The 16th season of the Stargate franchise is coming soon, in the form Stargate Universe.  We've been told that one does not have to have watched any other Stargate show to understand this one.  The premise behind the Stargates will be reintroduced to bring new viewers up to speed.

Stargate Universe is a spinoff of the Stargate franchise and it follows a group of explorers forced onto a ship called the Destiny, a ship built by the Ancients. The only catch: The ship can’t return to Earth.

We've also been told that the aliens we'll be seeing in SGU will be truly alien as opposed to the typical humanoid aliens we've become accustomed to.

We haven't been let down yet by Brad Wright or Robert Cooper, so I'm looking forward to this new show.

In the meantime, this Screen Rant writer has been lurking about the web, looking for anything new on the show, and I've found a few things for the faithful Screen Rant readers.

Here's one of the latest promotional cast images that has been released:

Below are behind-the-scenes type images of the Gate Room, in various stages of construction.

The back wall of the gate room.

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The gate of Stargate Universe

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Stargate control consoles

Stargate Universe stars Robert Carlyle playing Dr. Nicholas Rush, Lou Diamond Phillips as Colonel Telford, Justin Louis as Colonel Everett Young, Brian J. Smith as Lt. Matthew Scott and Elyse Levesque as Chloe Armstrong, the daughter and aid of a U.S. Senator.  David Blue stars as Eli Wallace and Alaina Huffman plays MSGT. Tamara Johansen, an inexperienced field medic who gets thrust into the middle of it all.  Jamil Walker Smith portrays MSGT. Ronald Greer and Ming-Na is Camile Wray, a human resources executive with the international oversight committee that governs the Stargate program.

Things are looking good and these images are revving up my anticipation of the show.

The 2-hour premiere of Stargate Universe will air on Friday, October 2nd.  Find your local time and set your DVR's.

Are you going to at least give the new show a chance for a few episodes?  I know I will.

Sources:  MGM, Josephmallozzi’s Weblog