Looking Back at the Stargate Franchise

wwkirk

Divine
Stargate Atlantis: 15 Years, 15 Great Episodes

As the show marks the anniversary of its 2004 premiere, GateWorld looks back on some of the best episodes in this remarkable series.

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Happy Anniversary today to one of our favorite teams in science fiction!

Stargate Atlantis premiered 15 years ago today, as the 2-hour pilot movie “Rising” made its debut on SCI FI Channel in the United States. An eager fan base tuned in to meet a new group of adventurers, with an international expedition of scientists and military personnel sent through the Stargate to explore the distant Pegasus Galaxy.

With two shows on the air, Stargate was officially a franchise.

SGA ran for five seasons, totaling 100 episodes. In those years it saw a total of ten regular cast members, with Joe Flanigan leading the team as John Sheppard.

Each week during the show’s original run GateWorld conducted polls asking viewers to rate each episode. These are tallied up as the “Fan Rating” in GateWorld’s episode guide. So after 100 episodes, which ones rank at the top?

To celebrate today’s anniversary, here are the show’s 15 best episodes — ranked and rated by fans!

(see the link)

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I really liked SG Atlantis. Not as much as SG-1, but I still liked it.
 

wwkirk

Divine
Stargate Atlantis is 15 years old now...:ohmy8:

There's no shortage of 'Stargate' nostalgia on the spinoff's 15th anniversary


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SALT LAKE CITY — “As a family we always had pizza night with the kids when ‘Atlantis’ was on,” said Lisa Denoncourt. “The show was a perfect balance of sci-fi, humor and lots of sarcasm. But most of all, we were bonding as a family over one of our favorite shows.”

Denoncourt is one of many fans who recently took to Twitter to share their favorite memories of “Stargate: Atlantis,” the beloved sci-fi hit that ran for five years and is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

The first of two spinoffs from “Stargate: SG-1,” the show transported viewers across the universe alongside their favorite characters.

“Imagine the lost city of Atlantis was real. Imagine you could step through a portal and get to it in seconds,” said actress Jewel Staite in an interview with the blog From the Desk of Kurt Manwaring. “But enemies abound in this new galaxy!”

“Oh yeah,” she said, “and the city can fly.”

According to the show's producer, Joe Mallozzi, “The Atlantis expedition was like extended family members you visited with once a week. It’s a grand tradition that made both ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Stargate’ so relatable.”

One of the essential ingredients in the show’s recipe for relatability was Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett), a loquacious and irritating physicist with an aversion to dangerous situations he seemed to overcome on a weekly basis.

Hewlett was thrilled to reprise the character he played on “SG-1,” but discovered fans were initially less than enthused.

“When it was first announced that Rodney would be joining the new series, I went online and people were horrified,” said Hewlett. “What was great for me though, was that we had this guy established — as a crazy smart jerk — so now it was all about unraveling who he was and what made him that way.”

The least likeable character quickly grew into one of the most irreplaceable figures of the series.

But Hewlett almost wasn’t involved in the popular spinoff. According to Mallozzi, they were auditioning the role of Dr. Ingram, and they couldn't find the right actor. As their time dwindled, executive producer Robert Cooper suggested bringing Rodney McKay on board.

“And, in the end, he became a fan- and writers room-favorite,” he said.

(more on the link)

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For a second or two, I didn't recognize Amanda Tapping.
 

Jacketon

Adept
Very few TV shows based on films are ever good, this one is. Very few TV shows can maintain their pace and originality over the years, this one has. This show has lots going for it; intelligent and convincing plots, great multi-dimensional characters, superb actors (both major and minor players), expert direction, continuity of story, consistent use/appearance of sci-fi technology, witty but subtle dialog and almost as an aside, stunning FX.
 

Jacketon

Adept
I really liked SG Atlantis. Not as much as SG-1, but I still liked it.

The Stargate Atlantis premier itself was exceptional. Very VERY good. Awesome even. So good, I watched the 2 hr premier twice in the same night. The entire series is extremely wonderful. It's a great action/adventure/science fiction television show. The first 2 seasons are the best, but it's worth it to watch the whole thing. The characters are likable and compelling, and the actors did an amazing job.
 

Toroid

Founding Member
Very few TV shows based on films are ever good, this one is. Very few TV shows can maintain their pace and originality over the years, this one has. This show has lots going for it; intelligent and convincing plots, great multi-dimensional characters, superb actors (both major and minor players), expert direction, continuity of story, consistent use/appearance of sci-fi technology, witty but subtle dialog and almost as an aside, stunning FX.
And help from the USAF.

The Stargate Atlantis premier itself was exceptional. Very VERY good. Awesome even. So good, I watched the 2 hr premier twice in the same night. The entire series is extremely wonderful. It's a great action/adventure/science fiction television show. The first 2 seasons are the best, but it's worth it to watch the whole thing. The characters are likable and compelling, and the actors did an amazing job.
I couldn't get into SG Atlantis.
 

Jacketon

Adept
I couldn't get into SG Atlantis.

There are some people who are compare Stargate Atlantis to Star Trek Voyager. Although they both start off in an unknown location where they cannot return to earth, the story that continues after is completely different. Even though the last 2 seasons were not as impressive as the 1st two, its worth giving it a chance.
 

wwkirk

Divine
I'm more than 3/4 of the way through Stargate Universe. I won't say I dislike it. But it departs significantly form its sister series in that there is a greater amount of internal antagonism. In the earlier series the Stargate teams were more cohesive. IN SGU there was, for a considerable time, serious conflict between Young and Telford. And of course, Rush antagonized a whole lot of people.

That said, I do think it deserved more than a mere two seasons.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
I'm more than 3/4 of the way through Stargate Universe. I won't say I dislike it. But it departs significantly form its sister series in that there is a greater amount of internal antagonism. In the earlier series the Stargate teams were more cohesive. IN SGU there was, for a considerable time, serious conflict between Young and Telford. And of course, Rush antagonized a whole lot of people.

That said, I do think it deserved more than a mere two seasons.

I really liked that series, it is quite a departure from the other two series, but they were also terminally cut off from Earth, less than one percent chance of any of them returning and being that two-thirds of the crew of Destiny were civilians who were not prepared for survival type of life in space, I can totally understand the divisions and mistrust that occurred between them...I don't want to spoil it for you so I won't comment on season two yet, season one was well played out building up to a first contact situation, I really enjoyed that...I could only imagine how that would feel to me if I was in a situation like that, not only lost in space on an alien vessel, literally, but knowing you might encounter very alien species who might also be hostile, then it happens! lol...and no back up either, just the group you're with...It definitely deserved more seasons...

...
 

wwkirk

Divine
Wow! I didn't realize where I was. I'm about to watch the SGU Series Finale,
Right Now!
Helluva cliffhanger!
Unfortunately, it's been so long that there is little chance of a movie (TV or otherwise) to wrap things up.

If they did decide to attempt one, they would probably have to replace most of the actors.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Helluva cliffhanger!
Unfortunately, it's been so long that there is little chance of a movie (TV or otherwise) to wrap things up.

If they did decide to attempt one, they would probably have to replace most of the actors.

It's possible the cryogenic pods caused them age slowly over time instead of not aging at all since they aren't ancients which could allow for older versions of themselves to emerge if the series could be started again...I thought about that after I watched the finale the first time lol...

...
 

wwkirk

Divine
It's possible the cryogenic pods caused them age slowly over time instead of not aging at all since they aren't ancients which could allow for older versions of themselves to emerge if the series could be started again...I thought about that after I watched the finale the first time lol...

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Good thinking.

I just don't know if the Stargate fan base is substantial enough to motivate serious new productions.

MGM has put out a web series, Stargate Origins, which consist of short episodes. It's a prequel to the original Stargate movie. It also has put out a variety of interviews and other very short "extras." (All these are located on a pay site.) But I'm not aware of any plans for a substantial extension of the franchise.
 

Jacketon

Adept
Helluva cliffhanger!
Unfortunately, it's been so long that there is little chance of a movie (TV or otherwise) to wrap things up.

If they did decide to attempt one, they would probably have to replace most of the actors.

Knowing there was no intent to pick up later it's a very sad ending! :( The first of the SG endings that is not a "happy" one. Sadly even, it's not even a "satisfying" ending. Sure it can be said only those who want will give Eli a tragic ending in their heads, but in the end, with all the sideway slingshot episodes SGU had, one can never imagine in ones head what a happy suitable ending would even be for Eli. I sure do hope some of those brilliant minds come up with the idea of at least wrapping SGU up in a movie. That's the least these guys could do for more than a decades of fans!
 

wwkirk

Divine
Knowing there was no intent to pick up later it's a very sad ending! :( The first of the SG endings that is not a "happy" one. Sadly even, it's not even a "satisfying" ending. Sure it can be said only those who want will give Eli a tragic ending in their heads, but in the end, with all the sideway slingshot episodes SGU had, one can never imagine in ones head what a happy suitable ending would even be for Eli. I sure do hope some of those brilliant minds come up with the idea of at least wrapping SGU up in a movie. That's the least these guys could do for more than a decades of fans!
The problem is, it's been so long. It's been a little over 8 years since SGU ended. By contrast, Serenity was released less than three years after the last episode of Firefly.

But I'm with you. I still hope for a movie to bring the series to a proper end.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
A movie is a great idea for Stargate Universe, they could bring them all home and set it up for a possible future series using the Destiny vessel of the Ancients, like getting a gate set up and power to traverse back and forth from Destiny anytime they wanted...That capacity alone could set the stage for a huge amount of stories from the possibilities opened up...

...
 

Jacketon

Adept
SGU was arguably the most "pure" science fiction format of all the SG series, and it came to be to my extreme surprise, I really came to care about these characters over the short course of the series, which is something I never would have believed in the beginning. I will start watching SGU again this week, from the beginning with popcorn!
 

Standingstones

Celestial
I was getting into StarGate Universe when it was cancelled after two seasons. Evidently Syfy cheaped out as usual and didn’t want to pay for an expensive science fiction series. Much like how they cancelled the Dresden Files.
 

Jacketon

Adept
I was getting into StarGate Universe when it was cancelled after two seasons. Evidently Syfy cheaped out as usual and didn’t want to pay for an expensive science fiction series. Much like how they cancelled the Dresden Files.

It makes you wonder if Syfy knows what they were doing, the Dresden Files was cancelled way too soon. Interesting plots and a VERY watchable lead what more do you want? Remember Buffy? It seems to be a trend with syfy, if a program shows too much greatness and intelligence they cut it and replace it with something cheap and cheery (everybody remember when they swapped American Gothic with Sliders)!!!
 

Jacketon

Adept
The problem is, it's been so long. It's been a little over 8 years since SGU ended. By contrast, Serenity was released less than three years after the last episode of Firefly.

But I'm with you. I still hope for a movie to bring the series to a proper end.

Science fiction movies are so easy to criticize because things don't fit well or science is wrong or acting is bad. There are a few that rise above the rest and Serenity is one of them. I loved the American Western idealogy portrayed in the film as well as in the tv series. The actors did justice to their characters and it seemed almost as if the characters were custom made for these actors. There is no substitute for likable characters and believable situations.
 
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