Stargate: The Definitive History of the Franchise

[Music] how does a movie with a terrible 48 percent critical rating and only an above-average 73 percent audience rating go on to spawn a massive television franchise with four spin-offs over 17 seasons books comic books video games toys as well as to direct to DVD movies an animated series and a unique streaming service where millions of fans can immerse themselves in that universe whenever they want of course we're talking about the science-fiction phenomenon known as Stargate it's been almost 25 years since Stargate hit theaters - those mixed reviews and has since built an army of fans Screen Rant comm lists Stargate is the eighth greatest science fiction franchise of all time behind Star Trek Star Wars the Outer Limits The Twilight Zone Doctor Who Battlestar Galactica and Planet of the Apes others argue that Stargate should be considered even higher and closer to those other franchises with the word star in them regardless of where the franchise lands in history the real story is the unlikeliness that it sits where it does now only 25 years after it was born but to find out we have to travel back to the beginning and find out where stargates started written by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich Stargate hit theatres October 28th 1994 critics may have written off the movie but fans enjoyed it the film grossed more than 71 million dollars in the United States and almost double that overseas for a whopping 200 million worldwide stargate set the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film released in the month of october even though stargate exceeded studio expectations it was still only the 17th most successful film of 1994 falling behind blockbusters like Forrest Gump The Lion King and True Lies it wasn't even the most successful science-fiction movie it was edged out by Star Trek generations which famously had both Kirk and Picard in the same movie together but despite being number 17 there was something special about Stargate that people couldn't quite put their finger on stargate leaves you with a feeling for an untapped potential and a universe that has more questions than answers and the movie may have even qualified as a blockbuster in 1994 had it not been cut short by huge audience films like the santa claus interview with the vampire and generations which hit theaters right on its heels despite these disadvantages stargate lingered in the mind of science-fiction fans where else could those hieroglyphics take us in the cosmos that is an answer we might have never known had it not been for a couple of guys working for MGM on a show called the Outer Limits but let's get back to that in a moment first where did Devlin and Emirate get the idea for a Stargate or wormhole that uses constellations as spatial coordinates to connect instantaneously to a distant planet some people point to the 1982 book by Pauline Gedge or the 1976 novel by Stephen Robinette both were titled Stargate or how about the 1958 Stargate book by Andre Norton where a group of people passed through a Stargate and take refuge in a new world sound familiar while it's not clear for certain where the origin of the story comes from Devlin and Emmerich were sued in 1995 by Omar Zadi a Shawnee Oklahoma high school teacher who claimed they stole the idea from his manuscript titled Egypt's cape which Zadi had claimed he submitted to 20th Century Fox and they had rejected it in 1984 his suit alleged that Studio canal eventually acquired a copy of this manuscript and hired Devlin and Emmerich to make Stargate using Siddis ideas he sued everyone including MGM for 140 million dollars which was the film's estimated profit in 1996 US District Judge Robin Kathryn ruled the movie Stargate to be substantially similar to Zaidi's manuscript the judge said the main characters in both works were similar in number and roles and the lead character in each story is involved in a time-travel project the judge also said both works proceed in a similar sequence and the pace followed in both the movie and in the manuscript have common elements Catherine ruled that ordinary reasonable people could conclude that the total concept and feel of both the film and the manuscript exhibit a substantial similarity of expression with a ruling that seemed to lean heavily in Siddis favor the case was set to go to a jury for the decision before that could happen the D settled out of court for a reported fifty thousand dollars which was a tiny fraction of the one hundred and forty million dollars he was suing for some would claim his decision to settle despite the judges favorable ruling was a result of a change to copyright laws in 1989 before 1989 if you wanted to prove you owned a creative work you would apply for a copyright notice this change made copyright notices optional and instead all works were automatically copy written at the time of their creation while the new law does protect more creators the problem with this as Title 17 of the u.s. code suggests is by not having an official copyright notice it may reduce the amount of damages someone would receive in an infringement lawsuit while the details of the settlement are unknown it's possible that this change in the law may have motivated Zadi to settle as opposed to fighting a long court battle and possibly get nothing and while there is no definitive answer where the idea for Stargate came from in the end it is the vision of Devlin and Emmerich that we see on the big screen and even better news for the Stargate creators is that a financially successful movie is a potential franchise in the making but before the duo could come back to make another Stargate movie their success had landed them the 1996 blockbuster movie Independence Day starring Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum according to Devlin and Emmerich it was their intention to come back and make two more Stargate movies but as we'll find out that would turn out to be a lot more difficult than they would no it was during their huge success on Independence Day that unbeknownst to them Studio canal a French film production and distribution company sold the television rights for Stargate to MGM without discussing it with the creators Devlin and Emmerich would later voice their displeasure at this turn of events but would go on to make films like 1998's Godzilla the Patriot The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 this wasn't the end of Devlin and Emmerich with Stargate but more on that later remember those guys we were talking about at MGM who were working on the Outer Limits they were two of the many people who went to see Stargate in theaters and couldn't get it out of their heads there had to be more to this universe they thought Brad Wright and Jonathan Glasner were in the middle of the Outer Limits season 2 despite working together neither of them knew the role they were about to play in the legacy that would become Stargate the Outer Limits was already a success and both men were co producers on the show but Glasner was from Los Angeles and had grown tired of Vancouver Canada where the show was being made he wanted to go home MGM not wanting to risk the show asked Glasner what would it take to get him to stay thinking it was a long shot and would never happen Glassner told MGM that they had this movie that would be better as a TV series he said if you let me do Stargate as a series I'd be willing to stay the president of MGM John saimes who didn't seem to have any plans for the newly purchased television property said he didn't think it could happen but let me look into it little did Glassner know his partner right had also asked the studio about doing a Stargate series it was these two independent moves from a couple of guys who were already making a great series that likely allowed MGM to pull the trigger MGM had two things they wanted first they had to agree to work on it together and second they had to keep making the Outer Limits while creating the Stargate series luckily for the rest of the world both men were up to the challenge right and Glasner spent three months studying the movie and figuring out all of the mechanics of the Stargate itself the gate had 39 symbols on it and it took seven symbols to go to Abydos Glasner wondered where would the other symbols take P part of Wright's original pitch was that the show should have a sense of the early NASA program the teams going through the gates would be explorers like the early astronauts and would be outmatched and outgunned by aliens one of the things Glaser and Wright were aware of is they didn't want to be doing Star Trek the show was set in the present and not the future so the characters would be limited by the technology and knowledge that they currently possessed they would be discovering everything with the audience as opposed to having scanners that told them what was happening it made everything the characters faced more dangerous and as a result meant higher consequences which would keep fans on the edge of their seats and if you're going to have a compelling show you need a great cast they knew they wanted to have Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill back on the show to keep that connection with the movie and continue the story but they knew they needed more characters so tillich was created as a way to explain the Goa'uld and the Jaffa and Glasner was adamant that they needed to have a strong female character which became Samantha Carter but which actors would be able to fill the shoes of Kurt Russell and James Spader John saimes the president of MGM television who had greenlit the show and was also responsible for coming up with the name sg-1 had an idea there was an actor he knew that would be perfect for the role it was someone he had a relationship with when he was over at Paramount working on a little show called MacGyver [Music] Richard Dean Anderson was already a household name and a well known 80's television star the president at MGM suggested having a strong star at the center of the show would likely bring in viewers especially for a first-time series Brad Wright felt like Anderson would be great as well what they didn't know is Anderson was not a fan of science fiction nor was he interested in playing a serious military guy with little or no sense of humor Anderson told the Los Angeles Times during an interview in 1997 that he wasn't a fan of Star Trek except for being friends with Jonathan Frakes who played commander Riker on Star Trek The Next Generation at 47 years old Anderson's first words after being offered the role of O'Neill and seeing the Stargate movie and Kurt Russell's portrayal was forget it no way Bonzo no longer in possession of once fact least three fries short of a happy meal he just didn't think he could play that character for a long run but Symes wasn't taking no for an answer he told Anderson he could do whatever he wanted with the character and that MGM had a 44 episode commitment from Showtime those two facts were enough to pull Anderson on board and eventually make him an all time science-fiction icon that Showtime had picked up Stargate sg-1 at all let alone for 44 episodes maybe the real secret to why the show was successful part of the original pitch by Wright wasn't only to MGM the Outer Limits that he and Glasner were producers for aired on Showtime this made the cable subscription service a logical landing spot for the Stargate series as it already had a close connection with both the showrunners and MGM besides having incredible trust in right and Glassner the 44 episode guarantee likely came as a result of Showtime's need for programming the early 90s left Showtime frequently playing catch-up to HBO who started having success with feature-length original movies when upstart premium network stars came along and secured a deal for Disney content in 1994 it took a huge chunk of programming from Showtime and with showtimes original movies only having middling success the company needed to lure subscribers in from another genre in 1995 science fiction became their target and with the success of the Outer Limits ordering up a huge number of episodes for Stargate sg-1 aligned perfectly with Showtime strategy and as a result the stars aligned perfectly for what would become one of the most beloved sci-fi franchises of all time producers on Stargate sg-1 admitted that had the show not started on showtime broadcast TV would have probably killed it the initial 44 episode by gave both MGM and producers enough time and confidence to build the show how they wanted without fear of being cancelled the 2 season guarantee was likely the ultimate reason Richard Dean Anderson took the role and knowing everyone had a job for at least two years allowed the actors and crew to get comfortable and take their time to work build and tell compelling stories that would bring the fans in and keep them Showtime also gave MGM a gift the studio complained that the show was expensive to make and they needed more revenue MGM arranged an agreement with Showtime that sg-1 could air in syndication six months after its premiere on the premium channel all 22 Fox stations aired the first season of sg-1 after its showtime debut and this continued to happen for all five seasons on the subscription service this same gift would eventually be the downfall of sg-1 on showtime the company would eventually stop renewing the series citing they were unable to gain new subscribers for the show since people could get it on syndication so quickly and for this reason many fans who were watching the show at the turn of the century never realized it aired on Showtime at all but at 8:00 p.m. on July 27 1997 when the Stargate pilot aired on Showtime it was an instant hit the two-hour episode received showtimes highest ever ratings for a series premiere with an audience of approximately 1.5 million households the show continued to have sizable viewership right up till the end of season 5 despite being able to bring in new subscribers and the show might have died right there had it not been for a network who would end up being the perfect platform for the show but let's get back to that in a little bit with Richard Dean Anderson already in place the producers still needed to cast the rest of the characters and with a thin budget and filming out of Vancouver they would need relatively unknown actors and they first looked to Canada they also wanted actors who were similar to the cast from the movie yet original at the same time they found this in actor Michael Shanks who went into his audition doing a spot-on impersonation of James Spader he quickly became the dr. Daniel Jackson they were looking for and it wouldn't be until season 3 and a haircut that shanks would fully drop the Spader impersonation and make the Jackson character his own anyway I'm sorry but that just happens to be how I feel about it what do you think Christopher judge was listening to his best friend's roommate go over a line he was auditioning for judge had been auditioning for small unnamed roles at the time when the roommates stepped out he took a peek at the script it was for a part in a Stargate TV series he called his agent right away and said get me an audition for this part or I am leaving two days later he had an audition thus Till and the embodiment of the Jaffa was born indeed for the part of Samantha Carter they wanted an actress who could portray a strong woman who the audience would also accept as a soldier at the time the show was created tens of thousands of women were deployed abroad in the US military but none served in combat a policy enacted in 1994 prohibited women from assignment in ground combat units below the brigade level it wouldn't be until 2013 sixteen years after Stargate sg-1 aired on television that women would be allowed to serve in direct combat producers knew it would take the right woman to pull off the role they wanted she would have to have combat training but also be a brilliant scientist and a beautiful woman Amanda tapping was selected for the role a mostly unknown Canadian actress who had done some commercials and had a few small roles in TV movies tapping stepped into the role and created a character with amazing depth who would become not only integral to sg-1 but also to the spin-off show to come and just because my reproductive organs are on the inside instead of the outside it doesn't mean I can't handle whatever you can handle tapping shanks and judge were selected from 25 promising actors auditioning for the roles the trio is set to gravitate towards each other during the audition process lending to an early promise of on-screen chemistry shanks would later tell the story that it was after watching Richard Dean Anderson film an episode of MacGyver that would inspire him to choose an acting career the cast also included Don s Davis playing general Hammond Davis had previously been cast as an authority figure playing a sheriff warden or military man in several TV shows such as Twin Peaks and Knott's landing among others Davis also had a connection to MacGyver he was the stunt double for Dana L Carr who played Peter Thornton on the show with Richard Dean Anderson Terrell raw 3 a Canadian actress rounded out the cast with her role as dr. Janet Fraiser chief medical officer of the newly formed Stargate command from this humble beginning with so many unknown and untested actors no one would have guessed that Stargate sg-1 would eventually become the longest-running science-fiction show of all time but before that could happen they needed to make a pilot Stargate sg-1 was filmed in and around Vancouver British Columbia the main setting of the show the fictional Stargate command was filmed on stage five at bridge studios the fictional Stargate command was supposedly located at the very real Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station near Colorado Springs Colorado you may recognize it from the movie wargames with Matthew Broderick and for that reason it was important that establishing shots of that facility were taken to keep the setting of the show squarely in the minds of fans with permission from the US Air Force half a dozen stock shots of the real Cheyenne Mountain complex were taken ten days before the premiere of the pilot episode these shots would be the only establishing shots used of the actual facility for the first eight seasons during the filming Michael Shanks asked why they were shooting a pilot when the show had already been greenlit for 44 episodes then the reality hit him that the show had 44 episodes but not necessarily he nor any of the recently cast actors luckily children of the Gods was released and showtime was very happy shanks recalled breathing a sigh of relief knowing he had work for at least the next two years Stargate sg-1 was a hit both on Showtime and in syndication but both platforms had a different set of rules Showtime push for the use of nudity insisted their viewers wanted it and since it was allowed right and Glassner should utilize it the problem was it wasn't the show they were making right remembers arguing vocally that there should be no nudity and no swearing and in fact that is why it is only in the pilot episode right ended up wetting the argument and he felt so strongly about it he remade those nude scenes in the pilot so the show wouldn't have any problems in syndication and this is the way the show went for the first two years after the first 44 episodes showtime ordered another 44 episodes for a total of 88 having that much flexibility gave the actors and writers a chance to fully explore the characters and develop them for the audience the US Department of the Air Force cooperated closely with producers on the show they read every script for mistakes in military bearing and even helped with plausible background stories for all the characters the Air Force was reported to be very proud of their representation in Stargate sg-1 and it was often used as a recruiting tool to successful Air Force Chiefs of Staff appeared as themselves in season fours prodigy and season sevens Lost City visitors to the air force's Cheyenne Mountain complex frequently asked questions about the existence of the Stargate these questions became so common that Cheyenne Mountain installed what looked like a high security door on one of their storage rooms the room may have been filled with brooms and detergent but it was labeled Stargate command this likely led to only more questions than answers but it showed the air force's commitment to the show which would last all 10 seasons for the first five seasons everything on the show seemed to be flying high Glasner did leave the show after season three to return to Los Angeles as he'd wanted to do before starting the Stargate series but Rob Cooper who began early on as a story editor filled in as co-executive producer by season four new writers came in and the show expanded right recognized that a show has to grow and evolve naturally that evolution continued but after five seasons showtime was no longer interested in renewing the program syndication had significantly slowed the stream of new subscribers coming to Showtime four Stargate sg-1 and even though a lot of people still watch the show the premium channel didn't want to continue with the financial commitment but the show was writing hi Stargate sg-1 aired in over 100 countries with a weekly worldwide viewership of around 10 million sg-1 was especially popular in the United Kingdom Germany France and Australia a little to the embarrassment of right he was surprised the show was so much more popular in the UK than it was in Canada where it aired on space so it was at the end of five seasons the cast and crew thought their run may be ending but as we mentioned earlier there was a network out there waiting in the wings that would prove to be perfect for Stargate already broadcasting shows like Andromeda Farscape and Battlestar Galactica the sci-fi channel picked up MGM's offer to continue the show into a sixth season the budget was smaller and everyone assumed the sixth season would be the last for sg-1 it aired in the 9 p.m. slot between the dead zone and Farscape Korra Nemec came on as a regular in the sixth season after having a guest role the previous year playing the character Jonas Quinn nameks character replaced Daniel Jackson after Michael Shanks decided to leave the show shanks and the writers were having creative differences over his character he didn't feel Daniels was being used as well or as creatively as he could Schank still appeared in seven episodes during season 6 playing both Daniel Jackson and the voice of Thor but rumors persisted that shanks salary and his desire to work on other projects was a factor as well regardless of why shanks came back to the table and were got a deal that would keep him on the show and when everyone predicted the sixth season would be the last sci fi unexpectedly renewed sg-1 at the last minute the sixth and seventh seasons made stargate sg1 sci-fi highest-rated original series with an average of two million views per episode this elevated sci-fi into the top 10 cable networks in the United States despite that for the next few years producers believed each season would be the last and repeatedly wrote huge season finales just in case season 8 brought more changes sci-fi cut the length of an sg-1 season down to 20 episodes from 22 general Hammond was relegated to a reoccurring character and Jonas Quinn story arc ended dr. Janet Frasier was killed and season 8 would also be the last time Richard Dean Anderson led his sg-1 team but more on Anderson in a moment something huge took place during season 8 of sg-1 and that was the premiere of Stargate Atlantis a spin-off series Wright had been planning as a movie since Showtime canceled the show at the end of season 5 once the ratings on Sci Fi were going so well they pushed their Atlantis idea into season six and then eventually to season 7 Wright intended to set the new show under the ice of Antarctica it would have replaced Stargate command as Earth's conduit to other worlds not knowing whether they would be renewed or not producers chose to end season seven of sg-1 with a two-parter that would act as a bridge between sg-1 and the new spin-off which could either be another TV show or even a movie right and cooper rewrote the script as a two-part season 7 finale and move the setting of the story instead of under Antarctica the city of Atlantis was moved to the Pegasus galaxy this change addressed a couple of problems first if the new show was local then why wouldn't Stargate command just come to the aid of the Atlantis expedition also moving them out of reach would give the producers a fresh start with new ideas Atlantis received the greenlight November 17 2003 it premiered on the Sci Fi Channel on July 16 2004 running concurrently with Stargate sg-1 season 8 this meant that both Wright and Cooper had to develop twice as many episodes as usual despite burning the candle at both ends they seemed up for the challenge from the start the producers had to rule out casting well-known stars as a result of the financial pressures they were suffering paying the cast of sg-1 actor david hewlett had already appeared in a guest role of three episodes of sg-1 and the producers realized the intelligent self-centered awkward character of dr. Rodney McKay was exactly who they wanted in Atlantis Hewlett was previously most recognized for his role in the cult classic suspense movie cube from 1997 co-starring with Hewlett during that first season was Joe Flanagan playing Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard Torrey Higginson is dr. Elizabeth weir Rachael de Trell playing teyla emmagan and rainbow son Frank's as lieutenant Aiden Ford Atlantis got a little help during that first season from Anderson and shanks reprising their roles to give the fans a feeling of Stargate normalcy while it didn't take long for the Atlantis cast to grow legs it wouldn't be until the second season before the show really started to hit its stride it was at the start of that second season when a completely unknown actor would come on board and help take Atlantis to new heights the future Dothraki chief had no idea that this wasn't the only time he'd call Atlantis's home the future DC superhero and king of Atlantis would win the hearts of Stargate fans before ever becoming a household name where are we gentlemen 302 Bay so I scooped you up thank God Jason Momoa wasn't the only change to Star Gate in 2004 fans had to stay on their toes to keep up with the franchise that year Syfy paired the two shows together on Friday nights and the writers wrote the show's accordingly for the most part the continuity of the two shows remained cleanly separated but there were several times when viewers would follow the story better by bouncing back and forth between sg-1 and Atlantis SG Ones ninth season saw the departure of Anderson but added new regulars Beau Bridges and Ben Browder after a debut episode in season 8 followed by appearances in eight episodes of season nine Claudia blacks popular reception earned her a position in the regular cast during season 10 fans were disappointed that Anderson would no longer be a regular on the show the science fiction icon wanted to spend more time with his daughter and felt like his run with the show had gone on long enough but when Wright offered to promote Anderson to general and have him in the show less frequently he loved that idea because he was still able to spend time with his Stargate family without carrying the burden of the lead while it was good news that Anderson was able to be a part of sg-1 for all 10 seasons a hole was left for who would take over leadership of the team after the eighth season Amanda felt that Sam's character was the logical person to replace Jack as the leader of the team but with tapping on maternity leave at the beginning of season 9 Cameron Mitchell was introduced as the leader of sg-1 and would be the catalyst for bringing the team back together fans reacted negatively to Browder's character taking over leadership of the team and tapping admitted to feeling put off after learning someone else would lead sg-1 the eventual decision was that the two would co-lead the team although they left Browder's character in the official leadership position by season 10 tapping considered leadership of the team to be a moot point as both Carter and Mitchell were the same rank and tilt and Jackson were not members of the US military as sg-1 was winding down atlantis was taking off the creators found themselves with a problem the character of lieutenant Aiden Ford played by son Frank's the actor himself felt the character wasn't working as intended and was underused as a result despite attempts to make him more important he ended up downgraded as a recurring character to replace him they created Ronan decks as a sidekick to Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard but finding an actor with the physical presence and acting ability necessary was not easy then they met Jason Momoa the future TV and movie star was often thought of as Atlantis's version of Chewbacca in fact Sheppard occasionally refers to Ronan as Chewie at 6 feet 5 inches Momoa ended up having the perfect physicality for the role and his ability to play his toughness off the other characters lent a tremendous amount of weight to the whole show x-files veteran Mitch Poole eggie and Kevin Smith were added to the cast in recurring roles of colonel Stephen Caldwell and major Evan Lorne Paul McGill Ian's character the Scottish doctor Carson Beckett also became a regular in season two seasons 3 & 4 changed the cast lineup again Beckett was killed in the season 3 episode Sunday then brought back at the end of season 4 as a recurring character the new medical chief was Jennifer Keller played by Joel state who was introduced in the season 3 finale was a recurring character in season 4 and became a regular in season 5 state had already played a guest role in season 2 as a female Wraith named Elia she did so well the producers agreed they wanted her for a more important role Amanda tapping Samantha Carter crossed over from sg-1 to Atlantis as a guest star during the first three seasons but in season 4 she became a regular as the new leader of the expedition at the same time Tori Higginson's Elizabeth Weir went from series regular to a recurring character season five finally saw science fiction legend Robert Picardo become a series regular as Richard Woolsey he'd been a guest star on sg-1 for seven episodes during season seven 9 and 10 and on Atlantis he had a recurring role during season 3 and a guest appearance during season 4 in season 5 he replaced Samantha Carter as commander of the Atlantis expedition Higginson declined to appear as a guest star instead her character Weir was portrayed by Michelle Morgan Joseph malossi was a producer for 287 episodes of the Stargate franchise his one giant regret was missing an opportunity to bring the fans in Atlantis movie late during Atlantis's fifth season they didn't know whether there would be a season six so robert cooper suggested they do a two-hour two-part episode for the beginning of a potential season 6 and if they didn't get it then it could become the Stargate Atlantis movie they would need an extra month of production but if approved they would be ahead of the game no matter what the studio decided malossi proposed it to decision-makers but the studio never got back to them with an answer malossi regrets waiting for a decision and wished he'd been more aggressive in making it happen even though it was never shot a script was written for the Atlantis movie Stargate extinction according to malossi the movie would have taken Atlantis back to the Pegasus galaxy via a life-or-death adventure the movie would have included an eventual reconciliation with Todd the Wraith and reset the atlantis characters to begin new adventures in the Pegasus galaxy again season 5 would be the last season for Stargate Atlantis and for many fans the last moment of success for the franchise an agreement was reached by MGM sci-fi and Stargate producers that Atlantis would end in a new show Stargate Universe would be produced a follow-on movie would be made to bring a more fulfilling closure to the Atlantis storyline but the window to produce Stargate extinction would close and the entire focus was put on the Stargate Universe series when Stargate Universe was produced Wright and Cooper took it in a totally different direction the recent success of grittier realistic camera shaking shows like Battlestar Galactica seemed to be the future of the franchise with stories taking on a more dramatic in serious tone but like new coke in the 80s stargate fans did not like the new formula and taste of Stargate Universe while blame is shared all around for the change in direction Cooper is charged by right in a February 2009 interview with Digital Spy as being the one driving the show to a different and unique look interviews following the failure of universe steered the blame toward the newly forming streaming platforms MGM's financial woes and even the fans when trying to explain the failure of the show Wright said he didn't feel that it was the quality of what they were making he shifted blame to the show being moved to Tuesday nights as well as fan backlash following the huge shift in style from sg-1 and Atlantis to the new series fans of the original shows were used to camaraderie and a high moral compass from characters however the universe roles lacked many of those qualities and the gritty realistic storylines were a little too realistic for many fans as a result not our Stargate website started popping up and viewership for the new show plummeted fans described the show as glossy yet gritty and that more focus was put on the style and look of the show as opposed to the development of the story and characters it just didn't feel like the Stargate they knew little did everyone realize at the time the Stargate machine was headed into a perfect storm the fan backlash also came as a result of an abrupt ending of the very popular Atlantis show and fans were used to having options not only did sg-1 and Atlantis have overlap but the feel of the shows were very similar when universe came in all by itself and very different from its predecessors it was hard to quell the despair of longtime fans it was also at this time that internet culture was finding its voice and realizing that regular people could have broad impact on change Facebook and Twitter were just beginning to dominate in social media and the first iPhone was only a year old when Atlantis's cancellation was announced the power of public outcry was starting to ramp up and it was all pointed at Brad Wright MGM and sci-fi but it is also pointed out that after 15 seasons of two very successful science-fiction series right producers and the production companies had earned the right to try something new creatively to keep the series growing the realistically shot sees our shows were growing and this was an opportunity for the franchise to make a move that industry experts predicted would be the future and despite what people were saying right hadn't forgotten about the fans the successful direct-to-dvd sg-1 movies the arc of truth and continuum had been very successful in continuing the sg-1 story and there was no reason to believe that the same thing couldn't be done for Atlantis but the storm was coming nine months before the announced cancellation of Atlantis on November 5th 2007 the US dollar fell to its weakest position against the Canadian dollar since tracking began in 1975 at only 92 US cents per Canadian dollar the Canadian production being financed by American dollars to make a big-budget TV show was costing them more money than ever before the exchange rate was one of the benefits of producing TV shows in Canada MGM had been paying as little as 60 cents on the dollar in Canada at the peak in 2002 but the steady decline of the dollar over the next six years was putting a heavy burden on MGM to pay for production north of the border it was also in 2007 that Netflix began offering subscribers a streaming service option while not taken seriously in the beginning the decrease in data speeds and bandwidth costs allowed customers to begin downloading movies from the internet the decline of DVD sales were steadily increasing each year and when Hulu launched in 2010 as a direct competitor to Netflix the streaming race was on while DVDs would go on to be a viable source of media even to this day the financial success of making movies that release direct to DVD like the two previous stargate sg1 movies no longer existed when Stargate Universe launched its second season in September 2010 MGM would file for bankruptcy only two months later the financial hardships and US recession had finally caught up with the 86 year old movie company the same month sci-fi announced it would not be picking up a third season of Stargate Universe with MGM in no position to be selling shows new episodes of Stargate of any iteration ended May 9th 2011 the previous month right confirmed to the public that the proposed Stargate Atlantis movie as well as a third sg-1 movie and a movie he'd wanted to do with all three casts had been shelved indefinitely the Stargate sets were struck in Vancouver and props from the show started showing up on eBay and other auction sites on the internet despite the sudden decline of the franchise there was no doubt of its success and while most of the credit tends to go to right Cooper Glasner and all the actors there were several key players that were crucial to the magic of Stargate on television Peter DeLuise wrote directed produced and acted in cameos in stargate episodes from the time he joined the show in season two the son of comedy legend and movie star dom deluise peter was able to direct his father in the Stargate sg-1 season three ergo Peter describes that episode as being the highlight of his time on the show the younger DeLuise was noted for inventing much of the Jaffa and unas languages and cultures he was a producer for eighty four episodes of Stargate sg-1 and a director for 69 Stargate episodes across the three series when asked if he'd be interested in returning for a fourth series DeLuise said he'll yes that was the most creative fun thing he'd ever done with his clothes on Paul moly was a writer for 80 episodes and a producer for 287 episodes across sg-1 Atlantis and universe a testament to his drive in the Stargate franchise is that he didn't think they were done creatively with sg-1 when the show was canceled after ten seasons Moli played such an important part in the series that he and malossi were elevated to show runners for Atlantis in its fourth season which means that the duo became creatively responsible for the series at that point both moly and malossi would go on to create a show called dark matter which was based on a comic book they created and published through Dark Horse Comics after time with Stargate Michael Greenberg was a writer and producer for Stargate sg-1 he and Richard Dean Anderson were partners in the Gecko film corporation for more than two decades Greenberg's mark on Stargate sg-1 is definitive but he is also the guy who took the call from John saimes at MGM and played a role in Richard Dean Anderson eventually becoming Jack O'Neill and John Smith is not a name a lot of Stargate fans are familiar with but he was one of the most important producers on the show other than right he's the longest tenured Stargate producer he was a part of the franchise for 340 one of its 354 episodes while he did serve as an executive producer he admits it's mostly an honorary title his main job was as a line producer which meant he was responsible for hiring and firing the crew and making sure the film made it into the can on budget and for a show on a tight budget Smith's job wasn't always easy he said they came in on budget most years but the years they didn't MGM always gave the go-ahead to spend the extra money Smith and the hundreds of crew who worked on the series over the years are many of the unsung heroes who helped make Stargate one of the best science fiction franchises of all time after all those years of success the franchise came to a sudden halt and no one knew what was next for Stargate and the millions of fans that had worldwide a little more than two years passed since the end of Stargate on TV and some fans wondered if Stargate had been so successful and so important to millions of people for almost two decades why hadn't someone tried to get the ball rolling on another series well it just so happens that someone did Joe Flanagan who played John Sheppard on Stargate Atlantis spoke at a convention in Edmonton Canada in 2013 he explained how he had negotiated with MGM about leasing Stargate Atlantis in order to produce a sixth season and potentially more Flanagan took it upon himself to secure funding from various investors as MGM would be unable to back the series as a result of their financial troubles after securing enough money to back a full 20 episode season Flanagan and his team began planning out the production itself they were planning a move from MGM Studios in Vancouver to a studio in Europe in order to save money Flanigan's team their investors in MGM came up with all the numbers they also worked out television networks for broadcasting studios and plans for a 10-year lease of the Stargate franchise everything was set and then MGM filed bankruptcy the re-emerged later thanks to the help of financing and shared earnings with Warner Brothers on The Hobbit movies those movies earned a combined 2 billion dollars worldwide but the problem was MGM was now under new management gary barber and roger Birnbaum of spyglass entertainment were appointed as co-chairman and CEOs of MGM spyglass was primarily a movie company and Flanagan would have to start negotiations all over again Flanagan was left with the impression that spyglass was more interested in working with roland emmerich the original writer and director of the Stargate movie from 1994 to create another feature film outside of the current Stargate storylines spyglasses position on the TV franchise at that time was confirmed by Alaina Huffman who played tomorrow Johansson in Stargate Universe during an interview with gate world in 2011 she explained that Brad Wright had tried very hard to put a movie together but spyglass was not interested in Stargate and would not fund a movie that continued the television series in a variety interview in 2016 Jonathan Glickman president of MGM's motion picture group recalled that when he ascended to his position in 2011 the Stargate property had been dormant and for lack of a better term had played itself out at that moment so looking back it seems that spyglasses opinion of the TV series and their specialty in the movie industry would explain why they wanted to focus on getting Stargate back on the big screen and as we mentioned earlier Devlin and Emmerich weren't happy with the direction the TV series went with their story and had always planned to do a trilogy associated with the 1994 movie Devlin had been discussing bringing the final two movies to the screen with MGM since 2006 the vision for these films would be quite different the second installment would pick up 12 years after the original movie with Jackson making a discovery that leads him back to earth and in covering a new Stargate however this Stargate would use a different mythology than Egyptian the third installment would reveal that all earth mythologies are actually tied together with a common thread that we haven't recognized before in May 2014 MGM announced that they and Warner Brothers were backing the new Devlin and Emeric Stargate movies the two men were busy at the time working on Independence Day too but the Stargate movies had officially been greenlit and would hit the big screen in the years to come then Devlin announced they were going to reboot the original movie and do a whole new trilogy since too much time and past chatter about the new movies was all over the internet then suddenly in November 2016 word on the street was that the Stargate reboot was dead in an interview with Empire Devlin explained that it was looking good for a few months but no longer in what can likely be labeled as creative differences Devlin noted that studio concern over numbers instead of quality is one of the reasons the reboot was no longer happening Devlin admitted he didn't want to do the movie if he thought they would screw it up this led some people to speculate that the poor performance of Independence Day resurgence created a fear that they might also mess up Stargate Devlin would later announce that after making geo storm he didn't feel like he should ever work at a studio again he excused himself from both Stargate and Independence Day and said they may go forward someday but he won't be involved anymore with the movies out of commission when would Star Gate get a chance as a network TV show again during the 2017 comic-con in San Diego California Stargate fans got the news they'd been waiting for it was announced that Stargate origins was coming to the new Stargate command subscription service the new series described as webisodes would essentially be a 10 feature-length movie broken into ten episodes of ten minutes each the Stargate command subscription service began in September 2017 and was created by MGM to be a streaming platform for all things Stargate old episodes new episodes and as many fans would hope future episodes Stargate origins premiered with three episodes on Valentine's Day in 2018 and a 104 minute long feature cut titled Stargate origins catherine was released that June so you could watch the whole thing at once while critical reviews were not kind to the performances and skeptics dismissed it as a ploy to drive subscriptions to MGM's new streaming service fans who missed stargates stories treated it with kid gloves was it perfect no was it Stargate thankfully yes the message that fans got from MGM as a result of origins is that Stargate is back but in the year since the release of the Stargate origins feature MGM has been quiet about any future projects perhaps origins was a way for them to test the waters and see if the Stargate fandom was still active and ready for a large-scale TV release similar to the shows in the past or perhaps they will move forward with more future webisodes streaming shows that have a smaller budget but still something new for fans then in January 2019 after hearing nothing about whether origins and Stargate command had reignited the fires of the franchise Brad Wright told Newark so the hub podcast that he has been in contact with MGM about the Stargate brand the man who had fathered Stargate in every iteration of the TV show until the cancellation in 2011 was back in the picture Wright said that MGM realizes Stargate is a genuine franchise and they are taking it seriously he said fans shouldn't expect a full-fledged new TV series any time soon but MGM seemed open to conversations and was receptive of his wish to honor the hundreds of hours of world-building and television that had already been created Wright's message to fans was that while he doesn't expect a show appear around the corner Stargate is an important part of the MGM library and they're working on it rights message of hope is a battle cry for millions of Stargate fans who wish to return to the gate and see what new worlds unfold and as recently as May Richard Dean Anderson told gate world that he hoped the series would return and that he was interested in being a part of it he suggested that fans write letters to MGM Amanda tapping was also very optimistic about the show returning in some fashion she confirmed that Wright had been approached by MGM and that it was more likely now than it had been in the past five years the ball is now in MGM's Court and fans are lined up ready to buy tickets to the game indeed we appreciate you taking this walk with us through the history of the Stargate Universe a special thanks goes out to gate world whose twenty years of interviews and news stories were instrumental in the research done for this video and as always they continue to be a guiding light of information for Stargate fans around the world if you enjoy Stargate and other content like this consider subscribing and hitting the bell for notifications to get our next exciting video and of course if you like this show smash that like button like it's a goal trying to escape and make sure you share this video with all your Java friends also consider supporting our channel at patreon.com slash pop cast guys so we can continue making more videos like this one and until next time may all your stargate questions become future podcast videos [Music]

Channel: The Popcast

Views: 2,381,599

Keywords: new stargate, stargate, stargate sg1, stargate atlantis, stargate universe, stargate origins, the history, jack oneill, daniel jackson, samantha carter, stargate movie, stargate command, tealc, brad wright, dean devlin, roland emmerich, stargate lore, cameron mitchell, rodney mckay, stargate atlantis episode, mgm, stargate franchise, joseph mallozzi, dark matter, david hewlett, richard dean anderson, amanda tapping, jason momoa, dom deluise, peter deluise, stargate now

Id: jlG3RV-oPvI

Length: 51min 35sec (3095 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 22 2019

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[u/QUASARFREAK]

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