New Stargate Series In the Works

Skythe writes "Gateworld reports that an exclusive, third Stargate series is in the works: 'The new series is in the concept phase, and is being actively worked on by the Vancouver creatives behind Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. No concept for the show has yet been revealed.' Gateworld also reports despite the cancellation of SG-1, the series is likely for a 2007 debut. I wonder if the direct-to-dvd movies will any influence on the new series, and what the concept behind the show will be?"

Comments

No joke!

[denebian devil]

I've heard that they may try to simultaneously (or at least in scarily close succession) make a spinoff movie for SG1 and make a sequel to the original movie... as if they were two completely separate things. Which, if you look at the turns that SG1 has made, isn't too far from the truth.

Can we please not have another McKay character?

[Schraegstrichpunkt]

Can we please please please not have another jarring character like McKay like in Stargate: Atlantis? Not only is he completely over-the-top antisocial, but he seems to make everyone around him lose any sense of tact that they might otherwise have had.

And that formula of having McKay/Carter start explaining the technical details of something, only to be interrupted by the superior officer who doesn't understand the jargon, is getting very very tired. Please kill it.

I'd love to see "Ba'al, the early years"

[kellererik]

Seriously, of all the villains, he is the one I really like. OK, doesn't have to be the early years, I want to see Cliff Simon playing the character. But showing the other side of the fence could be interesting.

IMHO, of course.

Re:I'm all for it!

[jaweekes]

I would like them to take a page from "The Hunt for Red October" and have them speak the first few lines in another language, and then switch to English. You still understand them but you also get the point that they talk another language.

Then I can gues...

[DrYak]

Reading is the easiest, because if you miss something you can go back to it

Then, I can guess that most language you've learned are :
- Using alphabets for writing (as opposed to ideograph or syllable writing systems).
- Maybe even using some form of latin alphabet (as opposed to greek or cyrillic)

Reading is the most easy for you because you're quite familar with the symbols used to write language. The written form of words is the only thing that is actually new to you. Your eyes and your brain is already accustomed to the shape of most letters your going to encounter (you obviously are accustomed to latin alphabet, and maybe cyrillic and greek aren't too alien for you). If you had to start to learn chinese, Korean (with its very own concept of "alphabet disguised as a syllabary"), japanesse (OMG !!! 3 different writing systems !), old egyptian (Hieroglyphs), old Sumerian (Cuneiform), alternate forms to write old Greek (Linear B wasn't even designed to encode greek words), old bulgarian (using Glagolitic) old Mayan (no, no. these aren't complexe beautiful painting, they are writings), reading won't be that easy, because you'll have to put up with a completly new writing system, that doesn't look like anything you're used to.

SG happen to describe a universe where most human cultures were kept to a more ancient and primitive form.

Most old real-life human civilisation had mostly an oral tradition, people spoke much more than they wrote those language. Being illiterate was quite common and normal. Writing was only a small very specialised job done by specifically trained people/slaves (scribes). Both because of it and in consequence of it, writing wasn't a practical simple system, but a very complex one, with thousands of different symbols. Language of similar linguistic groups may use completly different writing system (because of its complexity writing wasn't carried over by people over cultural evolution, but may have been reinvented adhoc when needed for very specific purposes) old greek is a good exemple (you have Linear B used during Mycenian times, then a long period of purely oral tradition, then the Greek alphabet being adopted). It's the opposite of modern situation (were Latin is the most pervasive form of writing and due to computer and internet popularity is even used in language that traditionally never used it : like romanji).

In the fictional universe of Stargate this may translate that only earthlings did evolve their writing systems into something practical and easy to learn (in the movie, writing was showed to be forbiden). Most other population may have kept a lot of different and complex writing, some of which aren't even alphabet but much bigger character sets (syllables or ideographs).

In which case, for a team to be able to communicate in the fictionnal SG universe :
- for spoken language :
they need to learn some basic words in most language. As language are supposed to be primitive, they're expected to speak different dialects of mostly old Indo-European language. This concretly could mean learning a dozen or so translation for most common words needed for basic communication. The rest is usually dialectal difference and can be completed with guess work as dialogue is going. (And as experience in other language accumulate this is becoming even easier). The actual barrier isn't as much the vocabulary as the potential social faux-pas that could exist in a fictionnal setting where culture and civilisation are scattered into a lot of small and separated sub-groups accross the galaxy.

- for written language :
They would need to learn several writing systems, most of which consists of thousands of different symbols and unlike spoken language, can't be grouped into closely related groups. Also, when you're not sure about the meaning you can't just ask the text to explain it.

To make comparison with other fictionnal situations : You're m