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You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > Gateworld Releases Some Information on ‘Stargate Universe’

Gateworld Releases Some Information on ‘Stargate Universe’
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Koralatov
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Apr 5, 2008, 08:34 PM
 
Whilst I feel the later seasons of SG-1 and pretty much the whole of Atlantis were of a pretty patchy standard (I won’t even start on the Ark of Truth), I’m still reasonably excited about the coming-sometime-in-the-future Stargate: Universe. Gateworld has released some information on the basic premise of the series. Overall, the premise looks quite interesting, and is a welcome change frankly-stale “new world of the week” formula the other two series have been written to.

I’ve always felt the Ancients were somewhat under-explored, especially in Atlantis, and I’m quite looking forward to finding out a bit more about some of their other projects. My biggest fear, however, is that it might descend into a Voyager in the Stargate universe-type effort.
     
Cold Warrior
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Apr 5, 2008, 08:44 PM
 
In the last years of Stargate, I felt they got away from world-a-week and focused on arcs and longer plots. More about the Ancients; Anubis; defeat of the Go'auld; introduction and resolution of the Ori.

Atlantis has been more fragmented, but has had a number of good arcs with the Wraith and their fractures (Michael).
     
brassplayersrock²
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Apr 6, 2008, 01:51 AM
 
so that's how you spell Go-auld!

I've always enjoyed watching sg-1 when it is on. Atlantis spin off can have it's moments, but not ever as good as the original.
hopefully the new series will work out.
     
Atomic Rooster
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Apr 6, 2008, 02:06 AM
 
Originally Posted by brassplayersrock² View Post
so that's how you spell Go-auld!

I've always enjoyed watching sg-1 when it is on. Atlantis spin off can have it's moments, but not ever as good as the original.
hopefully the new series will work out.
Actually it's Goa'uld. Damn people can never get they're apostrophes sorted out.
     
zerock
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Apr 6, 2008, 03:01 AM
 
Rodney McKay rules all!
     
Peter
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Apr 6, 2008, 07:23 AM
 
Yeah. I really love Atlantis. I think I prefer the new characters to SG-1.
we don't have time to stop for gas
     
Koralatov  (op)
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Apr 6, 2008, 09:18 AM
 
Originally Posted by Cold Warrior View Post
In the last years of Stargate, I felt they got away from world-a-week and focused on arcs and longer plots. More about the Ancients; Anubis; defeat of the Go'auld; introduction and resolution of the Ori.
You’re right—I should have been more specific. What I meant is that I think they somewhat disguised the “world of the week” within the arcs they ran; as the arcs became more specific, the worlds they visited stopped being more coincidental, and more and more linked to the arc at the time. As such, for me, some of the joy left the series at that point.

With that said, I felt the Ori arc was really badly handled during the tenth season. A lot of its momentum was blunted by standalone episodes that served little purpose, and were of a low standard, and as such it seemed to drag a bit throughout the tenth season. Then, when SG-1 is cancelled, they release the Ark of Truth and wrap it up in a very rushed, almost deus ex machina fashion.

Overall, I feel that Stargate excels at very loose arcs, as they had during the first five seasons. It worked because there was a direction they were headed in, but the standalone episodes didn’t bog down the arc as they did in the more arc-centric later seasons.

Atlantis has been more fragmented, but has had a number of good arcs with the Wraith and their fractures (Michael).
I keep watching Atlantis, and I keep getting disappointed. It really had a lot of promise, but seems to squander it at every turn. Some of the arcs are good ideas, but I feel the execution leaves a lot to be desired. I also feel that the characters, with very few exceptions, are not particularly interesting or engaging. A glaring example of this is Carson Beckett—whilst I didn’t particularly care either way about him, and felt he wasn’t really utilised very much, the way he was disposed of seemed to have been done purely for shock value. It was either a very subtle pointer toward the seeming unfairness and randomness of death, or a poorly-executed way of disposing of a character that was serving no purpose.
     
All_Insane
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Apr 10, 2008, 07:25 AM
 
I have to agree with you 100%, Koralatov. The first 5 seasons of SG-1 did a good job balancing between week-by-week stories with an overarching plot that sort of lead them in a certain direction. The show kind of lost it when Michael Shanks quit and they hastily filled his role by tossing an almost identical character into the mix. (Am I the only person who thinks that Jonas Quinn was basically Daniel Jackson without the glasses?) Atlantis could be great, and I keep hoping its going to "mature" into a great series, but IMO, they just keep missing the mark. (And yeah, the whole Carson Beckett thing was a farce.)

Of course I'll watch Stargate: Universe if it ever comes to fruition, but I'm a little concerned about the quality of the show. It sounds a little too Star Trekky -- sending this ship across the universe, to find new worlds, explore the unexplored, etc. It would have to be really different and really good for me not to be disappointed.
     
olePigeon
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Apr 10, 2008, 11:36 AM
 
Originally Posted by Koralatov View Post
My biggest fear, however, is that it might descend into a Voyager in the Stargate universe-type effort.
You don't want a show to have an overall goal?
"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
     
Koralatov  (op)
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Apr 10, 2008, 03:35 PM
 
[QUOTE=All_Insane;3637189]I have to agree with you 100%, Koralatov. The first 5 seasons of SG-1 did a good job balancing between week-by-week stories with an overarching plot that sort of lead them in a certain direction. The show kind of lost it when Michael Shanks quit and they hastily filled his role by tossing an almost identical character into the mix. (Am I the only person who thinks that Jonas Quinn was basically Daniel Jackson without the glasses?) Atlantis could be great, and I keep hoping its going to "mature" into a great series, but IMO, they just keep missing the mark. (And yeah, the whole Carson Beckett thing was a farce.)[/i]
I’m not sure whether Shanks’ leaving was the straw that broke the camel’s back, but it definitely acts as a good marker of the series’ decline in quality. Jonas was definitely played as a slightly-less-geeky-looking Daniel Jackson, and not a huge amount was done with him really.

As for Atlantis, I’m seriously considering giving up on it. In my experience, most series’ best seasons are the first three or four; they tend to decline in quality after that (step forward SG-1). As such, I’m not really sure Atlantis will improve much: it’s had four years in which to shine, and it’s succeeded in fudging all the great ideas and opportunities it’s had.

Of course I'll watch Stargate: Universe if it ever comes to fruition, but I'm a little concerned about the quality of the show. It sounds a little too Star Trekky -- sending this ship across the universe, to find new worlds, explore the unexplored, etc. It would have to be really different and really good for me not to be disappointed.
The idea is somewhat intriguing, but I also share your concerns about the execution; it’ll need to be handled well to stop it descending into a sub-Star Trek cruise through the stars.

Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
You don't want a show to have an overall goal?
That’s not what I said—I like shows with an overall goal, but I disliked the way that the goal was pursued in the later seasons of SG-1. It basically became about nothing but the arc, and I felt it was to the show’s detriment, especially in comparison to the earlier seasons. With that in mind, there are some shows that are almost totally arc-driven and are excellent; Babylon 5 being the foremost example of this in my mind. I just think that [i}Stargate[/i]’s writers aren’t great at intense arcs; they handled the looser arc of the earlier seasons much better.
     
   
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