TVSquad

I'm eagerly anticipating the Oct. 2 premiere of Syfy's Stargate Universe, the third show from the popular sci-fi adventure franchise. We've all read the reports about Universe being "darker" and more "serious" than its predecessors, Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, but star David Blue has a slightly different perspective on the show.

In a recent interview with SciFi Wire, the Universe cast member said the show is "not as much darker as it is more real." Blue said the characters on Universe are less like characters in a sci-fi epic and more like real people dealing with an extraordinary crisis.

"You can say 'darker,' because in some ways it is, ... but when you really get down to it, it's like everyday life. That's kind of what I like about it," he said.

Blue is a big fan of the Stargate franchise and has seen every episode of SG-1 and Atlantis, leading Universe co-creator Brad Wright to joke that the actor has become a "technical advisor" on the show. Blue said his love for the franchise helped inform his character, Eli Wallace, who is experiencing the wonders of gate and space travel for the first time. "When you see on Eli's face that he's really excited about the gate, that's actually me," he said.

I like that Blue is a big Stargate geek and is showing reverence for the older shows. I know a lot of fans are worried that Universe will be all drama (i.e. talk) and no action and adventure, but this is Stargate we're talking about – one of the most popular action-adventure franchises out there. What Blue is saying here, the show is about normal people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, doesn't sound too different from what we've seen in previous Stargate shows.

What do you think, folks? Will the edgier Universe trade all the action-adventure for character drama, or will it deliver a good combination of the two?