After we went out on that proverbial limb to second guess what some of the casting would look like once the 5th season of Stargate: Atlantis begins, the program’s showrunner Joseph Mallozzi used his online blog to set the record straight. We are happy to share his official corrections here so as to not mislead our fans and fans of Atlantis. It must be remembered that what we assumed in the article was a best guess scenario based on rumors from several sources and some inside dope. Fortunately Joe did give us at least one half point for the effort.

Here is his blog response:

Some of the more outlandish assumptions seem to stem from a Slice of SciFi article that refers to various rumors surrounding Atlantis’s fifth season. Allow me to put some of those rumors to rest. According to the article:

“With the absence of Carter, Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) will pick up more leadership responsibilities. Rumor has it he may even be in for a promotion to Full Bird Colonel, however, nothing along those lines has been confirmed.”

There has never been any discussion about promoting Sheppard and his leadership responsibilities as team leader will remain unchanged.

“We may also be seeing a little less of Rachel Luttrell as Teyla, at least in the early goings of the new season. As every fan of the series knows Rachel spent most of Season 4 being pregnant for real. By the time Season 5 airs she will have delivered her baby and will be spending some quality time with her new addition to the family. She is expected to return in full capacity later in the season, however.”

Rachel remains a series regular and an important part of the team. Two of the first three episodes see some major developments for the character.

“There will be an addition to the Atlantis SG Team named Captain Alison Parker. She is military, tough and ready for action, but frustrated over Colonel Carter’s slowness in making her a permanent part of the team. That will change quickly after the first episode.”

The character’s name is Porter, not Parker, and there are no plans to put her on Sheppard’s team. So, to spell it out for everyone – Porter has NOT been brought in to replace Teyla on the team.

“One of sci-fi fans favorite actresses, Kari Wuhrer (“Sliders”) appeared in Season 4 in the episode “Outcast” (air date Feb. 1, 2008) as Homeland Security agent Nancy Sheppard (Lt. Col. John Sheppard’s ex-wife). It has been rumored that she may be back for a few episodes next season as well.”

Kari is a wonderful actress and we like the character a lot, but there are at present no plans to bring her back. That’s not to say it won’t happened – just not anytime soon.

“Michael, everybody’s favorite Wraith (Connor Trinnear of “Star Trek: Enterprise”), will have a very significant storyline in Season 5,”

A very significant storyline? That’s news to us in the writing department.

“The show will also get to see a lot more from recurring characters like Major Evan Lorne (Kavan Smith) and Dr. Katie Brown (Brenda James), Rodney McKay’s (David Hewlett) love interest.”

Half points on this one.

Thanks Joe, we will try to do better next time. Also, to parrot Mr. Mallozzi… where is that press release that SCI FI promised us? They now say Tuesday.