SG-1 Cancelled, Atlantis Renewed

[mhking]

From Multichannel News by way of Gateworld (http://gateworld.net/news/2006/08/istargate_sg-1i_cancelled_iatlan.shtml)

The future of Stargate is in question today, as SCI FI Channel has cancelled the long-running Stargate SG-1, Multichannel News reported today and a GateWorld source has confirmed. The news regrettably follows the airing of the show's milestone two-hundredth episode on Friday.

Stargate Atlantis, meanwhile, has been renewed for a fourth season, with the network hoping to see that the spin-off series can stand alone, according to a source.

SG-1 has struggled in the ratings all summer, with the record-breaking tenth season premiering with a 1.4 household rating -- down more than 20 percent from last season's average. After a brief climb to a 1.6 in its second week, the show fell to a 1.3 in week four.

:(

[Danny R]

Well, lets just hope they close a lot of the open storylines in a show finale. Not too upset... it was a good run, and we'll likely see many crossover episodes with Atlantis continuing the storylines.

[invaliduser88]

Agreed. 10 years is a very good run. Sorry to see it go, but at least SciFi treated it better than Farscape.

Wonder if any SG-1 characters will make the jump to Atlantis?

[Chris Blount]

I agree. All good things must come to an end. I actually enjoy Atlantis more than SG-1.

I hope the finale episode is a good one.

[cdru]

We all knew it was coming, I just didn't think it would be this soon. I guess they need to figure out where is Merlin's weapon soon if they are going to figure out how to use it.

In all honesty though, I think it would have been better to go out right after they defeated Anubis. I see the Ori as far worse of an enemy the what the Gould were. I think you could have 8 seasons just battling them.

[skidog]

We all knew it was coming, I just didn't think it would be this soon. I guess they need to figure out where is Merlin's weapon soon if they are going to figure out how to use it.

In all honesty though, I think it would have been better to go out right after they defeated Anubis. I see the Ori as far worse of an enemy the what the Gould were. I think you could have 8 seasons just battling them.

I agree they have barely scratched the surface with the Ori.:(

[UKintheUS]

Ah but the cast are contracted for season 11 and the scrips are set. MGM have said an anoucement will follow this week.

So your options are.

Movie in either TV or Cinema release.
Direct to DVD season.
New Network.
Mini Series
End it.

I will make a poll.

[HockeyKat]

I just hope that when they say things like 'maybe a movie or mini-series' they actually mean it. I think they said similar stuff when X Files ended and we're still waiting for the second movie. :lol:

I think the bummer about this is that they're not going out on their own choosing right now. And in fact, the writers didn't count on an ending to the series at the end of this season, unlike the past several years. So I wonder how they're going to wrap things up.

I think it would be really cool for Daniel to make the jump to Atlantis (almost too bad he finally got to go there now), but I don't know who else would fit in.

[UKintheUS]

The UK's Digital Spy website is saying:

Mark Stern, the Sci-Fi Channel's evp of original programming, insisted that the decision was not based on ratings, however. "We're actually going out on a high note," he told Variety, adding that the early announcement would give producers sufficient time to wrap up any remaining loose ends.

Several cast members from SG-1 will transfer to spinoff series Stargate: Atlantis, which has been renewed for a fourth season in 2007.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds36162.html

[Danny R]

I don't know who else would fit in.

Walter of course! http://www.gateworld.net/omnipedia/characters/graphics/harriman.jpg

[HockeyKat]

I don't know who else would fit in.

Walter of course! http://www.gateworld.net/omnipedia/characters/graphics/harriman.jpg


Of course! What was I thinking?!

[cdru]

I'm not much of a fan of Mitchell, and while Vala is definitely eye candy and has a little comic relief, I wouldn't miss her too much. I think Danial could move over to Atlantis. They don't have a archeologist/geek that would be compariable to Daniel. Tealc I think would clash with Ronin. I also think that Tealc is too "rigid" of a warrior for what SGA needs.

[Mike D-CO5]

I say end it with all the loose ends tied up and if they want to they can go back to the big screen and make movies like Star Trek did. I frankly like Atlantis better than STargate. But I see Atlantis being trapped in doing the same retread episodes that Stargate has already done. Kind of like all the Star Trek shows did . They just recycled plots over and over and used them in all the different shows. I really don't know where else they can go with Atlantis unless they start doing the time travel stories and then they will have jumped the shark when they do.

I frankly think that Battle Star Galactica is the better series now , especially after the last finale . I think it is time to close the book on the StarGate shows entirely and move on with some new concepts. Just not spin offs of Battle Star Galactica. When ever they do spin offs they water down the entire genre of the shows and it is just more of the same spread out over two shows now. Both weaker now than the origional.

[tsmacro]

....than to get attached to anything on Sci-Fi!:lol: To be honest i'm actually a relatively new addition to the SG-1 bandwagon as a full-time fan. It was one of those shows I would occasionally watch from time to time until about two seasons ago. I actually think that it was when BSG started is when I started watching SG-1 all the time also. I should've known when they added the two orphans from Farscape that the show was doomed, because I liked that show also. Oh well maybe i'll see if I can start getting more into Atlantis, but if I do that it's sure to be cancelled also! :lol: Who knows maybe they'll find a new home for SG-1, they've done it before.

[Paradox-sj]

say it aint so! Well like the title of the final ST:TNG episonde "all good things" do indeed come to an end.

I dont think atlantis will last as long though. I wouldnt be supprised if its gone after next year.

BSG and its spinoff will be the new flagship show.

It was a great run!

[UKintheUS]

Well yesterday MGM, and Sony annouced, SG1, and Atlantis will soon be avaliable to download from iTunes.

I hope there not going to do something like: Season 11 exclusive on iTunes only, then on to DVD.

It would be a sort of Coup d'état for Apple Mac.

[UKintheUS]

Would have thought more people would have voted but intresting so far.

[wkomorow]

While watching SG-1 tonight, I thought of the perfect ending for SG-1. The Ori conquer Earth, only a few members of the SG-1 cast make it to Atlantis. Ori can then be reintroduced in Atlantis, the final battle between the Ori and humans would actually be between the Ori and the Ancients on the Ancients home world.

[UKintheUS]

So read this.

Fans have speculated this week that that could mean an SG-1 feature film, TV movie, mini-series ... or even Season Eleven on another network. U.S. cable networks such as SpikeTV and G4 have been expanding their original and science fiction programming, and former SG-1 home Showtime may be open the series again following its five years of great success on basic cable.

But such a move may be out of the question, if SCI FI Channel has anything to say about it. "There is not going to be [an 11th season] on U.S. television," Mark Stern, SCI FI's executive vice president of programming, told Multichannel flatly. "Our contract with MGM prohibits it."

And what i had said.

But if U.S. television is not an option (apart from a mini-series or TV movie on SCI FI), what might MGM be considering?

Pryor told the Associated Press that MGM believes that "in this new media world there are many more opportunities to continue (the) franchise. We're exploring those possibilities." Some fans have speculated that MGM may hope to make Stargate SG-1's eleventh season the first show ever to be offered exclusively online. New episodes from the current season are now available for $1.99 each on iTunes.

Read the whole thing at.

http://www.gateworld.net/news/2006/08/mgm_considers_isg-1is_future.shtml

[tsmacro]

They have a contract that says that not only can they cancel the show but if they cancel it no one else is allowed to pick it up either??!!:mad: I'm sorry but that just ain't right!!:nono2:

[djlong]

Sounds like the old "reserve clause" in baseball.

[cdru]

But if their contract prohibits it...and they don't renew the contract...then it's kind of hard to be bound by the terms of that contract.

[Danny R]

But if their contract prohibits it...and they don't renew the contract...then it's kind of hard to be bound by the terms of that contract.

Doesn't work that way, because its not as simple as them cancelling a contract and thus all portions of it go away. Rather, its almost certain that even the option of cancelling the program is part of the contract itself, and thus its in full effect.

[UKintheUS]

Well i hope you all have iTunes. I dunno i have this gut feeling they will go that way.

[kf4omc]

But will the show make enough money to cover production costs going that rout?

[Danny R]

Well, SciFi's contract is may only prohibiting broadcasting in the USA, since SciFi is a US channel. It may not have any impact on overseas broadcasts (just going by what the rep said above). If they can recoup production costs selling to Canada, the UK, Austrailia and other nations, then offering it as a digital download in the US might not be unthinkable.

[cdru]

But will the show make enough money to cover production costs going that rout?I don't know what current production costs are, but I found a 2000 article that said production costs are over $2m per episode. The 200th episode had a 1.9 share and the entire last season averaged a 1.8 share. A share is around 1.1 or 1.2m viewers, so a little simple math shows around 2.3m viewers. At $2 a pop, they would more then cover the production costs. Of course, this doesn't take Apple's cut of the pie nor rises in production costs. It also makes the incorrect assumption that all 2.3m viewers would pay to watch the episode. They won't.

[djlong]

Creator of Bablyon-5, J. Michael Straczynski, said that the B-5 DVDs made Warner over a HALF BILLION dollars. So assuming $500M, 5 seasons is $100M/season, and there were 22 episodes in each season so you're looking at a little under $5M/episode gross sales.

I think the Stargate fan base can be compared with the B-5 fan base. Might not work solely on iTunes at $2/episode but boxed set DVDs could work and then iTunes would be gravy on top of that.