Stargate Universe has been cancelled.

[Adrian McNair]

Damn, I wish my prediction hadn't been accurate but anyone who didn't see this coming was in denial. It's up on various other pages so this isn't a hoax.

And the science-fiction television landscape becomes increasingly sparser.

[Crazedwraith]

Along with Dollhouse and T:SCC, how many slower, more character driven sci-fi shows have died now after a couple of series? Are we allowed to go back to episodic fun shows yet?

[Batman]

Good riddance. Unless that show picked up massively in season 2, the universe and especially the Stargate universe is better off without it.

[Adrian McNair]

Good riddance. Unless that show picked up massively in season 2, the universe and especially the Stargate universe is better off without it.

It certainly improved in the second season. The plot has started to gain some momentum and Rush's secrets have been uncovered.

Don't you think you're being a bit harsh here? Even if you feel that Universe doesn't fit into your cosy escapist vision of Stargate, a whole slew of people have lost their jobs. That's not something that deserves condemnation but sympathy instead.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Along with Dollhouse and T:SCC, how many slower, more character driven sci-fi shows have died now after a couple of series? Are we allowed to go back to episodic fun shows yet?

Yes we are. Let's bring back the Enterprise, or better yet, a new Star Trek show with George Takei or Jonathan Frakes as the captain.

[lordofchange13]

So...What's going to happen to the episodes they haven't aired yet?

[Adrian McNair]

So...What's going to happen to the episodes they haven't aired yet?

Syfy announced today it 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.

[Batman]

Good riddance. Unless that show picked up massively in season 2, the universe and especially the Stargate universe is better off without it.

It certainly improved in the second season. The plot has started to gain some momentum and Rush's secrets have been uncovered.

Wouldn't know. Hasn't aired over here yet. And given s1 I'm not particularly inclined to hunt around for it.

Don't you think you're being a bit harsh here?

No?

Even if you feel that Universe doesn't fit into your cosy escapist vision of Stargate, a whole slew of people have lost their jobs. That's not something that deserves condemnation but sympathy instead.

1. It's fiction so it's escapist by definition.
2. Universe DOESN'T fit in with what Stargate was before (at least not as of s1 anyway). SG-1 and SG:A were about the teams going out and exploring new planets, meeting new races, kicking some of those races in their alien behind and stuff. You know, SciFi stuff. SGU is a soap opera in space. I don't CARE about the character conflicts or the personal problems of the crew or how much they hate the glop that is their only available food. I want to see them opening up new sections of Destiny, bringing her back up to her full potential (or however much of it is left anyway), space battles etc. Not Colonel whatshisname, Dr I've got an ego to rival Batman's and Asian Civilian Official Of Some Kind jockeying for power.
3. Yes, I'm sorry if those people lose their jobs. But to put it bluntly as far as I'm concerned TV's purpose is not to provide people with jobs, it's to provide me with entertainment, and SGU so far has rather consistently failed at that.

[Darksider]

so is this pretty much the end for the stargate franchise then?

I haven't heard anything about the Atlantis T.V. movie, or the rumored O'neil-centric SG1 flick. Universe was basically carrying the franchise, and now it's been canned in it's second season.

[mr friendly guy]

A bit about actors losing their job. Does anyone have any idea how much they are paid? I remember Terry Farrell from DS9 getting paid shit loads for one episode, so even if the SGU actors get 1/4 of that per episode, they would still be well off, especially in low taxes, lower cost of living USA.

Note - Now there are more people than the actors working on the show, so some of them might come under financial strain.

[Alyeska]

This is a Giant Fuck You to the SGU haters who are glad to see the series canned. If you don't like it, DON'T WATCH IT. I enjoyed SGU and am not pleased to see the series cancelled.

[Thanas]

Along with Dollhouse and T:SCC, how many slower, more character driven sci-fi shows have died now after a couple of series? Are we allowed to go back to episodic fun shows yet?

Of all those shows, SG:U was the one most deserving of cancellation. The cast was largely unimpressive save for Robert Carlyle and David Blue, while the stories were rather slow.

[Alyeska]

Along with Dollhouse and T:SCC, how many slower, more character driven sci-fi shows have died now after a couple of series? Are we allowed to go back to episodic fun shows yet?

Of all those shows, SG:U was the one most deserving of cancellation. The cast was largely unimpressive save for Robert Carlyle and David Blue, while the stories were rather slow.

Jamill Smith as Greer was also well done.

[Adrian McNair]

1. It's fiction so it's escapist by definition.

Yes, inherently fiction is an escape from reality but it all depends on how it's conveyed. The problem with SG-1 and Atlantis was that they had become far too safe. SG-1 had the safe harbour of the SGC and the Atlantis expedition despite being in another galaxy could comfortably rely on the Daedalus for supply runs as well as any ZPMs they found. With Universe I feel they've successfully conveyed just how vast and dangerous the universe can be.

2. Universe DOESN'T fit in with what Stargate was before (at least not as of s1 anyway).

Yes, how dare a new show try anything different as opposed to being a carbon copy.

SG-1 and SG:A were about the teams going out and exploring new planets, meeting new races, kicking some of those races in their alien behind and stuff.

Actually, that isn't entirely true for SG-1 or Atlantis. With the last two seasons of SG-1 and a great deal of Atlantis (aside from dealing with the main enemy threats) they re-used the same medieval, pre-industrial village setting and the teams dealt with primitive tribes of humans. There definitely have been exceptions but they have only proven the rule. The formula was becoming stale and it was time for a change.

Conversely on Universe they haven't encountered any humans (outside of the Lucian Alliance hijackers but they came from the Milky Way so they don't count) but there have been several alien species on Universe. How much of the show have you even seen?

You know, SciFi stuff.

That's an over-simplification of what an entire genre should be.

SGU is a soap opera in space. I don't CARE about the character conflicts or the personal problems of the crew or how much they hate the glop that is their only available food.

I think we need to establish a distinction between character drama and soap opera on this forum. Too often I've seen shows put down as soap operas just because they deal with character relationships (any kind of relationship). What would people consider to be a character drama as opposed to a soap opera around here?

I want to see them opening up new sections of Destiny, bringing her back up to her full potential (or however much of it is left anyway), space battles etc.

And they have been doing that to an extent. Rush (and later the rest of the crew) has gained access to Destiny's bridge and they now have greater control of the vessel than when the show began. As for space battles, they've had those since the first season (not in any great quantity, but they were there). In fact this year's mid-season finale featured a number of battles in space. I think you can realise that arguing from a position of ignorance is fruitless.

[Thanas]

Jamill Smith as Greer was also well done.

If he had material to work with. But in the first ten episodes - which were all I got through - he seemed severely underutilized and was mostly used either as the muscle or the ANGRY GRUNT stereotype.

[Temujin]

Well this fucking sucks, and yes it probably is the end of the franchise. I doubt they'll be much of a market for more movies without an ongoing series.

Fucking SyFy; the channel was notorious for canceling good shows when it was SciFi. You would think with all the channels on cable we could have a real science fiction, fantasy, horror channel the way SciFi was when it first came out. Instead we get something more like Spike TV, as if we needed more of that.

[StarshipTitanic]

Well this fucking sucks, and yes it probably is the end of the franchise. I doubt they'll be much of a market for more movies without an ongoing series.

Fucking SyFy; the channel was notorious for canceling good shows when it was SciFi. You would think with all the channels on cable we could have a real science fiction, fantasy, horror channel the way SciFi was when it first came out. Instead we get something more like Spike TV, as if we needed more of that.

Maybe SyFy wanted the money for BSG: Blood and Chrome? But I'm inclined to also suspect that it's a mark of the increased Spike-ification of the channel.

[adam_grif]

This is a Giant Fuck You to the SGU haters who are glad to see the series canned. If you don't like it, DON'T WATCH IT.

So nobody is allowed to hate on anything because they just shouldn't watch it?

As it stands most of us didn't "hate" it so much as we were crushingly disappointed by the completely different direction it took, and then further by the absence of interesting stories going on. Every major decision by the writers just seemed to rub more salt in the wound ("The universe was created!", "Ginn and Perry are dead!").

It's not as simple as "haters shouldn't watch", we were watching it because we were hoping it would get better because we like Stargate as a franchise overall. But boy is my confidence in the writers going downhill fast, and I really can't say I'm going to miss the show.

[Adrian McNair]

Universe actors learned of cancellation via Twitter.

[PREDATOR490]

This was telegraphed from season 1.

Telling 'haters' to not watch it is rather retarded for the simple fact if the show isnt liked it gets binned, if enough people dislike it then the SHOW is at fault. The overwhelming feedback on SGU has been consistent in pointing out it was slow, dull and ultimately nothing like Stargate. The show wasnt GOING anywhere, it wasnt DOING anything and all it had was melodrama to fill the episodes.

It is not a good sign when people find your main cast characters less interesting than those in the background then KILL those characters randomly.

Not surprised and not going to miss this show.
At best I can see a movie coming out that attempts to address some of the stuff in SGU like Farscape did.

[Themightytom]

and in other news... twelve MILLION fanfics will be born to resolve whatever the cliffhangers the actors are referring to in season 2.

Damnit Stargate, every fricking time... you boot up the Ori plot... and rush it to a lame conclusion over five episodes. You boot up the Evilgard and Woolsey on Atlantis... and rush it to a lame conclusion over 1.4 episodes. SGU.. meh... well we'll just wait on that TV movie.

What a bitch position for fans to know we're about to see episodes with no resolution

[JME2]

This probably is the end of the franchise, then. Goddammit.

[Falarica]

Damn, no more Robert Carlyle as Rush. .
Just when I thought the series was picking up as well.

So what other sci-fi have the American networks got in the works to replace this?

Heres to the Stargate reboot in 20 years!

[FSTargetDrone]

Maybe SyFy wanted the money for BSG: Blood and Chrome?

I have little hope the new BSG series will last anywhere near as long as the first one SciFi (at the time) was running. Perhaps it will have more appeal than Caprica, but I am not optimistic.

[JME2]

I just had an amusing thought. It would funny if we came circle and they went back to Showtime in an attempt to pick up the show.

Anyway given the many false endings that SG-1 had, you'd think that Wright and company would have known better than to end Season 2 on a cliffhanger with the real danger of cancellation in sight.

I'm bummed about this because while, I was a fan of the original film, I didn't get into the shows until 2004. The Star Trek franchise had more or less collapsed and I was looking for a new sci-fi fix; Stargate provided it and it was a great world to experience.

Now, this is the likely end of the franchise. With the delays on the DTV front, I don't see Wright having the pull to get MGM to greenlight a mini-series or DTV to wrap it up. Given I own all the DVD's, I'm wondering how long it'll be before I lose interest and start selling them off -- just as all my Trek merchandise and DVD's were eventually sold off.