Stargate: Atlantis - why was it cancelled?

[MarsWeeps]

I just finished all 5 seasons of Stargate: Atlantis (thanks to streaming Netflix) - I can't believe they cancelled the series. I haven't watched much TV lately but thought it was a great series.

I watched the first 5 or 6 episodes of SG-1, Atlantis and SGU and got hooked on Atlantis.

I heard some movies were in the works but were cancelled.

 

[Danny99]

I believe it was cancelled so SGU could premiere.

 

[Xerxus]

Contract renegotiations and declining ratings/revenue (across the board). Cast and crew expect to be paid more every new season.

The general trend for TV is it peaks at the start and the ratings continue to fall throughout the run. 5 years is probably the time when there's more profit to end the series and try something new.

I believe Execs have said Atlantis ending has nothing to do with SGU. MGM was fully prepared to do both shows concurrently.

 

[MarsWeeps]

Contract renegotiations and declining ratings/revenue (across the board). Cast and crew expect to be paid more every new season.

The general trend for TV is it peaks at the start and the ratings continue to fall throughout the run. 5 years is probably the time when there's more profit to end the series and try something new.

I believe Execs have said Atlantis ending has nothing to do with SGU. MGM was fully prepared to do both shows concurrently.

I really liked Atlantis, I just finished the 7th episode of SGU and will probably finish it off since it's only 2 seasons and then go back to SG1.

It seems that with SGU, they are trying to make it darker like the newer version of Battlestar Galactica.

 

[Xerxus]

They wanted to make a show with a different tone. It's understandable for people that have worked on essentially the same format for 13 years.

 

[AJ86]

The story seems to be that the producers were only willing to make one show at a time after what they went through with SG-1 and Atlantis, and while Brad was willing to wait a year for SGU and let Atlantis have it's sixth and final season, Syfy weren't. They wanted SGU then and there, so everyone agreed to launch SGU early and move SGA's format to movies. The problem for the movie was that it coincided with MGM's financial mess, so never got made. They did keep the Atlantis set right up until the wrap of season one of SGU, but by then it was clear the movie wasn't going to happen.

 

[JarodRussell]

They should reboot. And by reboot I mean a sequel to Emmerich's original Stargate film. I've seen it recently, and the film has a sense of grandeur that the TV shows simply lack.

Funny is that when you have watched the TV shows, it enriches the original film somehow, because you keep recignizing the similarities and homages and characters. Kurt Russell's O'Neil could be RDA's O'Neill, for example, because every now and then that specific smartass attitude shines through, but it's just overshadowed by his depression in the original film.


The TV show suffer from the same problem Star Trek had. You cannot do a crossover with all three shows, it would be disappointing either way, because you would have to leave so many things out. And the individual shows didn't have the power at the end to sustain themselves.

 

[DWF]

They should reboot. And by reboot I mean a sequel to Emmerich's original Stargate film. I've seen it recently, and the film has a sense of grandeur that the TV shows simply lack.

Funny is that when you have watched the TV shows, it enriches the original film somehow, because you keep recignizing the similarities and homages and characters. Kurt Russell's O'Neil could be RDA's O'Neill, for example, because every now and then that specific smartass attitude shines through, but it's just overshadowed by his depression in the original film.


The TV show suffer from the same problem Star Trek had. You cannot do a crossover with all three shows, it would be disappointing either way, because you would have to leave so many things out. And the individual shows didn't have the power at the end to sustain themselves.

I thought the TV shows were grander in many stories than the movie was. And seeing as how SG1 had ten years, Atlantis had five they certainly had the power to sustain themselves.

 

[AJ86]

They should reboot. And by reboot I mean a sequel to Emmerich's original Stargate film. I've seen it recently, and the film has a sense of grandeur that the TV shows simply lack.

Funny is that when you have watched the TV shows, it enriches the original film somehow, because you keep recignizing the similarities and homages and characters. Kurt Russell's O'Neil could be RDA's O'Neill, for example, because every now and then that specific smartass attitude shines through, but it's just overshadowed by his depression in the original film.


The TV show suffer from the same problem Star Trek had. You cannot do a crossover with all three shows, it would be disappointing either way, because you would have to leave so many things out. And the individual shows didn't have the power at the end to sustain themselves.

The problem is Devlin and Emmerich have first dibs on a theatrical, so they'd have to make the sequel, and let's face it - they're hacks.

 

[DWF]

As far as I know Dean Devlin and Roland Emerich have since gone their seperate ways and it's only Dean Devlin talking about movie sequels. But it's all the property of MGM even the movie rights as far as I know.

And unless the people doing the reboot is familar with Stargate, I wouldn't want somebody who has no clue what the franchise or the movie was about.

 

[JarodRussell]

They should reboot. And by reboot I mean a sequel to Emmerich's original Stargate film. I've seen it recently, and the film has a sense of grandeur that the TV shows simply lack.

Funny is that when you have watched the TV shows, it enriches the original film somehow, because you keep recignizing the similarities and homages and characters. Kurt Russell's O'Neil could be RDA's O'Neill, for example, because every now and then that specific smartass attitude shines through, but it's just overshadowed by his depression in the original film.


The TV show suffer from the same problem Star Trek had. You cannot do a crossover with all three shows, it would be disappointing either way, because you would have to leave so many things out. And the individual shows didn't have the power at the end to sustain themselves.

The problem is Devlin and Emmerich have first dibs on a theatrical, so they'd have to make the sequel, and let's face it - they're hacks.

I like Stargate, I like Universal Soldier, I like Independence Day, so I have a problem with considering Emmerich or Devlin hacks.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Yes, reboot! Based on Emmerich's movie or not. Stargate has a ton of great ideas that they could capitalize on better.

And they better hurry because other people might get there first. Falling Skies is horning in on the Gou'ald, for instance.

 

[Sindatur]

Yes, reboot! Based on Emmerich's movie or not. Stargate has a ton of great ideas that they could capitalize on better.

And they better hurry because other people might get there first. Falling Skies is horning in on the Gou'ald, for instance.

And the pretty much the Replicators, since a Spider infected Jamal with a whole tribe of spiders.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I was thinking Alien in that scene...

 

[Harvey]

In their coverage of the contract dispute that's been happening with the cast of Modern Family, Variety has noted that after five seasons, the network is usually on the hook for financing a show (whereas before the cost is split between the production company and the network). Although both programs experienced a ratings decline over time, this makes me wonder if this was the deal Sci-Fi/SyFy had with MGM over Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis, since the cable network aired both programs for five seasons and then cancelled them.

 

[Sindatur]

In their coverage of the contract dispute that's been happening with the cast of Modern Family, Variety has noted that after five seasons, the network is usually on the hook for financing a show (whereas before the cost is split between the production company and the network). Although both programs experienced a ratings decline over time, this makes me wonder if this was the deal Sci-Fi/SyFy had with MGM over Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis, since the cable network aired both programs for five seasons and then cancelled them.

Probably part of it, also probably actor costs start going up after about 5 years. Most SciFi Channel/SyFy series end after 5 years, if not before

 

[kirk55555]

They should reboot. And by reboot I mean a sequel to Emmerich's original Stargate film. I've seen it recently, and the film has a sense of grandeur that the TV shows simply lack.

Funny is that when you have watched the TV shows, it enriches the original film somehow, because you keep recignizing the similarities and homages and characters. Kurt Russell's O'Neil could be RDA's O'Neill, for example, because every now and then that specific smartass attitude shines through, but it's just overshadowed by his depression in the original film.

I love sG-1, but I really dislike the movie. Partly its because I don't like the actors that play O'Neil and Jackson, but to me it just isn't a great movie.

I haven't watched too much of Stargate Atlantis, but I liked what I saw. I've seen all 10 seasons of SG-1 atleast twice, so I plan on watching atlantis eventually. As for Universe, I've seen 3-4 episodes, and I really disliked it, so I don't ever see myself watching any more of it.

 

[MarsWeeps]

I haven't watched too much of Stargate Atlantis, but I liked what I saw. I've seen all 10 seasons of SG-1 atleast twice, so I plan on watching atlantis eventually. As for Universe, I've seen 3-4 episodes, and I really disliked it, so I don't ever see myself watching any more of it.

I recently started streaming Netflix and hadn't seen any of the Stargate series (did see the original movie.) I watched the first several episodes of each series and for some reason, Atlantis appealed to me the most. I finished watching it and then moved on to SG Universe, mainly because there were only 2 seasons and I figured I could finish it quickly and then tackle SG1's 10 seasons.

I'm over halfway through SG Universe's second season and while I didn't like it that much at first, it has grown on me since I stopped trying to compare it to Atlantis. It's definitely darker with less humor but the stories have been interesting. I'll be sad to see it end so quickly.

I'm sure I'll feel the same way when I finish with SG1. I hope to see another Stargate series someday, I'm really enjoying them.

 

[Sindatur]

I haven't watched too much of Stargate Atlantis, but I liked what I saw. I've seen all 10 seasons of SG-1 atleast twice, so I plan on watching atlantis eventually. As for Universe, I've seen 3-4 episodes, and I really disliked it, so I don't ever see myself watching any more of it.

I recently started streaming Netflix and hadn't seen any of the Stargate series (did see the original movie.) I watched the first several episodes of each series and for some reason, Atlantis appealed to me the most. I finished watching it and then moved on to SG Universe, mainly because there were only 2 seasons and I figured I could finish it quickly and then tackle SG1's 10 seasons.

I'm over halfway through SG Universe's second season and while I didn't like it that much at first, it has grown on me since I stopped trying to compare it to Atlantis. It's definitely darker with less humor but the stories have been interesting. I'll be sad to see it end so quickly.

I'm sure I'll feel the same way when I finish with SG1. I hope to see another Stargate series someday, I'm really enjoying them.

Yea, SGU, didn't start well outta the gate for me. I watched both halves of S1, waiting for something to tell me I wasn't wasting my time. I woulda cancelled it there, if I was spending the money on Producing it. But, it had a 2 Seasons guaranteed deal, and S2 first half, finally gave me something to appreciate for about 1/3 to 1/2 of the 10 episodes. S2 second half, I enjoyed about every second of screen time, and was crushed to learn it was too little too late

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

I haven't watched too much of Stargate Atlantis, but I liked what I saw. I've seen all 10 seasons of SG-1 atleast twice, so I plan on watching atlantis eventually. As for Universe, I've seen 3-4 episodes, and I really disliked it, so I don't ever see myself watching any more of it.

I recently started streaming Netflix and hadn't seen any of the Stargate series (did see the original movie.) I watched the first several episodes of each series and for some reason, Atlantis appealed to me the most. I finished watching it and then moved on to SG Universe, mainly because there were only 2 seasons and I figured I could finish it quickly and then tackle SG1's 10 seasons.

I'm over halfway through SG Universe's second season and while I didn't like it that much at first, it has grown on me since I stopped trying to compare it to Atlantis. It's definitely darker with less humor but the stories have been interesting. I'll be sad to see it end so quickly.

I'm sure I'll feel the same way when I finish with SG1. I hope to see another Stargate series someday, I'm really enjoying them.

SGA might have appealed to you the most at that time because it opened at a time when the franchise felt really well-oiled. There were fewer grower pains with that show -- in fact, I'd argue its first season is its strongest, but one thing it always had a knack for no matter how many cast changes occurred was giving off the impression of a bunch of actors with decent enough chemistry spouting entertaining lines at each other.

SG-1 gets there soon enough, and its highs far outweigh most of SGA's highs, and it maintains that momentum for much, much longer. IMO, of course. But out of the gate -- no pun intended -- SG-1 definitely struggled a bit.