So...What's Up With Stargate?

[Svitska Donkun]

Are there ANY fans of this franchise? It is possibly the most baffling television anomaly I've ever encountered. Consider this, with FOUR TELEVISION SHOWS(Comprising 380 Full-length Episodes), THREE Feature films, it is more successful than The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Farscape, MST3K, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That is an IMMENSE feat. It's a show that requires, well, not the smallest of budgets to produce, and to secure that budget and longevity, it had to have ratings, meaning someone has to have watched it.

However, I don't think I've ever encountered anyone who really talked about the show at all, outside of merely mentioning it(Like, "oh that comes on right after Stargate", or "Roland Emmerich directed Stargate, Independence day, and The Day After Tomorrow"). Where are it's fans? clearly this is one of the most successful Sci-Fi franchises ever made. But no one talks about it at all. Is it actually horrible? I haven't watched it myself, but should I? I would expect that here, in a place where people are pretty well versed in Sci-Fi culture, someone would have experience with the show and can explain what it's deal is. Why is it never talked about here, or anywhere else?

[wataru]

Umm.... SD. You added up SG-1, SG-A and SG-U but you didnt add up ST: TNG, DS9 and Voyager. Also the TNG era movies (4, theatrical) made more money then the SG movies (straight to DVD).

There's ALOT more episodes of these then all the SG series. Also ST:TNG has more novels, comics, toys, video games and models then SG. And ST TNG actors/actresses are bigger draws then SG actors/actresses.

EDIT:
BTW, SG-1 is the best series, but goes downhill IMHO after ONeil leaves the show. SG-A and SG:U are crap. I stopped watching SG-1 after Planet Hell.

[SoleMan]

The first movie is one of my cousin's favorites, and she liked the show. I was at Dargon*con one year, and we were standing by the elevators, and one of the main actresses walked right by us and said hello. I didn't know who she was, but the implication was cool.

[o.supreme]

I am a big fan of the original Movie. I watched SG-1 its first couple of years way back when it was on Showtime, then lost interest. But once I got married, I had to jump back in since the wife was big into SG. SG-1 was ok from what I saw. Atlantis was interesting, but poorly executed in the end, and Universe was just God Awful, and much like Star Trek:Enterprise, killed off the whole franchise. Also there was only one actual Stargate theatrical film. Ark of Truth & Continuum were just made for Sci-Fi/straight to DVD films.

it is more successful than The X-Files,

* not accurate comparing one show, to an entire franchise. If you add X-Files (202), Millennium (67 eps) & The Lone Gunmen (13 eps) you get 282. Also X-Files had Two Theatrical Movies.

Star Trek: The Next Generation,

as already mentioned by Wataru- you cant compare one series to an entire franchise

Farscape,

Uhm yeah, why dont you add to that Andromeda, Earth Final Conflict, Alien Nation, Terra Nova and Two dozen other short lived Sci-Fi shows, not really bragging rights there.

MST3K,

A comedy that cant be compared, but if you must... Go ahead and add in Rifftrax & Cinematic Titanic, (both still being made)and I'm sure you'll see there is no comparison, the fanbase for this is still strong and immense

and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

A Teen Horror series, not really comparable, but you forgot to add in Angel. Both series combined had 254 episodes, and I believe there is a successful ongoing comic.

Basically, this quote form the simpsons is Classic, and very true as well:

Comic Book Guy: Richard Dean Anderson, of the four Star franchises Wars, Trek, Gate and Search, Gate is easily my third favorite.
Richard Dean Anderson: I get that a lot.

There has been no news on the SG front in over a year. But SDCC is coming up in the next week or so. If there is any news to be made, it will happen there. If not, just wait a couple of years. Or might I suggest the Stargate:Infinity animated series (you didn't include that so I assume you are not aware of it). Its not great, but maybe it will satisfy your need for new Stargate stories. I haven't read any, btu I'm sure there has to be some novells as well, heck even fan fiction if you are really hard up.

[Svitska Donkun]

I am a big fan of the original Movie. I watched SG-1 its first couple of years way back when it was on Showtime, then lost interest. But once I got married, I had to jump back in since the wife was big into SG. SG-1 was ok from what I saw. Atlantis was interesting, but poorly executed in the end, and Universe was just God Awful, and much like Star Trek:Enterprise, killed off the whole franchise. Also there was only one actual Stargate theatrical film. Ark of Truth & Continuum were just made for Sci-Fi/straight to DVD films.

it is more successful than The X-Files,

* not accurate comparing one show, to an entire franchise. If you add X-Files (202), Millennium (67 eps) & The Lone Gunmen (13 eps) you get 282. Also X-Files had Two Theatrical Movies.

Star Trek: The Next Generation,

as already mentioned by Wataru- you cant compare one series to an entire franchise

Farscape,

Uhm yeah, why dont you add to that Andromeda, Earth Final Conflict, Alien Nation, Terra Nova and Two dozen other short lived Sci-Fi shows, not really bragging rights there.

MST3K,

A comedy that cant be compared, but if you must... Go ahead and add in Rifftrax & Cinematic Titanic, (both still being made)and I'm sure you'll see there is no comparison, the fanbase for this is still strong and immense

and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

A Teen Horror series, not really comparable, but you forgot to add in Angel. Both series combined had 254 episodes, and I believe there is a successful ongoing comic.

Did no one read much of my first post? With 380 full episodes comprising all 4 shows and adding 3 movies, Stargate still beats X-Files. I said Star Trek: TNG, NOT Star Trek as a franchise for a reason. And if I wanted, I can point out that Stargate is more successful than any Trek show following it. Farscape ran for 4 seasons and had a feature film. That is not "short lived". MST3K is still a Sc-Fi show, and it's own franchise. CT and Rifftrax are not part of the same franchise despite being made by the same people. Buffy is comparable because it is in fact a long running fantasy program, and Sci-fi is essentially grouped in with it all the time. And seeing as I was using all of these as templates to compare Stargate's growth, I could have listed "Seinfeld" and it would still be relevant. Complaining that my comparisons are not accurate or wrong is silly and irrelevant. Techinically, Stargate is the third most successful Sci-fi/Fantasy Television Franchise ever made, Behind Doctor Who and Star Trek as a whole, and there's not much anyone can say to dispute that.

[o.supreme]

I said Star Trek: TNG, NOT Star Trek as a franchise for a reason

and the reason is...???


From your first post

I don't think I've ever encountered anyone who really talked about the show at all

And from your last

Techinically, Stargate is the third most successful Sci-fi/Fantasy Television Franchise ever made, Behind Doctor Who and Star Trek as a whole, and there's not much anyone can say to dispute that.

So you are claiming that... you can't find anybody with whom to talk about what you claim is the the "third most successful Sci-fi/Fantasy Television Franchise ever made"... Now who sounds silly

If you cant find anyone in real life, Just go to a Convention. Or how about a Stargate fan site/fan forum. Surely the "third most successful Sci-fi/Fantasy Television Franchise ever made" has those right?

I could have listed "Seinfeld" and it would still be relevant

I knew it!- Seinfeld was the first thing that came to mind when I read the topic of your thread. When I went back and re-read your first post as a Seinfeld Monologue it was comedy gold.

Just to make you feel better however- I am not questioning the accuracy of your statement. I dont know enough about Stargate to accurately guage its success, despite seeing probably 75% of all the episodes ever made, and liking only about 20% of those I saw. I figure I'll let someone else do the real comparisons. I'm just questioning the thought process of defending a franchise of shows you have never seen, thats all . Last time I noticed all of them are available to stream on Netflix. Nothing to lose but time if you want to check them out.

[JVM]

I watched it with my dad when I was too little to understand it, therefore passed it up. My dad was a big fan of SG-1, but he didn't like any of the spin-offs.

I've seen one episode since then, and it was good.

[Gojira-Fan]

There is an entire article on the Stargate fandom

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

To the mainstream populace, its kind of a forgettable franchise. Certainly not on the same level as Star Wars or Star Trek.

[edgaguirus]

It's not as big as those two, but was still fine franchise. I liked the movie that started it all, but SG1 is what transformed a movie into something bigger. It expanded the basic idea into a good series with interesting characters. SGA was pretty good, but SGU never caught on with me.

[SoleMan]

I hate to disagree with Donkun, but Stargate is bigger than Trek?

let's see....726 episodes, 11 theatrical movies, (with at least one more on the way, and No DVD or TV movies) hundreds of comics, novels, games, a damned theme attraction in Las Vegas, people speak Klingon and perform Shakespeare in it, Hell people have gotten married in it, there's whole conventions dedicated to the franchise, (And if you show up as a StarWars character you're dead) people play three dimensional chess, the entire careers of Willaim Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy, and more people are lacking a life because of Star Trek than Stargate coul possibly produce.

How in the HELL is SG bigger?

[bananaoil]

The best elements of the franchise are its strong characters and humor. Sg-1 found its legs somewhere in season 3 when it stopped being a complete Star Trek clone and realized humor was its best asset. I liked the idea of the Goa'uld, but I thought their reproduction cycle was a bit unnecessary. I think the Jaffa should have remained human like Ra's Anubis soldiers in the film. The Replicators and Asgard are fun. I wish the Foothold Aliens had been utilized more. The show also strongly benefited from contemporary Earth politics. And I actually really enjoyed the Ori arc, but I think it should have transpired in the failed Stargate Command instead of in Sg-1.

As for Atlantis, I didn't care for the Wraith until Michael and Todd showed up. The Asurans were ok, and became really interesting once Wier became one of them. I really wish that whole lost Asgard tribe thing either never happened at all or played a much larger role earlier in the series. I pretty much despised Ronin.

Bridge studios really dropped the ball on the Trust subplot, though. It had a potential to gravely affect both shows, but it was devoured by the plot hole monster about the same time they planted a bomb in Atlantis.

As for Universe, I wish the entire show had been about the second part of season 2.

[wataru]

SD - you're lumping SG1, SGA and SG:U together then comparing it to TNG.

Youre (numbers wise) giving Stargate an advantage because you just want to go against the grain. SG-1, SGA and SG:U are a FRANCHISE. TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise ARE A FRANCHISE.

I was being nice and NOT putting TOS and Enterprise in the same boat when comparing to Stargate because TNG, DS9 and Voyager all happen at the same time, where as TOS and Enterprise do not.

As a franchise, Star Trek is WORLDS more popular then Stargate. TNG, DS9 and Voyager themselves are WORLDS more popular then Stargate.

Why didnt you compare it to Firefly? Firefly was ONE season, aired out of order that made so much money on the DVD release it was able to fund a theatrical movie. Stargate's TV series did not.

And comparing it to MST3K? Wow that's just asinine. MST3K is a cult show. It wasnt even aired on basic cable (outside the first season).

[bananaoil]

Maybe SD is Canadian. They seem to exaggerate the importance of their media.

[Legionmaster]

Maybe SD is Canadian. They seem to exaggerate the importance of their media.

Nah, he's from south Jersey. They exaggerate the safety of Camden.

[wataru]

Maybe SD is Canadian. They seem to exaggerate the importance of their media.

Nah, he's from south Jersey. They exaggerate the safety of Camden.

I wonder why he didnt compare it to Star Wars...

[Svitska Donkun]

SD - you're lumping SG1, SGA and SG:U together then comparing it to TNG.

Youre (numbers wise) giving Stargate an advantage because you just want to go against the grain. SG-1, SGA and SG:U are a FRANCHISE. TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise ARE A FRANCHISE.

I was being nice and NOT putting TOS and Enterprise in the same boat when comparing to Stargate because TNG, DS9 and Voyager all happen at the same time, where as TOS and Enterprise do not.

As a franchise, Star Trek is WORLDS more popular then Stargate. TNG, DS9 and Voyager themselves are WORLDS more popular then Stargate.

Why didnt you compare it to Firefly? Firefly was ONE season, aired out of order that made so much money on the DVD release it was able to fund a theatrical movie. Stargate's TV series did not.

And comparing it to MST3K? Wow that's just asinine. MST3K is a cult show. It wasnt even aired on basic cable (outside the first season).

First off, TNG, on it's own is 178 episodes, so SG-1 at 214 WITHOUT Atlantis and Universe, still beats it in terms of content. And I never said that Star Trek as a whole wasn't more popular, in fact I specifically stated that Star Trek as a whole and doctor Who are the only two Sci-fi/fantasy shows that have more to them. The point of the thread is that Stargate is obviously more popular than many Sci-fi shows due to the ratings it's gotten to make it as successful as it is, despite no one ever talking about it ever. People talk about a "cult show" like MST3K more than a hugeSci-Fi franchise like Stargate. It makes no sense. The comparisons were there to ilustrate how huge it is, not to encourage fanboy bitching.

[bananaoil]

Hey guys, did you know Gamera is more popular than Godzilla because he had 12 movies from 1965 to 2006 while Godzilla had only 7 movies from 1984 to 1995???!!!

[o.supreme]

The point of the thread is that Stargate is obviously more popular than many Sci-fi shows due to the ratings it's gotten to make it as successful as it is, despite no one ever talking about it ever. People talk about a "cult show" like MST3K more than a hugeSci-Fi franchise like Stargate. It makes no sense. The comparisons were there to ilustrate how huge it is, not to encourage fanboy bitching.

I have isolated this part of your last post, because now when you boil it down, you are starting to make sense, and ask a valid question. -To which my answer would be, in all honesty, to visit a Stargate fan forum and find out what is Really going on. I am no longer convinced that just because a show has longevity, that it truly is "popular". If I had Bill Gates, or George Lucas money, I could create my own TV show (live action or animated). I could say to my team "were gonna make at least 100 episodes" from the very start. Even if its horrible, and the general populace or fandom dislikes it, it is a labor of love, and I can do what I want because, well, I have the financial means to do so.

Am I saying this is the case with Stargate?- Not necassarily, but I'm just asking that research be done before we declare Stargate #3 of all time TV sci-fi. Also it could be Geographical. You mentioned Dr. Who earlier. The show has been in existence in various forms for nearly 50 years! A Great accomplishment to be sure, but in all honesty, its not realy as popular in the U.S. as it is in the U.K. and other portions of the world. Maybe Stargate is immensely popular elsewhere, just not in the U.S. so much?

But your basic quandry as to "why are more people seemingly talking about a less popular show A, rather than more popular show B", has basically two answers.

1. Your communication pool needs to be made larger or
2. Perhaps in truth-show A is more popular than show B, and things are not as we have been conditioned to believe.

[JVM]

Toho Kingdom's really not the best website to judge interest for in subjects with little association the main topic of discussion. It's highly possible there's just not a ton of overlap between the two groups of fans.

[bananaoil]

It's highly possible there's just not a ton of overlap between the two groups of fans.

In all seriousness, this is the case. I started a few Stargate threads on the old forums with very little fanfare.