Is Joe Flanigan the worst scifi lead actor ever?

[Starfleet Engineer]

I watched Stargate: Atlantis on DVD through Netflix, seasons 1-4. It was OK. Not terribly sophisticated, but good for space battles and things that go boom. So, I'm done with season 4 and have to wait several months before the season 5 DVDs come out. During that time I watch all 7 seasons of 24, for the first time. Best.show.ever. By the end of watching 24 season 7, Atlantis season 5 is out. I start watching and am amazed at how simple and unsophisticated the show is after watching 24. One thing that particularly sticks out to me is how boring the lead actor, Joe Flanigan, is. He has one facial expression and one tone of voice ALL THE TIME. Is he the worst lead actor in a scifi series ever?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Lets see? I seen him in Cupid, Birds of Prey and Tru Calling off the top of my head and... he's not terrible.

 

[Mr Light]

I think he's charming enough. It's not his fault it's a bit of a one note character on a superficial show.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

You are obviously the wrong gender/sexual orientation to appreciate the true grandeur of the multitalented Mr. Flanigan.

If Milo Ventimiglia can be considered the lead actor of Heroes (and I guess he has as much a claim to it as any) then he is definitely the worst sci fi lead actor ever.

I think he's charming enough. It's not his fault it's a bit of a one note character on a superficial show.

It would be interesting to see what Flanigan can do with writing that isn't crap. Milo's had his chance since Heroes had one non-crappy season, which is more than all of Stargate can say for itself.

During that time I watch all 7 seasons of 24, for the first time. Best.show.ever.

Wow. You need to watch more TV. 24?!? It's fun, sure, but shallow, formulaic and often downright comical.

Try Dexter, The Wire and Mad Men for starters and some folks swear by The Sopranos. There's a level of TV far beyond anything you'll find on networks. Except for Lost, there's a rare network TV gem.

 

[DWF]

I watched Stargate: Atlantis on DVD through Netflix, seasons 1-4. It was OK. Not terribly sophisticated, but good for space battles and things that go boom. So, I'm done with season 4 and have to wait several months before the season 5 DVDs come out. During that time I watch all 7 seasons of 24, for the first time. Best.show.ever. By the end of watching 24 season 7, Atlantis season 5 is out. I start watching and am amazed at how simple and unsophisticated the show is after watching 24. One thing that particularly sticks out to me is how boring the lead actor, Joe Flanigan, is. He has one facial expression and one tone of voice ALL THE TIME. Is he the worst lead actor in a scifi series ever?

I guess you don't remember Jack Webb. And I never quite understood how 24 worked but I do think there's less torture scenes on Stargate Atlantis though.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I watched Stargate: Atlantis on DVD through Netflix, seasons 1-4. It was OK. Not terribly sophisticated, but good for space battles and things that go boom. So, I'm done with season 4 and have to wait several months before the season 5 DVDs come out. During that time I watch all 7 seasons of 24, for the first time. Best.show.ever. By the end of watching 24 season 7, Atlantis season 5 is out. I start watching and am amazed at how simple and unsophisticated the show is after watching 24. One thing that particularly sticks out to me is how boring the lead actor, Joe Flanigan, is. He has one facial expression and one tone of voice ALL THE TIME. Is he the worst lead actor in a scifi series ever?

I guess you don't remember Jack Webb. And I never quite understood how 24 worked but I do think there's less torture scenes on Stargate Atlantis though.

SG:A doesn't need torture scenes. They torture the audience instead.

 

[OmahaStar]

Heroes had one non-crappy season, which is more than all of Stargate can say for itself.

*looks at watch* Yep, right on time for Temis and her Stargate bashing.



We GET IT. You don't like the show. Why do you feel the need to constantly let us know this post after post after post?

 

[cylkoth]

I watched Stargate: Atlantis on DVD through Netflix, seasons 1-4. It was OK. Not terribly sophisticated, but good for space battles and things that go boom. So, I'm done with season 4 and have to wait several months before the season 5 DVDs come out.

Season 5 is out, and Netflix has them already-the day before the official release date actually.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

I've only seen a couple of episodes but I generally agree, he was pretty damn bad. He just looks corny, has corny line delivery, and yes the material is extremely uninspiring. I do think it's sort of a trend though sci-fan fans have a lot lower level of "acting tolerance". Everything from Stargate, to B5, to Buffy, to DS9 has had a lot of extremely mediocre actors that their respective fans insist are "Emmy worthy". So the bar is a lot lower in our 'genre'... but even by those standards, Flanigan was pretty corny.

 

[Harvey]

Heroes had one non-crappy season, which is more than all of Stargate can say for itself.

*looks at watch* Yep, right on time for Temis and her Stargate bashing.



We GET IT. You don't like the show. Why do you feel the need to constantly let us know this post after post after post?

Is she supposed to tell people something she doesn't think instead? Honestly, the OP asks if Flanigan is the worst science fiction lead ever. It would be dishonest not to at least mention how limited he was by the writing of the series in answer to that question.

 

[DWF]

I watched Stargate: Atlantis on DVD through Netflix, seasons 1-4. It was OK. Not terribly sophisticated, but good for space battles and things that go boom. So, I'm done with season 4 and have to wait several months before the season 5 DVDs come out. During that time I watch all 7 seasons of 24, for the first time. Best.show.ever. By the end of watching 24 season 7, Atlantis season 5 is out. I start watching and am amazed at how simple and unsophisticated the show is after watching 24. One thing that particularly sticks out to me is how boring the lead actor, Joe Flanigan, is. He has one facial expression and one tone of voice ALL THE TIME. Is he the worst lead actor in a scifi series ever?

I guess you don't remember Jack Webb. And I never quite understood how 24 worked but I do think there's less torture scenes on Stargate Atlantis though.

SG:A doesn't need torture scenes. They torture the audience instead.

No they just torture you instead.

 

[DarKush]

I liked Flanigan on Atlantis. I thought his Shepherd was wiseacre enough and handled the action scenes well. I also thought he had a nice repartee with Rodney. If anything the character, and not the actor, suffered from being O'Neill-lite. I think the writers should've been bolder in terms of characterization and that might've given Flanigan more to sink his teeth into.

 

[Chrisisall]

Flanigan was golden.

 

[Hermiod]

My answer to the question ? Yes, obviously.

No, that's not true - he's okay. It's just that for the lead character in an action show he's such a fucking pussy! He gets beaten up, often by small women, and doesn't do anything about it!

I'm certain this is so that the fangirls won't find him threatening and stop sharing pictures of him playing his guitar and looking adorable on the Internet.

I've got a theory about that "hairstyle" of his as well.

 

[Trubinator]

He always did seem somewhat bland to me.

 

[Kestra]

One thing that particularly sticks out to me is how boring the lead actor, Joe Flanigan, is. He has one facial expression and one tone of voice ALL THE TIME. Is he the worst lead actor in a scifi series ever?

He's ... the reason I started watching Stargate at all. I only started SG-1 later. His hair is amazing. I didn't even realize I was that shallow until I saw him and was totally taken in.

 

[TemporalFlux]

I'll admit that Flannigan isn't an acting dynamo, but he's likable. I would enjoy hanging out with the guy, and that's probably part of the reason I chose to hang around Atlantis.

 

[Shurik]

He's OK, even good compared to some of the SG:A actors (the one who played Teyla for example) ...

 

[The Master of Tarquin Hill]

Heroes had one non-crappy season, which is more than all of Stargate can say for itself.

*looks at watch* Yep, right on time for Temis and her Stargate bashing.



We GET IT. You don't like the show. Why do you feel the need to constantly let us know this post after post after post?

Is she supposed to tell people something she doesn't think instead? Honestly, the OP asks if Flanigan is the worst science fiction lead ever. It would be dishonest not to at least mention how limited he was by the writing of the series in answer to that question.

I generally agree w/ Temis when it comes to all matters concerning Stargate. That said, I can only chalk up her appreciation of Flanigan as purely a "fantasy lust" kind of thing instead of any real commentary on his acting chops(which are weak).

He is at best a B grade actor who will eventually end up selling insurance or cars.

 

[Hermiod]

^I have derived a great deal more entertainment out of Stargate: Atlantis than I can imagine myself ever doing from Heroes as long as the incompetent hacks that write it still work on the show.

If Heroes' writers worked on Atlantis it'd go something like this:

Writer #1: "McKay's too smart, he could solve our problem of the week easily!"
Writer #2: "I know, let's have his evil father show up and magically turn him in to a moron."
Writer #1: "Yeah, that's a great idea!"

The next week...

Writer #1: "Right, this week's villain is a big scary Wraith guy".
Stunt Co-ordinator: "How about a cool fight scene with him and Ronon ?"
Writer #2: "No, I don't like that. Instead, we'll have McKay's Evil Father magically show up again and chop Ronon's leg off."
Writer #1: "That'll be way cool!"
Stunt Co-ordinator: "What the f... ?"

Writer #1: "Okay people, It's our big season finale. Our last scene has Sheppard and Todd with the ZPM that will either power the new Wraith Super Hive Ship or save Earth and they have to fight for it, hand to hand."
Stunt Co-ordinator: "Okay, when do you want my guys to start laying this one out."
Writer #2: "Oh, you won't be needed. We're going have the door automatically close as the fight starts and then the viewer can just imagine the fight as you hear lots of loud crashing coming from behind the door".

Writer #1: "Right, Todd is dying, but he has the secret code that will prevent Atlantis from being destroyed so they need to keep him alive."
Writer #2: "Okay, so McKay puts himself through the Ancient Ascendo-machine again to save him."
Writer #1: "Yeah, that works, then McKay transfers Todd's memories to the comatose shapeshifting alien from the last episode"
Writer #3 :"Good idea... Wait, what ? Last time McKay used the machine he could heal people!"
Writer #1 : "We try not to remember things that are inconvenient to the plot around here!"

Writer #1: "Okay, the fans don't like us turning McKay in to a moron."
Writer #2: "Here's what we'll do, he can now magically know anything someone else knows by touching them."
Writer #3: "Doesn't that just make him redundant ? If he has to touch Carter to solve a problem, why doesn't Carter just solve it ?"