Stargate Universe is a Five Year Story

[SG-17]

So says Joseph Mallozzi.

The producers of Stargate Universe hope that the show will live on for five full seasons, according to executive producer Joseph Mallozzi. He told fans at his blog that the writers have five years’ worth of story, building up to the final pay-off and conclusion of SGU.

“There are a number of arcs and elements that will figure into the ultimate finale we have planned,” Mallozzi said. “Ideally, we’d get five years to tell the entire story in satisfactory fashion but, if it came down to it, we could pay it off over the course of a single season.”

http://www.gateworld.net/news/2010/11/mallozzi-stargate-universe-is-a-5-year-story/

Hopefully SGU will get at least 5 season and 100 episodes if just to be on par with Atlantis and make it to syndication.

 

[archeryguy1701]

I hope they at least get their full five years. I'm rather enjoying the show. However, if Sy-Fy won't let them have that, hopefully they at least get enough notice that they can use whatever their last season is to wrap it up. I'm still irked over Caprica getting pulled on what I can only assume is going to end up being a cliffhanger.

 

[The Wormhole]

“Ideally, we’d get five years to tell the entire story in satisfactory fashion but, if it came down to it, we could pay it off over the course of a single season.”

Based on the languid pace this show has been developing, I intrepret that quote as meaning "we have a season-long storyline that we're trying to spread over five years."

 

[Brent]

^ same

There was a LOT that could have been condensed up to now, honestly, there was so much stuff forcefully drawn out, it could have been compressed and been much better. This past Season and a half could have been fit into just one season, and it wouldn't have felt so boring and slow.

I think The Wormhole has hit the nail on the head, they only really have like a season or two worth of story, but are trying to drag it out as long as they can.

 

[SG-17]

I think that Wright and Mallozzi are having a bit of an issue with the transition from an episodic serial structure to an arc driven one.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

They're having a bit of an issue with trying to write for grown-ups.

 

[SG-17]

I don't see how. They are the same writers from SG-1 and Atlantis and both of them were great. However both of them were mainly episodic. The main problem is the arc style they are going with.

 

[Samurai8472]

Five seasons is a magic number for the stargate franchise. Every series has last five seasons on each network

Stargate SG-1

Showtime 1-5
Scifi-6-10

Atlantis- 1-5

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I don't see how. They are the same writers from SG-1 and Atlantis and both of them were great. However both of them were mainly episodic. The main problem is the arc style they are going with.

The characterization on SG-1 and Atlantis gets a pass from most people even though it consists of broadly-drawn stereotypes. The characters evolved over time, but let's not pretend they were incredibly deep or anything. Part of the episodic nature of those series is that the characters don't change much, episode to episode. It happens very subtly and gradually.

With SGU, they've tried to have more nuanced and complex characters without really knowing how to pull it off. Not that they've been entirely unsuccessful, but it's been very hit-or-miss and it feels like the show is only just now finding its footing.

I won't argue about the pacing, though. It should not have taken a season and a half to find out Destiny's mission. By eliminating superfluous episodes and condensing some of the storylines we could've gotten to that knowledge before the end of the first season.

 

[bullethead]

I won't argue about the pacing, though. It should not have taken a season and a half to find out Destiny's mission. By eliminating superfluous episodes and condensing some of the storylines we could've gotten to that knowledge before the end of the first season.

Here's my revised version of your episode list from the Greater Good thread, with my alterations in bold:

1x01/02 Air: two parts instead of three, as part 3 dragged a bit. We did not need an entire episode of bitching in the desert. Cut out the "water bug" subplot so we don't get "Water."
1x03 Darkness: Still worthwhile on its own terms.
1x04 Light: Dovetails nicely with "Darkness," so I'm OK with it.
1x05 Time: Keep it as-is.
1x06 Earth/Life: Compress the Earth/stone crap into a single episode.
1x07 Justice: This one was good, keep it.
1x08 Space/Divided: Remove the mutiny subplot. Focus on the alien attack and the tracking device inside Rush.
1x09 Human: Positive character development for Rush, which he really needs to keep him from being a 2D asshole.
1x10 Lost: A strong episode to go into the midseason with, though not a cliffhanger (and I think that's fine.) If we really need a cliffhanger, end with the disruption of the ship's FTL from "Sabotage."
1x11 Sabotage: Keep it and have some Blue Aliens get aboard before the ship goes to FTL.
1x12 Pain: Greer and the military hunt down the Blue Aliens.
1x13 Subversion: A good part 1 (of 4.)
1x14 Incursion: I'm not sure this really deserves two whole episodes. Maybe push some bits and pieces of part 2 into the next episode. Come up with a better way for the Lucian Alliance guys to get aboard and not be stopped that doesn't make Col. Young look like a complete idiot. That increases the tension in the story, which was pretty much absent in the original episodes.
1x15 Intervention: Resolve the LA incursion. Skip "Aftermath." Other than Rush finding the bridge (which could easily happen at the end of "Intervention" or the beginning of the next episode) and killing Riley (which could be done in some other way more relevant to the story) it was not a very useful episode. Omit Simeon, but have Varro and Ginn be more useful in following eps.
1x16 Awakening: Spend more time on the seeder ship. I wasn't sold on the silly alien storyline. Get Telford stranded on the ship, though. Interested to see how that plays out.
1x17 Pathogen: I liked this one and it had some good character work. Keep it. "Cloverdale," however, can burn in hell. Since Scott getting Chloe's blood didn't amount to anything at all, we can skip that episode entirely. "Trial and Error" was also pretty pointless, so unless the "Destiny can get in our heads!" notion ends up going somewhere, I'd be ready to discount that one, too.
1x18 The Greater Good: Less Young being stupid and trying to murder Rush again. Have Young act like a real leader should and show his growth since Justice.
1x19: An episode about the secondary characters and their reaction to the Destiny's mission and seeing the crew accept it.
1x20 Resurgence: Season finale. Possibly kill off a few characters (Scott and Chloe at least, possibly even Young if Telford shows up) to raise the stakes.

So yeah, we definitely could've gotten all 1.5 seasons of SGU compressed into 1 season and do a better job of establishing things like the Eli/Ginn relationship and TJ/Varro for season 2.

 

[RoJoHen]

“Ideally, we’d get five years to tell the entire story in satisfactory fashion but, if it came down to it, we could pay it off over the course of a single season.”

Based on the languid pace this show has been developing, I intrepret that quote as meaning "we have a season-long storyline that we're trying to spread over five years."

Same here. You either need 5 years to tell the story or you don't. If you can tell your supposed 5-year story in only 2-3 years, then how much time are you actually planning to waste with the extra seasons?

 

[DWF]

I find it hard to complain about where the story and characters are now, Bablyon 5 was in a similar position a tthis stage in their second season too.

 

[bigdaddy]

Hopefully SGU will get at least 5 season and 100 episodes if just to be on par with Atlantis and make it to syndication.

It already is in syndication.

Being that this show was supposed to be a DVD movie, I love how they now claim to have a five year plan.

Are we sure their plan isn't to waste four years trying to figure out what to do in the 5th?

 

[Dac]

Hopefully SGU will get at least 5 season and 100 episodes if just to be on par with Atlantis and make it to syndication.

It already is in syndication.

Being that this show was supposed to be a DVD movie, I love how they now claim to have a five year plan.

Are we sure their plan isn't to waste four years trying to figure out what to do in the 5th?

I never heard a thing about SGU being a DVD movie, it was a third series from start to finish.

 

[Caliburn24]

I don't buy Mallozzi's line for an instant.

A planned five year story? That we're only now learning about halfway through season two? So it has just been kept secret up until now? You never thought about mentioning it until your ratings got really bad? Uh huh, not buying it.

There have been too many side-trips, too many dead-ends, too many reset button episodes and dropped through-lines for me to even remotely think that there is some sort of pre-planned story structure to SGU.

Battlestar Galactica told me at the start of every episode that they "Have a Plan", they did not. And the Stargate writer's room is far inferior and more inbred than BSG's writing staff ever was.

 

[David cgc]

A planned five year story? That we're only now learning about halfway through season two? So it has just been kept secret up until now? You never thought about mentioning it until your ratings got really bad? Uh huh, not buying it.

You're forgetting how much lead-time these shows have. "The Greater Good" was filmed before the show's second season came back. I think it might've been at least written, if not in the can, before the first season finished airing. It's not like they got the ratings for "Cloverdale" and said, "Oh, shit, let's whip up something science fictiony for the next one to get the geeks back."

 

[Kpnuts]

“Ideally, we’d get five years to tell the entire story in satisfactory fashion but, if it came down to it, we could pay it off over the course of a single season.”

Based on the languid pace this show has been developing, I intrepret that quote as meaning "we have a season-long storyline that we're trying to spread over five years."

Spot on, that's exactly how I read it too

 

[Jax]

95% of shows main arc could be done over a full season if tweaked in places but they are never going to get the 5 years for this one. Before SGU aired I said 4 years like Farscape and I am sticking with that because I believe in the long run be it, the 2nd half of season 2 or from season 3 that SYFY will move SGU back to fridays.

TBH I wonder if SYFY could ever go down the mini-series route to end SGU like they did with Farscape.

 

[Saquist]

“Ideally, we’d get five years to tell the entire story in satisfactory fashion but, if it came down to it, we could pay it off over the course of a single season.”

Based on the languid pace this show has been developing, I intrepret that quote as meaning "we have a season-long storyline that we're trying to spread over five years."

That's exactly how it seemed at episode one.

They're having a bit of an issue with trying to write for grown-ups.

I'm not sure if that's what it is.
I think there overall plan just suxed. It was like a cost cutting method.

Hopefully SGU will get at least 5 season and 100 episodes if just to be on par with Atlantis and make it to syndication.

It already is in syndication.

Being that this show was supposed to be a DVD movie, I love how they now claim to have a five year plan.

Are we sure their plan isn't to waste four years trying to figure out what to do in the 5th?

No one ever plans a series out like this. (Except the Babylon 5 series) most of them are seat of the pants project with a bible to go by.

I don't buy Mallozzi's line for an instant.

A planned five year story? That we're only now learning about halfway through season two? So it has just been kept secret up until now? You never thought about mentioning it until your ratings got really bad? Uh huh, not buying it.

There have been too many side-trips, too many dead-ends, too many reset button episodes and dropped through-lines for me to even remotely think that there is some sort of pre-planned story structure to SGU.

Battlestar Galactica told me at the start of every episode that they "Have a Plan", they did not. And the Stargate writer's room is far inferior and more inbred than BSG's writing staff ever was.

95% of shows main arc could be done over a full season if tweaked in places but they are never going to get the 5 years for this one. Before SGU aired I said 4 years like Farscape and I am sticking with that because I believe in the long run be it, the 2nd half of season 2 or from season 3 that SYFY will move SGU back to fridays.

TBH I wonder if SYFY could ever go down the mini-series route to end SGU like they did with Farscape.

I'm relieved to here that. I honestly though the fanatic thinking was prevailing on the sight. I know some will watch no matter what but it's one thing to watch and another to be fooled by what they're feeding you.

 

[Harvey]

Battlestar Galactica told me at the start of every episode that they "Have a Plan", they did not. And the Stargate writer's room is far inferior and more inbred than BSG's writing staff ever was.

Moreover, Ronald D. Moore was more than willing to confess that "And they have a plan" was a concession to something that sounded cool rather than a declaration of their writing process. In interview after interview he's been clear that, beyond coming up with a general outline for the season at the beginning of each year, he (and all the other writers on staff) had only a vague idea of where the series would end up.

From the twenty-one episodes I have seen of STARGATE UNIVERSE (I bailed on season two after the premiere; for once it is a show that I have all the patience in the world for when it comes to waiting for the DVD) a five-year plan seems hilariously unlikely. It does, however, make a reasonably good pitch for a series that is on the bubble between cancellation and renewal. If it does manage a third season, Mallozzi and the rest would be wise to condense their alleged plans for the next three years into one and thank their lucky stars that STARGATE UNIVERSE was on the SyFy Channel and not a major network.