SGU Cancelled

[Dr.Jackson]

It was announced last week that, unfortunately, SGU will not be renewed for a third season.

A press release from SyFy stated -
"Syfy will end its original action-adventure series Stargate Universe when the show returns with the final 10 episodes of its second season in the Spring of 2011."

What this means for the Stargate franchise as a whole remains to be seen, but there are plans for a third SG-1 TV movie and an Atlantis TV movie - both are awaiting the green light from the studio.

 

[PTeppic]

Has anyone heard whether the SGU writers knew it wouldn't be renewed before they made 2.20, or if it'll be a never-addressed cliff-hanger?

 

[Dr.Jackson]

Has anyone heard whether the SGU writers knew it wouldn't be renewed before they made 2.20, or if it'll be a never-addressed cliff-hanger?

Unfortunately, it was only after filming had wrapped on the season that the decision was made. A couple of the cast commented that they found out on the same day and the same way as the rest of us - via the press release. I personally think it's a little unprofessional that they should have found out that way.

As for the writers, despite the occasional need for tweaks to the script during filming, there's usually a slightly longer hiatus over the holiday period for them, then back to writing in January. Since they'd finished season 2, no doubt they were already into pitching ideas for season 3, but most likely hadn't gotten to drafting the scripts yet. Seems like they'll be looking for work come the New Year as well.

 

[PTeppic]

I guess it's theoretically possible someone else could pick up the show, to keep it going. It's not guaranteed to be over for ever... I hear that Primeval could be back over Christmas!

 

[Perpetual Man]

I'm not really a fan of SGU, but am sorry to hear that it has been cancelled. It seems that Sy-Fy is out to cancel all it's original shows, following the axing of Caprica and now this.

Pteppic - Primeval is coming back despite being cancelled, a ground-breaking decision between two networks has brought this one back from extinction for not one, but two seasons!

 

[Dave]

Would Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin ever now go back to the original film and make his sequels (as if everything else was a parallel universe)? We know he wanted to, but the cast has grown a bit older now, and maybe everybody is a little 'stargated-out'.

 

[PTeppic]

Would Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin ever now go back to the original film and make his sequels (as if everything else was a parallel universe)?

I never heard/understood what their basic premise was going to be for films two and three, but I got the impression there were only ever two gates ("Abydos" and Earth). So not sure where they could go with the story.

 

[Doctor Crankenstein]

Honestly, we all knew it was coming...

 

[PTeppic]

Some thoughts interpreting the editorial on Gateworld. What I would imagine is the biggest single misconception about TV channels is that their purpose is to making exciting, innovative and enjoyable TV programs. Wrong. With notable exceptions (e.g. government or PSB) their sole purpose is to make money - they're businesses. Period. Okay, so they try to make shows people will watch but, and here's the most important problem with the model, they make their money from the advertising on the day. So people DVRing it, nada. People going out to buy the DVDs, presumably nada (though the owners will get the kerching, I'd assume).

We didn't have enough like-minded people tuning in on the right days.

 

[Connavar]

SGU had good ratings,fan base for a Syfy show its just they care more for Wrestling than SF shows.

Im just annoyed when SGU got better in S2 it got cancelled. I wouldnt have cared after 15 eps of season 1.

 

[Moonbat]

I loved season 1, but moved house and lost Sky so didn't get to watch any of season 2. I guess I can pick it up on DVD eventually, but it's a shame it got cancelled so quickly.

 

[PTeppic]

Given that "Primeval" just got resurrected, there are theroretically ways it could survive. Problem is, if people know it's been canned already, will they bother to watch to the end of the season, providing viewer figures that might actually guide someone into deciding whether to co-fund the restoration?

 

[Dr.Jackson]

Given that "Primeval" just got resurrected, there are theroretically ways it could survive. Problem is, if people know it's been canned already, will they bother to watch to the end of the season, providing viewer figures that might actually guide someone into deciding whether to co-fund the restoration?

The problem with that is that SGU has been getting just over 1m viewers on average per episode in the US. In the UK it has averaged just under 900,000.

By contrast, Primeval was averaging 5m during its last series in the UK - I don't have access to the US viewing figures for it though, so I can't really say how much of an audience it had there. It did have largely favourable reviews on both sides of The Pond, but then again, it is aimed at more of a family audience, something that everyone can sit and enjoy after dinner.

 

[Connavar]

Syfy have not many viewers, their best SF had 2 million viewers. 1 Million for SGU is not bad since its not SG1,BGS in popularity.

 

[ctg]

We'll be convinced when we're convinced, but in the meantime, we will not be giving up on the Stargate Universe team.

As we reported before, after news that SGU had been cancelled, creator Brad Wright was adamant that he and the team had not given up on the show, pointing out in particular that Syfy's licence fee was not the be-all and end-all of the show's continued creation.

He has by no means given up. If you want an example of his tenacity, he hasn't given up on the SG-1 and SGA movies, either.

But, what's really interesting recently is that Joseph Mallozzi let slip that he Brad Wright is working hard for the team to remain together.

(Specifically, in this instance, VFX maestro Mark Savela).

According to Mallozzi, a 'minor hurdle has been cleared'. Now, this could mean that a few of the executive producers and the post-production team will stay on to work on the final ten eps of SGU, but it could also mean that the whole kit and kaboodle will find a new home on another networking, keeping the Stargate franchise alive.

This is what Mallozzi blogged:

"We spent a couple of hours in the late afternoon discussing the potential game plan if all goes well – and, if all DOES go well, I can assure you that it’ll be very, VERY exciting for all.

More news as it becomes available.

Hopefully sooner than later!"

All Hope Is Not Lost For Stargate Universe: Comeback A Possibility : SCI FI PI // SCI FI Channel

 

[ScottSF]

Truly devastating. Some of the best science fiction to grace the TV medium. After the disappointment of the BSG finale and so many smart shows getting the ax I was done with sci-fi on TV and SGU came like a ray of light and suddenly, the planets were exotic the aliens were alien in thought and appearance and there was plenty of astronomy relation action and exploration elements and the writing and acting was top notch leaving behind the camp that most expect from science fiction. They still haven't struck the sets so there may be some movies or something if not I hope the story continues in novels. Truely great science fiction to the core.

Oh and I was HOOKED by episode 4 or SGU.

 

[Dr.Jackson]

Quick update, and I only got this after being mentioned on a site that sort of promotes SGU via Twitter.

It appears that Stargate Universe is not being offered to other networks, however, there is still hope it could return as a TV movie.
Full story, although not giving us much more than we already have, is here -
Stargate Universe Could Return As A Tv Movie - Stargate Archive - Journal

 

[PTeppic]

Gateworld is reporting declining viewing figure. Pretty tough act, really, given everyone knows it's about to finish and it's been moved to a questionable time slot. Almost like the network wants it to die...

 

[Dr.Jackson]

Gateworld is reporting declining viewing figure. Pretty tough act, really, given everyone knows it's about to finish and it's been moved to a questionable time slot. Almost like the network wants it to die...

Some shows remain stable when shifted in their time slot, but I honestly think that SGU was doomed from the start. A lot of the core Stargate fans didn't like it because of the ship based drama, some of them even watched it before making that decision, and so the ratings haven't been as good as for previous Stargate incarnations.
I was unsure at the start, but I gave it a chance and enjoyed it. I'm not sure if more core fans gave it that chance that it might have done better, though.
However, not only did Syfy move the show to a competitive slot on a Monday, where it is almost certain to fall in the ratings, but the extended mid-season hiatus will have done nothing for the viewing figures either.

In saying that, it seems that Syfy is going the way of MTV, which used to be about music videos, but now shows so much 'reality' shows that it's old core theme has all but been brushed aside.
Unfortunately, since Syfy bought the rights to "Friday Night Smackdown" and started having a cookery show as well, it seems to have lost it's theme of Sci-Fi and gone for out and out profit. For this channel at least, the time of the nerds appears to be drawing to a close.