Stargate Atlantis Coming This Summer

boog3r writes "According to this and SCIFI there is a new Stargate series on its way to your local passive viewing device this summer. Quickie for all the click-deficient types: "In the new series, a secret base left by the originators of the Stargate is discovered in the most unlikely of places -- on Earth, buried among the ruins of the legendary city of Atlantis." Sounds fun to me! I found more info here and here. Take these tidbits with a grain of salt, much misinformation about the new series is circulating right now. I just hope this great franchise does not go the way of Star Trek, post Roddenberry."

Comments

I like SG-1...

[Ianoo]

It's much more watchable than most of the rubbish that seems to come out of Paramount's Star Trek franchise these days. I find Enterprise totally unwatchable and couldn't even be bothered to see the last film in the cinemas. I made the right decision too, cos the DVD was a major dissapointment.

That said, I think Stargate has become too sciency/technical. Did anyone else prefer it when all the technology like the Gates themselves were much more mystical and incomprehensible? Somehow, talking about Gates and DHDs in terms of lines of software code, mathematical equations and matter dematerialisation doesn't seem quite as mystical as the original movie and the earlier episodes, where much of it was still based in Egyption mythology and the technology seemed more magical (neither human nor Goa'uld understanding how it really worked) rather than increasingly Trek-like technobabble descriptions of how things work.

I will, of course, be watching Atlantis as Stargate and its spin-offs are still some of the most watchable sci-fi about at the moment. I just wouldn't have taken it in quite the same direction if it were left up to me.

Re:I like SG-1...

[Cska Sofia]

Actually I like the technical aspects of the show. It's done in a way that grounds the storyline in reality (as far as is possible with a sci-fi show). I think it's human nature to try and reverse engineer a technology that isn't understood; the concept of having the gate hitched up to a giant bank of computers seems realistic to me.

After all, it's not like they understand it entirely. There's often talk of unimplemented protocols in Earth's DHD, which crops up disastrously in one of the latest episodes. This, for me, highlights one of the best aspects of the show: the fallibility. Things go wrong almost as often as they go right. There is an advancement in the plot, but in a 'two steps forward, one step back' way.

(However, lately Carter seems to have taken on Trek-like problem-solving skills: "well, we could [insert improbable but ultimately 100% accurate solution 60 seconds after being presented with problem]." That bugs me a little.)

I liked the Egyptian aspect, and the links with other past human cultures, but I think it would have been hard to spin that out over so many episodes, so I'm glad the show has evolved.

Re:"go the way of Star Trek post-Roddenberry"

[Jahf]

Because the poster is worried that the series may have a significant drop in quality due to bad producer decisions, much like what happened to ST after G. Roddenberry was no longer in direct creative control (which started happening shortly before he passed). Many ST fans felt that the ST franchise tried to become over-techie ("Jordions") and derivative after that.

It has nothing to do with the death of a creator, and the poster seems to have -liked- Roddenberry's direction for ST and disliked what happened after. In this case his passing is a milestone for show quality, much like we -may- be saying in 3-4 years about "boy I hope it's like Stargate -before- Atlantis".

Personally, I don't see why "Atlantis" would need to be another show. That's one of the things I like about SG1, it has handled the various twists and turns that other shows like to use as spinoffs -internally-. However, it seems pretty clear that the writers may be about to run out of steam based on this season. I like this season (last night being an exception) overall, but it a) HAS become more star trek-like in focus and b) I don't see where the logical conclusion of SG1 would go after this season if it wraps up the way it seems to be. In which case, all "Atlantis" would seem to me to be is a way to keep the franchise going after the first series is properly finished.

Hey SciFi ... if you want to continue a franchise, why don't you go buy FireFly and kill off Atlantis, and anything similar to Tremors. It would be nice to have that series get their real conclusion and you might almost repair the damage done with Farscape's cancellation. Now -that- is an unrelated post.

Misinformation?

[Xarius]

Ummm, that is just wild speculation. As far as I know, the new series is set in another galaxy, on an offworld human base. I think the name has something to do with the new planet being the origins of the atlantis legend, several people have already been cast.

This is relatively old news. For more info check out:

http://www.sg1database.net/atlantis.html

Again this is AFAIK, I could be wrong

RDA

[dickiedoodles]

The main reason the more recent episodes of SG-1 have been less good (but still very enjoyable in my opinion) then the previous seasons is mainly because of Richard Dean Anderson (jack) being unwilling to spend as much time on the show, every season he says he wants to quit to spend more time with his daughter and every season they negotiate a nice package for him which means less work. IIRC he works about 3 days a week now which is why there are so many episodes that he barely appears in or in some cases doesn't appear in at all. In the next season of SG1 (season 8) rumour has it that he'll be in a more Hammond like position in charge of the SGC. Atlantis is obviously a way to not only expand the series but to get away from relying on RDA signing on every year.

If anyone cares Gateworld is a fantastic site for information on all things stargate.

Re:OK, Bruce, just swim right here...

[Richard_at_work]

I personally think that this show could pull up some suprises. SG1 is pretty much all about introducing us to the concept, and fighting the Goa`uld, which they are just about done doing. Atlantis could go in a different direction, finding out more information about the stargate network (There are 9 chevrons on the stargate, 7 are in normal use, 1 more was activated to meet the Asgard, whats the ninth for?), discovering stuff about the ancients (it was surmised in one episode that modern humanity could be descended from a pre ascended ancient species, i would like to see more on that).

SG1 went military because thats where the film left off, Atlantis can be trememdously different.

One of the directors is excited

[gbulmash]

I'm in contact with David Winning (IMDb filmography, official site). He directed a lot of episodes of "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda" (photos: 1, 2) and he's been hired on to direct at least part of the first season of "Stargate Atlantis". He's been getting a lot of recognition in the industry as one of the top directors for TV Sci-Fi in the past couple of years, so they're making some good choices for the series already. And the cool thing is that he seems really excited about the new series.

I've known David professionally for a couple of years now and he doesn't get this excited over every job, so that's got me looking forward to checking out series. It doesn't hurt that I'm a fan of SG1 also.

- Greg