SG1 and SGA both had hour long formats because the pace of the show was fundamentally different. It was more action based, and the plots were generally self-contained and resolved by the episode's end. You needed an hour's worth of airtime to establish the premise, have meaningful plot and character development, bring the episode to the conclusion you seek, and still have enough time for the action and comedy you needed to keep the show entertaining.
However, SGU's formula is entirely different. It's a long-haul show, driven more by season-long plot arcs than by episode-long plot lines. Sometimes there's action, but there's not much comedy, and the plots of each individual episode are generally much less important (or memorable) than the small bits each episode gradually reveal (or set up) about the larger story arc. The result of that, I think, is apparent in "Cloverdale" moreso than most episodes: there's a lot of filler, inasmuch as the dream sequence took about 25 minutes of airtime without any fundamental growth of Scott's character that hadn't already occurred. Sometimes they just dont seem to have 44 minutes worth of story to tell, without giving too much away that they're saving for later.
Of course, some episodes are fine - the LA invasion multiparter filled its timeslot just like Kolya's invasion multiparter on SGA filled out its episodes - but that style of storytelling is, by design, not a regular part of SGU.
I know also that a lot of people like the more slow-paced feel of SGU, with its ubiquitous long montages, frequent expression shots, and dialogue with a lot more "dead air" than we see in action-paced shows, and thats of course just a matter of taste, so dont think that I'm attacking the show stylistically.
My question is this: would you be upset if SGU switched to a 30 minute format? Episodes like the LA arc could still be split into multiparters or an occasional hourlong "special episode", but so-called "Earth episodes" and other non-plot-driven episodes I think could easily tell their story in a 30 minute timeslot, with much of the "filler" cut out that sometimes seems to be put in to make it through that last commercial break.
I sometimes think that the only reason SGU was ever a 60 minute format to begin with was simply that Stargate shows have always been an hour long before, but thats really arbitary if you're not doing that same kind of show.
However, SGU's formula is entirely different. It's a long-haul show, driven more by season-long plot arcs than by episode-long plot lines. Sometimes there's action, but there's not much comedy, and the plots of each individual episode are generally much less important (or memorable) than the small bits each episode gradually reveal (or set up) about the larger story arc. The result of that, I think, is apparent in "Cloverdale" moreso than most episodes: there's a lot of filler, inasmuch as the dream sequence took about 25 minutes of airtime without any fundamental growth of Scott's character that hadn't already occurred. Sometimes they just dont seem to have 44 minutes worth of story to tell, without giving too much away that they're saving for later.
Of course, some episodes are fine - the LA invasion multiparter filled its timeslot just like Kolya's invasion multiparter on SGA filled out its episodes - but that style of storytelling is, by design, not a regular part of SGU.
I know also that a lot of people like the more slow-paced feel of SGU, with its ubiquitous long montages, frequent expression shots, and dialogue with a lot more "dead air" than we see in action-paced shows, and thats of course just a matter of taste, so dont think that I'm attacking the show stylistically.
My question is this: would you be upset if SGU switched to a 30 minute format? Episodes like the LA arc could still be split into multiparters or an occasional hourlong "special episode", but so-called "Earth episodes" and other non-plot-driven episodes I think could easily tell their story in a 30 minute timeslot, with much of the "filler" cut out that sometimes seems to be put in to make it through that last commercial break.
I sometimes think that the only reason SGU was ever a 60 minute format to begin with was simply that Stargate shows have always been an hour long before, but thats really arbitary if you're not doing that same kind of show.
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