Trivia / Stargate Atlantis S01 E01E02 "Rising"

• California Doubling: The Pemberton Glacier in British Columbia doubles for Antarctica.
• Engaging Chevrons:
  • Defied. McKay starts the routine, but after a Death Glare from Dr. Weir, he gives up and just punches the buttons without ceremony.
  • Played straight earlier during the dial to Atlantis but justified as a way to build tension for the journey to Atlantis. After all Tropes Are Not Bad.
• Recycled Script: To "Children of the Gods". Structurally, "Rising" follows many of the exact same narrative beats as the SG-1 Pilot (ex. Characters being captured halfway through, a running battle during the climax and escape back through the Stargate — replete with enemy mooks in pursuit and dying by Portal Slam).
• Throw It In!: Rodney's entire inclusion in the Atlantis Pilot, let alone the entire spinoff. The character was originally going to be a new Afro-Canadian physicist named Dr. Benjamin Ingram. They had trouble casting, time was running out, Hewlett came in to audition, and the rest is history.