Ace in the Wormhole ("Stargate SG-1" Rules!)

TV Guide ^ | 7/21/03 | Rhodes

[pabianice]

Strange as it seems, Stargate SG-1's a hit!

If you can accept the premise that it's possible to step through a gigantic spinning hoop and end up somewhere on the other side of the galaxy — and, seriously, is that any harder to believe than the idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger could be the next governor of California? — then the recent surge of interest in Stargate SG-1 starts to make a kind of sense. In its seventh season, the series has suddenly exploded into the biggest hit Sci Fi Channel has ever had.

This is, after all, a show about a gung ho American military commando team called SG-1 (well, they're mostly American; there is that big, bald guy from the planet Chulak with the gold tattoo on his forehead) that undertakes dangerous missions in faraway places and, fairly often, blows things up. Except for the spaceships, zat guns and evil Goa'uld System Lords — who, in their true form, look a little like snakes and have been secretly kidnapping humans for years and using them as slaves — it's practically ripped from the headlines.

But here's the weird part: While Stargate SG-1, starring Richard Dean Anderson, the Artist Formerly Known as MacGyver, as irreverent Air Force Col. Jack O'Neill, is just now catching on with American audiences, it's already big in France. And Germany. Not to mention England, where Stargate conventions draw crowds of up to 3,000 fans. MGM, the show's producer, sells more Stargate SG-1 DVDs overseas than it does James Bond DVDs. What you've got here is a bona fide worldwide TV phenomenon.

"It's like black musicians in the '50s," says Christopher Judge, who plays the Jaffa warrior Teal'c, the aforementioned bald guy. "We had to go to Europe to make it big, and the reverberations are just now hitting North America." In fact, Judge recently found himself being mobbed by adoring kids in Paris shouting "Monsieur Teal'c! Monsieur Teal'c!" as he attempted an anonymous stroll down the Champs Elysées.

Sci Fi Channel is so convinced that Stargate SG-1 has long-term franchise potential that it has renewed the show for an eighth season, which will make it the second-longest-running individual sci-fi series in American TV history, second only to The X-Files. The network also has given the go-ahead for a spin-off, Stargate: Atlantis, which should premiere in the summer of 2004.

[pabianice]

Rhode clearly is unfamiliar with the subject of his story. Still, great to see this show finally get the attention it deserves.

[amused]

oooooohhhh....MacGuyver!

[Frank_Discussion]

One the very best shows out there. I watch it every weekend on broadcast replay.

[amused]

oooooohhhh....MacGuyver!

[Ex-Dem]

It's a pretty interesting show. I've watched it on and off a few years. I don't get why FOX doesn't make it a primetime show though. It's better than some of the other crap they have on. Over here they run it on Saturday afternoons.

Don't these guys where Air Force uniforms? Wonder if the Frenchies realize that...

[Pest]

Stargate SG-1 is by far my favorite show. It has good lookin' women, humor, guns, exploding things and cool special effects. It also seems to project a conservative message in it's episodes. What more do you need?

Monday nights from 7 to 11 is my Stargate night. I also watch on Fridays at 9. Besides Fox News and History channel, it's about the only thing I watch on TV.

[Frank_Discussion]

One the very best shows out there. I watch it every weekend on broadcast replay.

[My2Cents]

which will make it the second-longest-running individual sci-fi series in American TV history, second only to The X-Files.

How long did Star Trek-Next Generation run?

[Frank_Discussion]

Seven Years, I think.

[Redcloak]

Rhode clearly is unfamiliar with the subject of his story.

Technically speaking, so is Jack O'Neil.

In the heavily fortified Redcloak Family Compound, we watch very little TV. However, tonight, from 7-11, we'll be pretty much glued to the TV watching Stargate. (And if anyone from the Sci-Fi channel is lurking, you'd have us for an extra hour on Friday night if Farscape was still on!) It's one of the best things on TV right now.

[SengirV]

But the Sci Fi Channel canceled Farscape!!! The Sci Fi Channel will die a rather quick death when Stargate finally ends. Instead of good sci fi, they make cheap to produce pieces of crap like Tremors(a bad movie to begin with) and scare tactics(WTF!!!!).

The sad part is that the Sci Fi Channel barely even shows farscape in reruns. How stupid is that? It's their own property, and they won't show it.

[Dead Corpse]

Bring back Firefly and Farscape if you really wanna make Ms. Corpse and I happy.

SG-1 is only a stop gap as there really are no other decent sci-fi shows currently on TV anywhere.

[BushCountry]

We got Battlestar coming. I am actually a little excited. Maybe a new series, after the mini-series?

[Pest]

The production in the new season this year is much better. It is definitely recommended.

[Dead Corpse]

Battlestar? From what I've heard, the Cylons aren't even going to be the chromed cyclopians they once were. That isn't BG in my book.

[Pest]

I thought Farscape ended. I saw the last episode when it seemed that Crichton (sp?) and Erin were killed off.

[jriemer]

But the Sci Fi Channel canceled Farscape!!! The Sci Fi Channel will die a rather quick death when Stargate finally ends. Instead of good sci fi, they make cheap to produce pieces of crap like Tremors(a bad movie to begin with) and scare tactics(WTF!!!!).

You forgot to mention their latest work of art, the Remake of Battlestar Galactica... [/hurl]

[JustAnAmerican]

"Monday nights from 7 to 11 is my Stargate night. I also watch on Fridays at 9.

And a big bump to that.