Did conservatives kill SGU?

[anaberration]

Omg someone brings a left wing/right wing political debate into a Stargate SGU forum and I am being called a troll for posting a simple cartoon ? Some people are just sick in the head...

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Republibot,

It's been said by Brad Wright (I think it was) that 'Conservatives killed Stargate Universe.' I'm pretty conservative (Duh. Check my screen name), and of course the reaction from the people on my side of the aisle is "What a jerk! We didn't kill Stargate! Blah blah blah! Angry! Blah blah blay! The president is a demmmeeekrat! Blah blah blah!" (I paraphrase slightly, but you get the gist). Most of the people who are recoiling in horror at this allegation, though, are people who'd already stopped watching Gate quite a while ago, most of 'em before SGU went on the air.

Thing is: The more I think on this, the more I realize Wright is probably right. My fellow conservatives probably *did* kill SGU, but probably not in the way, nor for the reasons he suggests.

There's also been allegations that SGA fans kind of refused to support the new show. Definitely there were some of those, but from my own experiences (I run a SF website), I don't think they were a significant factor.

So anyway, that's what I've got. Anyone got any opinions? Anyone still out there?

I'm a libertarian and I loved the show. I'd watch it now if someone else picked it up.

[Republibot 3.0]

Omg someone brings a left wing/right wing political debate into a Stargate SGU forum and I am being called a troll for posting a simple cartoon ? Some people are just sick in the head...

I didn't troll you did I? If so, I'm sorry. Anyway: my purpose in bringing all this up was simply 'cuz it's one of the things people are yammering about elsewhere. Seemed like this'd be the best place to talk about it and get some actual real info (Which I've done. Thanks, all!) If I'm starting any unrest, I do apologize. Never my intent.

[Republibot 3.0]

Republibot,



I'm a libertarian and I loved the show. I'd watch it now if someone else picked it up.

It'd be interesting to see how non-mainstream groups responded to it. Did Greens prefer it to the other shows, given the mention of having to grow their own food? Did Libertarians prefer it to Republicans? How about Socialists? I hadn't thought of that, but it's interesting.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Snowman,

Bitter Atlantis fans, conservatives, closed-minded viewers who won't accept a radically different Stargate; what's next? None of these killed SGU. SGU was set to fail simply because the pacing was glacially slow, the stories told were mostly boring, and the characters were bland. Then there's Eli who's there, because... he's good at video games? Really? Right... The premise of Icarus base being evacuated to Destiny thanks to Dr. Rush who now fight to survive by repairing the ship and then exploring it's mission was a great premise. It failed in execution. People watch Stargate for ADVENTURE, not for gritty intense drama. That, folks, is what killed the show.

I didn't watch the prior incarnations of Stargate because I found them a bit corny. I loved the more serious tone of this show and the focus upon character. I loved aliens that weren't people with forehead makeup. I loved the fact that people had personality conflicts and there were political machinactions between people that we liked. It was a great show and I'm sorry more people didn't pick up on it.

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

I still blame the gnomes...

[LtColCarter]

It's very easy in the modern world where politics are relatively pronounced, to forget that conservative is originally a mere word and not a political persuasion. I suspect the majority of people, to some extent, are conservative: they like what they know and aren't too keen on change (at least until they've seen the benefit).

In terms of SGU vs SG1/SGA, the latter was (or at least felt like it was) "the same people" in the same direct universe with a relatively large amount of cross-over. It was shot in the same style, the episodes were largely in the same style and so on. With SGU it just felt so different. Stuck on the ship, with relatively limited and specific off-ship episodes, relatively little direct SGC-type contact and so on. Hence "conservative" people could quite easily take some time to "adjust". Psychologically, at least in theory. In viewing figures they definitely did, though whether that's the reason we'll never know.

I agree that it wasn't the conservatives...I'd never heard this theory until now. I just think SGU was too much of a departure from what people were used to in the SG realm. I know as season one went on, I grew to like SGU. And I really liked it by the time it ended...and it did end with some awesome episodes.

[Gatefan1976]

I still blame the gnomes...

I think it was a troll / Unicorn / Fae civil war myself, the Gnomes were never directly implicated as a causative source, they just acted as mercenaries for both side's for profit.

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

TV shows in general do not seek to alienate large swathes of their audience, so in general they tend not to, at the very least, be overt in falling on one side of the political fence as its counter productive. They may sometimes reflect the bias of the writers, but they are unlikely to deliberately and out rightly say “screw you” to what may be a large chunk of the audience. Further I’ve often found that people might be divided by political beliefs but oddly often share similar tastes in tv, though they may like stuff for different reasons. Hence for example the rather bizarre case of the Wire for instance, where I and other Conservative minded people love it, but it it also happens to be Barrack Obama's favourite show. In SGU's case, the show made no judgement about who was right or wrong about conflicts between the crew for example, instead allowing the viewer to make up their own minds about who should lead the crew, for instance. The frequent debates on the forum here over many of the more divide episodes show that people took that to heart and that their was a wide variety of people with differing political views and outlooks watching the show.

The show ended for a number of reasons, and I'm sure more boring people can yet again bring out their ratings charts and figures and go round and round in circles, but if there is one thing that is clear, it is that the show did not set out to appeal to one political demographic. While I suppose that ultra social conservatives may have been put off by SGU, I really don't think that they were a major audience, for any of Stargate.

I frequent several very conservative gun forums and the fact is much darker and grittier shows like Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, the Wire and the Sopranos are all adored by them. And while SGU may have been slightly darker than previous Stargate, It's still incredibly tame when compared to the afore mentioned shows. Most shows will have an audience that has a wide range of political demographics as they seek to attract the widest audiance and make the most money.

I think it was a troll / Unicorn / Fae civil war myself, the Gnomes were never directly implicated as a causative source, they just acted as mercenaries for both side's for profit.

Rubbish, there are no Unicorns or Fae in my head sir, only gnomes! As for the trolls well they recently left to set up a bakery in Slough and you do them a great disservice with your slander! Clearly you are in league with Barrack Obama and the ultra liberal gnome conspiracy to end science fiction! What is required now is a 20 page argument, in ALL CAPS, on this subject, with frequent insults to each others pet badgers.

It would make at least as much sense as blaming a political demographic for the demise of a tv show.

[anaberration]

I didn't troll you did I? If so, I'm sorry. Anyway: my purpose in bringing all this up was simply 'cuz it's one of the things people are yammering about elsewhere. Seemed like this'd be the best place to talk about it and get some actual real info (Which I've done. Thanks, all!) If I'm starting any unrest, I do apologize. Never my intent.

No reason to apologize to me, you didnt troll me. I just dont get it. Where does politics enter into the final failure of the SG franchise ? Heck even the actors are saying there was not enough viewers ( using the current system to record the amount of viewers, which sucks ).
Are you asking if politics affected the franchise is some way ? If so, no it did not.
I see left/right wing being brought up in threads dealing with water wells upto and including pizza dough threads, so I am not surprised to see it here.
Good luck with that.

[Quizziard]

I think it was a troll / Unicorn / Fae civil war myself, the Gnomes were never directly implicated as a causative source, they just acted as mercenaries for both side's for profit.

Nonsense. The statistics clearly show it was the Gnolls, not the Gnomes, who were acting as mercenaries. The Gnomes were little more than messengers...

[Gatefan1976]

Rubbish, there are no Unicorns or Fae in my head sir, only gnomes! As for the trolls well they recently left to set up a bakery in Slough and you do them a great disservice with your slander! Clearly you are in league with Barrack Obama and the ultra liberal gnome conspiracy to end science fiction! What is required now is a 20 page argument, in ALL CAPS, on this subject, with frequent insults to each others pet badgers.

I draw the line at insulting badger's, the badgers are the true victims here and to use them for politicaly expediant ideals would be wrong on many levels. I prefer to blame the Platypus, as a symbol of an animal that even biologists look at and say "WTF"??

[Gatefan1976]

Nonsense. The statistics clearly show it was the Gnolls, not the Gnomes, who were acting as mercenaries. The Gnomes were little more than messengers...

BS!!!
The Gnolls were also slaves of the great Goblin conspiricy, headed by the Orcs from the shadows. I have heard however that even more evil and nefarious beings are behind even the Orcs!!

[Quizziard]

BS!!!
The Gnolls were also slaves of the great Goblin conspiricy, headed by the Orcs from the shadows. I have heard however that even more evil and nefarious beings are behind even the Orcs!!

Sshhhhh. You'll get us shut down!

[Republibot 3.0]

Snowman,



I didn't watch the prior incarnations of Stargate because I found them a bit corny. I loved the more serious tone of this show and the focus upon character. I loved aliens that weren't people with forehead makeup. I loved the fact that people had personality conflicts and there were political machinactions between people that we liked. It was a great show and I'm sorry more people didn't pick up on it.

You and me both, brother.