Bringing back Stargate Television Series

[Raj_2006]

How about starting a petition on change. org to show MGM we want Stargate back? Either bring back SG-1, SGA, SGU and a new continuation series or bring back SGA, SGU and have a new sequel series. Which, will be either on MGM's on streaming service, Netflix or Amazon Prime.

[jelgate]

You'd have a better chance of winning the lottery and buying the show yourself

[Falcon Horus]

How about starting a petition on change. org to show MGM we want Stargate back? Either bring back SG-1, SGA, SGU and a new continuation series or bring back SGA, SGU and have a new sequel series. Which, will be either on MGM's on streaming service, Netflix or Amazon Prime.

It's like Jelgate says, you have a better chance at winning the lottery than that MGM is going to take notice of the fans.

I think Stargate Command has proven (the website, I mean) that MGM has a bit of a problem when it comes to marketing the franchise.

Stargate SG-1 can be streamed on Amazon Prime at the moment, but only in the USA.

Whenever they put the franchise out there, it's always restricted access.

CBS on the other hand makes sure that the access to their Star Trek shows is as widely available as possible. Sure, Picard is on Prime and Discovery on Netflix, but people across the globe do have access to it, unlike MGM's services which only look towards the "tiny" market of the USA, even though there's definitely a lot of people outside of those bounderies very much interested still in the franchise.

[Xaeden]

How about starting a petition on change. org to show MGM we want Stargate back? Either bring back SG-1, SGA, SGU and a new continuation series or bring back SGA, SGU and have a new sequel series. Which, will be either on MGM's on streaming service, Netflix or Amazon Prime.

It's not just up to MGM. They need to find a partner willing to finance and air a new show. Since they came out of bankruptcy, they've gone to great lengths to ensure that their big budget projects are co-financed so they don't take as big of a hit if it fails. Even if that were not the case, their TV network doesn't seem to be large enough to take on the budget of an expensive science fiction program all by itself.

Traditionally, shows are licensed to a network and that network pays the bulk of the production budget. In exchange, the network nets all of the ad revenue. MGM would pay a smaller percentage of the overall budget to help make the show profitable during its first run, and then they would be able to cash in on all the profits from syndication, DVD sales, merchandising, etc. (if it gets that far).

Some do things a little differently. Netflix, for example, pays for the entire production budget and they give the studio a licensing fee each season in exchange for the studio providing the exclusive rights to the show. This means that the studio cannot profit by later syndicating a property, but since most shows never make it to the 5 season minimum necessary for a show to do well in syndication, this allows them to make some money off of something that they might not otherwise have made a dime on.

In the first model, the few shows that do well in syndication pay for all the shows that fail to make it that far (as far as the studio is concerned). In the second model, studios can increase their revenue stream by licensing properties that they don't think would do well on network TV anyway ("Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" was turned down by NBC and would've come to nothing if Netflix didn't want it, "Sense8" is too far out there for most networks, etc.). This unfortunately means that if a studio has something that they think would make a boatload of money in syndication, they're going to sit on it rather than license it to Netflix. Nobody wants to give up the syndication rights to the next "Seinfeld," and while Stargate isn't "Seinfeld," syndicating it has made MGM a significant amount of money. They might agree to team up with Netflix on a movie or limited mini-series with the old cast, but the chances of MGM inking a deal with a new series on Netflix is very low.

With that in mind, they have to find a network or platform who doesn't want exclusive rights to a show and thinks that Stargate can do well enough with their audience to justify paying the lion's share of a new show's production budget. This is easier said than done. Even some networks are turning more toward in-house productions and increasingly shunning or giving early cancellation notices to licensed shows. Complicating matters is that Stargate is viewed as a big budget sci fi program with a niche audience that previously failed. I'd argue to my dying breath that it failed because of the Sci Fi channel's mismanagement, but people deciding whether to shell out tens of millions on something can be prickly. The good news is that TV science fiction is, I believe, in the early stages of a renaissance, so some of those "niche audience" concerns may fall away in the next few years.

As for a continuation of an existing show; it's very unlikely. The sets are too expensive to recreate unless they think they can get a few seasons out of a continuation and many of the actors for those three shows are busy doing other things. Scheduling is a behind-the-scenes nightmare that is responsible for a great many of the movies and shows you love not coming back. Read up on how the hoops they had to go through to create a new "Arrested Development" show on Netflix given that nobody was around at the same time. Fans were highly critical of the disjointed storylines and something like that would never work for Stargate.

As far as the original actors are concerned, the SGU cast is the busiest, the Sg-1 cast is the oldest, and Jason Momoa is never coming back for a Stargate anything as his quote is now too high. A movie, mini-series, or guest/starring roles in a new series with a mostly new cast is the best we can hope for at this point.

[Mnikolic]

Besides, I don't think the characers from SGA and SGU - in-series - would be willing to stay on Atlantis/Destiny for longer than they would have to stay. They'd probably all want to move on to do other things eventually, projects that would allow them to have more space and time for their personal lives. For starters, Zelenka, at the end of SGA, looked like he's completely fed up with McKay and I for one, wouldn't blame the guy (no offence to David Hewlett or his character on the show). And I also doubt, for example, that Young and Rush would't eventually have another go at each other too for XYZ reason, so the Earth guys would be eventually forced to either find annother, but this time stable Icarus planet (or come up with a new energy source that can provide the needed gate power for dialing Destiny) in order to send reinforcements, supplies, help everyone on Destiny to at least make it able to dial back to Earth without too many (bigg(er)) hitches and make the crew members the offer to either stay or leave Destiny at their own will.

On the other side of the medal (also in-series), the IOA would probably want to milk the hell out of the SG-1 guys so I imagine that Daniel, Sam, Vala, Jack, Teal'c and Mitchell would probably be stuck going trough the Stargate/Supergate for as long as the health would allow them to do so. That's why I think out best bet with any furure cameos in any potential future SG spin-off will feature SG-1 cameos in the front line.

[Raj_2006]

They can do an animation series for continuing SGA and SGU, if they cannot continue the series as a live action series. Then back to live action series on a new continuation series and movies.

[jelgate]

I think we are beneath Jason Momoa at this point

[Falcon Horus]

I think we are beneath Jason Momoa at this point

Like "Mariana Trench deep" beneath...

[Platschu]

https://www.gateworld.net/news/2020/...1-word-update/

So the new spin-off is called Stargate : Trying - alias "we are working on it".

But back to seriousness, I hope MGM will find a buyer for its content libraries then the new streaming owner (Apple) will order a new Stargate show.

[Falcon Horus]

I think the revival of Star Trek is what has Stargate "trying" and Brad would be a fool to keep quiet in a time where tv series are rebooted and/or brought back left, right and center.

However, I think the problem is financial more than idea... I have the distinct feeling that MGM isn't willing to foot the bill of a new show. Origins was financed by Legion M and the production company the director worked for. I think if a good set of producers (those who foot the bill) could be found, that MGM could be more forthcoming towards a new series -- if only a miniseries.

In any case... it's just talk.

[GateWorld]

Most (all?) of what MGM does these days is co-financed, and that's certainly always been the case with Stargate. Back in the day SCI FI footed the majority of the show's production budget. So it was easy enough for MGM to go along with what TPTB and the network wanted to do.

The direct-to-DVD movies were much more complicated to finance, because they required a bigger relative investment up-front from MGM. They had to gamble that they would make back their money (and then some), which largely just wasn't the case with the television shows. When the 2008-2009 sales numbers for Ark and Continuum were softer than they'd hoped, and the industry was forecasting a downturn in profitability of physical media releases, that's why we never got Revolutions or Extinction: MGM wasn't willing to carry all the risk on its own shoulders.

I suspect that's where we are now. In the post-bankruptcy era, MGM is even more risk-adverse ... and so its business model is built upon co-financing. MGM would probably be thrilled to have the franchise revived with a new series ... but it isn't willing to take on the risk of paying for it all up front. So with a series pitch and a proposed budget in hand, they'll have to convince somebody to buy the darn thing and pay for its production.

[Falcon Horus]

I suspect that's where we are now. In the post-bankruptcy era, MGM is even more risk-adverse ... and so its business model is built upon co-financing. MGM would probably be thrilled to have the franchise revived with a new series ... but it isn't willing to take on the risk of paying for it all up front. So with a series pitch and a proposed budget in hand, they'll have to convince somebody to buy the darn thing and pay for its production.

So we don't have to appeal to MGM's good side (well, a little) but to production companies, or producers willing to invest in something -- which I know is a risky business, money always is.

[Raj_2006]

So we don't have to appeal to MGM's good side (well, a little) but to production companies, or producers willing to invest in something -- which I know is a risky business, money always is.

Could get Joe Flanigan and other actors to invest.

[Falcon Horus]

Could get Joe Flanigan and other actors to invest.

I believe Joe already tried a few years ago -- and failed to convince MGM to go forward.

Production companies are far more likely to have the necessary funds to provide MGM with the kind of cash they would be looking for than individuals would have lying around.

See Vanishing Angles (oh, now I'm remember them again) and Stargate Origins.

[Raj_2006]

I believe Joe already tried a few years ago -- and failed to convince MGM to go forward.

Production companies are far more likely to have the necessary funds to provide MGM with the kind of cash they would be looking for than individuals would have lying around.

See Vanishing Angles (oh, now I'm remember them again) and Stargate Origins.

Yes he did but he can try again and get more people involved.