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Syfy explains to fans why ‘Stargate Universe’ was cancelled.

14 May

Every since the announcement that Syfy was canceling Stargate Universe, the fans have been mighty pissed. And Syfy isn’t taking it lying down any longer. In a letter to Stargate fans everywhere the studio explains why SGU had to go.

Craig Engler, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Syfy Digital, penned a letter over at Gateworld breaking down the real reasons SGU was canned. It shouldn’t surprise you all that the underlying reason was indeed the numbers:

Engler maps out the fall of SGU both in the letter, and with a chart (attached). He also addressed the accusations that Syfy never cared for the Stargate franchise and is just clearing out more room for wrestling:

You canceled SGU because you hate science fiction:
If we didn’t like science fiction we simply wouldn’t have made SGU. It’s because we like science fiction that we tried it. Even though SGU was ultimately unsuccessful, we don’t regret trying it. Science fiction shows are the backbone and lifeblood of our network, and we have many in development. Later this year we’ll be debuting Alphas, the Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome pilot is being worked on as you read this, the movie Red Faction starring Stargate Universe‘s Brian Jacob Smith will air next month, 5 of our original dramas will return with new seasons or new episodes this year, and we’re working on many more behind the scenes.

You canceled SGU in order to make wrestling:
We would have happily kept making SGU regardless of anything else on our schedule if the ratings were sustainable. We don’t discontinue successful shows to make room for other shows … no network does because no network has a full roster of successful series. SGU was judged solely on its own ratings.

Stargate Universe Cancelled

17 Dec


Syfy pulls the plug on the show with 10 episodes left to air

Syfy has just announced that it’s cancelled Stargate Universe, which will now end after the final 10 episodes are broadcast next year. The network has been airing the various versions of Stargate since 2002, but with no further incarnations of the show in the pipeline, it looks like 2011 could be the year the franchise finally grinds to a halt.

While season one of Universe launched with around two and a half million viewers, the figures dwindled to the one and half million mark by the end of season one, while season two has seen a drastic fall to ratings around one million mark.

Stargate Universe Season 2 Trailer : Returns Sept. 28th to SyFy

19 Sep

Review : Stargate Universe – Season one (DVD & Bluray)

2 Jul


DVD REVIEW Stargate Universe, season one

Franchise reinvention comes up trumps

2009-2010 * 15 * 416 mins * £49.99 * 5 July 2010 * Also available on Blu-ray (£67.99)
Distributor: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Creators: Brad Wright, Robert C Cooper
Cast: Robert Carlyle, Louis Ferreira, Alaina Huffm
an, Brian J Smith, Elyse Levesque
source :sfx
by:Jayne Nelson

It’s Stargate, but not as you know it. Gone are the tongue-in-cheek asides and team camaraderie that shaped SG-1 and Atlantis; in comes all the dirt, realism and angst you’d normally find in serious drama.

Stargate Universe isn’t fun viewing, oh no – it’s a long, hard slog with a bunch of heroes who might not be even be heroes at all, and it’s dark in the literal sense as well as the psychological one. At times it’s so slow you’ll want to hit fast-forward on your remote… but bear with it, as it’ll reward you in the end.

Rather like its closest cousin, Battlestar Galactica, this is a show about people trying to live normal lives in extraordinary circumstances. Stranded on an ancient intergalactic spaceship too far from Earth to ever return, the crew of the Destiny struggle to find food, water and even air while squabbling among themselves just like real people would do. It’s essentially a similar premise to Atlantis, only delivered with a harder edge and a freshness that comes from a new setting.

It’s supremely well-acted, too, particularly the convincing “alpha dog” dynamics between Robert Carlyle’s floppy-haired scientist Rush and head honcho Colonel Young (a growly Louis Ferreira). The FX are beautiful and the set design is just oppressive enough to generate a sense of unease, making the characters’ misery all the more tangible. There’s also a pleasing arc running through the season which culminates in a Mexican stand-off on-board the ship – and one almighty cliffhanger to keep you panting until season two. You might not even realise until you watch the finale quite how this show’s got under your skin… but it will.

Rating : 8/10

Extras:

Impressive. There’s a commentary on every single episode from a huge array of cast and crew, along with video diaries and featurettes, plus an extended version of the first episode.

Rating : 9/10

MGM Struggles Could Threaten ‘Stargate: Universe’

24 Apr


It might be the economy, not ratings, that eventually kill the Syfy program
Source: Airlock Alpha
If MGM is willing to take James Bond off the table, why would anyone think that the Stargate franchise wouldn’t be an easier target?

That’s some of the concern going through the fan community this week following MGM’s announcement that it has put its third Bond film starring Daniel Craig on the backburner while it tries to find a buyer to help relieve it of some $3.7 billion in debt.

“You try to keep your chin up, but it’s hard, it’s really hard right now,” a source involved in the Vancouver production of Syfy’s “Stargate: Universe” told Airlock Alpha this week. “We come in, do the best job we can, but in the end, we could be out of work tomorrow simply because of something that’s totally out of our control.”

Filming has resumed on “Stargate: Universe” for the show’s second season, one of just a handful of projects in production right now through MGM. Stargate has remained a profitable franchise for MGM, even when its shows have struggled in the ratings like “Universe’s” predecessor, “Stargate: Atlantis.” But even turning profits isn’t enough to earn a pardon from the financial gods … something even James Bond is learning the hard way.

But then again, television typically has much faster returns on investment than movies, and that has been one key element that has helped keep “Universe” chugging away while it builds an audience and some critical acclaim, according to another source familiar with MGM’s happenings, but not exactly tied with any of its current productions.

“You put out money for television production, and you usually see returns within months,” the source said, who asked not to be named because of their continued relationship with MGM. “When you do movies, it could take years. MGM was already spending a boatload of money just to develop Bond, and you won’t even see a dime in return for a couple of years. That’s a long time when your books are weighed down in billions of dollars.”

The Stargate franchise has felt some of the purse string-tightening at MGM. Planned DVD movies have been shelved for the past year, despite the phenomenal success of the two “Stargate SG-1″ movies “Ark of Truth” and “Continuum.” Executive Producer Brad Wright told Airlock Alpha in Vancouver late last year that plans are still afoot to do more “SG-1″ DVD films and even one based on the “Atlantis” series, but financial constraints have kept those projects on the shelf collecting dust.

If MGM can find a buyer in the near future, profitable franchises like Stargate won’t have to worry — as long as they remain profitable. However, if MGM is forced into bankruptcy, a new set of variables can emerge that might either help shows like “Universe,” or could send it out to an entirely new owner — one that might be looking to recoup some of their losses to MGM, and not necessarily one looking to help the franchise continue to thrive.

“It’s better not to dwell on things like that,” the “Universe” source said. “That’s pretty unlikely. MGM has a strong library, and if there was just a way to shrink some of that debt, I bet there are a number of Hollywood companies that would love to gobble us up and keep supporting what we do.”

“Stargate: Universe” airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy.

‘Stargate Universe’ introduces a bonafide alien-looking alien

5 Apr


Those who watched the first half of the first season of Syfy’s “Stargate Universe” probably noticed something a bit different about the spacefaring series from most others — no aliens.

Yes, Robert Carlyle’s Dr. Rush and the rest are on an alien vessel, but (maybe due to their being in hyperspace a lot), had yet to face any external aliens besides a weird cloud of dust and a swarm of space bees. But that changes in this second half of the season, which launches Friday night. This crew, a mixture of a few military personnel and a lot of civilians, will have first contact with a very non-humanoid, non-friendly species. And here’s an exclusive look at the telepathic creatures:

“Universe” co-creators Robert Cooper and Brad Wright wanted to make sure they established the crew on Destiny and the challenges they’d face daily. With this careful character development, aliens did not play a huge part in it, but now that they’re here, the “Stargate” folks want to make sure aliens are really … alien.

“They are bi-pedal, and they have arms and legs, but they look really different from anything we’ve seen on ‘Stargate’ before. They don’t become the bad guys of the week, but they do have an impact on what they do going forward and there are certainly reverberations for several episodes,” Cooper says.

“And one of the things that we didn’t want to do was latex-faced aliens. We wanted those aliens to be really out there,” Wright says. “We’re doing full-on CG, heavy duty, ‘District 9′ kind of, alien lifeforms. And I think that fans of the old ‘Stargate’ who miss aliens are going to get what they’re looking for.”

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