The End of SGU (Will We Ever Know?)

[Wolf O'Donnell]

I think one day he might come out and just tell us what the plans were or he might write a book or comic book. I think it has not been done yet for two reasons: 1. The Hateful scream the loudest and that's all he heard while SGU was on and he might be too afraid or even too jaded to talk to "stargate fans".
2. he still has hope of telling the story in some form.


I think the best thing any of us can hope for is that people discover all the stargates via stuff like netflix. The fan base needs to diversify and then with any luck there will be a great enough demand for SGU stories. The franchise needs to get more viewers who are not so close minded to new kinds of stories and less right wing people who are afraid to see poor Wray on screen and are not just looking to see the US military free people from false pagan gods in the name of America.

[Snowman37]

The Hateful scream the loudest and that's all he heard while SGU was on and he might be too afraid or even too jaded to talk to "stargate fans".

He's a TV producer, criticism comes with the job. Besides, who cares what winy fanboys on the webz think? They're hardly representative of the audience at large.

he still has hope of telling the story in some form.

Far more likely.

I think the best thing any of us can hope for is that people discover all the stargates via stuff like netflix. The fan base needs to diversify and then with any luck there will be a great enough demand for SGU stories. The franchise needs to get more viewers who are not so close minded to new kinds of stories and less right wing people who are afraid to see poor Wray on screen and are not just looking to see the US military free people from false pagan gods in the name of America.

There are plenty of shows that Netflix will be far more likely to attempt to renew. If Netflix were to produce new Stargate episodes, I'd be expecting a fourth series, not a return to Universe. The fans are irrelevant, the audience at large didn't like the show, ratings tanked, and the show was cancelled. Ultimately, it was the producers who failed to put out an entertaining show. It had nothing to do with their relation to SG-1/Atlantis fans. There will never be a big enough demand for a third season of SGU or a movie, unfortunately. Maybe a novel or comic book at best. The problem was not closed minded viewers, it was that the show was boring and too slowly paced. As for Wray, I have no idea what you're talking about. As for seeing U.S. soldiers free displaced humans from aliens posing as pagan gods, no. There were lots of episodes enjoyed by the masses that had nothing to do with that. A lot of planet of the week episodes were a hit. The replicator and Asuran episodes were a hit as were the Wraith. It was the overall fast paced story telling that was interesting. One could also argue that SGU was attempting to be a serial, and the masses were used to the episodic approach for 12 years. Serials very rarely get past the first or second season.

[Quizziard]

Get TPTB into a bar and ply them with loads of beer. The proper European stuff with alcohol in, not that watered down American stuff. TPTB are encouraged to talk about the show and, bingo...

[min min light]

Now there's the first plan I think might actually have a chance of working.

[Wolf O'Donnell]

He's a TV producer, criticism comes with the job. Besides, who cares what winy fanboys on the webz think? They're hardly representative of the audience at large.


Far more likely.


There are plenty of shows that Netflix will be far more likely to attempt to renew. If Netflix were to produce new Stargate episodes, I'd be expecting a fourth series, not a return to Universe. The fans are irrelevant, the audience at large didn't like the show, ratings tanked, and the show was cancelled. Ultimately, it was the producers who failed to put out an entertaining show. It had nothing to do with their relation to SG-1/Atlantis fans. There will never be a big enough demand for a third season of SGU or a movie, unfortunately. Maybe a novel or comic book at best. The problem was not closed minded viewers, it was that the show was boring and too slowly paced. As for Wray, I have no idea what you're talking about. As for seeing U.S. soldiers free displaced humans from aliens posing as pagan gods, no. There were lots of episodes enjoyed by the masses that had nothing to do with that. A lot of planet of the week episodes were a hit. The replicator and Asuran episodes were a hit as were the Wraith. It was the overall fast paced story telling that was interesting. One could also argue that SGU was attempting to be a serial, and the masses were used to the episodic approach for 12 years. Serials very rarely get past the first or second season.

In most cases I would agree about him being in TV and not being effected by fanboys or whatever but in this case I really think he was hurt. I honestly think that he saw the fanbase turn on him and because of that I think he is/was more upset then one would imagine.

I'm saying that they had to be banking on SGU to carry viewers from Atlantis and SG-1 to some extent. I think part of the reason it didn't was because Stargate had unintentionally built up a very conservative fan base. Just look around this site if you need evidence to that, the biggest social groups on this site tend to be more conservative, we have seen countless anti gay comments, talk of murdering President Obama, and even people saying that prayer in schools would prevent school shootings. The only reason I have come up with for the series to have such a uneven following in terms of the politics of its viewers is because the plot line of sg1 must have translated into something nationalistic and even sort of as a validation to their religion. Where as you or I might have seen a team from earth going to fight aliens, I think that to a certain amount of people it was something more along the lines of " Good old fashioned Americans going forth and freeing slaves from false gods and saving them with truth justice and the American way" this might have been something in the subconscious of those viewers but I think it happened none the less. This concept is also why I think the Ori arc was so polarizing among fans, some might have seen something a little too close to their own belief system in the Ori and so they rejected the new plot line. When it comes to SGU, I think the thing that hurt it the most was that it could not get a big enough group of the already established Stargate fans and I think a lot of that is due to the fact that it was a very different show and a huge population of stargate fans are a group who just dont deal with change very well "I want my country back!! I want my country back!!" kind of people. I think the inclusion of a gay character was never going to sit well with a group of people who opposes the inclusion of homosexuals in anything, and I think that the moral grey area that some of the SGU characters fit in turned the same people off because they were more interested in seeing infallible heroes because it was more in line with what they wanted and because it might be more simplistic to know who is good and who is bad and that puts their minds at ease.
Where these the only reasons SGU failed? No, of course not but after all these years I really do think that this is a huge chunk of why It didnt work out.

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

I think part of the reason it didn't was because Stargate had unintentionally built up a very conservative fan base. Just look around this site if you need evidence to that, the biggest social groups on this site tend to be more conservative, we have seen countless anti gay comments, talk of murdering President Obama, and even people saying that prayer in schools would prevent school shootings.

I think you're talking rubbish. People are people and many have likes and dislikes. Just because many may voice their dislikes while others voice their likes doesn't mean that the people are mainly conservative.

As for SGU.. as snowman says it lost viewers because it was so boring and couldn't hold their attention in season 1. The first episodes of any new show will either make it or break it. In SGUs case, it broke it. The producers in their quest to make something different and pat each other on the back went a step too far and dulled the show down too much. I liked the concept of SGU - stuck on destiny billions of light years from home but I didn't like the way it was done - as a drama instead of a scifi show. In my view they were pretty selfish doing that instead of giving the fans what they wanted. In that contect I never liked Star Trek Deep Space 9 either. TNG and Voyager were great but DS9 was utterly boring in the few episodes I watched that couldn't hold me. Needless to say I never bothered with the rest and that is what happened with SGU. The cast, the characters, the idea... all were fine but it was done in the wrong way.

Sure, I loved SGU once S2 came and the plots were a lot better than s1 but it was too late. The damage was done.

[psl1]

It was not boring to me, it was exciting and truly remarkable to watch at times. It did "bring back the wonder" of space scifi, for me.


I should know I'm currently suffering through SG-1 and SG Atlantis, just to find out how good/poor it is.

I think modern generation tastes in quality have deteriorated over the decades. When we grew up much was left to the imagination, so you had to work for it. These days it’s served with a silver spoon to the audience. Bonnie Hammer would say that’s the way you like it. Which is sad.

All the Great stuff has already been done. All we get now are pale imitations & remakes.

[Wolf O'Donnell]

I think you're talking rubbish. People are people and many have likes and dislikes. Just because many may voice their dislikes while others voice their likes doesn't mean that the people are mainly conservative.

As for SGU.. as snowman says it lost viewers because it was so boring and couldn't hold their attention in season 1. The first episodes of any new show will either make it or break it. In SGUs case, it broke it. The producers in their quest to make something different and pat each other on the back went a step too far and dulled the show down too much. I liked the concept of SGU - stuck on destiny billions of light years from home but I didn't like the way it was done - as a drama instead of a scifi show. In my view they were pretty selfish doing that instead of giving the fans what they wanted. In that contect I never liked Star Trek Deep Space 9 either. TNG and Voyager were great but DS9 was utterly boring in the few episodes I watched that couldn't hold me. Needless to say I never bothered with the rest and that is what happened with SGU. The cast, the characters, the idea... all were fine but it was done in the wrong way.

Sure, I loved SGU once S2 came and the plots were a lot better than s1 but it was too late. The damage was done.

I may be wrong. Ill never know for sure but it is just my current theory as to part of why it failed to get a lot of the preexisting stargate fanbase. If this is indeed the biggest stargate fansite and if this forum holds any indication of the demographics of the hardcore stargate fans (the ones who you would think would follow the franchise from show to show) then it only takes a simple look around to notice that a lot of these people learn towards the right. I just think that not realizing that in the production of SGU hurt it.

Now, I am in no way saying that conservatives are bad people even though I disagree with them of human rights, freedom of choice, and all that other stuff. I am just saying that I think that Stargate is something of an anomaly in Sci Fi TV that has a unusually high right wing fan base.

[jelgate]

It was not boring to me, it was exciting and truly remarkable to watch at times. It did "bring back the wonder" of space scifi, for me.


I should know I'm currently suffering through SG-1 and SG Atlantis, just to find out how good/poor it is.

I think modern generation tastes in quality have deteriorated over the decades. When we grew up much was left to the imagination, so you had to work for it. These days it’s served with a silver spoon to the audience. Bonnie Hammer would say that’s the way you like it. Which is sad.

All the Great stuff has already been done. All we get now are pale imitations & remakes.

Your grandfather said the same about the stuff you watch and how the entertainment use to be better

[Brother Freyr]

Get TPTB into a bar and ply them with loads of beer. The proper European stuff with alcohol in, not that watered down American stuff. TPTB are encouraged to talk about the show and, bingo...

Best plan yet! LOL. It could actually work!

I'm saying that they had to be banking on SGU to carry viewers from Atlantis and SG-1 to some extent. I think part of the reason it didn't was because Stargate had unintentionally built up a very conservative fan base.

I think you're off-base here. SGU, which I've come to love by the way, started weakly and took too long to improve. Once you've lost fans you can rarely win them back.

It's not relevant, but I think there are just as many lefty liberals here, myself among them, as there are right wingers.

[Wolf O'Donnell]

Best plan yet! LOL. It could actually work!

I think you're off-base here. SGU, which I've come to love by the way, started weakly and took too long to improve. Once you've lost fans you can rarely win them back.

It's not relevant, but I think there are just as many lefty liberals here, myself among them, as there are right wingers.

I could be but for now its my theory. I have seen far more right wing stuff here but then again maybe I just notice it more. I was doing a report in 2008 for a class and around that time I discovered the Christians of Gateworld group and Conservatives R us group and going to do a project on the political climate at the time using a lot of those posts (Mostly threats to Obama and calling him a terrorist and such) but of course I did my project on something else in the end. Those are some of the biggest groups on this site and if you look around you see a lot of right wing posts, a whole lot of anti gay stuff when SGU was first coming out among other things.

[min min light]

In most cases I would agree about him being in TV and not being effected by fanboys or whatever but in this case I really think he was hurt. I honestly think that he saw the fanbase turn on him and because of that I think he is/was more upset then one would imagine.

Well of course he was, who wouldn't be? Being a professional writer means they pay you to write, it doesn't mean they give you a magic key that turns off your emotions.

... I think that Stargate is something of an anomaly in Sci Fi TV that has a unusually high right wing fan base.

If true that is indeed an anomaly, and I could see where (in that case) the Ori arc would turn people off. I'm not even particularly religious and I was side-eyeing that whole deal in the beginning. Sci-fi does love to skewer religion.

[psl1]

Your grandfather said the same about the stuff you watch and how the entertainment use to be better

Nice try but fail.

We all actually watched the same shows on BBC TV. I have spoken with my parents on this subject and they share my feelings.

[jelgate]

You're missing the point. People generally always think entertainment was better when they were a kid

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

It was not boring to me, it was exciting and truly remarkable to watch at times. It did "bring back the wonder" of space scifi, for me.

At times? - That says it all.

I should know I'm currently suffering through SG-1 and SG Atlantis, just to find out how good/poor it is.

You should know what? - You're opinion isn't the be all and end all of everything. There are many of us who loved those two shows. I'll admit SG-1 was a bit slow to get going and I suppose the producers never thought it could hit 10 years to give it a fancy plot involving the ancients etc but it became unmissable viewing along with Atlantis.

Your grandfather said the same about the stuff you watch and how the entertainment use to be better

LOL. Can't say fairer than that!

I think you're off-base here. SGU, which I've come to love by the way, started weakly and took too long to improve. Once you've lost fans you can rarely win them back.

I wouldn't say it started weakly, I was excited in the very first episode but from there it went downhill fast. Add to that the thought of it being one episode per week when originally aired and you're not going to keep an audience for long. When I first saw it on PickTV here in the UK they were showing two episodes at a time just to try and keep viewers and even then I frequently fell asleep through S1. Season 2 was superior and more like the old SG that we knew and loved. The drones had so much potential along with the seed ships and blue aliens...