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[reddmyst]

I would be inclined to agree if I didn't really like Ben Browder so much. So I pretend that S9 and 10 of SG1 did not exist. I didn't like Farscape, the muppets were pretty cool though, but that was it.

But then I didn't really like season 1 or 2 of TNG.

I would put DS9 = SG1 (as a whole). Although, they're both different and I can enjoy it for what they were.

 

[The Cowboy]

I thought Universe was complete trash. I have no idea why some gaf members love it so much.

Despite being based within the Stargate franchise it was a very different type of show compared to SG1 and Atlantis, it was what i would call - a much more realistic (in situation, not tech) take on the Star Trek Voyager concept.

Its a weird one to say why i rate Universe higher than SG1 and Atlantis, i loved SG1 etc because of the cast, the humour and the bad guys (apart from the Ori - i really did not like them at all), but i loved Universe more because of not only the cast and the bad guys, but i really loved the concept (being stranded with little to no hope) and how they went with it in a very realistic manner.

In saying this, Universe was a show basically aimed at my type of Sci Fi, i loved (and sorely miss) Defying Gravity for example.

 

[firehawk12]

You're talking about Kavanagh right? She didn't like him but McKay and she only showed up once. I'm not sure how you got Japanese geisha waifu with her brief appearance. That segment was to contrast what she thought of McKay (brave, nice) to how he really is.

Kavanagh was a dick but the characters did mention that he was right on occasion. There was even that episode where they considered torturing him and it concluded with them being in the wrong.

Oh yes, I looked her up and you were right. Which makes it a bit worse since McKay has to be so perfect that women want him purely for his intellect. This was still when he was in his arrogant asshole phase, remember. lol
I just remember her a) doing a thick Japanese accent and b) being SO obsessed with McKay to the point of it just being weird.

I think the Kavanagh character might have been useful, but he was written as such a one-dimensional foil in order to make the main characters look good. Much like how the NID in Stargate was there only to make the SG-1 team members seem smarter by virtue of the other humans on the show being tremendously incompetent. Although I admit both of these are mostly S1 complaints.

Ford wasn't a Wraith. He was addicted to the enzyme. It was a pretty bad way to handle his character though. I agree that they should have found some way to develop him rather than introduce another 'scary' brown skinned warrior dude but less intelligent and more violent than Teal'c.

With Ford, I reacted much more violently to the character because of what Star Trek did to Harry Kim and Travis Mayweather. It just felt like these television writing rooms had no idea how to write for these young male minority characters and ultimately decided to just throw in the towel. At least the actors playing Kim and Mayweather were allowed to collect a paycheck for the duration of their respective shows though.

And yeah, Ronan really did feel like Teal'c 2.0. Which makes me wonder why they even needed Teyla at that point, but that's another sore spot that doesn't need picking.

Despite being based within the Stargate franchise it was a very different type of show compared to SG1 and Atlantis, it was what i would call - a much more realistic (in situation, not tech) take on the Star Trek Voyager concept.

Its a weird one to say why i rate Universe higher than SG1 and Atlantis, i loved SG1 etc because of the cast, the humour and the bad guys (apart from the Ori - i really did not like them at all), but i loved Universe more because of not only the cast and the bad guys, but i really loved the concept (being stranded with little to no hope) and how they went with it in a very realistic manner.

In saying this, Universe was a show basically aimed at my type of Sci Fi, i loved (and sorely miss) Defying Gravity for example.

Universe would have been tremendously improved if they didn't use those stupid mind transfer stones.

 

[The Librarian]

I loved how Shepard affectionately called Ronan "Chewie." Ha!

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Atlantis is terribly written. They squandered their characters and decided to make emo vampires the main villains since SG-1 already had the better villains to fight.

I never particularly liked the Wraith, in fact my favorite Atlantis villains were the Vanir. Asgards that took Loki's ideas and ran with them? Awesome.

I did really like Todd though.

 

[The Librarian]

I never particularly liked the Wraith, in fact my favorite Atlantis villains were the Vanir. Asgards that took Loki's ideas and ran with them? Awesome.

I did really like Todd though.

Todd was amazing.

 

[krae_man]

Universe would have been tremendously improved if they didn't use those stupid mind transfer stones.

I didn't mind the stones. If they didn't use them everyone would be saying "they have this technology, why didn't they use it?".

Spoiler

Now all they used them for was to fuck like rabbits. Sorry I gave you aids while I was in your body :lol

 

[firehawk12]

I didn't mind the stones. If they didn't use them everyone would be saying "they have this technology, why didn't they use it?".

Spoiler

Now all they used them for was to fuck like rabbits. Sorry I gave you aids while I was in your body :lol

I don't remember the specifics, but the worst thing I remember is how awkward the writers room had to get when one of the gay characters was possessed by a straight character and the writers had to try to justify that as not some kind of personal violation.

That's not to say that there isn't some important or interesting science fiction idea there - but they didn't ever address it in the show. It was only in interviews and blog posts when people started asking them about it.

(I believe this involved the Ming Na character, but I honestly can't remember).

But yes, it was basically an excuse for people to have sex with random people. I think in the first season, one of the characters used the stones to purposefully have sex with another character's wife. They basically wrote a creepy rape story.

 

[Dead Man]

The last two seasons (with the Ori) were kinda horrible for me. Ben Browder and Claudia Black are great fun actors (but some of those episodes are pretty fricken bad). As usual with the show, there is a bunch of great one off episodes in the two seasons, but I feel the whole Ori arc is a pretty hard watch.

Season 8 was the perfect end off for me, fantasticc stuff

Sums it up for me, I watched for Browder, Black, and Judge.

 

[The Cowboy]

But yes, it was basically an excuse for people to have sex with random people. I think in the first season, one of the characters used the stones to purposefully have sex with another character's wife. They basically wrote a creepy rape story.

Its actually stated within the show lore (on the keno recordings that aired around the same time) that there is a permission form that the volunteers sign, part of the form states that signing it allows the use of their body for "personal reasons". Also, i don't quite get your "it was basically an excuse to have sex with random people" part, you can count on 1 hand the number of people who used the stones for sex within the show - that we saw (in fact, I'm pretty sure you can count it on 1 finger).

 

[firehawk12]

Its actually stated within the show lore (on the keno recordings that aired around the same time) that there is permission form that the volunteers sign, part of the form states that signing it allows the use of their body for "personal reasons".

This was the Colonel Telford arc, where Young used Telford's body to try to win back his ex-wife. This was clearly done with Telford's knowledge, although then again, he was apparently a brainwashed sleeper agent during this time anyway.

 

[The Cowboy]

This was the Colonel Telford arc, where Young used Telford's body to try to win back his ex-wife. This was clearly done with Telford's knowledge, although then again, he was apparently a brainwashed sleeper agent during this time anyway.

Yeah, once it got the brain washing part it took a turn with regards to issues on signing the form (in that he never gave permission of his own free will - unless he was brainwashed after signing), i think it would have been neat to do a story around the implications of it.

 

[Shinta]

It's easily the best sci-fi show of them all. I literally lost count of the amount of times that I was fantasizing "I wish the story went here" and it not only went there, but fully surpassed my expectations.

It's probably the only show besides 24 that could actually get me to root for the US military. It's funny and the cast is fantastic. The action is good, the special effects are good.

You not only see tons of alien worlds, but you get into all the aspects of their culture, politics, military philosophy and so on. Nothing else rivals the complete SG-1 collection. Farscape came close, but didn't stay around as long as it deserved.

 

[firehawk12]

Yeah, once it got the brain washing part it took a turn with regards to issues on signing the form (in that he never gave permission of his own free will - unless he was brainwashed after signing), i think it would have been neat to do a story around the implications of it.

Well, I remember they ended that episode with the "real" Telford going to visit Young's wife after he found out what Young was doing to his body, but they dropped the story then. Like, did he pretend to be Young and kept having sex with his wife? Or did he try to ruin Young's relationship in order to get back at him?
They probably realized that it was getting too creepy, so they just forgot it happened.

(Much like how O'Neill having a space baby after A Hundred Days was quietly forgotten lol)

 

[Team Filler]

I thought Universe was complete trash. I have no idea why some gaf members love it so much.

Because of how good Season 2 became by the end. S1 had a mountain of shit weighing it down, but that almost seems like a fact of scifi shows anymore (S1 TNG is pretty fucking awful), so I think many of us are lenient in overall judgement based on that. It also doesn't hurt that Rush is a fucking incredible character to watch develop.

 

[SMgamer83]

There is no "maybe" about it. SG-1 is the best Sci-Fi series of all time. Yeah I said it.

 

[sono]

I love the Stargate series too.

Here is just a part of the reason why:

 

[firehawk12]

It's probably the only show besides 24 that could actually get me to root for the US military. It's funny and the cast is fantastic. The action is good, the special effects are good.

It's interesting to think about this after the fact. The show was basically heavily supported by the USAF and the military as a whole (which is how they got the submarine in the SG-1 movie). And while the military only said that they reviewed their scripts for accuracy, you can't help but wonder if they made any other suggestions as well. In fact, probably the most lasting effect of that relationship was when the production switched to the P90, which became an iconic weapon in the Stargate universe.

 

[Shinta]

It's interesting to think about this after the fact. The show was basically heavily supported by the USAF and the military as a whole (which is how they got the submarine in the SG-1 movie). And while the military only said that they reviewed their scripts for accuracy, you can't help but wonder if they made any other suggestions as well. In fact, probably the most lasting effect of that relationship was when the production switched to the P90, which became an iconic weapon in the Stargate universe.

I'm sure the military loved it. But it's also a really cool angle to take science fiction. The military prowess of the US isn't really something many people celebrate these days. But what if they had to take on hostile aliens?

Fuck yeah.

 

[firehawk12]

I'm sure the military loved it. But it's also a really cool angle to take science fiction. The military prowess of the US isn't really something many people celebrate these days. But what if they had to take on hostile aliens?

Fuck yeah.

To be fair, this is the case of a lot of alien invasion movies. Battleship and Battle of Los Angeles being the most recent examples I can think of. The US military basically offers a lot of their technical support for free, because these shows and movies serve as great recruitment tools.
(I have to assume the new TNT show The Last Ship also has extensive support from the US Navy)

They do have various interviews and commentaries that talk about the involvement of the military on the show on the DVDs, if that's something that interests you.

 

[Shinta]

To be fair, this is the case of a lot of alien invasion movies. Battleship and Battle of Los Angeles being the most recent examples I can think of. The US military basically offers a lot of their technical support for free, because these shows and movies serve as great recruitment tools.
(I have to assume the new TNT show The Last Ship also has extensive support from the US Navy)

They do have various interviews and commentaries that talk about the involvement of the military on the show on the DVDs, if that's something that interests you.

It's interesting. They even had on a real general at one point doing a cameo. It was clear he couldn't act at all, and Jack was totally teasing him. Pretty humorous.

But yeah, I never felt the show went into overly patriotic wank territory. They also showed the dark side of the US military in various episodes, the dark side of US politics consistently, and even branched into secret corporate interference multiple times.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

Agreed. Show legit made me wish a real stargate existed and Cheyenne Hills was real. Such an amazing show.

 

[firehawk12]

It's interesting. They even had on a real general at one point doing a cameo. It was clear he couldn't act at all, and Jack was totally teasing him. Pretty humorous.

But yeah, I never felt the show went into overly patriotic wank territory. They also showed the dark side of the US military in various episodes, the dark side of US politics consistently, and even branched into secret corporate interference multiple times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._Ryan
He was Chief of Staff of the Air Force at the time. lol

And yeah, I don't remember anything explicit about the show venturing into unadulterated praise of the military, but the show also went out of its way to avoid mentioning the real world as much as possible. For example, other than a reference to the fact that Colonel Sheppard is a Afghan war veteran, there isn't a real indication that 9/11 happened in the SG universe. Probably for the best, since you don't want to bring up the invasion of Iraq and things like that into a show about space aliens in Egyptian cosplay.

 

[Team Filler]

I think the most likely answer is the USAF had a lot of serviceman turn fans of the show as it developed, with the shows evenhanded treatment of that branch of military no doubt helping a bit.

 

[firehawk12]

I think the most likely answer is the USAF had a lot of serviceman turn fans of the show as it developed, with the shows evenhanded treatment of that branch of military no doubt helping a bit.

The US military has a department dedicated to supporting Hollywood productions:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...tank-or-check-a-military-uniform-9624375.html

They will turn down scripts, like Platoon and Thirteen Days, if they think the script is too "anti-military".

 

[Team Filler]

Right, that's where the second part about evenhandedness comes in. The first part is me guessing that there are probably a lot of scifi fans serving, mostly based on admittedly anecdotal evidence.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Show owned from seasons 3-7. 8 was hit or miss. 9-10 were no good, can't have Space MacGyver without MacGyver.

I don't remember enough of the first 2, I need to do a complete rewatch. But it takes so long...

 

[krae_man]

Its actually stated within the show lore (on the keno recordings that aired around the same time) that there is a permission form that the volunteers sign, part of the form states that signing it allows the use of their body for "personal reasons". Also, i don't quite get your "it was basically an excuse to have sex with random people" part, you can count on 1 hand the number of people who used the stones for sex within the show - that we saw (in fact, I'm pretty sure you can count it on 1 finger).

More then one finger. Telford, Mitchell, Wray and Rush all had communicator stone relations off the top of my head.

 

[Ashodin]

It's interesting to think about this after the fact. The show was basically heavily supported by the USAF and the military as a whole (which is how they got the submarine in the SG-1 movie). And while the military only said that they reviewed their scripts for accuracy, you can't help but wonder if they made any other suggestions as well. In fact, probably the most lasting effect of that relationship was when the production switched to the P90, which became an iconic weapon in the Stargate universe.

Every time I saw it I said "f'in P90!"

 

[The Cowboy]

More then one finger. Telford, Mitchell, Wray and Rush all had communicator stone relations off the top of my head.

Teflord/Young was the only one we ever saw, we never saw Wray use the other persons body for sex (though its very possible, though not when she switched with Amanda), Rush was going to but Eli stopped it when he reminded Amanda that she was in his GF's body (Rush in the end had a relationship with an uploaded consciousness of Amanda using the Ancient chair), i don't remember Rush sleeping with her while she was in Wray's body (actually, I think they did - its Been a while since i watched).

I have no idea who Mitchell is in Universe, i think you have a character mixed up.

 

[krae_man]

Oopsies I meant Young.

 

[BorkBork]

I'm not really sure why I found SG-1 to be super vanilla, despite all its worldbuilding, season arcs, and alien cultures. I don't know if it's the acting or the characterizations or lack of narrative risk, but even its best episodes, like Heroes and Abyss, doesn't have that large an impact on me, compared to peak episodes from its contemporaries like DS9 and Farscape. It got worse with Atlantis, and then Universe was a trainwreck.

 

[Keyser Soze]

No it wasn't. Stop lying.

I heard this and then forced myself to watch it through. It was still shit at the end.

It was getting good.

Season 1 felt like a low scale BSG done really bad. The tone, filming, the everything felt like a different show. It was actively trying too much to be a different show, even though it had Stargate in the title, and that was not working.

Season 2 started to fix things right from the get go, and was well on its way do digging themselves out of the horrible hole they went into during Season 1. They were even starting to make me care about Chloe - who was one of the most horribly written characters in TV for season 1.

I am not saying it was ever must watch TV, as the creators were always fighting against the bad start, but the product was rising it quality as it ended - which is disappointing to me.

 

[Cheerilee]

S3: Farrel was willing to come back for cameos, but was so pissed with what they did to her that she refused to even let them use footage of her in the finale. With the actress who played Weir, it got to the point where they basically recast her in S5 for the one cameo episode because the actress refused to come back.

DS9 at the time was only offering year-by-year contract extensions, so there was no job security. She was offered a multi-year contract for Becker, so it was a better offer.

When it was later decided that season 7 was going to be DS9's last year, Farrell said that knowing that earlier would have influenced her decision, because one more year would have finished the job.

The writers did her a favor and killed her off, because most actors like that sort of thing, but she got emotional and cried because she didn't want her character to end. She would have preferred an "open door" exit, with a bigger chance for cameos, even though it's sci-fi and they can just make up an excuse to bring her back.

Her image didn't appear in any of the final episode flashbacks, because her contract (everyone's contracts) said that her image could not be used in future episodes unless the show paid a pre-set rate for her to come back and do a cameo. She would have loved to do a cameo for the final episode, and the writers wanted to give her one, but the final episode was already over-budget, so they couldn't afford her, so they didn't ask.

 

[Auto-Reply]

Episode 200 was awesome though.

and

Furlings

The hell? They crossed over Farscape and SG for the final episodes?

 

[firehawk12]

Her image didn't appear in any of the final episode flashbacks, because her contract (everyone's contracts) said that her image could not be used in future episodes unless the show paid a pre-set rate for her to come back and do a cameo. She would have loved to do a cameo for the final episode, and the writers wanted to give her one, but the final episode was already over-budget, so they couldn't afford her, so they didn't ask.

So I figure I would refresh my memory:

As Ira Steven Behr explains, "We had planned to see Terry Farrell in the flashbacks but she refused to let us use any of her clips. The way I see it is this: Her manager was informed that we were thinking of using Terry in a scene in the final episode. It would have probably been three hours of work... maybe four. The price they quoted us was too high for the budget. After all, this was a show where we had to cut out hundreds of thousands of dollars from the original draft. Her manager was informed that we weren't going to be able to use Terry. And on top of it, the scene we had been thinking of for her was really not that germane to the plot. I think Terry's feelings were hurt. When it came to the issue of the clips, they again felt that they would prefer that we went a different way without using the character of Jadzia Dax. So we did. I wasn't happy about it. I'm still not happy about it. But it is a reminder that even Star Trek is just part of the great showbiz sludge."

Looks like a combination of both stories. Sour grapes and anger.

 

[DBT85]

The hell? They crossed over Farscape and SG for the final episodes?

Only briefly in ep 200.

Love all of Stargate including Universe.

 

[GraveHorizon]

Used to like SG1, started really getting into it in the last few seasons. Don't even remember why or when I stopped watching, but I don't feel like anything was concluded last I saw. I always thought it was really good, but then I watched Farscape years later and realized true greatness. SG1 really was very talky, and too much military feel.

Had no idea about that crossover, though. My friend (also a Farscape fan) would be very interested in that if he cared about SG1 at all.

 

[firehawk12]

The crossover is like a five second joke based on the fact that they cast the two Farscape leads to be on their show.
SG-1 has some measure of an ending, by virtue of getting a movie to wrap up the cliffhanger in S10.

 

[GraveHorizon]

The crossover is like a five second joke based on the fact that they cast the two Farscape leads to be on their show.
SG-1 has some measure of an ending, by virtue of getting a movie to wrap up the cliffhanger in S10.

I knew there was a movie and that it finished the series for real, but I never watched it. I did see an episode where Teal'c lived through a time thing and went back in time to save them from experiencing the time crisis, retaining his age and memories, and he volunteered because he would live longer than a human under normal conditions anyway. Don't know how close that was to the end.

 

[Cheerilee]

I knew there was a movie and that it finished the series for real, but I never watched it. I did see an episode where Teal'c lived through a time thing and went back in time to save them from experiencing the time crisis, retaining his age and memories, and he volunteered because he would live longer than a human under normal conditions anyway. Don't know how close that was to the end.

That was the last SG1 episode.

 

[Icomp]

I've tried both Star Trek and SG1.

Star Trek has charm, SG1 feels like the cheapest made television show ever put on air.

Maybe that's just me?

 

[Cipherr]

I knew there was a movie and that it finished the series for real, but I never watched it. I did see an episode where Teal'c lived through a time thing and went back in time to save them from experiencing the time crisis, retaining his age and memories, and he volunteered because he would live longer than a human under normal conditions anyway. Don't know how close that was to the end.

That was the last SG1 episode.

Yep. As bad as I feel SG1 got post RDA leaving the show, I did sort of like the last episode, with the exception of them just flat out killing off the Asgard like that. That part really didn't sit well with me, but at least it was touched on earlier in the show that they were dying because they couldn't reproduce.

Good last episode though. Really liked it.

 

[Tacitus_]

The hell? They crossed over Farscape and SG for the final episodes?

It was a joke episode where they, ehm, assisted the show-within-the-show "Worrmhole X-Treme".

 

[Dougald]

It's a great light-hearted adventure show that's fun to watch, even if every planet in the Universe either looks like a quarry, a forest in North America, or a quarry in a forest in North America.

Atlantis was even "okay" as they at least managed to keep that adventurous theme, even though the setting wasn't quite as fun. Universe was dull as dishwater

 

[Cheerilee]

Yep. As bad as I feel SG1 got post RDA leaving the show, I did sort of like the last episode, with the exception of them just flat out killing off the Asgard like that. That part really didn't sit well with me, but at least it was touched on earlier in the show that they were dying because they couldn't reproduce.

Good last episode though. Really liked it.

Want to hear a messed up thing?

The Asgard Loki suspected that O'Neill's DNA might hold the key to the survival of their race, so he alien-abducted O'Neill, that way he could study him against his will, leaving a clone behind so O'Neill's temporary absence wouldn't be noticed.

Thor came along and said that unauthorized research wasn't allowed. And in anticipation of someone jumping for the obvious, juicy research target, the Asgard already had O'Neill's DNA copy-protected against his will, with the result being that O'Neill's clones always break down and die. Loki went to jail, and Thor was willing to let the clone die, because... meh, it's just a clone. Who cares?

Then the Asgard declared that their copy-degradation problem was completely unsolvable, and committed mass-suicide. But what happened to Loki, or any of their other prisoners? Loki didn't suicide, he was executed.

The Asgard deserved to die, on so many levels.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Ground 'Motherfukinhog' Day episode.

I'd put that up there with the Jaynestown episode in Firefly.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

The 4 main actors feels right. Perhaps Michael Shanks is a little off as Daniel Jackson. The 1994 movie actor was better.

Well yeah, it's going to be pretty difficult to top JAMES SPADER.

 

[Harlock]

It's interesting to think about this after the fact. The show was basically heavily supported by the USAF and the military as a whole (which is how they got the submarine in the SG-1 movie). And while the military only said that they reviewed their scripts for accuracy, you can't help but wonder if they made any other suggestions as well. In fact, probably the most lasting effect of that relationship was when the production switched to the P90, which became an iconic weapon in the Stargate universe.

I was thinking about that too. SG-1 is a pre 9-11 show, and the 90s was a relative peacetime. The US military (and US president) had a better public perception those times.

 

[darkwing]

SGU , the last season was awesome , that alternate timeline story was heartbreaking