Season 5 is the last season of Stargate: Atlantis

[Queasy]

Link - Boo'urns. Geez, after this and BSG are gone I'll have no reason to watch the Sci Fi Channel anymore.

Space drama Stargate Atlantis will conclude its run on Sci Fi Channel after the current, fifth season ends next January -- but the network has greenlit a two-hour Atlantis movie to run after that and says the show will live on as a network franchise.

After airing on Sci Fi sometime next year, the untitled Atlantis movie will be sold as a home-video title by producer MGM, Sci Fi told Multichannel News on Wednesday.

MGM this year released two financially successful straight-to-DVD movies made after progenitor series Stargate SG-1 ended a 10-year run of first-run cable episodes on Sci Fi. MGM and the show producers are scheduled to make more in DVDs in future. A movie franchise is also envisioned for Stargate Atlantis.

Longtime Stargate writers and producers (and Atlantis show runners) Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie will write the Atlantis feature script. Other details, such as how many cast members would participate or who would direct, were not immediately available.

"We're excited to tell Atlantis stories on a bigger canvas,? Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, co-creators of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis and currently executive producers on Atlantis, said in a statement. ?The successes of the two original Stargate [direct-to-video] movies The Ark of Truth and Continuum have shown us the opportunities that the movie format offers. We have plans for both SG-1 and Atlantis to remain vital as we expand the franchise."

?We share in the producers? enthusiasm to move forward in this direction and we look forward to a strong and continued relationship on Stargate Atlantis in this new format,? Thomas Vitale, Sci Fi Channel senior VP of Programming & Original Movies, also said in the statement.

Wright and Cooper are developing a third TV series in the franchise -- called Stargate Universe ? and pitched it to Sci Fi Channel in late 2007, Wright told Gateworld.net in April. Sci Fi said nothing about that potential addition in its statement about Atlantis. Sci Fi has aired had new Stargate series in first run since 2002.

Stargate SG-1 ran for 10 seasons, split between first runs on Showtime and on Sci Fi. Stargate Atlantis is a spinoff, launched in 2004. It will hit air its 100th episode this season. Stars include Rachel Luttrell (as Teyla, pictured above, assisting character Radek Zelenka, played by David Nykl), Joe Flanigan, David Hewlett, Jewel Staite and Robert Picardo.

Official description: it follows the adventures of an intrepid team of military and civilian explorers who travel the distant Pegasus galaxy by means of a Stargate, a portal created long ago by a highly advanced alien civilization called the Ancients. In their never-ending quest to seek out other technologies left behind by the Ancients, the Atlantis team encounters alien cultures ? some friend, some foe.

Atlantis reruns already air in broadcast syndication as well as on Sci Fi, which still shows SG-1 reruns too. The current Atlantis season is five episodes into a 20-episode run.

Airing at 10 p.m. Fridays, Atlantis has averaged a little over 2 million viewers per show in a blend of ratings that includes live plus seven day figures for some episodes, per ABC TV Group research. The average viewer number is well ahead of the first 10 episodes of season four (when it averaged about 1.75 million) and roughly in line with the last 10 episodes of that season.

The series premiere, on July 16, 2004, drew 4.19 million viewers, and the first 10 episodes averaged more than 3 million viewers each, according to the ABC TV Group analysis. It declined every 10-episode block until the second half of last season, when it rebounded to average more than 2.1 million viewers per show.

Remarkably, the first few episodes of the current season have seen Atlantis?s audience of viewers ages 18-49 double when seven days? of recorded viewing are added in, according to a new Turner Research analysis of Nielsen Media Research data.

Show runner Mallozzi previously noted in his blog the odds get stacked against a series after five years -- and that the rising Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar has made this and other Vancouver-produced series more expensive to make.

?Both MGM and Sci Fi have been great supporters of the show and, if you go by SG-1?s example, fans can be assured that the end of the series will not be the end of Atlantis,? Mallozzi wrote in a June 29 blog post. ?Like SG-1, it will live on in longer-form DVD releases.?

Ark of Truth and Continuum both exceeded MGM?s expectations for home-video sales, Mallozzi said. Continuum, the most recent release, ranked ninth on Video Business magazine?s list of top-selling DVDs for the week ended Aug. 9.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

I can't say I'm surprised after the lacklustre start to the season.

If the movies are as weak as the SG1 efforts were, don't bother.

 

[Vehemence]

Thank god. This Stargate nonsense needs to end!

 

[Savarak]

Nooo at least it'll still live on in some form... I hope Stargate Universe is good too!

 

[JujuFish]

Ugh. That blows.

 

[lupi]

My first thought upon seeing the thread title was the same as the first sentence in the OP. Buh bye Sci Fi. You're beyond low budget movie crap you toss up on the weekends is barely stomachable and you can only watch the other reruns so many times.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: dNor
Thank god. This Stargate nonsense needs to end!

Ban.

Anyhow, I have to somewhat agree with MmmSkyscraper on the movie part. I was somewhat disappointed by the Ark of Truth. They had to take a whole season and compress it down into two hours, but all it looked like was creative editing of a season's worth of episodes that left a lot to be desired. I hope they learn better for these...

 

[Mo0o]

Now that they're not longer airing those. How about bring back firefly!

 

[imported_Imp]

Wow, that is a surprise. Was expecting them to carry on for a while. I don't feel too bad about the loss though. It's a good show, but I'm not as attached to these characters as those of SG-1.

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: Imp
Wow, that is a surprise. Was expecting them to carry on for a while. I don't feel too bad about the loss though. It's a good show, but I'm not as attached to these characters as those of SG-1.

SG1 realy lost steam after RDH left. The new guy tried too hard to maintain RDH's mannerisms and it just felt like a cheap copy.

 

[WingZero94]

 

[randay]

arent they making stargate universe or something?

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Originally posted by: randay
arent they making stargate universe or something?

It's mentioned in the linked article.

 

[pulsedrive]

Originally posted by: Mo0o

Originally posted by: Imp
Wow, that is a surprise. Was expecting them to carry on for a while. I don't feel too bad about the loss though. It's a good show, but I'm not as attached to these characters as those of SG-1.

SG1 realy lost steam after RDH left. The new guy tried too hard to maintain RDH's mannerisms and it just felt like a cheap copy.

Uhm, Browder didn't try and copy RDA in the least. If anything he was channeling a little too much John Crichton from Farscape, which would be what he did previous to SG-1. Honestly I liked Browder better than RDA. RDA did a great job in the first 6 seasons, but he went down hill after that.

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: Mo0o

Originally posted by: Imp
Wow, that is a surprise. Was expecting them to carry on for a while. I don't feel too bad about the loss though. It's a good show, but I'm not as attached to these characters as those of SG-1.

SG1 realy lost steam after RDH left. The new guy tried too hard to maintain RDH's mannerisms and it just felt like a cheap copy.

Ya, Mitchell does seem like he's trying too hard sometimes. I think the worst was when he went off on McKay during the Atlantis crossover episodes. RDA was definately unique, though Kurt Russell wouldn't have been one bit bad. The new Daniel mirrored James Spader amazingly well.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: pulsedrive

Originally posted by: Mo0o

Originally posted by: Imp
Wow, that is a surprise. Was expecting them to carry on for a while. I don't feel too bad about the loss though. It's a good show, but I'm not as attached to these characters as those of SG-1.

SG1 realy lost steam after RDH left. The new guy tried too hard to maintain RDH's mannerisms and it just felt like a cheap copy.

Uhm, Browder didn't try and copy RDA in the least. If anything he was channeling a little too much John Crichton from Farscape, which would be what he did previous to SG-1. Honestly I liked Browder better than RDA. RDA did a great job in the first 6 seasons, but he went down hill after that.

Yeah, there's a reason it was being called Fargate. At least Claudia Black acted in a completely different manner.

 

[Auryg]

Damn

 

[Modelworks]

Well that leaves Eureka as my only reason to watch Scifi.

 

[Synomenon]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Well that leaves Eureka as my only reason to watch Scifi.

^
Same. I was hoping Atlantis would last at least as long as SG1. Hopefully, SG Universe is good too.

 

[Modelworks]

After reading about SG:Universe it sounds like they saw the ratings falling and were having trouble coming up with story lines that worked.
The new show cuts all ties with the other series, and I hope that would give them the ability to come up with some new concepts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Universe

According to Cooper, Stargate Universe "maintains the spirit of Stargate, but opens up a whole new 'universe'."[2] It is "a completely separate, third entity"[3] ? as opposed to Stargate Atlantis, which was created as a spin-off from the first series Stargate SG-1. Like the first two series in the franchise, Stargate Universe will take place during the present time, not in the distant future.[3] The show will be "set on a ship that was part of an Ancient experiment" to seed the galaxies with Stargates millions of years ago but that was prematurely ended by the Ancients' ascension. After placing Stargates throughout multiple galaxies, a second ship would follow up and explore. The basis of Stargate Universe is that the ninth and final chevron, the purpose of which was previously unknown, would serve to get to the first ship.

 

[Kadarin]

The Ark of Truth was very disappointing, as it was far too much of a deus ex machina ending for the Ori story arc.

Stargate: Continuum was also disappointing in that it was essentially a retelling of the "Moebius" episode from season eight (different particulars, but similar concept and execution).

Ben Browder is decent as Cameron Mitchell, but he really shined as John Chrighton. Claudia Black was the same; she did well as Vala, but much better as Aeryn Sun (and besides, "Aeryn Sun" is a fantastic character name). Farscape also had Scorpius, who was a great villain and foil for Chrighton.

I'm ambivalent about Atlantis, because I haven't been watching it. However, I have trouble taking the Wraith seriously. If SG-1 can take on the Ori and win, the Wraith shouldn't even be a significant issue worth worrying about, right?

 

[Zim Hosein]

 

[middlehead]

Bastards. I'm sure I'll keep buying the movies, but this type of show doesn't work as well in that format. They're better off being able to stretch stories over several hours of episodes, not having to pack it into 90 minutes.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: Kadarin
The Ark of Truth was very disappointing, as it was far too much of a deus ex machina ending for the Ori story arc.

Stargate: Continuum was also disappointing in that it was essentially a retelling of the "Moebius" episode from season eight (different particulars, but similar concept and execution).

Ben Browder is decent as Cameron Mitchell, but he really shined as John Chrighton. Claudia Black was the same; she did well as Vala, but much better as Aeryn Sun (and besides, "Aeryn Sun" is a fantastic character name). Farscape also had Scorpius, who was a great villain and foil for Chrighton.

I'm ambivalent about Atlantis, because I haven't been watching it. However, I have trouble taking the Wraith seriously. If SG-1 can take on the Ori and win, the Wraith shouldn't even be a significant issue worth worrying about, right?

SG-1 took out the Ori by converting their followers to the "truth".

Atlantis has no such option (that we know of), and is openly engaging the Wraith. Not as easy as it sounds.

Besides, Michael and his hybrids are the main villains now. It's now a 3 party war.


In any case, suck that they're taking it off. I was actually starting to get into the characters (especially after they got rid of Tori Higginson). Hopefully some of the cast will transfer to Universe.

 

[hellokeith]

Good to hear about StarGate Universe, I hope SciFi picks it up and gets it going without too much time between it and Atlantis ending.

IIRC, there was a short time when "SciFi Friday" was Doctor Who, SG1, Atlantis, and BSG. A lineup that good I guess just wasn't meant to last.

SciFi had better keep Eureka going and hopefully BBC will keep Doctor Who going so SciFi can air it.

ghosthunters xyz + low budget scifi movie of the night = "set your phazer to loser"