10 Best Stargate SG-1 Guest Performances
Everyone loves a memorable guest star, even if they are wearing a silly hat.
Stargate SG-1 ran for two hundred and fourteen episodes over ten years and spawned two direct-to-DVD sequel movies, as well as three live-action spin-off series and one ill-judged cartoon. With such a vast filmography for it's episodic format, there are going to be a lot of cameos and guest stars that crop up for just an episode or two, just to add to the flavour.
Whether they're a villain, comic relief or just there to steal the show, there have been a lot of worthy and memorable guest appearances over those ten seasons. One noted guest star, Vala Mal Doran (played by the irascible Claudia Black) even went so far as to become a series regular, so there's all kinds of potential in a guest star.
But for those that didn't then make it big in the series, here are ten of the best guest stars, whose appearances are brief but excellent.
10. The Keeper (Dwight Schultz)
A regular face from Star Trek The Next Generation, Dwight Schultz cropped up in a single episode of Stargate SG-1, season 2's The Gamekeeper. Here, SG-1 are kept exploring a verdant garden and its single dome-like structure when they are captured by several chairs that then plug them into separate virtual worlds. Daniel (with Sam) has to relive the deaths of his parents over and over again, while Jack (with Teal'c) has to re-enact a failed mission from his special forces days, where he he can't save a friend of his.
It's revealed that these worlds are the creation of The Keeper and his gallery of watchers. This planet was long ago devastated by war, so the survivors plugged themselves into this virtual world in order to survive and let the planet recover. When SG-1 reveal to them that the planet has recovered without them, they're eager to leave, frustrating The Keeper's control over them. He has to let them go so that they can explore the garden that he grew in secret from them.
Schultz's regular performance of Reginal Barclay is of a man riddled with insecurities, whereas this character is played for laughs and he pulls it off well. The silly hat helps.