Sci-fi Relocation Program

Watching last week's episode of Stargate Atlantis got me thinking about what I call the "Sci-fi Relocation Program." Whenever you see an actor from another sci-fi show (especially a canceled one) on another, perhaps more successful show, you have witnessed the SFRP in action. For example, in the show I just mentioned, Connor Trinneer (alias "Trip" from Star Trek Enterprise) is playing the rogue wraith known as Michael. Another beneficiary of the program on that show is Jewel Staite, who plays Dr. Jennifer Keller (truly the cutest of the sci-fi doctors--sorry Gates McFadden fans). Jewel was relocated from Firefly, where she played Kaylee. Very observant Atlantis fans might also remember that she played a wraith girl in a previous season.

The most prominent participant in the SFRP has got to be Joss Whedon. He managed to take all of his old Firefly cast members and turn them into uber-baddies in Buffy and Angel. Gina Torres went from Zoe to the potentially Earth-swallowing Jasmine, Nathan Fillion got upgraded (or downgraded, depending on how you look at it) from Mal to the incredibly creepy super-strong priest guy in Buffy, and Adam Baldwin (Jayne) was dropped into a tailored suit and re-assigned to Marcus Hamilton, the sinister avatar of Angel's Senior Partners. Oh, and Summer Glau was a ballerina. For one episode. But that was before she starred on Firefly, so it kinda doesn't count. What does count is that she was relocated from Firefly to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. See? I was going somewhere with that.

This, of course, isn't the complete list of relocated actors. However, there are rules that determine whether or not an actor you're seeing on a show is a beneficiary of the SFRP. The person in question must go from a main character role on a sci-fi show to another main character role on another sci-fi show. Christina Hendricks going from Firefly to Mad Men doesn't count. I'm on the fence about Adam Baldwin's move from Angel to Chuck, although getting your brain zapped with top-secret government information does count as science fiction. (It also counts as Jake 2.0, but we'll cover plagiarism in another blog). Worf jumping from Star Trek: The Next Generation to Deep Space Nine doesn't count, because the move takes place within the same "universe."

Well, I think I've made my point. Ya can't keep a good actor down, especially if they've got momentum from a fan base from their previous show. I would, of course, welcome other suggestions--or relocation programs from other genres, if you can think of any.