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    TimesUnion: Stargate is becoming quite the survivor

    From the TimesUnion:

    http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...date=7/11/2004

    'Stargate' is becoming quite the survivor


    By MARK McGUIRE, Staff writer
    First published: Sunday, July 11, 2004

    Of the thousands of nighttime television shows that have premiered since the 1940s, maybe 200 or so lasted more than seven seasons. For every "Tonight Show" or "Gunsmoke," there are hundreds of shows that lasted only a handful of seasons ... or just a handful of episodes.


    Think back to all the TV programs that have debuted in the past year alone that quickly morphed into trivia questions: Quick, what do you recall about "Luis," or "Run of the House," or "Lyon's Den"?

    So you may be surprised at the news that "Stargate SG-1" premiered its eighth -- eighth! -- season last week (9 p.m. Fridays, SciFi). The underappreciated sci-fi drama, about an elite team galaxy-hopping through an ancient portal, can be considered one of the longest-running series ever.

    Now comes its offspring, "Stargate Atlantis." That companion series debuts with a two-hour installment at 9 p.m. Friday, before shifting to 10 p.m. on July 23 -- giving SciFi a Friday-night block of first-run "Stargate" offerings."

    Now consider this: "Stargate" star Richard Dean Anderson (who's also an executive producer) has now played Air Force colonel and team leader Jack O'Neill longer than he held down his signature role as the improvising spy on ABC's "MacGyver," which ran from 1985 to '92. For those anticipating the trivia question, MacGyver's first name was revealed during the show's final season: Angus. (Anderson has had one other extended role: From 1976-81 he played Dr. Jeff Webber on ABC's "General Hospital.")

    "Stargate SG-1," which debuted on Showtime in 1997 before being transported to SciFi in 2002, is a spinoff of the 1994 Kurt Russell-James Spader film "Stargate." As in the film, it features interactions between present-day earthlings (military and science personnel) and members of advanced ancient civilizations. (Egyptologists can find plenty to love, and maybe some things to question, in the show.)

    In the spinoff, a newly formed team travels to the lost city of Atlantis (it's not where you think) to harvest the advanced/ancient technology that could, as they say, benefit humankind. The problem: There's only enough power for a one-way trip through the watery stargate portal. What's worse, the team quickly incurs the wrath of the Wraith, a race of vampire types looking for humanoid food.

    Leading the military side of the team is Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), a pilot who's a younger version of Anderson's rule-flouting O'Neill.

    Torri Higginson, who appeared in the season premiere of "Stargate: SG-1" as a specialist in diplomatic relations, is the overall leader of the Atlantis team.

    "Stargate" isn't a show that garners significant buzz or media attention. Yet it's an adventurous combination of science, science fiction, action and anthropology, featuring a collection of well-honed characters.

    The show is syndicated in 64 countries, from Argentina and Estonia to Ivory Coast and Tajikistan. Here in the Capital Region, reruns air at 11:30 p.m. Sundays on WRGB Ch. 6.

    On SciFi, "Stargate SG-1" reruns air at 6 p.m. weeknights. Starting at 6 p.m. Monday, SciFi will air five straight "Stargate SG-1" episodes. At 6 p.m. Friday, the network reruns "From Stargate to Atlantis: A SciFi Lowdown," which hips viewers up to the "Stargate" mythology and previews "Atlantis." Last week's two-hour season premiere reruns at 7 p.m., followed by the debut of "Atlantis" at 9 p.m. (followed immediately by its re-airing at 11 p.m.).

    If that's not enough, re-alphabetize your comic book collection. The heavy volume of reruns is a saturation device long employed by cable that's being copied by broadcasters; on almost every channel, Saturday nights will be mostly reruns this fall. It's worked to the benefit of "Stargate."

    But the show has succeeded mainly due to its combination of interstellar action, light comedy and assiduous attention to detail, from military protocol to Egyptian history. It's electronic comfort food, a stupid-smart entertainment that's an easy destination for channel surfers.

    While there's certainly room for another franchise, don't look for "Stargate" to become another "CSI." ("Stargate: Pompeii"? Um, no.) But the formula is in place, and the new characters strong enough, to ensure a healthy run for "Atlantis."

    Meanwhile, "Stargate" continues to move up the board of longest-running shows. An all-time great? No. An all-time survivor? Getting there.



    |*|(*)|*|(*)|*|

    Morjana

    SG1-Spoilergate
    http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/SG1-Spoilergate/

    Richard Dean Anderson Fans
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rdandersonfans/

    SG1/SGA/SGU - Saving Earth/Atlantis/?, one mission at a time!
    SG1-Spoilergate Richard Dean Anderson Fans Abydos Gate Morjana
    Morjana's Blog Twitter

    #2
    *Singing Destiny's Child Song* Stargate is a survivor, la la la la...
    Amanda, "Wallow Central."

    Comment


      #3
      ROFLMAO at Stargateompeii! Could someone please pitch this idea to TPTB? ;-)

      Comment


        #4
        Gah, When I heard Stargate and Survivor in the same sentence I started to think a reality show-stargate ep. Someone please erase my memory!

        Comment


          #5
          Morjana, thanks again for posting this article. Since Stargate is the only television show I follow (or have followed), I have a hard time understanding exactly how popular it is.
          Urgo: I wanna live, I wanna experience the universe and I wanna eat pie!
          O'Neill: Who doesn't?
          - Urgo, Stargate: SG-1, Episode 3.16

          "Let's be real here. It should be fun. We're not saving lives, we're entertaining them."
          - RDA, Stargate SG-1: The Lowdown



          some assembly required, batteries not included, action figures sold seperately
          once done, cannot be undone...
          brought to you by Anthro Girl, Grand Pooh-Bah of the SFA

          Comment


            #6
            It seems that Stargate is rising where Star Trek is falling. It use be that Star Trek use to be talked about sci-fi show...

            Comment


              #7
              Well, he says it's not going to be like CSI, but I'd *so* watch a show on the CSI or Law and Order model.
              No need for "Stargate: Pompeii", how about "Stargate: SG2" or "Stargate: SG3" etc etc?
              Provided they're not stepping on each others' toes every week, that shouldn't be impossible--so whenever SG1 splits off or signs off (*touches wood*), why not?
              "Frankly, we're not surprised when she starts pulling large bombs from skin-tight catsuits..."
              "Not only can Josette Simon really, really act, she gets the show's best introduction - she rescues Avon, announces he's the most beautiful man she's ever seen, then explains the only other man she's seen is her father, whose surname is, blissfully, Mellonby."
              "This is a future where the women are beautiful, the men are ugly, and the only drink is creme de menthe."
              --BBC CultTV's web review of Blake's 7 season 3 DVD (21.06.05)

              Comment


                #8
                That would be stupid Stargate: SG-13 or something gimme a break we have seen the SGC for eight seasons know Stargate: Atlantis is just right. A New location and a new world. Perfect!
                Lt. Ford to Dr Zelenka: "Is this some sort of payback for me beating up guys like you in high school?"
                - Stargate Atlantis: Season One - Hot Zone

                Dr. Beckett: "...Mom...I miss you terribly...*breaks down*...I can't do this!"
                - Stargate Atlantis: Season One - Letters from Pegasus

                Sen. Kinsey: "Do you trust this man?"
                Col. Jack O'Neill: "...No..."
                Mayboune: *shrugs*
                - Stargate SG-1 - Chain Reaction

                Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis I love science fiction

                Comment


                  #9
                  Wow. I've never been flamed before! I guess I'm edgier than I thought...

                  I like Atlantis just fine. I'm very much looking forward to it, in fact.

                  But I continue to assert that a lot of what sets Stargate apart is that it's based on Earth, in our own time, with--at ground--our level of scientific knowledge and within our RL political consciousness.

                  A lot of that won't be in Atlantis, so I'd love to see a Stargate series that *did* continue with it.

                  If that's "stupid," then thus I shall remain.
                  "Frankly, we're not surprised when she starts pulling large bombs from skin-tight catsuits..."
                  "Not only can Josette Simon really, really act, she gets the show's best introduction - she rescues Avon, announces he's the most beautiful man she's ever seen, then explains the only other man she's seen is her father, whose surname is, blissfully, Mellonby."
                  "This is a future where the women are beautiful, the men are ugly, and the only drink is creme de menthe."
                  --BBC CultTV's web review of Blake's 7 season 3 DVD (21.06.05)

                  Comment

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