Stargate Atlantis: The Complete series- July 26th

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

I did not really watch the last season of Stargate Atlantis, did it get a proper finale or was the ending a cliffhanger?

A bit of both. It was a hurried shut-down of the immediate situation, while still obviously counting on the expected follow-up movies to wrap up the overall plot arc.

It was too pat and unsatisfying as a conclusion, but to be fair, the producers didn't expect at the time that would be the end of it.

[Ugly Pig]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

I did not really watch the last season of Stargate Atlantis, did it get a proper finale or was the ending a cliffhanger?

It wasn't a cliffhanger but it wasn't intended to be the final episode either. There's no proper conclusion.

[kemcha]

Actually, the series did end on a high note ... no cliffhanger. It was a proper conclusion to the series. You won't be disappointed. Watch it for yourself .... don't be spoiled by it from others.

[magnus]

Hi i just wanted to ask does anyone one know which episodes are the extended episodes on SGA: TCS?

Originally Posted by kemcha

Actually, the series did end on a high note ... no cliffhanger. It was a proper conclusion to the series. You won't be disappointed. Watch it for yourself .... don't be spoiled by it from others.

I also just wanted to add, you were partly correct in what you said earlier about the cancellation of SGA. The Showrunners were offered a choice; they could have either season six SGA and season one of SGU or they could have two seasons of SGU. After filming SG-1 and SGA concurrently the Showrunners didn't want to make two different shows at the same time and they wanted to do SGU.
I also agree with what you said about certain people who ran the show, especially when said person stands up in a room and says if people were true Stargate fans they would support SGU no matter what, like the fans are mindless sheep.

Anyway just wanted to get that off my chest.

[Indiana Jones]

Originally Posted by magnus

Hi i just wanted to ask does anyone one know which episodes are the extended episodes on SGA: TCS?

The only extended Atlantis episodes are the final 2 episodes of Season 5 'Vegas' and 'Enemy at the Gate'

[magnus]

Originally Posted by Indiana Jones

The only extended Atlantis episodes are the final 2 episodes of Season 5 'Vegas' and 'Enemy at the Gate'

Thank you very much Mr. Jones Have a very Merry Christmas, if you celebrate
of course

[Ugly Pig]

Originally Posted by magnus

The Showrunners were offered a choice; they could have either season six SGA and season one of SGU or they could have two seasons of SGU.

Well, this is clearly nonsense. It assumes that at the time SGU was to start, they knew the Stargate franchise would last exactly two more seasons, which they obviously, obviously couldn't possibly have known.

[kngtmat]

The contract for SGU was 2 years and if had great ratings SyFy will pick it up for more or 1 year for both SGA & SGU but they decided the 2 years plus Atlantis gets two movies like SG1 did but the problems MGM was having stopped them so now anything Stargate related is being held back until whenever they feel like it's time.

[Ugly Pig]

Originally Posted by kngtmat

The contract for SGU was 2 years and if had great ratings SyFy will pick it up for more or 1 year for both SGA & SGU but they decided the 2 years

I'd sure like to see a source for that information, because this directly contradicts what the showrunners themselves have been saying, as well as logic.

[kngtmat]

That is what I remember reading on a few Stargate forums when the series was cancelled, My memory might be wrong but there was a 2 year SGU deal after your post I checked again.


http://www.gateworld.net/news/2011/0...ans-from-syfy/

[Ugly Pig]

Originally Posted by kngtmat

That is what I remember reading on a few Stargate forums when the series was cancelled, My memory might be wrong but there was a 2 year SGU deal after your post I checked again.

There was a 2 year deal (kind of) for SGU, yes, but it didn't involve Atlantis. That is the claim I am objecting to.

Originally Posted by kngtmat

http://www.gateworld.net/news/2011/0...ans-from-syfy/

I remember that. You might be interested in reading what Joseph Mallozzi had to say about that particular post at the time (He was, as I'm sure you're aware, one of SGA's showrunners at the time it was cancelled). Relevant parts copy-paste'd and put in spoiler tags:

[Show spoiler]

Back in the last few years of Stargate, I took to giving the network notes on their notes. Essentially, I would go through the notes, address the concerns I could, then specifically respond to ones I couldn’t do or felt I shouldn’t do. As I read this article, I felt like responding in similar fashion. A lot of good points are raised. On the other hand, a lot of baffling points are made as well. For starters, I don’t think an official explanation on the part of SyFy is necessary. While I can empathize with fans who object to the abruptness of the cancellation after ten years on the network, one has to understand that television is a business. If SyFy has alternate scripted programming that performs better on Mondays or Tuesdays in the fall, then it’s understandable why they would choose those shows over a third season of SGU. That said, certain statements in the article had me scratching my head…

“When MGM decided to bring Stargate Atlantis to an end after five seasons…”

Hmmmm. Not to belabor the point (because I have discussed this in past entries) but, at the time, when we asked the studio whether or not there was any interest on their part in producing a sixth season of Atlantis, I was told that, while the increased budget made a season six less attractive for them, there were other reasons to do it (ie. as a lead-in to the new series). I wasn’t privy to the final decision-making process so it’s possible that the studio had an 11th hour change of heart – but I’m not sure why they would have.

“Because Stargate SG-1 and had performed so well for us in the past, we felt confident about SGU and committed to a two-season deal for it, as long as the show met certain milestones along the way. Two-season deals are rare in the TV world because they tie up a huge amount of investment (both time and money), but our great track record with MGM and Stargate made this seem like as much of a sure thing as you’ll get in the TV business. That means before any footage was shot or any actors were hired, we knew there’d be 40 episodes.”

Craig rightly points out that the second year pick-up was contingent on the show’s first season meeting “certain milestones”. Which makes the last sentence: “That means before any footage was shot or any actors were hired, we knew there’d be 40 episodes.” somewhat debatable – unless he’s suggesting that the network was insanely optimistic at the time. If the first season had not met the milestones set forth in the original deal, there would have been no guarantee of a second season pick-up.

“The show quickly moved forward and officially launched on October 2, 2009. The debut was watched by a good if not spectacular 2,779,000 viewers. To give that some perspective, Stargate Atlantis debuted with over 4 million viewers, so SGU was more than 25% below that.”

File this one under baffling. Comparing the SGA premiere to the SGU premiere overlooks is grossly unfair. First – Atlantis premiered during the summer while Universe – originally slated for a fall premiere – premiered in the much more competitive fall. Second the time between the two premiere has seen a significant increase in DVR usage and internet downloads, and a simultaneous erosion in live viewership. Coincidence? Maybe, but I don’t think so. Simply put, back when Atlantis aired, fewer viewers were recording or downloading television and many more were watching television live.

“With untenably low numbers and no sign of growth on Fridays where it had now lost 1/3 of its initial audience, we decided to move SGU for its second season. We’d had tremendous success on Tuesday’s with our breakout hit Warehouse 13, so we paired SGU with Caprica and moved them to Tuesdays, hoping to introduce both shows to a new audience.”

Sigh. Okay, look – while I understood (and supported) the move to Tuesday night and the pairing with Caprica, I nevertheless take exception to the assertion that the network had enjoyed “tremendous success on Tuesday’s with [their] breakout hit Warehouse 13″. While Warehouse 13 certainly aired on Tuesdays, it did so in the summer (where, I’d like to reiterate, SGU was originally scheduled to air).

“We moved the final 10 episodes of SGU to Monday nights where we’d just had success with a new show called Being Human, but the ratings remained flat.”

Okay but, realistically, the series had already been canceled so I’m not sure how much reasonable audience growth could be expected at that point.

Like I said – television is a business and decisions are driven by the bottom line. All the same, we were on the network for ten years. When my last relationship ended after 10+ years, we enjoyed a nice post break-up wrap-up dinner. Just saying.

[kngtmat]

Now I see, what I said was SGA gets another year along with 1 season of SGU or SGU gets two years then SyFy gets to show the 2 SGA movies that MGM decided to do instead of an extra season.

[magnus]

Originally Posted by Ugly Pig

Well, this is clearly nonsense. It assumes that at the time SGU was to start, they knew the Stargate franchise would last exactly two more seasons, which they obviously, obviously couldn't possibly have known.

You have a right to your opinion but how arrogant of you to declare something nonsense. I'm just repeating what I was told by someone in the industry.

[Ugly Pig]

Originally Posted by magnus

You have a right to your opinion but how arrogant of you to declare something nonsense. I'm just repeating what I was told by someone in the industry.

I apologize if I came across as arrogant. I don't know your source, but I know what you said was incorrect. And since I may be a bit touchy about this topic because of prior bad experience with certain people who like to spread misinformation about this, I reacted the way I did.

[magnus]

Originally Posted by Ugly Pig

I apologize if I came across as arrogant. I don't know your source, but I know what you said was incorrect. And since I may be a bit touchy about this topic because of prior bad experience with certain people who like to spread misinformation about this, I reacted the way I did.

Thank you so much for your apology, i greatly appreciate it. We'll agree to disagree