Stargate Universe

I'm going to try to address the many issues swirling about this series without spoiling the plot:

1) Similarities to other shows: There has been a great deal of speculation that the show is a 'ripoff' of Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, or even Lost. While I certainly don't disagree that it bears a striking similarity to Battlestar Galactica, I don't count that as a strike against it.

Prior shows are always going to have an impact on future shows. Film-making (whether it be TV or Feature) is an art that builds upon itself, and stands on the shoulders of those who came before it. The fact is the Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, and Lost are all GOOD shows, regardless of your impression of it or whether or not it struck you the right way, they were the best of their genres at the time, and even bent their genres into something new.

That being said, to call this show a 'rip-off' or 'carbon copy' of any of those shows is grossly over simplifying things and intentionally misleading. Perhaps we should just create a new genre name, like 'Adult Sci-Fi', so we can get over all these intellectual property theft allegations.

2) Dissimilarities to other Stargate franchises: This review will probably take a lot of heat for this, but - past Stargate shows actually weren't very good. Don't get me wrong, I've watched every episode of SG1, and most of Atlantis (still working on that), and enjoy just about all of it, but even while enjoying it, I was fully recognizant of the fact that it wasn't actually good. It's campy. The acting is sub-par, even when there are good actors in the shows. The sets are generic and bland, reminiscent of the original series of Star Trek, the scripting is packed with fromage, and the plots, no matter how original, were all clearly predictable.

But to a niche crowd (myself included) they were thoroughly enjoyable through a mixture of silly humour, sci-fi gratification, and a unique self-aware self-deprecation. But even so, the cinematography was regularly lackluster, the effects unconvincing, and the ratings carried along by loyal fans.

SGU lacks most of these shortcomings. There is the occasional campy humour, though typically coming from the same character. In that way this one character, Eli, has come to be the only vestige of the old Stargate franchises. This is made believable, though, because this character is quite similar to the people (like myself) who enjoyed the camp of previous Stargate in real life.

3) The mood: Many would say it's much too dark, both in production design and in mood. I say that it's about time. In past Stargate series', no matter how far gone a situation was, no matter how much danger they were in, the show was never EVER tense. It never mattered. Nothing ever really mattered. The characters were always too happy and fun and funny and confident and amicable to be capable of expressing any kind of peril. As such, the plots were always completely hollow. Nothing mattered, because it would all be fine in the end.

The only episode in both original Stargate series' that managed to capture any kind of deep emotional commitment or tension was Heroes, which just happened to be filmed in the documentary style similar to that of SGU. I don't solely blame the cinematography for this effect, though, but instead, for just once, the characters were encouraged to be vulnerable and hurt, like real human beings.

When people are in a serious situation, they get serious (mostly), and their flaws become more apparent. This is evident in this series, as it should be in such situations.

4) The set/production design: As for the dark set design, it makes some sense, as the ship is very old, and trying to save power. In past Stargate, no matter how old something was, it always looked like it was cobbled together the day before. The ancient city of Atlantis looking like it was maintained by a team of maid-bots and carpenters right up until the team's arrival. I will admit that the purposeful gloom goes a bit too far at times, but as far as I'm concerned, that's better than skirting the edge of cardboard box grade production.

SGU is simply a great show. Yes, it shrugs off its past franchise for the sake of its artistic intent, but it does so with wonderful results. The acting is largely superb, and even the episodes that in other shows would be considered 'in betweeners' come off as being some of the best episodes on television (like the episode Human).

I definitely recommend this show to anyone, and I absolutely recommend that past Stargate fans try to leave their preconceptions at the door, and respect it as its own show.

UPDATE: You will no doubt notice a massive spree of negative reviews on top of the 'helpful' pile on IMDb. Please take these with a grain of salt, as they are largely spam generated by a select few alienated Stargate fans who are working very, very hard to get this show cancelled. Rest assured, I myself have yet to meet a single classic Stargate fan who doesn't LOVE SGU, and I sure do know a lot of them!

I read a really negative review of this program on this site and I wanted to put my two cents in on the internet for a change. And for the record, I'm not one of these "paid" individuals at the url posted in the review before me (I didn't click it, but urls in posts make me weary anyways). Stargate Universe is a drama about a group of individuals who are trapped on a ship half way across the known universe. The idea behind this show is that the people on the ship are attempting, to the best of their own personal abilities, to find a way for day-to-day survival and how to gain control of this massive intergalactic spaceship. Many on the ship are either scientists or military personal, with a few civilians littered in.

Now where most would say this show is garbage, I disagree. This show is a welcome break from the standard Stargate TV plot line. So far, this season and last, the only goal has been trying to gain control of the ship. They've dealt with some alien life forms and other assorted baddies, but the main arc has always been trying to control the ship so they can get home. Yes, it is incredibly slower paced than the other Stargate programs, but it wasn't intended on being like them. It was suppose to be different, dealing with the intrapersonal and interpersonal issues these people face while staring potential death at any wrong move in the face.

This show gives me a sense of realism (well, as well of one can hope for when watching a science fiction program) when they are faced with problems. There's no room for error. There's no intergalactic space police that can come swooping in to their rescue at the convenient time right after they come back from commercials, they have literally no help what so ever beyond consultation from people on Earth via the Communication Stones. This isn't the hour long show where Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill run through the Stargate, pick a fight with someone, someone gets caught or incapacitated or whatever cliché tension builder they decided to use this week, they get rescued by their friends and run back through the gate to Earth. It's almost like their playing a universal game of "Ding Dong Ditch".

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Stargate SG-1, I watched all 10 seasons, but after awhile the story structure got stale and it was just the same thing with different people every week. The episodes I enjoyed the most were the ones where someone had to make a personal sacrifice for the betterment of their friends. That's what it's like in real life. It humanized them for me. And that's what SGU does for me.

Now granted, I will admit that the creation of SGU after the success of the new Battlestar was pretty evident, but fact of the matter is that it works for some and doesn't for others. Think of all the shows that got canceled in the late 90s, early 2000s that everyone and their dog has breathed life back into? Family Guy, Futurama, even American Dad. These programs failed on their first run, but had such a successful run in later years that they're now part of the main stream and people are enjoying them once more.

This show isn't for everyone, it's not. If you're looking for fights with aliens or saving the world after the 10 p.m. news is over, you're going to be disappointed. But, if you're looking for something a little different with something familiar to relate with, you might enjoy it. I know I do. My name is Matt, I'm from Montana, and no one paid me a f-ing thing to write this review. Cheers.

I watched all of Atlantis but not all of SG:1.

They were both similar in target audience (pre teens or early teens) and similar in small individual stories, light hearted, and action packed.

SG: Universe went a very different direction: We got to know all the characters deeply, every episode was well written with no goofs or silly plot holes for the sake of advancing the episode.

It was probably darker, the threats felt more like threats and less like "this week's goofy minor hick-up" or McKay talking about how he only has 10 seconds to save the world and that he would like people to give him some space and quiet time, because it's SUPER important that he does this now... with now only 3 seconds left!

That's fine every other episode if you are 12 and just want the day to be saved and there's nothing wrong with that. LIght hearted and nothing to invest too much into.

But Universe was for grown ups and I don't recall a single thing I thought was stupid or illogical. Even the "conscience swap" with people from back on earth was done elegantly and intelligently.

The reason it was doomed from the start was all the angry Atlantis fans who never forgave the cancellation of Atlantis, which means an open boycot was determined even before the first Universe episode aired.

A shame, so well written, and that score! I've heard that many many times ever since, it was masterful music for each episode, kind of like Firefly.

I still watch all 40 episodes from time to time, you can too if you want a really good show with an open ending. :)

Watched this series 9 years after it ended I'm so disappointed there isn't anymore episodes. This series was amazing and it's a shame that they weren't able to give it a proper ending. It would be amazing if the powers that be decided to film a final movie to tie up the story line!

Firstly i never give a 10 out of 10 as i believe everything can be improved, so this gets a 9.5.

Secondly to those people who have never seen any stargate episodes of any kind, this series is superior in all aspects - ALL. The people who rubbish this are the die-hards of the Original series who cant adapt or change to take a program on its credits.

Thirdly you cant compare the SGA to SGU they are two totally different projects, SGU is a thought provoking journey through space with all the conundrums that the human psyche can encompass. The acting and the script is second to none, the graphics top notch in fact it beats SGA on everything except gimmicky, off-beat (unfunny) humour.

As anyone looks through the reviews of Stargate Universe SGU you come across a very familiar pattern, that all of its bad reviews come from disgruntled SG & SGA fans, who are just blatantly out to rubbish the show and give it the worst reviews possible. And that unfortunately is where the makers of SGU went wrong, they tried to ride the success of the previous two shows. Thus its original viewing figures got depleted by the loss of the original SG fan base, instead of creating its own fan base from afresh.

I have to admit i nearly didn't watch the show due to it being branded with the Stargate label, and how i would have missed a deeply moving Sci-fi drama in space. And there lies its problem, it had great viewing figure to start, but quickly lost them due to it NOT being SG or SGA and it could never build its own fan base due to people who didn't like the show switching on to another SG.

I believe given time the show would have stood on its own through word of mouth, but now we will never be given the opportunity to find the origins of the stargates or was there life at the beginning of time.

I love this series, please don't axe and do a firefly and possibly destroy one of the greatest sci-fy series of all time. The reason this is only getting a 7.5 out of 10 (giving 1's) is the stuck in the mud original stargate lovers, otherwise it would be well above 9.

DON'T MISS SGU