Stargate Atlantis Tomorrow

BadDream writes "I read an old slashdot article about Stargate Atlantis comming this summer. Well its summer, and guess what starts this friday." You can also enter to win a walk-on role on SG1, but I call first dibs, no cuts.

Re:SG-1 Continuity?

[bigbigbison]

You could probably watch any single episode of SG-1 and figure out 90% of what is going on. There is continuity but it is more in terms of reoccuring characters where there are a few people who keep returning as guest stars, but the plots are definitly on the side of action so it is not generally that confusing. There is the ocasionally plot heavy show, but they generally do a "last time on Stargate" where they show you all the relevent storylines even if they build on things that happened several episodes ago.

Re:SG-1 Continuity?

[nes11]

"From what I know, during the premier they get off to Atlantis, and then goof up and get themselves stuck there"

actually, the problem is that it takes so much energy to get them from earth to the new gate, that they have no idea whether the other gate will support it coming back the other way.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Feh!

[Art_XIV]

I still want Crusade [scifi.com] back. :(

Re:Stargate rules

[crazyaxemaniac]

They didn't really know the ancient language. They just kept telling Daniel what he had figured out last time they went through the loop.

Re:So?

[pico303]

What's the compelling reason to watch anything on television? It's merely a form of entertainment you might enjoy.

I've never found any compelling reason to watch movies or television, aside from entertainment value. Even informational programming, such as documentaries, is much more lightweight in content richness than a book on the subject.

Re:Stargate rules

[ePhil_One]

I don't think they *could* use their knowledge because it was lost. Once the time loop was stopped, it was as if it never happened.

No, this very specifically is not what happened. The Tokra made a comment becoming concerned that they could not reach Earth, and were becoming concerned enough that they almost sent a ship to investigate. So Earth and everywhere else involved "snapped back" to the present. It was the download knowledge of the Ancients that was erased from Jack's brain; this was learned naturally.

Mostly I just love how the series blindly ignores these paradoxes with a wave of the hand, and occasionally a wink. We got more entertaining things to do that come up with midiclorian theories. Stuff just is.

Re:Win a chance to be on an episode

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Could always turn the fat geek who can't act into a stupid alien who can't communicate.

Re:Stargate rules

[Damek]

They've probably forgotten much of it by now. I mean, they were just learning enough to tackle that specific problem, and assuming they're like me, they probably just don't have a head for languages. I did OK in French in high school, but if you don't practice it and keep it up, epsecially when it took great effort to do well in the first place, you quickly lose it.

But just as I still recognize a little French here and there from time to time, I would expect them to say something once or twice, like recognize a word here and there...

Re:hmph.

[JaffaKREE]

Farscape had a loyal following.

Stargate has a huge, insanely loyal following. It deserves it. I didn't discover SG1 until sometime in season 5. Once I got the dvds, I could not stop watching them. SG does such an incredible job of building upon previous storylines, it's like one continuous movie. Some of the episodes, like 'Window of Opportunity' (The time ripple), 'Upgrades' (The super-arm bands), 'Jolinar's memories'/'The Devil you know' (Sokar) are so damn good, and really funny.

In an interview with the writers on the Stargate documentary (the one they aired before season 7 premiered), one of the writers said something to the effect of "Stargate is actually a comedy, we've just managed to keep it a secret for 7 years". It really is funnier than any given sitcom. Whether that reflects greatly on the SG1 staff or just makes the recycled sitcom writers look even worse is up to you.

Re:SG-1 Continuity?

[crazyaxemaniac]

Atlantis has a whole new cast and takes place in an entirely different galaxy than SG-1. I imagine it should be fairly easy to pick up.

SG-1 is pretty episodic in comparison to other series like Deep Space Nine or Babylon 5. Since it is more comedy than drama it's not like you don't enjoy watching an episode without background information.

Re:SG-1 Continuity?

[justanyone]

The role of Samantha Carter (played by Amanda Tapping [imdb.com]) is a great boost to women. WE NAMED OUR DAUGHTER 'CARTER' AFTER HER (and the president).

I recognize that they give Carter too many responsibilities (being uber-brilliant and super-soldier). My wife commented that they got rid of the Dr. Janet Frasier (played by Teryl Rothery [imdb.com]) to make sure the show wasn't too heavy with women in top positions, that would be threatening.

I doubt my wife is correct, but she makes a good point. Are they going to replace and add characters to regain the male / female balance on this show?

One of the PREMIER COOL things that shows like Stargate do, IMHO, is allow stodgey males (young and old) to VIEW women soldiers, and thus experience them as highly capable, rough-and-tumble, smart, and fallible human beings.

Just seeing a woman in a role allows you to change your preconceptions of what roles people should be in. That goes for having a handicapped person (amputee, maybe) working in the SGC as a technician. The part would be small, in the background, but it would make a big difference in how people saw people with physical limitations.

The original Star Trek put a black woman in a senior leadership position (Lieuntenant Uhura, communications officer, okay, it isn't a huge department, but it's important, and it's on the bridge). That redefined what was possible for black women both on TV and off.

I hope Stargate continues to push boundaries and explore what we perceive as normal.

Of course, they could just ignite a firestorm and introduce a Gua'ould named Jesus. Or another namd 'Moshe' (Moses). Or another named, 'Siddhartha'. Or 'Mohammed'. I would recommend they stay out of that territory, though, there'd be LOTS of pushback from their fanbase and zealots alike.

-- Kevin J. Rice

Re:a walk on role?

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Given that Richard Dean Anderson has now fallen into a second series where he's trapped by a stereotyped character (although this time exactly the opposite character he played before- the guns issue being the most obvious, and apparently from his interview in "From Stargate To Atlantis", he's personally a lot more like McGyver and a lot less like Jack O'Neil); the staring role would be a death sentence to an emerging career. In fact, I think it has to Amanda's.

Re:Boycott Stargate...

[satoshi1]

Interesting how people complain when something gets canned. Then, when it's brought back, they complain that it may not be as good as the original, without even watching it. Hey, mini-series or not, at least it's coming back for a while. Be happy for what they're giving you. They could've just done nothing.

Re:hmph.

[Mukaikubo]

Bigger? Without dispute. More loyal? No objective way to tell unless some mental-defective suits try to cancel *your* show. Then we'd be able to compare fanbase loyalties with some kind of accuracy.

Re:SG-1 Continuity?

[Grishnakh]

Of course, they could just ignite a firestorm and introduce a Gua'ould named Jesus. Or another namd 'Moshe' (Moses). Or another named, 'Siddhartha'. Or 'Mohammed'. I would recommend they stay out of that territory, though, there'd be LOTS of pushback from their fanbase and zealots alike.

Personally, I'd like it if they did this. It'd make more sense that these religious figures were actually aliens than the superstitious BS that organized religions ask us to believe.

Sorry but it'll suck

[g0bshiTe]

Come on SG Atlantis bieng as good as the original. I think naught.

And the villans, these wraith things. Are we really to believe these creatures who killed the ancients are stupid enough for a lesser lifeform (humans) to fool like what happens to teh Ghou'ld every week. Come on now. At least tehy were parasites.

Re:hmph.

[JAD lifter]

haven't had to resort to over sexual themes to achieve this success!

Just curious, what is wrong with over sexual themes? Lexx is one of my favorite SF shows ever and it is just one big over sexual theme. I also tend to enjoy classic Star Trek more than the newer ones just because all the classic episodes had all kinds of hoochie girls in ultra short skirts while all of the newer Star Treks are just way to god damn politically correct.

Biased review

[LionMage]

I read the Sun-Sentinel article you linked to, and it's really a very slanted piece written by someone who obviously does not appreciate Science Fiction in general, and Stargate in specific. Here are some choice quotes:

The success of Stargate SG-1 has always been a head-scratcher. Really, there's little difference in storytelling or production quality between this show and, say, First Wave, Forever Knight, The PSI Factor, Andromeda or any of the other competent, made-in-Canada mediocrities that fill up the cable dial.

There's very little difference in storytelling or production quality between SG1 and crap like Andromeda? I beg to differ. SG1 has a bigger budget than a lot of other made-for-cable properties. It also got its start on Showtime, so they had a good seed to start with -- freedom to do storylines that you couldn't get away with on basic cable channels, money to make good sets and props, etc. SG1 also has a lot of very competent people writing for it, and does a much better job of preserving continuity than even shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and its follow-ons.

Stargate Altantis sends a team of intrepid Earthling explorers -- via the stargate, of course -- to an underwater city in an unexplored galaxy so distant there may be fuel for only a one-way trip. Yes, that sounds like a dumb scenario, but silliness has never been much of a barrier for science fiction.

OK, so this writer is apparently confused enough that he doesn't understand, or care to understand, the internal reality of the show. Fuel? But in addition to that, he takes a swipe at an entire genre of fiction, showing an incredible bias that should have recused him from writing this article in the first place. And what, pray tell, is dumb about a scenario in which scientists and explorers go on a one-way mission? It's been done before, and has been proposed seriously for manned missions to other planets in our own solar system. But since all of science fiction is apparently "silly," any ideas it puts forth must not be worth taking seriously.

Never mind that science fiction has predicted technologies decades in advance of their introduction.

The plot of the two-hour pilot is little more than the set-up for the series to follow, and its details are of negligible consequence, since an inventive mythology has never been the strongest element of the Stargate universe.

WTF? Seriously, WTF? An inventive mythology has never been the strongest element of the Stargate universe? Gee, that's funny, since the show (and the movie it's based upon) has all of the collective mythology of the entire human race to draw upon, blended together with a sprinkling of SciFi concepts to make something new and (somewhat) original. I'd like to see what this author's idea is of a truly inventive mythology.

And yeah, I know, there's better SciFi out there, most of it in print form, stuff that's really mind-blowing (and some stuff that simply can't be done on SG1's budget, which is why the good SF books never make it to the small screen, let alone the big screen). But I sincerely doubt that this author has read/seen any of that material.

I wouldn't be basing my opinions of Atlantis on the scribblings of one mentally stunted writer from a podunk newspaper who tacitly admits in the first three paragraphs that he despises science fiction.

Re:hmph.

[JWSmythe]

Get a TiVo. :) I had mine recording Stargate from three different stations (two local, and the SciFi channel). I've seen every episode at least once now. I actually told it to stop recording until this new season started, it was really boring watching the first two seconds, saying "seen it", and deleting it.

I guess that's a good and bad point of TiVo, especially with DirecTV. You can't miss a show, because it'll always record it. I already have it set to keep the Atlantis shows. I won't be rushing home on Friday to see it, it'll be patiently waiting for me when I sit down on the couch. I can have it recording two shows, and be catching one that I missed at the same time. :)

Unfortunately, the girlfriend's daughter has figured out the magic too, so I get a bunch of daytime soaps and teen shows on there too.

I think Stargate has such an insane following because the cast could be real people. I'd kinda expect any of the SGC people to be my neighbors, and they reinforce that idea with the real-world scenes, like at the houses.. They're living out a fantasy of many. Visiting far distant (and impossible) places, going through exciting adventures, and playing with nifty technology. Oh ya, and big guns. Can't forget big guns.

Mod this guy up, he's right.

[cbreaker]

You nailed it.

I don't know why on earth someone that obviously doesn't like Sci-Fi in general would even think about reviewing a Sci-Fi show. And he doesn't even *attempt* to hide it.

I think that SG-1 is one of the most well thought out Sci-Fi shows ever, if not THE most. The continuity is unmatched, the 'world' of SG-1 is believable and ties in very creatively to ancient human history.

The character development has been really top-notch, and the actors have done an excellent job in the last seven years. Playing a role in a science fiction show/movie can be the most difficult acting there is. You have to be believable, viable, and versatile.

It's entertaining, thought provoking science fiction. It's a shame that some people just can't appreciate it. Science fiction broadens your mind and people just don't know what they're missing.