Following the events of the ’94 film, Stargate SG-1 originally premiered on Showtime on July 27. 1997. It took place approximately a year after the Stargate movie. This Flashback Friday explores the series SG-1, the threats they faced, characters, legacy and more.
Spoilers!
Children of the Gods
Once again, taking place a year after the events of the Stargate movie, the pilot episode “Children of the Gods” introduced Apophis who ambushed the Stargate Command Center (SGC) and military base and kidnaps a female airman. This causes the government to, at first, temporary reactivate the Stargate program and call back Colonel Jack O’Neill, Major Charles Kawalsky, Louis Ferretti, and contact Dr. Jackson who had stayed behind on the previously unnamed planet, Abydos. Unfortunately, Jackson’s wife Sha’re and his brother-in-law Skaara were both kidnapped similarly as the airman. Where the airman died because the parasite, or Goa’uld, didn’t accept her as its host, where as Sha’re was accepted by the Goa’uld, Amaunet and Skaara was accepted by Klorel. Which FYI, Amaunet is Apophis’s mate and Klorel is his son. Apophis, Amaunet, and Klorel become SG-1’s enemies and main story arc for many seasons.
Enemies and ALlies
This main story arc saw the rise, and in some cases fall of enemies and allies. Such as an off-shoot of Goa’uld called the Tok’ra, which are individuals who have a symbiotic relationship with their symbiote, the Tollan, who are an advanced human race, the Nox, who are humanoid pacifists, the Ancients, and the Asgard, which are tiny gray aliens that go to great lengths to protect galaxies and planets.
SG-1 face many enemies and adversaries, the System Lords, Replicators, Anubis, Goa’uld, and the Ori. Each adversary had expanding story arcs that didn’t just stay within the ten seasons of SG-1, but also bled into spin-off such as movies and animated series.
Apophis was eventually defeated, however, his subsequent defeat caused a war between the Goa’uld System Lords. While the Tok’ra believed the war would last years, with outside help, it was evident that that wouldn’t be the case. This allowed for the return of supposedly dead, Anubis.
Anubis
Season 7 we find out Anubis’s origins. He’s actually an ascended being and has been locked in a battle with another ascended being named, Oma Desala, who even helped create Anubis. After the creation of the Kull Warriors, the other System Lords were wiped out. SG-1 discovered an Ancient’s outpost in Antarctica (which is where they also found a 2nd Stargate) that has an incredibly powerful weapon that effectively wipes out Anubis’s fleet. This also sets up the pilot episode for the spin-off Stargate: Atlantis. By season 8, Anubis is defeated and Replicators, and most of the System Lords were also defeated and saw the disbandment of SG-1.
Ori
After the defeat of the Goa’uld, SG-1 faced a new enemy called the Ori. Ori were one of the first evolved humans next to the Ancients. However, where the Ancients protected the knowledge it took to ascend to the next plane so that people could reach enlightenment by themselves, the Ori were complete opposites. They also used their knowledge and power to justify its need for worship from humans/mortals. Ori learned that having worshippers increased their power when they ascended. The Ori came to an end during Stargate: Arc of Truth, a direct to DVD movie.
Production
Creators Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner worked together previously on The Outer Limits and both ended up approaching MGM to propose their concepts independently. MGM greenlit the project with a condition, that they work together which they became executive producers, writers, and developers for the series.
John Symes, MGM president, approached Richard Dean Anderson, former star and main actor for MacGyver, in hopes to become Colonel Jack O’Neill. He agreed with a condition, 1.) he was allowed more comedic freedom and leeway than Kurt Russell’s version of the character and 2.) that he wouldn’t be the main star of the show, proposing an ensemble cast instead. Around this time, Showtime made a 2 season commitment for 44 episodes in ’96.
Premiere, Ensembled Cast and Changes
On its pilot debut, actors Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, and Don S. Davis became an ensembled cast playing Colonel Jack O’Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson, Captain, and later Major, Samantha “Sam” Carter, Teal’c, and General George Hammond.
SG-1’s 2 hour premiere on Showtime garnered approximately 1.5 million viewers, which at the time became its highest-ever rating for a show. Even though Showtime placed no pressure on the show, by its 5th season though, Showtime pulled the plug and decided not to renew the show for a 6th season.
When Showtime announced that it wouldn’t be renewing Stargate SG-1, Sci-Fi picked it up for its 6th season. However, the change saw the departure of Michael Shanks, his reason for leaving the show was because he worried that his character, Dr. Daniel Jackson, would be underutilized. Jonas Quinn, played by Corin Nemec was added to fill the missing hole that Dr. Jackson left. While Sci-Fi and the remaining cast welcomed Nemec and his character Quinn, Gaters, or the fandom for Stargate, weren’t so willing to see a favorite leave the show nor quick to embrace a new character. Nemec’s character remained a main character for two seasons, and late became a recurring role. Shanks returned after negotiations with MGM, and returned as a main character in season 7. Richard Dean Anderson saw his appearance in the show decline while Don S. Davis left after season 7 due to health reasons, but his role remained recurring until his passing on June 29, 2008.
Claudia Black joined the cast of Stargate SG-1 as a guest in season 8. Producers loved the chemistry so much between Claudia Black’s and Michael Shanks’s characters that a 6 episode story arc was introduced. This arc covered for Amanda Tapping’s maternity leave at the beginning of season 9. Richard Dean Anderson decided to limit his role to guest-starring in order to have more time to spend with his daughter, this also happened in season 9. Colonel O’Neill’s role was filled by Ben Browder, who played Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell. They also brought on Beau Bridges to play Major General Hank Landry and Claudia Black reprised her role as a main character in season 10.
Collaborations
SG-1 saw most of its characters wear actual and authentic United States Air Force uniforms. An example would be when SG-1 went on missions, they wore Battle Dress Uniforms or BDUs.
I mention this because of the strong ties and collaborations with the United States military, more specifically the Air Force. Before the series began, the United States Air Force allowed production and filming crews to film at the very real Cheyenne Mountain Complex for stock footage. U.S.A.F. also made sure that information for the show was accurate in scripts, providing plausible information for backstories for characters, military regulations for uniforms, ribbon placements, ceremonies, relationships and even the decorum for active military bases. The Air Force even flew fighter jets for several episodes, and provided U.S.A.F. personnel as extras. Two Generals made cameos as themselves in season 4 and 7, and the Air Force Association recognized Richard Dean Anderson for his work on the show as well as a positive depiction of the Air Force.
Season 4 was filmed on location on an actual decommissioned Russian submarine, and the U.S. Navy invited the show to film aboard the USS Alexandria submarine and at their Applied Sciences Lab in the Artic for Stargate: Continuum.
Conclusions
SG-1’s legacy can be loosely compared to shows such as Doctor Who, Star Trek, Buffy/Angel, and The X-Files. They made the 2007 edition of the Guinness World Records as the “Longest Consecutive Running Sci-Fi TV Show.” Astronomers enjoyed the show so much so that they named an asteroid they discovered after their favorite villain on the show, Apophis.
SG-1 hand many spin-offs and rumors are churning that a revival might be on the horizon. While the jury is out on this because this is certainly not the first time rumors have come to light, this statement was said by none other Brad Wright during his podcast, SYFY Wire reported. He dropped some incredible morsels about the script he’s working on and gave an inside look to how the script was coming along. Personally, I’m excited and hopeful about the prospect of a revival for Stargate.
While I watched the show much later in its series, I was a fan of the source material and fell further in love with the series and its later spin-offs. If I had to rate it I would say it’s a 3.8/5, because of when the show was created things like storyline, CGI and even language can feel dated and aged. Bringing Stargate forward into the new age might open the door for new fans if done with the care, love and attention to detail as the movie and television series. I’m always hesitant when I hear about rivals because fan favorites get left by the wayside, forgotten to make way for new characters, and while that’s fine I just hope that that isn’t the case. Especially considering that one of the original writers/developers/producers is the one working on the script. It makes things a bit hopeful.
Have you watched the show? Did you enjoy it?
Until next time – Cheer!
Follow me on Twitter.
P.S. Check out my podcasts that correlate with these blog posts and become a supporter here. Thanks in advance!!
Consider Supporting this Blog:
utterrandomness653702315.wordpress.com 