Michael Shanks knows canon!

[fignewton]

This is the post I thought I would never EVER make, because I'm a character fan, not an actor fan. That is, I adore Daniel Jackson. Michael Shanks is just this nice guy who plays Daniel Jackson.

But I think I just became a Michael Shanks fan, because I followed a link on my flist to his current blog post. (Be aware: possible spoilers for future eps and the movies in these posts of his, including one for tonight that was vague enough not to bother me, but might bother others.) He complains that he and Ben Browder are rarely in a scene together - tonight's episode, apparently, is a rare exception.  And then I read this line and laughed. out. loud:

Maybe it's because the TPTB feel that the audience will become confused: I'm the one wearing the glasses; he's got the southern drawl (although, he's apparently from Kansas). Go figure.

Comments

[maevebran.livejournal.com]

He apperantly does know Canon pretty well.I've listened to the four episodes he's done audio comentary on (Double Jeopardy, Fallen, Homecoming, and Revisions) and he makes some refferences to past episodes then. I have never been to a con but have found some footage on the net of some of them and he does appear to be rather knowledgeable of canon. The quoted line did make me laugh as it is sadly true.=)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed his commentary as well. There's one commentary - Fallen, I think - where I was snickering, because the other people commentating were talking about "Corin" and "Chris" and "Rick" and "Amanda," and MS was talking about "Jonas" and "Teal'c" and "Jack" and "Sam." I found that quite entertaining, really.

But this line here, in his blog? It seriously cracked me up, because nearly everyone who reviewed Bounty on their LJs made the same exact observation. It's lovely that MS is not only an actor for SG-1, but also a fan of SG-1. :)

[maevebran.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I think yours was the only discusion of Bounty I saw so the line didn't strike me as funny for that reason. I was amused because I like his writting style and after the week I've been having I needed something to laugh at/with and the blog was it. I was ammused at TPTB use. (took me back to Angel the series.) I think he is a fanboy of the show.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Different flist, maybe? I definitely saw a lot of references to it, including some very innovative handwaving to try and make it fit.

[maevebran.livejournal.com]

Probably different flist as most of mine is still geared towards Buffyverse, Firfly and Bones with the Stargate side heavily represented of Daniel/Michael Shanks fans and Daniel/Vala shippers. I believe you are the only SG1 meta person on the flist. Not to say the others don't ocasionally meta but not routinely.

[teh-no.livejournal.com]

I've got to admit, I never did get the "Daniel and Cam look a lot alike" joke. It's probably something totally obvious, like... Daniel and Cam looking alike.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I don't see it at all, either. But TPTB apparently worried about it enough to ask MS to grow his hair out for S9 so there should be a tangible difference between Daniel and Mitchell. When he politely pointed out that growing out one's hair takes quite a while, they settled for the "Furling Fuzz," as I've heard the beard called, instead.

As he himself says, one wears glasses, the other doesn't. Other than both having blue eyes and brown hair, I really don't see a similarity. Silly writers. :)

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

I test at the "Real Problem with Face Recognition" level, but I have no problem telling them apart on-screen because they move completely differently!

I have the same issues with Hewlett and whomever-plays-Carson - can't tell them apart when still, but no problem when they're in motion, and they're always in motion.

- Helen

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that's a good point! Body language, yes. They both move very differently.

Silly TPTB. :)

And hi, Helen! Thanks for chiming in.

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

This is the post I thought I would never EVER make, because I'm a character fan, not an actor fan. That is, I adore Daniel Jackson. Michael Shanks is just this nice guy who plays Daniel Jackson.

Oh, I *know*. 6beforelunch and I were actually talking about this last night - about how hard he's making it to not fangirl him because his blogs are so entertaining and down-to-earth and real. *sigh*

I've been spoiled for the Kansas part of Bounty and...yeah, I have to agree with everyone else. No. Way.

Though, I don't understand his complaint about rarely being on screen with Ben Browder - unless it's a season 10 thing, cause season 9 had tons of Daniel and Cameron scenes.
As for them looking alike...it's true they do look more like each other than either looks like the rest of the cast - they do have similar features, but they are definitely different people. TPTB should give us enough credit to recognize our characters.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I won't know what's different about tonight's ep until I have a chance to look at it (probably on Sunday or Monday), but maybe MS is referring to Daniel and Mitchell being paired off in a scene where none of the other regulars are present? Admittedly, I've barely watched most of S9-10 more than once, so I might be missing something; but I'm pretty sure the only ep in which the team splits up and Mitchell and Daniel are paired together is Fourth Horseman, when they're turning off the Prior's powers... and for that one, they put Daniel in a bandana for the only time all season.

TPTB should give us enough credit to recognize our characters.

There's a lovely Mitchell quote from 200 about that. :)

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

I dunno. I've spent a lot of S9 squeeing over the Daniel/Mitchell interaction because Cam brings out a different side of Daniel (he seems...lighter? younger? more normal? when Cam's around) and I feel like there's been a lot. "Fourth Horseman" had the post-basketball scene and the scene you were referring to. There was the time in "Camelot" when just those two were beamed back. And, um, ...there were more. I swear.

Daniel wears a bandana in the beginning of the first Soldan warrior episode too. (but you're right - he doesn't seem to wear them as often - which makes me a little sad).

I am *so* looking forward to 200!

[6beforelunch.livejournal.com]

Cam brings out a different side of Daniel (he seems...lighter? younger? more normal? when Cam's around)

Totally agree. People were worried that they'd try to recycle the Jack and Daniel dynamic with Cam, but those two have their own dynamic and it's wonderful. :)

Daniel wears a bandana in the beginning of the first Soldan warrior episode too. (but you're right - he doesn't seem to wear them as often - which makes me a little sad).

I miss Daniel's bandanna. I didn't like it at first, but then it grew on me and now I miss it. There's a fic (part of the Revisions series by Martha Wilson, though I can't remember which story) which has Cam referring to it as Daniel's do-rag. I think of that line whenever Daniel wears it because it's so Cam and I can just see him saying that and the face Daniel would pull when he did. *g*

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

Totally agree. People were worried that they'd try to recycle the Jack and Daniel dynamic with Cam, but those two have their own dynamic and it's wonderful. :)

Yep. I actually keep thinking that Daniel is taking on Jack's old role if you compare the two dynamics (more worldly, more bitter, more experienced, more pessimistic compared to Cam) though it's still a very different dyanmic. And I love that.

I miss the bandana too! Actually, I know I'm in small company with this, but I really miss the boonie hat. I liked that on him. I guess, maybe, the bandana was a lot more necessary when he had longer hair?

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I think it would be impossible for Mitchell to have the same dynamic with Daniel as Jack had, if only because they're approaching things from the opposite direction, with Mitchell being trained by Daniel, sort of.

Those more expert in S9-10 might disagree with me, but I actually see very little friendship between Daniel and Mitchell. Mitchell and Teal'c, most definitely. Mitchell and Sam - well, they cheated a bit by predating the friendship, but it's still definitely there. Mitchell and Vala? Vala's relationship with everyone is too bizarre for me to define. :) But Mitchell and Daniel - I don't see friendship. A good working relationship, yes. Mutual respect, certainly (even though Mitchell definitely gets on Daniel's nerves sometimes with his blind enthusiasm). But aside from one scene in Ethon and another in Momento Mori - and the basketball game that Abyssis mentioned in 4th Horseman, which I'd forgotten about - I don't see many signs of friendship.

[6beforelunch.livejournal.com]

I think the relationship between Cam and Daniel is vague enough that a viewer can read it in several ways. As MS said in his blog, TPTB have been wary of putting Cam and Daniel in the same room together, so we don't get a whole lot of interaction between them. I've seen writers spin it as borderline antagonistic and, you know, a good writer can make me buy that for the space of their story because the canon isn't very well defined when it comes to their relationship.

That said, the moments you mentioned--the basketball game, the end of Ethon, etc.--strike me as hinting to a deep, if sometimes uncertain, affection. I tends to read a quirky friendship into the blank spaces that canon left us, but YMMV. :)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

You have to realize that S9 left me very cold, as did most of the first half of S10. So I don't remember much of it. Camelot, of course! "I was kel-no-reeming. Teal'c's been teaching me the basics." "Did he mention that you're supposed to stay awake?" Of course, the charm of that scene was slightly ruined for me by the sight of Daniel writing in the margins of an artifact and subsequently dumping it on the floor, but you can't have everything. :)

Daniel in a bandana has a very particular charm. Well, Daniel in anything has a very particular charm...

200. You'll love it or hate it or just roll your eyes at it. My personal opinion is that the only thing in there that actually happened is that Daniel got new glasses, but - well, we'll just wait for your reaction!

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

Yep - that bit of Cam and Daniel was awesome. AS for Daniel writing in the margins...whenever I See him doing things like that I handwave it to be one of his journals or something (which I know isn't true, but otherwise my brain breaks).

Daniel in anything does have charm...sometimes out of anything does too. *coughs*

New glasses? Those would be the horrible rectangular frames I've seen in some promo pics? *pouts*

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I tried to tell myself it was one of his own books from Earth that he was using as a reference.

Re the new glasses: it took five or six episodes before they started to grow on me. I still prefer the round frames, but they're not so bad once you get used to them. Changing frames is always a bit startling, especially when he's essentially been wearing the same style for nine years. :)

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

I have to comment just so I can use my icon. Hee!

I let out a squee when I read this part of his blog too. And his explanation of a missing scene makes a lot of sense to me as someone who has seen the episode (I wish he had told us what it was about.)

I knew this was the episode they were filming when the cancellation was announced because of on-set interviews the media did at the time. I always grade the ep on a bit of a curve because of that. *aw* Stupid skiffy!

I don't know if he does his homework for the cons or if he's just a fanboy, but he definitely knows his canon.

I never noticed he used the character names all the time! I've caught Martin Wood and Peter sometimes correcting themselves. That's quite astute.

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

I've had the impression that the actors on SG-1 are much more canon-conscious than is usual. Of course MS and CJ have both written eps, but I think I recall comments in various episodes where they have argued that things are out of character for their character, etc.

I loved the bit in one commentary where they mention that the actor who plays Major Davis (who had until then been wearing a nametag "P. Davis"), went out on the internet, discovered that multiple fans had named him "Paul" in fics, and so he went back to the show and said his first name should be "Paul".

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

they mention that the actor who plays Major Davis (who had until then been wearing a nametag "P. Davis"), went out on the internet, discovered that multiple fans had named him "Paul" in fics, and so he went back to the show and said his first name should be "Paul".

Really? Please please please tell me which ep this was for! I adore incidents of "You're getting fanon in my canon!" even if they make me roll my eyes a bit, like Daniel's favorite coffee in Ripple Effect.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's all the time. I specifically noticed it in Fallen.

I should also mention that I have never listened to any commentary while I was watching an ep! I tend to put on the headphones while I'm ironing or baking or suchlike. :)

I'd like to know what the missing scene was, too. Although truthfully? I had not trouble with the Daniel hissy-fit. More on this later, when I actually review the ep.

he definitely knows his canon.

I was going to say "and we love him for it," but I'm not quite that far gone. :)

[princessofg.livejournal.com]

yeah, it's pretty hard not to fall for Michael Shanks. So far I am resisting, because I simply must do a better job with my fandom boundaries (obsession? what do you mean OBSESSION?) but yeah. I rss'd the blog and soon I'm afraid i'll succumb and post a comment. but i'm trying to resist.

hi!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Hee! "Hi" back! It's been a while since you've wandered over here.

I haven't bothered reading the comments yet. I suspect there's a huge ratio of dross to diamonds in fan responses.

Obsession? I do not think that word means what you say it means... :)