Other Conference Call Highlights:

Joseph Mallozzi on whether Woolsey will be loosening up be less by the book as the season progresses:

"Well, I mean, you kind of answered that question with regard to Episode 2 where - I mean, he comes in and he’s essentially appointed because he is a by the book guy and someone who the IOA feels they can trust to follow protocol. And in his very first, you know, crisis situation in Episode 2 called The Seed, he throws the, you know, playbook out the window and quickly realizes that in the Pegasus Galaxy, you know, you can’t just follow protocol in order to save lives and really make the right decision.

"You know, you really have to react as, you know, as a situation dictates. You just kind of, you know, play it by ear and it’s a little - it’s like a little mini crisis for Woolsey at the episode’s end where he realizes he’s - you know, he - rather than following protocol, he, you know, he went against protocol. And even though the situation worked out, you know, that’s not the point because I mean, that - you know, he was not sent to the Pegasus Galaxy to just kind of play the cowboy.

"And then over the course of the ensuing episodes, the lesson becomes even more obvious when Roman goes missing. And then it’ll eventually culminate in an episode call Remnants - Episode 16 - we’re not yet up to 15 now - where over the course of most of the season, I mean, he did come in as an interim leader. And over the course of the scenes they begin to just kind of accept his as a new commander of the base. But then come Episode 15, he’s suddenly up for review and the IOA is not exactly pleased with his performance because he was sent in to, just in a sense, be a pitbull but he wasn’t following procedure and his job is at stake.

"And I mean, I kind of liken it to that first - the second episode that Bob referred to, "Inauguration", where he played Kinsey’s pitbull and Kinsey sicked him on SG-1. And he was more than happy to do his job so long as he thought he was doing the right thing. And then near the end of the episode, he realized, "My gosh, I mean, I’m not doing the right thing." And rather than just play along with Kinsey, he actually goes to see the President and comes clean with him. And that was our first step towards, I guess, rehabilitating the character and making him a character that ultimately the audience could sympathize with and grow to like. And I mean, you can argue back and forth whether he’s leadership material, but I mean, I think, over the course of season five you’ll come to, you know, realize that he is leadership material even though maybe he doesn’t realize it himself.

Robert Picardo on how Woolsey’s relationships with the other Atlantis characters has evolved and the character he enjoys seeing Woolsey interact with:

"Ultimately that’s what really makes the character interesting to the loyal viewer is how the new guy fits in and reacts uniquely with each of the other principle characters. Off the top of my head, when Woolsey arrives, in a way he’s kind of - not intentionally, but in a way he’s coldest to Rachel’s - to Teyla’s character - Rachel Luttrell’s character - because her husband - the father of her child is basically being kept in a refugee camp and he’s quite insensitive to that, I think, personally and choosing, you know, security over looking, you know, really with an open heart at her specific situation. And what’s interesting is that her character is the first one to reach out to him and really be kind to him even though he is, perhaps, least sensitive to her which says something about her character."

"But also, I think, that that disarms him all the more, that she makes the first real gesture toward him. In the episode that we have already talked about - "The Seed" - at the end of that, I think he takes a major step in the relationship with Joe Flannigan’s Colonel Sheppard by admitting to him tat he doesn’t know if he’s the right guy to run the base because he’s already broken his own rules so many times."

Mallozzi on whether there was always a plan to move away from having the Samantha Carter character in the fifth season:

"No, no. There wasn’t really a plan to move away. But I mean, I believe at the time we were - it’s not exactly - we were at the point where we’re breaking stories I believe, but we were certainly spinning them when Amanda [Tapping] gave us the call. And there was talk of maybe her bouncing back and forth between the two productions and thought it was just, at the end of the day, totally unfeasible.

"And we said, 'Look, we love your character but you have to make the call and she made the call.' I know it was a hard decision for Amanda and we were sorry to see her go. But I mean, as I said, it - her departure also presented us with a great opportunity to bring Bob over and it’s one thing I’ve said over and over again, once Amanda made her decision clear and we knew that we weren’t going to have her back for season five, there really was no short list of candidates to consider. It was Bob Picardo. I talked about it with Paul and he basically came to the same conclusion so I just picked up the phone and gave Bob a call in L.A.

Joseph Mallozzi on what he has in store for the epic 100th episode of Atlantis:

"Well I mean, I’ll be totally honest. We all wrote our different segments in 200 but the overall idea for 200 came from Robert C. Cooper. And when he pitched it out in the room, I thought he was joking. And then I thought it was crazy. But as it turned out, it was an episode that really worked out well and the fans loved it. I mean, in the case of SG-1, though, the 200th episode fell, I believe Episode 6 of the season. And so we could do it a little more comedic, much along the same lines as we did for Episode 100 of SG-1, which I think fell Episode, I think 5 or 6 of season - I believe season four.

"In the case of Atlantis, though, the 100th episode falls in the 20 slot and, as much as the temptation is there to make it kind of an off-the-wall kind of weird, fun episode, we really feel that because it is the season finale and hopefully not a series finale - but you never know - we want to go big and we want to go a little more serious.

"So, don’t expect another 200 romp but expect a - I guess something big along the lines of - again, I refer back to our season premiere, or back to last year’s season finale and I refer back to "Be All My Sins Remembered" last year as So, not so funny but something that the fans will, I’m sure, really enjoy."