10 Things You Learn Rewatching Stargate SG-1

10. Don't Be Afraid Of A Recast

Back in 1997 it would have been utterly ridiculous to have two movie stars come and do a low-budget TV series based on their movie. Thus, Michael Shanks cut his hair to look a bit like James Spader, acted a bit like James Spader and attempted to resemble James Spader, while Richard Dean Anderson... didn't look anything like Kurt Russell.

Of course nowadays there's no such thing as a low-budget TV series, there are streaming services that order high-budget, high-concept shows that are often smattered with movie stars. Back then, of course, TV and Film rotated in very different circles. Of course the charisma of these two recasts guaranteed that SG-1 lasted for 10 seasons.

It would have been easy for the creators of SG-1 to create different characters, there's no shortage of sarcastic colonels and nerdy archaeologists that could have been created to take the place of O'Neil (back when it was just one L) and Jackson. They decided to stick with the original characters and that plan paid off.