With that pesky business of putting the kibosh on season six of Atlantis out of the way, Sci Fi is now ready to announce that they are giving the Stargate Universe project a green light. The show will kick off with a two hour movie early next year and transition to a regular series for the summer. Creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper will be the executive producers.Universe will follow a new cast of characters on the adventure that comes after they explore a ship launched by the Ancients, Destiny. The reconnaissance mission takes a dramatic turn when they discover that the ship can never return to Earth. They are along for the ride as the ship carries on with it's pre-programmed navigational schedule. The adventure comes during periodic stops at stargates. The danger is that if anyone is left behind, there is no way to go back for them.
There are no names attached for the cast as of yet, but most of us probably won't recognize many of them when the roles are filled. The word is that the network is looking for a recognizable actor for one lead role, and fresh faces for the rest of the crew. That's obviously a budget thing, but I don't think it's necessarily a mark against the show. While not ideal, a good cast can be built that way.
Personally, I already know I'm going to watch it no matter what. I'd have to hear some really crazy stuff to get me to not give another version of Stargate a chance. That's not to say I'm completely sold on the idea either. The references from Sci Fi president Dave Howe about targeting a younger audience, and the show having a younger vibe, give me pause.
Does Stargate really need to get younger? The core of the Stargate fan base has now been watching for over a decade. Given that most of them probably didn't start watching at eight, I'm not sure I understand the obsession with getting younger. It's possible I'm just too old and square to get it.
More concerns come in the form of this quote from Wright and Cooper: "In Universe, we plan to keep those elements that have made the franchise a success, such as adventure and humor, while breaking new ground in the relationships between mostly young and desperate explorers, thrust together and far from home." Yeeeee. I just don't know. Something about "relationships between mostly young and desperate explorers" throws up a red flag. I like a good Degrassi marathon as much as anyone, but I'm just not sure I that I want to get my space adventure chocolate bar stuck in that particular brand of peanut butter.
On the plus side, I'm already curious to get a look at Destiny. The ship opens the door for exploring more Ancient tech, and the pre-programmed itinerary, while forcing deadlines on adventure, also should offer up new and interesting aliens. And, if I can just throw it out there, it's the perfect opportunity for Larrin to make a return to the franchise. Let's get Jill Wagner out of Wipeout and back on a proper series, even if it is just a short stint.
I'm curious to see what everyone else thinks. Does the idea of a younger, relationship focused, Stargate get the wheels turning? Or do you have visions of Gossip Girl in space, complete with your own mental caption, WTF? I do still want more Atlantis, but I'll certainly give this one a fair shot.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-22-2008 @ 10:14AM
Anita said...
"they discover that the ship can never return to Earth" - hmm, that sounds like ST: Voyager (and, of course, SG: A) ;)
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8-22-2008 @ 10:26AM
mini-me said...
Also sounds like Babylon 5: Crusade (which was killed after 13 episodes)
8-22-2008 @ 10:26AM
RadioScott said...
Ha! I was thinking Voyager, too, Anita! But, I wonder if there's something bad that will happen if the ship gets back to Earth. Then the crew decides, "OK, it's our mission to keep this ship away from Earth," instead of "Boo hoo. How are we ever going to get back to Earth," every week.
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8-22-2008 @ 10:32AM
Oreo said...
They really REALLY need to just take a break and then hire completely new people. It has the same old people, doing the same old rehashes, they need new life in the Stargate franchise.
Why can't they continue making bad movies for a few years and then just go on to make a new show with new people? They will run this franchise into the ground even worse than what happened to Star Trek.
And I say less than one season before the Replicators show up.
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8-22-2008 @ 12:49PM
Jake said...
You couldn't have put it any better. I have still enjoyed the Stargates, but its obvious there are a lot more rehashed concepts than there should be. I am actually kind of glad SGA is over because if they ran it concurrently with this new show both would be worse off. They don't have the writing talent to do two shows. The movies were also okay, but there was too much going through the motions and not enough character interaction. And way way way too many starships for a show about a team going through a Stargate.
8-22-2008 @ 10:45AM
Morjana Coffman said...
I'm an agnostic optimist, so I'm definitely going to be watching Stargate: Universe. I've loved and enjoyed Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and the two SG1 movies, I trust Brad Wright and Robert Cooper to deliver another quality product. I'm not too thrilled with the comment about the "young and desperate explorers," but then I'm a citizen citizen, and I tend to get cranky easier these days when age is mentioned.
:)
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8-22-2008 @ 10:48AM
Lou said...
Can't go home but they pass stargates on their "mission"?
Uh, how'bout we get off the ship, and take a gate home?
Shows where the characters are set up to fail rarely do well for long. LOST might be the exception, but this sounds more like the Starlost or Space:1999.
As long as they don't make it all about "will they find a way home this week" they won't turn it into anouther ST:Voyager
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8-22-2008 @ 11:24AM
Usama said...
Woah woah wait what? Jill Wagner's been on Wipeout? I've been avoiding that show like a disease. Dammit.
I'm still pretty upset and disappointed over the SG:A cancellation, and now this post has upset me a bit more. I agree with you 100%, I am going to give the show a try but this whole "younger vibe" business is off putting. And I'm 24! (but I started watching Stargate much later than 13, thank you friends with DVDs). I realize advertisers spend more on the younger market but the older viewers generally have a better pot of money to spend.
It would really be nice of SciFi if they could keep SGA for another season and have the two shows run together as a sort of hand off or something. And then it would also be cool if they could have Jill Wagner serve as the link between the two shows, so that she's on every episode. ;-)
Okay so I'd settle w/ just SGA on for another season and the producers for this show on not having some sort of mid-life crisis.
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8-22-2008 @ 12:06PM
Brett said...
Yes, Jill Wagner is the on field host and her presence is the best thing about the show.
8-22-2008 @ 12:03PM
eugene said...
sounds kinda 'meh' but I'll wait and see the show before I start in with the wailing and the gnashing of teeth.
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8-22-2008 @ 12:35PM
Hylo said...
Honestly, the whole 'targeting a younger audience' thing doesn't worry me at all. Has there ever been a new show or movie launched either on it's own or as a spin-off or reimagioning that hasn't been marketed as appealing to a younger audience? Why networks and studios feel the need to do it, I really don't know. A quality product will attract an audience of both young and old and that's all they should be focusing on, but hey, that's the nature of marketing.
I'm hopeful about this new series. It's very dissapointing that Atlantis as a weekly series is coming to end but I didn't watch it when it started because I didn't think it would be anywhere near as good as SG-1 and now I think Atlantis is a far superior show.
Also, Brad Wright has stated that Universe is an expensive show and that he wasn't interested in doing it unless there was a commitment on the networks part to do it right. Given that it's now going ahead I'd be hopeful that it will be something very special. Time will ultimately tell.
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8-22-2008 @ 12:43PM
Jake said...
Why are they calling this Stargate when it's about people on an ancient ship!?!? This to me has been the biggest problem with Stargate as of late: no Stargate! I understand that the natural evolution of a program like this would lead to ships, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to make a series based on a team on a ship. This just magnifies the biggest problem I've had with the franchise as of late. Let me go out on a not so big limb here and say this show will definitely be more Trekish, with ship malfunction of the week episodes. And I also predict this show will have even more indestructible bad guys than the Wraith, so much so that the writers will realize they are too hard to kill, so they'll introduce more replicators. Oh goody! Quality product my arse.
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8-22-2008 @ 2:15PM
Oreo said...
You do realize that Atlantis is a big ship right?
8-22-2008 @ 2:31PM
mail4bh said...
The part about targeting a younger audience is ok, as long as there are hot chicks on the show.
This reminds me a lot of the premise of the Rendezvous With Rama books by Isaac Asimov: A ship comes through our solar system, people go out to explore it and get stuck on it and are along for the ride to who knows where. Those were awesome books but I'm sure the writers of this series aren't nearly in the same class as dearly departed Asimov. Still, I look forward to seeing what they do with it. The premise is good, at the very least.
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8-22-2008 @ 4:23PM
CCKIDD said...
Arthur C. Clarke wrote the Rama series. I thought the last Time Odyssey book, Firstborn, was his last book, but he has a new book written with Frederick Pohl.
8-22-2008 @ 3:24PM
Joseph said...
I HATE THIS CONCEPT!
My favorite part of Stargate, originally, was that it was so closely tied to our current world. You know, how these people are just good old US Air Force officers.
Then I watched them as they discovered new technology, and before you know it the Air Force has its own fleet of Daedalus-Class battlecruisers.
Now THAT is awesome. That's what made Stargate better than Star Trek and Babylon 5 - the ties to reality.
Even Atlantis is great in that regard, because we've grown along with the series.
However, if I had to complain, I'd argue that the entire premise of Atlantis was to discover more Ancient technology and enhance our own, but it looks like the Asgard will stand as our only true benefactors.
Plus, SCREW the idea of going to movies, because look how rushed SG-1 was when they ended the series and left the Ori thing going, only to jump to a "miracle end" in the movies.
I want more Atlantis, and I want more Ancient technology, and I want to see it all return to Earth.
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8-22-2008 @ 3:44PM
Ian said...
So they take a risk on a new expensive Startgate series, instead of a proven winner in SGA being extended for a several more seasons?
So the SG franchise is a new series within 5 years, no matter what, fire all the actors, but keep one "name" and hire newcomers.
That said I wish Firefly had reached year 5. Even year 3....
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8-24-2008 @ 12:21AM
Travis Bell said...
I don't get this either. SGA has been pretty solid, no? Better ratings this season too... so like... what the hell? They just killing it for the fun of it or what?
8-22-2008 @ 6:15PM
penguendedektif said...
I was in mixed feelings after hearing about the cancellation, but this news made me forget Atlantis in a second. I was waiting and praying for this since Farscape's and Firefly's untimely deaths. We are Trek-Kids, we can't survive without ship-series. SG1 was a good run, I very much liked the idea of contemporary sci-fi, but it lived for ten healthy years which is enough in my opinion. I never really liked Atlantis but I was coping with it in the sci-fi shortage. Bu the idea of a Stargate ship-series is too good to be true. If they don't repeat the casting mistakes of Atlantis (i.e. Rainbow Franks & Torri Higginson) I will be very hopeful about the show.
Regarding the Voyager similarity, since this is a contemporary sci-fi, I think "being stranded" is a useful plot device. this is 21st century Earth, not 24th century federation, they don't have an interstellar transportation network. And also they will go to planets with gates, so they will not be totally lost in space. I want my different technologies, I want my different species, I want my different civilizations, I want my different allies and enemies. I'm sick of seeing the same enemies over and over. Atlantis couldn't go much further than this and we all knew that. And also in this dry spell of sci-fi even the idea of Voyager sounds great. We all know they most likely won't be able to make a "Firefly", but there no reason not to make a "Farscape"...
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8-22-2008 @ 6:47PM
Jake said...
If I want to watch a ship show I'll watch reruns of Star Trek TNG or Voyager. Heck even DS9. Stargate was supposed to be rooted in the 21st century, but like other posters have said, this new Universe concept is anything but Stargate. I guarantee you'll see the same plots and stories you have on late SG-1 and Atlantis, because these writers have run out of ideas. Replicators are sure to show up, as are a bad guy they introduce and then neglect for the remainder of the series (just like Atlantis did with the Wraith). Then we'll be treated to great space battles with the enemy, because of course, the show is named Starship... er Stargate.
And Oreo, yes Atlantis is a ship, but they aren't flying to a new planet every week.
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