"Stargate Universe" Discussion/Speculation (Spoilers)

[sazi16]

wow its funny how scifi shows take from each other. I'm an avid fan of both stargate and startrek, and the plot line for universe sounds ALOT like startrek voyager....
i hope its not to similar, although voyager was my favroite of the startreks...
sazi16

[Automission]

I had a sort of idea for the cast. No doubt it's been said, but what about the new recruits featured in Proving ground. http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Proving_Ground Would be the "young vibe" We've heard of, while they're still Five years older, so not teenagers.

[magicswordking]

full disclosure: I've written some things some of you have probably seen. Not all of it has been good. I'm a C-List script doctor at best, but I've been a huge Stargate fan since the beginning, which led me to register just so I can make this one post.

This is a creative hail-mary pass. I have no idea why they're doing it, especially with Atlantis hitting its stride. I have no idea why they aren't fighting tooth and nail to secure actors like Michael Shanks and David Hewlett for permanent positions on Universe. I have no idea why the character descriptions that have been floated are utterly bereft of creative merit.

I'm of the opinion that if you have to reference characters written by other people in your casting pitches, you shouldn't be allowed to write characters. SG-1 started with two core characters from the film, though not the same actors. That's natural.

With Universe, we're told to expect two flavors of Matt Damon, one being a freakish hybrid with Jack Black of all people, an Eric Bana, an O'Neill clone, plus two female characters who couldn't possibly be more unoriginal in description. What's the newest thing? They want one of the women to be Asian. Good job, here's a lollipop. Please rethink this.

The core concept of Universe is solid, no matter how much it might seem like Voyager or Galactica, it has potential well beyond the established domains of SG-1 and Atlantis. What the writers seem to be forgetting from what I can surmise, is that their series' have been successful for a reason, and the reason is character. You want a younger audience, great, good goal. You want a new setting, again, good idea, good goal.

Here's what I'd do.

Scrap the entire cast description as is. First things first, sign David Hewlett to a big fat contract, because he's the best actor you've got. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that the man has the most range of any member of the Atlantis cast, that's why he gets the lion's share of "character piece" shows, because his acting is just that malleable.

Leave the O'Neill behind. I know, you guys love writing that character and his many, many clones. It's a good character and you do it well. Still, time to move on. I'd suggest that the team leader be a novice commander, someone who isn't an innate leader, someone who has serious flaws in that regard, someone who will have to learn things the hard way, potentially at great cost.

Don't cut the SGC out entirely. Use the gate. Atlantis was initially predicated upon the assumption that they wouldn't be able to get back to Earth or contact Earth. That's a bad idea. Who's to say Earth can't contact the ship, though? If any Stargate can dial the thing, it would be safe to assume you could send supplies, communications, and most importantly new cast members to the thing.

Don't make the story about "We've got to get back home!" either. If you want the Star Trek metaphor, don't think Voyager, think exploration. It's been a strong suit for the franchise to this point. Universe could be something that hasn't been seen before on television, a sci-fi show rooted in modern realities, but with that "boldly go where no man has gone before" appeal of Star Trek.

In conclusion, the main problem with Universe as I've seen, and I haven't seen enough to pass anything close to final judgement, only preliminary concerns, is that it flies in the face of all preceding installments in this franchise, which as I'm sure the producers are aware, is the third most successful Sci-Fi franchise of all time in terms of longevity (just a guess, I know Doctor Who and Star Trek would eclipse it, but 15 seasons plus two movies is nothing to sneeze at). If your best ideas for characters are taken from other people or "Dramatic Cliches: Vol. 1", you need to go back to the drawing board before you end up shooting yourselves in the foot.

I suppose the worst scenario is the one I as a writer wouldn't want to think possible. The show goes on, alienates well over a decade's worth of fans, and succeeds beyond anyone's wildest expectations in the ratings.

[Alan]

I had a sort of idea for the cast. No doubt it's been said, but what about the new recruits featured in Proving ground. http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Proving_Ground Would be the "young vibe" We've heard of, while they're still Five years older, so not teenagers.

I thought that myself. People were so worried about age but if you do look at the young SGC recruits in Proving Ground and add 5-years or so on to their ages and give them a bit more experience (but not as much as experience as Jack and Sam) you basically get the team that's going to feature in Stargate: Universe.

That's not a bad thing IMHO. I like the recruits in Proving Ground.

[Automission]

We have got to remember though, LT Elliot died after blending with Lantash. So it won't be them as an exact team, but we can hope we get some of them at least.

[Drumdevil]

Stargate Universe:

When a team of explorers from Earth find an Ancient unmanned ship called the Destiny and are unable to return to Earth, the crew must fend for themselves aboard the ship as it takes them to the far reaches of the universe.

Star Trek Voyager:

The series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 75,000 light-years from Earth while pursuing a renegade Maquis ship.

Well, the resemblance is quite obvious..

I made a pic for this subject:

Spoiler:

Anyways, I'm still looking forward to Universe. I loved SG-1 and Atlantis!

[Drumdevil]

I know the storyline!

Spoiler:

[Alan]

We have got to remember though, LT Elliot died after blending with Lantash. So it won't be them as an exact team, but we can hope we get some of them at least.

Are you aware that all the main characters in in Stargate: Universe are totally new and haven't appeared in either Stargate SG-1 or Stargate: Atlantis?

[Ackeb]

Are you aware that all the main characters in in Stargate: Universe are totally new and haven't appeared in either Stargate SG-1 or Stargate: Atlantis?

Which sucks because Reynolds would be awsome on this show.

[Mitchell82]

It would make sense if they got there via the Pegasus Galaxy, as it be a bit like an goodbye to SGA, hello to SGU thing. That would be cool.

P.S: SGC should really make their gate room look pretty, if that's the right term. It isn't a very nice sight (apart from the Stargate!) Get some designer whos into the top secret thing to paint it up a bit. ( sorry I'm off topic but I just couldn't resist)

That is wrong on so many levels but funny. Now I am very cautious about Universe because of some of the early details though I will remain hopeful that it will be decent.

[mr_kennedy]

ok so can someone clarify something for me? is this show set in sg-1's/sga's present or past?

i thought it was set in the past, but re-reading it leads me to believe its in the present

[any_gopher]

Takes place in the here and now, just like SG1 and SGA. The stuff that made you think it was in the past was probably just the backstory for SGU.

[igor108367]

full disclosure: I've written some things some of you have probably seen. Not all of it has been good. I'm a C-List script doctor at best, but I've been a huge Stargate fan since the beginning, which led me to register just so I can make this one post.

This is a creative hail-mary pass. I have no idea why they're doing it, especially with Atlantis hitting its stride. I have no idea why they aren't fighting tooth and nail to secure actors like Michael Shanks and David Hewlett for permanent positions on Universe. I have no idea why the character descriptions that have been floated are utterly bereft of creative merit.

I'm of the opinion that if you have to reference characters written by other people in your casting pitches, you shouldn't be allowed to write characters. SG-1 started with two core characters from the film, though not the same actors. That's natural.

With Universe, we're told to expect two flavors of Matt Damon, one being a freakish hybrid with Jack Black of all people, an Eric Bana, an O'Neill clone, plus two female characters who couldn't possibly be more unoriginal in description. What's the newest thing? They want one of the women to be Asian. Good job, here's a lollipop. Please rethink this.

The core concept of Universe is solid, no matter how much it might seem like Voyager or Galactica, it has potential well beyond the established domains of SG-1 and Atlantis. What the writers seem to be forgetting from what I can surmise, is that their series' have been successful for a reason, and the reason is character. You want a younger audience, great, good goal. You want a new setting, again, good idea, good goal.

Here's what I'd do.

Scrap the entire cast description as is. First things first, sign David Hewlett to a big fat contract, because he's the best actor you've got. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that the man has the most range of any member of the Atlantis cast, that's why he gets the lion's share of "character piece" shows, because his acting is just that malleable.

Leave the O'Neill behind. I know, you guys love writing that character and his many, many clones. It's a good character and you do it well. Still, time to move on. I'd suggest that the team leader be a novice commander, someone who isn't an innate leader, someone who has serious flaws in that regard, someone who will have to learn things the hard way, potentially at great cost.

Don't cut the SGC out entirely. Use the gate. Atlantis was initially predicated upon the assumption that they wouldn't be able to get back to Earth or contact Earth. That's a bad idea. Who's to say Earth can't contact the ship, though? If any Stargate can dial the thing, it would be safe to assume you could send supplies, communications, and most importantly new cast members to the thing.

Don't make the story about "We've got to get back home!" either. If you want the Star Trek metaphor, don't think Voyager, think exploration. It's been a strong suit for the franchise to this point. Universe could be something that hasn't been seen before on television, a sci-fi show rooted in modern realities, but with that "boldly go where no man has gone before" appeal of Star Trek.

In conclusion, the main problem with Universe as I've seen, and I haven't seen enough to pass anything close to final judgement, only preliminary concerns, is that it flies in the face of all preceding installments in this franchise, which as I'm sure the producers are aware, is the third most successful Sci-Fi franchise of all time in terms of longevity (just a guess, I know Doctor Who and Star Trek would eclipse it, but 15 seasons plus two movies is nothing to sneeze at). If your best ideas for characters are taken from other people or "Dramatic Cliches: Vol. 1", you need to go back to the drawing board before you end up shooting yourselves in the foot.

I suppose the worst scenario is the one I as a writer wouldn't want to think possible. The show goes on, alienates well over a decade's worth of fans, and succeeds beyond anyone's wildest expectations in the ratings.

I agree with a lot of thinks you say. I really hope they will dump the voyager ,farscape storyline because is seen so many times and it will not bring them the audience they want.
They should never isolate the cast members. Aliens are cool and some character from alien origen who have diffrent traditions and habits from ours will be nice.
I strongly recomend for them not to create the universe first. They should create the enemy and the course of the war between them in the show. They should plan the begginign and the ending of the conflict. they should map every step so that they can now how to deal with all the confusion that is coming. They should not create new enemies every single episode like they do in stargate atlantis. It's not working.
They should plan the story from the beggining to the end.
They should also remove some of the rediculous aspects from the genre too like the fact that for 12-13 years they posses the knowledge of the stargate and send ships in other galaxies but that is still not a public knowledge. Or the fact that there is only two spaceships in a period of five years or more but the russians menage to build their own in a couple of episodes period. Now country in their rigth mind will keap producing ships for sea if they can build spaceships. It's a waste of resources. Also they can by spaceships and weapons from other alien races. So relase the news. Prepeare earth for war in one por two episodes. land an invasion forcies in one or two episodes. Mix things a little.
They should also consider to unite all the worlds in the universe with humas together.
And they should never use a timer tied episodes all the time. That is what killed sliders. They couldn't get a continuous storyline either.
And dump the o'neil cjharacter also. Make Vala a team leader for a change. She will comand them but also get them in trouble and the rest of the team will have to beil her out. The leader shoudn;t be perfect.
And please don't put a arogant sicentist to run our entire show. Have a team of scienties like every normal labaratory. If you bring a scientis on the spotline ou can make him mad. That is a never deing classic.

[skydragon786]

I think TPTB should incorporate the idea into SGU, where the "Furlings" are introduced as good guys under a different name, till sometime in Season 2 or something, when they are found out to be the Furlings, and they were the reason why the alliance of the 4 great races fell apart (They turn out to be uber-bad guys).

I thought the recent bad guys introduced in First Contact would've been an excellent template to base the Furlings on in SGU, but there you go.

[IrishPisano]

I think TPTB should incorporate the idea into SGU, where the "Furlings" are introduced as good guys under a different name, till sometime in Season 2 or something, when they are found out to be the Furlings, and they were the reason why the alliance of the 4 great races fell apart (They turn out to be uber-bad guys).

I thought the recent bad guys introduced in First Contact would've been an excellent template to base the Furlings on in SGU, but there you go.

introducing the Furlings now would be the largest mistake ever in science fiction writing second only to bringing William Shatner back to play Capt. James T. Kirk.

there is an incredible amount of mystery surrounding them now, and to reveal ANYTHING about them....... would be like revealing Wolverine's true past...
it would make them incredibly dull and destroy any of the mystique surrounding them in reruns of SG1

just let dead races be dead races