Well, I saw the first ep of the new season of Stargate with the whole Richard Dean Anderson lite thing going on. I don't want to judge something on just one hour - especially since it's mostly setup stuff right now - but I did like what I saw so far.

I enjoyed Ben Browder on Farscape. I never got to be a huge fan. Not because I didn't like the show, I did, but because we didn't have Sci-Fi on our cable when it started. By the time it was hooked up it had been on for a while and they never saw fit,when running the reruns, to either show it in order or NOT skip eps. So while I enjoyed it, it was little frustrating to keep saying 'wait, where's the blue chick' and 'what do you mean that's not the original John Crighton?!'

DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON WHAT A BUNCH OF...OKAY, I'LL USE THE MORE POLITE WORD IDIOTS AND NOT SOMETHING WORSE, THE SCI-FI EXECS ARE.

But I liked what I saw of it. Enjoyed John and Aeryn. I always liked Claudia Black since I saw her as Cassandra in an Atlantis-themed ep of Hercules. So, so far Cameron Mitchell (I'm assuming that's on purpose) and Vala are fun. It was smart to have him have a tie to the team. And Vala giving Daniel fits is always fun. As long as they don't wear it out by overusing her recurring guest star status. But I'll wait unti a few more stories have gone by to render a final verdict.

It's a calculated gamble on the part of Sci-Fi. Stargate fans were vocal about Shanks leaving, but since Richard Dean Anderson is making it clear his involvement on a daily basis is over they'll just have to cope. Bringing in the star of a show you canceled, thus pissing off innumerable fans, might work. If said fans really want to see Browder, and are Stargate fans already, they might be inclined to be forgiving and watch. If they are unforgiving and don't care a fig about Stargate, well - they'll be gone. And if they're sitting on the fence deciding what to do? Do I like Stargate enough? Do I forgive Sci-Fi? Do I want to supersize that Extra Value Meal #3? Well, if a puff of good reviews doesn't blow them onto the 'heck, yeah I'll watch it' side of things - well, Sci-Fi has lost it's gamble. We shall see.

The show is one of Sci-Fi's premier pets. It and it's spin-off and Battlestar Galactica are quite the Friday night powerhouse. But the original is getting older. It needs new blood, whether fans want to admit that or not. It's evolved and changed over the years - some good, some not - and whether or not this shake-up is successful...

However, they did get off a few nice lines addressing the sitch. Vala's line about Jackson and Mitchell being from the same gene pool?! Hee, hee. Of course, it's a pool I wouldn't mind taking a dip in...oooh, I'm all a-blush!