SyFy Portal wrote:The rotating door that is the starring role of "Stargate: Atlantis" is something that would be detrimental to many series, but the departure of Amanda Tapping from the SciFi Channel show after just one season definitely won't be a killer. Especially since she'll be replaced by former "Star Trek: Voyager" actor Robert Picardo.
"I love Bob Picardo," David Read, co-editor of popular Stargate Web site GateWorld told SyFy Radio last week. "I've met him a couple of times [and] the man is one of my heroes."
However, even Read admits that the writers of "Atlantis" will have to be careful about how Picardo's recurring character of Richard Woolsey is handled, otherwise he could become more hated than Corin Nemec's "Stargate SG-1" character Jonas Quinn, who was hated more for who he replaced (Michael Shanks' Daniel Jackson) than the character himself.
"The guy is very political, and that makes people real jaded around him," Read said. "By the end of the first season, we are going to see that fans are going to love this character. In order for it to work, [Woolsey] is going to have to start rooting for the home team."
Picardo has big shoes to fill. Tapping has been a staple of the Stargate franchise for more than a decade, but her departure from the show had nothing to do with her thoughts or feelings about the franchise, or its fans. It had far more to do with her new series with Damian Kindler, "Sanctuary."
"She was at a crossroads in her life," Read said. "She spent 11 years on this show, 11 years on this one character. And now here is an opportunity for her to become a lead actress and an executive producer on a brand new television show."
MGM offered Tapping a "wonderful contract" to stay, but she had to turn it down.
