Sci Fi’s Stargate SG-1 Said to Be Axed
By Mary McNamara -- Multichannel News, 8/21/2006 12:59:00 PM
People close to the production of Stargate SG-1 said Sci Fi Channel canceled the series on the eve of its 200th episode, which aired last Friday night, making the show the first cable scripted series to reach such a milestone.
The announcement came in sometime before cast, crew and executives gathered to celebrate the historic airing at a Saturday-evening bash held at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the series is shot.
Spinoff series Stargate Atlantis -- which also airs Friday nights on Sci Fi and shares producers and production facilities with the older SG-1 -- was said to be unaffected by the cancellation. Atlantis is currently in its third season.
After a nine-year run -- five years on Showtime and now in its fifth year on NBC Universal’s Sci Fi -- SG-1’sratings dropped approximately 30% this summer compared with the same time period last year, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
The aging series is expensive to produce, and the U.S.-Canadian dollar exchange rate has wiped out savings related to the Vancouver production.
SG-1 was also moved into the Friday 9 p.m. slot (from 8 p.m. last year), pitting the series against sister NBC U cable network USA Network's high-performance Monk,which had been also been shifted this season (to 9 p.m. from 10 p.m.).
But feelings are running hot over the timing of the decision, just as the show was celebrating its finest hour. People close to the show complained that support was tepid and that a decision to cancel was made early on. The channel failed to vigorously promote the show this season, they added, giving the network the public excuse they needed to pull the plug.
Sci Fi did, however, issue black-velvet-lined Stargate press packets in June, and the network honored the 200th episode with a lavish evening bash at its Television Critics Association gathering in Pasadena, Calif., in mid-July, flying in the cast and producers and trucking in a 14-foot “stargate” prop from Vancouver.
There has long been industry speculation that the NBC U cable networks are being pressured to cancel aging shows produced by competing studios in favor of NBC U Television product. Sci Fi executives have vehemently denied that this is the case, pointing to ongoing partnerships with Lionsgate and other studios.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio that owns and produces Stargate SG-1, recently expressed strong support for the series and the franchise (www.multichannel.com/article/CA6332083.html).
Studio executives are working to identify an alternative outlet for Stargate SG-1, people close to the production said.
Season 10 of the show is still in production. It's not yet clear if production will continue or if completed episodes will air. A Sci Fi press official did not respond to an e-mail inquiry sent over the weekend.
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I must admit this article was very saddening, however, it was anything but shocking. The end of Stargate was nearing as soon as they scrapped Gen. Hammond's character several seasons back. Once they also replaced Col. O'Neill with others. I, for one, stopped watching the series in the middle of the 8th season. By that time, the show had taken a free fall off a cliff with nothing to save it. (Besides, who ever said Teal'c looked good with hair was not thinking. Whatever happened to "I must shave my head." episode: "Holiday" season two) Sadly, we must say goodbye to the best show since the original Star Trek.
5*Hour*Opera - 10/23/2007 10:07:00 PM EDT -
I too have been a big fan of SG1 and all of its characters and stories. Everyone connected with the show should be extremely proud of the contribution they have made to Science fiction and to taking us out beyond the stars. I think it is very sad that the powers that be for some reason have warped minds, when ther is a programme like this that is so successful to take it off the air. I think they should seriously consider a full length feature film to finish off the story properly, especially to give Richard Dean Anderson's character of Jack O'Neill a better send off than they did.
Alison Logan - 5/28/2007 4:03:00 PM EDT -
Nancy said: "And lets not forget the obvious correlations between the Ori and the U.S.A./U.N"
Funny, I see that as a snub at Islam with the "convert or die" mentality. Just my 2 cents.
Sci-Fi channel has made a habit of canceling good shows.
Farscape, Lexx, I-Man, Stargate SG-1, etc. They''''ll do it again. Look on the bright side...we''''ll get more WRESTLING???!!!!!
Eric in Loveland - 5/24/2007 12:37:00 PM EDT -
I don''t agree with the previous poster... especially as far is concerned Battlestar Gallactica. That series doesn''t offer in anyway a positive vision of humanity. Half the time I get the impression the Cylons are really better than humans, in some sense more admirable. If thats the case, then why are we to care if the 12 Colonies were destroyed? All this in the name of "realism." It started well, but after 3 seasons of that show, I am actually now really bored of it.
I don''t see how having vulgar language and gritty characters makes it a show I should watch, and I don''t even find the so-called "surprises" even all that surprising. I just don''t see why I should root for characters who have no good attributes. Maybe Stargate was all light and fluffy at times, but Battlestar is all dark and brutting and it just gets tiresome.
The writers unwillingness to introduce an alien civilization into the dynamic has made for repetive material. Just look at the scientist and the blond cylon in his head, god that went on for far too long. And Starbuck? Come ''on I am supposed to give a rat''s ass about her? She is quite possibly the most annoying character of television.
I hope this message is seen and that people start questioning the belief that somehow Battlestar Gallactica is the greatest of all shows. Nothing could be further from the truth. They''ve just repeated a good mini-series, and dragged it on for for 3 seasons -offering very little new along the way.
Philippe - 5/22/2007 7:02:00 PM EDT -
thank god the show's finally been cancelled. There's only so many times that I can stand watching smug, goody-two-shoe, self-righteous characters that seem more like saints than real people. These characters are so unbelievable. They rarely do anything wrong, like most human beings. After all these years, the plots are still so sophomorically simple. Self-righteous good guy versus depraved, utterly evil bad guy; good guy fights hordes of imperial guards, yet manages to miraculously survive it all every time...and worst of all, no matter how hopeless SG-1's problems are, brainiac Samantha manages to find a scientific solution at the last second, thereby saving the entire galaxy once again.
Tealc looks like an overweight Michael Jackson, and says nothing but "Indeed," all the time. What a token. And Daniel always has some long overbearing, self-righteous speech to say to the enemy of the week. And lets not forget the obvious correlations between the Ori and the U.S.A./U.N., in which the Ori supposedly try to bring "enlightenment" to less developed worlds, just like the western world is currently trying to spread enlightenment in the form of democracy to second and third world countries like Iraq.
The only decent thing about the show is MacGyver and his deadpan humor.
Thank God for Battlestar Galactica.
Nancy Downs - 5/17/2007 4:51:00 PM EDT
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