Matt Roush article from TV Guide.com

[eregyrn]

http://community.tvguide.com/forum.jspa?forumID=700000048

This is a sympathetic but level-headed pondering of SG-1's cancellation. Roush likes SG-1 well enough (he appeared on the "Inside" special to say nice things about it), but folks may remember him as a passionate "Farscape" fan. So he's got that perspective on this.


The thing is, I agree with him, in a lot of ways. As I remarked yesterday, the *timing* of this announcement is what really stunned me; not the substance of it. I was already thinking that if SG-1 got an 11th season, it would be very lucky. I was indeed half-expecting to hear that it was being cancelled. For me, it was impossible to watch the build-up of signals that SciFi was sending with their various shenanigans, and not get that feeling.

And I have often had the thoughts that Roush airs. 10 years is nothing to sneeze at. I would rather a show go out at some kind of high point than linger on until it hits a really embarassing place. (The discussion/debate over whether SG-1 had reached that, or had not reached it yet, is a separate issue, I think. Feel what you will about the last two seasons or the last four seasons, or whatever. I personally wasn't loving the show as much in S9/S10 as previously, but I have my own personal barometer for these things -- called "Buffy" season 6/7 -- and from my viewpoint, at least, SG-1 was diminished but not at the "take it behind the barn and shoot it" stage yet.)

So I'm in two minds about all of the "save the show" sentiment floating around, and at the rumored efforts being made by Bridge and MGM.

Because the thing is -- in some ways, this is the 10th season of a show that I don't want to see become a shambling zombie. In other ways, it has to be acknowledged that it is the 2nd season of what the people *making* the show always sort of intended to be a sequel show anyway -- "Stargate Command", which is what they would have called it if the SciFi Channel hadn't vetoed the idea. And I feel badly for the folks who have honestly been trying to *make* that sequel show work. I also feel badly for the folks who have been loving watching it as much as ever, or more so. While I think that SG-1 maybe has reached the end of its natural lifespan... I feel that the whole concept of "SGC" as a show maybe hasn't.

So I'm not quite sure what I'm hoping will happen to "SGC", as such. (I am sure of this: the more I think of it, the more I think migrating some of the characters over to SGA is a poor idea... for SGA itself.) For "SG-1", there's a few things I'd like to see happen.

As Roush says: the end of S10 treated with dignity. (But hey, it's the SciFi Channel, so good luck!) As I was remarking yesterday -- as shitty as the timing of this announcement is, there may be a bright side to it. And that bright side is that eps 19 and 20 weren't written yet. Bridge has lots of warning now to figure out how to end the series. We will not be trapped by their having made a HUGE CLIFFHANGER because they were, for once, banking on the idea of S11.

I do not think there is any way they can wrap up the Orii plotline in that time. But the thing is, we've been dealing with this since S6 -- at which point we all knew the show might end with the long-running Goa'uld plotline unresolved. *shrug* We knew then they were hoping to make a movie to give the show's overall storyline closure. (They wanted it to be a feature film, like "Serenity"; I myself was always placing money on tv-movie or mini-series, even then.) So I don't see how the situation right now is *that* different from what it was. The same options appear to be on the table.

I personally lean towards the tv-movie/mini-series option. I think reaching towards a feature film is a bad idea (for a franchise that is so heavily dependent on its backstory). I think that a tv-movie or series of movies, or a mini or two, could probably be enough to give closure, and/or to tell some nice one-shot stories, and it's a way of concentrating effort and budget to produce something good. And it would keep canon open, to an extent, or at least make that a possibility -- without necessarily confronting us with the agonizing over the show's inevitable cancellation *again*. (Because even if it gets picked up for a S11... then you continue to have the anxiety over its ratings performance, and how much longer it can go on, etc.)

But that's just my personal preference, and I respect the folks who honestly feel there is a case to be made for giving what is essentially the 2-year-old "Stargate Command" some more time. Even if I'm not as hopeful that it'll actually happen.

However, I see nothing wrong with the idea of asking for a *lot* (S11) and settling for a bit less (movies, etc.). It may be a good negotiating tactic.

I will say this, though -- I think a good bit of my very emotional reaction yesterday was all tied up in how this affects the community/fandom, and the way that is important to me *apart from* the way my enjoyment of the show is important to me. And the outpourings of fannish reaction around LJ, that I have seen at least, have soothed some of my distress over that.

Comments

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

I am sure of this: the more I think of it, the more I think migrating some of the characters over to SGA is a poor idea... for SGA itself.

I agree, and more than that, I really don't want to see that happen to the SG-1 characters. (This is, of course, independent of my feelings about the actors; hey, if they want the gig, I'm all for them going for it.) I just can't imagine how they'd fit, you know? They're the stars of their show. You send them to SGA, they aren't anymore, and that would be painful for me--with Sam and Daniel and Teal'c, at least. Cameron or Vala, okay, but... I don't know. I don't want even them to be reduced to scraps on someone else's show, ridiculous as that sounds.

I kind of... if it's going to end, I want it to end. Maybe a TV movie to wrap a story up that they wanted to tell, I'm on board with that, but otherwise... it would be, in a weird way, kind of a relief to have the characters home and safe, you know? Closed canon, where they can't be damaged anymore.

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

it would be, in a weird way, kind of a relief to have the characters home and safe, you know? Closed canon, where they can't be damaged anymore.

Word. I know the shippers are lobbying hard to have a real S/J hookup to close out the series, but please no. Everybody nicely in character and open-ended would suit me just fine.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Yes. Moebius x2. Pull it out like that again, and I'll be fine.

(I'll admit that I'm a bit of a hypocrite. If the show suddenly went off its rocker and decided to end the series with a teensy bang, and I dunno, have Jack plant one on Daniel, or the other way around -- even without suggesting they then go off and get "married" or something -- I would be totally behind that. And I realize that is a double-standard, since that's what I don't want to happen with S/J. However. Rationalizing that -- one of the reasons I am comfortable vaguely wishing they'd do it is that I am still fairly certain that there is no way in hell they ever, ever will. No matter how cute the Brokeback takes of the wedding scene sound. So it's a degree of difference. I can daydream about the show doing something truly unexpected and actually edgy... mostly because it'll never happen.)

(And yet, I'm *still* sitting here feeling that I would far rather have a completely non-concrete, open-ended ending that emphasized team, and didn't shove one faction's desires on everybody else. And I'm including here the folks who are *gen* fans and who'd vastly prefer a noromo ending. Because I think that is a fair thing to expect.)

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely if they closed on a J/D moment I would be out of my mind with joy! (princessofg's ficlet :-) But we have no expectation that could ever happen. I would even be gleeful if they closed on a "Jack & Daniel go off alone together on a new adventure" buddy moment, they step into the wormhole for a one-way trip to a different galaxy, or something, since that's what I've loved ever since the movie. But that wouldn't be fair to the teamy-goodness idea.

Intellectually, I can understand the shipper's dilemma. Jack's been shown to like women and has admitted "feelings" for Sam, and Sam's been shown to like men and is obviously besotted with Jack. So why haven't TPTB given the shippers what is so patently obvious and in front of their noses?! And because it's not completely outside the realm of possibility, they don't see that a huge chunk of the viewing audience believes just as strongly that team or ex-team romance is a terrible idea, or that Sam/Jack would be a train wreck if they actually got together, or that Jack is much closer to Daniel than to anyone else in the world. And they are screaming like crazy for their confirmation of ship to happen by the end. *headdesk* I wasn't thrilled by the S/J "lean" they put in Moebius 2, but if TPTB can do something that open-ended again, yes please.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

I was having a discussion similar to this with princessofg in one of her threads, about shipper expectations versus slasher expectations, and the ways they're inevitably very different.

Because, exactly -- what the shippers would like to happen is on a basic level reasonable and possible. And I'm talking here in the broadest sense, based on one's knowledge of society and of past television experiences. There is no overarching reason why a male lead and a female lead in a show cannot go from UST to RST, especially as a show is winding up.

So on SG-1, shippers have always had the knowledge that what they wanted was fundamentally possible, and the only reason it wasn't happening on the show was that the show built in a bunch of other reasons why the het romance couldn't happen. But shippers are always aware that those reasons can be gotten around or else removed, because they aren't insurmountable reasons.

Whereas, for slashers -- underlying almost all slash fandoms is a very simple piece of knowledge: no genre show has ever had a lead gay couple. Period. If shows do have gay characters, or even more rarely stable gay couples, it is because the show is ABOUT GAY PEOPLE. We are not at a point in television where a gay couple can be included in the same offhanded manner that a het couple can be. If a gay person/couple comes into things, it's because a Point is Being Made, or something. It's an Issue and their inclusion becomes Issue-Oriented.

The day an action/adventure genre show takes a lead and makes him or her gay, and gives him or her a romance, let alone with another lead in the show, and does not treat it as this Big Thing, and more importantly, does not change the characterization of the lead/s in the least bit... that, my friend, will be a MAJOR ADVANCE in our entire society's way of dealing with the concept of homosexuality. It will be extraordinary.

(I'm including Buffy in this, btw. And I think that the issues regarding lesbians are slightly different than the issues regarding gay men. But leaving that aside -- Buffy *half*-succeeded in what I am talking about, but, it wasn't able to make Willow gay without making it an Issue thereafter. Willow became a sort of gay Poster Child; they dwelled on it a bit too much. Which in a way they had to. But look -- what I'm talking about is a case in which, say, Jack and Daniel become a couple, and nothing else about them changes at all, including, they don't start getting a bunch of storylines that are *about* them being gay, they don't become gay activists, etc. That's the leap I'm talking about.)

So, I just feel like most slashers, deep down, don't expect their particular fannish property to be the one to be the first with this paradigm shift.

I sure don't expect SG-1 to be the one that does it. Hell, no. (If not for the strength of the John/Aeryn pairing, I wouldn't have been surprised if Farscape had done it. I probably wouldn't have been surprised if Firefly had done it either, as a series.) Therefore, I can sit there and say, "Ooh, wouldn't that be cool?", because always in the back of my mind is, "yeah, but it's completely not going to happen, it's just not possible given the State of Television Right Now". Whereas, yes, the shipper can say "wouldn't that be cool?" knowing that what they want is *entirely possible* and given television history, not even that unusual.

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

If shows do have gay characters, or even more rarely stable gay couples, it is because the show is ABOUT GAY PEOPLE.

Heh. Actually I think poor Will is more married to Grace than any man. I totally agree I'd love to see it on a "regular" show.

Babylon 5 actually did a wonderful job of making Susan Ivanova bi without comment, but then the woman she got involved with (whom I had a huge crush on!) was destroyed right after they got together, so no happily ever after. But Susan was Russian, so she kind of expected that. ;-)

On the one hand, Stargate is sci fi and it's on cable -- it could be the kind of show where it happens. On the other, the ties are too damn strong to the Air Force. They just won't show Jack with a man (though they could possibly have a gay couple on the show who were both civilians). But I doubt they'll show Jack with a female officer, either. (On Firefly it would have been awesome and perfect!)

Also, as much as I love the Jack/Daniel pairing and think OMG it's so obvious!, I know a significant portion of the audience sees it differently, and I'd hate to totally step on their love/enjoyment of the show. Open-ended is fine for me. Unfortunately there are oodles of shippers who don't have that same consideration.

With Moonlighting, the chemistry was obvious, and the show did go there (unfortunately for them, before the last episode). With X-Files, I thought the chemistry was obvious, though I know there were noromos, too. I don't know what the percentage was between Scully/Mulder shippers and noromos, and I don't know how many didn't like the idea at all, or just didn't want to see it as part of episodes, and were fine with the ending.

With Stargate, a significant part of the audience just doesn't see any sexual chemistry between Jack and Sam, which is why it was ludicrous to "create" the ship to begin with. There really should have been incontrovertible sparks a-flyin' before even setting foot on that slippery slope. Once you tell two actors to exchange longing looks and deliver lines about feelings, it's canon, and you're stuck. Again, I don't know how many Stargate noromos fans think S/J is OOC period, and how many just don't want to see it on the show, but for the last ep it would be okay. And of course none of the J/D OTPers want to see it!

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Well, we'll see, I guess. I don't need full closure, certainly--I just want to end on a high point.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Yes. I'm chewing over this, actually, and may write a post on it later. I.e. what level of closure is needed to make the audience comfortable, versus what level of "the story goes on" is feasible, indeed, expected and necessary.

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Depends on the audience, of course, and the show. As I said elsewhere... to you, probably, now that I think about it, but I'm not sure so I'll say it again... oh, no, it was Tafkar, but maybe in your comments. Anyway. BSG, you end with everyone dying, that fits the show. SG-1, not so much.

OTOH, I wouldn't be happy with "and then they all retire!" either.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was Tafkar who said she wouldn't mind so much a "and they all die" ending, and I was like, "oh, no no no no..."

You're right that it depends on the show, and I could indeed see it for something like BSG. But then, also, I'm not invested in BSG that heavily, although I like it. So it wouldn't really hit me that hard. But doing it to SG-1, or even killing some of them off, would really upset me. And no, it wouldn't fit the tone of the show.

I wouldn't really be that happy with a "and they all retire" ending, either. That's why I thought the end of Threads/Moebius was okay, because it was a PAUSE, but it didn't feel like an end. You knew that the problems with the galaxy weren't over with, you knew these people probably couldn't walk away from the work at that point, so a nice pause where everyone is together and warm and happy, with it left up to conjecture what happens next -- that worked for me. (And symbolically it worked for me, since the whole "going fishing" thing had been built up to an extent, so all four of them being at the cabin had a resonance to it beyond the basic point that they were all together during down-time.)

I would rather leave the team, including Jack, at a point like that, than see the show give anyone a more concrete end, even retirement. I've actually never been *that* fond of fics in which Jack, for example, retires (usually for romantic reasons, either way).

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

I feel similarly, actually, even though I'm enjoying the hell out of this season and would gladly watch a "Stargate Command" spinoff.

Honestly? I'd love an ending in which many of the characters die nobly in order to save the Earth. But that's one of my kinks.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Oh man, that is *so* *NOT* one of my kinks. :) That would kind of devastate me, actually. I'm not even kidding. I don't deal well with that sort of thing.

I'm not actually afraid that they're going to do it, though. Because I think they will want to preserve as much flexibility for future endeavors as they can.

Rather than see them get someone to pick up S11 per se, if they really are going to aim for continued series television rather than movies/minis, I hope they give us a series ender next year, and then do what they wanted at the start of S9, which is launch "SGC" somewhere. And they can re-use characters, of course

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Ha! That I'm not up for with SG-1--there are shows I can handle that with (B7, of course, and it would work for BSG too, though it would break my heart) but SG-1 is not one of them.

Maybe they can do a nice AU for you, though. Or a not-so-nice one, for that matter.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree with that, too. My first reaction was, "No, that'll just screw up SGA". But I think you're right that it would be doing no favors to the SG-1 characters either. And most of them are duplicates, design-wise, of characters SGA already has.

I also totally agree with the sentiment that if we've got to close canon, I want to see it *SAFELY CLOSED*. Yes. God, yes.

Because the one thing I sure won't miss (and I have dealt with this *every season* since I started in the fandom) is the low-level and sometimes high-level anxiety on the parts of various folks about "how will they end it? what will they pull on us? aaigh!"

"Moebius" was not my perfect ending. But I can deal with it, as an ending. Now, we get the cycle of anxiety (and batshittery) one last time... maybe.

Honestly, right at this moment, I would sort of rather *know* that what we're going to get next May *is* a series finale. I realize that it's very important to some other folks to try to work to "save" the show, and I'm not knocking the strength of their feelings. But this weird limbo we've got right now thanks to Cooper's and MGM's "we're looking at ways to save it" just... doesn't actually soothe me.

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

No, me either. Like I said, if they set up a TV movie or a miniseries or something, so they can tell whatever story arc they had planned for S11 (assuming that's true), then I'm on board with that. But other than that, no. I want it closed and done, unless they want to send Vala to Atlantis which would make no sense but I love her and CB so that I would forgive them. Plus, I'm not so concerned that she get closed canon. She's too young to be closed.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I've been wanting movies (Tv, DVD, or theaterical, though I think the last option would be a mistake) or a miniseries since the end of S8 ;)

I'm taking a wait and see approach. I want to hear what else is going on.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Suddenly it all feels kind of up in the air again. Which kind of makes me feel worse. I mean, I was upset over the cancellation, but I could wrap my brain around that, mourn, and look forward to closure. Right now, I'm really not sure *what* to feel.

I think I'd just kind of prefer a sort of combination. Some real closure. But with a modicum of hope for... something else.

[karendreamer.livejournal.com]

You've said a lot of what I've been thinking, but my thoughts are still too scattered to say.

I'm of mixed feelings also about saving the show. I think SG1 going on means a lot more to some people. I also don't want to see it do a Buffy.

I have more thinking to do, and posts like this are really helping me deal with it all.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I think a lot of us are at that stage, huh? Some folks have figured out pretty quickly what it is that will make them feel better (and if campaigning for it to be saved, or to go on somehow, is what does that, I'm sure not going to say they shouldn't). Others are still processing.

[paian]

::vigorous nodding:: to everything you say here.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Word. My pain had a lot to do with the story breaking while i was still high on 200.

I definitely don't want Stargate to hit bottom before bowing out, and I think TV movies or mini-series would be a great way to carry the story forward, with greater time and creative energy available to put into them. I don't want to see any of the characters become regular cast on Atlantis (further diluting everyone in that big ensemble and blowing SG:A's budget), though I do hope to see lots of guest appearances.

If there was to be another spin-off, I'd love to see the Alternate Universe SG-15 with Col. Dixon, Martouf, John and Rodney, but that's not going to happen. ;-) An AU would be an interesting idea, though, springboarding off Ripple Effect or another AU event. Janet and Kawalsky and Ferretti heading a show?

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Hah! It'd be pretty funny if they did indeed go the AU route. And really, why the hell not?

[keiko-kirin.livejournal.com]

You've summed up my reaction fairly well. I'm actually content with the 200 episodes they've given us so far, though, so I'm okay if after S10, that's it. That must place me in a very tiny minority of SG-1 fans, I know, but I'm a kook. Most of all, I just don't want them to ruin the series finale. Please, let it end well.

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

Most of all, I just don't want them to ruin the series finale. Please, let it end well.***

Dear God, yes. I couldn't bear going out with a sour taste in my mouth.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

From your mouth to God's ears, as Hammond would say. Yes. This is the last source of anxiety to me -- the perennial source. If they're going to end it... how will they do it?

For me, "Moebius" was an okay ending, I guess. I felt that it could have been a lot worse. I mean, I wasn't entirely happy with the implications of all the time-jaunting shenanigans, but I could shove that aside, and The Team together at Jack's cabin, fish-status notwithstanding, felt good to me, it felt right.

I'm thinking in terms of a movie or mini, simply because I think that even if they don't end S10 on a cliffhanger, as such, I don't think they can reasonably wrap the Orii storyline in a way that leaves it in a comfortable place. This is something I am pondering and may create a separate post about... to what extent is it possible to tie up *everything*? Given that that's probably *not* possible, how much can you leave unsettled, and still have your viewers be comfortable? Hmm. I think it's a balancing act. Have to think more about it.

In a strange way... right at this moment, I feel less anxious about what they are likely to foist on us in a series finale than I have been at times in the past. I'm not sure that I can put my finger on why. Maybe it was the tightrope that they did indeed walk in "Moebius", which perhaps provides a glimpse of what they are likely to do when they are in a situation to create such an "ending". Maybe it's comments from here and there. I don't know.

But yes. Now I have *three* wishes. :)

1. Aw, c'mon! Release those Jack/Daniel takes of the wedding scene somewhere we can see them? Please?

2. For Jack's second SG-1 ep in S10, "all" I want is the mirror-image equivalent of "Abyss", in terms of meatiness and emotional resonance. That's "all". What? No, I don't think that's unreasonable. ;-)

and now,

3. Don't fuck up the series finale, guys. If that's what it turns out to be, then please, please, give it more thought than you have ever given anything else, and do something worthy of the bowing-out of this *entire show*. (And, I want RDA and DSD back for it, at minimum. And with this warning, I don't see why that shouldn't be a given.)

I'll tell you one thing. It sure does sound like they're going to have to decide to jump one way or the other, pretty soon. No matter what "options" Bridge and MGM are pursuing, I just can't see them getting a firm committment on a S11 *before* the drop-dead date when they have to commit and write 19 and 20.

Hmm. Then again? If they know for sure that SciFi (the rat-bastards) are sticking to their plan to wait until March 2007 to broadcast the second half of the season... well, I wonder if that will make them feel that they don't have to rush to wrap up the writing/filming in the way they normally do. Since that would put 19/20 airing in late May, rather than in March. Gives 'em an extra couple of months to dither, I suppose. *sigh*

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

Buffy 6/7. Hmm. Word on that one.

What I really want is quality rather than quantity, and unfortunately, for me at least, the quality was suffering. I hardly saw any of S9, partly, I think, because no matter whom you excise from the original SG1 and for whatever reason, it just doesn't work for me. I adore Vala, lovelovelove Ben and Claudia, but it was almost like watching a Farscape AU at times. Changing things so fundamentally, which began in S6 when MS took his leave of absence, then continuing with the death of Janet Frasier, General Hammond leaving and Jack bowing out of 'gate travel - I suppose I should have seen these things as natural growth, but sadly I saw them as a slow chipping away at what made the show really grip me. Without the Jack/Daniel dynamic, love affair, relationship, friendship, call it what you will, it's much easier for me to let it go. I'd like to see movies, but that core of four would have to be SG-1, otherwise I'd probably give it a miss.

As far as the community si concerned, I think there's little to worry about. Plenty of fandoms happily survive the demise of their show. We'll be just fine.

[charmedstrange1.livejournal.com]

As far as the community si concerned, I think there's little to worry about. Plenty of fandoms happily survive the demise of their show. We'll be just fine.

Thank you for this. Of all the things I'm feeling right now and having difficulty articulating, this is at the heart of it.

I really love the show, but I had been expecting it to end after another season or two, (with some warning, thank you very much!) But frankly, while I enjoyed having fresh material on the characters each week, I had begun to look at the show as almost more of a primer for the pump of fandom, and to feel much more compelled by this, here, this community and this fic and these people and ideas. That's what I was fearful of having threatened. Aside from, of course, my genuine affection and concern for the characters and the actors of the show.

Of all the frustration and sadness and anger I've felt, because of the *ungodly* *TIMING* of this thing, and all the things I've read, your "We'll be just fine" is the first time I've actually gotten teary.

Thank you for knowing the right thing to say.

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

Bless you. I'm glad it helped. *hugs*

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Some of your deep-seated fears have been mine, as well. Especially that nebulous feeling that, even if the fresh material wasn't always doing quite what we wanted, just the very fact of our GETTING fresh material was galvanizing the fandom in certain ways.

And I've just never been in a fandom where the thing upon which it was based ended. I'm not in many fandoms at all. I've watched other shows end, but wasn't in their fandoms, so I just didn't have a feel for what happens to a fandom when that occurs. And for me, the unknown is something to worry about.

But now I've had a couple of years where fandom, really, has been on the wane. And it's not dead yet. I've watched some really *great* people discover the show for the first time in the past couple years as well. I think that'll still happen. And I really do hope that everyone else, who has more experience in these things than I do, is right when they say that the fandom will be fine. *I* still feel like I am standing there, looking at that door, and not knowing what I'll find on the other side when I finally have to open it.

*hugs*

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

I hear you. I feel a lot of that as well. I've been watching S9/S10. I've been critical about it. I like the new characters but don't love them with the depth that I do the core of characters from earlier in the show's life.

One of the things that I think about a movie or a mini that appeals to me is that I feel as if it has a *potential* at least (likely or not, is a different question) of being able to tell a bigger story than a 42-minute episode can. And in a bigger story, you can include more elements. Potentially, you could bring Jack and Hammond (and others) back and integrate them into such a story in a satisfying way. Related to that, given that a movie or mini is a more concentrated, limited committment than a series, I think it also becomes a little more likely, maybe, that you can get various actors to come and be in it.

*shrug* But those are all only potentials, not necessarily realities. Who knows what will happen?

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

although i can't get the article to load, i'm appreciating your thoughts and the issues you've articulated. i agree that a mini-series would work better than a big screen rendition.

{{{more big hugs}}}

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

I'll send you a copy of the article in email. It's a nice read.

I just... while it'd be kinda cool to see this show get the Serenity treatment, on the other hand, I have simply never been able to imagine it on the big screen. On the big screen, and pulling in movie-theatre level audiences.

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

thank you, i really enjoyed that.

and i do agree...it's got more of a small-er screen feel to it for me. although when i saw the movie in the theatres....well, that was before sg-1 so any objectivity i might have had is shot. ;)

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

I think my inability to imagine it coming to the big screen mostly has to do with the extraordinarily involved backstory.

Even when they brought Serenity to the theatres, you notice, they did change a number of things slightly from the series. But even then, the series was SHORT. So you had a double whammy there. It wasn't that unreasonable to think that potential audiences MIGHT check out the series, because it is a low investment of time and there just isn't that much material to "master". But, second, they also went to *some* lengths to make the film low-entry, so that it stood alone.

I simply do not see how a SG-1 feature film could stand alone. At all. And there is way, waaaaaaaaaaaay too much backstory to expect a film audience to master, if you get them to care in the first place.

I don't know what Firefly's viewing numbers were in comparison with SG-1's, either. And of course we are not counting SG-1's healthy audiences in countries outside of the U.S. But as much as I love Stargate, it's NOT TREK. In terms of sheer audience numbers that can be counted upon to go see it in the theatre. It just isn't. And it doesn't have Trek's cultural cachet, which at least when they started up the movie franchise was being counted upon to draw in people who weren't die-hard fans -- but who are absolutely necessary to make enough money for a film to be worthwhile.

SG-1's biggest audience on SciFi right now is about 2.5 million people (based on the ratings of "200"). Even if every single one goes to see a film in the theatre, that's $25 million dollars... and that is a theatrical flop. *shrug*

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

you've made very good points here. and gods, the back-story is so layered with so many fractal tangents that i can see people reeling (pun intended) as they come out of the theatre. ;)

i'd hate to see them sabatage any future success by expecting people to make that kind of leap. i hope that they'd be smarter about their audience too.

[starglyph.livejournal.com]

I read the article earlier and agree with a lot of it and with what you say. I decided to get an lj in part to help myself cope with it all. I feel like I got a love letter from sg1 on one night and a 'Dear John' letter then next day.

I'm thinking they'll try and leave things pretty open ended, heading through the gate on some unknown adventure. I don't think anyone these days, makes a movie or ends a TV show without leaving wiggle room for a sequel, especially with advance warning.

Just as log as Jack is involved somehow, I'll take sg1 any way I can get it. Malibu, DC, PXX-WTF, fan fic will carry us into 'infinity and beyond'... Yeah, okay, wrong show, but still ;-)

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Hey! Hi! Welcome! For me, the LJ community is providing a very good way of coping. I used to do my fannish interaction through mailing lists, but a couple of years ago I basically switched completely to LJ, and haven't regretted it.

I think you're right about the economics of things, too. MGM and Bridge keep emphasizing that they are thinking in terms these days of "Stargate the Franchise", not Stargate-any-particular-show, necessarily. To me, that implies that they want flexibility in how they can use it for the future.

They got a pretty good amount of warning on this. As awful as the timing was (couldn't they have waited a week? just a week, and that would have helped), I have this feeling that the Bridge folks may be saying to themselves, "well, based on the network's track record and the way it treated Farscape, we are damned lucky that we heard about it now, while we still have yet to write those last few eps -- instead of sometime during the hiatus, when everything was wrapped and left on a giant cliffhanger".

Here's hoping they USE the opportunity they've been given, and use it well!

*hug*