The eighth season of Stargate SG-1, an American-Canadian military science fiction television series, began airing on July 9, 2004, on the Sci Fi channel. The eighth season concluded on February 22, 2005, after 20 episodes on British Sky One, which overtook the Sci Fi Channel in mid-season. This was the first season of the show to have 20 episodes instead of 22, as well as the first to air concurrently with Stargate SG-1 spinoff series Stargate Atlantis (the first season thereof). The series was originally developed by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, while Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper served as executive producers. Season eight regular cast members include Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, with Christopher Judge, and Michael Shanks.

Production

Cast and characters The regular cast members of season eight are Richard Dean Anderson as Colonel/Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, Amanda Tapping as Major/Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter, Christopher Judge as the Jaffa Teal'c, and Michael Shanks as civilian Dr. Daniel Jackson. After O'Neill's promotion to commander of Stargate Command, Carter assumes command of SG-1. Despite being one of the main characters, Anderson's time on set was further reduced from previous seasons, and he only worked 3.5 out of 5 working days per week. After seven years of shaving his head for his role, Judge was granted his wish to have hair in season 8.TV Zone #58. Page 28-32

The first season of Stargate Atlantis was filmed in parallel to the eighth season of SG-1, and aired in the time slot immediately following SG-1. Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks appeared in the pilot episode of Stargate Atlantis. Beginning with "New Order" and continuing into the spinoff series Stargate Atlantis, Torri Higginson replaced Jessica Steen as Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Ellie Harvie, who first appeared in "Prometheus Unbound" as Lindsey Novak, later became a recurring character on Stargate Atlantis.

Among the notable guest stars in season eight were Steve Bacic, who Robert C. Cooper already had in mind for the part of Camulus in three of the first four episodes of season 8. Bacic is known for playing Gaheris Rhade and Telemachus Rhade on Andromeda, and previously played SG Team leader Major Coburn in "Maternal Instinct" and "The First Ones". "New Order" also marks the first appearance of Colonel Lionel Pendergast (Barclay Hope). "Prometheus Unbound" guest starred Claudia Black, of Farscape fame, as Vala Mal Doran. Black had originally been considered for the role of Krista in "Affinity", but her schedule did not allow it. Krista was then played by Erica Durance, who played Lois Lane in SmallvilleStargate SG-1 'In the Making': "Affinity" and Black would later join the cast of Stargate as a regular, playing Vala in seasons 9 and 10. Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson on The Simpsons, guest starred as Joe Spencer in the episode "Citizen Joe". Charles Shaughnessy, known from his role in The Nanny as Maxwell Sheffield, appeared as Colson in "Covenant". Tony Amendola appears again as Bra'tac, and Carmen Argenziano as Jacob Carter/Selmak. Another recurring actor is Mel Harris as Oma Desala in "Threads".

With the defeat of the Goa'uld in "Reckoning"/"Threads", several actors make their final appearance in season eight. Yu, the longest-running Goa'uld recurring character, dies. Season eight also sees the final defeat of main villain Anubis. After David Palffy played Anubis from seasons five through seven, the entity that made up Anubis was portrayed by Michael Shanks, Gavin Hood, Holly Ferguson, Amanda Tapping and Richard Dean Anderson in "Lockdown", by Dean Aylesworth and Rik Kiviaho in "Reckoning", and finally by George Dzundza in "Threads". As with the two preceding seasons' finales, "Moebius" was intended to be the Stargate SG-1 series finale, and as such many actors reprised their roles from past episodes: Don S. Davis as George Hammond, Peter Williams as Apophis, Colin Cunningham as Major Davis, and Jay Acovone as Charles Kawalsky. "Moebius" was the last episode to feature Richard Dean Anderson as a main cast member.

The main technician (played by Gary Jones), who sported the name "Norman Davis" on his uniform for seven years, was officially renamed "Walter Harriman". In the episode "2010", O'Neill referred to him as "Walter". Simply renaming the character to "Walter Davis" did not clear, so he was renamed to "Walter Harriman" after Hammond had called him "Airman", which sounds similar to "Harriman", in the pilot episode.Stargate SG-1 Season 10 DVD featurette "Life as a Tech with Gary Jones". Joseph Mallozzi explained the resulting incongruity by positing that Harriman is Walter's married name.

One scene in "Zero Hour" featured Pierre Bernard as a technician. Bernard is a graphics designer for the NBC show Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and was offered the cameo on SG-1 after a rant on Late Night in which he said the show was better without Daniel Jackson. The show's writers named his character "O'Brien" as a tongue-in-cheek reference. The Stargate producers later invited Bernard back to the set for a scene in the 200th episode of SG-1.

Writing After production wrapped on season seven, the writers came together and pitched ideas for Stargate eighth and presumably final season. Seasons five through seven had previously been expected to be the last, but the show was renewed each year. The team ultimately agreed on about ten initial episodes, two of which would comprise a two-hour premiere intended to address issues remaining from the season seven finale.

In the first draft of "New Order, Part 1," Richard Woolsey assumed command of the SGC, but in the end the writers decided that the character of Dr. Weir suited the story better because of her background in diplomacy. She also offered a link to the Atlantis spin-off and was seen as a better candidate to offer O'Neill his promotion.Stargate SG-1 'In the Making': "New Order, Part 1" The end of "New Order" with Fifth creating Replicator Carter was also not in the original outline. Robert C. Cooper came up with the twist while he was writing the script. Originally, Anubis was planned to end up on a fiery planet at the end of "Lockdown", but Joseph Mallozzi opted for the frozen world instead.

The idea for "Icon" came from Damian Kindler pitching a story in season seven "in which Carter is stranded off-world, struggling to survive, while the rest of the team mounts a desperate bid to rescue her". In November 2003, in preparation of season eight, the writers felt that they already had enough Carter stories and attempted to redress the balance by making it a Daniel story with the working title "English Patient Daniel".Stargate SG-1 'In the Making': "Icon" "Affinity" was originally intended to air after "Covenant". Airing "Affinity" first creates the minor continuity error of Daniel already knowing the name, disclosed in "Covenant", of the newly formed Trust.

The writers always wanted to do a "fish out of water" story wholly dedicated to Teal'c and his attempts to fit into Earth society, but later felt that the only opportunity would have been in season one. The script of "Full Alert" called for a large military build-up and a potential worldwide confrontation, but the show's budget was limited. As such, screens were erected to sell the point of an impending military conflict on a global scale. Furthermore, stock shots of jets landing on aircraft carriers and missile silos opening were used to accommodate financial concerns.

Plot The eighth season begins with the SG-1 team trying to revive Colonel Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) after the events of the seventh season. At the end of the two-episode season opener, Colonel O'Neill is promoted to General and assumes command of Stargate Command (SGC), while Major Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and assumes command of SG-1. The season arc centers on the growing threat and seemingly final defeat of the Goa'uld and the Replicators, races who were introduced in the first and third season of the show, respectively.

Filming The eighth season of Stargate SG-1 was filmed over an eight-month period, with twelve-hour days five times each week. Filming started at 7:00 am, broke for a half-hour lunch break in the afternoon, and ended at 7:30 pm. The directors usually received scripts around two weeks before shooting started. Early seasons had 7.5 days to shoot an episode but with careful planning, season eight reduced this time to six days. Richard Dean Anderson only worked 3.5 days out of 5 working days a week during season eight. Owing to his limited availability some episodes, such as "Zero Hour", were shot over longer periods of weeks. "Zero Hour" was shot as the seventh out of the 20 episodes of season eight.Director Peter Woeste and production manager John Lenic in the audio commentary for "Zero Hour". The producers do not treat two-part episodes as a different episode but as one longer episode, though the episodes are still legally broken up into two with the actors, for example, being paid twice.Audio Commentary 817 "Reckoning, Part 2" – Peter DeLuise (PDL, director) and Gary Jones (GJ, Chevron Guy)

Stargate SG-1 has several regular directors. Andy Mikita is known to shoot much coverage because he likes having the choices during cut-and-edit. Peter DeLuise, however, lets the cameras roll, which makes things more difficult for the script supervisor and the editors later. The video tapes are not reusable and are archived in a library. "Lockdown" was the first SG-1 episode to be shot in high definition (HD) instead of on 35 mm film. Since no one was used to filming in HD, they had to get a new HD crew and lost about an hour per day. The HD video tapes cost around 50 dollars, and previously 7000 feet of film were shot each day, costing possibly a million dollars a year in film.814 Audio Commentary "Full Alert" by Andy Mikita (AM, Director) and Paul Mullie (PM, Executive Producer and Writer) Part 1

Episodes such as "Zero Hour" and "Prometheus Unbound" reduced costs by being shot mainly on the standing sets Stargate Command and the Prometheus. At other times the actors' time was split between different episodes: "Gemini" concentrated on Amanda Tapping as Carter and her alter ego RepliCarter, and Michael Shanks (Daniel) did not appear. Meanwhile, Shanks filmed "Promethues Unbound" in the absence of the Carter character. The money was then spent on time-consuming techniques such as motion control in "Gemini". The motion control enabled two people in the same shot to be seamlessly filmed on different passes. Split screens with locked-off cameras and different shots with stand-in actors were used whenever possible, but still cost much time for wardrobe changes and blocking.811 Audio Commentary "Gemini" by Will Waring (WW, Director) and Jim Menard (JM, Director of Photography)

The first episode filmed after the hiatus was "Lockdown", which aired third. The writers thought it would be fun to test O'Neill in his new position as general of the SGC early on and to have him prove his worth. The episode "Avatar" served as an introduction for a Stargate game that was produced at the time, and much of the story was filmed from a first-person perspective. "Zero Hour" is the last episode to have CRT monitors in the briefing room and the control room. Amanda Tapping originally hoped to direct another episode after her debut in season seven's "Resurrection",TV Zone Special #58, page 20 but she became pregnant late in the season.

Sets and locations