Stargate: Why the Jello?
 

In the show Stargate SG1, they eat a lot of Jello*. Same with Stargate Atlantis. Apparently it's Rodney McKay's favorite food, but that doesn't explain all of the references. Why did Samantha Carter always go for the blue jello? Is it a marketing move or did the writers think of it as some great space-age food?

Usually space foods are freeze-dried, effectively dehydrating them so they are vacuum-stable. Jello powder might be, but its jiggly form is not. But then again, in a universe connected by stargates and ships with hyperdrive, stability over long-term space flight would be less of a concern.

So, why all the jello?

* I didn't know if this thread belonged in Tilted Knowledge, Entertainment, or Food. If you have no comments on Stargate's Jello fanaticism, feel free to comment on which region of the board you deem most appropriate for a thread on this topic.

Maybe because Rodney is arguably the best character on the series. Next to McGyver that is.

I haven't watched any incarnation of Stargate other than the film itself, so I couldn't really tell you the true motives of why Jello(TM) keeps reoccurring in episodes, situations, and scenes of the universe itself, and why it may be vitally important. Perhaps Jello in their world is more delicious than in ours? Or could it be they devised it to be a super-food that packs in essential vitamins/minerals in an easy-to-eat nutritional substance?

The only thing that I can think to reference to it is that of another series, Burn Notice, where Michael Weston is very often, but also in extremely small snippets, seen to either be eating yogurt, talking candidly about yogurt (you owe me a frozen yogurt after this), or reaching into his fridge, and it is empty, save for a pack of yogurt, and maybe a few bottles of beer. The reason for all the yogurt: it is just an inside-joke devised by the creators, a show Easter Egg, if you will, of creating a circumstance of Weston eating his favorite food wherever and whenever, made to fit into small scenarios whereby it leaves the audience guessing if their will be a yogurt cameo in this episode or not.

Why all the Jell-O?

To make you make this post. To make thousands of fans wonder why. It could have been beef sticks. Or pureed almonds. Or whatever. They went with Jell-O.

Many series have little things that come up over and over. They're often in jokes to and from the writers, producers, or others on set. As long as they don't mess with the series, they leave them in.

After all, they're funny. And they make you ask why.

I'm guessing also that it's some kind of in-joke among the writers and/or the cast. But then again, sometimes the writers of series-- especially sci-fi series-- love to toss in little quirky details to try and make the fans go nuts. Or, in the case of "Lost," they make the entire series out of those little quirky details....

I did once hear a friend of mine who'd served in the Marines once comment that just about the only food that military kitchens couldn't fuck up was Jello....

Didn't Teal'c like Jello, too?

Anyway, I like warm Jello.

Perhaps it's in reference to D & D's Gelatinous Cube.