Dr. Jennifer Keller

All that delicious news concerning Stargate Atlantis continues to filter in. Jewel Staite was hired to play Dr. Jennifer Keller at the end of Season 3 and became a 'recurring' character in Season 4. It has just been announced she has now been promoted to 'regular' cast member for Season 5. This is another piece of exciting news to contemplate alongside Robert Picardo's upgrade. She joins Robert Picardo, Joe Flanigan, Rachel Luttrell, David Hewlett and Jason Momoa to round out a six member ensemble for the next phase in the evolution of Stargate Atlantis.

Thinking about Jewel Staite always reminds me of the character she absolutely owned on the unfortunately ephemeral series Firefly, Kaylee Frye, the ship Serenity's mechanic. Most people have come to discover the verse of Firefly or become one of the fabulous mass that supports it dubbed "Browncoats." Staite was terrific in that amazing ensemble and on that absolutely terrific show. It was one of those shows that never had a chance to get off the ground like Stargate did. It's too bad, because Jericho was salvaged by its rabid fanbase to tell another tale. I just can't understand why Firefly never got picked up by Sci Fi Channel. To this day it perplexes me and saddens me. I know, I know the fans did lift it up and resurrect enough interest that Joss Whedon got behind the camera for a big screen adaptation and wrap up of it in a film called Serenity and that was outstanding! I still wish the series got picked up.

I guess that's it really, science fiction television has turned out to be a much more exciting avenue for me than science fiction film. Let's face it, sci fi in theatres just never gets a chance to develop. The last Star Wars trilogy was loaded with wooden characters and stilted dialogue. Sci fi on television experiments, pushes the boundaries, expectations and character development week after week and that is precisely why science fiction on TV beats out film any day of the week. That's why Stargate [the movie] was good, but both series are stellar.

Anyway, I soooo wish Firefly was still around. Give me 10 seasons of that show anyday. That was the one that got away for me. It ranked in my Top 5.

This is the delightful Jewel Staite [pre-Stargate Atlantis] as Kaylee opposite the always brilliant, eternally underrated Nathan Fillion [Slither] on that special little show called Firefly.