OK, as a Stargate fan I must ask if there has even been a Stargate Franchise premiere in four years? (update: these numbers beat season premieres of Stargate SG-1 Season 10, Stargate Atlantis Season 3, Stargate Atlantis Season 4, and Stargate Atlantis Season 5).
It edged out Dollhouse in viewers between 9pm-10pm (and calls that out!) and also details the numbers from 9p-11p. Via Syfy press release:
**RATINGS ALERT**
SYFY CONTINUES RATINGS ROLL AS STARGATE UNIVERSE POSTS BEST STARGATE FRANCHISE PREMIERE PERFORMANCE IN FOUR YEARS
SGU Outdelivers FOX’s Dollhouse at 9PM
New York, NY – October 3, 2009 – Following record ratings for Warehouse 13, Eureka, Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth during its most-watched third quarter ever, Syfy’s viewership surge since the July 7 brand evolution continued on Friday, October 2, when Stargate Universe premiered to the best franchise premiere performance in four years, drawing more than 2.3 million viewers – and besting FOX’s Dollhouse at 9PM (ET/PT).
Stargate Universe, which stars Robert Carlyle, Lou Diamond Phillips and Ming-Na, grabbed 2.35 million total viewers along with a 1.7 HH rating, 1.32 million Adults 25-54, and 1.12 million Adults 18-49 during its two-hour debut episode from 9-11PM (ET/PT).
Stargate Universe Premiere Highlights
- This is the best performance for a Stargate franchise season premiere on Syfy since season 2 of Stargate Atlantis on 7/15/05.
- Among Adults 18-49, the 1.12 million viewers is the best performance for a Friday series premiere since Battlestar Galactica debuted on 1/14/05.
- Stargate Universe’s 2.3 million total viewers surpassed the 2.1 million total viewers that watched Dollhouse on FOX at 9 PM (ET/PT).
Edgier and younger in tone, SGU takes the franchise in a dynamic new direction, appealing to longtime Stargate fans and first-time viewers alike. The two-part premiere of Universe was directed by Andy Mikita (Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1) and lensed by Rohn Schmidt (The Shield, The Mist). The series also stars Alaina Huffman, Louis Ferreira, Elyse Levesque, David Blue, Jamil Walker Smith and Brian J. Smith.
SGU follows a band of soldiers, scientists and civilians, who must fend for themselves as they are forced through a Stargate when their hidden base comes under attack. The desperate survivors emerge aboard an ancient ship, which is locked on an unknown course and unable to return to Earth. Faced with meeting the most basic needs of food, water and air, the group must unlock the secrets of the ship’s Stargate to survive. The danger, adventure and hope they find on board the Destiny will reveal the heroes and villains among them.
Robert Cooper and Brad Wright, of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, serve as executive producers and writers. Stargate Universe is distributed by MGM Worldwide Television Distribution.
Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in 95 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)
About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music, and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., Ventanazul, MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Distribution Co., MGM International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching approximately 120 countries and territories around the world. MGM ownership is currently as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%), Texas Pacific Group (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more information, visit www.mgmchannel.com
###
More like a RickRoll…
It seems like SyFy is happy with it. Usually companies wait until monday for these press releases if they aren’t happy with the performance.
or issue no press releases at all…
it beat dollhouse hahahahahahaha
Atleast 1 season of Sg-1 and 2 seasons of Atlantis have premiered since then and that was in the summer season afaik.
I think they are managing publicity differently now at SyFy, witness the media and internet exposure they gave this premier. Craig Engler has been a Tweeting machine on Twitter and many of the actors/producers/stunt folk/crew were recruited to get in on the act.
It looks to me like they feel the best defense is a good offense, and want to get out ahead of the slightly disappointing numbers for the premier with a rah rah press release.
Rather than let folks pick them apart on the net all weekend.
I added it to the text above, but according to Syfy it beat the *season* premieres of Stargate SG-1 Season 10, Stargate Atlantis Season 3, Stargate Atlantis Season 4, and Stargate Atlantis Season 5.
I guess I don’t get the thinking around why SGU premiering as well as BSG finished (against similar competition) is disappointing, but my expectations for Syfy Fridays in the normal broadcast season may be tamped down more than others
And didn’t the record SGA get was when it premiered in the summer? So they can’t be compared.
Has anyone else noticed that, of SyFy’s original shows, the ones that are further away from traditional SyFy seem to do better?
Assuming SU drops a little from it’s premiere (every show does) that will put it under Eureka which itself is under Warehouse 13. To me that’s a clear hierarchy in that Startgate is traditional SyFy, Eureka is traditional SyFy in the real world (still dealing with technology, other dimensions, etc…) while Warehouse 13 is basically a character drama with fantastic elements as the backdrop.
It’ll be interesting to see how this influences future series decisions for SyFy
That’s not too bad at all, really. Maybe I’m just letting the excellent PR work in that article get the best of me, I’m ready to admit that. But it does make some decent enough points, such as blatantly bragging about besting Dollhouse. Heh.
It’s good to see it posted the best 18-49 numbers since BSG’s original series premiere and all, but is 1.12 really all that stellar by any means, though? I have a feeling Skiffy (I’m still going to call them that, dangit) was hoping for a good bit more in that regard, considering it’s no secret they were aiming for a big buster there.
But Robert, it’s a series premier although I love the spin and agree ‘the best defense is a good offense’ because saying it was the best premier in 4 years is’ huh’? Love PR people though, glass is always half full. lol
Jeff, it will depend on the DVR numbers, but by my math 1.12M is pretty much right between a .8-.9. adults 18-49 rating
“I guess I don’t get the thinking around why SGU premiering as well as BSG finished (against similar competition) is disappointing, but my expectations for Syfy Fridays in the normal broadcast season may be tamped down more than others”
I don’t think comparing the two is wise, because any serialized show is going to see a drop in viewership from start to finish. I also found it interesting that the press release didn’t actually publish the hour by hour 18-49 rating share. It only gave the raw number total for 2 hours, which by itself means very little. I’m guessing it was a 0.8 rating share for 18-49, which is not that great for a premiere. Next week will be the real test.
@ Tom:
I, too, have noticed that throughout the more recent years with the network. They themselves said they really wanted a replacement ’space-themed’ show back when SGU was first being touted as ‘watch this!’ material, and they can’t possibly be oblivious to what you and I have seen. That said, hopefully they feel it’s worth it, even if this show has got to be the most expensive of the three to produce.
If the network and parent company are hellbent enough on having a ’space staple’ in their lineup, and are willing to shell out the extra money to attract clientele there that might be hesitant to watch Eureka or Warehouse 13, then I say let this continue. Let’s just hope the dropoff isn’t terrible.
Thanks, Robert. Oh, and Big Boss, great user name. I love that character.
I think the reason why I would feel they are a bit disappointing is that Universe was promoted as brand new and exciting, a show that even those who weren’t in to the other Stargate shows would tune in to watch.
That they are getting almost the same numbers as the others did after several years of being on air begs the question as to why make a new, more expensive series in the first place?
If all they are going to do is get the same numbers?
Now if the demos are better, then they will have reason to be happy.
Are they markedly better? Enough to justify 1 million more spent per ep?
And since shows usually (not always) loose viewers after the premier, it will be interesting to see if Universe follows that trend too.
But I wish them luck with it, there are too few original scripted shows out there as it is.
Well, I wouldn’t watch a spin-off of a show that I didn’t like or watch, and it looks like other people wouldn’t either.
And if I never watched SG1 or SGA, then SGU would have confused the hell out of me.
So, I think it was a pipe’s dream trying to get new fans interested.
Well, remember that SYFY’s ratings have gone down since the mid 2000’s, I think because of increased competition in Friday night programming and increasing use of DVR’s. I could remember when Stargate SG1 would get 1.8-2.0 ratings every single week.
Be that as it may, good for SGU. I hope the show does well. I was very disappointed when Stargate Atlantis was canceled and am glad that a third show has taken up that banner.
I can see why they put out the press release though, even though the numbers probably aren’t what they wanted; how could they not after all the promotion they’ve done? If they didn’t say anything everybody would assume the numbers are worse than they are so they had to get them out there and try and spin this thing into a win.
I’m more interested in how Clone Wars did last night.
I just went for a fast paced walk to wake me up and drank another cup of coffee in an attempt to wake me up to re-watch the pilot and hopefully I can stay awake long enough to view the entire two hours. Last night it put me to sleep twice kind of like Defying Gravity, all the flashbacks and dead slow pace of the show was too much for me. I was disappointed with what I saw, I must be too old to fit their target audience so it may not be for me. Sadly I was looking forward to this show but it is just to slow to keep my attention. I paid to get Showtime in the early days just to get SG1, but this one would not be worth the effort if what I have seen so far is what the show is about. Just think 2.4 million is good enough for this PR blitz from Syfy. This could be the end of Science Fiction on the channel if it fails because the suits at Syfy hate the genre so badly it could be the excuse they need to just go all Wrestling and Ghost Hunting. Maybe Comcast will actually get some scifi shows if they buy the company?
This is not good.
Jim: check back Tuesday by 1p EDT,
dsfjr: that’s a very good point. It is hard for me to imagine anyone but those already familiar with Stargate series (or at least the movie) could’ve embraced SGU at all given it’s complete lack of setup to real newbies in.
I’m a long-time fan of the Stargate franchise, but I fear this won’t draw new fans and has a big risk of alienate existing SG fans.
Allen: I dozed as well. True story :-/ And when I snored myself awake, I wasn’t interested enough to rewind to see what I’d missed and just kept on watching.
BUT, I didn’t like SG1 at all when it first came out and grew to love it. But…I think this is probably different. We’ll see.
2.35M viewers is a horrible start. Stargate Atlantis premiered with 4.2M in 2004. Eureka’s series premiere drew 4.1M viewers in 2006. Warehouse 13 drew 3.5M for its series premiere earlier this year.
Even BSG did better with its season one premiere (3.1M).
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a press release from Syfy. They sure can spin!
ey, give the show a chance people. even after the pilot people start slayin. just wondering, how people can judge a storyline based on TWO frakkin hours. Of an enitre show to come. it’s like killing a book by it’s first page. not cool.
Better this, better that. Let the storyline evolve
Very interesting that the PTB have their spin machine working so quickly!
Don’t know where they are getting their imaginary numbers.
The SyFy form I read last night was about 98% negative.
This is not a Star Gate show.
One suggestion that was made was for SyFy to bring back SG Atlantis and let the fans chose what they want to watch. But the PTB think they know better well then I guess they will shink with their SG Universe ship.
correction
sink
Rosario those numebrs are impossible to compare.
1. Atlantis premiered 5 years ago in JULY, Warehouse 13 Premiered in JULY.
2. Bsg premiered after a miniseries hailed by more or less every media outlet as one of the greatest tv events of the year.
a more fitting comparison would be with against the series final of Warehouse 13 who got 2.23 0.7/2 rating/share on a Tuesday.
So on a friday for SGU against weak but still existant network competition is not amazing but its not Bad in no way.
If they cant keep the audience the following weeks we can talk but now. These are good numbers.
The look of it was awful–the way it was filmed was of such poor quality–the darkness, the camera angles, the way they used it to tell the story–the flashbacks were hard to discern from the present–too much jerking from one image to another–yuk! I always give new installments a chance, but it gave me a headache to watch it, it was hard–I really couldn’t see what was being shown! I only watched it to the end because it was Stargate–and the story–nobody was very likable, either, except Rush in a few moments–his compassion toward Chloe’s grieving–but he needed a good shower and shave! I need to at least like some of the characters if I’m going to watch it for any length of time. Lots of good ideas in the story, but it felt so empty and emotionally harsh that it left me very disappointed, even though their reactions to the situation was most likely quite realistic. I’m assuming they will eventually build intimacy between the characters, which is the only reason I watch it over time, but they better do it soon! There’s enough harshness in reality–I want to be inspired by this type of show–encourage me to have hope for the future–not to mention that most of the characters need some good long-term therapy!
Never been a fan of SG. I heard SG fans were complaining about this one so I had to check it out. Was glad I did. I will be tuning in every week. Great show.
Well I never was much of an SG-1 or Atlantis fan honestly. But I thought I’d give SGU a try I enjoyed it well enough (not to say I’d like tweet everyone I knew and say jump on the boat or anything) Anyways, My only real issue with the show is that it reminded me greatly of Star Trek: Voyager. Funny thing was I was just saying to a friend the other day I wish a new Star Trek franchise would come to TV O.o So maybe it’s just Star Trek on the brain :p
I find it interesting given the amount of advertising SyFy has been doing. I watch very little SyFy, but have seen promos on other channels every night, someitmes 3 or 4 an hour for the last few weeks. A huge amount of money seems to have been spent. They probably ran more for this premier than they did for the last three seasons of Atlantis combined.
Never been a fan of SGU. I heard SGU fans were complaining about this one so I had to check it out. Was sorry I did. I will be never tuning in again Atrocius show.
tm-jm.m.m.mallozzi
About MetroGoldwyinMayer:
Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%).
Heh heh, it’s obvious to me that they chose their comparisons verryyy carefully. Oh yes, they are on the offensive alright, they have no where else to go now that they pulled in far less viewers than they wanted. If you read the press release carefully, it has been toned down…they are scared now!
I’m not a Stargate fan and haven’t seen a single episode of any of the previous shows, but Syfy convinced me to tune into this with the promise of something different. I didn’t find it confusing or alienating at all. Of course, I also didn’t find it particularly good, but I’ll at least tune into one more episode before writing it off completely.
I went to check out the forums at syfy to see of others had experienced physical issues while watching this show. I was surprised at the number of comments about feeling ill or headaches. My daughter began to experience seizures about 15 minutes into the show. I personally had a dull headache, as well.
If your prone to vertigo or seizures, your probably best not to tune into SGU…
When people say comparing SGU’s ratings to that of other shows that premiered in the Summer, as though if SGU were to premier in July it would have done better is false. It is harder to get viewers in the Summer months because the weather is good, and people are more likely to be out enjoying themselves, or on vacation, as opposed to watching TV. This is also the reason why most shows go on hiatus in the summer, and why many new shows are tested out in the summer, because if people are willing to watch them then, then there is a strong likelyhood that they will watch in the fall when people go back their normal schedules and kids are back in school.
I personally couldn’t watch the SGU premier without sighing every few minutes. I thought this show might be okay because I am a fan of character interaction, and don’t need tons of action to be interested in a show. That is how the show was promoted. But, this show didn’t do it for me.
I miss Atlantis. I really liked those characters. And I wasn’t even a huge fan of some of the season 4-5 changes with the cast, but I would definately take that over what I saw last night. If people like SGU, more power to them. But, it’s definately not the show for me.
Sally, I have veritigo problems (menieres) which was why I can’t watch shows like SGU. They bring on attacks almost everytime. I was very dissapointed that SGU adopted this format as I had to pass on Battlestar because of this.
That premier was the first SG I’ve ever seen and I enjoyed it. I will check out other SG’s at a later date.
I’m easy to please though, but I thought it was pretty promising. I only gave it a chance because nothing is on Friday and I thought previews looked pretty cool during Warehouse 13.
Plus I wanted a space show to replace Battlestar.
There’s Caprica ya know… But I have no idea how different the prequel will be, I never saw a minute of BSG (other than the promos during SG).
I watched the Caprica movie event, but I’m afraid it’ll get too deep with the psychobabbling extremists they introduced. There’s enough of those in this reality, and this planet.
i find SGU insufferable
I find it decidedly more sufferable than the later episodes of SG-1 and SG-A. Wormhole. Problem. McKay/Carter. Problem solved. Crisis abaited. Everyone goes home.
This new expedition into the SG universe with the goal being to avoid the forumlaic (and frankly, borderline proceedural) nature of the other two series should make for some interesting viewing. Personally I’ll see how it goes, but unless it falls back into tedium, I imagine I’ll keep watching.
It’ll be nice to still have something to watch on Fridays once DH gets canned.
I wonder if they’ll give us the breakdown for the female viewers? I know they were really trying to draw them in to SGU because they were so ’surprised’ that a lot of women watched BSG. That would be interesting.
I really liked the show…no matter if 2.35 billion viewers tune in or just 235 people watch, I still think its great. I know they need it for funding and all but I wish shows didn’t rely so much on how many people are tuned in…
I have never watched any other Star Gate show, but I did watch SGU’s first episode. Yes, I was totally confused, but that made it fun. I will definitely be watching this show in the future.
Syfy’s remodel, is proving anything but new to me. I mean, Eureka has been toned back down from a glorified infomercial for Degree products into a semi-watchable show. There will soon be more GhostHunter variations than CSI, I can’t male myself enjoy supposed “adults” running around with flashlights screaming like school girls in a different dark room every week. Even Warehouse 13, with all of it’s novel goodness, still feels like too many shows before it.
That said, I was hoping against my better judgment that SGU would be the refreshing blast that SciFi (the genre) needs to stay alive in a world of reality TV mayhem. I wish I could say that I feel asleep half way though and missed it, but I sat watching for it to “get good” for the entire 2 hours.
This show came across as the kind of unpolished, barely edited bundle that they usually throw out to get the media hype started. The cuts scenes were the worst, the transition between past and present were almost non-existent. Flashbacks are supposed to reveal the story, not make you work to figure out what you’re watching.
I’m usually pretty forgiving on the writting in a premiere, because there are so many things that have to be introduced at one time to launch a show, but Lou Diamond Phillips (whom I was lead to belive was a leading role on this show) was present for 5 mins out of 2 hours. I thought he died or landed back on the ship before the planet exploded, but after the shows over I saw him in the previews. “What!?”, how can you forget to put that in the show?
Also, any SG franchise fans holding their breath on this not turning into typical SG material may want to give up now. I can’t even count the times that something that should have been explained, was paraded off as common knowledge. The Ancients used unmanned ships to spawn star gates all over the place? 15 years of previous shows didn’t mention this, perhaps it deserved more than a sentence? I really thought they were going “best foot forward” on this…they should stick with press releases, they do a bang-up job on those.
Well, if people who haven’t been SG fans like this show and tune in, then Syfy should be pleased, since that is their stated objective. They want a broader audience. It seems that the “scifi” crowd is going over to watch the increasing “scifi” on BBCA, with more Dr. Who promised, and it’s spin-off, Torchwood’s most recent eps being announced as the BBCA’s highest rated show. Now that they will be reviving other scifi fave, Primeval, from cancellation, I wonder if Syfy will even care? Granted, it will be a while before BBCA gets to show more of these series, but Syfy either passed on Dr. Who, or was outbid-which I heard was the case, but I don’t know if its true. Time will tell.
“”It seems that the “scifi” crowd is going over to watch the increasing “scifi” on BBCA,”"
I’m one of them.
Once upon a time SciFi was just about the only channel on at our house.
Now it is just about useless… I have no interest in Ghost hunts or WWE.
BBCA keeps getting better.
Dr Who (SyFy seems to have forgotten Dr Who’s premier ratings), Torchwood, Primeval(not great, but better than SGU) & Top Gear.
Turning on SG-U was the 1st time syfy was on in months, and it was truly a disappointment. I’ll give it 2 more weeks… but if it still has BSG jumpy camera shooting, and Melrose Place subplots, I’m gone.
Likely along with thousands of others…
I liked SGU’s premiere. Of course i’m disappointed in the demise of BSG and SGA but i’m glad that syfy has continued to invest in the Stargate franchise. I sometimes like to watch the original Stargate film and just marvel at how far the executive producers have taken the storyline. They took a mediocre sci-fi film and turned it into a wonderful universe to showcase. I hope it goes on for the long run and all you SGU haters eat your words! If you don’t like change then vacuum seal yourself in an enthropic bubble and shun away from good progress! I’m looking forward to the new worlds they’ll discover and the evolution of the character dynamics. Bring it Cooper and Wright!
I still wonder how they track all these ratings and such. It’s always been a bit confusing to me. I think they’re totally off on some of this stuff. But anyways, to get on track of the post…
I’ll start this off saying I’m a fan of Stargate. I watched Stargate SG-1 when it was on (as well as the two direct-to-DVD movies), watched the first couple seasons of Stargate Atlantis when it was on. And was very skeptical about a new Stargate series. I enjoyed it. I still miss my old Stargate cause I was so attached to the characters. But this isn’t half bad. I seem to be attracted to the shows that have chances of getting canceled though (a la Castle). =\ I love the change of filming compared to the other SG shows, it gives it a different feel. And the coloring they did to it, makes me happy. I love when they enhance things a little. And they definitely put more money into the graphics for this show than they ever did for the previous Stargates. I’m interested in seeing where this is going to go.
I just wish all networks would give TV shows a full season to work things out though, rather than canceling them in the middle of things (like Fox did with Firefly).
BTW. I would be in the demo. of the type of people they want to watch it. 20 year old female. My only problem is I live in a dorm. And the only TV I personally can watch is the one in our community kitchen and on the treadmills downstairs in our gym. So my viewership probably isn’t counted.
And that’s why I hate the ratings system. It’s so off.
The show was plainly bad. i’m sorry. I tried to like it, but I couldn’t get into any of the characters at all.
Do we have the total number of HHs/18-49s etc. for this season? So that we can calculate what demo rating the 1.12 mill translate to?
Not a Stargate fan, but I love those cheaply-made SyFy “original movies” they slot on Saturday nights. I always DVR them and get a laugh whenever I need one.
“If your prone to vertigo or seizures, your probably best not to tune into SGU…”
So if I had to leave a showing of The Bourne Ultimatum to rehash lunch, you’d recommend I’d skip this?
I have over 10 comments on my blog from fans of SG-1 and SGA that hated SGU and only 1 supporter of the show. I wonder how many fans of SG-1 and SGA aren’t going to watch SGU without any campy comedy.
Based on reading the fan blogs I would say that 2/3’s of the vocal SG fans did not like this premiere. I’m really going to be interested to see what the numbers are like next week.
Remember this is a three part premiere episode so we saw Part’s 1 + 2 Friday and Part 3 of the premiere is this coming Friday.
Lizard
I have to say I really enjoyed SGU although it’s very apparent it’s closer to Galctica than Stargate.
Incidentally I’ve noticed everyone in the States thinks that Primeval is a BBC show, it’s actually produced by the BBC’s biggest rival network, ITV. Primeval was initially made to compete with Doctor Who which went out during the same time slot, BBC Wordwide merely distribute Primeval outside of the UK.
BBC financing the next two seasons is kind of similar to the likes of FOX agreeing to co-finance Heroes for NBC – obviously BBC Worldwide must be raking in the cash with Primeval…
Garbage wont watch another episode!
Count me as a pushed away die hard fan of SG1. I liked Atlantis but I did not like a lot of the changes to that show toward the end either. So the last couple seasons of SGA and the preview information about SGU just put me off completely.
It would take a whole lot to earn back my patronage at this point.
And as for the “give the show a chance” crowd. Why would I give a show a chance just because it has the Stargate label?
Just to add a thought on this. Although Universe didn’t _require_ the viewer be familiar with the Stargate franchise, those that weren’t might have found some things confusing.
One friend told me that he didn’t understand who was attacking the planet. If course, SG-1 fans will know who the Lucian Alliance were, and understood the reference.
I loved SG-1, hated Atlantis and think Universe could be very good indeed. There are some good actors in there, and SyFy does seem to believe in the Stargate franchise. If they cancel this, that really would be the end for it all.
Anyway, Dollhouse has been weak this season, and if I was forced to chose, I’d take SG:U over it.
I was unimpressed when they canceled Stargate:Atlantis, and when the press were touting the new show as ‘younger’ all the warning bells were going off… I don’t think I was in a very open frame of mind when I sat down to watch it… and to my surprise, I really enjoyed it!
I actually loved the way it started out all messy and chaotic, the sense of emergency and the feel that noone was quite able to take control of the situation? I just thought it was really realistic, the way people just wouldn’t get out of the way, and were in shock, and kept making an emergency situation even worse?
I like the fact all the characters seem quite flawed and unsure in their own ways, and it really was darker overall, in tone? I mean, even in just the first half, you had seizure, heart attack, a sex scene (on duty no less), what I think was a terminally ill patient, suggestions of obsessive and unreasonable workplace behaviour, and intense character moments that suggested complex psyches and back histories, ie a lot of material for writers to unravel over time?
The casting really worked, too. So, in a solid about-face, I’m looking forward to watching it!
gene ?
How long have you been working for the Syfy PR department?
I finally was able to say awake long enough to see the entire two boring hours of the premier. Everything that made me interested in Stargate for nearly 15 years was stripped out of this series. Other than Eli I would not desire to have these kinds of folks and their character traits as part of my life. The suits at Syfy have created a show that will neither draw a new audience to the network or keep those of us that in the past watched many hours everyweek tuned to this network. Maybe I am just too old and folks like me no longer count at Syfy. If It is my age then how can I enjoy shows like the new Vampire Diaries on CW becouse I find I like the energy of the yoursters on this program. Syfy would have done just as well to just invent a new concept show and have let the Stargate world simply die in our memories, but no the have to murder our world with this copy cat ugry attempt at being cool and edgy. They were neither they were just plain old boring–nuf said!
I was worried that SGU would premier to weak numbers like 1 million plus on a traditional competitive Friday night when the networks also premier new seasons of their shows.
To say the least, 2.35 million on Friday on a non-summer night for a cable network like Syfy is huge and I bet if SGU had premiered in the summer like Warehouse 13 it would have premiered to 4 million plus viewers.
jamaica2099:
If the StarGate and MGM people really believed that, SGU could have and would have premiered in the Summer.
But, if you and they are happy with the numbers, more power to you. I don’t hope the show fails, I’m just not tuning in unless I hear that it will/has changed drastically. I’m not holding my breath.
I’m so tired of all you people disliking everything all the time. My god what the heck do you like??? If you keep up this constant hatred of all the scifi movies and shows, there won’t be ANY left on the air. Learn to enjoy things and stop looking for flaws all the time. You can find a flaw in any show if you go looking for it, so just STOP looking for it. And don’t go out reading other’s reviews BEFORE you watch something because then you’ll just go watch it with a biased mind. SGU was fine, if you slept through it, you need more rest or need to get out of the lazyboy.
If you would just be the kind of brain dead sheep that allowed yoursevles to enjoy things we’d have a lot more scifi shows to watch. Instead you choose to be the braindead sheep who hate everything… baaaaahhhh
…well, since I sledged Stargate: Universe so much in the lead-up to anyone who would listen (I really loved my weekly doses of Atlantis!), and thereby convincing many people not to bother watching it… I felt it was only fair to comment on having enjoyed it so much
Ironically, I used to watch the original Stargate with my father, and while I enjoyed it each week, I wasn’t a huge, huge fan? I actually enjoyed the Atlantis incarnation a lot more.
Maybe dysfunctional people and terrible beaurocracy in the workplace just seems really relatable, lol!
From J: “If you would just be the kind of brain dead sheep that allowed yoursevles to enjoy things we’d have a lot more scifi shows to watch. Instead you choose to be the braindead sheep who hate everything… baaaaahhhh”
Wow, that says a lot. So, we’re all supposed to be brain-dead sheep, regardless? Maybe this is why Sci-Fi is having a problem. Too many braindead people (temporarily I hope) making shows for an audience they hope is brain-dead too maybe?
I liked SG-1, and I loved Atlantis. But, don’t aske people to love a show essentially because it just says “Stargate” in the title. I tend to think that viewers are intelligent people that can make their minds up for themselves regardless of what they have heard from people that post.
I am personally fine with as many people loving SGU the way that it is. That is their choice. I just don’t. And, I resent being expected to be a sheep that just “follows” anything the SG and MGM people put on the air because it’s Sci-Fi. These people are capable of raising the bar and doing more, because they have done this in the past with previous shows.
If you liked SGU, then like it because you enjoyed it, not because you’re a brain-dead sheep.
The new Stargate Universe is a great disappointment. I was so anxious to see it, but I was meet with great greif. I loved the previous versions and I was expecting something simular but alas I was bummed out.
Who the hell wrote this piece of trash anyway? They should be shot. There is no structure, no substance, no leadership, and worst of all no plot. If there is a plot, then I am totaly lost.
It reminds me of that other stupid show with the female Starbuck, Battleship Galactica. Don’t even get me started on that one.
Anyway, I am a Drop Dead “SCI-FI” Viewer. That’s the only channel my T.V. used to get. So now I will have to watch something else.
And……what the heck is up with the new SCI-FI Logo. SCI-FI has always been SCI-FI. Why do people have to fix things that aren’t broke?
That’s my two cents from somewhere in Texas.
Gil.
I just realized that there was more plot and interest in the first 7 minutes or so of the Sanctuary season starter, then in the previous hour of ep 2 of SG-U. SG-U seems to be nothing but mood and angst with no story to speak of.
Kelly Starks
Ive been a huge fan of SG since the movie. Loved SG1 and SGA and was really looking forward to SGU. Sad to say I think it really sucked. I think they are trying to hard to fit this into the drama of Battlestar Gallactica, which they did, but totally took away from the humor and fun of the actual Stargate movie and shows which is what kills it for most of the fans. After watching the first two weeks im dumping it. But im really looking forward to the Stargate Extinction series next year which has most of the SGA characters..but if they change that to a drama like this im blocking SyFy. The new manager there has just screwed that channel up beyond belief for me. I mean Syfy instead of SciFi. The slogan is “Imagine greater” when it should be “Imagine Grammar”!
Yeah J you sound like a real positive person there. So we should just secretly dislike these things and say we like it so SciFi gets the thumbs up and keeps going business as usual? If you don’t like the comments you can actually go to another forum or even walk away from you computer.
Or if you prefer, give us your opinions on how we should positively respond that meets your liking so we don’t upset you…because ultimately this is what matter correct? Idiot.
Just hulued this week’s and the premier (don’t have real TV because I wouldn’t watch much anyway). I’ll say it now, I approve. I must say I did find a couple of things odd, but I recognized why they did them. It’s the edginess they felt they needed in order to jumpstart the new series. It seemed like the jumpy camerawork (sorry to those who were affected by it) helped illustrate the abruptness of their being hurled across the universe, just as they’d sat down to dinner no less. The flashbacks, sudden though they were, worked out alright for me. I had no trouble discerning what was current and what was flashback (not sure where that comes from) and they carried a feeling of insecurity and disbelief that probably comes with having your cozy little world turned inside out.
I think the Eli character does a good job of carrying over the cheesy stargate humor that part of me just loves. Robert Carlyle’s character is my favorite though, he’s a madman, but everyone else needs him if they want to survive.
I wasn’t really a fan of Stargate until last year when a friend convinced me to actually watch more than one episode. Aside from poking fun at the holes in their historical and linguistic content, I really enjoyed both SG1 and SGA. I found the characters very likeable and the story just filled that need for scifi in me I didn’t know i had.
I recognize that this first chunk is a little messy, but it still has potential to develop into the crack I’ll have to tune into every week.
I have watched all Air 1,2 and 3 now. It will be interesting to see the ratings drop off in the next couple of weeks (I predict off the cliff).
IMO this is a another Defying Gravity. They are trying to create a soap opera with a “sciency” backdrop.
Except in this case, the have created the most unlikable cast I have ever seen on a TV show. It isn’t an accident, this is meant to be the source of the “drama”. A bunch of incompetent annoying people who spend the majority of their time fighting amongst themselves. I found myself rolling my eyes and wanting to change the channel several times.
To be clear I thought Defying Gravity was lame execution of a lame idea, but where DGs insipid drama was all about the love lives of the shipmates, it was merely boring and lame. SGU OTOH is actively repulsive.
I will be interesting to see how masochistic the Pilot audience is, to keep coming back for the weekly installment of punishment.
SGINO [StarGate In Name Only] sucks just as badly as GINO [Galactica In Name Only] sucked. 1.7HH for a preimiere is pretty crappy. The show will most likely taper off to at least a 1.3 by mid season, which is terrible, just like the show sucks. Stop re-imagining good franchises into this daytime soap, talky, love triangle, dark and gritty, action-anemic crap, that no one wants to see.
Reimagining: you seem to have a sucking fascination…must be a personal issue. Actually those ratings for SciFi channel are actually decent..but you would have to have an idea of what you are talking about so ill cut you some slack. An interesting that you are on this forum for someone who thinks StarGate “sucks”. You might just want to go back to “sucking” yourself there pal.
What happened to the Stargate “universe” i know & love. If i wanted to watch television drama featuring the interplay of egos i’d watch a soap opera. BTW, how can you sympathize with characters you don’t even know yet (e.g. killing the pompous senator as if it were some monumental loss when in fact it was a relief) & what’s with the sentimental folk-music on the second episode?
Great work guys, cancel Altlantis (one of the best shows of all times) and give us another Battlestar Gallacticesque piece of crap.
The negativity here seems pretty consistent with the Stargate community as a whole. As I stated earlier about 2/3’s of the Stargate people I have spoken too or read reviews of (and that is in the hundreds of people) don’t like SG:U.
I personally am a big fan of Sanctuary which follows it on Friday nights and so far I have enjoyed SG: Universe in general. It definitely is not in the same vain as all of the other Stargate franchises, but so far it is interesting enough to merit watching it at least to see where they take us for one season.
Also I have SG: Atlantis on DVD and I think that show was great for about two and a half seasons before it seemed to lose its way.
Lastly, I don’t think I have seen a thread before with the word “sucks” in it as much as this one.
Thanks,
Lizard