Category: Press

The Stargate: SG-1 catchphrase “It’s what we do” was ranked #6 in the list of top ten TV buzzwords for the year by the California-based Global Language Monitor. For the complete press release go here.

Excerpt:

The Television Buzzword List (TeleWORDS) for the 2004-’05 Season is released in conjunction with the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, to be televised live on CBS on Sunday, September 18th from the Leonard H. Goldstein Theatre in North Hollywood. The complete list, with commentary, follows.

The Top TeleWORDS of the 2004-05 Television Season

TeleWORDS / Show / Comment

1. Refugee
Show: Ongoing coverage of the aftermath of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
Comment: For millions, the word has now taken on a racial undertone and was subsequently replaced by ‘evacuee’ and others.
Runners-up: Evacuee, displaced persons, Katrinees?

2. Desperation
Show: ‘Desperate Housewives’/The Tsunami/Hurricane Katrina
Comment: Desperate Housewives’ began the television year in good fun, but as the year progressed the world witnessed an on-going war, a tsunami, the death of a beloved Pope, and finally unanswered death and despair on the American Gulf Coast.

3. Camp Cupcake
Show: The On-going Martha Stewart follies
Comment: The minimum security WV facility where Martha did her time.
Runner-Up: Ankle Bracelet

4. Reality TV
Show: ‘The Real World’, ‘The Bachelor’, ‘Survivor Classic’, ‘The Simple Life’, etc.
Comment: Real-world reality bested the manufactured kind by a long shot this television season.

5. Curmudgeon
Show: House
Comment: Acerbic, caustic, antisocial, & mean-spirited; those are socially redeeming qualities of this brilliant physician.

6. “It’s what we do.”
Show: Stargate SG-1
Comment: Stargate becomes the longest running Sci-Fi Series in the history of the medium.

7. Flip Flop
Show: The 2004 U.S. Presidential Elections
Comment: Formerly referred to gymnastic routines, pancakes, and dolphin acts; now transcends politics moving into pop culture.

8. Backstory
Show: ‘Lost’
Comment: ‘Lost’ takes ‘the story behind the story’ concept to the next level.

9. Tsunami
Show: The News
Comment: Before “The Tsunami” took a quarter of a million South Asian lives, most of the viewing audience had only a vague acquaintance with the word.

10. Mobisodes (Not another season of the Sopranos, but one-minute TV episodes designed specifically for mobile media.)
Show: Every ‘hip’ show worldwide.
Comment: Coming soon to a cell phone near you.

Thanks to Elyse at Yahoo! group sg1_spoilme for the tip.

Critic’s Corner’s Robert Bianco selects Stargate SG-1

Sci Fi’s revitalized Stargate SG-1 (Friday, 8 ET/PT) reaches its summer finale with back-to-back episodes. Fans can breathe easy: It returns in the winter to finish its split season.

USATODAY.com Critic’s Corner

[Thanks to morjana for the tip — DeeKayP]

“No such thing as too big…”

Columnist Jason Davis gave "Beachhead" a grade of "B". He praised the building up of the Ori story over the first few episodes: “Surely, the display of power offered in this installment presented some idea of the scope that things will take as the series continues. The Ori are clearly a formidable opponent for Stargate Command and their existence creates many unanswered questions to explore as the series progresses.”

Davis enjoyed the character moments given to Vala, Mitchell, Landry, and Nerus, and made special mention of the music of Joel Goldsmith: “Though Vala’s innuendo-laden humor is gone, the growing power of the Ori seems fit to take the season into darker territory and the score for "Beachhead," particularly the teaser, proves that the composer is up for the challenge.”

Davis, however, erroneously concludes that the reduced opening credits are meant to give the program more time to tell the story (Joseph Mallozzi has stated that the episodes are not longer with the reduction of the opening credits to 10 seconds): “Speaking of music, now might be a good moment to consider the abbreviation of the opening titles. A bold alteration of format, it suggests that the show is a well-known commodity no longer needing a weekly introduction while simultaneously salvaging a few extra minutes in which to tell the week’s story.”

Read the whole review at Cinescape.com
Solutions Episode Guide for “Beachhead”

[Thanks to SueB45 for the tip — DeeKayP]

Perception Pty Ltd of Australia has released a statement rebutting JoWooD’s claims about the production of the Stargate: The Alliance video game. Perception claim it was JoWooD who violated the contract agreement between them. They also state that production of the video game is proceeding as planned.

Here is the statement:

Sydney, Australia, 12th of August, 2005; Perception Pty Ltd would like to rectify certain statements that have been made to the press by JoWooD Productions. To be clear, Perception is the official licensee of MGM on Stargate SG-1: The Alliance. Any suggestion that JoWooD has rights to Stargate SG-1: The Alliance upon termination of the contract is incorrect and not based on commercial or legal fact.

Perception will not discuss any further the outstanding issues with JoWooD in public as legal action is underway. We look forward to the release of Stargate SG-1: The Alliance.

The press release is here

Thanks to Elyse and the sg1_spoilme list for the tip. We will provide updates on this unfortunate situation as they develop.

Fans were saddened to learn today that production of the Stargate video game has halted just two months before the scheduled release data. From the JoWood press release (JoWood):

Rottenmann, Austria, 5th of August 2005; JoWooD regrets to be forced to cancel the development agreement with Perception, the Australian developer currently responsible for the Stargate-SG1: The Alliance™ license title. “The title in its current form, initially scheduled for an October 2005 release, does satisfy neither our quality requirements nor the fans expectations. We will not release anything that does not do justice to this well known license” says Albert Seidl, CEO JoWooD Productions Software AG. “In recent months we have invested a lot of time and resources in helping Perception finish the development, but we now simply have lost confidence in their ability to finish this project in time and sufficient quality.”

According to our reading of the contract the rights to the title as well as the source code are transferred to JoWooD. “After delivery of the code and assets JoWooD will review the possibility of seeking out developers if it is economically viable to finish the title” reports Michael Paeck, Executive Producer for JoWooD Productions Software AG. “We are, however, not prepared to release anything but a top quality title. Fans of the show as well as gamers would not accept anything less. There are several options to consider, among them potentially moving to next-gen consoles for the title.”

This is sad news for fans who had looked forward to the game, especially because it was to be voiced by the SG-1 actors. Michael Shanks mentioned at a convention that he and his colleagues, including RDA, had recorded on the order of 250 pages of dialog for the game. Since Shanks and Chris Judge had both expressed their anticipation at being able to play the game themselves with their children, no doubt they are disappointed as well. We hope JoWood will be able to find a new developer quickly.

Thanks to Elyse of the sg1_spoilme list for the tip

Critic’s Corner: Robert Bianco — What to watch this weekend

“If Battlestar Galactica is the dark side of sci-fi — and Sci Fi — Stargate SG-1 (Friday, 8 ET/PT) is definitely the lighter side,” Bianco opens up his review.

“More space adventure than deep drama, Stargate places no great demands on its audience — unless you’re determined to keep track of its increasingly complicated plot. While it’s not a great series, it can be an entertaining one. And that entertainment quotient jumps immeasurably tonight with the addition of Farscape‘s Ben Browder.”

“Even better for Farscape fans, Browder is reunited — for a few episodes, anyway — with former co-star Claudia Black. Throw in Beau Bridges and some new supervillains and you have a show poised for late-run rejuvenation.”

“With Stargate at 8 and Galactica at 10, you might as well stay on Sci Fi for Stargate Atlantis (9 ET/PT). It’s the least of the three, but this way you won’t have to search for the remote.”

Read the rest of the review here.
9.01 “Avalon Part 1” Episode Guide
9.02 “Avalon Part 2” Episode Guide (spoilers present)

SyFy Portal Columnist Scott Nance Enthuses Over SG-1’s Changes

Nance sees the SciFi Channel’s offering of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica as evidence that the “new original-series season put to rest any doubt over its commitment to excellent science fiction programming.”

Bemoaning the cancellation of Farscape and other original series, Nance observed, “Only "Stargate SG-1" was left standing. But that series left SciFi a good, legitimate base from which to eventually rebuild.”

“With all three series, the SciFi Channel has established a solid block, the quality of which rivals that once offered by Star Trek at its very best. And unlike some SciFi Channel shows of the past, such as "Andromeda" or later seasons of "Earth: Final Conflict," there are no halfway measures here — no boring performances or wooden dialogue the entire night.”

“As the new season got underway last week, all eyes may have been on the crew of the Galactica and its trecherous voyage to Earth, but it was the venerable "Stargate SG-1" that perhaps had the biggest challenge and offered the cabler the biggest opportunity to make things right.”

Nance goes on to say, “Putting Browder and Black back together in a series was a smart move, and represents an olive branch on the part of the SciFi Channel which fans should not ignore,” and concludes, “No, this is no longer your father’s "SG-1." Its adventures, however, should continue to be grand.”

A former entertainment journalist, Scott Nance is a member of the USS Chesapeake, an independent science-fiction and Star Trek club in the Washington, D.C., area. He is a columnist for SyFy Portal, and can be reached at scottnance@syfyportal.com.

SyFy Portal: Read the complete review here.
Solutions Season Nine Episode Guides

[Thanks to Morjana for the tip — DeeKayP]