Was SGA trying to much to be SG1?

[myhelix]

I love the show, but somehow to many SGA episodes felt a bit like rip off´s from SG1. I always was hoping for some more original story lines, after all Atlantis was in another galaxy.
And the wraith where after S3 much to boring, became almost cuddly, not a big enough threat. To much wraith story´s of the week eps.
But I think the biggest mistake where the human form replicators, hallo SG1.

[Arica15]

I love the show, but somehow to many SGA episodes felt a bit like rip off´s from SG1. I always was hoping for some more original story lines, after all Atlantis was in another galaxy.
And the wraith where after S3 much to boring, became almost cuddly, not a big enough threat. To much wraith story´s of the week eps.
But I think the biggest mistake where the human form replicators, hallo SG1.

Agree absolutely, they started off well in the first season but obviously the writers had an originality removal operation during the break between seasons because from season 2 we got an increasing amount of sg-1 copying and bleed through.

I always thought that SGA had so much promise that was just never fulfilled because of it.

[hedwig]

I love the show, but somehow to many SGA episodes felt a bit like rip off´s from SG1. I always was hoping for some more original story lines, after all Atlantis was in another galaxy.
And the wraith where after S3 much to boring, became almost cuddly, not a big enough threat. To much wraith story´s of the week eps.
But I think the biggest mistake where the human form replicators, hallo SG1.

I was watching SGA, Season 3, "Progeny" and during the bit where Niam shows Elizabeth how his kind were created, it reminded me A LOT of SG1, S6, "Unnatural Selection". In one, Niam takes Elizabeth's hand and takes her into a space where she can see events that took place; while in the other, Fifth takes Sam into a space where they can "talk". Wow, talk about your similarities. And then later when Niam grabs Elizabeth by the throat and nearly chokes her. While in SG1, Fifth kidnapped Sam and tortured her. While later in SGA, Elizabeth is taken over by the Pegasus replicators and absorbed. Of course, Sam didn't get absorbed into the Milky Wal Replicators, but there are certainly similarities between the two story lines.

And I'm sure we can find bundles of other similarities without even trying very hard.

[Lythisrose]

I don't think SGA ever tried NOT to be somewhat like SG1. Unlike other shows I could mention.

[Gatefan1976]

The simple answer is YES.

Then again, the relationship between SG-1 to SGA is very much the same as the relationship between L&O and L&O: SVU. Same format, same type of stories. Could there have been more *Different* stories in SGA, yep, but that is a "charge" to ask the writers is it not?

[myhelix]

I don't think SGA ever tried NOT to be somewhat like SG1. Unlike other shows I could mention.

No Idea which show you mean? But I think SGA started of very well and fell into some bad habits around S3, what always saved the show for me where the relationships between the characters. But I also hated that some great potential friendships/relationships where to easily dismissed, like Teyla/Beckett or more interaction between Ronon/Rodney or Weir/Ronon. The contrast would have been cool to see, some of those unlikely bonds between characters

Also the wraith where the Goa'uld of the Pegasus Galaxy, but not as interesting, maybe the only exception was Todd. And really, all planets have the same village rip off as Atlantis, almost the same clothes.

[Calluna]

Sometimes it wasn't trying to be SG-1 so much that is WAS SG-1 with a different cast, especially in later seasons when all they did was mention that incidentally, hey SG-1 also had a problem like this a few seasons ago! However I do think there was an attempt to separate the shows in SGA S1.Then SGA established a strong (IMHO) arc whilst cut off from earth, including needing to use Teyla as a diplomatic native guide, that all but disappeared after they reconnected to Earth in S2. Also a need to gain allies rather than the "shoot em up" villains of the week.

SGU is not exempt from this, there are many eps that are call backs to previous franchise episodes as well that might have been better if they'd tried something new.

[Solaris.]

Yes, they tried too hard to create the same character interplay. The most annoying was Sheppard and Rodney trying to recreate the O'Neil/Carter dynamic which failed. I got sick to death of;

Shep - "How long"
Rod - "A few more minutes"
followed by 45 seconds of Rodney bleating and shep yelling at him.

I was guilty of yelling at the TV at them to just shut up and get on with it. All the time wasted with the above would equal at least 5 episodes worth of air time!

So much time on Atlantis was wasted with arguing about the desired course of action which rarely happened in SG1. When it did happen on SG1 you understood how dangerous, important and life threatening the task was but when it happens every episode 2-3 times in an episode you just want to smack them all and it looses any sense of urgency.

I felt they were trying to hard to force character relationships to gel too early and so it felt false to me.

[Flyboy]

Series 1 was excellent. Why? Because it was *not* about Shep's team. It was about the Expedition as a whole. It felt like what SGU would later become, an ensemble show where even the less important characters felt crucial.

Later it just became SG1 in another galaxy.

[Falcon Horus]

If I should go by the new threads popping up in the SGA subsection, one would almost think SGA wasn't SG1 enough for some.

[Snowman37]

Was the show borrowing SG-1's formula such a bad thing? You've got the base commander, the four-man team, and the recurring doctor. The Wraith are in the same role as the Goa'uld, and the Asurans are basically human-form replicators. Replace the SGC with Atlantis, and... well, you get the idea. Honestly, if they hadn't kept the formula, I wouldn't have bothered. SG-1 was like lightning in a bottle. I really didn't think any kind of spin-off would work. I like how Dr. Weir was introduced on SG-1 and how McKay was brought over. It helped me dive into the show with their being two characters I was already familiar with. Perhaps that was the mistake with SGU? Again, I might have watched more than three episodes if they'd try to bring in a familiar face or two. Who? I don't know, anyone, really. Back to Atlantis... There were some elements that made it stand out. The stargates are digital, so no manual dialing. The Puddle Jumpers filled the role of Goa'uld cargo ships, but they are featured more often and can fly through the stargate! The Atlantis Expedition doesn't have to worry about keeping everything secret from the world given they're on an alien world to begin with. Instead of a military leader, we got a civilian leader (discounting Season 4), and both doctors were civilians instead of military. Instead of slavery and false gods, the show dealt with a galaxy-dominating race of space vampires. That was radically different, no?

It was different without being too different.

[Gen. Chris]

There were some stories worth repeating with a couple changes, in my opinion, but there were others that I didn't like the first time and I certainly didn't like the second, iirc.

[Snowman37]

What SG-1 stories did SGA repeat? Well, besides the human form replicators being retold as the Asurans.

[Gen. Chris]

I'd have to watch it all again but there were a few episodes that felt way too similar.

[thekillman]

SGA gave up too much of it's unique identity after season 1. it didn't become bad until about season 4 however. it tried to be TOO much like SG1. i did like the initial team dynamic (some bickering), but it became really crazy after a while. everything took mckay 5 minutes, except under pressure, then it became 2.

[myhelix]

SGA gave up too much of it's unique identity after season 1. it didn't become bad until about season 4 however. it tried to be TOO much like SG1. i did like the initial team dynamic (some bickering), but it became really crazy after a while. everything took mckay 5 minutes, except under pressure, then it became 2.

I think the best team dynamic was Shep, Weir, Teyla, McKay, Beckett and Ronon. I also felt that Teyla was a very interesting character until S2, but she was "write down" to something like a warrior alien princess. Their was so much to explore about her and such big potential, and then she and Ronon became something like the back up fighters.

Also the city itself became the Cheyenne Mountain of SGA. Just a home base, but not a big mysterious city that was unpredictable.

[myhelix]

I'd have to watch it all again but there were a few episodes that felt way too similar.

And to many missing consequences, like SG1 after Season 8.

[Pond Hopper]

The story lines don't bother me as much as the feel of the show itself did, it was too 'light', literally and figuratively. The prosthetics also tainted it a bit but it would be hard to do the show without them.

SG1 had a somewhat down to Earth and realistic feel to it, Atlantis seemed too.. cheery.. I suppose. SGU took back the feel that SG1 had, at least it did for me.

[Flyboy]

The story lines don't bother me as much as the feel of the show itself did, it was too 'light', literally and figuratively. The prosthetics also tainted it a bit but it would be hard to do the show without them.

SG1 had a somewhat down to Earth and realistic feel to it, Atlantis seemed too.. cheery.. I suppose. SGU took back the feel that SG1 had, at least it did for me.

Agreed. The characterisation of the 'senior military officer' didn't help.