Television

Stargate SG-1

Stargate SG-1 is a television series that debuted on Showtime on July 27, 1997, and moved to the Sci-Fi Channel after its fifth season. Created by Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright, it starred Richard Dean Anderson (as the respelt O'Neill), Michael Shanks (as Jackson), Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Don S. Davis.

The cast has remained fairly regular for most of SG-1's run but has experienced some changes. Michael Shanks left the show at the end of Season 5 and was replaced by Corin Nemec as Jonas Quinn. Shanks returned at the beginning of Season 7 and Nemec was written out. At the end of Season 7 Davis left the show and Anderson filled the gap he left in the story. Season 9 saw an unpopular departure of Anderson, but added new regulars Beau Bridges and Ben Browder. After a debut episode in Season 8, followed by appearances in six episodes of Season 9, Claudia Black's popular reaction earned her a position in the regular cast in Season 10.

MGM put an average of $1,400,000 into each episode of the show, and regard it as one of their most important franchises. It has won the Saturn Award for Best Syndicated Television Series on numerous occasions, as well as its cast having won similar awards for their acting. More recently it has received acclaim for its visual effects which have increased in quality and realism as the show gained a larger budget.

The series is set one year after the original film in their internal chronology. It chronicles the activities of SG-1, the first exploratory team of the newly-formed Stargate Command, after an enemy attack through the Stargate allows the United States Air Force to discover that Ra was not the last of his species, as they thought in the movie. The series expands on the movie, creating a full and rich mythology and a strong cast of recurring characters.

Stargate SG-1 proved to be very popular. Between Seasons 6 and 8, the show was repeatedly expected to end, but ratings continued to be high, allowing the show to break records and enter its current tenth season (surpassing The X-Files as the longest running United States science-fiction series).

On 2006-08-21, the Sci Fi Channel announced that they would not be renewing Stargate SG-1 for an eleventh season after a series of poor performances in the Nielsen Ratings.Many fans were enraged at the news, even initiating reactionary websites to exhibit their commitment to the series. Spokespersons for the production have said all options for the continuation of SG-1 are being considered, including complete digital broadcasting.Executive producer Robert C. Cooper told the fansite GateWorld exclusively that he was working to continue SG-1. As of the present time, no network or company has ordered new episodes of SG-1, so the show is on hold until a new buyer can be found. However, SciFi has attempted to block other networks from taking up the show, citing their original exclusive contract with MGM.

Stargate Atlantis

Stargate Atlantis began as a spin-off television series from Stargate SG-1 that was originally intended to succeed its seventh season and a second feature film. When SG-1 was renewed for an eighth season, the intended movie became the episode "Lost City", a two-part season finale, and the setting of Stargate Atlantis was moved to the Pegasus galaxy.This allowed the two shows to exist side-by-side within the same fictional universe, and later on the two shows even began to be interconnected, almost to the point that audiences were expected to watch both. The show is developed by most of the same people as SG-1, and is produced in the same studios.

Atlantis debuted on the Sci-Fi Channel on July 16, 2004, starring Joe Flanigan and Torri Higginson in the lead roles, with Rainbow Sun Francks, David Hewlett, and Rachel Luttrell alongside. Hewlett and Higginson had previously been characters in SG-1. In Atlantis' second season, Paul McGillion and Jason Momoa (replacing Francks) were added as regulars. The series is currently in its third season.

The plot follows the adventures of the "Atlantis expedition", a combination of military forces and civilian scientists that travel to the Pegasus galaxy in search of the Lost City of Atlantis, left behind by the powerful race known as the Ancients. The finding of the city had been a plot arc for most of SG-1's Season 7, and the Ancients themselves had been a long-running facet of the SG-1 setting. Arriving at the City, the expedition discover that the Pegasus galaxy is dominated by a terrible enemy known as "the Wraith" whom they must defend themselves against despite being vastly outnumbered and helpless.

The series has won several awards for its actors, visual effects and directors, including a WorldFest Platinum Award for David Winning's direction of an early Season 1 episode. Atlantis proved to be equally as successful as SG-1, with Nielson Ratings consistently in the regions of 1.9. Despite this, producers have stated that they do not expect the show to run for as long as SG-1, due mainly to SG-1's success involving a lot of luck.

Stargate Infinity

Stargate Infinity was an animated series spin-off from Stargate SG-1 intended for children aged 9 to 11. It ran from 14 September 2002 to June 2003 on the FOX Network. Even though the series was produced by MGM with DiC Entertainment, none of the writers and producers of Stargate SG-1 were involved with Infinity, and it is not considered official Stargate canon. The show was cancelled after 1 season for its poor reception and ratings.

Set 30 to 40 years in the future, Infinity tells the story of a team of young recruits led by a veteran member of Stargate Command that are framed for a crime they did not commit. The team must travel from world to world trying to find a way to clear their name, whilst protecting a strange alien being discovered in the first episode, which is believed to hold the secret to mysteries surrounding the Stargates and the Ancient race that built them. Due to its cancellation, none of the major plot arcs of the series were concluded.

The series featured a strong moral and educational theme, purposely summarising each episode with a distinct lesson for its young audience to learn. It focussed primarily on the importance of working together and accepting differences in other cultures or people, whether they be aliens or members of your own team. The "Stargate Explorers" exhibited the qualities of typical role models--this formulaic cliché might have contributed to the show's unpopularity, appearing patronising and unwatchable even for Stargate aficionados, and too didactic even for children. It is more or less ignored or even unknown to most Stargate audiences.