Stargate Universe Producers Not Giving Up on Show

[Logan Westbrook]

Stargate Universe Producers Not Giving Up on Show

SyFy doesn't have the final say on what happens on Stargate Universe, but the show will need to find more funding pretty quickly.

The news that SyFy would not be picking up a third season of Stargate spin-off, Stargate Universe, was not only disappointing, it also seemed to spell the end of the show. But SGU's producers say that there is a glimmer of hope for the show, albeit a very faint one, and they're trying everything they can to keep it alive.

The key point is that SyFy does not own the Stargate license, MGM does. While the licensing fee that SyFy paid for the show constituting a significant part of the show's budget, it wasn't all of it. If the show could find other partners willing to contribute enough to make up this short fall, the show could go on. Executive Producer Joseph Mallozzi didn't sugar coat the show's chances though, saying that it didn't look good, and that it was incredibly long odds that the show would be back for a third season.

Responding to questions from fans of SGU on his blog [http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/], Mallozzi said that there was a chance those odds could increase if fans showed their support for the franchise. He made it clear, however, that the executives would look at it from a business point of view, so while letters and emails were good, DVD and digital sales carried a heck of a lot more weight.

It's pretty clear that it's going to take something pretty extraordinary for SGU to keep going, so it's probably best to assume that it's finished. Still, it's hard not be little bit hopeful that the show might get a last minute reprieve, even though it's almost certainly not going to happen.

The final ten episodes of season two of Stargate Universe will be shown on SyFy in the spring.

Source: Gateworld [http://www.gateworld.net/news/2010/12/producers-havent-given-up-on-finishing-sgus-story/] via io9 [http://io9.com/5718615/awesome-new-casting-rumor-for-edgar-wrights-ant+man-and-is-there-hope-for-stargate-universe-after-all]


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[A Pious Cultist]

So much potential lost in favour of teen drama.

 

[tkioz]

I'm very meh about this news, I was a huge fan of SG1 and a moderate fan of Atlantis, but Universe really put me off, it was trying too bloody hard to be Battlestar Galaticia, there was very little if any of the fun off the wall stuff of SG1 and Atlantis, and too much damn angst.

 

[Serenegoose]

So much potential lost in favour of teen drama.

Silly person. SGU wasn't profitable, and if that's the case, then it having potential is irrelevant. I can't believe you'd consider that a shows entertainment value is something that we should care about, when what should be at the top of our minds is making sure rich executives can turn a tidy sum off of everything that exists!

 

[A Pious Cultist]

What are you rambling on about serene goose?
I don't understand what you were trying to say or how it related to my post.

 

[Evilsanta]

I'm very meh about this news, I was a huge fan of SG1 and a moderate fan of Atlantis, but Universe really put me off, it was trying too bloody hard to be Battlestar Galaticia, there was very little if any of the fun off the wall stuff of SG1 and Atlantis, and too much damn angst.

This.

I am a big fan of both SG-1 and Atlantis while Universe is just to angsty to my taste. I liked the lighthearted tone they could take in SG-1 and Atlantis. So this is a very meh news for me too.

 

[Nerf Ninja]

Unfortunately, this is one of the shows cancelled for the right reasons. It sucked.

 

[dalek sec]

It might not make it back for another season but I can always hope.

I think they had it planned so if they only had one more season they had the storylines written up so they could finish the series for the most part.

 

[mad825]

Good news!

After betraying old Stargate fans all I can do is gloat and pity it's near demise. I hope this teaches him a lesson.

 

[Something Amyss]

Goddammit, just let it die, please. Bring back something more like SG-1 and Atlantis.

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I was thinking something slightly more like "of all the shows to take a stand on, why THIS?" But still.

 

[Blind Sight]

Hey, you know what would probably have fixed your rantings? Killing Chloe. Seriously, that character was the biggest waste of screen time I've seen in a Stargate series. I also didn't like how they turned 'sociopathic black man' into 'just kinda grumpy black man' over two seasons, I thought the fact that he was slightly insane from being abused as a child actually made him a bit more interesting, Stargate's never really had a 'heroic sociopath' character, just some loners.

 

[Master Kuja]

ARGH.

Why can't they just put this series to rest? It was one of the few shows that was axed for the *right* reasons, mainly because it sucked, hard.
It was just so full of angst and melodrama and packed full to the brim with totally unlike-able characters that it's a disgrace to its namesake.

Honestly, the only character I ever liked from the word go was Rush, and you weren't even *meant* to like him at the start, so yeah, well done on that front, you make the rest of your characters so insufferable that the only character I enjoyed was the crazy scientist with a complete disregard for the lives of others.

Bravo.

 

[Pyode]

I didn't mind that SGU had a darker tone. I thought it was a nice change of pace form Atlantis and SG1. That being said, I still think the fucking show sucked. They focused waaaay too much on the boring shit that was going on on earth and the lame love triangles and not enough on the damn Stargate. I couldn't get half way through the first season so, as far as I'm concerned, good riddance.

 

[lacktheknack]

What are you rambling on about serene goose?
I don't understand what you were trying to say or how it related to my post.

He was attempting to be satirical (he failed).

 

[TWEWER]

Wy is this show getting canceled a bad thing? SGU sucked, and that's coming from someone who like SG-1 and some of Atlantis.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Just let it die already, if you can't do it proper don't go shitting on a good name.

 

[anyGould]

I hope they manage a way to keep running, but I won't be terribly sad if it's cancelled.

I enjoy the show, but they're still stumbling around a bit too much.

If I had to point fingers at why they were canceled, I'd have to say they had too many things going on:

- I don't mind Chloe, but having Camille there as well means that neither of them get much to do.
- a lot of the scientists got short-changed (or got too much time for second-string).
- the stones really annoy me; suddenly being stranded across the galaxy becomes a minor annoyance instead of soul-crushingly horrible.

I liked S1 specifically because it was soul-crushingly horrible. SG1 always had a safe harbor. Atlantis was chasing after ZPMs, but they were largely safe at home. What I liked about SGU was that sense of "we are so totally screwed". We don't have a safe harbor (no food, no water, no friends). We don't have the right people (except of course, we have just enough of the right people: no doc, but a medic, etc.). We're here, we're stuck, and we can't even drive the ship. My big complaint is that they moved away from that too quickly. Halfway through season 2, and we're pretty much Voyager. The civilian/military split is now Lucian/human, and neither are terribly interesting.

Really, I'll miss it in the same way I miss Dollhouse - it's a great idea, even if the execution was a bit hit-and-miss.

 

[Rednog]

Terrible show is terrible. I honestly don't know why they slapped the Stargate franchise name on this. It was clearly meant to be something else and has very little to nothing to do with SG-1 and Atlantis. I mean common it's Drama In Space with the means of getting planet to planet just happening to be a stargate and the communication stones are thrown in. You alienate fan of the original with this obscene change, and the people who probably would be interested in it are turned off by the idea of the science fiction that the brand is associated with.