Category: News

Those of you who attended Gatecon will remember the amazing props and costumes put on display by Legends Memorabilia. Many of those items are now being sold in a huge auction on eBay which features items such as Sam and Jack’s wedding photo from “Point of View”, the Eye of Ra, Jack O’Neill’s warning note from “2010” and costumes worn by Jack, Sam, Daniel, Teal’c, Jonas and Janet.

Here are the details from Legends Memorabilia:

To celebrate the beginning of a brand new season of STARGATE SG-1, as well as the birth of STARGATE ATLANTIS, MGM Worldwide Television and Legends Memorabilia are delighted to bring you a brand new SG-1 SPECIAL EVENT AUCTION SALE!

This sale includes approximately 200 of the most outstanding props and costumes that have ever been released by the studio. So good in fact, that we feel this will be one of the most popular STARGATE ‘set’ auctions that we have ever held! Here are some of the highlight items to look out for:

• The original ‘Eye of Ra’ prop
• O’Neill’s note that came through the gate in ‘2010’
• A working T.E.R. gun!
• The spectacular ‘bomb’ device that was featured in ‘Proving Ground’ (this is a working prop)
• Daniel Jackson’s resignation letter – actually written by Michael Shanks himself!
• A Goa’uld healing device (this is a working prop)
• ‘THE’ O’Neill/Carter wedding photo from ‘Point of View’!
• Naquada reactor (working prop)
• The ‘transportation device’ used in Paradise Lost (this is a working prop)
• Spectacular black stone tablet from ‘Chimera’
• BRAND NEW Studio Concept Art (we are releasing the exclusive #1/100 prints from the new editions!)
• Some great costumes worn on the set by: JACK O’NEILL, DANIEL JACKSON, SAMANTHA CARTER, TEAL’C, JONAS QUINN and more….including Janet Fraiser’s costume from “Heroes”!

From the Studio Publicity Department we have a superb selection of rare and unusual items including:

• Rare, collectible magazines and Press Kits featuring Stargate SG-1.
• Episode ‘Shooting Schedules’
• Signed script pages
• Autographed props, photos and design art

And many many more fantastic items!

The auction begins on July 30th and will run for 3 weeks with new items being added every day!

**Special update notice concerning Stargate auctions **

In the future, our new auction policy will be to run just 2 to 3 Stargate auctions per year, subject to availability of the release of the items from the studio. With this in mind, don’t miss this opportunity to get yourself something very special from this great series. Remember, most of the items on sale are one-of-a-kind ‘hero’ props and this may be the only chance you have to get that very special prop or costume.

As well as being highly collectible, we consider props and costumes used in the production of Stargate SG-1 to be wise investments. As this series continues its run as the leading Sci-Fi show on television and moves closer to legendary status, these items will become even more highly prized possessions in years to come.

We look forward to having you join us for this great event and for your convenience, you may click here to go directly to the auction information on eBay. Good luck in your bidding!

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) The premiere of “Stargate Atlantis,” the spinoff of the Sci Fi Channel’s popular “Stargate SG-1” series, delivered some of the best ratings in the network’s history.

The two-hour series premiere on Friday (July 16) drew nearly 4.2 million viewers, the biggest-ever audience for a weekly series on the cable network. (Some miniseries, such as “Taken” and “Battlestar Galactica,” have averaged more viewers.)

It also marked the first time a Sci Fi series has ever delivered more than 4 million viewers and better than a 3.0 household rating (3.2). Its ratings among adults 18-49, the key demographic for advertisers, were also a network best.

“Atlantis” stars Joe Flanigan, Rainbow Sun Francks and Tori Higginson as members of a Stargate team that explores a new galaxy after finding a gate in Antarctica. The gate leads to Atlantis, which is not on Earth but has jumped to another galaxy.

The show is a spinoff of “Stargate SG-1,” which recently began its third season on Sci Fi and eighth overall. “SG-1” also set record ratings with its July 9 season premiere, which averaged 3.2 million viewers.

Zap2It.com

SCI FI Wire reports that “The two-hour eighth-season premiere of the SCI FI Channel original series Stargate SG-1 broke records with a 2.4 rating in its July 9 initial airing, the network announced. The two-part episode “New Order” captured 3.22 million viewers, making it the most-watched original episode of Stargate SG-1 in the series’ history.

The episode also broke all of SCI FI’s previous viewership records for original series:

•It was the first episode of a SCI FI original series to deliver more than 3 million viewers.
•It was the first episode of a SCI FI original series to deliver more than 2 million viewers aged 25-54.
•It was the highest-rated and most-watched episode of Stargate SG-1 on SCI FI.
•It was the highest-rated and most-watched program on SCI FI in 2004.
•It was the most-watched Stargate SG-1 episode in its entire eight-year cable run.
•It was the most-watched episode of an original series in SCI FI history.

The Stargate SG-1 season premiere led SCI FI Channel to the top slot for the night among viewers 25-54 and second place among 18- to 49-year-olds.

Yahoo News from Variety.com also picked up the story “Season Eight of “Stargate SG-1” blasted off to the highest original series ratings in the channel’s history.

With a rating of 2.4, “New Order” scored 3.2 million overall viewers, making it the most-watched episode in the show’s history, as well as the most-watched series episode for the network year-to-date. “Stargate” is the first original skein to chalk up an audience of more than 3 million for an episode.

“The eighth season is doing better than the show has ever done, period,” Sci Fi/USA topper Bonnie Hammer said. “It’s the best of comfort television. It’s not serialized, so audiences enjoy it, knowing if they miss an episode they can still watch. And after all this time, it hasn’t gotten stale — the writers still love the series.”

SCI FI Wire
Yahoo News: Variety.com

As the ‘Stargate’ Turns
By Kate O’Hare

Who cares if the Goa’uld System Lords are about to attack Earth, or if the Asgard are going to show up in time to save the day, or if the giant Ancient Weapon is of any more use to Earth than a pea-shooter?

The real question looming as Sci-Fi Channel’s “Stargate SG-1” starts its eighth season Friday, July 9, is: Will cryogenically frozen Col. Jack O’Neill be thawed and survive so that he and Maj. Samantha Carter can hook up … or not?

To be fair, plenty of fans care about the System Lords and all that other plot stuff, but quite a few spend a lot of their time discussing, arguing and speculating about the love lives (or lack, thereof) of the main characters. They’re the ‘shippers (from the word “relationship”), and throughout science-fiction and fantasy television, they’re among the most vocal and ardent fans.

In fact, the strong feelings of the ‘shippers have had an effect on the development of the “Stargate: SG-1” spin-off, “Stargate: Atlantis,” which premieres next week and will, after its two-hour premiere, share Friday nights with its predecessor.

“We’re not going to set up obvious chemistry between our core characters on ‘Atlantis,’ ” says executive producer Brad Wright, who works on both shows. “Especially when ‘Stargate’ was so divided between ‘shippers and non-‘shippers, and I didn’t even know what that meant until long after we were doing it.”

The main ‘shipper issue on “Stargate: SG-1” concerns O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and his subordinate officer, Carter (Amanda Tapping). Back in season four, in an episode called “Beneath the Surface,” Wright and fellow executive producer Robert C. Cooper took a test swing at this by having the characters forget who they were while in captivity, therefore removing the impediments of military rank.

Wright says, “It struck us, if there was an attraction, and if they don’t remember who they were, they might fall into a relationship, because they didn’t know they were prohibited from doing so. Oh, the mail I got from that.

“Turns out there are as many people who want them to be together as don’t want them to be together.”

Apparently, a character’s demise is no impediment to ‘shippers who want to pair up archaeologist Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) and SG-1’s late medical officer, Dr. Janet Fraiser (Teryl Rothery), who met her fate last season in Part 2 of “Heroes.”

“There’s a whole camp of people who want Daniel to get together with Janet,” Wright says, “even though she’s dead now. I just think it’s interesting, because they like the characters so much, the fans want them to be happy. They see them as the perfect couple — why don’t they just get together?”

It’s this passionate attachment that has contributed to the success of “Stargate” both on cable and in syndication.

Anderson says, “Ultimately, what’s kept it together over the years has been, in great part– aside from the stories that we’re able to tell, the great imaginations of everyone involved — is the chemistry on-screen of the people telling the stories.”

Just how long this can continue remains an open question. Wright says, “I had said categorically there was going to be no season seven, and here we are shooting season eight. I’ve stopped predicting.”

When those words are relayed to him on set, Anderson — who has scaled back his working days on the show’s Vancouver location to spend more time with his daughter — gives a sidelong look.

“I have no idea about nine,” he says. “I wasn’t so sure about eight or seven, for that matter. But as far as if you’re asking, what is my future and my intentions, my intentions right now, as we speak, are to finish this year, be as integral a part of the franchise as I possibly can, and as I go through the process, helping to launch ‘Atlantis’ with my brief presence.

“Then, my intention is to retire, with quotes around it, because I don’t know what retirement means to a workaholic. But I’m going to have to learn.”

This season, fans will have to be satisfied with some big life changes for O’Neill and Carter that don’t necessarily involve romance.

“O’Neill is now Lord God King Boo-Foo O’Neill,” Tapping says. “And Sam’s just Supersmart Sam. That’s all I can tell you.”

For those who want Sam to put her love life on hold for O’Neill, Tapping says “tough.” Her police-detective boyfriend, Pete Shanahan (David DeLuise), is coming back.

“He’s not dead yet,” she says, alluding to the high mortality rate among former Carter loves. “There’s a huge hue and cry on the Internet from people who don’t want Sam to be with him. They want her to be with O’Neill — and probably, deep down, Sam does, too. But she’s given up on the idea of unrequited love and decided to live her life. But never say never, right?”

Zap2It.com

A New Order
Robert Cooper and Andy Mikita
By Thomasina Gibson, Cult Times #106, Jul 04

“There’s so many great things happening with Stargate SG-1 it’s going to be an exciting year,” says [Executive Producer and Showrunner] Robert Cooper.

The big news is that lots of people get big step up the ladder career-wise. Cooper confirms, “Yeah, it’s promotions for every one, which is providing us with a whole new dynamic this year. We’re basing a lot of stories around the SGC, partly because of economics and also because SG-1 has become less of an exploratory unit and more of a defence-type unit and the pro¬motions are a necessary and logical step for some people who up ’til now were based at Cheyenne Mountain.”

The new order means we’ll be seeing less of a favourite familial face as General Hammond (Don S Davis) leaves the Stargate Command Centre in Colorado for a swanky new office in the Pentagon. Cooper reveals, “General Hammond is put in charge of all things related to the Stargate programme. Brigadier General O’Neill will still be in touch with him on a regular basis so we don’t lose Hammond’s presence completely. Then Carter [Amanda Tapping] gets her just desserts. It’s the first thing O’Neill does as a general.” Does she then get to boss everybody about? Sadly, Cooper shakes his head, “Ah, no! It’s not in Carter’s nature.”

Speaking of Carter, Cooper mentions that her boyfriend, Peter Shanahan (David DeLuise) is back on the scene: “Pete is definitely back in a couple of episodes, which will be a lot of fun. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff on the Internet about ‘Stalker Pete’ and it’s clear that some of these people have quite a few issues of their own that they have to deal with, but the whole discussion thing is fun.”

Teal’c will be sporting hair for Season Eight. Cooper explains, “Teal’c’s arc sees him living off the base for the first time and he’s be¬come a bit of an urban superhero. He has the Jaffa moral code which he doesn’t seem able to abandon, so if he sees something that is not right he will do what he thinks is the right thing and that might not always be the most discreet thing in the neighbourhood. He’s living off base with the USAF’s blessing, so long as he keeps undercover and quiet, and we’ll see that things don’t exactly work out that way.”

“Michael Shanks is going to have a couple of good episodes of his own,” shares Cooper, “and I guess the big thing that Daniel is going to do is to have a bit of a showdown with Anubis [David Palffy] towards the end of the season.”

Before then, Cooper is looking forward to the season opener, when Fifth (Patrick Currie) is going to come back and get revenge for the fact that SG-1 left him stranded and betrayed in Unnatural Selection. “Well, we have to remember that he is a replicator. He has this programming that ultimately, he won’t be able to overcome. In fact, there are going to be even better bad guys this year than last year. Some tables are going to be turned so we’re really going to have to be on our guard more than ever.”