Only one day to the explosive SGU premiere! And, in advance of the big event, I offer you this handy visual guide to our extensive cast of characters:
Whew!
Mailbag:
Christine writes: ““If it’s successful do you think it could restart Stargate Atlantis?
“No – that’s done, I can tell you one thousand percent!”
Any comment on the above statement by Robert Carlyle. How can he be so certain that SGA is done when fans keep getting told that a movie may still be made.”
Answer: You’re misinterpreting what he said . Te interviewer is asking about the chances of SGA returning as a SERIES – which, as Robert pointed out, is not going to happen, something I’ve said several times in the past.
Sebi Meyer writes: ““The finish line is within sight!” Odd way to put it. It STARTS on Friday, it doesn’t end.”
Answer: It starts for the fans this Friday night, but the finish line for the show’s first season of production is within sight – only on more month!
Thornyrose writes: “Though speaking of pics, when are the pooches going to post another on their Twitter account?”
Answer: They did last night.
O6untouchable writes: “SGU: best birthday present ever!”
Answer: Happy early birthday!
Fuchsia writes: “Joe, please tell my husband Graham to stop being boring and to watch SGU with me on Friday night.”
Answer: Graham, stop being boring and watch SGU with Fuchsia tomorrow night!
DasNdanger writes: “Joe…are you nervous about the premiere, or excited?”
Answer: Let’s go with “cautiously optimistic”. I think that Stargate: Universe is a great show and I’m proud of the work we’ve done. Still, if there’s one thing I know about predicting fan response it’s that it’s impossible to predict fan response. I’m continually amazed by the wonderful shows that fail to capture an audience and end up being canceled well before their time (Firefly and Arrested Development come to mind), and equally amazed by the truly atrocious programming that DOES manage to find viewers and survive (too numerous to mention). So that said, I’m thinking positive thoughts, not so much for myself (after ten years with the franchise, I think I’ll be okay) but for the many, many incredible individuals I’ve been fortunate enough to work with on SGU this year. They’re good people and I wish them nothing but the best – like, say, another four seasons. At least!
It’s Shooter McGavin!
Time for me to sign off for a week until it premieres here.
Take care all.
Seeeeeeeeeeeeeya.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to watch the premiere on tv 🙁 Got school that night. But, I’m totally supportive of t he show. Looks awesome from the trailers. Can’t wait to watch it…too bad its not a 3 hour premiere
SQUEEE!!! I’m going to keep this page open so I know who’s who, although I imagine all of those characters will be introduced eventually! 😀
Can’t wait to see what sort of records SciFi channel breaks tomorrow night… not that I hold a grudge against WareHouse13, of course! Love that show too! 😀
THE PREMIERE IS TODAY!!!!! W00T!!!! Gotta get back to tweeting #SGU all over the place lol 😀
Thanks for the line up! Is Curtis anything like Chuck? Doomed to be on a first name basis only?lol
It’s how we feel after our three pre-premiere reviews. Job well one by all! Thank you!
*goes to watch again*
Best Regards,
WormholeRiders News
Hey Joe,
Thank you for the pictorial show and tell. I love seeing the cast that isn’t shown that often. Will we ever see a write up of who they are and their part of Destiny.
I am excited for the SGU premiere…we have been waiting what seems forever. This is the first time I have had direct interaction with cast and crew on any show to this degree. It has led to a greater allegiance.
They all report what a great experience it is. I am still working on my mother…she is still saying no. But I have tomorrow.
Thanks again for the wonderful pictures.
Best to you Joe,
Cheryl 🙂
Concerning SGA never being resurrected… If SGU generated enough of a demand for the return of SGA (either because fans love it and want more Stargate or because the hate it and want “their” Stargate back) the studio would not entertain the idea?
This reminds me of the cancelation of STNG. One thing I had always hoped for was a short story format for StarTrek. I envisioned something called “StarTrek: Federation” where 1-4 episodes could be primarily focused on the Enterprise, then another 1-4 eps on Voyager, another 1-4 eps on DS9, another 1-4 eps on the Borg, another 1-4 eps on Earth, another 1-4 eps on some random ship, you get the idea. Why not do something similar with StarGate? There are so many story lines which have remained open… If the short stories are woven together into an appealing tapastry it certainly would attract more fans. This new “show” could also be used to give SGU good two parters…
Wow, that’s quite a wide selection of characters! Thanks for the visual guide 😀
And I hadn’t seen that Chloe pic before. Wow, it’s huge: 1800 x 2705! Even on my giant monitor all I can see at full size is her face… which is plenty, really.
The premier is so close I’m so excited!
I have a school event, but the DVR will be set up and ready to record so I can watch it immediately when I get back home. Blasted commitments.
Are all those cast members permanent cast members or some recurring? I don’t recognize a few of them. Big cast if they are all going to be featured at some point or another. I do remember a certain recurring cast member on SGA that we all loved so much who became a permanent one. Of course, that was until someone killed him off, but then brought him back because he was so good.
I didn’t realize that you were a Firefly fan. My whole family is, which is a miracle since everyone here likes something different. I even braved a movie showing of Serenity on my due date for third child because I had to see it before giving birth. I also scared my then nine year old for life taking him with me. That movie was scary. Ooops.
I am looking forward to SGU Friday night. I got tired of all the hate these past months since Atlantis got cancelled. I look forward to all the positive comments from all the converted haters. Looking forward to more news on your comic project too.
Finally, we in the US, have reach FRIDAY and premier night. But, sigh, it is still some hours away. Kinda like waiting for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Yeah, I know – over dramatizing but this is as exciting!
4Ytimynona – good idea to have the “show program” or “playbill” open to ensure we have the names right. Cool!
Now to stop being excited and get some sleep with visions of SGU “sugar plum” characters racing in my head! Well, they are eye candy!
Thanks Santa for all the great pictures for the show!
Happy Premier night to all, and to all – a good night.
Hey Joe,
I’ve seen a lot of whining about SGU from the types that like to judge something without having seen it.
Just wanted to say that I’m not one of those people. I’m approaching SGU with a kind of cautious optimism, but even then my fanboy-ish-ness gets the better of me and I find I cannot wait.
Here in Oz our Sci-Fi Channel (which is still called the Sci-Fi Channel because they haven’t got a thing against vowels) is playing it a week from now. I will of course still *ahem* watch the show before then, but will be getting ready to watch it on the Friday premiere next week as well! 🙂
Hey Joe,
A question about how ratings work. How do they work? More specifically, will it count towards the ratings if I record the show and watch it later, or should my DVR actually be on the channel?
With the four major networks, Friday is often seen as the day that “shows go to die”, as it’s the day of the week most people go out. Recent examples include Dollhouse and Defying Gravity. As such, I won’t be home for the premiere 🙁 but I’m totally willing to leave my DVR on Space (in Canada) before I leave, to contribute to ratings.
Shows cancelled before their time:
Jericho – though fan outcry brought it back for a second season, giving us a decent ending.
Journeyman – to be honest, it was probably better for it; the plot began moving very quickly when showrunners feared it may end.
Reaper – I believe it was shot in Vancouver. Tyler Labine stole every scene he was in.
Shows that desperately need to be cancelled:
The Simpsons – holy mother of God it hasn’t been funny since season 9. End it.
The Jay Leno Show – He seems to be doing alright with ratings but he’s taking up 5 hours of primetime per week.
Countless reality shows.
@Fuchsia: A plan for your husband. Get some handcuffs. Act all seductive. Latch the handcuffs to the bed, turn on Stargate Universe. Timing will be the key here. If there is no TV in bedroom, then adapt accordingly (handcuff to table leg). Duct tape would hurt too much. If handcuff to table leg won’t work, get some clothesline rope and tie him up and push him to sit down and watch it. Once you see that he has been indoctrinated, removal of restraints would be appropriate.
G’day Joe
Best of luck with the premiere of ‘Universe’!
I have to wait one more week. Bugger.
Hi Joe! Break a leg tonight! We’ll be watching! Having a hard time typing – Molly is sleeping between me and the laptop, Elway’s right next to it, being my mousepad 🙂 Hope you’re ready for the comments later tonight and/or tomorrow! I don’t know how your head doesn’t explode sometimes…
Hi Joe:
Are you planning on holding off on your blog posting until feedback starts rolling in on SGU?
Patricia
@Fuschia–IMHO, boring husbands are preferable to those in midlife crisis. After 27 years, mine is predictable…though he occasionally pulls off small surprises. No, I don’t expecthim to watch SGU, but he introduced me to Project Runway…!
Joe, all the best TO all the best for tomorrow’s premiere!
Joe,
I’m going to be completely honest and let you know that my wife and I will be watching tonight despite the fact that we’ll have to record Dollhouse. But, we’re watching ONLY because the premiere will feature RDA, Shanks, and Amanda (why not Chris Judge?). In other words, the producers are making a strong connection from the get-go to the past franchise. Had you dropped any connection to the past we would not tune in.
The reason? There are only so many hours in the week that we bother to watch TV, we’re not TV junkies, and this is the fall and there are many new shows to sample. We’ve added Flashforward to our weekly shows to watch (and we were hopeful about Defying Gravity, loved that show!) and that’s enough for now. A NEW Stargate show that is trying to break away from the many many seasons of great stories, history, characters, etc is not something we want to bother with but since you ARE making the attempt to tie SGU into the overall Stargate history you’ve created we’ll give it a shot. Hopefully we will not be disappointed.
I know this is probably not something you want to hear but I have a feeling there are many people that will tune in tonight for the very same reason.
And lastly, I’ve kept my opinion to myself about Atlantis and the prospects for the movie because there is simply no way to know what MGM or the producers are really thinking. But, since most of the season of SGU is done and you have never mentioned a single SGA character guesting on the show I think its pretty save to say that for some unknown reason you and the rest of the producers would be perfectly fine if you never addressed these characters again. Something I’ve noticed about the producers of Stargate is that you’re a close knit bunch and if someone in the “family” disappoints or does anything that the “family” doesn’t like they are dead to you. Tori Higginson and Corin Nemic come to mind off the top of my head, there are more. I mean really, the beloved David Hewlett isn’t even making a cameo on SGU, that’s all the evidence I need to know that you’re not being candid about you’re and the other producers feelings about SGA.
Yes, I know, I am making assumptions and you’re probably pissed reading this, but I read your column daily and rarely post a comment. It was time to let you know what I thought, for whatever reason.
Joe,
I, living in Newfoundland, was very excited that Space has picked it up the same time as your Syfy. I nearly fainted on the floor. I WILL be watching tonight, u can rest assured on that, however in saying that, my question,,, Will we ever get Stargate Atlantis the movie anytime soon??? I know they have plans on making the 3rd SG1 one, but we’ve been waiting for a long time for the first SGA film.
BTW, thanks for the great pictures. I’ll be watching in 14 hours.
Karen
I expect that the premiere will go well, and I’m confident enough in the production crew’s talent to know I’ll like the show. The shadow of Atlantis will keep me from savoring tonight’s experience as much as I might otherwise. I hope that TPTB will be happy enough with viewer response to start knocking the dust off your script and get about giving those of us who’ve supported the franchise for years a bit more of what we actually want, even as Universe takes the Stargate shows to new heights. And what are you doing tonight, since you’ve already attended a special premiere showing?
Bonjour Joseph!!!
Merci beaucoup pour ces photos!! Je saute d’impatience à l’idée d’être à cette nuit pour regarder SGU ♥
Gros bisou, sa approche….
Well, Happy Freakin’ Friday all … popcorn? Check? Bevvies? Check. Hubby home from the road? … um, maybe.
Ooooh, I had better program the DVR, or I’m dead meat with the hubbers. Yikes, I almost forgot!
And the house water, which was off all day yesterday is back on, and we found dad’s missing basement dweller in the hospital with his appendix out, my Siamese cat has decided that the furnace blowing does not mean the house is on fire and has stopped yowling endlessly, and my potential cyber-stalker has seen the light and backed off. Hard to be a stalker when the stalkee knows who you are and where you live. Good times, good times.
Joe – much thanks for the cast/crew primer. So looking forward to seeing this show. It is a.m. on Oct. 2 here – so all we have to do is wait until this evening to see SGU. This household is committed to this event. Bon chance to all of you who produced this show. And special thanks to you, Joe – for sharing the behind the scenes excitement with us. Cheers.
As promised the DVR is set and I will be giving SGU a fair gander. I don’t expect it to be bad, but I don’t expect immediate enamoration either so remains my focus which I use to evaluate any new show that I have poked at a bit before watching a premiere- the gut check. Both SG1 and SGA grabbed me right from the start.
Last year, Fringe got that reaction. Sanctuary did not. Neither did Dollhouse but that was so distasteful it was interesting to see what the violation was each week. This year so far, Flash Forward has failed. But Sanctuary grew on me 2nd half so its still on my list. Warehouse 13 I came in on in the middle, it was ok enough to give it another look next year. Dollhouse is still on the list.
Hockey season has begun!!!
DD
That’s a lot of characters!
We’ve got the DVR set, and we’re looking forward to the premiere with baited breath. Or something like that.
Thanks for the primer. I’ll be tuning in tonight 🙂 I really want SGU to do well – I love the Stargate mythology and I want the story to keep going.
Two questions:
1. While it’s always difficult to do comparisons I’m curious how do you think the Stargate franchise rivals say the Trek franchise?
2. Rather than ask your favorite SGU character, I’m wondering which one you identify most with and why?
HOLY POOP!!! Less than 12 hours. All this waiting will finally pay off. And I even got my stargate hater friend to come to the premier party. 🙂 So excited!!!!!!! Thanks for the list of characters. Believe it or not, I didn’t even know the faces to two of the characters that you posted. I mean I saw their names on imdb, but I almost forgot about them.
WOW, teenage brains really don’t function well. Off to finish my chores and schoolwork now and then my friends will be over. YEAHH!!!!!!!!
Thanks so much,
Major D. Davis
Thanks, Joe. I’m not excited…mainly since, well…you know why. If Todd or something else long-locked and pale were in it, then I’d be excited. 😉 I’m more…indifferent, as I am with most new shows – as a rule, I rarely watch a new show in its first season…usually I wait at least for the second season before making a commitment. In fact, I think Sanctuary is the first show in years that I started watching in its first season…maybe since Enterprise. Now, this new NCIS show, but not sure it’s hooked me yet. Like I’ve said before, I’m not much of a tv viewer…and when I do watch something, it’s usually because I get hooked on a character, or like the overall cast – not necessarily for the story itself.
That all said, I am actually nervous – for you…and for the cast, etc. For your sakes, I hope the show does well. I’m afraid the pre-airing hype will leave some feeling let down by the show…or worse, will make it a target for those who want to poop on it just for the sake of pooping on it (you know the types).
So…I’m a bit apprehensive, I suppose.
Have a good day, sir. Hopefully I’ll be able to give a good report on SGU at the end of the day. 🙂
das
Annnnnnnnnnnnnd todays the day SGU premieres. Let’s hope it doesn’t sink, but instead Swims and flys off and awaaaaaaaay.
Seriously though. I hope the show gets amazing ratings(Well by Syfy channel standards) and it gets a renewal quickly.
Glad to see the series wasn’t leaked online, people have a brain this time.. Yay!
Oh, I take that back… I did watch The Mentalist and Life in their first seasons…forgot. Life I liked, a lot…but that’s gone, and The Mentalist is on a bad night for me now. I do like it…just…not so much that I feel compelled to DVR it.
I guess I’m just really hard to entertain. 🙄 You guys have your work cut out for ya when it comes to me. Of course…I’m just one little viewer, and won’t matter much if you end up with millions watching the show. Tell you the truth, one reason I’m afraid to watch is because I just know I’ll fall for the character who ends up getting killed. I have a bad track record that way. 🙁 Huh. Maybe that’s why I don’t watch many shows, because – subconsciously – I know my favorite ones will be killed off. I remember back when I used to watch ST:TNG/DS9 I used to fret so much everytime Kurn was in an episode, because I was sure they would kill him off. Hmmmm….come to think of it, that IS why I’ve avoided ‘darker’ tv…
Of course, I am still fairly torturing myself with my continued reading of all things Elric. For some reason, however, it’s easier to deal with death in print than when you ‘see’ it.
I saw a dead person once. I mean, besides in a coffin, or in a death bed. This was a fresh ‘kill’, on the road. He had no head. Hit by a bus. I was the second car on the scene. I didn’t stick around, since the car in front of me actually blocked my view of the impact, so there was little I could tell the cops (plus I had my mom and 80+ year old grandmom in the car – both asleep – they didn’t need to see it). But I remember the headless body lying perpendicular in the Expressway…all clad in black, the silhouette of his white hand agaist the dark clothing…red ‘stuff’ in the road. Not really blood…not sure what it was…tissue – brain matter? I don’t know. Just ‘stuff’ – not much of it. No idea where his head was. Maybe the ‘stuff’ was his head.
I wonder if they ever found it…
Anyway, I later found out the guy supposedly had a suicide note pinned to him. That somehow made me feel a bit better – knowing that it wasn’t just some poor sap who stepped into the path of a bus. But then I felt bad for the guy who was so miserable he decided to end his life in such an extreme way.
So, I guess that’s why I try to avoid shows with too much death – it’s just hard for me to watch death as ‘entertainment’. I can handle the ‘body in the library’ stuff because you usually don’t see the actual death, just the body afterwards. I can’t watch stuff where people are screaming for help, or begging for their lives, just before they die. That stuff disturbs me to no end. I hope SGU doesn’t have a lot of that…’cause I can’t watch people suffering in those moments before they die. God. How is THAT entertainment?
I think I’m getting rid of my tv. 😛
das
So I’ve got the DVR programmed to record the premiere just in case I (foolishly) decide to go to the gym this evening. (Of course, if the gym had Space on one of the televisions I might actually do a 2-hour cardio session!)
And I see in today’s Ottawa Metro there’s an interview with Lou Diamond Phillips in which he talks about his work on SGU.
As of now, slightly more than nine hours to ago…
ce soir :-), super
Ha! Letterman is a perv, and Chicago doesn’t get the Olympics! The news is full of stuff today…
das
The Day has come, JM. Finally, my Friday TV viewing is going to be worthwhile again. I wish you and all the company the best of luck and long life for SGU.
Joe, Just want to say thanks to you for all the hard work and sweat that you have put into the new show. I am looking forward to it , as I said the promos have peaked my interest more. Have a great day!
While I won’t be watching SGU tonight, it will be very interesting to see what people think about it.
Looking forward to reading your blog later!
Does it count toward the ratings if I watch the premier on hulu? And will the show be on hulu every week?
Can’t wait!
Was able to meet Lou Diamond Phillips as he promoted SGU on Fox and Friends. Like you’ve said Joe, nice guy.
Just mere hours to go!! This better be as good as the day I divorced my wife.
Would you hate me if I missed the premiere to go see Toy Story 1 & 2 in 3D? But really, they need to change the time slot, it is seriously killing Stargate and it isn’t fair. I have other things to do on Friday nights, which is why I PVR it, but the problem is you still don’t get your ratings. GateWorld reported that 70-80% of Stargate ratings are from Live+7, meaning everyone PVRs the show. Why can’t ScyFy figure this out and change the time slot?
Oh my GOD SGU IS SO AWESOME, and its only 28 minutes in!!!
FANTASTIC SO FAR….and I’m only at minute 40…..I love that it’s going back and forth in time!!!!!
And I LOVE everyone so far….Brian, Jamil, David and espeically Robert!!!!
Congratulations to the entire team!
I liked it. Not as much as I liked the SGA pilot at the time, but SGU is more intriguing. It’s darker, it’s different. If you manage to pull it off, it’ll be excellent. There are hundreds of premises that could be exploited to the show’s advantage. The acting force is absolutely top. You have everything on your side, except maybe for the VFX.
I have faith in Stargate Universe. Can’t wait for the next episode!
My live-blogging review: http://fieldbeatings.blogspot.com/2009/10/stargate-universe-premiere-live.html
Despite the truly repellent spoilers I have read, I watched SGU last night. Or at least I tried to. The long smooth pan through the alien ship at the beginning of the show was kind of cool. Too bad I couldn’t actually see anything except darkness and an occasional blur of light. I was very glad when the show got brighter so that I could actually tell what was going on.
Well, I was glad at first. The fast cuts from past to present, the wavering jiggly camera work, the sudden zooms, change of focus on-screen, choppy edits, filming characters through obstructions WHILE using wavering jiggly cam, and the sudden slams into and out of commercial made this extremely difficult to watch. I looked away enough to stave off motion sickness or a migraine, but it wasn’t a pleasant way to spend the evening.
There’s a reason I didn’t watch much BSG. There’s a reason I can’t watch the last Jason Bourne movie. Please, for the love of all that’s holy, tell me that wavering obstructed jiggly cam and choppy editing is NOT how you will be presenting this entire series.
I thought it was very clever how you took the premise of “Rising” and reset it for a space ship. That was a nice twist on the story, though I was a little confused as to why a ship that was sent out unmanned would also have life support, shuttles, and an automatic stop for people to get out for supplies.
The special effects such as the exterior of the Genesis Planet and the Big Space Battle were very nicely done. What I could see of the sets was very nice too.
What happened to Lou Diamond Phillips? I saw him briefly then he disappeared altogether. I hope he’s not gone because they need more grown ups. I’ll cross my fingers and hope he’s back next week. And that I can actually watch the screen to see him. 🙂
Just finished watching SGU premiere again! Agreed with catsmeow with the jiggly cam and commercials. I had to look away as well to get that motion-sickness feeling out of the way. HOWEVER, I rewatched it on HULU with limited commercials and I have to say, the experience was much better. I don’t know if it was the easier edits with less commercials or that I knew about the jiggly cam that made me less ill the second time around.
Also, I really hope the show gets brighter. Everything was so dark the first half of the show! I understand it was the point, with destruction and all, but at times it felt I was just staring at a dark TV screen with sound effects. Love the edgier, grown-up feel of SGU, and Dr. Rush is a very convincing protagonist/villian – someone you don’t know if you can root for just yet, although I really hope his character turns good and less “douchey” bc Carlyle is awesome and I’d hate for him to be the next Baltar.
Aww! My big cousin Haig! All us McCookies tuned in to watch you on Sunday night Haig! We are all so proud and very impressed with Captain Riley!
Love and Hugs.
McCookies x