Hee! Well, part of it is just fairly good memory-retention for stuff I've heard here and there over the years (I've been in the fandom since 2001) -- and then nowadays, when I'm writing meta about it, I tend to try to go and look up what I can to verify it before I post it (because my memory for broad things is pretty good, but I don't trust it for details). And then I find out interesting new stuff (like that Glassner worked on 21 Jump St, which made me go "ahh!" about the DeLuises).

I'm going to have to go back and find which one of the documentaries on the DVDs talks about the putting-together of Stargate, 'cause now I'm curious. I don't remember exactly what they said.

Yeah -- and another problem is that the "origins of SG-1" story has been told and retold a number of times in a lot of different venues, on tv specials and in interviews and stuff. It becomes *really* hard to remember where you heard which piece...

I think - but I'm biased - that SG-1 wouldn't have been as interesting without RDA.

*nods* Of course, like you, I'm wary of concluding too much about this. As you point out, not *all* of the funny stuff was only RDA's contribution -- the writers did a lot of it! (But... well, how much did having him and his influence inspire them or make them feel like they *could* be that casual/funny? So hard to tell!)

I'm *almost positively* willing to conclude, though, that for me, I would not have become as fallen-in-love *fannish* about SG-1, if not for RDA. Which I didn't expect at all. (I had never seen him in anything before I started watching SG-1 during its S5.) I watch a lot of genre shows that I like very much, or sometimes love, and follow faithfully, without making the leap to reading fanfic or participating in the fandom. SG-1 is a big exception for me, and the lightning-strike that caused it was definitely RDA's Jack. I might have watched it, liked it a lot, and so on, but...

(Even then, I hesitate to claim this 100%, because just as I didn't expect RDA to hit me like that, I can't therefore predict who else might have. *shrug*)

For me, though (I went into this in more detail recently in moonshayde's "Jack appreciation thread for Finale Week") -- it's not just Jack's funny lines. It's the way RDA delivers a lot of them. (Which *is* all down to him, not the writers.) He can deliver even normal lines in a way that can still make me stop and think, wow, that's not the standard Steely-Jawed Hero delivery. And there are many other choices made for the character that I honestly do have to ascribe to him -- a willingness to let the character show pain, or surprise, or being squicked, or startled, or freaking-out over bugs, that for me makes Jack into this really amazingly offbeat "leading man". (I'm not even including the wonderfully warm "good with kids" stuff, because I think that that's a more obvious facet to give to an Action Hero Lead.)

But you're right -- the writers deserve a lot of love for creating Jack, too. (I am still most fond of Brad Wright's input, I think.) And the directors! They can't be overlooked, because you also get the feeling (when you watch enough behind the scenes stuff) that while Rick can be serious about his craft, and he does make conscious, serious decisions, he also has a self-confessed problem focusing sometimes, and I think that's where a good director comes in.