable for whoever wants to get involved and that may involve traditional television and it will certainly be involving a lot of web stuff. Basically we're just out there right now hustling for some money and some actual written commitments from people.

If Syfy hadn't been so good as to let us run with this again, I don't know what we would do, because it definitely wouldn't happen. They'd be a fantastic home for the show, and again, you know, they haven't committed to anything, but we're certainly talking to them about it.

We would love that to happen, because obviously they are the absolutely perfect place for us to be doing something like this. As soon as there's an official announcement from them, then I can go into the gory details.












One more "Stargate" question:
McKay is a fan favorite. Why do you think fans connect with him so well?

I can't speak for the fans, but I can speak for me ...

I think if I wasn't working on these shows I would be a fan of this stuff. I grew up watching "Doctor Who" and buying all the books and the dolls and that kind of stuff. I love that stuff, so I feel like I'm paid to do what I would be paying to do!



But for McKay, I always feel like there's a little bit of McKay in everybody. Everybody wants to be the guy who has the answers and who isn't afraid to admit that he's a genius, social niceties be damned! I mean I love science fiction because it takes me out of this world.

And with McKay, he's the scientist who has spent his entire life reading about this stuff and now he's getting to live it. In a way that's what all of us want. We've done the reading, we've done the research, we've done the dreaming, and we want to be McKay -- we want to be the guy who saves the day because we know all this stuff. We want all this nerd-dom to pay off.

And McKay is the resulting image, he's the iconic figure of the nerd who's done his homework and now he gets to go off and save the universe.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2011/04/04/da...gate-universe/