Or maybe not. But either way, New Moon in the theaters didn’t seem to hurt Stargate Universe any last Friday night and its numbers were up for the second consecutive week.
It averaged 1.891 million viewers on Friday (11/20), up from last week’s (11/13) 1.802 million last and the series-low 1.626 million on November 6. Maybe no Dollhouse (or Ugly Betty, last Friday ABC aired “Shrek the Third”).
Gay entertainment blog After Elton it referred to Friday’s episode, “Life” as an extraordinary landmark in lesbian television.
LOL, new moons Audience is not exactly SGU’s audience that pic above being proof. lol. SGU;s core audience is male 18 to 49, like me, lol. So did I mind that scene above, heck no. The episode was kinda dry for my taste but had it’s shining moments…
Who loved Telford getting his @ss kicked by Young? Oh yeah!
Anyway, it seems Sanctuary has less to cheer with only pulling 1.4 Million viewers………That is 200,000 less viewers for Live+SD than SGA pulled for their last season.
Was it a ‘very special episode’? One more ep and SGU is off until April.
I like SGU and V…I hope V will be back,
“LOL, new moons Audience is not exactly SGU’s audience that pic above being proof. lol. SGU;s core audience is male 18 to 49, like me, lol. So did I mind that scene above, heck no”
No offense to you @Marc but this is why I hate GLBT ’scenes’ being used to sell shows. It’s got nothing to do with equality and seeing us GLBT folk as normal as everyone else and is more about voyeurism and titillation. I sort of resent it but that’s just me.
@Cimmer,
I did not mind the scene but I thought it was boring and it did not really play too much for me into the main episode. I think with a long haitus SGU is going to downtick in numbers. Air part 3 which was week 2 had 2.4 Million viewers. Will episode 112 see the same number? I highly doubt it. I hope we see more eps like “Time”,Air part 3″, and Light, and less eps like “Earth” and “Life”.
Anyway, I hear ya about using that scene to sell the show. It’s a sellout. I agree.
@ Marc, it’s cool. It’s just out of entire ep, that’s the scene a lot of people will remember for better or worse and I have a ’strong suspicion’ it was not put into the show to advance equality and tolerance for the GLBT community regardless of what After Ellen has to say, you know? Call my cynical.:-(
Next on AS THE STARGATE TURNS: Lesbian kissing, bickering between crew members, shakey cam, sex,sex,sex! All the things you love about shows like the new MELROSE PLACE and 90120 (if you’re into that type of garbage). I turned the channel from SG-U a long time, ago. I watch porn for kicks, so I’m not offended by soft sexual content like in this show. I just think it’s unnecessary, a totaly distraction and would rather watch real science fiction/space fantasy. This show s-u-c-k-s! Thanks, again, Bonnie Hammer for another LIFETIME CHANNEL offering.
@Marc
Marc there was nothing special about that lesbian moment. I have seen that and much more every week here in California. It was a cheap way of getting ratings and it will back fire.
Obviously you are an (ELI) type of person and you have not been getting any and/or must live on a farm. Let me guess you did not go to any parties in college or grad school or presently don’t go to night clubs or bars.
@ todd-m
No, I am not an Eli type person. I am in a rock band and go to clubs and bars all the time.
You obviously did not read my post. I said it was not a big deal to me and am used to it. But other male viewers might of enjoyed it.
Any sort of sex on any scifi programme gets a turn off vote from me, if I want to see sex I’ll watch a soapie, no wait, SGU isn’t a soapie is it? Three sex scenes in eight episodes is enough, the Stargate franchise (for me) is dead and buried.
Well good. I hope SGU stays on the air and V goes. ABC is so annoying. The promoted the crap out of V and it honestly isnt THAT good.
A lesbian scene didnt seem to help Heroes even tho it was advertised all week. Two more points … first I didnt even know there was going to be a lesbian scene in SGU … did they advertise it? Second I think many more heroes fans would be more interested in a scene with claire in a veteran series over the woman in a freshman series. Also we barely know the woman from SGU … there hasnt been a lot of character development. I think I would be more interested one way or the other if I was more emotionally attached to the character … another point for heroes.
I think the lesbian kissing scene has run its course as a shocker to gain more viewers on tv. We have all seen it already .. nothing new …
I think the reason the numbers are going up is the fact that the show is actually getting interesting and we are learning more about the characters. I believe that is why the other SG shows did fairly well … it was character/story driven with a little action.
I think the first few episodes of SGU were fine but there are only so many episodes I can watch where they try to get you excited by making you think they will all die by the end of the episode. I mean really did anyone really think the show was going to end after 1 or 2 or 3 episodes? That “they all might die” mentality for those episodes wasnt interesting. Maybe if they used it at the end of the first season that might work but not at the beginning.
I think the last few episodes have finally been about interesting things … I finally feel like I can exhale(or maybe I feel like I can enjoy the episodes now without thinking .. how dumb is it to try to make me think they will all die by the end of this episode) and enjoy the show and learn about the characters.
I could be wrong or missing something but I go by feel … I dont examine shows and nitpick them to death. For some reason I feel it is getting better where as the first few episodes I could barely tolerate watching them to the end. Now they end and leave me wanting more.
Wow, a lesbian kiss, how surprising and unexpected or not. Lol
I hope SGU gets cancelled, it just gets more pathetic with every episode.
Leo – no, they didn’t advertise that aspect of the show because it wasn’t just a “stunt” to draw in a bunch of young male viewers…
Claire’s little “well this one time in college” story was a perfect example of why people always complain about these kinds of plot points. I think SGU handled it as best they could really. I mean let’s be honest… with all the sexual aspects of this show so far, they would’ve done a lot worse than two people cuddling.
SGU should be listed in the Soap section of the site.
I enjoy SGU a lot, I have done so since the first episode. Even though it’s an ensemble cast, from a practical POV they had to choose specific characters for us to identify with, that are key to the story to start the SGU journey. I have no problem with us learning more about the, what have so far have been minor characters as the episodes go by.
IMO the lesbian kiss was beautifully done, it was just part of the story, same as the sex was a few episodes earlier.
SGU is much more human and character driven than I expected it to be and so far I’m enjoying it. I think they’ve captured pretty accurately how people would react in this situation and as long as they stick with the basic truths of human nature, the show will continue to do well.
Of course, you have to compare that “V” is on ABC, a major network, while SGU is on SyFy, a much smaller network. If SGU was on ABC, would it still be on??
I’m hoping SGU can pick up the pace, or at least use the stargate!
ANd I do enjoy “V” and plan to watch it whenever it returns.
Was the kiss really that big a deal? I never realized until I saw some of the comments here and on other message boards about the episode.
What did stand out for me was a return to the use of the stones for “lite” character drama without ever delving into all the complex (and fascinating) issues that you’d think would arise from consciousness and body swapping.
I’d really hoped for something more from this series.
Lia,
It’s nice to see a comment like yours among the “hope it gets canceled”, or “this is 90210 in space”.
Wow,I have had to make myself watch each episode thinking they would improve and gradually they have gotten some better. However the last episode was a classical attempt to grasp a different group of viewers; lesbians and young males, and unforntuntaly lose others like myself. I have deleted it from my preset recordings, not a worthwhile show. What a disappointment since I have always enjoyed all the the stargate shows!
@marc
“SGU;s core audience is male 18 to 49
Yeah right, that was SGA and SG1 – SGU is going up in the 18-34 and I’ll be its the girls who like all that slobbering soap drama
@Marc
“Who loved Telford getting his @ss kicked by Young? Oh yeah!”
Children?
Young kidnaps another person, and abuse that person to attack the Colonel, out of petty jealousy because he *might* have an affair with his wife, where Young himself HAS had an affair.
@Kermonk “Yeah right, that was SGA and SG1 – SGU is going up in the 18-34 and I’ll be its the girls who like all that slobbering soap drama”
I don’t think that’s true. SGU is clearly trying to toe a line that gains more alternative viewers (females, younger, etc…) while still maintaining the old Stargate demo. But any Sci Fi show is going to get most of its audience from males 18-49. That’s built into the genre.
I think what we’re seeing now is the writers and producers trying too hard to appeal to other audiences and compromising their main target in the process. That’s why a lot of SG-1 and Atlantis viewers are turned off.
In the end I think they’re in trouble in that the show cost a lot and is not producing the numbers to justify it (inching up from the brink not withstanding). I don’t think SyFy will cancel SGU no matter what (the franchise is worth too much to them) but I do think you’ll see some cost cutting and retooling. Sadly, since they made the disastrous decision to film the whole season in advance, that won’t happen until Season 2.
I wonder if the uptick was because of the previous episode which was more scifi orientated – perhaps some people thought the scifi stuff was finally going to start – only to run into Stargate Melrose Space.
While I’m not in love with SG:U (if the communication stones left the series, it would be so much better), quality-wise, I think it’s WAY better than “V”. There was an audience for “V”, but that audience is going to keep running away due to some horrible writing that is doing nothing but embarrassing good actors like Elizabeth Mitchell. I hope that it comes back from it’s hiatus in better shape, but I feel it will be too late… I doubt tonight’s episode will be leaving people eager for more…
I personally like the show it’s something different than the same old stuff. They have to change their approach the same thing every week gets very old.
Agree with Cassi 100%. Would not miss V either.
I think the producers are going to reedit last ten episodes to be more action. At least I hope so. Maybe that’s the reason why SGU will come back in march 2010 or later.
Mo Ryan rules: Brad Wright drools
@Any One Who Thinks This Show Is Targeted At Women:
.
.
I am a woman and I am turned off by how the women come across as sex objects in this show. And two of the few Earth women we’ve seen have been/appeared to be alcoholics (Chloe’s mom and Scott’s Ex.)
Some people may see this as wonderful. I will again say that I’m tired of giving this show chances for it NOT to improve thus far. I might check back sometime after mid-season break, but only if I hear A LOT about how this show has moved in a better direction.
I do not like Soap Operas, never have. So, if someone thinks that just because this show is soapy, all or most women/girls will want to see it then they probably are very mistaken. Most of the girls or women that like that kind of thing already watch the Soaps or Gossip Girl, 90210, Melrose Place, etc. for soapy drama and don’t need SGU for that.
I am all for character development and “some” occasional kissing or touching scenes “if” they make sense and don’t come off as gratuitous. I don’t think that SGU has been successful in doing this from my POV.
@ Cimmer
«There Is No Normal Anymore». LOL.
Will Adam Lambert be an episode of Stargate Gayverse?
Stargate Universe just needs to die. I will be so happy to see this crummy show go! Way to screw up the Stargate franchise guys!
Stargate Universe is boring. V is better written & acted.
LOL, I love how you people are bashing SGU and saying the show is going to be cancelled. The ratings are going back up and people are loving this show. I think the idea is to get rid of all the prudes and old maids who cannot handle a little sex scene which was not even a sex scene, pfffffffft.
can somebody please tell me where they got all the running shoes and sweat shirts from?
anybody?
perhaps the ancients left them on board?
sgu sucks and should be cancelled
That was my point about the kiss .. if it was a “stunt” for ratings they would have advertised it.
Also other point was lesbian activity does not raise ratings anymore unless people are invested in the character, then maybe it might bring back some viewers they lost over time.
I still cant believe in the world we live in today people still get offended by gay/lesbian scenes.
@cimmer
While I agree that silly exploitative kissing for a show is often done as a promo device I have to ask the question what the hell was Adam Lambert doing except an obvious self promotion device?
@all
SGU really is Battlestar Voyager and the show lacks all the humour, self deprecation and good storylines that made it’s siblings so watchable. It’s a shame as I really enjoyed the other series but I have no desire to watch people shouting at each other week in and week out.
Ho Hum
Let’s hope that the producers use the hiatus to do a bit of re-tooling.
Its sad that SGU can’t get higher ratings than the soaps On tv. Its not even in the top 25 in cable show’s. Disney channel beats it out.
SGU is so different from the other Stargates it is hard to get use to. I have watched all the episodes so far and they have been getting better. My husband and I almost gave up on it but are know looking forward to watching. I agree more adventure and less personal relationship stuff. New writers are needed.
As other have said I heard the New Moon Audience was 80% female and the Stargate crowd tends to be majority male. So a drop in numbers should have been minimal.
@The Truth
Assuming the numbers are NOT FAKES or MISINFORMATION put out by SyFy, I think the numbers are going up for four reasons:
[1] as Kermonk stated more girls into the soap opera drama;
[2] there is nothing space related on SyFy or any other channel;
[3] like a B rated movie with people watching and hoping the B rated movie gets better, Stargates fans are watching and hoping SGU gets better;
[4] despite all the news about a economic recovery, I think most people really don’t believe it and are staying home and watching more TV than going out spending money.
I have definitely noticed that the positive reviews are coming from mostly females while negative reviews are coming from mostly men (who are new viewers and/or fans of the other stargate shows) and women (who are fans of the other stargate shows).
@Lia, the original 90210 was better than SGU.
If the SGU gets canceled, I hope that SGU gets canceled because someone had the ability to turn on the Atlantis Star Drive and rescue the SGU crew but then a partially staffed Atlantis gets stranded with the SGU crew. A revised show starts with a combined Atlantis crew and SGU crew.
Atlantis and SG Command on Earth can dial each other just once. The combined crew can unload the current script, the script writers, and any other dead weight. No more communication stones. While the stones can be somewhat interesting, the stones have definitely been a major contributor to the soap opera feel and have created lazy SGU script writing.
@Morena – It’s funny you mention the female angle because I didn’t see it until it was mentioned but now that I look for it I can see exactly what people are talking about.
Perfect example was this last episode when they turned their most prominent female second tier character into a complete slut. Add that to Ming Na’s character who is portrayed as a shrew or absent completely. Chloe who seems to exist to have emotional outburst and TJ who is probably the strongest female during the shows run but who had an affair with the married Colonel just prior to the pilot.
When you really look at it the show is kind of sexist
SGU is pretty guff … but i’ll continue to watch every eps … i beleive it will get better …give it time lads
Ming-Na character’s purpose is to be the token gay on the show. While this past episode’s gay kiss wasn’t advertised, long time watchers and people(like me) who watched/read interviews knew it was coming sooner or later since Ms Na always mentions how great it is that she plays the shows 1st gay character.
Other than that, if her character was killed off right now hardly anyone would care since she adds next to nothing to the show.
I’m a science fiction enthusiast. I mean real science, real fiction. Putting a bunch of losers on a spaceship does not turn it into science fiction. The only interesting character on Destiny is Dr. Rush. We have a bloodu great spaceship stuffed full of Ancient Technology, yet only Rush seems to be interested in any of it. The rest are whining immature morons who should be tossed out of the nearest airlock.
Sorry if this offends anyone, but I feel strongly about SF being hijacked by third rate soap opera writers.
SGU sucks way to kill the best show in the world. O ya and the producers suck they are now a bunch of ass holes. what happend!!!
I have never loved a show as much as I do SGU. I was a big SGA fan but also did not care that there was NO character development at all. SGA had it’s formula and that was great, but SGU is imho far superior. I also understand why fans that liked the SGA formula might not like SGU and that is fine, but MOVE ON ALREADY. SGU is about the characters and not the sci-fi or the formula. I think the show is progressing nicely. The characters are acting how I would expect when placed in an impossible situation. WHAT A GREAT SHOW! For those those who don’t agree, happy hunting. For me, please don’t change the direction of this great show!
@Matt in Tennessee
Sadly, many of us have moved on and I am one of them. Funny, you mention the characters. I give it to you that there needed to be a little more character interaction and development in SGA. But, what made me and a bunch of other people want that is the fact that we LOVED those characters and cared enough about them to want to know more.
I don’t care about any of the characters on SGU. It’s nice that you do. Someone should be satisfied with SGU for all the money and publicity they spent on it. I wish SG-Atlantis had gotten a 6th season, but I am happily watching re-runs. They’ll do just fine until the movie is made. LOTS of fans are waiting for the Stargate Atlantis movie.
never loved a show as much as SGU? I really hope you’re just a very advanced 1 year old because other wise that’s just a little sad. I’m not saying it’s wrong to love the show but it’s certainly not the best entertainment TV has ever managed to produce (I don’t even think the SGU producers would claim that).
SGU probably just had people tuning in to know how horrible it is.
“It couldn’t be that bad.” Oh it is.
Alas, that’s my final opinion on it.
The “Time” episode rocked and will keep me watching for a few more shows. But they can’t keep making crap like the “Earth” and “Life” episodes and expect to be renewed for a second season. To save SGU, I make the following humble suggestions.
1) Get rid of those stupid stones. Break the machine. Neither the Destiny crew or the SGU writers can be trusted with the communication stones.
2) Somebody goes through the gate every episode — period. … and they find something other than boredom when they do so. Aliens are not boring (see Time episode).
3) Before the end of the first season, make the audience care if anyone on this ship lives, because right now, no one does. I’ll admit Dr. Rush and Sgt. Greer are growing on me, so I have hope you can make these highly flawed characters likable while still being interesting.
While the idea and concept (traveling deep out into the Universe) of Stargate Universe is excellent, and the actors are doing what they are paid to do, the script writing has made 75% to 85% of SGU a disaster.
@Leo
I am surprised at you Leo that you don’t get that most people don’t watch deep space Sci-Fi shows on cable TV to watch episode after episode about broke single mom strippers, lesbians kissing, sex scenes at the start of every third or fourth episode, and the other boiler plate stuff that comes with soap opera dramas that the dullards enjoy.
How is a show science related, science fiction related, or space related if there is no science or science fiction, but just scene after scene of the typical stuff one would find on “Desperate House Wives” “MTV’s Real World,” or “Big Brother.”
No showing a show on SyFy channel does not make it science or science fiction related.
No showing pictures of the space chip after every commercial break to remind the low IQ that they are on a space ship and not watching “MTV’s Real World,” or “Big Brother” with a strange new set does not make it science or science fiction related.
Yes, Ming-Na is attractive and so is Camile Ming-Na character’s Camile. But if I wanted to watch Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Television, I would go to that or those TV stations that carry that particular type of programming and watch. I am not interested in watching Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender TV. I am certainly not interested in watching it on a Sci-Fi show about deep space and on a Sci-Fi channel.
If I wanted to watch sex (heterosexual, lesbian, or homosexual), I could just watch a different cable channel or watch it for free over the internet. Since I live in the California, I could go down to the co-ed steam room at my gym or go to any one of the LA beaches and watch it live.
Sgu sucks but the CGI is nice
Idk what yall are talking about i love every minute of these shows. At first i was really skeptical but now i just want more more more. I hope it doesnt fall off the deep end i really love this series. The twist is really nice
I agree with most of the people here that SGU has been a serious disappointment. There has been far too much drama, and not enough action or actual scifi. Of course, what does one expect from a channel ashamed of its science fiction roots? That is why they changed their name to syfy after all (did they think they were tricking someone?). Just sad.
In the end this show fails in so many ways, but there are a few that really stand out. For starters, like everyone else, I despise the stones (what the hell kind of range do those things have anyway? Maybe they should just use the power source from a few stones to supercharge the gate if they have such capabilities). Not only do they encourage lazy writing, but the whole idea that A)people would be allowed to come back and do whatever they liked in another person’s body, B)even if we let that slide we’re also supposed to believe there would be people ok such actions by “passengers”, and C)we’re also supposed to believe that these people’s loved ones would just jump into bed with someone because they came up and claimed to be their spouse/lover in another body? Riiight. Not to forget the visitor would also have to be ok with the idea that physically another person just had sex with their loved one. Yeah, no issues there. It’s idiotic, and basically rape for the people possessed.
Beyond that there’s the frankly pathetic and juvenile attempts to be “edgy” by adding sex scenes all over the place for no reason. Well, no reason other than hoping if they get people’s rocks off a little they will forget the crappy writing. The lesbian scene was actually a crapload better than most of the personal sections, because aside from possessing some of the failings I mentioned above, at least there were characters with some sort of emotion/social interaction besides saying “hello, woe is me, would you like to see my genitals?”. I still say that cuddling and hugging what appears to be a complete stranger with absolute comfort is ludicrous, but at least they toned it down a little.
Of course we still have two secondary characters whose sole purposes on this show are apparently to just spread their legs(the marine in the supply closet, and the one slutty doctor – Scott and the senator’s daughter are also pretty bad, but at least they had SOME development… sort of). I will admit that Carter in SG1 was overdone in her capabilities (what with her being the expert of everything science/math/medical related – how many degrees can one person have?), but is there some reason the female characters in this show have to be reduced to walking vaginas? Even if they try to add more depth next season, how seriously can anyone take those them now? Such scenes have to be earned; sex does not make an equal trade for good writing and plot development.