Alan’s Blog of Monkey Bloginess

This Friday, Stargate fans get their new fix with a new series as Stargate Universe premieres on Syfy with a two hour “movie”, and then will probably follow Syfy’s wacky season time-share splitting -- sharing Friday with Eureka in some twisted custody agreement where SGU gets Fall & Spring and Eureka gets Winter & Summer. It’s the first new Stargate story since the end of Season 5 of Atlantis; since Stargate: Extinction (the movie that will wrap up the Atlantis story arc) missed its original June ‘09 release.

Teaser Trailer from the 2009 San Diego Comic Con

As you can see, Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, Full Monty, 28 Weeks Later) is going to be the leadership for this rag-tag group of interstellar castaways. Lou Diamond Phillips is also part of the cast, but I have a hunch his character won’t necessarily be in the series too long. The creators have said that several characters die in the first couple of episodes, and I have a gut feeling Mr. Phillips will be in that group; where he opted for a short commitment that would help boost the series initial numbers while giving Robert Carlyle time to develop his character to carry the show moving forward. We’ll see, any of the Regulators are always fun to have around in a project, so if Chavez ends up flying around the Universe for more than 5 episodes then rock on!

The series is said to be darker with heavier drama, so anyone expecting another SG-1 & Atlantis-style Stargate will probably feel little disappointed. The series is taking a new direction in tone. Personally, I’m looking forward to the new grittiness, and the series taking a different look at the Universe through the crew stuck aboard the aging Ancient ship Destiny. The themes of isolation, despair, and helplessness are definitely more appropriate for a darker Stargate, and it feels like a natural progression from the baby steps made going from SG-1 to Atlantis. It may put a lot of fans of the series off.

I’ve already noticed comparisons between this new series and “Star Trek Voyager” being made; while I think this is going to be a very different show than Voyager if only in visual style, I actually felt Voyager had a lot to offer viewers. I feel that SGU is going to be far more different from SG1 & Atlantis than Voyager was from previous Star Trek offerings. If anything, with a leading actor, loss of adequate lighting, and a humbling of an established franchise cast, I see SGU having more in common with Enterprise, only I hope Stargate Universe is met with higher acclaim and sticks around for more than four seasons.

Behind The Scenes of Stargate Universe

The series creators have said there will be aliens (sweet), but there won’t be a single antagonist species as the Goa’uld or Ori in SG-1 and Wraith in Atlantis. Destiny will stop at alien worlds to seed Stargates, so the crew will have opportunities to get off the ship and explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Again, Stargate Universe premieres this Friday (October 2^nd) on Syfy with a two-hour movie at 9:00/8:00c and a repeat airing at 11:00/10:00c. For people in the Mountain Time Zone, Syfy doesn’t time shift, so the first showing is at 7:00pm and the repeat at 9:00pm. Available in HD. Syfy will also be re-airing the movie throughout the weekend and following week, check your listings.

Personally, I’m recording this on the DVR, going to see Zombieland in the theaters, and then coming home to some new Stargate action. Friday night should be fantabulous!