Screen Rant » stargate sg-1

Amanda Tapping Says Stargate SG-1 Movie Is A Go

Bruce Simmons — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:58:31 +0000

A few weeks back, I was rummaging around IMDB (The Internet Movie Database) working on a small task and I noticed something very interesting. Actors Amanda Tapping, Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks all have an “Untitled Stargate: SG-1 Project” in their credits.

Now mind you, IMDB isn’t the end all to all information but it’s a pretty decent start to most news.

So I had been wondering about this in the back of my mind because I thought the projects, though approved, were put on hold. Then I came across a tidbit on Sci Fi Wire where Amanda Tapping says that a new Stargate SG-1 movie could start getting underway as soon as Stargate Universe filming comes to a close.

Martin Wood is slated to direct with Carl Binder and Brad Wright writing (Per IMDB).

The last time we heard about the Stargate movies around a month ago, the strength, or lack thereof with the DVD market was weighing in on their decision on whether or not to move ahead with these projects. But the news about the newest Stargate SG-1 movie getting the green light is great news.

They must have heard the fans clamoring for more and now I find myself looking forward to when the next Stargate Atlantis film might get underway as well! Sorry… getting greedy.

Sources: Sci Fi Wire, IMDB, Cinema Static

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New Stargate Movies on Stand By

Paul Young — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:31:23 +0000

Very few TV shows make it to the magical tenth season; especially those of the sci-fi genre. So, when Stargate SG-1 called it quits after their tenth season, I, along with thousands of fans worldwide, were very disappointed. We don’t even have Stargate: Atlantis to whet our wormhole whistle any more – but the spin offs are hardly ever as good as the originals – notable exception is Torchwood from Doctor Who.

That’s why even though Sony Picture Television and MGM decided to cancel the series after 214 episodes, they knew the sci-fi cash cow wasn’t finished delivering some prime time space milk. To continue pleasing fans and to keep the franchise viable, it was announced that three full length movies would be released. Stargate: Continuum and Stargate: The Ark of Truth have already come and gone and both were fantastic extensions of the franchise. But we were suppose to get a third film and even a fourth based on the Atlantis series but alas, that may not happen anytime soon.

The reason Stargate Universe executive producer Robert C. Cooper gives for the delay is the recent downturn I the economy. In an exclusive interview with SCI FI Wire, Cooper had this to say:

“We’re ready to go. We’re just waiting for the right opportunity. We want to be successful with it. The studio wants to be successful, and we really don’t want to proceed with something in the wrong climate, which I think financially it is right now.”

By “ready to go” he means the scripts for both films have been written but it could be some time before we see any movement on them. Cooper blames a recent drop in DVD sales as the major reason behind delaying both films. Cooper explains:

“Since [the release of the first two films], the economics have changed a little bit. DVDs aren’t selling the same way they were when we released those even just a year, and a year and a half ago.”

According to The Numbers website, Stargate: Continuum had sold over 450,000 units as of July 29, 2008 and Stargate: The Ark of Truth did better than that with over 530,000 units sold as of March 11, 2008. Those are fairly respectable numbers for a straight-to-DVD movie from a TV show. I don’t know if I totally agree with Cooper about it being the wrong economic time to produce another DVD movie. I would think fans are more apt to purchase straight to DVD movies because they haven’t been on television and buying or renting it would be the only way to see it.

Either way, I’m saddened to hear we will have to wait a little longer to see SG-1 back in action, but until then, we at least have Stargate Universe to keep us entertained.

Do you agree that now is a bad time to release straight-to-DVD movies and how pumped are you for Stargate Universe?

Stargate Universe’s two-hour premiere is October 2, 2009 at 9 p.m. ET/PT and on Fridays at 9 p.m. after that, all on SyFy.

Source: Cinema Static, Scifi Wire

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Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 30th, 2009

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:25:44 +0000

This week, we’re going to chat about a new website for Chuck, an award bestowed upon Doctor Who and a bit about Syfy dominating Tuesdays with Warehouse 13. We also delve into some news about Burn Notice, Royal Pains & Dollhouse.

Some cast members have been added to Steven Spielberg’s unnamed alien pilot on TNT, we have an interesting tidbit on Disney and a quick, condensed look at last week’s Summer TV ratings.

Doctor Who Recognized By Guinness

The series Doctor Who has just been recognized as the most successful sci-fi series by the Guinness Book of World Records.

They base this on quantifiable items such as ratings, sales of DVD’s, iTunes traffic and books sold. Longevity of the series was also part of the recognition process.

Doctor Who premiered in 1963 and has had a sporadic but continued successful existence.

What sci-fi show has the longest consecutive running record? Stargate SG-1. It had a consecutive 10-year run.

Source: Variety

Syfy Channel News

Warehouse 13 is proving itself a solid starter for the newly renamed network.

Warehouse 13 (WH13) hit new highs for a scripted series on the network. They pulled in 1.8 million adults between the ages of 25-54 and 1.4 million adults aged 18-49.

In the 9 p.m. hour of Tuesday, Syfy actually delivered more viewers between that ages of 25-54 than ABC did, and more male viewers than both ABC and Fox.

It was the top scripted drama on cable to boot.

But that’s not all.

As numbers come in from the Live+7 ratings, (That’s live viewers plus DVR playback over the course of 7 days), the premiere of WH13 brought in approximately 4 million viewers. Both WH13 and Eureka are doing some serious ratings numbers.

In fact, with both WH13 and Eureka, Syfy pulled in their best July numbers ever in its 17-year history. Even Ghost Hunters International is doing its part and bringing in 1.9 million viewers.

Right now, it seems that their plans are on track to grow the network. We just have to see if it will hold up over time.

If Warehouse 13 keeps going strong like it has, they’ve got a chance.

Source: NBCUMV

Burn Notice Gets Renewed

Michael Westen is going to continue to give us instructional guidance on how to make things for another 16 episodes.

That’s how many episodes USA Network has ordered for Burn Notice. USA also ordered 16 episodes for the show Royal Pains.

Both shows are doing great, pulling in between 4 and 7 million viewers each.

Source: Variety

Dollhouse Guest Star News

Jamie Bamber (Captain Lee ‘Apollo’ Adama in Battlestar Galactica) is going to be a guest star on the season 2 premiere of Dollhouse.

Bamber’s character will be engaged in an assignment with Echo (Eliza Dushku) and her new handler, Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett). Wha!? That’s all we have.

Season 2 will premiere on Friday, Sept 25th 2009 on Fox.

Source: E Online

Spielberg’s Alien Invasion Gets More Cast

Steven Spielberg’s unnamed alien invasion project that’s coming to TNT has more cast hoping on board.

Moon Bloodgood, Jessy Schram, Seychelle Gabriel and Maxim Knight will be joining Noah Wyle on the alien invasion pilot.

The show takes place just after aliens have wiped out most of humanity and focuses on a ragtag group of soldiers and people led by Noah Wyle as they struggle against the occupying alien invasion.

Is it me, or does this sound like something from Battlestar Galactica?

Source: Sci Fi Wire

Disney To Charge For Content

Disney is looking to start charging for it’s online content that ranges from movies to games and TV shows.

The premise is that they’re looking at a single web site that may be subscription based that will provide these products.

They’re already making revenue off their ventures on Hulu and iTunes and I suspect that the performance of these two outlets is what prompted this decision.

In what I find to be a rather insightful statement by CEO Robert Iger, he said:

“consumers spend $5 an hour at theaters to see movies, 75 cents an hour to read books, newspapers and magazines and 50 cents an hour to watch cable and satellite TV, but only 25 cents an hour to surf the Internet.”

“There’s plenty of room for people to spend more money on things that they’re doing online.”

Plenty of room? Is that how they see us. Web surfers with plenty of room to spend more money? Nice. Real nice.

Source: Media Week

Summer TV Ratings

Of the top 20 broadcast shows last week, NCIS was the best rated scripted drama in 3rd with 9.7 million viewers. The Mentalist was 4th with 9.6 mil viewers & CSI: Miami brought in 8.5 million viewers.

Outside the top 10, CSI was 11th with 7.8 mil viewers, Law And Order:SVU was 12th and CSI:NY was in 15th.

On the cable side of things, Burn Notice was the top dog with 6.8 million viewers, The Closer was 2nd with 6.6 million viewers. NASCAR was 3rd, Royal Pains 4th with 6.2 mil. and NCIS was 8th with 4.9 mil. viewers.

Source: TV By The Numbers

Chuck Online Hangout

During Comic-Con, the new website called ChuckMeOut.com launched during the Chuck panel at Comic-Con.

At ChuckMeOut.com, you can get behind the scenes clips from cast and crew, blogs from the set and social networking tools.

So go, enjoy and let us know what you think!

Source: NBCUMV

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Stargate Movies Coming To Sci-Fi Channel

Bruce Simmons — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:29:07 +0000

Yes, that sounds confusing. It was weird to write also. Even though we watch Stargate on the Sci-Fi Channel, Sci-Fi does not own the rights to the franchise. They are allowed to telecast the shows, but they don’t own them. MGM owns the rights to do with the franchise as they wish.

One of the many theories of why Stargate: Atlantis is ending is that it’s so MGM can take advantage of the potential profits in moving Atlantis to the DVD medium.

So if the confusion is clearing up a little bit, would now be a good time to mention that the Sci-Fi Channel has purchased the U.S. television rights to televise the made-for-DVD movies? Yep. That’s what they did. This purchase also includes rights to the new upcoming series, Stargate: Universe.

With the rights under their belts, the Sci-Fi Channel is planning to air the DVD movies next season as Sunday night movie events.

The senior VP of programming for Sci-Fi, Thomas Vitale, says their plans are to show Stargate: Ark of Truth, in early spring, and Stargate: Continuum, late in the spring.

Tentative plans are for Stargate: Universe to air in July 2009.

Additionally, Sci-Fi ordered from MGM an SG: Atlantis TV movie to follow up after Atlantis‘ 100th and final episode. We probably won’t see that movie until near the end of next year and it will most likely be a filler for when Universe takes a mid-season break.

There are also plans in motion for a third SG-1 movie. I look forward to that.

If you don’t recall, Ark of Truth concluded the Arthurian storyline of SG-1’s final season.

And Stargate: Continuum, which is being considered for inclusion to the Guinness Book of World Records for the “Most Northerly Filmed Shoot,” is a stand alone movie episode.

When I saw Continuum, I really enjoyed it. Of course, watching it on the deck of an aircraft carrier might have had something to do with it… or watching it with the stars of the movie might have juiced the event up for me too. Nahhh… it was a good movie.

It sounds like Sci-Fi Channel is putting their focus into one of their more robust franchises and keeping their fanbase alive with ongoing developments and plans. It’s good to hear they’re tying to keep the electricity alive for the fan who are still energized about the franchise.

Source: MultiChannel News, Image: SciFi.com

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Stargate Atlantis IS In Its Final Season Now

Bruce Simmons — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:41:43 +0000

Well Bite me.

Just when I get comfortable with Stargate Atlantis after losing Stargate SG-1, they go and pull the plug on it. Yep, it’s been announced today that this, the fifth season of Stargate Atlantis, is its final season on television.

With the culmination of this fifth season, Stargate Atlantis will air it’s 100th episode titled “Enemy at the Gate.” The 100th episode will air in January of 2009.

They’ve added to the cancellation message that the Sci-Fi Channel has green-lit a two-hour movie based on the series. It has yet to to be titled, but the film will be written by executive producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie.

The movie will follow up on the final season of the series.

The successes of the previous two Stargate movies, The Ark of Truth and Continuum have been successful enough to generate additional plans to continue to expand on the SG-1 and Atlantis franchises.

Despite this being the last season of the folk we’ve started to get used to following, like Rodney McKay getting braver, Woolsey developing into a better base leader and what not, we have to start bidding farewell.

Oh no, with Ronon going away, my wife is going to get very grumpy.

I noticed that in the press release, they didn’t touch on the issue, maybe hoping to generate more of a sales momentum,

BUT (yeah, isn’t there always a “but” in there somewhere?), back in early April I had reported on a new series being developed called Stargate: Universe. It was created by Stargate: Atlantis co-creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper.

In SG: Universe, the series will take place on a ship that was part of an Ancient experiment that involved two ships. One that automatically populated the universe with Stargates, the other to follow up and explore.

So Stargate will move onward, continuing the mythos. And like I hoped in my other post, I hope they twist it up and make it unique versus the usual story outlines they’ve been presenting to us.

Image and News Source: Gateworld

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Comic-Con ‘08: Stargate Continuum Panel

Bruce Simmons — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:16:08 +0000

This panel was a follow up to the premiere of Stargate Continuum the night before.

As the Stargate SG-1 cast came in and were introduced, everyone applauded wildly – but by far the big fan favorite (judging by how deaf I went from the cheers) was Christopher Judge, hands down, for this Stargate Continuum forum.

Amanda Tapping talked briefly about her new web-to-TV show, Sanctuary, which has filmed eight of its scheduled thirteen episodes so far.

As for Ben Browder, he’s enjoying some quiet time between acting gigs and volunteering his time coaching pole vaulting at a local high school.

Christopher Judge is working on a project called Rage of Angels with Michael Shanks and a substantial announcement about the project is coming out in the next few weeks. He also had been hired to play the bad guy in Fox’s 24, but things didn’t seem to work out in that regard.

Michael Shanks will be appearing in a few episodes of USA network’s Burn Notice.

Beau Bridges touched on appearing in My Name is Earl, as Earl’s dad and his role in the Max Payne movie.

The most anticipated announcement from the panel was that there is another Stargate movie in “development”. As Wright put it, he is one “i” dot away from making it happen and it is also looking good for for the new spin off, Stargate Universe. I touched on Universe with a wee bit of an apprehensive approach, seeing as how unpredictable the Sci-Fi Channel can be.

The panel played a touching memorial clip of Don S. Davis scenes that created an endearing, quiet moment that was met with a roar of approval from the crowd when the lights came back on. I miss him already and felt odd watching him in Continuum Thursday night.

The cast was asked about their favorite episodes and “Heroes” was a hands down favorite amongst the panel, followed by Continuum… of course.

The atmosphere of the panel was pretty light and funny for the most part and after having seen Continuum, I’m not sure I could argue that.

Richard Dean Anderson’s response to his favorite episode was: “The next one.” The man is as witty as ever.

As far as their favorite part about Continuum, Anderson, Browder and Tapping all said it was the opportunity to film up in the Arctic. The film is being considered for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records for a production show filmed in the most northerly location of any show.

Richard Dean Anderson added a quip about cold weather survival and noted how anything freezes upon contact with the cold, and he gave us way too much information when he apprised us that poop freezes in the outhouses rather quickly. Thanks Rick.

When they asked Judge what his favorite part of Continuum was, he responded “That everyone else went to the Arctic and he stayed in L.A. and played golf in a balmy 85 degree weather.”

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Stargate Continuum Red Carpet Premiere

Vic Holtreman — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:33:35 +0000

Being a huge Stargate SG-1 fan, it was quite an honor to have the opportunity to attend the premiere of the upcoming direct to DVD movie Stargate: Continuum. I’m still enough of a fanboy to geek out at the opportunity to meet the actors from one of my all time favorite TV series… PLUS I’m happy to report that the movie was excellent! Far better than the previous SG-1 DVD film Stargate: The Ark of Truth.

This was our first “red carpet” event and although the press was pretty crammed together, we had the opportunity to chat with some folks from PopCultureShock.com and they were very cool. You can thanks Screen Rant contributor Bruce Simmons for all the great pictures from the event, BTW.

The red carpet event was held on the deck of a retired aircraft carrier, the Midway – and the film was shown on a huge outdoor screen just after the sun had set.

I could think of worse ways to spend an evening.

Truth be told I was jazzed just to be there and hadn’t really thought up any decent questions to ask, but I figured something would come to me as each person came by. I think my best question was asked of writer/director/producer Martin Wood. Since Martin directed the episode I asked him the very important question: Will the giant wrench be making an appearance in the film?

Sadly, he said, the wrench has vanished from the lot, so no… Stargate SG-1 fans will know exactly what I’m talking about.

The first person I had a chance to speak to was the man: Richard Dean Anderson. He’s just a genuinely funny and warm guy. Not thinking of any Stargate-related questions, I asked him whether he was considering or had been approached regarding a new MacGuyver movie. He stated that he HAD been approached a while ago, but he thinks that the character is best left behind and was a great fit for the time period in which it aired. We also joked about the mullet he wore back then and he said he didn’t think he could even grow it back if he tried.

Cliff Simon who played Ba’al in the series and in this film was on hand – Didn’t ask him a question, just enjoyed being around the guy. He talked about how great it is to live in the U.S. with the opportunity for success.

Here I am chatting with Ben Browder – the man is very gregarious and answered the question that the woman to my left asked EVERY single person “How do you feel about this going straight to DVD?” with a “Hmm, it doesn’t matter to me – I’m ok with it.” She was actually quite annoying… not her fault I suppose. She was sent there by some publication, knew nothing about the show and decided on this one single question to ask every single person. Yeesh.

Ah… Amanda Tapping. Yes, she is every bit as cute in person as she is on the show. Her goofy personality was in evidence and it was almost jarring to witness such a comedic personality coming from such a beautiful woman. I asked her about the upcoming Sci-Fi Channel series Sanctuary and why it had been changed from a web-based series to a TV series. She said that she actually would have preferred that it saty on the web due to the interactivity with the fans, but it just wasn’t financially viable. Also, the budget for the series will now be higher and they’ll be able to do more visual effects-wise.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to the rest of the cast, but here are a few more pictures from the event for your pleasure.

Christopher Judge, who laughed all the way through the line.

Beau Bridges chatting with the press.

Another pic of Ben Browder.

Michael Shanks answering a question on the red carpet.

Screen Rant photographer/contributer Bruce Simmons.

A look at the USS Midway as we came upon it.

There I am making my way to the flight deck.

Oh, and the movie was excellent – great topper to a great evening.

Stargate Continuum will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on July 29th.

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Don S. Davis Has Passed Away

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:33:13 +0000

Dammit – Now we’ve lost Don S. Davis. What a year this has been for losing people in the movie and TV industry…

Don was best known for playing General Hammond on Stargate: SG-1 for 10 years. This will make his appearance in the upcoming DVD movie Stargate: Continuum (which will be released on July 29th) that much more poignant.

On the series he played the role of commander of Stargate Command with a quiet, fatherly strength that made him a fan favorite on the series.

He passed away Sunday morning of a heart attack at the age of 65. In addition to acting, Davis was also an accomplished artist in the areas of sculpture, painting, drawing, and set design – you can view some of his very impressive work at DonSDavisArt.com.

He was born in Aurora, Mo., in 1942, and served in the U.S. Army. Davis married Ruby Fleming-Davis in 2003. They were residents of British Columbia.

His family has released a statement:

“So many of you have been touched by not only the work and art of Don S. Davis, but by the man himself, who always took the time to be with you at the appearances he loved, that it is with a tremendous sense of loss I must share with you that Don passed away from a massive heart attack on Sunday morning, June 29.”

“On behalf of his family and wife, Ruby, we thank you for your prayers and condolences. A family memorial where Don’s ashes will be scattered in the ocean will take place in a few weeks, and should you wish to, please make a donation to the American Heart Association in Don’s memory.”

Davis’s family will hold a private memorial in a few weeks where they will scatter his ashes into the ocean, and our condolences go out to them.

Source: SyFyPortal

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The Stargate Universe Expands – Maybe

Bruce Simmons — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:17:33 +0000

When Stargate SG-1 ended after 10 years, I was surprised to find myself feeling abandoned to some degree. I became comfortable following the familiar characters and the evolving conflicts between humanity and its off-world relationships – kind of like going to work every day. Sure, we have Stargate: Atlantis, but it just isn’t quite the same as Stargate SG-1. Atlantis is like a new job. Same ‘ol, same ‘ol, but a new place to do it in.

But if anyone out there wants to see a new twist on Stargate, there may be some hope for you.

A third live-action series is being conceived by Stargate: Atlantis co-creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper called Stargate: Universe and they are looking to make it an independent storyline of the already established Stargate realm.

Instead of a planet or city-bound stargate, the series will take place on a ship that was part of an Ancient experiment probably millions of years ago, but abandoned due to the whole ascension thing.

The background of Stargate Universe is that the Ancients had one unmanned ship go out into the universe placing stargates, and there was a second ship to follow up and explore.

In the Stargate mythos, travelers use a 7-symbol gate address to travel from planet to planet. An eighth chevron allows for travel to different galaxies and by using the proper ninth chevron, travelers will discover the second unmanned Ancient ship.

The pitch for this new show was received well by Sci-Fi Channel but the writers strike was one hurdle that slowed things down. However the bigger hurdle is that the new series would be an expensive show to produce. Wright and Cooper feel they’ve done the Stargate series right so far and believe they can pull this off, but they don’t want to settle for a cheaper version which they don’t think would pan out as successfully.

If it does happen, things will go into motion after Atlantis has concluded its run, moving the franchise forward while still holding true to the established background and history.

If Stargate: Universe is anything like Atlantis, will we see a reflection of characters from the first series? The characters in Atlantis look different, but they echo the familiar, successful mix the original show had. A serious but humorous hero, a stoic warrior, the female warrior leader, and the zany scientist.

Yes, to me Atlantis has recreated the original characters with new faces. I’ve accepted Stargate Atlantis because I don’t mind following along but if they really want to catch my attention, they need to expand into different types of tales, synergy and atmosphere or they will have a very expensive pan out of a show. The Sci-Fi channel does not need that in their quest to improve their programming – they need content that’s close to what Battlestar Galactica has brought to the table.

If this happens, I hope they do it right.

Source: GateWorld, GateWorld

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July 27th Comic-Con Report

Vic Holtreman — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:06:10 +0000

I didn’t make it to the Warner Bros. panel, but did get to sit in on the presentation for the upcoming direct to DVD Stargate SG-1 movies. On hand was the cast including Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, and Ben Browder along with director Martin Wood and producer Robert Cooper.

There wasn’t too much in regards to new info in these panels… mainly they answered questions from the audience.

Gary Jones who played gate operator “Walter” acted as moderator. He was quite engaging and introduced a trailer for Stargate: The Ark of Truth, the DVD movie that will complete the Ori storyline. It looked pretty epic and like they pulled out all the stops.

Then the actors came out to huge applause, the Ben Browder hamming it up for the crowd.

Christopher Judge stated that he will be appearing in the upcoming film Rage of Angels.

Stargate: Continuum did come up in the discussion. Apparently it will have a time-travel theme (which I was not aware of), but Martin Wood wouldn’t divulge anything more than that about it, however Robert Cooper stated the Baal will be the villain on the new stand alone DVD movie.

They said that the production values are much higher on the movies than on the TV series, and that they hope to do more movies beyond these two if they do well.

The Stargate: Atlantis panel included David Hewlett, Joe Flanigan and Jewel Staite (from Serenity).

Someone asked whether the show could go for 10 years, and a rep from Sci Fi channel said that people need to watch the show without using Tivo but watch it as it is broadcast instead. Personal note: Sorry, not gonna happen. Networks need to find a way to track viewership of time-shifting viewers. It’s not like Tivo doesn’t have detailed data on that.

Not much given away about next season and no preview clips of any kind.

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Stargate SG-1 To Live On In Direct-To-DVD Movies?

Vic Holtreman — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:17:48 +0000

As you may already know with the end of Stargate SG-1 as a TV series rapidly approaching, there will be two direct-to-DVD movies released shortly thereafter: Stargate: The Ark of Truth, which will wrap up the Ori storyline, and Stargate: Continuum which according to Sci Fi Wire will be a standalone story.

What may give fans of SG-1 hope for more adventures of the team is the following quote from executive producer Robert C. Cooper:

“We’ve ended that run on SCI FI, and now we’re continuing the story with those characters. Our DVD packages sell so well that, if the movies sell as well as the series sells, it’s going to be a tremendous success. And MGM will eagerly want more.”

So we could potentially be looking at a situation similar to what happened with Star Trek: A successful TV series followed by a number of movies with standalone stories. The difference being that here the movies would go directly to DVD instead of the big screen.

Source: Sci Fi Wire

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My Advice To Stargate Producers: Move On

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:13:18 +0000

As Stargate SG-1 rapidly approaches the end of it’s 10 year run, there’s word the producers of the show are developing yet another Stargate-themed series titled Stargate Universe.

There are no details available regarding the show beyond the fact that it takes place present-day like SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis and that it would not have characters from the two existing series as regulars.

The show is in the very early stages of development and has not been picked up for broadcast by any network, including the Sci Fi Channel.

Here’s my advice to the awesome folks who’ve brought us a fantastic series: Give it a rest. Apply your considerable talents to something completely new and different.

Now before you start throwing rocks my way, hear me out…

Stargate SG-1 was an amazing idea: Take a mildly successful film, see the possibilities for an ongoing series and go for it. A present-day, Earth-based sci fi series with an incredible cast of characters played by wonderful actors that had chemistry with each other from day one.

It was such a good show that I did my best to turn lots of people on to it through word of mouth… my family would eagerly look forward to Friday night to sit down and watch the latest adventures of the team. We came into the series late – sometime during the 5th or 6th season, but thanks to the wonder of DVD rentals via Netflix, I piled the previous seasons’ DVDs into my rental queue and we watched episode after episode until we finally caught up with the current season.

Ah, times were good.

And then Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) left the show.

Suddenly the show felt like something was missing… like it had developed a limp. New characters were brought on board and at the same time they introduced a completely new enemy: The Ori.

Ok sure, it’s taken a couple of years but Mitchell and Vala finally feel like they’re adopted members of the family. But the end of the Goa’uld threat seemed abrupt to me, and I really didn’t like the less than subtle religion-bashing subtext of the Ori as villains.

Now in this final season, suddenly the Ori are (mostly) defeated and we’ve gone back to dealing with rebel Jaffa. It was a jarring transition from “our galaxy is doomed because of the Ori” to “Ori-who?”.

Although Mitchell and Vala have grown on me as characters, I still think that Stargate SG-1 should have ended with Season 8, when O’Neill left the show. That could have been a perfect point at which to wrap up the entire thing, going out while it was still super-strong. Instead, the show went on to feel like a series that’s just hanging on for it’s own sake.

Stargate Atlantis was slow to start but they’re starting to approach the chemistry of the old SG-1 team (although I still just can’t buy Torri Higginson as the leader of the facility and wish that the orginal actress Jessica Steen had reprised the role). The show isn’t bad and I think that it will improve with the addition of Amanda Tapping as Samantha Carter to the show. So, ok, let Atlantis carry on the torch for a while.

But do we really need another Stargate-themed series? It’s not that I don’t love Stargate… it’s not that at all. It’s just that I don’t want to see the franchise die a slow, painful death like another famous sci fi TV franchise you may have heard of:

Star Trek

The fans clamored for more and more and Paramount delivered. But each new iteration of the show seemed a poorer copy of the original than the last. Kind of like making a copy of a copy of a copy in a Xerox machine. We had the first film, which although not great (the recently released director’s cut is MUCH better, BTW), set the stage for more movies, which thrilled fans of the original series. Then came Star Trek: The Next Generation, which while a bit too antiseptic and touchy-feely, still had it’s great moments. DS9 was the first series to go off in a different direction, and while difficult to get used to was in the end a great series (except for the series finale episode). Then came the incredibly awful Star Trek: Voyager which was bad for more reasons than I care to cover here.

Finally, Star Trek: Enterprise arrived, with an interesting concept: the early days of starship travel. Unfortunately even though it was supposed to take place 100 years before Kirk and Co., the technology seemed remarkably close to that of the NCC-1701, with phasers, the transporter and things running without a glitch. The show hit it’s nadir in Season 3, where for some bizarre reason the producers decided to take the show in a direction totally disconnected from the basic premise. There was an effort to bring it back to where it should have been from the start with Manny Coto coming on board to guide the show, but alas, it was too late and although the final season was the best of the series, viewership had dropped too far off for the studio to consider renewing it.

What’s the point of this Star Trek rant? I don’t want to see the same thing happen to Stargate, where it ends up going on and on for the sake of making a buck, getting worse and worse as time goes on. Oh sure, it won’t have Rick Berman and Brannon Braga at the helm and that’s a HUGE plus, but things tend to creep up on you and I’m betting that the same thing would happen to Stargate that happened to Star Trek over the years.

So Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper and company – you guys have created an amazing mythos. I would humbly suggest that you apply your incredible talents and love of sci fi to something completely new that fans can fall in love with all over again!

Source: Sci Fi Wire

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Stargate SG-1 Already Done In The UK

Vic Holtreman — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:18:03 +0000

I’m really confused (nothing new, right?). According to some comments on my Stargate SG-1 Ends post it seems our friends across the pond in the UK have already seen the rest of the final season including the finale.

No disrespect to our British friends (hi Richard!), but why has an American-produced TV show already aired over there, while here in the US it’s been so long since a new episode has been broadcast that I’ve almost forgotten it’s even coming back? Generally they get our shows much later than we do and we get their shows (for example Dr Who) an entire season behind the broadcast over there.

Just seems odd to me, is all.

BTW, from what I’ve read so far folks are not happy about the entire series ending with a cliffhanger that will be resolved in a straight-to-DVD movie.

Sorry guys, but that is just plain tacky in my opinion.

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Stargate SG-1 Ends On SciFi Channel

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 12:47:58 +0000

The SciFi Channel just announced that they will not be renewing Stargate SG-1 next season, and that it’s slated to end at 215 episodes total. This announcement is a bit odd in it’s timing considering all the hoopla surrounding the airing of the (MOST excellent) 200th episode last Friday.

I have to say that I have mixed feelings about this… On the one hand it’s like having an old friend move away, but on the other I really think it’s time to lay it to rest.

I really think the producers should have been gutsy and pulled a “Seinfeld”: End production on the series at it’s peak at the end of Season 8. That was the last season that had the original cast members functioning as a team, with O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) having been promoted to General. The Replicators and the Gould (I don’t remember where the accent goes) were essentially defeated and they could have written a kick-butt series finale episode.

Since RDA left the show, it really hasn’t been the same and it seems to be all over the place. I mean it’s certainly not terrible, but I don’t look forward to it (and neither do my wife and daughter) like we used to a couple of seasons back.

Sure, Ben Browder, Beau Bridges and grudgingly, even Claudia Black are growing on me, but it just doesn’t seem like the same show anymore. It’s almost like it’s a new show placed in the exact same setting. Michael Shanks’ Daniel Jackson character has morphed into a comedic O’Neill replacement, Christopher Judge’s Teal’c is starting to seem like a parody of himself, and Amanda Tapping’s Samantha Carter seems like she’s just on the sidelines now.

In addition to that, I just really haven’t liked the Ori as the new villains… I actually miss the Gould and all the overly dramatic, haughty arrogance. At least they were fun as villains. The Ori are boring and I’ve never liked the anti-religious tone of the story arc.

Episode 200 was a WONDERFUL love letter to the fans (much the opposite of the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, which was supposed to be one as well, but in fact blew major chunks), and I think a fitting episode for (nearly) closing what has been overall a fantastic series.

Of course there are rumblings of a movie of some sort brewing in some back room, and executive producer Rober Cooper says that there are plans afoot to keep the series alive in some form, so we probably haven’t seen the last of Stargate: SG-1.

Thanks to Heath over at Invincible Iron Man for the heads up.

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Stargate: SG-What?

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 03:58:28 +0000

I find it sad to report that the awesome and amazing television show known as Stargate SG-1 has left the building.

Oh sure, there’s still a show filling the time slot with the same name, but Stargate SG-1 it ain’t, and my entire family is in mourning.

The first sign of Sci Fi channel trying to milk the Stargate cow dry was last season’s premiere of Stargate: Atlantis. It’s not bad, per se, but the only character that’s really captured me and become a favorite is Dr. Rodney McKay (played by David Hewlett). Other than that, eh. And now that it’s looking like they’re going to try to hook up Col. Sheppard with Dr. Weir instead of Teyla, I’m going to start to get annoyed with the show.

With this season of SG-1 there is more milking evident. Richard Dean Anderson has left the show (for the record I commend the man for dropping out to spend time with his family), Amanda Tapping is yet to be seen beyond a brief video-monitor cameo in the season opener, a younger replacement for O’Neil has been brought in who is (who would have guessed) also irreverent and to the point. There’s also a new female character whose name escapes me but is infinitely annoying, and one of the Bridges’ brothers as the new general. And oh yes, those great opening credits and music have been cut down to just 10 seconds in order to make more time for… extra commercials.

It seems like Christopher Judge (Teal’c) and Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) are just there as window dressing.

Anderson did make a brief appearance in the Season 9 opener, but I swear that he looked like he was either drugged or senile. It was bizarre, to say the least. And for some reason Shanks is delivering his dialogue so quickly this season that I can barely understand what he’s saying. Maybe he gets paid by the word this season?

So far the Gould are nowhere to be seen and we have completely new villains who seem to be fanatical religious extremists from another galaxy whose religion you must join or die (make your own connection).

This show should have ended at the end of Season 8, changed a bit to tie up loose threads and either lay the whole thing to rest or replace it with another spinoff. As it stands it’s a completely new show masquerading as Stargate SG-1, which it no longer seems to be. That’s both sad and a disservice to the fans.

At least I still have SG-1 reruns and Battlestar Galactica…

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