Stargate Universe took the Stargate franchise in a different direction and was cut short by a network that was itself going through major changes.
What Is It?
The third live-action television series in the Stargate franchise focused on a group of military and civilian personnel that find themselves trapped aboard an ancient spaceship, known as the Destiny, hurtling beyond their control billions of light-years from Earth. They must find a way to return home, but they also use this opportunity to explore this new section of the universe.
Aired: Syfy, 2009-11, 2 Seasons Totaling 40 Episodes
Created By: Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper
Starring: Robert Carlyle, Louis Ferreira, Brian J. Smith, Elyse Levesque, Alaina Huffman, Jamil Walker Smith, Ming-Na Wen
Why Was It Cancelled?
This series was meant to carry on the popular Stargate franchise and seemed like a sure thing going into its first season. But it ended up falling victim to miscalculations by the show’s producers as well as poor timing. SGU creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper wanted to make it “a completely separate” entry in the franchise (as opposed to Stargate: Atlantis which was a spin-off of Stargate: SG-1). They gave the show a darker, grittier feel with a heavier story-arc approach, but that apparently did not sit well with long-time fans of that franchise who were reluctant to jump onboard (calling it Stargate meets Battlestar: Galactica). And the series didn’t bring in enough new viewers to make up for the existing fans that avoided it, maybe because they felt they would be lost by not knowing the backstory of the previous two shows.
In any case, SGU just did not draw a large enough audience as it debuted with only mediocre numbers and never managed to improve much throughout its two-season run. In addition to this, the Sci Fi Channel had just gone through a rebranding in 2009 to Syfy and had switched much of its focus on scripted shows to more budget-friendly, “sci fi Lite” entries like Warehouse 13, Haven, and Being Human which allegedly appealed to a broader audience (but which ultimately drove away much of the sci fi community from the network). Thus, SGU’s disappointing ratings plus the fact that it did not fit in well with the new direction worked against it and Syfy cancelled it after its second season, leaving the show on a major cliffhanger
Can It Be Revived?
There were plans to do a movie that would provide some resolution, and it would have brought in characters from SG-1 and Atlantis, but that was eventually scrapped. There were also rumors that the series might continue apart from the Syfy channel (as the network didn’t hold the license for the Stargate franchise), and the producers actually lobbied the fans, telling them that letters in support of the show would be nice, but DVD sales and downloads would be much better. But despite a push to keep the show going, it remained cancelled after two seasons.
The series did receive a fair amount criticism early on, but it has since been looked upon by many as a decent science fiction entry and one that was axed just as it was starting to demonstrate its full potential. But now that Amazon has bought MGM Studios, there are talks of a revival of the franchise which could open up the opportunity for SGU to get some sort of resolution. The movie that Brad Wright had planned is possibly the most likely option, and that could also be used as a jumping-off point for a new series. It could bring together as many characters as possible from the three Stargate shows and resolve multiple loose threads while also pointing to a new direction for the franchise. It has been twelve years since SGU last aired, though, so the aging of the actors would have to be explained. But sci fi shows are generally up to that challenge, so that shouldn’t be a stopping point.
Former producers of the show previously polled fans and a continuation of the franchise, as opposed to a reboot, was overwhelmingly the preferred direction. That could start with the SGU movie that wraps up that series and brings together characters from the other shows. But at this point, it would probably take a major Call to Action from fans to make that happen. This is certainly the right time, though, as MGM and Amazon are mulling how to go forward with the Stargate property. Fans should take to social media and lobby for the movie or maybe even a mini-series, and it is possible that the powers-that-be could take notice and give the series the conclusion that it deserves.
Where Can You Watch It?
Both seasons have been released on DVD and Blu-ray, and those are widely available. The show is also available for streaming with Prime Video and it is included on the Stargate channel on Pluto TV.
Did you watch Stargate Universe, and would you support fan efforts for a resolution or revival of the show?
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I have seen all the Stargate seasons and movies as far as the seasons I was a hard-core SG1 fan, but after watching SGU I’m shocked that it was canceled. In my opinion was the best series they did it needs to be finished one way or another.
SGU was, without a doubt, the best of any of the other SG series. The writing, sets, costumes and acting were leaps and bounds above it’s predecessors’. It actually qualifies as serious Science Fiction, something that the franchise hadn’t achieved in the other SGs. The use of stones to transfer the consciousness of two people, one on Earth the other on Destiny, was a brilliant way to create and maintain a connection between all the characters within the SGs franchise and Earth. Cancellation was disappointing. I was looking forward to its continuation…
So here we are. Just finished SGU after Atlantis and SG-1. What a run. Sg-1 feels like TOS at first glance but develops nicely. Atlantis was ready to go on.
Too many series are ended due to lack of numbers and are not finalized properly, it should be forbidden.
So please stop doing that and/or make up your mind earlier so things end properly. Just like Picard or Manifest, come up with a solution to finish the storyline, at costprice if needed.
This is the second time I have watched the Stargate Universe series. Its the only thing I really enjoy on TV at present. The characters have depth and develop throughout the series. I like the dark undertones. Rush especially is brilliant and worth re watching. I really do hope a movie or third series is made.
Why are good series always axed, do they do it to annoy us. Just because the powers that be decides to do this because they are not interested in sci-fi does not mean the rest of people that enjoy series like this should be disappointed in their decision. I would presume there are a very high number of sci-fi fans in the world, so please stop disappointing us and stop axing good series like this and bring it back, if only for one season so we know what happens to the crew of the destiny, but would love for it to go on for even more series of this fantastic show.
I was a huge fan of the original Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis series and started watching SGU. And I was definitely one of those who noticed that SGU was darker. But more than that, it was hard for me to follow. Maybe it was because of the full week between episodes. Maybe it was because of the weird use of the stones that gave characters the chance to plant their mind in the body of somebody else. By the middle of the first season I had given up on it.
Over a decade later I have watched the whole SGU series on PlutoTV, streaming about three episodes per day, in a little over a week. It makes a lot more sense to me now and I was able to follow the various story arcs a lot better with less time between episodes.
I would like to see a movie showing what happens after coming out of stasis. The aging of the actors can easily be written into the storyline. Dr. Weir went back in time thousands of years in Atlantis and put into stasis by an Ancient. When she came out of statis she had aged even though she had been in stasis, and seemed plausible, so it can be done. It may be as simple as explaining that Destiny had older stasis tech that, while keeping the person alive, was not as efficient at retarding the signs of aging in humans.
So I’m totally on board with a movie, with or without SG-1 and Atlantis characters, as long as we can get a significant number of the original SGU cast on board.
I just watched Stargate Universe for the first time, and I loved it. I esp loved the characters Rush, Eli,Chloe, and the “doctor.” The idea about a ship’s mission and supernatural events along with a creation story were intriguing. Some very strong scripts here and I loved Eli’s references to things like Star Wars and Star Trek. I’d really like to see where this was supposed to end. ❤️