SerenityS
GateFans Member
They posted an interview with Chris on GW:
http://www.gateworld.net/news/2010/10/man-of-many-faces/#comment-13875
He talked a little about the cancellation of Atlantis and SGU:
GW: Over the years, Todd the Wraith gained quite the fan-base. When the announcement of the cancellation of Atlantis came, were you surprised at all?
CH: I think I’m more surprised when [they] renewed [rather] than canceled. It’s something to be celebrated when you’re renewed, and that’s always fun. Being canceled … it’s always a bummer not to do the character. I wouldn’t say I was surprised or shocked either way, really.
I would be surprised in as much that there was such a huge fanbase. I was out watching and listening to [Michael] Shanksie doing his talk-back [at the convention] and one of the things that came out so strongly (I think his response was, “Do you people not understand how television works?”) was “Bring back Atlantis!” So from a fan standpoint, definitely, I’m shocked. From an actor’s standpoint, not so much.
GateWorld: Between your roles as Pallan on SG-1 in the episode that you did there, and as both Todd and Halling on Atlantis, what would you say has, in your opinion, led to the longevity of the franchise as a whole? What keeps viewers coming back? What brings fans to conventions like this?
Christopher Heyerdahl: I think what brings fans — there’s two sides to that question. What brings fans to conventions like this is a passion for a story that I think is very clear. The good guys are the good guys, the bad guys are the bad guys, and they don’t cross over — the consistency of that.
There’s a consistency of disappearing into these amazing stories, it’s living a fantasy life and there’s something that’s wonderful. We can escape into all these stories and live these fantasies just like the actors get to do, just like the characters get to do. The fans get to come along, and the passion of sharing that with like-minded people, I think, is what really brings people to conventions like this.
GW: Have you seen the new series? Because you’ve brought up the whole “good is good, bad is bad, there’s no black and white” — have you seen Universe at all?
CH: Yes, I’ve done my YouTubing.
GW: Have you noticed that there are the shades of gray there now, guys that you don’t know where their priorities are and what their end-game is going to be.
CH: Yeah, what are they, we’re four episodes in or something? I’m not sure. But it seemed to be very difficult to follow, in all honesty. I’m have a hard time following that series. I don’t know what the guys are doing, from a standpoint of somebody trying to watch a series. I’m having a hell of a hard time following this series. It’s hard to find and then there’s a big hiatus. It seems that so many series are doing this, which I don’t understand it from a standpoint of trying to get viewers to sit in seats and stick around for the advertising.
GW: I think it comes from Syfy’s desire to have original programming all year throughout. So by splitting up the seasons, throwing a different show in there for a few months and then coming back with something else later, they’re able to maintain something original and new throughout the year, as opposed to having months where all the programming that they have [is repeats].
CH: Am I supposed to like that? It sounds pretty logical, but I’m supposed to like it? [Laughter] Come on! I don’t like it, yeah. I don’t like it myself, I find it very frustrating.
I’d rather see a story, watch the arc. Because what I tend to want to do because of that, as a viewer, is I don’t watch it on the television at all. I just wait for it. It’s that deferred gratification. I wait for it to come out on DVD and then I can watch it at my leisure. I don’t have Tivo and things like that; I don’t have that ability so I just wait and watch it on DVD. That’s the way, uh-huh.
http://www.gateworld.net/news/2010/10/man-of-many-faces/#comment-13875
He talked a little about the cancellation of Atlantis and SGU:
GW: Over the years, Todd the Wraith gained quite the fan-base. When the announcement of the cancellation of Atlantis came, were you surprised at all?
CH: I think I’m more surprised when [they] renewed [rather] than canceled. It’s something to be celebrated when you’re renewed, and that’s always fun. Being canceled … it’s always a bummer not to do the character. I wouldn’t say I was surprised or shocked either way, really.
I would be surprised in as much that there was such a huge fanbase. I was out watching and listening to [Michael] Shanksie doing his talk-back [at the convention] and one of the things that came out so strongly (I think his response was, “Do you people not understand how television works?”) was “Bring back Atlantis!” So from a fan standpoint, definitely, I’m shocked. From an actor’s standpoint, not so much.
GateWorld: Between your roles as Pallan on SG-1 in the episode that you did there, and as both Todd and Halling on Atlantis, what would you say has, in your opinion, led to the longevity of the franchise as a whole? What keeps viewers coming back? What brings fans to conventions like this?
Christopher Heyerdahl: I think what brings fans — there’s two sides to that question. What brings fans to conventions like this is a passion for a story that I think is very clear. The good guys are the good guys, the bad guys are the bad guys, and they don’t cross over — the consistency of that.
There’s a consistency of disappearing into these amazing stories, it’s living a fantasy life and there’s something that’s wonderful. We can escape into all these stories and live these fantasies just like the actors get to do, just like the characters get to do. The fans get to come along, and the passion of sharing that with like-minded people, I think, is what really brings people to conventions like this.
GW: Have you seen the new series? Because you’ve brought up the whole “good is good, bad is bad, there’s no black and white” — have you seen Universe at all?
CH: Yes, I’ve done my YouTubing.
GW: Have you noticed that there are the shades of gray there now, guys that you don’t know where their priorities are and what their end-game is going to be.
CH: Yeah, what are they, we’re four episodes in or something? I’m not sure. But it seemed to be very difficult to follow, in all honesty. I’m have a hard time following that series. I don’t know what the guys are doing, from a standpoint of somebody trying to watch a series. I’m having a hell of a hard time following this series. It’s hard to find and then there’s a big hiatus. It seems that so many series are doing this, which I don’t understand it from a standpoint of trying to get viewers to sit in seats and stick around for the advertising.
GW: I think it comes from Syfy’s desire to have original programming all year throughout. So by splitting up the seasons, throwing a different show in there for a few months and then coming back with something else later, they’re able to maintain something original and new throughout the year, as opposed to having months where all the programming that they have [is repeats].
CH: Am I supposed to like that? It sounds pretty logical, but I’m supposed to like it? [Laughter] Come on! I don’t like it, yeah. I don’t like it myself, I find it very frustrating.
I’d rather see a story, watch the arc. Because what I tend to want to do because of that, as a viewer, is I don’t watch it on the television at all. I just wait for it. It’s that deferred gratification. I wait for it to come out on DVD and then I can watch it at my leisure. I don’t have Tivo and things like that; I don’t have that ability so I just wait and watch it on DVD. That’s the way, uh-huh.
