costs, the moments before Thor's entry to the SGC were stockshots of the Stargate, and the illusion of a Stargate event horizon behind Thor in the following scenes was created with an LCD projection. Although a computer-generated version of Thor was built around the puppet for independent movements, the CGI version's walking down the Stargate ramp was intercut with filmed shots of the puppet put on a trike. Visual effects producer James Tichenor claimed that visual effects work better when not highlighted, and that a major part of effective visual effects are the actors' reactions to nonexistent things. Replicator models were used to give the actors an idea at what they were looking and to match their eyelines. One model was mounted on a plexiglass rod and shown on-screen, giving the impression of an organic Replicator hologram. The computer-generated Replicators on board the submarine were tracked with small lights, some of which post-production left in for good looks. The reflections of the green screen on the floor aboard Thor's ship ("green spill", usually an undesired side effect) were used to key selective patches for the reflection of the big spaceship screen. Reception "Small Victories" was first broadcast on June 30, 2000 on Showtime. SG-1 visual effects producer James Tichenor considered the few episodes with big visual effects budgets the most likely works to contain visual cues that impress Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy Awards) voters, but he feared that the 2000 submarine feature film U-571 might spoil expectations. "Small Victories" and the SG-1 season 4 finale "Exodus" were nominated for a 2001 Emmy in the category "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series", but they lost to Star Trek: Voyager's "Endgame". "Small Victories" was also nominated for a Gemini Award and a Leo Award in the respective "Best Visual Effects" categories, but failed to win either. In his book Approaching the Possible, Jo Storm considered "Small Victories" "one of the most enthralling episodes" that makes the audience forget that it used nearly the same premise that was used in "Nemesis". He thought the episode was "especially big on the Sam/Jack dynamic" as the characters "toe the line between fraternal teasing and downright chemistry". He saluted Amanda Tapping's comedic opportunities and called her character's reaction to Asgard food "priceless". He also noted the character development of Daniel Jackson in a military environment, contrasting it with the character's attitude in