I should be kicking myself for not knowing about this sooner, sad I had to find out in an issue of WIRED magazine. Since there is no talk of it here yet I figured I should enlighten my fellow AVS Forum members.
http://www.syfy.com/universe/

I have been following this show for over a year now. I can't wait for it to start.

Hopefully this will be a decent series.
From everything I have seen and read it has a different premise than the other Stargate series.
Looking forward to the return of Sci-fi Fridays. :)

Jeez...Another spin-off (as with GALACTICA). I think I'll just follow the channel's advice (they certainly don't) and "Imagine greater."

A spin-off but skewed towards a younger viewing audience. So I imagine this series won't be so tied into the earlier series, and stand on its own.

The xbox (probably available on-line too) had a really long and new preview. It blew me away. The preview looked movie quality, I had goose bumps during it, soooo looking forward to this.

The xbox (probably available on-line too) had a really long and new preview. It blew me away. The preview looked movie quality, I had goose bumps during it, soooo looking forward to this.

Was it like 5-6 minutes long? That's the one I saw online. It didn't do anything for me really, except remind me of BSG. The music did sound a hundred times better than what they used on the previous shows though, so that's a much welcomed change.

Here's the thing...it's virtually impossible not to see the similarities between this and BSG, especially when compared to the style used in the previous Stargate shows. They moved to the shaky-cam. They made the show darker (palette wise). It seems like they made it bloodier and more adult themed. So far, so good right? But my worry is that it's being made by the same guys who did the first two shows. Both shows were entertaining at times, but I don't think anyone would claim that they were genre defining, or anything even remote close to that. They were average shows with decent acting, passable writing, and mostly good special effects (ignoring the stupid puppets and what not).

I'm hoping they could surprise me, but my expectations are pretty low.

Not sure being compared to BSG is a bad thing. I personally wouldn't care if they copied BSG directly. That was an awesome show. If it makes SG-U awesome too, all the more power to them.

I'm excited, if cautious, about this.

Haven't seen the preview you are talking about. I hope there's an O'Neil/Mitchell/Shepherd type smartass on it.

Doesn't this have a Voyager type premise? I hate that premise because theoretically they should be travelling faster than word of mouth can preceed them, thus there ought to NEVER be any returning characters, extended arcs, or anything that usually makes a show interesting. I think Voyager had to struggle to get around this. Plus, are they really going to drag all those civvies around with them?

Well, we will see. I like the art direction and the cast leads, so hopefully it will suprise me. I liked Atlantis though, so my tolerance for sci-fi cheese is pretty high :)

You can watch the preview here: http://www.syfy.com/universe/

I've avoided it in hopes that I'll be really surprised and happy after Friday.

Never really watched the first two shows, would I be alright to start watching this without knowing what happened in those two?

Not sure being compared to BSG is a bad thing. I personally wouldn't care if they copied BSG directly. That was an awesome show. If it makes SG-U awesome too, all the more power to them.
Oh no...don't get me wrong. BSG is one of my favorite shows of all time. I have no problem if they copied it exactly either. I just don't know if the SG team (writers/actors/etc) are up to that task.


I've avoided it in hopes that I'll be really surprised and happy after Friday.
I don't think it's spoilery myself.

Never really watched the first two shows, would I be alright to start watching this without knowing what happened in those two?
I think you'll be fine. I'm guessing there may be some stuff long-time viewers would appreciate more, but it's not a continuation of either of the previous shows.

Judging by how SG1 and SGA had really fitting actors, I'm sure SGU will have the same style of characters. There will be guest appearances of the previous cast but if someone is just starting with SGU then I bet they'll follow along just fine. Something I found out, the series premier is a 2 hour "feature film", this has tripped me up a few times with other starting shows.

This looks so good, my hopes are very high for this. This type of show is so much better when the characters are cut off from Earth, on their own in a strange place. I hope they don't deviate from the concept like they did with SGA.

As much as I love to complain about SciFi (um, SyFy), I do thank god they exist if only for the occasional 'space opera'

I gave up on 'Stargate SG1' long ago, shortly after the show left its original home on Showtime, and never bothered with 'Atlantis'. Occasionally, I'd tune in just to see if it had changed any, but it seemed to become awfully derivative. There were only so many plotlines, villains and quirky characters they could mix, match, combine, and reconfigure. But the idea that this new one would be "darker", maybe more "adult", has me intrigued. There's so little good, intelligent sci-fi on TV right now, at least until 'Caprica' debuts next year. We lost a really good one - T:SCC - last year because of viewer indifference, 'Virtuality' and 'Defying Gravity' never really got off the starting line, and 'Dollhouse' is on life-support. 'Fringe' is here only because it had the Big Karaoke Show as a lead in last year; now it's got to stand on its own (and I'm worried.). BSG is finished and LOST is ending next spring. :( Might as well check this out and hope for the best.

I gave up on 'Stargate SG1' long ago, shortly after the show left its original home on Showtime, and never bothered with 'Atlantis'. Occasionally, I'd tune in just to see if it had changed any, but it seemed to become awfully derivative. There were only so many plotlines, villains and quirky characters they could mix, match, combine, and reconfigure. But the idea that this new one would be "darker", maybe more "adult", has me intrigued. There's so little good, intelligent sci-fi on TV right now, at least until 'Caprica' debuts next year. We lost a really good one - T:SCC - last year because of viewer indifference and 'Dollhouse' is on life-support. 'Fringe' is here only because it had the Big Karaoke Show as a lead in last year; now it's got to stand on its own (I'm worried.). BSG is finished and LOST is ending next spring. :( Might as well check this out and hope for the best.

Don't forget V. I'm not sure how "intelligent" that will be...depends if they go more serious than the original was, but I have high/optimistic hopes about it.

Fringe won't last in it's current slot against Grey's Anatomy, The Office, and CSI. It's like they're trying to kill it. It got slaughtered last week although still did twice as good as Dollhouse did (which I would be surprised lasts more than a couple more weeks)

I am looking forward to SGU and do hope that can get beyond the same old tired plotlines and breathe some fresh life into the SG franchise. That being said, anyone wanna take bets on how many eps before replicators show up....again....for the 100th time?

I'm looking forward to this show as well. I was a fan of both incarnations of Stargate.

Started with the original movie and haven't stopped yet. I'm really excited for this one... not sure why, but I have a good feeling about it.

Don't forget V.
ABC is already dumping on V. They're pulling a 'Jericho' and splitting the season up, starting in November and then stopping for a couple months in the winter (http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/09/26/abc-is-giving-v-a-split-launch-for-some-reason/). Is Nina Tessler influencing ABC now?

Fringe won't last in it's current slot against Grey's Anatomy, The Office, and CSI. It's like they're trying to kill it.
This is Fox. Are we surprised? Space: Above and Beyond...killed. Alien Nation...killed. T:SCC...killed.

SG:U on SyFy? Since it's not some cheap-ass show ("Ghost Hunters") they'll throw money at the first season to get an audience, and then let it spiral down into SyFy hell (SG: A anyone?).

ABC is already dumping on V. They're pulling a 'Jericho' and splitting the season up, starting in November and then stopping for a couple months in the winter (http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/09/26/abc-is-giving-v-a-split-launch-for-some-reason/). Is Nina Tessler influencing ABC now?

Ugh, so much for the hopes I had for that show.

Just set my series recording up for SGU...hopefully its as good as SG1 and SGA

The thing about SG1 and SGA was that they both had relatively high production values. SGU will have to maintain a pretty high level to be as good.

[QUOTE=drcos;17271527]This is Fox. Are we surprised? Space: Above and Beyond...killed. Alien Nation...killed. T:SCC...killed.[QUOTE]

And don't forget FIREFLY! Still miss that one.

bump, I'll be bumping this more till tomorrow at 9pm eastern

Mo Ryan's review is up: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/10/stargate-universe-syfy.html

I tend to agree with her a lot, and she pretty much confirmed my fears. The fact that she said she probably won't write anymore reviews (she's seen 5 episodes) is less than encouraging.

Mo Ryan's review is up: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/10/stargate-universe-syfy.html

I tend to agree with her a lot, and she pretty much confirmed my fears. The fact that she said she probably won't write anymore reviews (she's seen 5 episodes) is less than encouraging.

Not that it really matters, but this is the first review I have read out of close to twenty that is mostly negative.
Reviews are completely subjective and by any means the last word.
Personally I like to watch and draw my own conclusions.

Not that it really matters, but this is the first review I have read out of close to twenty that is mostly negative.
Reviews are completely subjective and by any means the last word.
Personally I like to watch and draw my own conclusions.

From what I've read they're about half-and-half (I'm ignoring the early reviews by those geek-fanboy sites), but like you said, they are completely subjective. From what I've read, the positive reviews come from reviewers who focus on how this SG compares to the previous two, and the negative reviews are from reviewers who focus on how it compares to other shows in the genre.

But like I said, I usually agree with Mo, and she's seen more episodes than the other reviewers. I'll still be watching, but I'll hold off any celebration until that October 9th episode (which she says is really bad).

The thing about Mo Ryan is she's a hard core and unabashed sci-fi fan. She was a stanch supporter of BSG, loved T:SCC and the brilliant 'Charlie Jade', and appreciates dark, complex genre stories told well. The hope is that SU can become more than SG-1 and SG-A aspired to be. Tell more intriguing stories, step up to the plate BSG just homered from. As I mentioned above, I got tired of all the derivative and repetitive storylines of the Stargate franchise and dropped out after awhile. Mo mentions that's one of her fears with this new show as well. She's afraid the showrunners may have forgotten the classic rule of TV drama: It's the characters, stupid. And many of us remember, not terribly fondly, 'StarTrek:Voyager' whose 7 year run consisted of maybe a dozen basic plotlines endlessly recycled. Nobody wants this show to boldly go where that one did. All valid concerns.

I gave up on 'Stargate SG1' long ago, shortly after the show left its original home on Showtime, and never bothered with 'Atlantis'. Occasionally, I'd tune in just to see if it had changed any, but it seemed to become awfully derivative. There were only so many plotlines, villains and quirky characters they could mix, match, combine, and reconfigure. But the idea that this new one would be "darker", maybe more "adult", has me intrigued. There's so little good, intelligent sci-fi on TV right now, at least until 'Caprica' debuts next year. We lost a really good one - T:SCC - last year because of viewer indifference, 'Virtuality' and 'Defying Gravity' never really got off the starting line, and 'Dollhouse' is on life-support. 'Fringe' is here only because it had the Big Karaoke Show as a lead in last year; now it's got to stand on its own (and I'm worried.). BSG is finished and LOST is ending next spring. :( Might as well check this out and hope for the best.I have hope for FlashForward. Though it's only one episode in (ep 2 tonight), the writing will really have to be strong and consistent.

The thing about Mo Ryan is she's a hard core and unabashed sci-fi fan.

Well this certainly gives this review much more creditability.
Hopefully the writers of this show will step it up then and not give us a lame duck.
Would hate to see Mo's prediction come true and find yet another Sci-Fi series falling into a black hole.

Well this certainly gives this review much more creditability.
Hopefully the writers of this show will step it up then and not give us a lame duck.
Would hate to see Mo's prediction come true and find yet another Sci-Fi series falling into a black hole.

Did she review Warehouse 13? Just wondering that if she did, what her thoughts were on that series. It's a different type show, but just curious how she rated it.

Did she review Warehouse 13? Just wondering that if she did, what her thoughts were on that series. It's a different type show, but just curious how she rated it.

She did: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/07/warehouse-13-syfy-sci-fi-.html

I wasn't a fan myself. :p

SF writer John Scalzi is the scientific advisor and continuity guy.

[QUOTE=drcos;17271527]This is Fox. Are we surprised? Space: Above and Beyond...killed. Alien Nation...killed. T:SCC...killed.[QUOTE]

And don't forget FIREFLY! Still miss that one.

This is FOX, the only network to give shows like that a chance. Blame the lack of viewers not the network. Their job is to make money not satisfy cults of fans.

SF writer John Scalzi is the scientific advisor and continuity guy.

Huh; how 'bout that. I just finished reading his "Old Man's War" trilogy over the summer. Not bad. Not great, either. Doesn't hold a candle to Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars" books which I'm reading now (having slowed down a great deal due to the new TV season starting, I'm afraid - only so many recreational hours in a day). That's Big-Boy literature by a Big-Boy author. Scalzi's work is kind of kid's stuff by comparison.

bump 2hrs and 25 min remaining

No comments so far. What did we think of the show? I'm not sure how it's going to be, I was too sleepy and kept dozing off, I need to rewatch it and give it a fair chance.

I've avoided spoilers and speculation threads, so I could go into the series untainted by others perceptions and pre-conceived notions. Over all I enjoyed it, no complaints here. Looking forward to learning more about the ship and how the people react on it. I will say that it felt very different than SG-1 and Atlantis but not in a bad way, at least to me. I won't like it, if they go the way of voyager and have episodes of we have a way home but we'll have to kill, maim, lose morals, whatever.

Rush intrigues me but I could see his whole, I know best attitude wearing thin on me after a while. I thought Eli was pretty good, will have to see how his character develops over the next few episodes.

The very first scene when the ship first comes into view and glides on bye was GREAT!
From there it went steadily downhill for me as none of the characters seemed very likable and were completely fractured as a group.
This premiere certainly didn't hook me like any of the other previous Stargate series did and left me feeling like it could have been so much better.
I'm not going to give up on this yet, but I certainly hope something miraculous happens to pull this show together.
I have been a big fan of all the Stargate series but this really left me feeling like I had just watched a rental instead of a keeper.

[QUOTE=Joel Clemons;17274259][QUOTE=drcos;17271527]This is Fox. Are we surprised? Space: Above and Beyond...killed. Alien Nation...killed. T:SCC...killed.

This is FOX, the only network to give shows like that a chance. Blame the lack of viewers not the network. Their job is to make money not satisfy cults of fans.

Moving the time slot every week, and even going weeks between eps, is no way to prrogram a show. Viewers have to be able to at least know when it's on. (By the way, past successes on Network such as CHEERS, SEINFELD, etc., began with miserable ratings. But those ealy cultists must have served a purpose.)

I thought it was okay, as noted above, different than the others, seems to be more character based. Needs more character development for sure, but hopefully that will come with time. Didn't quite follow how the ship was finding stargates that were put out there before the ship got there though, I thought it was mentioned that the ship was sent out unmanned from the very beginning, bit of a chicken and the egg thing going on, probably have to watch that sequence again...

Eli seems instantly likable, not such much any of the other, especially Ming Na's character, seems like a Grade A "b" there. The medic seems interesting, and I don't believe for a minute that Rush actually talked with Col Carter.

Sure seemed like a hell of a lot of commercial breaks though, I timed a couple and it was 6-7mins of showtime before it went to another commercial pod, it was annoying even with a DVR. And of course all the animated popups/bugs.

As far as an SG series kick off goes. I'd put after SG-1 (particularly the redone version out on DVD now), and before Atlantis.

I think it should do okay.

I'll watch, but I'm not hooked on the show. I was really hoping that it would not be what it is, does the third incarnation of a SiFi show have to be "Lost in Space"? The third version of Star Trek was Voyager, similar premise, but a much nicer ship.

I don't know if I can handle another "dark" show. Dark in the sense that the scenery is dark and dingy, and dark in the sense that certain characters have agendas that we may not be aware of. Sometimes that can be fun and interesting, not so much here for me.

On 1 to 10 scale I'd give a 4.5-5. It held my interest, but other than Eli none of the characters really grabbed me, don't really care if they die or not.



BTW, did anyone else get the impression that the entire ship may be a gate? The exterior shots seemed to have an arc to them, and I don't recall if they ever showed the entire ship.

- Stargate: Lost in Space ... including Dr. Smith?

+ No bad guys (vamps, demons, parasitic worms) ... yet

IDidn't quite follow how the ship was finding stargates that were put out there before the ship got there though, I thought it was mentioned that the ship was sent out unmanned from the very beginning, bit of a chicken and the egg thing going on, probably have to watch that sequence again...

Yeah they skipped over and fudged that for plot purposes. It seems that The Ancients™ sent out a series of unmanned ships before the Destiny that were programmed to find habitable worlds and build stargates for future vehicles to find.

Since other ships have been where the Destiny is heading in order to build thoe stargates and the Destiny has just reached one of them after all this time - that means the ships had been sent out thousands and thousands of years before the Destiny.

It also means that if The Ancients™ were waiting for the Destiny to get far enough out before using the gate, they could have just put a gate on one of the many ships they sent out first and used that.

Sure seemed like a hell of a lot of commercial breaks though, I timed a couple and it was 6-7mins of showtime before it went to another commercial pod, it was annoying even with a DVR. And of course all the animated popups/bugs.Wow the ads on the show were terrible. They appeared far too often and cut to them very badly. At some points it actually felt like they were cutting to the ads in the middle of a scene. I kept expecting the scene to continue when the show came back from the break. And on TWC, thanks to their fantastically reliable SDV system the picture quality was atrocious during the opening battle. When the rail guns started firing the only effect they had was to blow compression noise all over the screen. :rolleyes:

Overall I thought BSG-1A was okay. It has potential. The production design was far better than previous installments (the flying cameras were pretty cool), much less plastic-looking and like an office building.

They really need to dial down the BSG style. All the way through I just kept thinking "this looks just like BSG." There are plenty of ways to create an adult-aimed show and it doesn't mean they all have to be filmed with first-person-wobble-vision and all the characters have to be miserable and disfunctional. Especially on an SG series. By the time we got to the daughter crying about her father on the observation deck I was already tired of the melodrama and manufactured conflict.

And as for the "most important find since the Stargate" ... didn't they find an entire flying city containing all the knowledge of The Ancients™ last time? I thought that was how the last of them left Earth before ascending? I hope they don't do what they did on that show. On Atlantis they had an entire city to explore and over the entire course of the series they were only interested in exploring about a third of it, and mentioned about 10 rooms that were vaguely interesting.

Another thing which is constantly annoying me now - more so in this serious attempt at the show - is that production keep burying the bottom of the gates in the ground so they don't have to build a frame to hold it. Every time a wormhole opens it should be vaporizing the floor covering the bottom of the portal. In this episode they also had a walkway going through the opening which also should have been cut in half.

BTW, did anyone else get the impression that the entire ship may be a gate? The exterior shots seemed to have an arc to them, and I don't recall if they ever showed the entire ship.

They showed it in a few passes. Apart from the rear looking like the Millennium Falcon it mostly reminded me of this:

http://www.queensryche.com/images/albums_300x300/empire_300x300.png

But that's probably just me. :D

...Wow the ads on the show were terrible. They appeared far too often and cut to them very badly. At some points it actually felt like they were cutting to the ads in the middle of a scene...

I mean to comment on that as well. There was one particularly bad cut, I think in the 2nd hour, that was just jarring. Felt like a mistake.

Compression artifacting was very bad via Comcast here in San Francisco. I haven't noticed any problems the last month/6 weeks with Warehouse 13 so I'm wondering if it might actually have been a network-induced problem with tonight's show.

Compression artifacting was very bad via Comcast here in San Francisco. I haven't noticed any problems the last month/6 weeks with Warehouse 13 so I'm wondering if it might actually have been a network-induced problem with tonight's show.

There weren't any problems here in Rochester, NY on TWC. The picture looked good. I did notice when they showed the scenes through the lens of the floating camera, they had digital artifacts purposefully placed around the edges of the picture.

I'm still excited about the series, but this first episode certainly was more flawed than I thought it would be. Ditto to what others said about the commercials and the BSG wobblecam ripoff. Also, I hope we're not in for a 'Lost' style backflash reveal on every episode, where each character's backstory is shockingly unreeled bit by bit as the weeks go by.

What bothered me was the heavy handed plot devices that they resorted to in order to get the basic framework of the show set up. I liked character of Eli just fine, but the silly 'solving the videogame riddle' reminded me of the 80s movie 'The Last Starfighter'....it was cartoonish then and it's cartoonish now. If they needed to rip something off to create this guy's backstory than they should have just taken a variation on 'Good Will Hunting', just make him the genius slacker who just floats along because he just doesn't care about money/prestige.

I'm not sure that we needed the flashback style either. It really made the part with the congressman getting trapped and injured a silly waste of time. We know he'll make it out of that situation because we see him in the first scene. Again, a heavy handed plot device to give him some added motivation for his sacrifice--another silly plot device BTW...how hard is it to seal up an area the size of that shuttles rear door? Even if sealing it only 95% effectively would still gain perhaps 18 hours instead of 24 hours?

It just felt like they started with idea of a compelling situation, and then worked backwards to find reasons to create the compelling situation. I'm sure this is pretty common for a first episode, but usually they manage to make it flow a little more seamlessly and organically. I am still looking forward to this series though.

I liked it enough to keep watching. I usually DVR things but decided to watch it live. Big mistake. The first two acts were about 15 minutes...not bad but then ever fricking 7 minutes they cut to commercial for 3 or 4 minutes. I much rather have them run 15 minute acts and then do 5 minutes of commercials.

I liked it enough to keep watching. I usually DVR things but decided to watch it live. Big mistake. The first two acts were about 15 minutes...not bad but then ever fricking 7 minutes they cut to commercial for 3 or 4 minutes. I much rather have them run 15 minute acts and then do 5 minutes of commercials.

That's why God gave us DVR's.

I'll watch, but I'm not hooked on the show. I was really hoping that it would not be what it is, does the third incarnation of a SiFi show have to be "Lost in Space"? The third version of Star Trek was Voyager, similar premise, but a much nicer ship.


Wouldn't the third version of Star Trek be DS9?

But, yeah, I did get a bit of a Voyager vibe from the first episode. I'm hoping they can distinguish themselves quite a bit.

This also seems the most "serious" Stargate so far. It's a far cry from the campy Richard Dean Anderson beginnings. Maybe they're looking at this as picking up BSG viewers, since Caprica is going to be mostly grounded.

Wouldn't the third version of Star Trek be DS9?



Yea, its DS9, or if you count the animtated series, than TNG would be third series. I do agree with a bit of the Voyager sentiment in general. However, they did some key things to separate it. 1, they have communication with earth from day one. The second is that there still going away from earth, which may mean they are setting it up for moral issues since at least people on voyager could think they were at least getting closer to home.

The very first scene when the ship first comes into view and glides on bye was GREAT!
From there it went steadily downhill for me as none of the characters seemed very likable and were completely fractured as a group.
This premiere certainly didn't hook me like any of the other previous Stargate series did and left me feeling like it could have been so much better.
I'm not going to give up on this yet, but I certainly hope something miraculous happens to pull this show together.
I have been a big fan of all the Stargate series but this really left me feeling like I had just watched a rental instead of a keeper.

Could not agree more about the great opening scene and the thouroughly unlikable characters. The PhD is annoying, Eli seems like such a fat slacker. Colonel, Leiutenant & Sarge, meh. No hot babes. I've never watched a series premier where I liked the characters less. Too bad because the show's premise seems wicked cool to an SF fan like me.

I hope the writers are really clever and find a way to kill off this entire cast and replace them all.

Wow...I'm a little surprised by the comments here. I thought it was excellent...hands down better than SG-1 and Atlantis. MUCH less hokey and much more realistic in terms of the Stargate mythology. Maybe I just love the premise of surviving in space against all odds (hence my love for BSG) but I found it so much more entertaing than the campy plots of Atlantis and SG-1.

I'm definitely hooked...

I also love how there is no McKay (as much as I love him) to solve every single problem...

I enjoyed the premier but it really did remind me of Star Trek Voyager. I enjoyed Voyager, so it's not a negative. I am glad the scientist don't seem too cocky. Rodney on SGA was over the top too many times. This crew seems better balanced.

I enjoyed the premier but it really did remind me of Star Trek Voyager. I enjoyed Voyager, so it's not a negative. I am glad the scientist don't seem too cocky. Rodney on SGA was over the top too many times. This crew seems better balanced.

I agree about the scientist not being to cocky, but the crew being more balanced???
They seem to me like they are completely unbalanced and certainly aren't jumping at the opportunity to rally together as a team.
As far as I could tell almost everyone of them either dislikes the other or flat out doesn't trust them.
Everybody seems to have there own agenda and there is a huge rift between the civilians and the military personal.
This could obviously change as the series continues as there needs to be some cohesion and unity.
Granted this version of Stargate is much more dark and realistic than the campy and happy go lucky escapades of SG1 and Atlantis.
This may or may not work to the shows advantage depending on how the series progresses.
For now it's wait and see.

So so is my humble opinion, and I've watched every episode of
the SG 1 & Atlantis. Characters not that compelling or
interesting. Flashback style is way annoying. Hope it gets
a lot better than this barely mediocre start.

I couldn't agree more about the crew. None of them were interesting or even likeable. I loved McKay and Eli (IMO) is a slacker, not very likeable or interesting. What is really lacking is someone to make you tune in to see every week . Rush is not that compelling, I thought he was downright annoying. The young lead army guy, when not befriending Eli and assuming command, was also not right for the part either. They really need a Michael Shanks, Ben Browder or Daivd Hewett to get me interested in this crew and their "trek". This cast needs work.

I thought it was passable- just OK, hopefully it will improve with time. As for the cast, isn't Lou Diamond Philips a permanent member? I know he's a higher rank than the colonel, and we saw him on the base, yet we didn't see him on the first episode on the ship- he's there on the coming attractions...Odd...

Enemies- Could we see the evil Asgard? They made a brief appearance towards the end of SG-1, definitely setting up a new series, and this could be the series where they show up.

Ill stick with this for now, I agree with others that the commercials were cut in at horrible points in the show. It had me thinking this was more of a one shot deal and that this episode will probably be more enjoyable watched uninterrupted. I also agree about the flashbacks, most of the time they were kind of "jarring" and took you out of the moment.

As others noticed I was wondering wth happened to LDP, since he seems to be one of the major people they have been promoting, it seemed kind of weird to to actually show him on the ship. Hes on the previews for next week, but its anyones guess on how he shows up.

I only watched some of the first stargate for Richard Dean Anderson. :p


This one shouldn't be even call stargate.

On 1 to 10 scale I'd give a 4.5-5. It held my interest, but other than Eli none of the characters really grabbed me, don't really care if they die or not.

I like your rating, and like you, aside from Eli, I didn't care if anyone died.

The show has good production values. Good special effects (mostly). Good actors (mostly). Decent music. Looks good in HD. But the writing is awful, which is exactly what I was afraid of. These guys just don't have what it takes to create a rich, adult-themed, character-based drama.

They took the visual style of BSG, but left what truly made that show great...the writing. They took the underlying plot of Stargate, but left what made that show fun to watch...the camaraderie and adventure. What we're left with is a show that isn't fun to watch, filled with unlikable/boring/flat characters, and is neither intelligent nor thought-provoking. Worse yet, we're forced to watch them struggle to make it work.

Someone else mentioned it, but it is extremely melodramatic, along with being predictable. Is there anyone who didn't think the Senator would kill himself? Yet we had to sit and watch them come to this inevitable conclusion for however long. And by the way, after he was gone, Rush said that he wouldn't have been his first choice. Really? A guy near death with internal bleeding with no doctors around, and he wouldn't be your first choice? He sure as hell would have been mine. And then the daughter's reaction rang completely false for some reason. And Rush's reaction was even worse. They tried to humanize him, but failed spectacularly. Even Eli's reaction didn't ring true.

But all that being said, if I sat through all seasons of the other Stargate shows, I'll give this one a few more weeks before I drop it.

By the way, anyone else get a strong Sunshine vibe when they walked out onto the observation deck?

By the way (part 2), anyone else lol when they were flying through the gate in the beginning? I found that hilarious for some reason.

By the way (part 3), it took me a while to place her, but the blonde medic is Black Canary from Smallville.

By the way (part 4), RDA needs to lay off the doughnuts. :eek:

Ah ha! That's where I recognize her from.

RDA looked a little puffy. Hope his health is okay.

Ratings are in for the premiere of "Stargate Universe" and they're both better than expected (it beat "Dollhouse" on Fox in total viewers and viewers 18-49) but, given the hype, mildly disappointing. "Hot Off The Press" has the numbers: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17293852#post17293852.

Wow...I'm a little surprised by the comments here. I thought it was excellent...hands down better than SG-1 and Atlantis. MUCH less hokey and much more realistic in terms of the Stargate mythology.

I appreciated the fact they were trying to make this more "realistic" but the creators definition of realistic drama seems to be to just copy the visual style and approach of BSG. Exactly.

Out of all the dramatic shows I watch on television none of them look and feel like BSG and they aren't the worse for it. It wasn't needed to the extent they layered it on here.

They need to lighten up the characters too. That's one of the lynch pins of the entire SG franchise. Having some characters who can actually laugh and find wonder in their predicament beyond the one token guy would go a long way to differentiating the show from BSG.

They are at the furthest reaches of the universe on the most advanced spaceship they have encountered and they just don't seem that interested. If you accepted assignments to work on distant worlds by way of wormhole travel, you would think some of them would appear to be at least a bit curious or look interested, life support problem or not.

They are at the furthest reaches of the universe on the most advanced spaceship they have encountered and they just don't seem that interested. If you accepted assignments to work on distant worlds by way of wormhole travel, you would think some of them would appear to be at least a bit curious or look interested, life support problem or not.But you have to remember in the SG series (even though they're trying to differentiate themselves from other "SG" shows) they've been traveling to other universes for well over a decade, so I suppose for a lot of these people (like the "Camille Wray" IOA character, who as I recall (correct me if I'm wrong) has made appearances at least on one of the two other SG shows at any given number of times). In any given case, after a decade of traveling around space without being able to tell anyone about it, you'd be jaded too.

In any given case, after a decade of traveling around space without being able to tell anyone about it, you'd be jaded too.

The only thing the majority of them did on the ship was moan about going home. When most of them had obviously signed on to be stationed light years away from home on a top secret assignment without communication and had no problem with that 30 seconds earlier.

They should have been curious about what they could find to solve their immediate problems. Nobody asked questions or attempted a better understanding of their surroundings. For all they knew an entire crew could have been in another room or the next corridor could have led to another working gate with big sign saying "Door to Earth" over the top.

If you don't have the curiosity gene, then they really shouldn't have been on the assignment to begin with. The SG-1 team have been through more gates than anyone else yet they still kept that factor running throughout the show.

This bunch are designed to be just gloomy and miserable because the forced BSG style demands it.

Yeah, the more I think about it , the less I like it. I'll give it a week or two, but if things are not better than I'll dump it off my DVR.

I agree the characters are bad. No spark, no, wonder, no fire. Just lots of whining and poor me attitude. As far as I can tell 98% of them signed up for the project. With such a large group some new lead actors could find their way into the plot without too many issues.

As for the set, I hate it. I hate dark grimy si-fi. It implies to me that things are going to get worse not better, and it sucks the gee-wiz isn't that neat aspect out of any show/movie that employs it. There is no reason that the ship could not have been in hibernation mode and when life signs were detected the lights come on on a visually interesting ship much like Atlantis - after all that was a giant ship also.

For me, STTNG epitomized the future I want to see, mankind's problems minimized, out exploring, and full of technical wonders.

There is no reason that the ship could not have been in hibernation mode and when life signs were detected the lights come on on a visually interesting ship much like Atlantis - after all that was a giant ship also.

The lights did come on when it detected gate activation but if the crew manage to restore full power and the whole thing still looks like a tomb it's not going to help the BSG comparisons - and that ZPM must be dangerously low after the many thousands of years it's been traveling at light speed. ;)

I always find it hilarious when humans of the future build vehicles and buildings that are badly lit and full of safety hazards. Like corridors you can't see properly to walk in and bridges and stairways over deep chasms without safety rails.

It reminds me of the scene in Galaxy Quest when Tim Allen encounters the area full of giant hydraulic hammers and flames that serve no purpose only to be dangerous and shouts "why would anyone build a room like this?"

edit: your hibernation suggestion just made me think of something else. Why were the CO2 scrubbers failing when there are no humans on board to create the CO2? In fact why was the life support system on all this time if the ship knows when people arrive? Life support would have to be activated at launch and then left active. For no reason.

She did: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/07/warehouse-13-syfy-sci-fi-.html

I wasn't a fan myself. :p

Neither am I. Watched 3 or 4 episodes & that's it for me. The last one I watched was when the girl/young woman came in to rescue her brother caught between dimensions.

I found W13 downright silly.

Good adult SF is very hard to find. The last 2 great ones were BSG & B5. I thought Farscape was maybe not great, but very good for what it was.

It seems networks think they have to cater to the 10-18 yr old's for SF to be successful. W13 is in the same mold.

Watched SG-U Friday & it does seem BSG-like. Not sure what potential it has but I'll give it a fair chance for 3 epiosodes ;) BTW - I basically ignored SG for quite a few yrs. but did enjoy the intermittent episodes I did watch. The main problem I have with any show that goes 10 yrs is that 10 yrs is about 5 yrs too long for most series!

I found SG-Atlantis more interesting, maybe because of McKay's antics & it was wrapped up in 5 yrs ;)

ss9001

They really need a Michael Shanks, Ben Browder or Daivd Hewett to get me interested in this crew and their "trek". This cast needs work.

Ben Browder would make a great addition :)

There was a point in the show where someone walking thru a hall mentioned they'd like to have access to a "Tylenol" for a headache.. My son right away said , "I expect to see a Tylenol commercial soon".
Sure enough ...... A tylenol commercial soon after .
Also seemed funny that someone brought an extra uniform, that happened to fit Eli just fine ( at the end when preparing to go thru the gate)......

(like the "Camille Wray" IOA character, who as I recall (correct me if I'm wrong)

You may be thinking of Tamlyn Tomita who played the Chinese Ambassador on both SG and SGA. I feel the new show attempted a blend between some BSG grittiness in mood and SG lightness in character acting. None of the established actors displayed the skill of an EJO or MM ( don't hurt me Begbie) and the younger actors just didn't seem to have a lot to work with. Still, I'll keep watching in hopes of better writing and more realistic character development. My hope is they steer clear of too many fantastic aliens and deus ex machina plot lines. Make humans figure things out or deal with the consequences. That's what we have to deal with on the other side of the flat panel.

Another typical offering from the dependably yawn-inducing SyFy channel.

I have watched all the stargate shows and thought this one was well done. It has a different feel but still worked I thought. I am curious as well how Lou Diamond Philips is going to fit into the show since he was not shown on the ship.

I think there is going to be a lot more revealed soon that fit all the characters together better. The main scientist obviously is hiding something and the woman and the commander obviously have some personal friction going on. There were just a lot of tidbits mentioned here and there that give you an idea of possible character storylines but I liked how they were fairly subtle about a lot of things almost too much so as I think a lot of people missed a lot of the foreshadowing they did. I don't think this is going to be a "take everythin" at face value kind of show.

As far as the CO2 scrubbers not working, it is not that they were running all this time and were just now failing. The life support kicked on when they arrived but with the damage the ship took in the past and the machinery being in disrepair it was not working properly. The stuff they found in the CO2 units was some sort of decay or corrosion from years of innactivity.

Overall for a sci-fi show I would give it a 7.5/10. At least I feel it is a step up on the intelligence factor compared to the usual fair.

I thought all the folks were total tools except the one soldier who was locked up and released, I hope he gets space fever and kills the rest of them, once the scientists get the ship fixed :). I also wish McKay would have been beamed in to save them, then the pilot would be a movie. The Eli/slacker/gamer thing is already too old, I can see the feds putting puzzles like that in games to get a solution, but beaming the cheeto stained finger asshat into the ship was a bit much and any attempt to give him genius cred will fail.


Stargate McKay FTW.

I still say expect an appearance by the evil Asgard sometime in the near future. That's the only reason why I could see them introduced towards the end of SG-1.

Or Sheppard even - someone with some panasch and personality!

I still say expect an appearance by the evil Asgard sometime in the near future. That's the only reason why I could see them introduced towards the end of SG-1.

Ah, interesting... I hadn't thought of that. It didn't really make sense that they would introduce a new, big bad guy literally 8 or so episodes before the well-published end of SG:A. Having them show up in SGU would make a lot of sense.

Wouldn't the third version of Star Trek be DS9?

But, yeah, I did get a bit of a Voyager vibe from the first episode. I'm hoping they can distinguish themselves quite a bit.

This also seems the most "serious" Stargate so far. It's a far cry from the campy Richard Dean Anderson beginnings. Maybe they're looking at this as picking up BSG viewers, since Caprica is going to be mostly grounded.

I have not anything much about Caprica since I was avoiding spoilers till the premier. What going on with it?
I think they do need to be a bit more serious on this on in either case. I know another ship as been past Destiny but I can't see them just putting in a Stargate and say "one way ticket home please" .

I enjoyed the premiere. I thought it was a good move to get away from the Stargate formula and try something different. I liked the fact that they struggled to get a hang on the Ancient technology. I like the fact there were not any super genius types to come up with some far out wacky techno babble to save the day. McKay's character made that stuff tolerable, but if was not for him it would have struck me just as dumb as Voyager.

I am looking forward to what they have in store since the beginning is much stronger than Atlantis.

I'm on board. The wife and I were both happy with the pilot. It's hard to get all the characters introduced and flushed out in one episode, even if it is 2 hours. But all in all, we really enjoyed it.

I'm excited about the show and eagerly looking forward to the next episode Friday. Probably more so than any other show this year.

Someone mentioned ST:TNG. There isn't a bigger fan than myself, but you have to admit, it took them several episodes to get into a groove.

Another typical offering from the dependably yawn-inducing SyFy channel.

As poor as the characters were and as slow as the story went, this show is 'light years' (hah) ahead of typical SyFy dreck. Interesting concept. If they could only kill off the entire crew and reboot with all new actors...

Well it was the pilot and some may change but dont hold your breath. I think its the writing that needs work more. I will as always watch it.

Well it was the pilot and some may change but dont hold your breath. I think its the writing that needs work more. I will as always watch it.
Guilty as charged:). There isn't too much else on worth watching, at least this has spaceships.

I very much doubt we'll see the evil Asgard. The evil Asgard were introduced in SG-A before they knew they were being cancelled, I don't think they have a place on this show.

The problem, as I see it, is this show has pushed such a dramatic tone shift from the rest of the franchise that older elements outside of a basic framework just don't fit. The Asgard, even the evil ones, are just don't fit with the serious tone and could never be taken seriously as a menacing threat in this universe. Another example I have of the tone shift is take a look at the focus for the first episode, air. I'm sorry, but after 11 years of Carter and McKay pulling off miracles left and right, life support seems like a rather pedestrian problem to have. I have trouble taking the show as seriously as it takes itself when I know it's in the same universe of Rodney blowing up a solar system or Carter tying a supergate to a black hole.

This is all especially true since we know the stones work since we saw Rush connect with Dr. Lee. That means that the brainpower of Carter and Rodney could be brought to bear on any of the tough situations they have going on with the ship.

Serious just doesn't work for Stargate who's core tenant was always not to take itself too seriously. They tried to go for a re-imaging while keeping it within the existing canon and I just don't think it works. Any time we have crossover with the rest of the established universe it's going to seem really jarring. Because of that, I don't think we are going to see a lot of crossover with any of the two previous stargates.

I don't know. The show needs to find it's own voice and quick and they need to tone down the drama. I think they would have been better off going for a sense of general wonder and unknown rather than going down the 'look at how flawed all our characters are, watch out for the fireworks' route.

If they could only kill off the entire crew and reboot with all new actors...

Personally, I've never liked Lou Diamond Philips as an actor in anything. If they kill him off, it'd be a plus ;)

The others, too early to tell, but Rush has potential. Using a slacker/gamer as a counterpart "boy" genius to Rush strikes me as similar in tone to Last Starfighter as a plot device. So far, nothing too original here yet...unfortunately.

I would much rather see Virtuality make it to a full series than have another copycat spin-off :( Virtuality had all the parts for an interesting show: mankind's 1st interstellar journey, a realistic perspective of what work & life aboard such a spaceship would be like compared to most SF shows, all with bits of Matrix thrown in for a mystery, hell ya :)

So fans of more "hard" scifi may have to wait for Caprica.

ss9001

It was just OK. Seemed to me like they were going for an SG plot with a BSG feel. No character that I find even remotely likable. Not sure this will last long.

I have issues with the ship itself.

Considering that an advanced race like the ancients had the ability to create a ship to explore the universe, following a path created by a previous Stargate seed ship. They would build such ships to last the eternity it would take to perform this task. Therefore there would have to be automated systems (bots) to repair both inside and outside the ship. As with Atlantis the ship would be beautiful not some bucket of bolts with low ceilings and dark gloomy hallways. The Atlantian’s just did not build ships like Destiny!

And where is the ancient gene! Not once has anyone mentioned that?

I can deal with bad plot lines, but screw with my ancient technology and that’s an issue :mad:



my .02 cents

Moving the time slot every week, and even going weeks between eps, is no way to prrogram a show. Viewers have to be able to at least know when it's on. (By the way, past successes on Network such as CHEERS, SEINFELD, etc., began with miserable ratings. But those ealy cultists must have served a purpose.)
Thank you. Although Fox gets one pass for the X-Files. Which they threw away with the treatment of the aforementioned shows...

On topic, I kinda liked Stargate:Galactica and will give it a few more weeks. The premise is different enough for now, we'll see where it goes. I'm still convinced we'll have a good first season, and then quickly into the crapper (this is SciFi, no matter how you spell it).

I have issues with the ship itself.

Considering that an advanced race like the ancients had the ability to create a ship to explore the universe, following a path created by a previous Stargate seed ship. They would build such ships to last the eternity it would take to perform this task. Therefore there would have to be automated systems (bots) to repair both inside and outside the ship. As with Atlantis the ship would be beautiful not some bucket of bolts with low ceilings and dark gloomy hallways. The Atlantian’s just did not build ships like Destiny!

And where is the ancient gene! Not once has anyone mentioned that?

I can deal with bad plot lines, but screw with my ancient technology and that’s an issue :mad:

my .02 cents

I've got to agree - not only the problems with Destiny and the Ancient technology - there are a lot of holes in the story line. I love science fiction, but the plot has to have some substance to hold my attention. They stated the ship was launched unmanned, so they better explain why a ship with no inhabitants suddenly has a C02 concentration problem. As for fixing the C02 scrubbers, what about the small units in the shuttles, presumably the ones in the shuttles would be dormant and the chemicals would be compatible with the host ship.

Ryan

Well, do we really know if the ship is uninhabited?

I have issues with the ship itself.

Considering that an advanced race like the ancients had the ability to create a ship to explore the universe, following a path created by a previous Stargate seed ship. They would build such ships to last the eternity it would take to perform this task. Therefore there would have to be automated systems (bots) to repair both inside and outside the ship. As with Atlantis the ship would be beautiful not some bucket of bolts with low ceilings and dark gloomy hallways. The Atlantian’s just did not build ships like Destiny!

And where is the ancient gene! Not once has anyone mentioned that?

I can deal with bad plot lines, but screw with my ancient technology and that’s an issue :mad:

I think the assumption is that the ship was built (well) before Atlantis level technology or Wraiths were encountered.

Of course, "Destiny" also looks a lot more the "Hammond" than "Atlantis" which would certainly raise the possibility that it came from the (Human's) future, or even the ever popular "Alt-U." .... stay tuned ;)

Did those stones work? I was confused whether or not the scene of Rush making that other guy jump was a flashback or current scene. I just figured he was lying about communicating with Earth and being in charge, though I suppose that unless LDP shows up as a hologram or AI, he must be their conduit at home.

I have few issues with the ship or the premise, I'm sure the ship came from a period well before the Ancients as we know them had peaked, so for things to now work so well, especially after so long, isn't a huge jump in believability. I'm sure the galaxies they visit will be littered with Ancient technology seeded before them and appropriated by whatever messed up forehead aliens live out there. They have entire seasons worth of plot lines about having to recover X data board or power cell from Y planet in the hands of S race in Z amount of time.

I'm curious about the decision to knock out the Colonel in the beginning. As it stands, SGU has no strong leader or even a real focused core group (if it wasn't for the promo shots, even knowing who was "important" would be tough), odd they would not let the COL shine in what could have been a moment of triumph.

Did those stones work? I was confused whether or not the scene of Rush making that other guy jump was a flashback or current scene. I just figured he was lying about communicating with Earth and being in charge, though I suppose that unless LDP shows up as a hologram or AI, he must be their conduit at home.



Oh they worked but I do think he was lying about being put in charge. Honestly Atlantis was the first to be lead by civilians and this is a stand alone ship. If any one other then the military was going to be put in charge i'm guessing it would have been the Senator but that's gone.

I hope that unfolds as a story on it's own.

Well, do we really know if the ship is uninhabited?


Camera angles maybe? It felt like something was watching them

Based on the previews, does anyone else get the impression that the plot of the show is going to consistently be the ship stops on it's own at certain planets and starts a countdown, giving them x amount of hours/days to explore before the ship (on it's own) just jumps back into warp speed travel--with or without them? Hopefully they get control of the ship and do some interesting things, as opposed to a weekly crisis heightened by a countdown to abandonment. I don't know.. I'm still excited to be watching a weekly space opera though!

Based on the previews, does anyone else get the impression that the plot of the show is going to consistently be the ship stops on it's own at certain planets and starts a countdown, giving them x amount of hours/days to explore before the ship (on it's own) just jumps back into warp speed travel--with or without them? Hopefully they get control of the ship and do some interesting things, as opposed to a weekly crisis heightened by a countdown to abandonment. I don't know.. I'm still excited to be watching a weekly space opera though!

I don't think it's going to be that exciting. I'm expecting weeks and weeks of bickering and backstabbing as they all complain about why they are not in charge.

I for one am glad at least there is some new sci fi out there. Show was ok. It has geeks in space working on intereasting tech and they will likely encounter some interesting dilemas. Yes there will be stuff that is familiar from other shows. But there is just so much new to come up with. Hope folks give it a chance and it sticks around, if not what are we going to watch?

But there is just so much new to come up with.

There's original & new ideas - it's the suits that keep killing them off before they get going & get a following. Babylon 5 didn't really have get its legs and build an audience until end of season 1 & season 2. If the suits would have killed it, we would have been deprived of one of the best SF shows ever done.

Other examples of shows with original-new ideas that were killed -

Virtuality
Firefly
Surface
Threshold
Odyssey 5

Its not that they aren't done. They just don't make it. So we're stuck with rehashed ideas & formulaic spin-offs, like the Stargates & even all the Star Treks. In this ratings centric environment, it's a wonder BSG did so well :rolleyes:

As far as new ideas goes, there are hundreds of really good, thought provoking novels that could be adapted for quality SF movies/series. Hollywood largely thinks successful SF shows have to be largely based on action, explosions, laser shots. And can anyone blame them? We are the ones that support the drek & mediocrity with our dollars & viewing habits.

Case in point, the incredibly silly Warehouse 13 will continue but Firefly didn't :rolleyes:
Sanctuary isn't great but at least it's more or less original ;)

How about using Ender's Game and its sequels? Or Eon or Ringworld as a series. The list of ideas is endless; only the will & boldness to try some of them is lacking.

ss9001

I'm not sure I would consider Threshold (which I loved) or Surface (not so much) as original. They are both just iterations of the "aliens invade" theme, but focusing a little more on investigation than battlefield antics.

Virtuality had no time to go anywhere, and Firefly (loved that one as well), while well written, was hardly original.

I think sci-fi is difficult to do in the visual medium because it either requires a huge budget for space battles or truely alien/futuristic designs, or a long term continuity to properly world build. Anthology shows like "The Outer Limits" works pretty well because it can take a single idea and run with it for an hour, but developing a series around that concept becomes schizophrenic (hence all of the "planet/monster/alien of the week" type shows) unless it is the CHARACTERS we care about, not the episodic event.

And of course to launch characters on a TV show they almost always have to be stereotypes of some sort. I'm intersted in SGU because aside from geek boy the rest of the characters have yet to clearly display their stereotype (other than angry minority, I suppose). Once can hope for fully fleshed, 3-D characters like we saw in BSG, but that requires such a deft touch, it is usually better if they just run with the typical suspects (wise cracking hero, technobabble nerd, emotionless logic, etc).

the typical suspects (wise cracking hero, technobabble nerd, emotionless logic, etc).

I agree with your comments as well as people characterizations ;)
While I don't care for LDP as an actor, the only character in the show I didn't really like is the geek. Too stereotypical...the others - I agree there's a lot of room for them to reveal to us, especially Rush.

I have nothing against SG-U and do intend on watching it for awhile & see where it goes.

TV SF is hard to do well & that's probably why really good ones are kind of few & far between. As far as the other shows, while Threshold was another alien invasion show, I thought it was "original" in that it wasn't the typical alien - the show's premise made it more unique.

And Surface - I can't say I loved it when it was broadcast, but it grew on me watching the DVD collection. As far as its storyline, while also not truly "original", it was different enough to be unique. If you're familiar with some of John Wyndham's novels, the show seemed to borrow some ideas from his The Kraken Awakes. Wyndham also wrote Day of the Triffids, Midwich Cuckoos (Village of the Damned), all stories about what happens to civilization when some catastrphic event occurs. IIRC, Kraken Awakes had an undersea alien invasion where they warmed the oceans to the point where widespread coastal flooding, tsunamis, etc happened, almost wiping out civilization.

My point to the poster was that there are original ideas floating around from short stories & novels that could be adapted or borrowed for TV SF & that it's not lack of ideas that's the problem for good TV SF to survive.

In fact, Stargate "sort of" borrows some ideas from the novel Eon ;)

ss9001

Case in point, the incredibly silly Warehouse 13 will continue but Firefly didn't :rolleyes:


If by incredibly silly, you mean incredibly awesome.

If by incredibly silly, you mean incredibly awesome.

Sorry, Doctor, I didn't ;)
But if you liked it, that's OK by me :)

ss9001

All this talk about originality (or lack of) reminded me that the premise of SG:U was already done on Atlantis.

They had a short arc in which Atlantis flew into space, got lost and spent many panicked days trying to figure out where they were and find a new planet to land on.

While they were flying around in an unknown star system they had to make sure the power and shield held up around damaged areas of the city and find new gates and planets to land on for supplies and tech.

Pity they ended that arc because it had potential to shake up the show and could easily have extended SG:A with all the same content SG:U is probably going to deliver.

Based on the previews, does anyone else get the impression that the plot of the show is going to consistently be the ship stops on it's own at certain planets and starts a countdown, giving them x amount of hours/days to explore before the ship (on it's own) just jumps back into warp speed travel--with or without them? Hopefully they get control of the ship and do some interesting things, as opposed to a weekly crisis heightened by a countdown to abandonment. I don't know.. I'm still excited to be watching a weekly space opera though!

That IS the premise of the show. They said this from the beginning. You shouldn't be surprised this is what they are going to be doing. They have built this up for a long time.

If you haven't read or seen anything on the show, and a lot of people probably haven't, it was a reasonable question.

I'm giving it two more outings. I've got too much stuff to watch as it is and if this is just going to be a rehash or a rehash I'm outta here. As I said early on this did not grab me and make me want to watch, but pilots often are poor examples of what the show will be. But from the pilot I see no characters that are compelling, I basically hate the set, and if any of the posts about the plot are true, it's all been done better before.

That IS the premise of the show. They said this from the beginning. You shouldn't be surprised this is what they are going to be doing. They have built this up for a long time.

Who is 'they' and when was 'the beginning'? The show just came on last week. All I heard was they were going to be cutoff, stranded.

Who is 'they' and when was 'the beginning'? The show just came on last week. All I heard was they were going to be cutoff, stranded.

They are Brad Wright and the other producers and the beginning was early last year when they announced the third installement of the Stargate franchise.

I wasn't trying to be a jerk, I just didn't follow the pre-show hype. I figured I would just watch it when it came on, based on my enjoyment of the past two SG shows.

They are Brad Wright and the other producers and the beginning was early last year when they announced the third installement of the Stargate franchise.

Thanks.

Yeah guys, I read the press releases a year ago. The producers have been talking for a LONG time on what the show was going to be about.

I hope the 2nd episode starting in 3 minutes is better than the pilot.....

No complaints for episode 2. It solidifies the can't hang around because the ship is leaving thing for the viewers. Plus the twist at the closing seconds was very interesting.

Only one complaint. The painted on sun burn also painted on the "why did I wear black?" guy's sideburn had me chuckling.

Did they ever address what happened to the two that went to the other gate address? I saw the female soldier that came thru the gate later bring a second camera ball and I thought they were going to send it to see what was up witht he duo the went to the other planet

At the very end I was a bit confused. Either they ejected the shuttle to bury, in space, the senator that saved the day or someone is off doing something sinister.

At the very end I was a bit confused. Either they ejected the shuttle to bury, in space, the senator that saved the day or someone is off doing something sinister.
Or maybe they weren't alone, who wants to bet in the time that destiny has been on it's way there have been curious alien visitors on the ship....

Two down one to go for me. This did nothing to make me want to watch the show. I've actually begun to dislike the characters.

So the ship stops where it "thinks" it needs to, OK fine. If that is the case then why does the ship not send out something to get the stuff it needs? It has floating cameras why would it not have a recon shuttle of some kind to retrieve the needed items?

Doesn't the ship have shuttles like on Atlantis? Only being able to walk around on planets near the stargate would really limit where they could reach on each planet.

I am not sure I like the crutch of the communication stones or whatever they are for them to contact Earth. From what I gather they have unlimited use. Now if you have a problem on the ship just bring Rodney McKay or Sam Carter in via the stones and have them fix it.

I will give it the first season to get its legs as I do not need instant gratification to keep me watching.

Doesn't the ship have shuttles like on Atlantis? Only being able to walk around on planets near the stargate would really limit where they could reach on each planet.

That has been a problem with SG1 as well. It seems they only explore around a gate and leave the points thousands of miles out on a planet unexplored although I do remember one episode where they mentioned that they brought an aerial or orbital probe thru for wider exploration.

The biggest thing that the Stargate series never has addressed is that English is the universal language. The never even tried to use some technobabble to explain that.

As much as I want to like this show and give it a chance, this second episode was pretty uninspiring and mediocre at best.
They are certainly going to have to do much better than this if they want this series to get of the ground.
The preview for next week show certainly didn't give me much hope.
The best thing about this entire SGU episode IMO, was that it was followed by a good season premiere of Sanctuary.

Two down one to go for me. This did nothing to make me want to watch the show. I've actually begun to dislike the characters.

About the same for me. I've decided I really don't like Eli. Unless he evolves past the smartass young adult stereotype, I'll probably want to see bad things happen to him ;)

As much as I want to like this show and give it a chance, this second episode was pretty uninspiring and mediocre at best.


Agree with your sentiment as well. Just not very exciting. Seems like the writers tried to do something similar as "33" in BSG but it had no drama, no tension, nothing to grab the viewer and make them care. And they didn't even find the CaCO3 on their own, needing some unexplained vision, intelligence or symbolic religious "dust devil" to show the way that just happens to only appear to someone with a guilt complex :rolleyes:

The deal about the soldiers not trusting Rush will quickly get old since the group obviously needs a scientist if they want to get back to Earth.

The "stones" are hilarious as a plot device.....total cop out to allow the usual SG characters make cameo appearances....please give us a break. It's just too convenient. Not only are all the laws of physics being broken (not even a wormhole to explain how this transference happens), but it's just too fantastical. If the Ancients could beam around or project holographic images over light-years in real time with these stones, then why the need for a clunky ship that merely goes faster-than-light?

ss9001

The best thing about this entire SGU episode IMO, was that it was followed by a good season premiere of Sanctuary.

Recorded & will be watching this today.

Two down one to go for me. This did nothing to make me want to watch the show. I've actually begun to dislike the characters.

So the ship stops where it "thinks" it needs to, OK fine. If that is the case then why does the ship not send out something to get the stuff it needs? It has floating cameras why would it not have a recon shuttle of some kind to retrieve the needed items?

I thought they made a point of saying in the first two hours that it had two shuttles and one was damaged, which is where the senator was.

That has been a problem with SG1 as well. It seems they only explore around a gate and leave the points thousands of miles out on a planet unexplored although I do remember one episode where they mentioned that they brought an aerial or orbital probe thru for wider exploration.

The biggest thing that the Stargate series never has addressed is that English is the universal language. The never even tried to use some technobabble to explain that.

It was semi explained from all the humans originating from earth. But also not all the aliens spoke english.

About the same for me. I've decided I really don't like Eli. Unless he evolves past the smartass young adult stereotype, I'll probably want to see bad things happen to him ;)



Agree with your sentiment as well. Just not very exciting. Seems like the writers tried to do something similar as "33" in BSG but it had no drama, no tension, nothing to grab the viewer and make them care. And they didn't even find the CaCO3 on their own, needing some unexplained vision, intelligence or symbolic religious "dust devil" to show the way that just happens to only appear to someone with a guilt complex :rolleyes:

The deal about the soldiers not trusting Rush will quickly get old since the group obviously needs a scientist if they want to get back to Earth.

The "stones" are hilarious as a plot device.....total cop out to allow the usual SG characters make cameo appearances....please give us a break. It's just too convenient. Not only are all the laws of physics being broken (not even a wormhole to explain how this transference happens), but it's just too fantastical. If the Ancients could beam around or project holographic images over light-years in real time with these stones, then why the need for a clunky ship that merely goes faster-than-light?

ss9001

Becasue you take over the body of someone else. And it would need to be a willing participant. The original stones were introduced a long time ago on SG1. Back in season one in 1997. And they also had them in season 8 and season 9 of SG1.

These newer stones seems to be new stones that were reverse engineered from the ones introduced on SG1. The box they place them on isn't what originally was used in the past. Plus they didn't have that many before.

According to Wiki "The Communication stones were devices created by the Alterans before their society divided into the Ancients and the Ori."

So is this show worth watching or now?

:confused:

Becasue you take over the body of someone else. And it would need to be a willing participant. The original stones were introduced a long time ago on SG1. Back in season one in 1997. And they also had them in season 8 and season 9 of SG1.

These newer stones seems to be new stones that were reverse engineered from the ones introduced on SG1. The box they place them on isn't what originally was used in the past. Plus they didn't have that many before.

According to Wiki "The Communication stones were devices created by the Alterans before their society divided into the Ancients and the Ori."

Thanks for the explanation :)

I thought SG was supposed to be more or less "hard" sci-fi. Maybe that's why I liked Atlantis much more than SG1.

I accept Sanctuary for what it is - fantasy.

BTW - I also enjoyed Torchwood Children of Earth :)

So is this show worth watching or now?

:confused:

That is the question ;)
For me, it's too early to tell. You only have 2 reruns to catch up on so you could try it and see if it appeals to your tastes.

I think it is a cut above the usual stuff and worth watching. It actually seems to have some thought behind the story and taking time to set things up that are yet to come. Some people on this thread I think already had their minds made up that they were going to dislike the show and no matter what the writers do at this point will claim the show is bad. For me I came into it open minded and am pleasantly surprised.

Remember though as what we have seen was supposd to be a three hour movie event to kick the series off which they trimmed the last hour off to make it a stand alone episode.
I want to give the writers/producers time to breath and it will be interesting to see where this is at around episode 12-13.

So is this show worth watching or now?

:confused:

Worth seeing if you don't mind being bored.

I agree that viewers should at least try to give this some more time before possibly dismissing this as a failure.
Personally I think that the majority of viewers had much higher expectations for these last 3 episodes.
I would even speculate that the majority of viewers still haven't felt swayed or hooked by this series yet.
While this is not a requirement for success by any means, most of the series I have faithfully watched have hooked me in right from the start.
This certainly is not the case with this series.

Two down one to go for me. This did nothing to make me want to watch the show. I've actually begun to dislike the characters.

So the ship stops where it "thinks" it needs to, OK fine. If that is the case then why does the ship not send out something to get the stuff it needs? It has floating cameras why would it not have a recon shuttle of some kind to retrieve the needed items?

I dont think the ship is that advanced. As explained in the 1st episode, the ship stops where it detects Stargates. It is also able to tell which Stargates are "safe" and which are not. It does this because of the ships that came before it and laid out the Stargates. I am guessing the prior ships also left markers on which planets were habital for humans and which were not. The locked out Stargates are on the Planets that are not habitable for whatever pre determined reason. It is not fully automated or self sustaining, or it wouldnt ahve been in the beat up condition it was in.

The shuttel thing was also in the 1st episode, one was damaged and the other the Senator is in. The room that they are housed has a leak which makes it nearly impossible for them to access the shuttles. The orbs can only be controlled by the handheld devices.


GOing to stick with this for a litte while as the show is new and hasn not really gotten much beyond the main episode. There are a few things that bug me, but for now Ill stick with it.

Wow, again the negative response. I'm a little shocked by this and still think this leaps and bounds better than SG-1 and Atlantis. I didn't take those shows serious...they weren't serious shows. They were just fun, campy, little romps around alien worlds where no-one really died and there were no real consequences to things since everyone also survived in the end. They were fun to watch but hardly gratifying. This show, on the other hand, has real consequence and just seems so much more realistic than Atlantis and SG-1. I find some of the plot-points a little weak (the stones being the weakest part) but the entire tone and themes of human survival are so much more interesting than the exploration themes of Atlantis and SG-1. Honestly, I don't even care if there aren't any bad guys in SGU. They would easily wipe out the humans on the ship.

I don't think people are watching this show with an open mind and were just expecting a continuation of the Atlantis or SG-1 sagas. I think you need to give up that expectation because this show is not going to be like those. There are no Ori, there are no Raith. This is a show, much like Battlestar, about human survival and the psychology of being alone in the Universe (I do wish they were more alone, meaning they were without the stones).

I'm in it for the long haul...I really like this show.

Also, while everyone rolls their eyes at this show...what was the ship that detached from the main ship in the closing seconds of the show? Is there something/someone still on the ship?

Some reports say it was not one of the shuttles but another ship entirely. As they have not explored a lot of the ship who knows if they are really alone?

I do miss it having a big opening theme though. SG1 and Atlantis had fantastic opening theme songs and the one from Atlantis got an emmy nomination.

I would think everyone speaks English just to save time. The stones would be ok if they had a limited life span, only used a handful of times before they are toast. Since they seem to be unlimited, wouldn't they be able to tap in to them for power of some kind. I rather have power than see LDP.

Some reports say it was not one of the shuttles but another ship entirely. As they have not explored a lot of the ship who knows if they are really alone?


Also, it left the mother ship while they were in "hyperspace" (or whatever). I thought they couldn't do that while they were in "faster than light" travel!?!?!

I do miss it having a big opening theme though. SG1 and Atlantis had fantastic opening theme songs and the one from Atlantis got an emmy nomination.

Me too! I love opening themes (for some reason), and especially the Atlantis one was one of my all time favorites.

Me too! I love opening themes (for some reason), and especially the Atlantis one was one of my all time favorites.

Agreed!

Those ancient stones may have be fine in the campy sort of atmosphere in Sg1 and Atlantis, but they ruin the more "serious" tone this show is trying to go for. Other than that Im not sure why everyone isnt as gung-hu for this show as I am especially with zero space scifi shows out there right now.

The stones could easily be lost in a future episode.....
It feels like they are spacing things out alot in this series, 1st episode finding issues, 2nd "finding" oxygen, 3rd finding power. They will need food at some point too, maybe they could use those seeds someone brought along with them.....

The stones could easily be lost in a future episode.....
It feels like they are spacing things out alot in this series, 1st episode finding issues, 2nd "finding" oxygen, 3rd finding power. They will need food at some point too, maybe they could use those seeds someone brought along with them.....

I seen the episode titles for the majority of the first 20 episodes and if I recall most if not all are one word.

Be funny if it turns out that those ancient crates have all the spare parts they need to fix the ship, but they just didn't bother to check them out.:p
Not that they would have had the time to go through them to find what they needed to fix the life support, though.

So is this show worth watching or now?

:confused:

:eek::eek:

Of course it is!!:D

Anything with Stargate is worth watching!!:D

Although I guess I'm biased;)
I always use an SG1 avatar on the forums I frequent.:D

Be funny if it turns out that those ancient crates have all the spare parts they need to fix the ship, but they just didn't bother to check them out.:p
Not that they would have had the time to go through them to find what they needed to fix the life support, though.

:DI was thinking that during the first epsisode, but they never touched on them again.

I have issues with the ship itself.

Considering that an advanced race like the ancients had the ability to create a ship to explore the universe, following a path created by a previous Stargate seed ship. They would build such ships to last the eternity it would take to perform this task. Therefore there would have to be automated systems (bots) to repair both inside and outside the ship. As with Atlantis the ship would be beautiful not some bucket of bolts with low ceilings and dark gloomy hallways. The Atlantian’s just did not build ships like Destiny!

And where is the ancient gene! Not once has anyone mentioned that?

I can deal with bad plot lines, but screw with my ancient technology and that’s an issue :mad:



my .02 cents

My problem with Atlantis is that it was not nearly impressive enough for being one of the last places the Ancients lived. By making the Destiny over 100,000 years old, and it having been through a fight or something, it at least seems more plausable as being from the Ancients to me.

That said, I very much enjoyed SG-1, SG-A, and so far, SG-U. (Was pretty shocked when Atlantis got suddenly cancelled though. And no continuation on DVD/Blu-Ray so far either...)

Upcomming episode titles:

Darkness
Light
Water
Earth
Time
Life
Justice
Space
Divided
Faith
Human
Lost
Sabotage
Pain
Subversion
Incursion Pt 1 & 2

What the...those have to be some of the worst show titles I've seen. Pain? Really? Lol. For some reason I'm picturing the Hulk looking around pointing and saying, "Light," "Water," "Pain," "Human."

I didn't take those shows serious...they weren't serious shows. They were just fun, campy, little romps around alien worlds where no-one really died and there were no real consequences to things since everyone also survived in the end. They were fun to watch but hardly gratifying.
You are absolutely right. The first two SG shows were just campy fun. But at least they were entertaining.

The problem with SGU, for me anyway, is that while it's trying hard not to be campy fun, the writers just aren't good enough to make it work. Instead, we wind up with a show that looks the part of a more serious drama, but it still feels campy, which isn't a good combination. I'm all for a more serious SG, but this is just melodramatic dreck. Take, for example, the scene with Chloe trying to tell the mom that the dad was dead. The mom was drinking and Chloe kept saying (in an over-the-top way), "Stop mom, just stop!" What? Why? That scene would have played the same emotionally if the mom was just holding a pen. It was over-dramatic for the sake of being over-dramatic, and I was actually lol'ing. Though, honestly, part of that is because Chloe just isn't a great actress either.

Another example is when Rush and crew came through the gate with the dude who got shot, and when they asked what happened, Rush said in this confrontational tone, "Greer, Greer shot him" or something like that. Again...what? Why? Nothing's going to become of that because shooting him was the obvious choice, but they made it sound like Rush was trying to insinuate something more. Again, maybe it was the acting, or maybe something was left on the cutting room floor. But it was odd and over-dramatic. By the way, speaking of the planet, nice to see that randomly choosing one of 360 different directions worked out so well for them.

I''m giving it a couple more episodes before I drop it. I usually hate aliens but they'd be a welcome change right about now.

What the...those have to be some of the worst show titles I've seen. Pain? Really? Lol. For some reason I'm picturing the Hulk looking around pointing and saying, "Light," "Water," "Pain," "Human."


You are absolutely right. The first two SG shows were just campy fun. But at least they were entertaining.

The problem with SGU, for me anyway, is that while it's trying hard not to be campy fun, the writers just aren't good enough to make it work. Instead, we wind up with a show that looks the part of a more serious drama, but it still feels campy, which isn't a good combination. I'm all for a more serious SG, but this is just melodramatic dreck. Take, for example, the scene with Chloe trying to tell the mom that the dad was dead. The mom was drinking and Chloe kept saying (in an over-the-top way), "Stop mom, just stop!" What? Why? That scene would have played the same emotionally if the mom was just holding a pen. It was over-dramatic for the sake of being over-dramatic, and I was actually lol'ing. Though, honestly, part of that is because Chloe just isn't a great actress either.

Another example is when Rush and crew came through the gate with the dude who got shot, and when they asked what happened, Rush said in this confrontational tone, "Greer, Greer shot him" or something like that. Again...what? Why? Nothing's going to become of that because shooting him was the obvious choice, but they made it sound like Rush was trying to insinuate something more. Again, maybe it was the acting, or maybe something was left on the cutting room floor. But it was odd and over-dramatic. By the way, speaking of the planet, nice to see that randomly choosing one of 360 different directions worked out so well for them.

I''m giving it a couple more episodes before I drop it. I usually hate aliens but they'd be a welcome change right about now.

Learning that one's spouse has just died and that one's daughter is stranded and possibly about to die, far away, is a very dramatic situation. And I assumed Chloe didn't want mom to self-destruct over it by inhaling hard liquor. (Reading into it that she may have already had a drinking problem.) As such, I was fine with that scene.

I don't know why Rush said that. Got me there...

Planet -- wasn't random. That intelligence embodied by the swirling sand helped them...

Learning that one's spouse has just died and that one's daughter is stranded and possibly about to die, far away, is a very dramatic situation. And I assumed Chloe didn't want mom to self-destruct over it by inhaling hard liquor. (Reading into it that she may have already had a drinking problem.) As such, I was fine with that scene.

I don't know why Rush said that. Got me there...

Planet -- wasn't random. That intelligence embodied by the swirling sand helped them...

I agree. It would be dramatic, but the way it was done was melodramatic. Nothing about this seems natural to me: http://www.hulu.com/watch/101186/stargate-universe-air-part-3?c=743:819

And I thought about the alcoholic angle too, but then that's just pouring it on even more, especially with the music. You know those faux-Emmy scenes comedy shows do that include like every bad/depressing thing that could happen to a person in a scene, and then they pile on the over-acting and the sappy music for added effect? That's what I was thinking of when I was watching that. Probably why I lol'ed. :p

Edit: Kinda like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNkdVtmZxk0 lol

And on the planet, that sand thing appeared later. In the beginning,they just picked some random direction and started walking. For all they knew it could have been like 50 feet right behind the gate.

............
Another example is when Rush and crew came through the gate with the dude who got shot, and when they asked what happened, Rush said in this confrontational tone, "Greer, Greer shot him" or something like that. Again...what? Why? Nothing's going to become of that because shooting him was the obvious choice, but they made it sound like Rush was trying to insinuate something more. Again, maybe it was the acting, or maybe something was left on the cutting room floor. But it was odd and over-dramatic. By the way, speaking of the planet, nice to see that randomly choosing one of 360 different directions worked out so well for them.

I''m giving it a couple more episodes before I drop it. I usually hate aliens but they'd be a welcome change right about now.

I figured RUSH said that to get him in trouble and two he probably hoped that Greer would not make it back. He was pissed at Greer for pushing him plus pointing a gun at him. So it seemed to make perfect sense. But they didn't touch on it anymore. Maybe the next episode they will reference it.

This is a show, much like Battlestar, about human survival and the psychology of being alone in the Universe (I do wish they were more alone, meaning they were without the stones).

Except it's not. It's a show that the writers think has deep meaning and significance but they aren't skilled enough to write that, so it's a basic space soap taking all of it's style cues from BSG and throwing in some pretentious visions to make it look smarter than it is.

Writing serious SF is done on an exponential curve. The more serious you try to make it, the more logical and well though out the story and premise has to be. So far this show is no more logical than the fun romps of existing SG series - just done with more grime, miserable characters and forced conflict to generate "drama."

It's still full of illogical character decisions and plotting as others have pointed out. I was watching this and wondering why they didn't start walking to the mountain range that was clearly visible, instead of just walking into the middle of nowhere. The remote camera use made no sense - two characters vanish and are not followed. The sand devil was a useless throwaway device which seemed dropped in just to make the empty wasteland slightly more interesting. They apparently only have one scrubber for the entire ship. No DHD on the planet and no apparent reason to build a gate there. The list goes on.

For the third episode it was okay but nothing special. What can you do when you purposely write an episode that involves six characters wandering through barren sand looking for some other sand?

Except it's not. It's a show that the writers think has deep meaning and significance but they aren't skilled enough to write that, so it's a basic space soap taking all of it's style cues from BSG and throwing in some pretentious visions to make it look smarter than it is.

Writing serious SF is done on an exponential curve. The more serious you try to make it, the more logical and well though out the story and premise has to be. So far this show is no more logical than the fun romps of existing SG series - just done with more grime, miserable characters and forced conflict to generate "drama."

It's still full of illogical character decisions and plotting as others have pointed out. I was watching this and wondering why they didn't start walking to the mountain range that was clearly visible, instead of just walking into the middle of nowhere. The remote camera use made no sense - two characters vanish and are not followed. The sand devil was a useless throwaway device which seemed dropped in just to make the empty wasteland slightly more interesting. They apparently only have one scrubber for the entire ship. No DHD on the planet and no apparent reason to build a gate there. The list goes on.

For the third episode it was okay but nothing special. What can you do when you purposely write an episode that involves six characters wandering through barren sand looking for some other sand?

They didn't walk to the mountains because they were looking for a dry river/lake bed. The dry water bed had what they needed to get the life support working on the ship. Going to the mountains wouldn't have helped them get life support working. And without the life support working they would perish.

The DHD seemed to be a portable device. The gates were put there many, many thousands of years ago. Things changes over thousands of years. Like where there was a river or a lake becoming a desert.

On SG1 and SGA they also showed gates on planets that were barren now. Those planets had changed too over the course of thousands of years. This is nothing new on the Stargate shows.

Who would want to follow those characters without knowing if they could get back. They made a foolish decision. Even if you had the remote device follow them, as soon as the wormhole closed you would lose contact. They used the remote device to look at the place where the wormhole opened before going through.

My only gripe is that they weren't mentioned later on in the show. They were obviously short on time with the ship leaving and getting the life support working on the ship was the priority. Not the two foolish people walking through the gate to another planet without knowing if they can get back.

I enjoyed it. We have 2 people missing and a shuttle launching at the end. Many people have noticed that they think "something"has been watching them.

Guess now we know how Lou Diamond Phillips is going to be on the show but left behind :)

I enjoyed it. We have 2 people missing and a shuttle launching at the end. Many people have noticed that they think "something"has been watching them.


My bet is those two people will make a reappearance later on, perhaps needing rescue from whatever dire straits their impatience put them in. There's one week's plotline.

And I agree that the shuttle departing at the end indicates that someone has been watching, or helping, them. Either that entity can take non-corporeal form and apparently move around without the stargate (begging the question of what it needs a shuttle for), or it has technology it can operate remotely. Finding the lake bed due to a vision seemingly plucked from Scott's head was no coincidence.

I enjoyed this episode. The struggle to even breath on one of these old ships is such a welcome to change to the formula Atlantis had fallen into at the end. The one thing I noticed that I really enjoyed was the background noise of the ship. It gives the show a sense of place that helps to add to overall weight of the show.

I think if they want to ratchet up the stakes for the viewers, they're going to have to start killing off some of the superfluous characters. If a few of them had died from lack of oxygen, it would have packed a heavier emotional punch. LOST knocked off a few of their background survivors (known as "socks") periodically and by the fifth season ended they had gotten rid of nearly all of 'em in various nasty, and entertaining, ways. :p

I want to say that the ancient ship has been on its way for hundred of millions if not a couple billion years. While the Stargate writers have always been smart enough to know the difference between a solar system and a galaxy (cough Firefly) they, as a lot of writers do, tend to mak a galaxy something that can be explored in a couple years. With hundreds of millions of stars ( a trillion in some super large galaxies) one could spend many thousands of years on one galaxy alone. Then tie in to the fact that estimates say there are 150 billion to a possible trillion or more galaxies, one just has to laugh at the idea of exploring the entire universe yet alone hundred/thousands of galaxies.

I want to say that the ancient ship has been on its way for hundred of millions if not a couple billion years. While the Stargate writers have always been smart enough to know the difference between a solar system and a galaxy (cough Firefly) they, as a lot of writers do, tend to mak a galaxy something that can be explored in a couple years. With hundreds of millions of stars ( a trillion in some super large galaxies) one could spend many thousands of years on one galaxy alone. Then tie in to the fact that estimates say there are 150 billion to a possible trillion or more galaxies, one just has to laugh at the idea of exploring the entire universe yet alone hundred/thousands of galaxies.

Yeah, considering the galaxy is by itself almost unfathomably big, and the space between galaxies even more incomprehensibly vast, it seems like overkill to make the ancients come from a different one altogether. What's the point? Run out of worlds to explore in their neck of the cosmic woods?

But you're wrong about 'Firefly'. The basic science was more or less correct. They flew around in a very large solar system with a big number of habitable worlds and moons in a large temperate belt, some of them terraformed. They covered that in the introduction/exposition bit preceding most episodes. There are surely systems like that out there among millions of stars; why wouldn't there be? And there were, thankfully, no bumpy headed bi-pedal aliens speaking perfect English. Of course, all the places they visited looked a lot like the American southwest, but that's where they were filming a TV show. ;)

Here is part of the original monlougue opening for Firefly which was changed a few episodes in to the run after internet uproar of the galaxy instead of solar system bit. WIth the DVD I think they dropped the monoluge completly.

"Here's how it is: (The) Earth got used up, so we (moved out, and) terraformed a whole new GALAXY of Earths, some rich and flush with new technologies, some not so much. (The) Central Planets, them was formed the Alliance, waged war to bring everyone under their rule; a few idiots tried to fight it, among them myself. I'm Malcolm Reynolds, captain of the Serenity. (She's a transport ship, firefly class.) Got a good crew: fighters, pilot, mechanic. We even picked up a preacher (for some reason), and a bona fide companion. There's a doctor, too, took his genius sister from some Alliance camp, so they're keeping a low profile(, you understand). You got a job, we can do it, don't much

which was changed to:
"
After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system and hundreds of new Earths were terraformed and colonized. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the War, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out here, people struggled to get by with the most basic technologies; a ship would bring you work, a gun would help you keep it. A captain's goal was simple: find a crew, find a job, keep flying.......and so forth

They didn't walk to the mountains because they were looking for a dry river/lake bed. The dry water bed had what they needed to get the life support working on the ship. Going to the mountains wouldn't have helped them get life support working. And without the life support working they would perish.

And a lake can be located anywhere, but they only guessed that's why had been directed to the planet.

For all they knew there could have been an Ancient spare parts mountain repository located in the other direction. If the choice is heading towards absolutely nothing at the risk of dying in the direct sunlight and walking towards a significant landscape formation then that's an easy choice. They even split up and then both parties wandered off randomly into nowhere, which was just stupid.

The show is interesting to me since it's in the Stargate universe - but they haven't gripped me the way the Atlantis pilot did.

I think part of the problem as already stated is that in the previous two series, no matter how serious, they managed to get some humor into it. SG-U has been heavy handed and is crewed by the most unlikable bunch of morose and unlikable people out of the 3 shows. I honestly don't care who lives or dies. Plus here there is no discernable enemy other than the ship itself, which wouldn't be so bad if we actually gave a damn.

They didn't walk to the mountains because they were looking for a dry river/lake bed. The dry water bed had what they needed to get the life support working on the ship. Going to the mountains wouldn't have helped them get life support working. And without the life support working they would perish.


Well, they could have walked to Alamogordo.

Anyway, I'll give you 5:2 that the dust devil is an Ancient skirting the non-interference rules.

And I don't like this show so far. I don't care for the characters, I hate the way it is filmed, and the whole running countdown element makes me think of Sliders. It misses everything that I liked about SG-1.

The show is interesting to me since it's in the Stargate universe - but they haven't gripped me the way the Atlantis pilot did.
At least here are no Vampires this time around.

Anyway, I'll give you 5:2 that the dust devil is an Ancient skirting the non-interference rules.
I was hoping for a real scientific reason, like the composition of the desired substance was different enough that the wind would disturb pockets of it and not the regular sand. (and that the guy was hallucinating)

+1 on the no vampires.

The DHD seemed to be a portable device. The gates were put there many, many thousands of years ago. Things changes over thousands of years. Like where there was a river or a lake becoming a desert.

Over thousands of years, that gate would have been buried a long time ago.

I think if they want to ratchet up the stakes for the viewers, they're going to have to start killing off some of the superfluous characters. If a few of them had died from lack of oxygen, it would have packed a heavier emotional punch. LOST knocked off a few of their background survivors (known as "socks") periodically and by the fifth season ended they had gotten rid of nearly all of 'em in various nasty, and entertaining, ways. :p

At this point they all could die and it would not ratchet up anything. The best they could come up with was a mystical sand creature? Then couple that with teen pregnancy and abortion? And toss in some dead parents to boot along with a priest that killed himself? Kind of laying it on a little thick wouldn't you say?

Stargate Universe grows, beats Dollhouse again

The second week of Stargate Universe did substantially better than the series premiere, according to Syfy, bucking the usual TV trend of shows dropping off after their debut episode. Universe showed a modest 4 percent growth in total viewers with just shy of 2.5 million people watching. But it made a huge gain of 22 percent among viewers ages 18-49 and 13 percent in the 25-54 age range.

The data include viewers who watched the show either live or on DVR the same day it aired. Those numbers will probably increase again when the "Live +7" data becomes available, which will show how many people watched it during the first week it aired.

Syfy said Universe once gain beat Fox's struggling series Dollhouse head to head in total viewers as well as in the 18-49 and 25-54 age groups. Dollhouse finished the night with 2,235,000 million total viewers.

These were the best ratings for the Stargate franchise since the Aug. 5, 2005, episode of Stargate: Atlantis, which aired before DVR measurement was included in ratings.

http://scifiwire.com/2009/10/stargate-universe-grows-b.php

Well, they could have walked to Alamogordo.

Yup

2 yrs ago my wife & I visited NM & spent some time at White Sands. And the dunes really are mostly calcium sulfate, gypsum, so the SG writers kept that fact as part of the episode.

We also stopped in Roswell & they had a Stargate in the UFO museum ;) :D
just kidding!

ss9001

Over thousands of years, that gate would have been buried a long time ago.

Well now you want it to be too realistic.:D

Although one could argue that the sand people kept it clear over the years.

Figured I'd pipe in. I only watched the pilot last night, but figured I'd post my thoughts anyways (sorry, haven't read the rest of the thread due to spoilers about the 2nd ep I haven't watched).

First of all, it of course reminds me of Voyager. No surprises there.

I like most of the characters, even if some are overboard and cliche. Was surprised (but glad) to see the cliche politician die right away. I also don't think the fat kid has enough charisma or wit to be this show's McKay or O'Neil but maybe he will grow into the part. Like I said, I've only watched the pilot so far.

As for the show itself, I am interested in it, for sure. I have some issues (that ship does not look like an ancient ship at all (bucket of bolts and not very sleek/elegant), and why have we never seen those Phantasm balls before? And they would be cooler if they were Phantasm balls rather than camera balls. I'm not entirely convinced the ship is actually Ancient, I guess, but that could be part of the show's intrigue, if that is the case.

All-in-all, I thought it was a solid pilot though, despite some flaws.

My only other complaint (non-show related) is SyFy's continuing skydive into the screen clutter abyss. So sick of the annoying popups and the "Now: Stargate Universe" and "Next Week: All new Sanctuary" crap all over the screen. And there seemed to be a LOT of commercial breaks for the pilot, although I'm sure subsequent eps will be better in that regard.

I don't like how they are filming the communication stone scenes. I just don't like how they use the normal actor instead of the person they are replacing by using the stones. The scene with the mother would have been much better if it wasn't actually the actor playing her daughter standing there but the person she had replaced. I know the mom wasn't able to see her but, from a viewers stand point, it would have been more dramatic for us to see the other person as well. My other problem is, people seem to just accept what is going one and not question if the person is who they really claim to be. The mom just seemed to accept that it was her daughter too quickly IMO, almost like these stones are a common house hold items. Just would have been nice to see a bit more resistance from the mom in that scene.

The stone usage is going to get old really fast. If they are suppose to be stranded then make them really stranded. With the stones the way they are using them so far, they could still go and catch a movie if they wanted to or go to TGI Fridays when they are bored of being lost on the ship. Ends up being a poor mans holodeck.

Other then the stones, I think the show is good, not great, but good. Plus, there is not a lot of space SciFi to choose from right now and I need my weekly fix.

At least with the stones t can keep morale up. If they were totally isolated, it would be extremely depressing for the characters to the point.

By having a tie to earth, it gives them more hope.

Plus it gives them a way to possibly have other Stargate characters appear on the show.

They need a hot babe or two. All the best Sci-fi's have a couple of babes for eye candy. Don't they know that nerds are horny?

Ming-na is hot in a scrawny way. There is always aliens hotness to add as needed.

Good news on the ratings up-tick. That is unusual to go UP on the second week. Here's hoping that trend continues.

They need a hot babe or two. All the best Sci-fi's have a couple of babes for eye candy. Don't they know that nerds are horny?

I think Elyse Levesque is fairly hot....

I think Elyse Levesque is fairly hot....

A hot babe is only eye candy if you get to see the good parts. But maybe there is some potential there. :D

A hot babe is only eye candy if you get to see the good parts. But maybe there is some potential there. :D

Here ya go for just a tad more......

Ming-Na has always been hot, and Elyse is definitely cute. Alaina Huffman was fairly hot in Smallville as Black Canary (though not as smokin' as Black Canary should have been), but they need to get her out of that uniform. :)

I'm liking this show overall; they seem to be straying from the lighter Stargate formula, which is fine with me. I enjoyed RDA's cameo last week; he was all business, very military -- none of the cutesy stuff he's known for, which got old quite a while ago, especially after he became a general.

Definitely some potential, but it's been starting off a little slow. I understand that character development is needed, but if they don't have enough action or appeal, they won't have the ratings needed to keep them on the air. Look what happened to the Terminator series. Just as it was picking up, it got canceled. They've got to pull the viewers in at the start to have a hope of building a following. A show like this doesn't usually pick up viewers as it goes. It needs to rope them in now. Show a little skin. Blow up a few things. Average Joe loves those things. They can have a dark side like BSG if they want, but even BSG had plenty of action and babes from day one.

What good is a good show (if that's what it ends up being) if it just ends up canceled for low ratings?

They've got to pull the viewers in at the start to have a hope of building a following.

What makes you think it's off to a slow start? A few negative opinions in this thread?

Stargate Universe grows, beats Dollhouse again

The second week of Stargate Universe did substantially better than the series premiere, according to Syfy, bucking the usual TV trend of shows dropping off after their debut episode. Universe showed a modest 4 percent growth in total viewers with just shy of 2.5 million people watching. But it made a huge gain of 22 percent among viewers ages 18-49 and 13 percent in the 25-54 age range.

The data include viewers who watched the show either live or on DVR the same day it aired. Those numbers will probably increase again when the "Live +7" data becomes available, which will show how many people watched it during the first week it aired.

Syfy said Universe once gain beat Fox's struggling series Dollhouse head to head in total viewers as well as in the 18-49 and 25-54 age groups. Dollhouse finished the night with 2,235,000 million total viewers.

These were the best ratings for the Stargate franchise since the Aug. 5, 2005, episode of Stargate: Atlantis, which aired before DVR measurement was included in ratings.

http://scifiwire.com/2009/10/stargat...se-grows-b.php

What makes you think it's off to a slow start?

Just my personal opinion.
A few negative opinions in this thread?

Others' opinions are their own and do not change mine.



I hope the author of the article you posted is correct. Although it seems slow to me so far, I'd like to see it catch on. I believe that it has potential.

Just my personal opinion.


Others' opinions are their own and do not change mine.



I hope the author of the article you posted is correct. Although it seems slow to me so far, I'd like to see it catch on. I believe that it has potential.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mgms-stargate-universe-ratings-blast-off-64012692.html

MGM's 'Stargate Universe' Ratings Blast Off

New Installment of Fan Franchise Favorite Scores Impressive Ratings in U.S., UK, Australia and Canada, While Attracting a Whole New Generation of Young Fans

Best Franchise Premiere Performance in Four Years - U.S.

Biggest 'Stargate' Audience in Almost Five Years - UK

Highest Rated Single Episode Ever - Canada

One of the Highest Rated Shows for the Week on Pay Television - Australia

Download image LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Edgier in tone and sporting a versatile and high profile cast, MGM's hour-long, sci-fi series Stargate Universe (SGU) is on the fast track to becoming the most successful installment in Stargate franchise history. Reporting impressive debuts in the U.S., the UK, Canada and Australia, SGU is attracting a large number of younger viewers and proving that a new generation of fans is embracing the next era of Stargate.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20011119/MGMLOGO)

"With this success, SGU continues to be a very important franchise in the MGM family along with James Bond, Pink Panther, The Hobbit and Rocky," said Gary Marenzi, Co-President, MGM Worldwide Television. "We anticipate global success for the series as SGU continues its roll out around the world and we are thrilled that younger audiences worldwide are discovering and embracing our very addictive series."

"Many of our characters are younger, inexperienced and should not be on this mission," added Brad Wright, co-creator of SGU. "This opens the door to relationships and storylines that younger audiences want to see."

SGU debuted in the U.S. on Syfy to the best franchise premiere performance in four years, drawing more than 2.3 million viewers. The series grabbed 2.35 million total viewers with 1.32 million Adults 25-54, and 1.12 million Adults 18-49 during its two-hour debut.

In Canada, SGU premiered on SPACE with a record breaking audience of 565,000 making it SPACE's highest rated single episode ever. SGU was the #1 non-sports specialty program of the day for Adults 25-54 and A18-49. SPACE is the Canadian English language cable television specialty channel owned and operated by CTVglobemedia.

Launching on Sky1 in the UK, SGU delivered 1,042,000 viewers for episode one and 961,000 for episode two, earning the series the biggest "Stargate" audience in almost five years.

In Australia, SGU was the best performing show on the Sci-Fi pay television platform, posting a 6.4% share. This performance represented an increase of 411% in the time slot (Fridays 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.) versus the previous programming of the last four weeks. SGU is well on its way of being one of the highest rated shows for the week on pay television in Australia.

SGU represents the next frontier for the legions of Stargate fans. The series is decidedly smarter, edgier and more youthful in tone and takes the franchise into a dynamic new direction. The dramatic series is fueled with complex plot twists, suspenseful cliffhangers and an all-star cast that includes Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, Trainspotting, 28 Weeks Later), Lou Diamond Phillips (Che, La Bamba) and Ming-Na (ER, Vanished).

Based on the 1994 feature film "Stargate," MGM's sci-fi franchise was born in 1997 when "Stargate SG-1" (SG-1) made its television premiere on Showtime. After five seasons, the series moved to the Sci-Fi Channel where the award-winning drama ran until 2007. With 10 seasons and 214 episodes, SG-1 surpassed "The X-Files" in 2007 as the longest-running North American science fiction series on television. The next chapter in the Stargate franchise, "Stargate Atlantis," premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel and The Movie Network in 2004. With five seasons and 100 episodes under its belt; the series ended its successful run in January 2009.

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries, is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world's largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Domestic Networks LLC, MGM Distribution Co, MGM International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Worldwide Digital Media, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching nearly 120 countries. MGM ownership is as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%), TPG (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more information, visit http://www.mgm.com/

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mgms-stargate-universe-ratings-blast-off-64012692.html

Wow! I didn't think it was THAT good. Enjoyed it, but not overly impressed. Just have high hopes.

Thanks for the link.

"Many of our characters are younger, inexperienced and should not be on this mission," added Brad Wright, co-creator of SGU. "This opens the door to relationships and storylines that younger audiences want to see."

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mgms-stargate-universe-ratings-blast-off-64012692.html

So why were they picked?

With the exception of the senator's entourage, Eli and Ming Na, who were just visiting Icarus, everyone else had been given a long-term off-world assignment to uncover the secret of the other gate.

So did the selection process get a lot more relaxed for highly classified top secret interstellar missions since Atlantis went off air? If they were not qualified for an SG mission they shouldn't have been there to begin with. Age shouldn't be a factor.

Again an example of the creators not thinking in terms of premise just in terms of superficial style.

Just to be clear, that is an MGM press release above so it's obviously going to lean toward the great and spectacular.

So why were they picked?

With the exception of the senator's entourage, Eli and Ming Na, who were just visiting Icarus, everyone else had been given a long-term off-world assignment to uncover the secret of the other gate.

So did the selection process get a lot more relaxed for highly classified top secret interstellar missions since Atlantis went off air? If they were not qualified for an SG mission they shouldn't have been there to begin with. Age shouldn't be a factor.

Again an example of the creators not thinking in terms of premise just in terms of superficial style.

I believe that he was saying that these people aboard the Destiny are inexperienced, young and shouldn't be there. Not that they shouldn't have been on the Icarus mission.

Just watched the second episode. I'm not sure I like it or not. There's a lot to like, but a lot not to like as well. I don't really like any of the characters, except for Rush. The military people are a joke, and Eli (the comic relief) pales in comparison to McKay, Mitchell, or RDA. Maybe he'll get better.

However, it has held my attention and I'll continue to watch (for now). Was hoping they'd explain the sand thing, as well as what happened to the two people who went through the gate to the other planet. I also wish they explained the 12 hour thing. What is the big rush that the ship must continue on at all costs? Guess it was to keep the ship from getting hung up or something? I just think the whole countdown thing will get old after awhile (especially if every episode comes down to the last minute for them to get back).

Also, why aren't they using the stones to get Carter there? Or Daniel? Or McKay (if available)? Surely they could help out with some things.

Anyways, I understand the complaints, but I'm not going to nitpick right now. I'll give it time to establish characters and storylines. Plus, the probe/ship launching at the end was cool and unexpected.

For such a supposedly popular show, there is an awful lot of negativity in this thread. I suspect the uptick in the ratings was an aberration, and may not continue. I'm giving it one more outing to prove itself. I've got better stuff to watch than a bunch of trite characters on a rusty bucket of bolts struggle against some arbitrary constraints that the writers thought up.


There is nothing wonderful, exciting or new about this show so far...

I believe that he was saying that these people aboard the Destiny are inexperienced, young and shouldn't be there. Not that they shouldn't have been on the Icarus mission.

That's exactly Vision's point. They were on a top-secret mission on another planet guarding/working on a one-of-a-kind gate (or was it the planet that was one of a kind? Whatever...). You'd think the government would get the absolute best people from this planet to work on that project and you'd think that if they were indeed the absolute best and brightest this planet had to offer, they'd be capable of handling the situation on the Destiny.

But apparently, according to the writers, they picked the D-squad to work on that very special mission for whatever stupid reason, so now we're stuck with the D-squad on the Destiny.

For such a supposedly popular show, there is an awful lot of negativity in this thread. I suspect the uptick in the ratings was an aberration, and may not continue. I'm giving it one more outing to prove itself. I've got better stuff to watch than a bunch of trite characters on a rusty bucket of bolts struggle against some arbitrary constraints that the writers thought up.


There is nothing wonderful, exciting or new about this show so far...

You might as well throw in the towel right now then as expection of something to change three episodes in is absurb. Now by the end of season one or in season two is more realistic.

That's exactly Vision's point. They were on a top-secret mission on another planet guarding/working on a one-of-a-kind gate (or was it the planet that was one of a kind? Whatever...). You'd think the government would get the absolute best people from this planet to work on that project and you'd think that if they were indeed the absolute best and brightest this planet had to offer, they'd be capable of handling the situation on the Destiny.

But apparently, according to the writers, they picked the D-squad to work on that very special mission for whatever stupid reason, so now we're stuck with the D-squad on the Destiny.


Not all the people that went thru the gate were part of the away team that was to explore the other side so to speak. A lot of them were support people working on getting the gate to work in the first place.
Lou Diamond Phillips was supposed to be the commander of the away mission and he and others got left behind whilst some people who were base support ala cooks and the like had to jump during the attack. Plus they did not bring a lot of the equipment that they probally planned WHEN the offical gate jump would have happened.

Not all the people that went thru the gate were part of the away team that was to explore the other side so to speak. A lot of them were support people working on getting the gate to work in the first place.
Lou Diamond Phillips was supposed to be the commander of the away mission and he and others got left behind whilst some people who were base support ala cooks and the like had to jump during the attack. Plus they did not bring a lot of the equipment that they probally planned WHEN the offical gate jump would have happened.

My thoughts as well. Just because you're a scientist who is qualified to conduct top-secret research off-world doesn't necessarily make you qualified in the situation they now find themselves in.

I don't think it's really that hard of a concept to grasp. There are plenty of people in our armed forces (in research, medical, support roles) who would be way out of their element if they were taken out of the military base or wherever they are at and put into a combat or survival situation.

Again, not a hard concept to grasp for most of us, I think.

That's exactly Vision's point. They were on a top-secret mission on another planet guarding/working on a one-of-a-kind gate (or was it the planet that was one of a kind? Whatever...). You'd think the government would get the absolute best people from this planet to work on that project and you'd think that if they were indeed the absolute best and brightest this planet had to offer, they'd be capable of handling the situation on the Destiny.

But apparently, according to the writers, they picked the D-squad to work on that very special mission for whatever stupid reason, so now we're stuck with the D-squad on the Destiny.

DId you watch the same show I did? The gate dialing was unexpected. They were not planning on going to that ship and they were also under attack when it happened. The show did a pretty good job of showing the chaos that ensued while people were going through the gate while the base was under attack. It was obvious that those people were not the ones intended to be going on the mission.

Also, why aren't they using the stones to get Carter there? Or Daniel? Or McKay (if available)? Surely they could help out with some things.


What a great question. If they could get Carter and McKay on the ship via the stones, they could have easily solved most of the problems, and maybe even gotten the crew back, by the end of the first episode. But then, they wouldn't have a series.

Did they ever state a time limit on communication with the stones? I'm thinking the writers didn't put a whole lot of forethought into the stones -- seems like an afterthought. Their use of the stones in the last episode (switching Lou Diamond Phillips and the lead military guy, and switching Chloe with some no-name bureaucrat) didn't seem like the smartest use of the stones in such a desperate situation.

I think they need to get rid of the stones and have the crew be truly on their own.

It was obvious that those people were not the ones intended to be going on the mission.

Their primary mission was to survive on an alien world that could have many dangers they have never seen before. Which is the same threat that every team has going through a SG.

Why should it make a difference that they are now on an alien spaceship? Did they only assign people who are capable of surviving on one particular planet and not in a spacecraft?

That would have made a very short SG-1 series if that had been in effect.

Daniel: "Jack I'm afraid we are going to die. I'm only qualified to work on Ancient devices that are fairly new and from Earth. This stuff here is way too old and creepy."

Teal'c: "Indeed. I can only fight on planets with lush forests and redwood trees. This desert world is too strange for me. I am unable to adapt."

Sam: "I don't like this place Jack. Its too far away. I miss my father."

DId you watch the same show I did? The gate dialing was unexpected. They were not planning on going to that ship and they were also under attack when it happened. The show did a pretty good job of showing the chaos that ensued while people were going through the gate while the base was under attack. It was obvious that those people were not the ones intended to be going on the mission.

This. They were for the most part the support staff. Heck one of the sergents was in prison awaiting something. Senator and his daughter, A gamer who is well a gamer. Eli is going to be fun to watch. Comic relief, sure but he also stepped up in the last episode. Notice when gate was about to close they had to tell him more then once to leave. He risked being stuck so don't count him out.

What I want to know is why have they not yet covered that Dr Rush was "put" in charge. Makes no sense since by accounts the Military should be in the lead unless the Senator was there. Should be nice to find out what O'Neil really said.

Their primary mission was to survive on an alien world that could have many dangers they have never seen before. Which is the same threat that every team has going through a SG.

Why should it make a difference that they are now on an alien spaceship? Did they only assign people who are capable of surviving on one particular planet and not in a spacecraft?

That would have made a very short SG-1 series if that had been in effect.

Daniel: "Jack I'm afraid we are going to die. I'm only qualified to work on Ancient devices that are fairly new and from Earth. This stuff here is way too old and creepy."

Teal'c: "Indeed. I can only fight on planets with lush forests and redwood trees. This desert world is too strange for me. I am unable to adapt."

Sam: "I don't like this place Jack. Its too far away. I miss my father."

No offense, but you are either just arguing for the sake of arguing or I just don't think you understand how things work (be it a military base or an office building). Granted, I'm not in the military and never have been, but I imagine it would go something like this:


Send Scouts in
Secure area
build the base (using contractors, most likely)
Send in staff, which would include everything like guards/soldiers, scientists, cooks, delivery/warehouse people, janitors, cleaning staff, maintenance people, medical personnel, IT personnel, etc.


I assume most people assigned in the military will have at least basic weapons training, but to assume your average janitor, cook, or maid is going to be qualified to do everything (like combat and repairing malfunctioning equipment) is just crazy. To assume the soldiers are going to be able to debug computers and networks is insane. Likewise to assume your IT guy is going to be able to function as a soldier is just as crazy.

Your argument that everyone on a mission should be fully qualified for every eventuality that may arise is...uhm...ignorant (for lack of a better word)

Apply that to SGU, and it's mostly the same. Their mission was not "to survive on an alien world that could have many dangers they have never seen before. Which is the same threat that every team has going through a SG." That part was probably done 5-10 years ago. It's not like the people there just all arrived on the planet yesterday and built everything from scratch. No, it was probably all built/constructed years ago, and then these people (the staff) arrived much later, trained to do their job. You know, just like my job. Yeah, I work in an office building and I'm good at what I do, but don't ask me to fix the air conditioner, as I'd have no idea where to beign.

Lou Diamond Phillips was supposed to be the commander of the away mission and he and others got left behind whilst some people who were base support ala cooks and the like had to jump during the attack. Plus they did not bring a lot of the equipment that they probally planned WHEN the offical gate jump would have happened.

And the exact same thing happened on Atlantis. Sheppard took over on mission when Robert Patrick was killed in the pilot, the group got stranded in a (more) hostile situation with little supplies and equipment on a deteriorating vessel and nearly everyone was new - there were even civilians in charge.

Did they all start crying? No, because they might not have been experienced in interstellar travel but they were smart enough and professional enough that they could adapt and figure out the task at hand. Which is exactly the reason they were picked. You wouldn't send an entire team of people who were fresh out of boot camp or medical school across the universe, if they didn't demonstrate a high level of expertise and/or adaptability to begin with.

So the reason the creators gave is just utter bull. It's a superficial excuse to lower the age group of the main characters to appeal to kids.

Like I said before serious SF is done on an exponential curve. The more they want to treat the show as if it's a serious "adult drama" then the more accurately they need to treat the premise and plot logic.

Apply that to SGU, and it's mostly the same. Their mission was not "to survive on an alien world that could have many dangers they have never seen before. Which is the same threat that every team has going through a SG." That part was probably done 5-10 years ago. It's not like the people there just all arrived on the planet yesterday and built everything from scratch. No, it was probably all built/constructed years ago, and then these people (the staff) arrived much later.

They built a base on an alien planet. They could be there 10 years and still not even come close to figuring out that it was completely safe and free of any alien hostiles. As shown in the pilot when they got randomly attacked by external forces.

There are million and one things that they couldn't see or expect and to think you would send just anyone is as stupid as the puzzle in the video game.

If you are stepping through the greatest secret mankind has then there's a good reason you were picked and I'm not talking about weapons proficiency. I'm talking about personality traits and attitude and the willingess to accept the unknown, which goes back to what I said in the pilot. If the civilian scientists didn't relish the thought of exploring an alien vessel then they don't love their jobs enough to have volunteered to go in the first place.

And the exact same thing happened on Atlantis. Sheppard took over on mission when Robert Patrick was killed in the pilot, the group got stranded in a (more) hostile situation with little supplies and equipment on a deteriorating vessel and nearly everyone was new - there were even civilians in charge.

Correct me if I'm wrong (the pilot of SG:A was a long time ago), but on Atlantis, the premise was that it was pretty much a one-way trip to a place they'd never been before, right? And having civilians in charge was all pre-planned and established before they ever left, right? So it would make sense to have highly qualified, well-rounded people going.

That would be an entirely different situation than SGU, where the base/facility had been established for years (most likely), was probably considered secure (if not the entire planet, then at least the facility where the staff would most likely be secluded to) and it certainly was never considered a one-way trip for these people.

They built a base on an alien planet. They could be there 10 years and still not even come close to figuring out that it was completely safe and free of any alien hostiles. As shown in the pilot when they got randomly attacked by external forces.

There are million and one things that they couldn't see or expect and to think you would send just anyone is as stupid as the puzzle in the video game.

If you are stepping through the greatest secret mankind has then there's a good reason you were picked.

LOL. Ok, I'm done. If you can't understand why you'd have staff on a (in theory) secure base that might not be qualified to deal with every situation imaginable, then I don't know what else to say. I don't find it inplausible, but you do. I've said enough. It's just a TV show and I'm not going to take it that seriously or endlessly argue a stupid point.

Sorry, one final question: Can I assume you think that every single person on US bases in Iraq and Afghanistan (most likely considered much more hostile than this fictional base on another planet) are fully qualified to deal with every situation that might come up?

On a lighter note, where are the toilets?

Correct me if I'm wrong (the pilot of SG:A was a long time ago), but on Atlantis, the premise was that it was pretty much a one-way trip to a place they'd never been before, right? And having civilians in charge was all pre-planned and established before they ever left, right? So it would make sense to have highly qualified, well-rounded people going.


Correct. Reason a civilian was put in charge at the time had more to do with the real world then SG:A if I remember right. SG-1 was wildly popular around the world. People (read none US mostly) wanted a UN feel with less of the US military in charge.

As for the military all US personal get some form of basic training. But that just it, basic. Cooks, janitors, etc dont need seal or ranger training but they are have basic skills. Still I think they even covered "I missed that class" on something or another. I watch way to much Sci-fi at times to remember what that class was :D

My thoughts as well. Just because you're a scientist who is qualified to conduct top-secret research off-world doesn't necessarily make you qualified in the situation they now find themselves in.

I don't think it's really that hard of a concept to grasp. There are plenty of people in our armed forces (in research, medical, support roles) who would be way out of their element if they were taken out of the military base or wherever they are at and put into a combat or survival situation.

Again, not a hard concept to grasp for most of us, I think.

Here's a concept for you. Would our armed forces be using children?

Here's a concept for you. Would our armed forces be using children?

:confused: Are there children on SGU? I don't remember seeing any but maybe just missed them.

But yes, the US has bases where families of enlisted members stay on the base.

Of course, that would be more unrealistic in the SGU scenario, but plausable: ex: a specialist in his/her field will only sign up for the 5-10 year (or indefinite) stint on the off-world facility if their family can come with. Otherwise he/she just won't go. If he/she is a specialist and is needed, concessions could be made. Again, it is my belief that this off-world facility is considered secure and they wouldn't be volunteering to take their family into a hostile environment. It is also assumed these people are "volunteers" and "specialists in their fields" in the private/public sector and not actually enlisted in the military where they could be forced to go under threat of courtmartial, etc.

Again, more unrealistic, but entirely plausable.

:confused: Are there children on SGU? I don't remember seeing any but maybe just missed them.

But yes, the US has bases where families of enlisted members stay on the base.

Of course, that would be more unrealistic in the SGU scenario, but plausable: ex: a specialist in his/her field will only sign up for the 5-10 year (or indefinite) stint on the off-world facility if their family can come with. Otherwise he/she just won't go. If he/she is a specialist and is needed, concessions could be made. Again, it is my belief that this off-world facility is considered secure and they wouldn't be volunteering to take their family into a hostile environment. It is also assumed these people are "volunteers" and "specialists in their fields" in the private/public sector and not actually enlisted in the military where they could be forced to go under threat of courtmartial, etc.

Again, more unrealistic, but entirely plausable.

The point is that the people at the planet base, would have at least had some training or idea that they were going off world. They shouldn't be acting like a bunch of babies. I know it was done for dramatic effect. It's ok by me that they have done it this way, but it's also a fair question for anyone to ask.

The point is that the people at the planet base, would have at least had some training or idea that they were going off world. They shouldn't be acting like a bunch of babies. I know it was done for dramatic effect. It's ok by me that they have done it this way, but it's also a fair question for anyone to ask.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I find it perfectly plausible that a civilian (or scientist/cleaning crew/janitor) signs up for a gig with all intentions of going back home, then ending up having the facility blow up around their heads and ending up stranded with no way home, no food, no water, running out of air would be a little panicky.

That's like saying if a cruise ship is sinking, nobody should be "acting like a bunch of babies" becuase they had some swim lessons as a kid, as well as the 5 minute lifeboat training they give you at the start of the cruise, and they all knew they were going out onto the ocean. No reason to be a bit panicky at all.

But whatever. Guess I find it plausable and you guys don't. Or maybe you are just assuming everyone on SGU is a highly traiing special ops person who has had very intense survival training and should be fully prepared for every eventuality, whereas I am assuming most people are just like you and me...normal people with minimal training who aren't prepared for the situation they now find themselves in.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I find it perfectly plausible that a civilian (or scientist/cleaning crew/janitor) signs up for a gig with all intentions of going back home, then ending up having the facility blow up around their heads and ending up stranded with no way home, no food, no water, running out of air would be a little panicky.

That's like saying if a cruise ship is sinking, nobody should be "acting like a bunch of babies" becuase they had some swim lessons as a kid, as well as the 5 minute lifeboat training they give you at the start of the cruise, and they all knew they were going out onto the ocean. No reason to be a bit panicky at all.

But whatever. Guess I find it plausable and you guys don't. Or maybe you are just assuming everyone on SGU is a highly traiing special ops person who has had very intense survival training and should be fully prepared for every eventuality, whereas I am assuming most people are just like you and me...normal people with minimal training who aren't prepared for the situation they now find themselves in.

No, I'm just assuming that anyone off world might have been told that there is a chance that some alien may end up shooting at them. It's good that they have scientist/cleaning crew/janitor's of all kinds. They're gonna need them. Someone has to clean this ship up.
Others seem to think it's a stretch. I didn't really care, but I don't think that they should be chastised for saying, "Hey, what's up with all the screaming?"
But you are welcome to agree to disagree. You can even keep telling people that it's a "simple concept." But I think you are being too hard on them. It was a fair question to ask.

I have to agree, many of these people are acting like babies. To get to the base in any position they would have had to have undergone rigorous screening and psych profiling. They would have to be some of the most qualified people out there even if they were the cook.

At this point how many people are out there in the SG universe, thousands, 10's of thousands? There are well staffed ships, off-world bases and such, so that is one hell of a secret to keep with all those people out there.

I always wonder how they could have had a massive troop buildup increase and no one notice. SG-1 was at war with the rest of the universe with mostly only the US providing troops.

That's a lot of people.

I have to agree, many of these people are acting like babies. To get to the base in any position they would have had to have undergone rigorous screening and psych profiling. They would have to be some of the most qualified people out there even if they were the cook.

At this point how many people are out there in the SG universe, thousands, 10's of thousands? There are well staffed ships, off-world bases and such, so that is one hell of a secret to keep with all those people out there.

What kind of rigorous training does a cook have to have to go off world? What kind of training does a cook have to have to go to a base on earth somewhere? Think they're going be genius' and all know the ancient language and how to fix ancient tech, just to be a cook on an off world base?

The whole idea behind SGU is that, it isn't the best and brightest there. Its people that you wouldn't want on a mission like this. Its basically someone like most of us being put in this situation.

What kind of rigorous training does a cook have to have to go off world? What kind of training does a cook have to have to go to a base on earth somewhere? Think they're going be genius' and all know the ancient language and how to fix ancient tech, just to be a cook on an off world base?

The whole idea behind SGU is that, it isn't the best and brightest there. Its people that you wouldn't want on a mission like this. Its basically someone like most of us being put in this situation.
The cook, and other support personnel don't necessarily need extensive combat or weapons training...they just needed to be people who are aware of the risks, and capable of realizing that in the situation that they're in, dissent and discord aren't helping the group. The copying of BSG is the only reason for what we're seeing on Universe. The Galactica was being decommissioned, it's crew not the best of the best, far from Trek's Starfleet perfect. It worked for Galactica because of the story...it's failing here-to some, because it's coming after BSG, and feels more like aping their format first, rather than an organic storytelling element.
There where people who were designated as going through to wherever the gate address would take them on both sides of the gate when it was activated, so there should be trained and prepared mission members in this crowd...and given that, portraying them as the hapless morons does rub against the story logic if you will, of what the Stargate franchise has presented during the lasr 12 years....
I don't fault the writers for wanting to be edgy and targeting a younger demo than us oldsters who've watched for over 10 years, but that doesn't mean you get to run off and do stuff that makes little sense within the universe (ha) your show's taking place. :o

This thread needs more pictures and less bickering.

http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/albums/comics_magazines/magazine_other/normal_2009_10_steppinout.jpg

http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=789&pos=1

Didn't General O'Neill tell us last week that nobody's really ready to go off world? There's no perfect group of people to deal with what's out there, etc., etc., etc.?

This thread needs more pictures and less bickering.

http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/albums/comics_magazines/magazine_other/normal_2009_10_steppinout.jpg

http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=789&pos=1

You should run their add campain. Count me in few a few seasons!:D

The cook, and other support personnel don't necessarily need extensive combat or weapons training...they just needed to be people who are aware of the risks, and capable of realizing that in the situation that they're in, dissent and discord aren't helping the group. The copying of BSG is the only reason for what we're seeing on Universe. The Galactica was being decommissioned, it's crew not the best of the best, far from Trek's Starfleet perfect. It worked for Galactica because of the story...it's failing here-to some, because it's coming after BSG, and feels more like aping their format first, rather than an organic storytelling element.
There where people who were designated as going through to wherever the gate address would take them on both sides of the gate when it was activated, so there should be trained and prepared mission members in this crowd...and given that, portraying them as the hapless morons does rub against the story logic if you will, of what the Stargate franchise has presented during the lasr 12 years....
I don't fault the writers for wanting to be edgy and targeting a younger demo than us oldsters who've watched for over 10 years, but that doesn't mean you get to run off and do stuff that makes little sense within the universe (ha) your show's taking place. :o

I don't see the comparisons to BSG in SGU, other than perhaps the documentary film style. BSG did have some very talented people aboard. Now we don't know if SGU has very talented aboard. One thing we do know is that there are no Carter's or McKay's aboard that can save the day with a few flips of a switch. I don't see anyone portrayed as a hapless moron either, well maybe Eli a little bit. There are some trained personnel in the bunch, but I don't think you can expect everyone to be perfect at everything they do. The team that was suppose to go through the gate when the 9th chevron was dialed, looked pretty well trained when they showed them briefly. However, there were also scientists and politicians, who probably aren't up to military snuff.

What doesn't make sense within the universe? SGU isn't a show about 4 of the best people stepping through the gate exploring like SG-1 was, nor is it about a hand picked team going on a way trip, like SG-A was.

The Escape pod - in last scene/E2? What do we make of it??
db

This thread needs more pictures and less bickering.

http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/albums/comics_magazines/magazine_other/normal_2009_10_steppinout.jpg

http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=789&pos=1

lol....I wonder if its in their contracts that they must do photoshoot to get the n3rds to drool over them

Not sure about the mandatory drool. But I'm pretty sure there must be a rule that anytime a hot actress in a genre series is photographed that somebody says "break out the shiny metallic outfit!" Because, you know, it's so futurey and all.

That's like saying if a cruise ship is sinking, nobody should be "acting like a bunch of babies" becuase they had some swim lessons as a kid, as well as the 5 minute lifeboat training they give you at the start of the cruise, and they all knew they were going out onto the ocean. No reason to be a bit panicky at all.

But whatever. Guess I find it plausable and you guys don't. Or maybe you are just assuming everyone on SGU is a highly traiing special ops person who has had very intense survival training and should be fully prepared for every eventuality, whereas I am assuming most people are just like you and me...normal people with minimal training who aren't prepared for the situation they now find themselves in.
No. Bad analogy. Actually, it's like saying that if the USS Reagan were attacked, that the cooks and tailors on board would start crying like little babies if you threw a gun in their hands. That's preposterous. Yes, the civilians on board, if there are any, may not be prepared, but that's the minority.

But in the case of SGU, we're talking about individuals going on one of the most classified missions on the planet (to another planet), so you'd think they'd be even better trained. And considering all the rail guns and X-302s (or whatever they're called), just how secure did they think it was?

I don't see the comparisons to BSG in SGU, other than perhaps the documentary film style. BSG did have some very talented people aboard. Now we don't know if SGU has very talented aboard.
Actually, the BSG comparison is very apt, and it leads to my aircraft carrier comparison.

There's an episode of BSG (2nd season) where several people are stranded on a planet with the enemy searching for them.

One was a trained marine, and the others...weren't. On the show, it comes up when the marine tells Baltar that he's going to have to fight, and Baltar is a scientist with no military training and had never even fired a gun. Another character says that she hadn't fired a weapon since basic training, and then another says she joined just to pay for dental school. Another person was the Chief, an engineer.

And yet they had to deal with it.

This SGU team has a few people with their heads on straight, but there's a lot more who are just whiny as hell, and it looks like they get even whinier this week.

Actually, the BSG comparison is very apt, and it leads to my aircraft carrier comparison.

There's an episode of BSG (2nd season) where several people are stranded on a planet with the enemy searching for them.

One was a trained marine, and the others...weren't. On the show, it comes up when the marine tells Baltar that he's going to have to fight, and Baltar is a scientist with no military training and had never even fired a gun. Another character says that she hadn't fired a weapon since basic training, and then another says she joined just to pay for dental school. Another person was the Chief, an engineer.

And yet they had to deal with it.

This SGU team has a few people with their heads on straight, but there's a lot more who are just whiny as hell, and it looks like they get even whinier this week.

Sorry, I don't see them being whiny as hell. We've seen how many total military people in SGU? Telford, Young, Scott, Greer, James, a couple of cooks and the red shirt guy that went to a locked out planet.

Which one of those were whiny as hell?

The people I've seen being whiny are civilians, which is understandable. But so far the military is doing pretty well given the situation.

No. Bad analogy. Actually, it's like saying that if the USS Reagan were attacked, that the cooks and tailors on board would start crying like little babies if you threw a gun in their hands. That's preposterous. Yes, the civilians on board, if there are any, may not be prepared, but that's the minority.

But in the case of SGU, we're talking about individuals going on one of the most classified missions on the planet (to another planet), so you'd think they'd be even better trained. And considering all the rail guns and X-302s (or whatever they're called), just how secure did they think it was?


Actually, the BSG comparison is very apt, and it leads to my aircraft carrier comparison.

There's an episode of BSG (2nd season) where several people are stranded on a planet with the enemy searching for them.

One was a trained marine, and the others...weren't. On the show, it comes up when the marine tells Baltar that he's going to have to fight, and Baltar is a scientist with no military training and had never even fired a gun. Another character says that she hadn't fired a weapon since basic training, and then another says she joined just to pay for dental school. Another person was the Chief, an engineer.

And yet they had to deal with it.

This SGU team has a few people with their heads on straight, but there's a lot more who are just whiny as hell, and it looks like they get even whinier this week.



So you're saying that during WWII, when Pearl Harbor was attacked that there were no military people on the ships crying and scared crapless?


No matter what training people have, you have absolutely no idea how a person will react to a certain situation until they are actually in that situation.

What doesn't make sense within the universe? SGU isn't a show about 4 of the best people stepping through the gate exploring like SG-1 was, nor is it about a hand picked team going on a way trip, like SG-A was.

If you're a civilian or military involved in an off-world mission that's any part of the Stargate project, you are hand picked and highly scrutinized. Anything less would be idiotic.

NASA are pretty selective about who they put in a space shuttle so for the greatest secret known to mankind the SGC can afford to be selective about who they reveal alien technology to or send flying through space on a battle cruiser or through wormholes.

If they don't pick the best, brightest and most capable then the talent pool must be really dry over at Stargate Command.

But this argument is run into the ground now so ...

considering they are on a small part of an alien vessel that is unexplored and potentially hostile, has anyone seend the military establish a security perimeter yet? Most of them just seem to be hanging around the gate room and sitting on boxes.

considering they are on a small part of an alien vessel that is unexplored and potentially hostile, has anyone seend the military establish a security perimeter yet? Most of them just seem to be hanging around the gate room and sitting on boxes.

They were told to stay in the gate room by Scott, while teams were sent out to look around the ship. Then there was also a limited air supply, so the less movement, the more conservation of O2.

This thread needs more pictures and less bickering.

http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/albums/comics_magazines/magazine_other/normal_2009_10_steppinout.jpg

http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=789&pos=1

Yeah, but they actually need to dress like this on the show! ;)

Does a poster like that actually get anyone to watch a show? That would make me not want to watch a show if it was said that they dressed that way in the show.
I'm not going to watch a show for the way someone is dressed.

Here's a concept for you. Would our armed forces be using children?
Depends on your definition of children I suppose.
Teenagers below legal drinking age perhaps?
19 is the average age of combat troops in Afganistan and Vietnam wars.

Seriously, those burritos I ate before I jumped through the gate are not going to wait much longer. If I don't find a toilet on this ship soon, there will be yet another problem with air quality.:D

Seriously, those burritos I ate before I jumped through the gate are not going to wait much longer. If I don't find a toilet on this ship soon, there will be yet another problem with air quality.:D

Come on, how many times do we have to tell you? Go before you get on the ship, because we ain't stoppin'. :D

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I find it perfectly plausible that a civilian (or scientist/cleaning crew/janitor) signs up for a gig with all intentions of going back home, then ending up having the facility blow up around their heads and ending up stranded with no way home, no food, no water, running out of air would be a little panicky.

That's like saying if a cruise ship is sinking, nobody should be "acting like a bunch of babies" becuase they had some swim lessons as a kid, as well as the 5 minute lifeboat training they give you at the start of the cruise, and they all knew they were going out onto the ocean. No reason to be a bit panicky at all.

But whatever. Guess I find it plausable and you guys don't. Or maybe you are just assuming everyone on SGU is a highly traiing special ops person who has had very intense survival training and should be fully prepared for every eventuality, whereas I am assuming most people are just like you and me...normal people with minimal training who aren't prepared for the situation they now find themselves in.

Agreed. We are seeing these people were under stress, who just survived an alien attack, were just told they might not only die, but be stranded on an alien ship. And most importantly these reactions all take place in a very short amount of time. We have all seen that in real life even trained professionals crack under the pressure.

Seriously, those burritos I ate before I jumped through the gate are not going to wait much longer. If I don't find a toilet on this ship soon, there will be yet another problem with air quality.:D

Why didn't you go before you gated?:rolleyes:

Because in the process of surviving an alien attack, and being told I might die, I couldn't crap under the pressure. :eek:

Because in the process of surviving an alien attack, and being told I might die, I couldn't crap under the pressure. :eek:

Funny. I would have crapped my pants on the way.

I'm guessing that the attack was just a convenient plot mover to jumpstart the show as there doesn't seem to have been any discussion of why they were attacked in the first place, or by who. Or I missed it somehow...

I'm guessing that the attack was just a convenient plot mover to jumpstart the show as there doesn't seem to have been any discussion of why they were attacked in the first place, or by who. Or I missed it somehow...

I think there was one line about it, but I don't recall what was said.

They were attacked by the Lucian Alliance (a coalition of former smugglers and mercenaries who have banded together to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the demise of the Goa'uld - for more on these guys see: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Lucian_Alliance ).

They were attacked by the Lucian Alliance (a coalition of former smugglers and mercenaries who have banded together to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the demise of the Goa'uld - for more on these guys see: http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Lucian_Alliance ).

Okay, cool, so they were identified, opening the door for their possible appearance later in the series.

Don't see how, the SGU folks are several galaxies away from where that scene took place. I'd say their attack was just a device to get the cast moving through the gate.

Don't see how, the SGU folks are several galaxies away from where that scene took place. I'd say their attack was just a device to get the cast moving through the gate.

It's likely they won't ever show up, I agree, but it doesn't exclude it either.

Seriously, those burritos I ate before I jumped through the gate are not going to wait much longer. If I don't find a toilet on this ship soon, there will be yet another problem with air quality.:D

We'll just put you in the room with that cracked dome...:rolleyes:

I thought we all agreed after the Ori that bioweapons were not to be used?

We seal the burrito guy off in the big crate with all the Snapple and MREs - then put him in the room with the cracked dome.

Tonight's episode - actually good. I enjoyed it.
Actress/soldier with healthy chest - excellent!

Tonight's episode - actually good. I enjoyed it.
Actress/soldier with healthy chest - excellent!

I thought it was a little better tonight too. Shower scene was decent also. I'll probably rewatch all the episodes in a couple of weeks after I get familiar with all the characters. Sanctuary was pretty decent tonight also.

Who says there aren't any chicks on this show? Christ!

Solid episode with much better pacing than the first 3...obviously the ship is not going to fly into the sun but it will be interesting to see how they save it (last minute no doubt).

The little segments with each of the people was a good way to get us accustomed to some of the characters on the sidelines..

And yeah, the Marine with the rack? She better not die off any time soon...