I asked and you answered. These were the top 15 most popular requests:
15) Stargate touchstones: And by that, you mean cameos by the likes of such favorites as O’Neill and Daniel. Well, you’ll be pleased to hear both will be putting in appearances in the back half of season one.
14) Alien tech: Over the course of their many adventures, SG-1 and the Atlantis team encountered numerous alien technologies, from Ashrak rings to zatarc devices, Ancient stasis pods to zero point modules, and you’d like the SGU crew follow suit. Well, they’re off to a good start with Destiny, but there are plenty more discoveries ahead, but onboard the ship and off.
13) Scientific phenomena: Black holes! White dwarfs! Pulsar belts! Wait, what was that last one? Well, you get the idea. And, more importantly, so do I. You want a dash of real world (off-world, and deep space) wonder with your science fiction. Duly noted. Also,
12) Acceptance: Yes, being stranded millions of light years from home can be a bit of a bummer, but it’s not all food rations and endless corridors. There’s new friendships to be made, new adventures to be experienced, and new alien life forms to flee. Over time, many of our heroes will grow more comfortable in their newfound roles and, yes, acceptance will follow for most.
11) Wonder: Remember that scene near the end of Darkness where everyone gathers on the observation deck to view the gas giant? More of that!
10) Action/Adventure: Space battles! Shoot-outs! Seat of your pants’ escapes! When? When?!! Try the back half of season one.
9/8/7) Ancients/Mythology/Destiny’s history: These three go hand in hand in hand and, as the series progresses, we’ll definitely be discovering more about Destiny, its mysterious mission, and how it’s all inexorably linked to what we already know about the Ancients in both Pegasus and the Milky Way.
6) A Central Villain: Many of you are clamoring for a Big Bad to rally the troops, a villain akin the goa’uld or the wraith. Hmmm. Let’s just that in the not too distant future, the Destiny crew will be pissing off some mighty ornery, not to mention persistent, aliens.
5) Hope/Optimism: Who wouldn’t delight at the opportunity to travel the universe?! Well, for starters, anyone with loved ones back home. To be fair, ending up on Destiny wasn’t really what any of them had in mind when they joined the Stargate program but, as time wears on, many will grow to accept, maybe even like their new lot. And along with this newfound attitude will come, yes, hope and optimism.
4) Exploration: Whether they’re checking out the ship or heading off-world, you want to see our heroes investigating the unknown. Some interesting discoveries upcoming including a truly impossible world and what’s in crate number one?
3) Teamwork/Friendship: It’s one of the things many Stargate fans loved about SG-1 and Atlantis, and they’d like to see it on SGU as well – camaraderie, loyalty, support – like Greer’s determined effort to bring Scott back to the ship in Air III or the communal celebration that closes Light. As they get to know each other, bonds will form, sometimes between the unlikeliest of people…
2) Humor: It’s there (usually compliments of Eli Wallace) but you want more of it. Well, while it’s unlikely we’ll see episodes the likes of Harmony or Family Ties on SGU, there will hopefully be more opportunities for humor as our crew settles into their new roles as space explorers.
1) Aliens: You want our heroes to encounter new alien life forms? You got it. The back half of season one returns with THE BEST sentient alien beings our Visual Effects crew has ever produced.
ohh~~ i can’t wait for the 2nd half. >3<
Thought you might be interested in this….Vids taken by Sky1 at Chevron 7.3 convention back in November…I attended this one and it was brilliant!
http://sky1.sky.com/stargate-universe
Kriss 🙂
Hi Joe, well, it sounds exciting, so I’m hoping! Happy to hear O’Neill and Daniel will be showing up, that alone will do it for me 🙂 I don’t know if anybody agrees with me, but I found the two episodes of SG1 with Felger hilarious and would have loved something like that thrown in for good measure. I’ve pretty much given up any hope that the Atlantis movie will be made, so I’m in for a while longer with SGU or will have to do without any new Stargate at all and that would really suck. Right now, I’m SO enjoying “Arthur’s Mantle” and can’t help but miss the story-telling in SGU. I understand SGU is a completely different thing, just saying I still would love to see a bit of the old humour back once in a while. Who came up with the idea of using Arthur and the Knights of the Round in Stargate? I absolutely love those episodes.
Oh, if you talk to Joel G., could you remind him that some of us would love that Q&A and haven’t forgotten about it? Ok, it’s late, I’m asking way too many questions that have nothing to do with the subject at hand tonight 🙂
Have a good night!
Sentient aliens?? Woohoo!!!
Very interesting stuff, Joe. Thanks for sharing these tidbits with us.
I can’t wait for the second half either! March seems so far away 🙁
And all of the little comments about how awesome the aliens are going to be is driving me crazy. I want to see them already!
Sounds awesome. Can’t wait to see O’Neill again.
Love the show and can’t wait for it to come back on the air.
Narelle: I’m so sorry that Ralph is still having problems. Does the Vet have idea why? Could he still have some kind of contaminate still inside him? (Something that doesn’t show up X-rays.) I’ve never seen a dog have so many problems post the initial wound. However, I’ve never seen a dog attached by a SAS trained possum, either. Many wishes for his good health! Please give Ralph a hug for me.
Das: My hubby has developed an effective counterattack. I’ve got to get in and out fast! I’m very ticklish and he knows exactly where to aim. 👿
Maggiemayday: so sorry to hear about your cancer problems. From watching friends and family dealing with cancer issues; early diagnosis and the type of cancer, seems to be a main factor of survival. Sending health vibes your way!
Mr. M.: thanks for a great post today!
And more kino!
Dang…I just had the weirdest dream…
I was defending John Travolta’s role choices in a room full of people that included Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. I think Alan Ladd was there, too…or maybe it was John Edwards, with blond hair. Anyhoo…
I went on about how Travolta has made some good choices because an actor needs to take on a variety of roles today to round out his resume… but also added that I’m a fan of the character (or stereotyped) actors, too, the guy who’s a gangster in every movie, etc., etc… but then how I saw African Queen, and that Bogie’s leech scene totally won me over… and I remember Lauren looking over at him and smiling affectionately (she squeezed his hand, too), as if to say, ‘See, I told you you were a good actor’….
And then I woke up, realizing that I think the only two Travolta movies I’ve ever seen are Look Who’sTalking, and Wild Hogs. 😕
das
All very good. But useless until Syfy gets off their corporate posteriors and airs the show. Then again, they are a subsidiary of the same company that brought us the Leno/Conan debacle last month. Two more lousy months before we get all the promised goodies we’ve asked for…. still, thanks for the info, however bad it is for my blood pressure.
LOL. Okay, seeing is believing.
You must be trying to make us drool. I can’t wait for the stinkin second half. Oh why must April be so far away!!!!!!!!!
This is looking good. I can’t wait for the second half of the season to start.
But pulsar belts? Oy. 🙂
@ Jenny Robin – RE: Yesterday’s puffed wheat comment. Yes, I HAVE noticed that. Which is better than rice crispies, which kinda look like a bowl full of crusty dragons. 😛
@ Tammy Dixon – Oh, hubby knows my weak spot, too…right behind the knees, or the sides of my knee. When I start getting the upper hand, that’s where he grabs me because he knows I can’t handle it. He does NOT play nice! But then again, neither do I… 😈
I have to be careful, however. Once, in bed, hubby was resting on his back, with his arm over his head on the pillow. I saw the opportunity and stuck my sneaky wiggly finger right in his pit. Well, his natural reaction was to protect his pit by dropping his arm, and as he did his elbow nailed me right in the mouth. *BAM!* My lip swelled, and everything, so I was afraid that maybe I had a damaged tooth or two. I called my dentist, and he said to come right over. I explained that it happened during horseplay, but to this day I don’t think he believed me. He usually jokes around with me, but this time he didn’t – instead he talked reeeeaaal nice to me, very calm and gentle, and wouldn’t charge me for the x-ray.
Well, about a year or so later, I was cleaning the shower in our new house. We have one of those hand-held shower heads, and – as I was scrubbing up the wall – my shoulder hit the hose, popping the shower head out of its mount and the bloody thing came down and *BAM!* – it hit me right in the mouth, the exact spot that Mr. Das’ elbow had caught me before. So, back to the dentist I go, explain to him that I was cleaning the shower, blah, blah, blah…and once again he put his jokes aside, and talked reeeeaaal nice to me, very calm and gentle, and wouldn’t charge me for the x-ray.
Poor hubby, the dentist probably thinks he’s a wife beater. 😛
das
Happy Birth Month to little Miss Jelly!
Oooh, I’m all tingly!
Hi! ça va Joseph??
Moi oui=)!
C’est un bon résumé des choses que l’on voudrait voir dans stargate universe 🙂
Bon désolé je dois y aller!
Bisou=)
@Das: Honey, what the hell are you smoking? 🙂
@das
Wow you have the craziest stories. Lol. That’s insane.
have 3 important meetings in the next 2 days, starting tomorrow 😕 been proofreading an important document for the past hour.
… Need to go to my hairdresser today ( expect to waste major time there) , drop the document, mail a refund check to someone, and… oh, yeh!!! finish preparing for my 3 meetings…. and F/U on the %$?&$% !!! garage door.
Can wait for Friday to come !!!! The good thing is, if those 3 meetings go well, next week should be a pretty exciting week ;).
Hi Joe!
Haven’t had a chance to throw my $.02 in the barrel, but I like what I’m seeing (in your blog)!
I like”Monster of the Week” shows, but an overall Big Bad as part of the show’s mythology is good. (The X-Files did this well.)
I find the occasional talks or references to the factions and fractions between people on the Destiny interesting. The breaking down between leadership and everyone else, military v. civilians, scientists v. non-scientists, etc.
Hey, didn’t the students wear pulsar belts on Space Academy? ;P
I’ll love the “Stargate touchstones” appearances for sure, but I’m watching for the new crew!
I hope to see the crew continue to break out of their assigned roles (as characters and job descriptions) and show the variety of likes/skills people really possess.
Did you say Brody was working on some alcohol? Good idea – yum factor, preservative, antiseptic. I always thought if I had a chance to go to Atlantis, I’d get into beer/wine/whisky making.
More space, more exploration (on Destiny and on-planet), and cool alien tech! WooHoo!!
I wouldn’t complain if Destiny encountered the Growlblinkies from SGA’s Daedalus Variations!!
Take care!
eddy (who loves haggis)
Generally don’t like the same foe over and over. If you are traveling through vast distances it seems a bit unlikely you keep running into foe again and again.
And even postulating they have a vast empire, what if you don’t like them? You are stuck with the same foes over and over (and if you love them you can’t get enough – apparently some weirdos liked the wraith 😉 )
Das: I bruise easy. So when one of my friends saw my legs one summer, she openly accused my hubby of beating me. Doing Martial arts and working with animals makes me one big bruise some weeks. We all had a good laugh but it was sweet she was looking out for me. Great story!
Crap, back to work….
@das. you need to start wearing those mouth guards boxers and other atheletes use. only you need them 24/7.
I still say bring on the Furlings 😛
While I would like to see characters from the first 2 series I understand that the actors have commitments so may not be available I think a good story thread/arc would be to show what they are doing on Earth to rescue or failing that send relief in the form of supplies to the destiny perhaps modify the the black hole powered Ori supergate to send a relief team. Or They discover a Destiny com link on Atlantis remote access & unlock Destiny’s systems I can think of lots of possibilities
Hey Joe,
When will we see new footage from SGU season 1.5? You said they’re working on a trailer. When will it be released?
Thanks so much,
Major D. Davis
Torri Higginson likes Universe:
http://sky1.sky.com/stargate-torri-higginson-talks-universe
hey joe, you think you could set up one of the viseffects directors for interview?
Tammy – The vets are saying opening him back up would be the only way to tell, but they aren’t too keen on doing it. So it’s just close monitoring still. He’s asleep next to me now cuddled up with his alien soft toy (and Jack’s alien too). Sheesh. Big dogs huh? 🙂
It isn’t a question of elements that need to be changed. Every aspect of what makes this series associated with Stargate has been distorted to such an extreme that the current show bears no resemblance to any earlier incarnation.
The current series is a soap opera that happens to take place on a space ship. SG1 and SGA each had their positives and their negatives, but at their respective cores, there was more to both shows than angst ridden characters who give each other suggestive glances across a room.
This is SG: BSG. If you wanted to create a Galactica show, why not do it? Instead, you affiliated the series with the Stargate franchise, and perverted the franchise in the process.
The element I’d like to see changed most is that I’d like to see the word “Stargate” dropped from the show’s title. Let it stand alone as a independent soap opera in space. Otherwise, execs will be reluctant to revive the Stargate franchise later on if this bile is the most recent taste left in their mouths.
I’m surprised at Number 11, after all this is Stargate Universe. Aspects of the universe should be important, though kinda expensive to produce no doubt.
Anyway, things like Nebula, Black Holes, Quasars, Starburst Galaxies, Coronal Mass Ejections, Magnetars. Well I could go on, would be amazing, you could essentially base an episode on any of these.
Narelle: yes, an exploratory would not be fun and probably cause more trauma to the site. Can they do some kind of ultrasound? Probably, too expensive. Whatever, if anything is in there, will eventually work its way out right? I can only hope so for Ralphie. Poor guy…
Das: I mean your story was great 😳 .
@ Narelle – Sorry it’s taken me so long – I swear, the last three weeks have been the most hectic I’ve had in ages. I find myself skimming the net (even here) more than anything, so I tend to miss stuff. 😛
So, here goes:
1. Bat wing test. Hmmmm…
STUPID CAT!!! Walked across the keyboard and submitted my post!
Gonna finish this quickly:
1. Bat wing test. Hmmmm… was that done with, or without, manscaping?
2. Ralph. {{{Hugs}}} to both of you. It sure sounds as if there might be some foreign body in there – a tooth fragment, or something. Is there any way they can test?
Another possibility is that the wound keeps healing from the outside, in. It should heal from the inside, out…otherwise infection can be trapped inside. For humans (like my dad when he had mrsa, and Mr. Moorcock, with his recently healed – yay! – foot wound) they use a VAC system – not sure if they have such a thing for animals, though. I would do a bit of googling, find out what the options are for animal wounds that resist healing.
Take care, luv!
das
Sounds like you have derailed the bus.
Glad you are now listening to the fans. Proof will be in the eating.
Whilst the touch stones will provide a good opportunity to bring in new blood to the team on a weekly basis, I think you need to do something to reduce the numbers on board the ship.
Take a leaf from the original Star Trek and “Red-Shirt” some of those less effective actors. Better clean house early whilst the season has been given a second season reprieve. You can always pick up some alien hitch-hikers who want to come along for the ride to spice up the numbers.
hey Joe ,
im just intrested to know what ur opinion is of the new trek movie getting snubbed at the academy awards ? do you think its a genre issue and do u think the same thing would happen if we ever see stargate on a cinema screen again ?
hahahaha. Your cat walked across the keyboard!!! Lol. Cats are so dumb and oblivious yet so cute and loving. Lol
@Narelle: Just catching up with the Ralphie situation, hope he’s better in no time. Elway and Co. send hugs 🙂
I’d just like to say that I really like how consistent Stargate is as a whole with it’s interpretation of time. SGU’s episode “Time” really matched up well with SGA’s “Before I Sleep” with creating an alternate timeline/reality within the one that we observe. (spoilers if anyone hasn’t seen it.) Not one, but two Kinos from two possibles futures found by the very people who would now live because of it. Fantastic!
I loved “Time” mostly because it reflected said previous episode, giving me a bit of recognition, but still leaving me in enough suspense to watch until the end. It’s one of the most well done, exciting and captivating episodes of Television I’ve seen for a while. Good writing, nice photography and editing! You guys are hitting it right on the money. And by your entry above, it looks like there’s even more to come!
(And dude! Leaving Rush on that planet was great! I can’t wait to see him get out of that one!)
Damn, I haven’t been checking this site since the semester started, so I missed out on the chance to throw my two cents in on what I’d like to see in the show. It looks like your list nailed most of it. I’ll second the call for more Ancients/Backstory. I love backstory. I’m a history major gunning for a phd in the years to come. I’m all about backstory.
Of all the guest stars mentioned though, the only plausible one I could see bringing back that I would like to see come back that hasn’t been mentioned is Sarah Strange as Morgan Lafay. I know she’s supposed to be battling Adria perhaps in the same life consuming way that Oma took on Anubis, but come on, this is fiction! The Ancients stepped in to help her out, or she actually beat Adria and tossed her aside. Either way. What if the galaxy the Destiny is in has its own ascended beings? Surely of all the galaxies in the universe, the Ancients can’t be the only ascended beings. What if they trespass and can’t get out, and Morgan has to swing in to help them some how. Any excuse to get Sarah Strange back on the show. She was always very excellent, and whoever was in charge of casting her back in the day deserves a large dose of accolades.
I’d like to see some glimmerings of a story arc though. Thus far, it’s been catastrophe of the week to catastrophe of the week, and a lot of interpersonal squabbling. I have nothing against that, as it’s only natural given their surroundings, and these things are natural for a first half of a season…but moving on, I’d like a sense of direction. Are they going to get a concrete goal? I tend to benchmark my sci-fi shows against my favorites (who doesn’t?), and I think in terms of storytelling, nothing has come close to Babylon 5. Call the writing hokey, the characters unbelievable, the effects bad, whatever you want, (and some of that is totally valid), but JMS wrote out a five season plot arc, and spent the first couple seasons laying seeds and bread crumbs along the way that paid huge dividends in the later seasons. I’m always geeked to see a hint we heard about a season ago come to fruition. Stargate, perhaps because of the uncertain nature of renewal from season to season, seems to solve almost all its problems with last minute, scientific deus ex machinae. Most of Star Trek did the same thing, to great success, and there’s nothing particularly wrong with the formula, but I was hoping that a more…I guess “mature” Stargate, if that’s what this is, would take a more long view, complex look at a season, or multi-season plot arc that might give us a goal, build towards it, lay clues and hints, and then have them satisfyingly come to pass.
The Fifth Race has always been in my top five for just this kind of reason. It was a huge leap forward! It was progress, not just in the sense of a weekly resolution, but it gave us the feeling that there was a payoff, and when the Asgard gave Earth all its knowledge in Season 10, I felt like that was a long-awaited, natural conclusion.
Also, I know the show isn’t an out and out comedy, but I’d love a stand-alone, great funny episode. Something like “Window of Opportunity” which is to date my all time favorite SG episode from any series. Or if you want something more serious, a stand alone stand out episode like Star Trek DS9’s “In the Pale Moonlight” or “Far Beyond the Stars.” Maybe not so dreamy in the latter, but the former was an excellent deconstruction of Sisko’s internal conflict. I loved it. You’ve done great stuff in the past that deals with moral conflict, but it’s usually with Jack as the “let’s get it done” side and Daniel as the “but it’s WRONG” side, rather than an internal conflict within a single person. Given the gravity of the predicament they’re in on Destiny, it can’t be hard to find that sort of situation, but it would have to be with a character who we already think of as moral, which probably either means Lt. Scott, Chloe, or Eli.
Anyway, sorry to ramble on for so long (assuming you even read this!). I very much look forward to the second half of Season 1. I’m sure you have something great in store for us. =)
First, quite enjoyed Patrick’s Q&A 🙂
Secondly, any comments on this? Since fan may construe this as doom and gloom… what sets (of SG1 and SGA) do remain standing at this point in time?
To Attendees of The Official Stargate Vancouver Convention:
We were recently informed that due to the rebuilding of sets for SG:Universe Season 2, the standing sets we planned to tour in April 2010 will be struck at the time of our event. All Stargate sets are in stages of build and strike. In short, there are no sets standing at this time to tour (we hope to be invited to visit the enlarged SG:Universe sets during The 2011 Convention which will be in April 2011 back at Hilton Metrotown as well as the new Production facilities being installed at Bridge Studios that take the place of the former off site spaces).
We greatly apologize for this inconvenience but acknowledge that it is the nature of the film and TV business that sets are in a constant state of flux (as they have been for the past 5 years we have offered tours). We thank the Producers of Stargate and MGM for their continued support of our event and willingness to let our attendees visit the sets when standing.
rest at http://www.creationent.com/cal/sgvan.htm