First and foremost, Robert C. Cooper’s appearance at the 2010 Comic-Con event will be his last Stargate related appearance. Why? Because after all these years of bringing us some wonderful science fiction stories under the franchise of Stargate, he is moving on.
To be more accurate, he’s stepping back into a consultation type of role rather than a day-to-day writer of Stargate based stories. The most notable being Stargate Universe. But up until now, it’s been a long and happy path since his writer / script editor days for Stargate SG-1 back in 1997.
Why?
Many have conjectured with me offline about this, but Robert Cooper himself says that “it’s been a long time working on one franchise and a number of factors have contributed to my feeling that it’s time to move on.” He made it clear that he doesn’t have anything lined up that he’s leaving for either. He also added that his departure is not related to any conflicts that may be perceived with the studio or the network nor is he ruling out his ever returning to the franchise in the future.
Here’s where the conjecture kicks in gear:
When I have a lucrative job that is paying the bills on a consistent basis, I don’t ever want to leave. If I were to leave a great paying job with a great company there could be a few reasons why I’d do that:
- A: Let’s call it creative differences, just to be polite and not have to use adjectives about people or the infrastructure therein.
- B: Writing on the wall that something bad is coming down the pipe.
I’m sure there are many more, but for me, those are the two big generic ‘red lights’ that would drive me from a job.
So I have to wonder what’s up? (The following is mere conjecture on the part of Cinema Static on Brusimm.)
I think the tagline says it all, "The only mission is survival."
Is Stargate Universe not the direction that Cooper wanted to take the show?
I mean face it, the franchise never went this way until Stargate Universe. Is it coincidental timing that Stargate Atlantis was dumped so that a darker Stargate franchise show could be put in its place? The timing doesn’t escape me that Universe is a nice, dark & character driven piece much like Syfy’s hit show, Battlestar Galactica. And face it, when the boss who pays you your wage might say that he would like to see this happen with your product, are you going to say no? Truly, will you stand up and tell the CEO to blow off? No, I don’t think so. That’s one possibility.
Cooper has been behind the Stargate franchise and he needed to adhere to the studio’s hopes of cranking out some higher ratings. Sadly, this darker Stargate Universe alienated a lot of franchise fans and hasn’t really drawn in a new genre of fan to take their place. By new genre, I mean the fans that loved Battlestar Galactica.
What was unique about Battlestar Galactica was that the characters had more freedom than the Destiny occupants do. BSG had the intermittent space battle that the SG gang can’t willingly partake in. Almost all the action needs to be relegated to ground conflict in Stargate Universe. It’s like Lost In Space… I mean Lost, the show that just ended where Jack died with no one but a dog next to him. Except SGU takes place in space!
People, we want space battles and not space battles where every time the Destiny gets fired on, it has to shut down systems to keep the shields going.
So I think this is a signal from Cooper that he’s in our bandwagon on this, but again, this is only conjecture. Or he could simply be tired, needs some time, and just might have something coming down the pipe that will further his career.
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Stargate isn’t Robert C. Cooper’s only piece of resume history.
He was a writer for the TV series PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal & technical adviser for Da Vinci’s Inquest. He’s written a few movies in the 90′s: Blown Away, No Contest, The Dark, The Club, The Impossible Elephant.
But then it’s been all Stargate since 1997. It’s just possible he wants to expand on that resume just a bit.
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Regardless of my curious conjectures, I have to stop, realize the reality of the situation and let it move on. For this moment, I just have to say thanks Robert, for myself and the fans, thanks for all the years of Stargate. And if Stargate ever gets back on course with how it used to be, we expect you to return and not make us hunt you down.
Fair enough?
Thanks and good luck to you Robert C. Cooper! Good Luck!
[Subduction, Gateworld, Gateworld]
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