Year: 2009

SGU Ratings Beating Season 2 of SGA

Multichannel News published this (typo-impaired) analysis of the Stargate Universe ratings versus the 2005 ratings of Stargate Atlantis, which would have been for Season 2 of the latter:

The fall season of Stargate Universe was the most-watched Stargate franchise since 2005, according to officials at Syfy.

Stargate Universe soared past the first second season of Stargate Atlantis season four years ago, when measured on a live+7-day basis, according to Nielsen data. The rookie run of Stargate Universe, which spanned 10 Fridays from Oct. 2 through Dec. 4, averaged a 1.9 household rating and 2.57 million watchers, according to Nielsen DVR data. Included in the total were 1.63 million adults 25 to 54, 1.43 million adults 18 to 49 and 600,000 adults 18 to 34.

Compared to the 2008-09 Stargate Atlantis, Season 5, SGU, which will return for a second campaign in 2010, improved 51% among adults 18 to 34, 33% against the 18-to-49 set, 28% with adults 25 to 54 and 22% in total viewers, according to Syfy.

A 51% improvement is certainly significant, especially in the critical 18-34 demographic.

Robert Cooper Q&A On SGU, Criticisms

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The Hollywood Reporter published a new Q&A with Stargate Universe co-creator Robert C. Cooper on Sunday. It’s the first interview we know of that either he or Brad Wright has done since SGU premiered in October. Cooper addressed some of the criticisms fans have made of SGU, in some cases admitting mistakes, but mostly defending the show the way it is. An excerpt:

THR: There’s been criticism about the female characters. Some of it seems to suggest that having characters who are at all sexual automatically makes a show sexist, that anything less than a neutered “Star Trek” ideal is somehow bad.

Cooper: I think our female actors are playing strong female characters and they are proud of the characters they’re playing. We didn’t do a good enough job establishing them early on, it took too long for those traits to come to the forefront, and I think people are recognizing that in the later episodes. But that’s the other big hot button — whether sex belongs in sci-fi. It’s a huge deal with our fan base and I think it’s bizarre to ignore sex as a part of translating the human condition to fiction. If we’re going to try and tell a more realistic character story we need to include those things.

Read the entire Q&A here. It’s of course impossible to know if Cooper is simplifying criticisms for the sake of easier communications, or whether he actually believes viewers are divided over showing sex on Stargate, as opposed to objecting to the particular portrayal.

Syfy Renews Stargate Universe, Sanctuary

Hot off the presses from SciFiWire:

Syfy announced it was renewing its new series Stargate Universe for a second season and it was also picking up Sanctuary for a third season. Both series were given orders for 20 episodes, which will begin airing in the fall.

Sanctuary is currently in the midst of airing its second season, while Stargate Universe is on hiatus between the first half of season one and the second half, which will air in April. Universe has been controversial with Stargate fans, who’ve shown a mixed reaction to the franchise’s new direction.

“We’re dealing with 15 seasons of expectations with a certain fanbase,” executive producer Robert Cooper told the Hollywood Reporter. “Hopefully, as the show goes on, people will appreciate Universe for being its own thing.”

He also revealed a new alien race will be added to the show. “There is a big story point coming up that does introduce an alien race,” Cooper said. “It’s more along the line of a District 9-type alien. Our interaction is handled in a very Universe way; they’re not the typical Stargate alien bad guys.”

It’s interesting to note Cooper’s oblique references to long-time Stargate fans not being happy with SGU because it’s not like the other Stargate shows.  Fan complaints have been far more nuanced than that. Regardless, we congratulate both productions on the go-ahead for another season!

Firesky Announces ‘Stargate: Resistance’ PC Game

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Firesky, the publisher for Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment’s troubled Stargate Worlds MMORPG, have announced their new Stargate product, Stargate: Resistance, at the game’s new homepage.

Here’s the announcement from Chris Klug, Creative Consultant:

Hello to our fans, and a special hello to any of you I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with one-on-one during the past couple years. I’m glad to be back online! I’m sure it comes as no surprise to you that here at Firesky the last year has been a little rough. The fact I’m here talking to you should tell you there’s a happy ending in sight.

We’ve come through it all with as much excitement and passion for the Stargate franchise as ever (Stargate: Universe, anyone?) and, as you can see from this new website, for now we’re focusing our efforts on an exciting new game for you Stargate fans, Stargate:Resistance. Combining the talents of all our developers, this 3rd-person action title pits teams of Stargate Command personnel against the System Lords and their minions in exhilarating real-time online battles. This new title is the fruit of what we’ve all worked on in the last few months.

The game focuses on three really exciting elements: fluid team-centric play (the classes support one another), fast-paced real-time combat, and wonderful maps designed specifically to bring these two sides into conflict through dynamic hand-to-hand and ranged combat.

Resistance brings to our fans the kind of gameplay SGW never planned to deliver. Resistance delivers the combat, weapons and tactics seen so often on the show that many of you have been asking for. I know this game will excite fans who have longed to go toe-to-toe with a Jaffa as well as those who always wanted to dominate the galaxy in ways the MMO could only hint at, and I’m proud to have been part of this team and prouder still that Firesky is bringing this product to you. Everyone working hard on this title is equally proud, and well they should be.

As well as building this new exciting product, paramount to Firesky’s long-term future is restoring your confidence and trust in us. While we’ve never lied to you about our circumstances, many times we were silent while our critics had their fun at our expense. We chose to remain quiet during those times, because, honestly, we often didn’t know what our future was day-to-day, sometimes even hour-to-hour. As a group we chose to not say anything until we knew something.

Moving forward, think of our relationship as one we need to re-build; imagine this conversation is the first one we have over a cup of coffee in Starbucks where I ask you to give us a chance to restore what we had and enjoyed together.

Continue to stick with us. I know you’ll enjoy the fast-paced action Resistance has in store for you while we continue to work towards SGW’s release.

Chris

Some of the game’s details are included below, but more information can be found on the FAQ page at their website:

What is Stargate Resistance?

Stargate Resistance is a team-based 3rd person shooter set in the Stargate universe. Players will join a team based on which faction they choose and go head- to-head against other players as they vie for control of the galaxy across different worlds.

What Platforms will it be on?

Stargate Resistance will be available on the PC only.

What are system requirements?

Minimum System Requirements
• Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista
• 2.0+ GHZ Single Core Processor
• 512 Mbytes of System RAM
• NVIDIA 6200+ or ATI Radeon 9600+ Video Card
• 8 GB of Free Hard Drive Space

Recommended System Requirements
• 2.4+ GHZ Dual Core Processor
• 1 GBytes of System RAM
• NVIDIA 7800GTX+ or ATI x1300+ Video Card
• 8 GB of Free Hard Drive Space

These specs are subject to change as game development continues.

When will it be released?

Stargate Resistance is set to be released in the first quarter of 2010.

SGU This Week: “Justice”

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Their own system of “Justice” (image from MGM)

“One of our characters becomes the prime suspect in a crime,” writer Alan McCullough told the Official Magazine (pdf file), “and, for lack of any other way to proceed, is put on trial. Our characters are forced to develop their own system of justice in order to determine if this individual is innocent or guilty. The episode then takes a sharp turn, which I don’t think anyone will see coming, and ends on an unbelievable cliffhanger.”

Mid-season cliffhangers are a staple in the Stargate franchise, and “Justice”, episode 10, continues the tradition. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait several months to find out how it resolves when Stargate Universe returns to Syfy during the second quarter of 2010 with the follow-up episode “Space”.

Making the wait worse is this description from creative consultant Joseph Mallozzi: “Will Waring is doing the honors here, directing an episode that promises more than a few surprises in addition to decisions both startling and unsettling that will have far-reaching consequences for the Destiny crew.” This can’t be good…

“Justice” will be shown tonight, December 4, on the Syfy Channel (US) and Space (Canada) at 9 PM ET and 10 PM ET, respectively. The episode will be broadcast by Sky One (UK) on Tuesday, December 8, at 8 PM, and finally, on Friday, December 11, on the Sci Fi Channel (Australia) at 8:30 PM.

After viewing, you’re invited to return to the site to vote in the episode poll on the main page and discuss the episode here (in the comments), in our on-site forum, or at our LiveJournal Companion.

Guides to the Season One episodes can be found in our Stargate Wiki. And don’t forget the episode chatter that’s bound to take place from the actors, writers, producers, and the press that you can read from our Stargate Twitter Superfeed.

SGU DVD Cover Art Revealed

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TVShowsOnDVD and others have posted the cover art for the DVD and Blu-ray box sets for the upcoming SGU Region 1 release on February 9, 2009. These 3-disc sets will contain episodes 1-10 (out of 20 episodes) of Season 1 of Stargate Universe. At right is the DVD cover, while the Blu-ray has the typical blue bar across the top.

Amazon is offering pre-ordering of the DVD version for US$27.99, and the Blue-ray version for US$38.99. This is a significant discount off the retail prices of $48.98 and $69.99, respectively.  A preliminary list of extras is detailed here.

New Image of Shanks as Hawkman

Ausiello Files at EW has published new images for Smallville: Absolute Justice that feature Stargate veterans Michael Shanks, Brent Stait, and Britt Irvin in their new roles as Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and Stargirl!

Here they are for us Stargate fans to enjoy, but make sure to visit EW for the rest of the scoop! Smallville: Absolute Justice comes to The CW on February 5, 2010, in a two-hour movie special event.

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Green Arrow and Hawkman

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Doctor Fate and Stargirl

[PHOTO CREDIT: Jack Rowand/The CW]