He is one of only eight actors to appear in all three television series of Stargate, and Dial the Gate’s David Read is ashamed to have never sat down with him before now! We rectify this oversight with episode 99 of Dial the Gate, and the penultimate episode to the conclusion of Season One, with this PRE-RECORDED discussion. Fans have submitted questions to Bill in advance, and with us he explores his years as a member of Stargate Command.

Share This Video ► https://youtu.be/il_bjxGPCko

Visit DialtheGate ► http://www.dialthegate.com
on Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/dialthegate
on Instagram ► https://instagram.com/dialthegateshow
on Twitter ► https://twitter.com/dial_the_gate

MERCHANDISE!
https://dialthegate.redbubble.com

SUBSCRIBE!
https://youtube.com/dialthegate/

Timecodes
0:00 – Opening Credits
0:27 – Welcome and Episode Outline
01:30 – Guest Introduction
02:01 – Character Longevity
02:34 – Actor Beginnings
05:48 – Getting the role of Doctor Lee
09:30 – Prodigy
11:26 – Paradise Lost
14:06 – Evolution Parts 1 and 2
16:36 – Honduran Kidnappers
18:10 – Heroes
20:46 – Comedy Background?
21:56 – World of Warcraft
23:36 – Dr. Lee Has Kids!
25:26 – Conversations with the Writers
27:36 – Sci-Fi — a Broad Genre
29:21 – X-Files
30:36 – Fun with the Cast and Commonalities with Lee
33:12 – Which of that core cast would you look forward to working with again the most?
34:24 – More Stargate?
35:52 – Disclosure
36:54 – From SG-1 to Atlantis to Universe
40:45 – Current Projects
43:45 – Thank You, Bill!
44:27 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
46:00 – End Credits

***

“Stargate” and all related materials are owned by MGM Studios and MGM Television.

#Stargate
#DialtheGate
#TurtleTimeline

 

TRANSCRIPT
Find an error? Submit it here.

David Read
Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode 99 of Dial the Gate. One more to that big number. Thanks so much for joining me. My name is David Read. Bill Dow, Dr. Bill Lee is joining us in this episode and it is a pleasure to have him. Bill and I have never connected before, that is completely on me, after all these years and I am very grateful to be given the opportunity to fix that oversight. Before we get started with him, if you like Stargate, and you want to see more content like this on YouTube, it would mean a great deal to me if you click the Like button. That makes a difference with YouTube’s algorithm and will definitely help the show grow its audience. Please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend. And if you want to get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon giving the Bell icon a click will notify you the moment a new video drops and you’ll get my last minute guest change notifications. This is key if you plan on watching live and clips from this live stream will be released over the course of the next few days on the GateWorld.net YouTube channels. Without further ado, let’s go ahead and bring him in. Bill Dow, Dr. Lee on Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe. Bill, do you realize you are one of eight actors to appear in all three shows?

Bill Dow
Is that right? I didn’t realize it was that select a group.

David Read
Yes, you’re a very small club. Richard Dean Anderson and Robert Picardo and a couple of other folks. What a journey of science fiction. It’s hard to believe it lasted for like eight or nine years for you in particular?

Bill Dow
Yeah, yeah. At least, I mean, and no, it was great. And it was a fun show to do always, right from the very beginning and great group of people in each of the different shows to work with. And I just I had a great time, it was a lot, a lot of fun.

David Read
Bill, how long? How old were you when you knew that you wanted to act? This is what you wanted to do. And tell us about some of the people who help to influence that decision?

Bill Dow
Well, it’s interesting. When I was first going to university, I would have been, 19 or 20 years old or something like that. That was really my first introduction and I took a drama class as what I thought would be an easy elective. And I just really liked it. And at that time I was studying education, I was thinking I’d be an English teacher or something. But I found myself spending more and more time at the drama department and just hanging out with the people there because they were interesting people, they were lively, there was just so much going on. And I just kind of fell into it at that point. And I never really, even then, I didn’t aspire to be an actor really. But I just found that I wasn’t very technically adept. So it became the only thing that I could really do. And then when I finished university somebody offered me a job in a play in a theater and I did that. And then another one happened and then another one and I just kind of was an actor and doing theater jobs for years and then I just went, “Oh, I guess I’m an actor. I guess that’s what I am.”

David Read
This is what I’m doing now. You turned around and that’s what it was. It sounds like you went from a place where this is a cool group of people, they’re interesting, they’re not boring to this gig has utility. You know I can make things work with this.

Bill Dow
Exactly. I think that’s a great way to put it. Yeah.

David Read
And you just never went back. Your example I hear very often and it makes me hope that people who are listening and watching say if you’re interested in something, even something minor, go and give it a shot and give yourself an opportunity to see what you can do with it. You may find that you love it beyond just some casual interest, you may find that you fall in love with it.

Bill Dow
Yeah, absolutely, I would absolutely agree with that. And I think that when you’re interested in something that just that appetite creates initiative, and then you start taking classes, you start meeting people, you start talking about it, it becomes an obsession. And through that you practice, you get better, and then things start falling your way, and you do kind of make your own luck. And I’m the first to say I’ve been very privileged in this and I kind of landed in a time where there was opportunity for people like me to do that. But as I say, like you just keep working, and you keep driving your interest. And that opens doors in itself.

David Read
Tell us about the journey that led you to Doctor Lee in Prodigy in 2001, a minor scientist character, expository dialogue getting through the point of the episode, and then becoming something else. But tell us about that first audition, if you can recall it.

Bill Dow
I can. And this is a thing that’s interesting, because I think the world has changed since when that happened. And I think we’re all a little bit more aware. And I think we’re seeking, I mean, even then to their credit they were seeking diversity. So the short answer is, I got this audition from my agent. And I went there and in the waiting room there was me and six young Asian women. And so I…

David Read
Six young Asian women and you?

Bill Dow
Yes. And so I left. I went out and there wasn’t cell phones at that time so I went and found a phone. I phoned my agent. I said, “Are you sure I’m in the right place? Like, this just doesn’t look right.” And he said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s good.” He said, “I know you’re an outside choice, but they wanted to throw you in. So just just do it. Don’t worry about it.” And I went, “Okay, okay, sure.” So, there I was, and all the other Dr. Lee’s and they all went in, and then I went in and it was, who knows, who knows why? But I’ll tell you a couple others, with Gary Jones, who is the Gate guy, I auditioned for that part, too. And I just went so what I’m supposed to say, “Chevron one encoded, Chevron. two…” And that was it and I just went “This is dumb.” But Gary…

David Read
Jonesy embraced it.

Bill Dow
Exactly. Exactly. And he took it, he found a thing to do, which was fantastic. What else? Oh, I’ll tell you another one. I can’t remember even what the show, I think it was called Pasadena or something like that. Some show that was short lived. But I went to an audition and it was supposed to be for an Irish punk rock, ponytailed Medical Examiner and no ponytail, no Irish. But there was all these other guys sitting there with bandanas and ponytails, and Hawaiian shirts or whatever, and I was just me, and I was just there, but I got that part too. So you never know. You never know.

David Read
You just never know what they’re looking for, what flair you bring to the table? It’s one of the things that I heard Gary Jones talk about once where they’ll have a casting call for a doctor. And Gary, for instance, would go there and be surrounded by people in lab coats and stethoscopes. And he was like, as far as he was concerned you have to convince the casting director through your acting not through your wardrobe. It’s little things like that. It’s just if you can serve the material by what you have to say, but the materials there but with what you have to say, about how you have to say it, then that’s your leg up.

Bill Dow
Yeah, no, absolutely. And that’s it and it’s about you develop yourself, you figure out your own interests, you figure out what’s unique and individual about you, and then you try to bring it to the table and that’s really the thing.

David Read
So there were a lot of of Asian Bill Lee, Asian Lees considered.

Bill Dow
Yes.

David Read
And then we went with you and two or three other, I can’t remember the number of scientists in this particular episode in Prodigy, on a moon where you were under attack by fireflies.

Bill Dow
Right.

David Read
Tell us about that experience.

Bill Dow
Oh, it was great. It was fun. But there was a lot of expository dialogue, and there would come a line and somebody, ah RDA, but somebody would say, “I’m not going to say that. That’s ridiculous. I can’t say that’ And I’d go, “I’ll say it.” And he’d go, “Yeah, let him say it.” So it was just, I just kind of kept, I don’t know, I was just I was there. I was having a good time. I thought, “What the hell, I’ll just play along, I can do this. I can do that.” So it was fun. It was great fun. And so we developed a repore right off the top for that. And I think Peter DeLouise was directing that one. And he thought it was pretty funny too. And since then we’ve become very good friends. And he was laughing and he made me run from, I don’t know if it’s still in there, but he made me run from the bushes way over there and all the way to the camera. And he said, “Can you run that far?” I said, “Yeah.” And so I went and I ran. And I got there. And he said, “That’s good. Can you do it again?”

David Read
It sounds like Peter.

Bill Dow
He made me run that about four or five times. He went, “You’re in good shape.”

David Read
He is, in so many ways a sadistic director. But he makes sure that everyone has a good time.

Bill Dow
Oh, yeah, he’s totally.

David Read
So going from that to Paradise Lost, one of the things that I always loved about Stargate was it’s almost mandate of returning past players to establish that this was a cohesive world, particularly of scientists, where there were multiple teams, there were multiple jobs, there was always something else to do. And pretty much everyone was like, “No, I’m gonna go to the next planet, not I’m leaving this or I’ve been reassigned.” There was a lot of reason to have you guys return. And you came back in Paradise Lost, another serious episode where, particularly Sam, Amanda Tapping’s character is dealing with a crisis, trying to figure out how she’s going to get her leader back. And there’s a lot of subtext there about how long am I willing to put my team out for this, and you’re the one who says, “We’re done. We’re not going to do this anymore,” and pushes back against her who in this instance, what is one of the few instances where she’s teetering on irrational behavior, and you stand up to her and say, “This is ridiculous. He’s gone. There’s nothing else to do, we have no more information.” That was a bigger chunk of performance, and it began pushing you into a recurring role.

Bill Dow
Yeah, interesting. I hadn’t really thought about that. But I think that’s right. I mean, what I always used to try to do like, the way I always thought about Dr. Lee was I wasn’t a hero. There was a lot of heroes on that show. I wasn’t a hero. I was just a guy. And I just wanted to be like, “No man, we’re out in the middle of no… Let’s go home. Come on.”

David Read
That sounds true.

Bill Dow
I just tried to think if I was the most normal person amidst all these heroes, and I tried to take that through all of the shows too. You know I’m just the guy . But yeah, so that’s interesting. It’s interesting you point that out, and thank you for that. I appreciate it.

David Read
Absolutely. The character was given a little bit more every time we saw him, and I think that that has to do with the fact that they see something in their actors and in their talent, and it’s like, “Okay, let’s start mining this just a little bit more.” In Evolution, one and two, that was a powerhouse for you and Shanks. You guys had half of the episode in each one of those to explore this. Being captured by Honduran militants. I mean that as far as I’m concerned that just shouts Stargate.

Bill Dow
Yeah, right. Exactly.

David Read
Tell us about that experience.

Bill Dow
Oh, it was so much fun. And Michael and I, yeah, we had a great time. But I mean, some of the stunt stuff was [inaudible]. I mean, like the one where we come up out like the water crashing in and so what they did was they dug a hole, and then they dropped this tank, it was like a dumpster, that was dropped down into the ground. And it was full of water. But, so then me and Shanks had to get in there. And then, oh man, so then they said, “Well, he has to come out first.” I said, “Okay,” and then they said…

David Read
And you’re there as well.

Bill Dow
Yeah. And then they said, “But we want to think you’re dead. So you gotta let the water settle before you come up.” So I’m underneath there holding my breath, right? And meanwhile Shanks is acting his ass off up on top and I’m sitting there going [gurgling sounds] and finally I come out and I’m gasping for air. I’m really gasping for air. I mean, it was very funny. It was a lot of fun to do though.

Bill Dow
Was that one take?

Bill Dow
Well, no, I think we did it a couple of times. But they needed the one where the water settled. Like they wanted, I think after that I didn’t have to then, I could just come up.

David Read
They got that one on film.

Bill Dow
Yeah. So then when we were supposed to be inside the cave, and the water was supposed to wash us away, same thing. They had a dumpster on a front end loader full of water. And we were in there kind of trying to do the Indiana Jones thing, whatever the heck we were doing, and they just dumped this water, just washed us right out. It was hilarious. It was very funny. Oh my god.

David Read
And then getting caught by a Honduran dissident group, terrorist group for all intents and purposes, and that looked like hell, having to exist in that small outdoor stall and getting electrocuted.

Bill Dow
Right. Yes. It was pretty. It was good. It was a great set. It was a great setup and a fun episode. The guy who is the head of the Honduran, I can’t remember his name right now, but he was really good.

David Read
I always like to give credit where it’s due here.

Bill Dow
Yes, please.

David Read
Let’s see. That would have been…

Bill Dow
He’s done a lot of great stuff since I’ve seen.

Bill Dow
Frank. So he was terrified of the cockroaches.

David Read
Victor Favrin as Chalo. And let me see here. Frank Roman is Rafael. Frank Roman.

David Read
Really?

Bill Dow
Oh, yeah. So he was like [Wahhhhh!] He wouldn’t go in the shot with them. So we had to kind of shoot around that.

David Read
The things that you’re asked to do as actors, face a lot of your fears. Some of them like all of us have irrational ones.

Bill Dow
Right. Exactly.

David Read
That is funny. In Heroes part one, we begin to see a little bit of a transformation into the humor, where you have a demonstration of the technology they’re going to start inserting into the suits, the vests to protect the SG team members from staff blasts. It’s one of the practical situations on set where Dan Shea got to behave as he truly is as a stunt man, getting a staff blast shot. At this point, I’m starting to notice the transformation of the character, not that just have an expository scientist and in odd situations like torture and international situations, but more of a humorous, lighthearted role. What’s happening here at this point, Bill, what do you think is causing this?

Bill Dow
Well, I think I know, I mean, they leave the camera running after the scene is done. And so I would just always say something, I would always have some kind of end to the scene. Like I’d let the scene end and then I would say something else but I know they’re watching it and the writers are watching and starting to enjoy my sense of humor about stuff. And so then they started, and I know I talked to Brad and he was talking about it a bit and about how they were looking for those opportunities and they were going to kind of go in this way. So it became kind of a thing where they would, I’ve had this on other shows, the writer start to hear your voice and they start to hear who you are. And then they start to bring the character to that because they want the personality, they want the quirkiness that you have. And so they’re really good at hearing things and finding rhythms and opportunities and stuff. And so I think it was part of that. I think it was mostly these kinds of ad libs after the scene that opened that door for them. And then they started to do it. But yeah, Dan Shea is great. I see him every once while riding his bike around.

David Read
Same neighborhood?

Bill Dow
Well, not really. But we both go on a long bike rides [inaudible].

David Read
Oh, good for you. Absolutely. Yeah. No, it’s I’ve heard so often the writers say, “If the actor is giving us something promising, we’re crazy to not at least explore it.” Joseph Mallozzi was really big on that, you’d go down and say, “Hey, what’s this?” And the actor would say, “Oh, I do this on the side or whatever.” And then the next day the actor would find out that it was in the pages. Sharon Taylor, as Amelia Banks said that exactly with Joe she expressed her blackbelt background, and then all of a sudden she was kicking ass with Jason Momoa in an episode. Do you have a comedy background? It sounds like you’ve done stand up or some kind.

Bill Dow
I’ve never done stand up. I’ve been in comedic shows. I rode my motorcycle to the studio one day. And I remember Cooper coming out and going. “Oh, that’s interesting. How’d you like to be in a motorcycle chase?” I went, “Yeah,” but it never came to pass. But you know that’s just another instance of that.

David Read
But yeah, I love my bike, too. You gotta get some two-wheeled therapy, man.

Bill Dow
Yeah.

David Read
And it turns into a character that goes for three television series after those early shots at trying some more humor and more opportunities to come on screen. Some of the best scenes that I remember from the franchise or with you particularly. I’m a World of Warcraft player.

Bill Dow
Oh, yeah.

David Read
So I need to pull up and give proper credit here because the fans have definitely been wanting to know. “We all enjoyed your World of Warcraft moments.” Emma Bentley says, “But have you played the game?”

Bill Dow
Actually, I must confess I haven’t. But I remember that scene so well. Like Torri’s fantastic and there was just, my heart was all a flutter, and I was trying to impress her. It was good, but I would love to know more about it. But I’ve never played World of Warcraft. No.

David Read
It’s so interesting, because Martin Gero was trying to do something humorous there. And I have to tell you, a Mage is not a race, it’s a class. And there are two different things. You have races, you have classes and they go hand in hand, but I wish he had paid a little bit more attention to that because we all look at that and we go, “Oh!” But it’s a great scene.

Bill Dow
Yeah, yeah. No, it was a fun scene to do for sure.

David Read
And then a few episodes, cuz I’m a continuity geek, a few episodes later there’s a reference to you having kids, where you’re talking about the Twilight Bark.

Bill Dow
Yeah. Yeah.

David Read
I guess he’s divorced. That’s the only explanation or he never married her or something or whatever.

Bill Dow
So that’s what I figured too. Because it like you get these surprises. You go, “Oh, kids. Okay, sure.”

David Read
Right. Exactly. Now, how do I work that in?

Bill Dow
Yeah, exactly. So yeah, it’s funny. Yeah, I mean, the name came the same way. That it was like RDA one day said, “What’s your name?” I said, “Bill, what do you mean?” He said, “Okay, Bill, your Bill.”

David Read
Right, and Michael Shanks uses that in Evolution two, I believe.

Bill Dow
Yeah.

David Read
So I always wondered if that’s one thing I was gonna ask you. I always wondered if that was an ad lib or if that was something that was Rick’s influence?

Bill Dow
I think so. And I think that’s the way I remember it, but I think there was another thing, oh, I remember the Seymour thing, right? People thought Seymour was my name but he was referring to the plant.

David Read
The Little Shop of Horrors reference. Yeah, for a while there everyone thought it was Seymour.

Bill Dow
Yes, yes. Yeah.

David Read
Gosh, now Will Rob is asking, “What level is your Mage now I just had to ask?

Bill Dow
That’s a stumper. You answer for me, David.

David Read
Oh, he’s got to be at least 90 or 95. Right? Actually, probably you’ve got several maxed out 100s. I haven’t played the game in a while, but I need to get back to it. Let’s see here. Jack asks, “Do you recall any discussions with the writers or directors regarding specifically dialing up the humor, giving you more opportunities to do that or just finding the script was delivered and it was there on the page, and you just got to make a meal out of it?”

Bill Dow
Well, yeah, it’s interesting. The plant, that Seymour episode that we were talking about, the name of it,

David Read
Zero Hour.

Bill Dow
Which is it? Oh, yeah, Zero Hour. So Rick and I we had those those weird goggles on for a while. And it just like, it was hilarious, because they gave us these goggles, the props guys, and they said, “I don’t think you probably want to wear these, but you should have them.” And I went, “No way. Are you kidding? I’m wearing those.”

David Read
Yeah, absolutely.

Bill Dow
And then Rick, put them on too. So we were both doing that. But the director of that episode, I started going a little bit off script in that episode. And he said, “No, well that’s not your line, your line is whatever it is.” And Rick kind of said, “Oh, that’s okay, Bill gets to say whatever he wants.” and I went, “Okay, I didn’t know that. But sure.”

David Read
Your producer, so you’ve got a producer on set in the form of an actor. That says you’re trusted to waste a little bit of tape, knowing that chances are it’s going to be be good.

Bill Dow
Yeah. And I’m trying to keep it within the parameters. And I’m sensitive to like, I’m not going to blow up the show or anything like that. And the serious parts you take seriously and the parts where there’s a little bit more latitude, you can have it. Yeah, it’s just a sensitivity there, I think.

David Read
As long as you are staying true to the documents, and particularly to the spirit of what the folks who wrote it are getting across, as long as you hit those notes and drive those points home, why not? Why not try to give them something else?

Bill Dow
Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think that’s it. And I think it was Joe, who was talking to one time, and he used to write for like, really like big, serious, mainstream drama, like NYPD Blue and stuff like that. And I said, “Why are you here?” And he said, “Those shows become soaps, science fiction is actually where you can address the big questions where you can talk about good and evil, and you can talk about morality and stuff like that.” And I just went, “That’s absolutely right.” And I love that. And I, yeah.

David Read
There are modern cultural issues that you can tackle from episode to episode. And people who are just watching it for the entertainment value will get that. But people who are watching it to have their brains turned on, as opposed to off, we’ll see some subtext there as well, if they’re looking for it. That’s the thing about sci fi, like I’ve said this before, you can paint a guy black on one side and white on the other, and the other guy the opposite and you can have a discussion about race in the late 60s, when you can’t go near this stuff on television. But because of the way, the how, it’s accessed, it allows us to go, “Okay, let’s think about that.” And that’s what Stargate did as well, in many episodes.

Bill Dow
Yeah. Yeah. And it’s great that, yeah, absolutely. Bringing those social questions in because it’s just that a little bit of distance, right? So you can talk about it and nobody gets upset.

David Read
Yes, it’s safer, and you can you can approach those problems more accessibly.

Bill Dow
Yeah. Absolutely.

David Read
William Arends’s wanted to know, “Did Bill’s Charles Burke’s X-Files character, inform his portrayal of Dr. Lee. And were you ever mistaken for Tom Braidwood who played Melvin Frohike on The X-Files in The Lone Gunmen spin off series?” I’m not familiar with X-Files that much.

Bill Dow
Right. Yeah, I was a little bit. The Lone Gunmen were kind of an advisory group to David Duchovny’s character but then I became his old college buddy. And so I kind of had traveled the same territory but not on the conspiracy side more on the actual hard science side. I suppose the kind of, yeah, I guess what I would say the bemused man of science, and slightly befuddled in the ways of the world, that was similar possibly between Chuck Burke and Dr. Lee. But the world is a confusing place but science, I got it.

David Read
Emily Cheetham, my question for Bill, “What did you enjoy most about working on the show and with this cast? And what do you feel you have most in common with Dr. Lee?”

Bill Dow
I loved the people, I mean, just the crew, the cast, everything was such a great place to go to work. It really was. And for those guys that were in every episode and to have as little friction as there was there was a real collegial sense to it. And everybody still had fun and that, I think that was part of what I brought too is that every once in a while I could come in and kind of shake things up. And then they didn’t have to talk to each other anymore they could talk to me for awhile. But I’ll never forget the the episode, I think was somewhere in the Midway station, where Jason and Chris were there. And like these two monstrous people, they’re huge, and I just kind of looking up at them. But then we all cram into that one little room and I just felt, “Oh, man, I just got to get out of here.”

David Read
Twenty-four hours, gentlemen, you enjoy yourself.

Bill Dow
It was very funny that. So, I mean, I love the situations and the things that were possible. And then when I had him in the chair in that simulator game, that was terrifying because I didn’t want anything to happen. And I knew it was like, somehow I’d screwed up and it was really hard on everybody. But that’s the thing. It’s like, that’s what I’m saying. But just bringing the humanity to it. I had a great idea, we did it, and then it didn’t work. And it just, you know.

David Read
Because we can all relate to that, this has got to go good and then, oh, now this guy may die in this instance.

Bill Dow
Exactly. And that was the bridge that I thought I created in the show. I think that was my unique place that I could bring the viewers in through just that humanity. But still through whatever credentials or whatever I happen to be in this situation. And I did have good ideas, but sometimes they didn’t work. And then it was just a nightmare. Because I had such respect for all those people and the world saving stuff they were doing, but…

David Read
“Which of that core cast would you really look forward to working with the most?” Melissa Smith wanted to know.

Bill Dow
Um, well, all of them, really, I mean, Amanda, and I had a bunch of fun stuff and I really liked that. That was great. And those episodes with Shanks when we were out, that was a great time and we became very close. And we were on another show, which I can’t remember right now, but we ended up having a fight scene and it was fun. Because we got into it. But the end, and Rick of course, always, he was a guy who would play. And he was looking for some way to break out of just being the straight ahead kind of guy. And so when I came up with that opportunity for him, he just loved it. He jumped right in. So.

David Read
With a magnifying glass if he could get away with it. Him and those magnifying glasses. He knew what he was doing, man, was that funny.

Bill Dow
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

David Read
I have a lot of fans in here. REDUX. Let me see. I did not organize this well, I apologize. And several other actors are asking, “Would you be game for the…” Antonio Littera, “Would you be game for the fourth Stargate series that Brad Wright is trying to get off the ground?”

Bill Dow
Oh, totally. If there’s a place for me, I would love to be. I mean, absolutely. Absolutely.

David Read
Where do you think the show can go next? Where do you think it hasn’t gone before?

Bill Dow
I don’t know. I mean, that’s a great question. Where would I send it? You know what? Somehow when we’re talking about the big questions and stuff and the possibility of looking at things through the sci fii lens, it feels like we’re in this climate crisis, right? And if there was some, and I’m not clever enough to know how it would work, but if there was some way that you could talk about that, and about how we need to change our behavior and become more in tune with the planet and its systems. I’d love that, I think we need a show about that somewhere.

Bill Dow
At least leverage that as a plot point.

Bill Dow
Yeah, yeah.

David Read
Do you think that the Stargate program should be disclosed? If it were up to you and this thing were going to go into a fourth series, do you think that that would be advantageous? Or would you want to keep it a secret?

Bill Dow
Well, that’d be an interesting thing. I mean, if it got discovered that’s a great fulcrum for all sorts of conflict and nefarious others trying to get in or infiltrators and stuff like that. So I mean, that’s a cool thing, too. That kind of pseudo Cold War kind of spy world that creates, if there’s somebody gets inside that shouldn’t be or whatever. So that’d be another way to go. That’d be kind of cool. Depending on how dark you want to go.

David Read
Yeah, exactly. That’s the thing. With Universe it went pretty dark, especially, set wise, it was one of the darker sets there was. What was it like going from SG-1 to Atlantis to Universe, through that generation of change. To actually inhabiting someone else’s, I think you were inside of Eli if I’m not mistaken. You had the “You are Here” shirts.

Bill Dow
That’s right.

David Read
What was that like? What was that like being with that cast of players?

Bill Dow
Well, it was fun. I was kind of hoping there would be more opportunities. But yeah, no, I would have loved to have done that, to kind of have those echoes of the other person and try and work with that. I was looking forward to that and I was hoping there’d be more but, yeah, it was fun. I mean, I think going from SG-1 to Atlantis, there’s just like a subtle difference, just because of the different personalities, different storylines, and it was refreshing. It was fresh, it was new, and just to kind of plop myself into that. And again, it was using the truth of the situation because I didn’t know anybody, right? And I was a new guy in the thing in the same way that I was. And that’s great. It’s like, “Oh, cool. Okay, what are we doing?” So that’s cool. That’s always fun, that you can carry, you know who you are, but you don’t know what else is going on somewhere else.

David Read
That’s one of the frustrating things about Universe, as far as I’m concerned is that it had so much promise. They were laying down track in front of the train for at least a four or five season game plan. And I’m really hopeful that if and when Brad is allowed to move forward with with SG four that we’re going to see something that gives some proper answers to a lot of what came before so that we can go back and watch seasons one and two and go, “Okay, I see now.”

Bill Dow
Well, I think you’ve struck on something there. Because I think in our current TV climate where we’re streaming stuff, and we were binging on episodes, and we see them all at once.

David Read
Correct.

Bill Dow
I think the narrative structure of that one would have worked better now. Because I think people who didn’t watch it every day or missed a week or so, I think you could lose a thread and then feel like you weren’t connected. Whereas now we have the long-form TV drama, because everything’s on streaming service somewhere. And so you watch episode after episode, and if you miss it you can pick it up when you wanted to. And I think what the ambition was really cool, but I think it was maybe a little bit ahead or just not quite situated right.

David Read
It was way ahead of its time. The pacing of it is to this day one of the things that fans of the other shows critique the most because it was taking its time unpacking. And now, then the other fans like me will then jump in and say, but every show does that now. And that’s acceptable. So were Universe to come on now it would be a big hit.

Bill Dow
I think that’s true. I think that’s absolutely true. Because when when SG-1 was, it was like you had a one hour thing, and there had to be an adventure, and you could have an arc go maybe two or three hours. But you really had to have something happen in that hour. Right? And it had to complete. I agree completely and I think that’s absolutely true. If it had come around now, it’d be a great, great success

David Read
Bill, what can we expect to see you at? What do you what are you working on right now? Anything going on that you want us to be on the lookout for?

Bill Dow
Um, well, I did a really interesting, independent, it’s probably going to be packaged as a web series. But it’s 90 minutes. So it’s kind of indie feature length. And it happened last summer in the pandemic and It was inspired by the killing of George Floyd. And this friend of mine here, Ben Ratner, wrote this show because it was his experience. He was an acting teacher, and like the pandemic had forced all acting classes on to Zoom.

David Read
Gosh. Yes.

Bill Dow
And so here he was, and he was like an acting teacher, and he had these six people in his acting class and one black woman. And when that happened, his inability to cope with the situation just forced him to write this show. And the show’s called Trigger Me. And I just saw it. I don’t think it’s been released yet and I don’t know where or how it’s going to be released. But I was playing the acting teacher. And there was some great, but it was like this, it was like you and me right now how we shot it. And so it was a really interesting experiment, but that’d be cool. I mean, when it comes out, if when it comes out, that’d be a cool thing. And then, other than that, Hallmark is my friend these days. So every once in a while I turn up there.

David Read
Yeah, it’s August, September, the Christmas movies, they start coming through. It’s like dozens and dozens of them, so that’s steady gainful employment, got it. I completely, and some of them are gems. Absolutely. But so much of it is, as far as I’m concerned. It’s like, “Okay, guys, we’ve done this one.” So.

Bill Dow
Yeah, other than that, I don’t know, I was looking for new and different adventures a few years ago, and I went back to school, and I did my PhD.

David Read
Oh, really?

Bill Dow
Yeah, I did an interdisciplinary PhD in Theater and Classical Mythology. So I studied Ancient Greek and Roman myths. And so I’ve been working on that but that’s not going to show up on your TV anywhere.

David Read
Well, you know what, we’ll keep our ear to the ground, and you’ve got my email. If you want us to look out for anything specific you let us know and we’ll do that. This is what we do.

Bill Dow
Okay, well that’s great. Yeah.

David Read
Absolutely. I really appreciate you coming on, Bill. I really appreciate you taking the time. And you are one I’ve enjoyed watching for years on this program. And if there is going to be an SG four that Brad gets to produce, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we see Dr. Lee again. I just have a feeling.

Bill Dow
Well, I would honestly love it, David, and I gotta say it’s been a great pleasure talking to you. And thank you for this. Thank you for inviting me. And thanks to everybody sending in questions and stuff. And I hope I see you all somewhere out in the universe there.

David Read
Oh, yeah. Conventions aren’t done. They’ll come back.

Bill Dow
Sometime, yeah.

David Read
My thanks once again to Bill Dow for joining us in this episode of Dial the Gate. What’s going to happen next? So we are going to be going on a bit of a summer hiatus. I am going to continue to produce content for the channel so don’t unsubscribe just yet. You’re going to be seeing some other projects that we’ve been working on. I’m particularly excited about. This is a pre-recorded episode. A lot of this is still in the early stages, but there’s going to be more content coming and the weekend of July the 23rd San Diego ComicCon will be publishing the first version of the Stargate Atlantis cast reunion, which is 45-minutes long. And then a couple days later, probably the exact date is still tentative at San Diego Comic Con. I’m not allowed to technically announce it yet, but I’m planning on the 25th, the Sunday, July 25th, to play the 90-minute version for you as Episode 100, right here at youtube.com/dialthegate. My thanks to everyone who submitted questions. My thanks to my moderating team for all of these episodes. Sommer, Keith, Tracy, Jeremy Rhys, Antony, you guys are rockstars. To my production assistant, Jennifer Kirby, and my producer, Linda “GateGabber” Furey, thanks so much for all that you guys have done. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. This has been episode 99. We’ll see you in 100 and about a month or so, little less. And I’ll see you on the other side.