I’d like to start off today’s entry with a huge “Thank you” for all the “Thank you’s”. A lot of the people who brought you Stargate over the years do frequent this blog, and I know I speak for all of them when I say your kind words are much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to post your comments. And thanks for supporting the franchise, whether you were fans of SG-1, Atlantis, Universe, or, ideally, all three.
As promised, I will be fielding your questions on Gauntlet, the SGU series finale, as well as any SGU-related queries you may have. So, start posting.
Later this week, in addition to providing answers to those questions, I’ll also shed some light on the script for Gauntlet, what we had in store for the show’s third season, and what the heck the SGA movie, Stargate: Extinction, was all about.
Well, even though Stargate has ended, this blog will continue to be a gate-friendly place where fans of the franchise can gather, discuss the shows, and, occasionally, gain some insight into the behind-the-scenes thoughts and efforts that went into bringing them to you.
In addition, this blog will also, hopefully, be a place where you’ll come to follow my further professional exploits.
First up is the new series Paul and I are Exec. Producing alongside the ever-jubilant Alexander “Sunshine” Ruemelin…
Transporter: The Series is based on the Luc Besson film franchise (The Transporter, Transporter 2, Transporter 3) and will be speeding your way in early 2012 (?), delivering adventure, attitude, and high-octane action. In addition, you can expect captivating characters, stunning car stunts, fantastic fight sequences, and a pervading sense of humor guaranteed to hook you from the get-go.
Earl 2012 will also see the release of that comic book series I’ve been talking about. With two scripts done, another two on deck, and design work underway, I thought it was high time I shared a little more information on the project. First, our publisher…
Very cool. Paul and I are very excited to be working with Dark Horse Comic (Hellboy, Umbrella Academy, The Goon – to name but a few of many) and our editor, Patrick Thorpe, who has been nothing short of amazing so far. Also, after considering many worthwhile candidates, we finally have an artist for our book – the incredible Garry Brown. Head on over and check out his work here: http://garrybrownart.daportfolio.com/
Yesterday, Garry’s preliminary character designs…
Our crew, ONE through SIX. Can’t tell you how excited and pleased I was by these preliminary designs. My thoughts:
ONE: I describe him as a Ben Browder type – charming and a bit of a goof. The relationship between ONE and THREE will form the core of the series and
I see them as opposites. ONE, of course, symbolizing light and hope; THREE symbolizing darkness and despair. To that end, I’d like to play up the contrasts a little more. ONE is pretty damn close, I just don’t think he should be quite so rough. I’d give him the lighter hair.
TWO: The crew’s de facto no-nonsense leader. I think Garry’s take is perfect.
THREE: A true bad-ass – as already stated, he is the flipside to ONE’s coin. A mercenary through and through, I like his look here a lot. I suggest scarring him up a bit. If I’m casting this comic book, I’m eyeing Mike Dopud for the role.
FOUR: Eurasian, androgynous, silent, and stoic. He needs to be prettier, more androgynous, with longer, darker hair.
FIVE: Twelve year old, precocious ship mascot. More pixyish, tiny, with a pixy cut.
SIX: A tough-as-hell goon with a heart of gold. I think his look is great!
I sent my notes Patrick’s way. In less than an hour, he forwarded me Garry’s revised character designs…
ONE: Changing the hair color makes a world of difference! Love him.
THREE: A little more scarring and he’s ideal as well.
FOUR: Getting there. Still think he needs to be prettier, almost ethereal.
FIVE: Also closer, but she still feels too mature.
The next day, Patrick forwarded me two more takes on FOUR and FIVE…
Almost there for both! At Patrick’s request, I sent along a couple of reference photos of what I was looking for. It was easy enough for FOUR and I was having trouble finding something appropriate for FIVE until I came across a pic of Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass, Let Me In).
Not long after, I was forwarded the revised-revised-revised character designs for the final two outstanding crew members:
Love ’em! I’m very happy.
With the character designs agreed upon, we’re moving on to ships and suits!
All this to say both Garry and Patrick are fantastic. If I’d known writing for comics was this much fun, I’d have skipped this whole t.v. thing!
Cool character designs!
Looking forward to reading your answers to the various questions about the shows. I was a fan of all three series. It was a great ride, and I’m sad it’s ended too soon.
When Eli woke up the next day, if he slept at all. What would we be privy too?
Given the original plan for SGU, would Destiny, with the help of the crew ever have completed its original mission?
Did the writers have any idea what the message in the the background radiation was going to be?
Also, thanks to you, the cast and crew for making such an awesome family of shows for us to all enjoy.
One thing I never got, why wouldn’t destiny use the same wormhole drive that atlantis used in enemy at the gate and just jump to the milky way.
Another thing, didn’t syfy promise SGA would be followed by at least 1 2 hour movie so aren’t they legally obliged to make extinction?
I must say If there was a cliffhanger that a series had to end on, that was the perfect one.
The only questions I’m left with is in regards to the future.
1. What does Eli do for those two weeks when he’s not fixing his stasis pod? Did he even attempt to fix it, or did he know it couldn’t be fixed? Does destiny come across problems that he alone must fix? Does he take a final trip back with the stones?
2. Did Rush volunteer, knowing that Young would deny him and instead choose himself? Was Rush hoping to get rid of Young, despite how well they’ve been getting along?
3. What year and month did they enter the pods? I wish to make a note on when the three years is meant to be up.
Finally, I’m grasping at my last straw here, but this episode seemingly left it open to a film after three years, is that even a possibility any more?
I’d also like to thank you for my favourite sci-fi franchise ever. You and the entire team involved.
Was destiny just some giant test to see if the crew could ascend that the ancients abandoned when they figured out how to do it on their own?
Would Eli and scott have had to take rush and youngs places after a while?
WTF was in that little door right behind the destiny’s stargate?
Oh, I must say, while I hate to see SGU go, “Gauntlet” was the perfect way to close the door. It was a beautiful episode. I loved the characters. I loved the actors crew and writers for producing a show that I will enjoy watching on my Blu-Ray and my iphone. Kudos and hugs to all.
Thank you sir from the bottom of my heart.
Woody
Finally got the chance to see the finale after finishing the final exam I will be taking in the final year of my undergraduate education. 😛
What a wonderful way to cap it all off. When you guys wrote Gauntlet as a “cliffhanger”, did you intend for it to be so open-ended? Did you plan to bookend the series so completely with the conclusion of Season 2, or were those decisions made post-production?
Thanks for the years of quality entertainment. It’s been a great ride.
Here’s my question. When you planned your original five-year arc, was it planned for the Destiny to be in a different galaxy each season as they got closer to their goal or would there be more time spent in one particular galaxy?
Have a good night!!!
are you fielding questions about the ‘franchise’ too? you said you would in a previous blog entry.
As seems obvious to the outsider, SyFy’s cancellation did in SGU. I understand that many smart and dedicated persons worked to keep alive the current arm of the franchise, and I feel I speak on the behalf of the fandom when I offer my thanks to those we are aware of and those we aren’t. However, I am curious as to what means were investigated and/or pursued to continue Stargate. I’ve heard movies, to be financed by MGM, but what else? Seems to me, and by no means am I an expert in anything relating to this field, that fertile lands are to be found in places like Netflix (as I’ve recently heard are now producing a tv series).
And a thanks for the journey.
Those character designs look pretty good Joe, he sounds like a talented artist, although I don’t read(Non anime) comic books, I’ll check this series out once its on sale.
Anyway, really looking forward to hearing about The Transporter, I hope everythings going well with that, and looking forward to hearing who is playing who too.
Anyway ugh my eyes, Hay Fever, I hate it meh
Came here for the Stargate, stayed here for the friendship… and the puppies…and now Transporter The Series and this comic.
Looking forward to hearing who gets cast (oh please, oh please let it be Mike Dopud)?
You know what? That number 5 haircut looks very familiar to me. I’m certain I’ve had that all 3 versions of those ideas. I seem to change my hair style about every 6-8 weeks. My hair stylist and colorist do not like to get bored. And they’ve been doing my hair so long I trust them with changes.
Three years to straighten up and fly right, SyFy. That is what TPTB allotted you. Or did they somehow know about the end of the episode and use ratings to help Stargate keep its real-time feel? If so, then all you guys are total geniuses.
If not… well… the non-SyFy people (you, Brad Wright, etc…) are STILL total geniuses for leaving us on a cliffhanger that wasn’t. I mean, sure, there are still plot holes, but such can be said about any scripted show.
I’d be lying if I said Star Wars and Star Trek didn’t have unresolved plot points, and I still love them, so why not Stargate as well, right? Right.
Plot holes and unresolved stories are going to be part of a series, whether we want them to be or not.
@mike mcginnis:
No SyFy is not legally obligated to do Extinction because the rights to that movie belong solely to MGM. Though you could make the argument that since SyFy promised, MGM is obligated, but I suspect that argument would not hold much water. (Just like Atlantis, right? XD)
Joe,
Can’t wait to see the new series. Ya’ll have some big shoes to fill.
Ok, I have a few SGU questions:
1: Does Eli figure out how to repair the stasis pod? (The question everyone wants to know)
2: Does the ship communicate with Eli in some bizarre fashion to help him?
3: What is the hell was that signal?
4. Why didn’t they just use the parts in the crates to repair the ships systems? I never did figure that part out. Eli found a crate full of parts and then nothing. Script hole?
5. What were in the crates from the first episode that they were not allowed to open.
6. Did the decedents of destiny create the ships that were attacking it, or did the blue aliens?
7. What happened to Franklin?
Thanks for your time. And when you figure out what network the new show is on, I’d love to know.
Im sorry to see the series go, others have asked the most important questions that I would like to know so Ill just say I hope your career keeps getting better and I hope Stargate returns somehow and soon!
Is it just me being racist, or does SIX look just like Djimon Hounsou ?
I almost cry at the end, a good one, but still hungry for more and thank god that you will be anwering our questions about the show :D, so here are my questions:
1.-the obelisk builders, who or what are they?
2.-the blue aliens?
3.-the drones?
4.-what was destiny final mission?, what was the message?did the crew would ever get to ship final destination?
5.-would there be more crossover from the other series?
6.-would Homeworld Command have found a way to dial Destiny and send them supplies/personel?
7.-more alien races?
8.-Lucian Alliance?
9.-Ginn, Dr. Perry?
10.-what other discoveries would the crew have made while exploring more of the ship?
11.- is there any hope for comics or novels about Stargate?
there are more questions, but those questions are about the movies,SGA, 3rd sesason and some more that i dont remember XD.
I fell sad U_U, I would loved another 10 years of Stargate.
now to wait for anwers, and good luck whit your new series 😀
note: sorry if my writting is not so good, my native lenguage is not english XD.
I would love to see your reference photos for Four… 😉
VERY excited about the book! Still think you need an albino, though. 😉
As much as I’d love to see it, however, I rarely have seen an accurate portrayal of a character with albinism when it comes to eyesight. Moorcock gets away with it because Elric’s albinism was more of a characteristic of his race than a disorder, and since he wasn’t human it really didn’t matter how Moorcock presented his condition, red eyes and all. Zenith has good eyesight, Pendergast (if he indeed has albinism) has good eyesight, and I can’t even begin to name all the sharp-shooting evil albino assassins out there, and nary a one even wears reading glasses. So, maybe it’s too much of a challenge to accurately portray a character with albinism…or maybe I just wish for too much.
Anyway, really looking forward to this book, Joe! Especially now since most comics just aren’t working for me lately. Too much of the same thing – vampires, pointless gore, and in-yer-face boobs, to name a few things I’m getting tired of.
Ugh…just got hit with the sleepy bug. Better go. It’s been a big day (termite guy came today and we had to move a bunch of stuff from around the house), and probably another big day tomorrow (putting back all the stuff that was moved). Nites, Joey…
das
Well… I just saw Gauntlet and wow! It was a fantastic episode! I really loved it! Well done, Joe (as always)! But it’s sad, that we’ll never find out, what will happen to Eli and the rest of the crew. Great episode though.
Thank you for 15 fantastic years of Stargate! I am a BIG fan of all three shows and I will never stop watching them.
Stargate forever!!
While I’v got comic books on the brain, is there any chance that SGU’s story could be concluded in another medium, say a comic book?
Just wanted to say, thank you, all of you. Stargate has been a really big part of my life for the last 15 years. I grew up watching it, and i’m not going to lie. It’s gotten me through some really rough times. I will miss it so much!
The end of Gauntlet actually did give me a lot of closure to the series, it showed destiny continuing on, seemingly indefinitely.
I am curious to see how you guys were planning it to end up.
How exactly was the entire scenario of Eli getting that last stasis pod online and the ship making it across the void?
Was the ship going to simply make it across, or would there be some sort of complication?
That, and I was also really wondering what the mission really was. What it meant, what the ancients thought it meant and how the series, if allowed properly to end would show it.
You guys are awesome, thank you so much. It’s been an awesome ride.
@das: The Albino (caps intended) is going to be their Nemesis – thwarting their plans, plotting the conquest of the galaxy, playing havoc with the world in general; so OF COURSE his picture wouldn’t be in there!
Now, let me write down some of the questions I have:
1. Will the crew ever find out, who (or what) created the message? Or what it says (if it says something at all)?
2. What about Franklin? Is he dead or maybe ascended?
3. Did Eli manage to repair the last pod?
4. Who created the drones?
5. Will the crew get back to earth one day? If yes, how do they manage it?
6. Who created the planet? Maybe the creators of the message?
7. Will T.J. find a cure for her disease?
I think that’s all for now.
Thank you for taking the time to read it 🙂
@PB Mom: “Came here for the Stargate, stayed here for the friendship… and the puppies…and now Transporter The Series and this comic.” Couldn’t agree with you more! 🙂
Interesting seeing your comic book character’s faces evolve. I like where you ended up too.
Will the 2 seasons of SGU be shelved since it did not hit the magical 100 episode mark for syndication, or since it is part of the Franchise, will it piggy-back with SG1 and SGA and be shown again?
“If I’d known writing for comics was this much fun, I’d have skipped this whole t.v. thing!”
Bite your tongue mister! Look at all we would have missed!
Are the Novans and the rest of Destiny’s descendants ultimately destroyed by the drones?
SPARROW!! Don’t give Evillozzi any evil ideas!!!
das
I’ve loved your work! i’ve become a bit of a SG addict and i’m dying to know what you had planned; i don’t supose you could leak the script/notes of at least vaguely what was going to happen?
would they let you write a novel / comic on SG:U to finish it up? Buffy the Vampire Slayer did a fantastic Job wrapping up it’s last season after it was cancelled via a comic and i’d love to see SG:U get the same treatment.
there is something to be said for letting ones own imagination fill in the blanks, but your point of view would be wonderful.
anyways i’ve enjoyed the journey immensely! Thank you for your hard work!
For some reason, when each character was put into stasis, I felt like that was the exact moment their character’s story was done. It’s very sad in a way. It was a perfect ending though. I always believe it is better to leave on a good note rather than let it drag out for too long.
Thanks for many many awesome years of great sci-fi on all 3 SG shows and the movies! My big question: Were the mindless drones in SGU a metaphor for the unsupportive fans that wanted to see SGU the show end?
I ask because I just learned this week about the disgruntled fans who didn’t support SGU after Atlantis. Several blogs called these unhappy fans “mindless drones” unwilling to grow as the series evolved. I want to know did the writers intended this real life parallel? It seems fairly direct: on the show SGU is attacked by mindless drones, set to destroy anything new and different. In real life, it seems this is the exact kind of attack SGU faced – fans who wanted SGU to end because it was a new and different spin on the Stargate franchise. So, were the drone’s an intentional metaphor for unsupportive fans?
Hey Joe I posted these questions before but I really didn’t want to ask them again until Gauntlet had aired. Here they are again but revised a little:
These questions are in a hypothetical situation if three more seasons would have made it to the screen and you were in charge of writing it all. (I pose it like this because I wouldn’t want you to try and double guess what your colleagues would have written).
EXPLORATION OF THE SHIP:
1.) If the crew was going to explore the ship some more, what would you have had them find on it? What kind of rooms and great technology? Maybe an Ancient in stasis somewhere?
RESTORING OF THE SHIP AND ITS STRENGTH:
2.) Would or wouldn’t you have written the ship to of ever been restored to its full glory/ strength? If it had been restored would the ship have ever been strong enough to have ever taken on the blue aliens or the drone ships without missing a beat?
THE SOURCE OF THE SIGNAL AND A FIVE SEASON ENDING:
3.) What would they have found at the end of season 5? More advanced aliens or a deity as the signals source? Would you have written it for the crew to ever live (their full natural lives) that long to find the source? Or would you have concluded it with a supply line set up at home world to dial in and set up rotations of civilians and military personal to carry on the mission?
FLASHBACKS:
4.) Would you have done some flashback scenes with the Ancients designing, discussing or sending the ship out?
I hope my questions were decent enough to contribute. I see some pretty good ones posted by others.
I guess I won’t be totally let down if you want to generalize the answers on any of these either.
Even though Destiny popped out of site at the end of Gauntlet, I would like to take any comments of what might have been and let my imagination carry them past the screen and give it an ending in my mind that I thought would have been worthy if you guys would have been given 5 seasons.
Thanks Joe for caring enough about the fans to take on these kinds of questions.
-Scott
But to clarify, what happened to the Descendents. Were they dropped off somewhere ?
No questions Joe, I’m sure other will come up with much better ones than I. I just want to say that “Gauntlet”, was absolutely brilliant. The final shot especially was just perfect.
All I can say more is, thank you.
I’ve watched ever episode of sg1, sga, and sgu, and have enjoyed every single one of them. Thank you for producing a show that has meant as much to me in my adult years as Dr Who did in my childhood. As for questions, it looks like several of the questions I had for you have already been asked. One though I didn’t see deals with something I think you mentioned months ago. I think, (I could be wrong) you once mentioned that you planned to end SGU by tying it and linking it to the very beginning of the series, or the mythology of the SG series or something. I’ve wondered for a very long time about just how you planned to do that. So, how were you planning to do just that?
Were we seeing the beginnings of how it was done with Destinys decendents? Were they somehow the beginnings of the ancients? The time loop twist to encompass all time loop twists? That was my first thoughts when it came down to two different groups. I would love to know how this was supposed to have worked out.
Oh, and thank you for sharing the “peasnatch” comment. I got married in the Philippines, and my wife called spinach the very same thing. We both laughed when we read that. =)
Good to see you have lots of stuff to talk about over the next few months. Both projects look exciting, and I am anticipating the premiere of both with high hopes. It’s going to be interesting to see how the action adventure series is simliar to and different from producing a sci fi show. And yes, very cool that Dark Horse is carrying your new comic. Now, if we can just pin it down to something more than “early 2012” (assuming of course that we make it to that date, what with the end of the world later this month).
Joe
Well done, Sir, well done. It’s been a great ride!
Elminster
Was Park’s submersion in the water in Blockade a practical effect? I mean, were the suits actually water tight or was there a stunt person with a small air tank in the water when we see Park face down in the pool? I don’t know why I care but it has been bothering be since the episode aired.
About how many Novos explorers came aboard? That would seem to greatly increase Destiny’s population and the need for cryo chambers. Are they just going to become part of Destiny’s crew now? Will Eli or anyone try to send a message to the generation ships from Novos to warn them about the drones? Was Novos’ main colony destroyed by the drones or did they have the technology to fight them off?
Rush finally saying, flat out, that Destiny’s mission was to gather data was very welcome and really something that should have been made clear last season. Are we to understand then, per the visualization in Gauntlet, that the seed ships actually only put gates on the useful worlds along a path through the galaxy and not a galaxy-wide network like we see in the Milky Way or Pegasus? Why are the Destiny gates limited in range when MW and Pegasus gates can dial from one side of the galaxy to the other?
With Woolsey and McKay still being on Earth, I’m assuming Atlantis is still sitting in the Pacific somewhere. How long since the Atlantis finale has it been for them? How much longer are the going to stay?
If Cheyenne Mtn is closed and Homeworld Command is in some office building in DC (insecure much?), where is the gate and the Ancient command chair? Area 51, as alluded to in the alternate reality episode? If so, wouldn’t HWC be better there?
There was practically no mention of naquadah in Universe. Was that intentional?
Anyway, thanks again for a great series.
I’ve been lurking on this site for awhile now, just wanted to drop my first note to thank you for all your great work and let you know that your efforts are very much appreciated. It is sad to see the series/franchise go. I do, however, I look forward to following your work on other projects.
Did Eli make use of the chair to either;
a)fix the stasis pod
or
b)Use the chair AS a stasis pod, we saw with Franklin a similar proceedure as the freezing of the stasis pods. Could Eli have used the next 3 years in the chair to learn more about Destiny/Ancients/the mission.
What else did Rush bring back from the “Decendence” Storage room?, Seemed an awful lot of boxes just to be filter material.
Did Eli Free Gin/Dr Perry from Quarentine to help moniter the ship? Or one last Goodbye.
Seems to me like the door’s wide open for STARGATE 4011!
Opening shot: the destiny gate reactivating, and a team of singularity-powered robots with lucian alliance insignia printed on their chassis step through.
After some extraodinarily efficient and methodical searching they find the crew in stasis all with long whispy beards and bring them back to mecha-earth to begin their new lives as biomechanical coolant flow regulators in high-yield particle accelerators.
regarding the future of the stargate franchise: do you know if the mythology and history of our stargate shows (sg1/atlantis/sgu) will be followed and respected in some future stargate project?
(still working on s/j confirmation too)
Lets go Red Wings joe!
we forced game 7 against san jose and hopefully we can become the 4th team to pull out a series victory after falling 3-0!
First a big thank you and a reaction to Gauntlet: I don’t see it as negative as you announced it. Somehow I have the feeling the show was saying see you in 3 years from now, we are going in the ice for now. I know its silly, but it didn’t feel as sad as you announced it.
Second: a direct question about this last episode. Will Eli die or will he find a way to get in the freezer too ? If you want, just a simple response without details: yes he will die, or no he won’t 🙂
3rd: Young/Ferrera toast speech is the proper conclusion of the Stargate franchise, even better than the scenes in Epilode. Because I feel that the emotion of the toast is authentic and real. This is as much Louis Ferrera talking to the Stargate cast and crew than it is Young talking to his team. You know, this is also why the emotions of the show are passing so well, a lot of them are real. Actors really care about each other, it is really a family, so off course shooting that emotion feels real and authentic because it is.
4th: didn’t you feel in your guts the show was to get canceled when you wrote that episode ? Even unconsciously ?
Thank you for your superb work, and thanking for passing so many emotions and hope through the TV screen, I really enjoyed that ride and some days it really helped through tough times during these 2 years.
Would you (or any other writer/producer/exec. For that matter have agreed to a pay cut as part of a larger budget cut to allow another season to be produced?
Also, do you believe that absolutely everything that could have been done was done to try and continue the franchise?
Are there any players (ie syfy, MGM, etc) that you are angry with over the cancelations ?
Joe,
That was a beautiful thing. Yes, it’s technically a cliffhanger, and yes the show should’ve gone on, but I gotta admit, when the exec producer credits came up, I was strangely…content.
I’ll echo many of the others and say that that felt like a series finale, and a series finale made for a show like SGU. There were some (Awesome) action scenes, but at its core Gauntlet focused on the characters and on bringing their arcs to a make-shift close. Young and Telford made peace; Wray and Sharon seemingly decided to part ways so they can move on with their lives; Chloe and her mom said their goodbyes; Park got to see the familiar beauty of Earth one last time; Scott accepted that he couldn’t be the father that young Matt needed; Rush accepted Eli’s genius; the crew is finally united as a family, as Young pointed out in that simple, down-to-Earth, and yet-so-poignant speech; and Eli…well, Eli’s arc was the greatest of them all.
At the end, this was Eli’s journey. As Rush said, he had turned a naive, game nerd who misses job interviews because he wants to sleep in, into a powerhouse genius who is ready to step up as a leader. His scene with his mom made me tear up, and really hit home the point of Eli’s arc; his mom went from worrying about his future to knowing that his future is safe without her, and that it’s out there in the Cosmos.
And those last moments, when Eli admitted that he was smarter than Rush, it was THE defining moment for his character; it was the payoff after all these episodes; Eli, the “avatar” of the viewer within the show, has seen the adventure through, and is now ready to fulfill his destiny.
Those last few minutes, with the beautiful-as-always Goldsmith score kicking in that reminded of the first sounds of the first episode of the show, were breathtaking. From the way Rush addressed Eli as “Mr. Wallace”, to the goodbye hug that Young gave him, to seeing Eli on the Observation deck, gazing up at the wonderous sight of FTL and of the Universe beyond, seemingly realizing for the first time how beautiful it all was, and finally understanding that he was home…it could not have been a better end considering the hand that the show was dealt.
So I thank you, all of you, cast and crew of Stargate Universe, for creating one of the greatest shows I’ve ever watched, and filling it with intense action, rivetting character drama, and spectacle fit for a show that dared to take on the entire Universe.
And, I thank the cast and crew of all Stargates for providing me with 17 seasons of the most entertaining franchise ever. Your efforts will live on in the annals of movie and TV history, and you will be remembered as the creators of a saga that celebrated the human condition, that revealed our flaws in the face of extraordinary events, and that which showed how we can overcome them and triumph in our journeys.
At the end, Destiny continues its travels among the stars in our imaginations, and nothing can stop that.
Can we assume that the direction for Season 3 (if it did happen) is that:
– some of the characters wont survive hibernation
– the hibernation will be interupted part way by some occurance (the ghosts/spirits of trapped in SGU computer, or some attack on Destiny maybe?)
Would Eli have slipped his consciousness into Destiny’s computer if stasis couldnt be fixed?
What does Rush think Destiny’s end goal really is?
Why were the polar bears on the island?
Ok, now that I’ve said my heart-felt piece, it’s time to be less serious.
So…3 years before the crew wakes up? Excellent. That’s three years in which the fans can lobby for a conclusion to the story. In fact, it almost feels like it’s planned this way; to give us time to come up with something. Or, maybe in 3 years MGM will see that there is room for more Stargate and create something that will unite all three shows and start a new franchise; I mean, they did it for Doctor Who with that movie from 1996, and it wasn’t a reboot.
Hopefully we’ll get a 2-part miniseries or something, just so we can say that Stargate Universe had 42 “episodes” because, well, 42. It would be so poetic and Awesome. Stargate Universe would be the answer to life, the Universe, and everything, which it is, especially considering what the Mission is.
Meanwhile, this Dark Matter comic looks very interesting indeed! Seems like a ship-based series of some sort. Fun fact: when I saw the first character drawings, and before I read the following paragraph, I knew that One was based on Ben Browder. Heh.
Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ll leave the questions to the others here, as I’m sure there will be plenty. Looking forward to more info on Gauntlet, Season 3, and the movies!
1) What happened to Franklin?
2) Would they have found a cure for TJ?
3) Was Lisa’s blindness permanent?
4) Did Eli fix the pod in time?
5) What happened to the Stargate on Earth? Where is it?
6) Is Atlantis still in San Francisco?
7) Where is Teal’c and what is he doing?
8) What is Cameron Mitchell doing?
9) Is there no way that maybe in a few years MGM will reconsider making another season of SGU? Or a DVD movie?
10) Is there a way that in a few years another Stargate series will be created in which Destiny’s fate will be resolved (e.g. the crew of the new Stargate show finds Destiny floating in space and finds Eli’s Kinos and the crew in stasis)?
11) If you really cannot make a new season or movies, can you make an SGU videogame for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC? With the player playing different roles (Rush, Eli, Young, Greer,…) and taking on different quests (hacking terminals as Eli, shootouts on planets as Greer, exploring Destiny as Rush). It would be so awesome to walk around Destiny and do missions. So much is possible in videogames nowadays. The possibilities to continue SGU in videogame format would be endless. You could do anything you ever wanted and continue the story the way you want to. You’d just have to get the actors do to the voices for the characters. I want Stargate Universe Season Three The Game. Pretty please with sugar on top?
Hi, Joe!
Thank you for an amazing saga, which we saw in the new series. You have created something much greater than we used to watch. I’m not saying anything bad about the old series, they are great. But what have you done with the latest spin-off, it’s a BIG BANG GREAT. SGU has the best science fiction series of all time. You’re the best!
And till I have 2 questions:
1. Why such discrepancies basic chronology of the Stargate? Apparently, the ancients left our galaxy a few million years ago, at the Atlantis. However, the Destiny was launched about 1 million years ago. From the Earth. At the time of the ancients already was not in our galaxy (?). And its technology has the older design.
2. Where were built the first stargates? In the Milky Way? Or in the Ori’s home galaxy? In the movie “The Ark of Truth” is a mural (in the ornately decorated room, where the Priors have placed the Ark on a wooden table – http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/albums/movies/arkoftruth/photos/arkoftruth_bts10.jpg), which depicts the stargate and a group of people in front of this. That really means is the mural?
First off, thanks again for taking the time to answer fan questions about SGU, just further proves how awesome you guys are and how deserving this franchise is.
Before I break into my questions, I have to absolutely say that #6 in your sketches is clearly Djimon Hounsou. Love that guy, and the sketch is a dead ringer for him. #4 kinda reminds me of a younger Rhona Mitra as well…perhaps a nod to her SGU appearance?? . Anyways, back to the SGU questions.
– What was the future plan with Ginn, Dr. Perry, and even Franklin? Would the 2 of them ever be let out of the quarantined section of the ships systems? and would Franklin ever make another appearance?
– What did the future hold for Mr. Wallace? Any future hookups perhaps?
– Do you feel that not having a single, identifiable enemy (e.g. the Wraith in SGA) introduced right off the bat hurt the show?
– What other crazy discoveries would the crew have made while exploring more of the ship? I always guessed that they had really only occupied / explored maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the ship so far, would that be accurate?
– Do you think the show would’ve benefited from shorter seasons to cut down on filler? Something along the lines of what TNT has done to great success with Southland.
– Do you know if MGM would perhaps pitch this show to other networks to pick up? Given all the financial turmoil MGM went through, is that what you think ultimately doomed the show? Yeah the numbers weren’t what they ideally could have been, but plenty of shows have been renewed on even less than that.
Thanks once again, cannot wait to hear answers to all of these great questions people have posted.
I loved Gauntlet. I know it wasn’t a proper ending in that you never intented it to be the end of the whole series, but taken as an ending it works. If the show had ended in the same style as Atlantis Season 1, I might be exceptionally annoyed. But it didn’t. It ended in a way that bookended the first episode, and that worked really well.
I’m left content.
Thank you for so many years of Stargate. I was 14 when I started watching. I have spent half my life watching Stargate in one form or another. The way it went out wasn’t ideal, just like I would have loved just one more Season for each show to ‘properly’ finish them, I’m happy with what’s there.
So thank you once again to you and everyone else who worked on the show. I hope one day it comes back. 🙂
My question about Gauntlet is this:
Those final shots with everything on Destiny turning off. Did you know at that stage the show was cancelled or was it just a ‘happy accident’ you decided to mirror Destiny powering up from the first episode?
I was a fan of all three 🙂 Stargate: Atlantis was my favorite though. Thank you so much for 3 of the best Scifi tv. shows ever. It has been a great 17? years.
Does anyone have any ideas on keeping the show alive, or something? Just curious. I really hope so. It has been a great show, and I’d hate to see my Stargate go away! 🙁
Also, loved the way SGU was ended.. It was a great episode. I just hope we find out if Eli made it..
One question: Was Gauntlet intended to be the series finale when it was made, or not? Just curious because I know Enemy at the Gate wasn’t.
Thanks again!!!!!
>Nate
Hey Joe,
A couple production related questions for you:
1.) How does budget influence the writing process? For example, what kind of consideration is giving to which sets are used, special effects, extras, call sheets, shooting schedules, etc. This is something I’d love for you to expand upon in the future of your blog.
1.b) Should Season 3 been green lit with a reduced budget, what kind of sacrifices / changes would have had to been made? Cast? Crew? Reduced shooting schedule? Etc.
2.) Park, James, Brody, and Volker were character that were featured in just about every episode and some developed more so than a few of the regulars. Why were they billed as guest stars rather than “also staring” when they more or less seemed like regulars? Same with Telford? Even though he wasn’t in every episode (like Wray), he is definately part of SGU’s fabric and was heavily featured. In Telfords case, LDP appears in all the promotional materials for the show, so I find it weird that due to his presence he wasn’t given a regular billing.
Thanks again for all the fun over the years!
I loved Gauntlet! It was a very beautifully done episode with the peril of the drones and the command carriers, as well as the interactions between the crew.
Rush volunteering to be the one to try to fix the remaining stasis pod shows how far he’s come since the start of the series, but Young’s talk with Eli reveals that he still has doubts about Rush’s motives and likely always will. I do think that Rush would have sacrificed himself for “the greater good” because he realizes that Eli is more than capable of replacing him; he’s even stated that Eli is smarter and, therefore, to Rush’s reasoning, more important to the survival of the “mission.”
Eli, too, has come an extremely long way from the slacker drop-out he was at the beginning. He’s grown a lot on the journey.
Chloe, too, has grown into her own. I admit I wasn’t fond of the character at first, she seemed to be more of a whiny little girl and a “waste of space” (the same opinion I had of Deanna Troi on ST:TNG). However, she took it upon herself to become useful, and the “upgrade” certainly didn’t hurt. I have actually come to like the character and changed my opinion of her (which never happened with Troi – still a waste of space).
It’s sad to see the series end because it was so well done and enjoyable to watch. I’m really going to miss it. It was my favourite of the three.
However, Gauntlet also makes a fitting end to the series. The “unfinished chord” Brian Smith talked about on InnerSpace is a very apt comparison. Did they make it? Did it take three years or 1,000 years? Longer? What happened at the end of the journey?
I join with everyone else who has expressed their thanks to the cast and crew, the writers and producers, and everyone else involved in creating not only SGU, but Atlantis and SG1, as well. It’s been an enjoyable ride, and I look forward to it continuing in some form in the future. (Three years, maybe?)
This is kind of a weird question but, anyway, let’s get existential now: Forgetting whatever religious or personal beliefs anyone may have, let’s say everyone has a soul. Now, when as in Time or Common Descent, there is a change in the original timeline that results in a second one being created, and the second timeline intersects with the original timeline, we end up with two identical people in the second timeline (the Kinos in Time with recordings of the people on Destiny in a situation they didn’t experience, or, more directly, in Common Descent when there were two Rushs running around on the same ship, and two Telfords – one on Earth and one on Destiny, do they share the soul? Have different ones? Is one *gasp* soulless? If so, which one? If one dies, does it pass to the other? (This one hit me while listening to John Lennon’s Imagine.)
Even more important: Will Louis Ferreira ever finish the pineapple diaries, or did they die with the series?
Hi joe !
Excellent episode in gauntlet ! I think for a cliffhanger it was good eneough for an ending of the show.
the episode it self was great !
These are my questions…
First off…What happened to the people from Novus. the last we saw they were on the ship, then the next episode some of them went to Novus and tried to figure out what happened to them. Then after that episode, we never heard anything.
did I miss something ? Were you guys working on them in the story, but then realized that you had to end it , so you just dropped the novus storyline ?
My bet is I missed the answer to this by possibly dosing off for a minute during Blockade !
As far as the plans for season 3…
These are what I thought should have been address:
I feel that you were very close to getting the Langarians to let earth use their Stargate to get supplies onto Destiny.
Were the drones over and gone ?
Were we going to find out aobout the aliens from Eden ?
Of course what was going to happen to eli ?
Was the ship going to continue to get fixed and what parts did you plan on fixing ?
Were they going to meet any more humanoid populations ?
Were thre plans for addition SG1 or SGA actors to appear on the show.
Would we see McKay take Telford up on putting him on Destiny ?
What was the eventual plan to get the people home , if you even planned on getting them home ?
I think that Atlantis must have had some kind of way to gate to destiny.
Maybe 3 ZPMs lined up in parrallel for maximum power would do it.
You could have used the wormhole drive in atlantis to transport them to where ever Destiny is !
That is about all I can think of for now, but I am sure I will hav many more questions.
I really hope that you guys had some ideas for season 3, so I hope you can share them.
I am going to rewatch Gauntlet right now !
thanks again joe !
Well, so far One and Far LOOK like they’d be favorites of mine. Can’t wait to see the finished product! Will you autograph a copy if we send it to you when it finally comes out?
Extinction questions (even if you just answer one, I’d be happy):
1. I REALLY want to know what happened to Todd.
2. Does Sheppard get an actual relationship? Please? It was sad to see him left all alone out there on the balcony in EaTG.
3. Would the movie have focused on the core team of 4 – Shep, McKay, Teyla and Ronon?
4. If Jason had become too big a star due to Conan to come back for the movie, how would you have handled Ronon’s absence?
5. Please tell me you’d have written Keller to be more like real-life Jewel and less damsel in distress. Her blogs and tweets show her to be as snarktastic as David H – it would have been nice to see that come out in Keller.
6. My favorite character is Sheppard, what kind of evolution of his character would we have seen in the movie?
Thanks again for all the great Stargate you and others gave us over the years. It has been a big part of my life and while not agreeing with some of the directions taken with the franchise, I will always appreciate those of you who were part of the Stargate creative team.
Darn it, One and FOUR!
Six reminds me of Avery Brooks from DS9.
whooo too many questions already…I will waiting a bit before asking mine.
but thanks a lot for the kindness Joe!
est il possible par contre de rentrer en contact auprés de MGM ou de quelqu’un d’autre pour leur soumettre des projets de livres (artbook, autres) sur l univers de Stargate
mon crayon me démange! =)
Check out the following picture of Destiny’s stargate:
http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=246802&fullsize=1
What is that little door behind it? Where does it lead? What’s there? ;-P
Just wanted to throw in my thanks for the many great seasons of Stargate you’ve bought us. As someone who’s been a fan since the begining, I will miss the franchise a great deal, and hope it will somehow, eventually be continued in a manner that stays true to how you guys ran things.
For what it’s worth, having watched every episode of each incarnation multiple times (except 3 that I missed), SGU quickly became my favourite and I think it’s a great shame that it didn’t get to continue.
It clearly had a lot of love put into it from everyone involved, and even if there weren’t enough of us, many fans like myself were captivated by the show’s story and characters, and very much wanted to see it play out.
Also, we never got to see the outfit Young got for Wray 🙁
Did you guys ever plan Eli to make the repairs successfully?
What’s next for SG? I know SG-1 audiodramas are being churned out (James Swallow has news on those every so often on his blog) so will SGU follow suit with the book/audiodramas thing?
Thanks for Stargate. It will be back, unfortunately not for the near future. Good luck with Transporter and I hope to see you back with SG in the distant future.
Wait, one last question:
FURLINGS?!?!?!??? Were you guys EVER going to hit on Furlings? And no, that spoof episode doesn’t count. For reals…I know in that one ep of SG-1 where Jack gets stranded on the moon with Maybourne the skeleton was supposed to be a Furling but that was changed…so in the future were you guys ever ever ever going to do anything with those guys?
Hello Joe,
I echo all here and congratulate the entire Stargate family for a 15 years of amazing entertainment.
I also would love to know what happens to Eli and what was the mission. I understand if you are not allowed to go that far and give us such details, but if by some miracle Mr. Wright has approved of you sharing such details, I know you will have a bunch of happy fans!!! But then again, I am still hoping that you won’t answer because that may mean there is still hope MGM might still make a movie. I don’t know, I have mixed emotions about this… le sigh
Standing Ovation and a huge BRAVO to all involved with Stargate!
Thank you and Cheers!
In keeping with tradition, I cried tonight. I cried as SG1 and SGA aired their last, and I cried all the more for SGU because it is truly now THE END for the franchise as we know it.
What a beautifully thought out and poignant end to SGU. I think Young summed it up on so many levels for all three shows when he said “We’re family now.”
There aren’t enough words to express my gratitude to all the brilliantly talented people who made these shows the best on TV for so many years. Thank you for taking us on such a grand journey! And my best wishes to everyone for happiness and success wherever the future may lead you.
Do you know when Big Finish may be releasing more SG1 or SGA audio stories? Is there any chance that SGU might be able to be continued by adapting your story ideas to the audio format? I think a few series of SGU audio adventures, featuring a different actor as the lead in each one, would be a great way to keep things going.
This was a wonderful season finale! It left as much open as it closed with making the two years coming to a full circle (I love the parallel with air regarding the gate powering up and down and the dinner cut short by the evacuation at Icarus base as well as the last supper).
I have really only one question about Gauntlet (most of the others were asked before me):
After the first battle, they use the shuttles to resupply. Given that Colonel Young did not seem to go anywhere and that there were only two pilots on this ship (Scott and Young) — who flew the shuttles besides Scott?
Toward the end of Gauntlet there was a very stirring musical piece being heard. What was the name of that piece and who wrote it? It really added a lot of emotion to the episode.
I’m trying to think of all the questions I should ask but so far the only ones that are coming to mind are these:
Behind the scenes interest:
1.) Was there initially a plan to do something with Sora in Atlantis, because she was taken prisoner at the end of the Eye, then just vanished. Was there just no plan to take it further, was there an availability issue with Erin Chambers, personality conflicts?
2.) How far did the “Hexed” story get, and why did it fall through?
3.) I know Young and Rush reached a sort of Détente, but even at the end they never trusted each other. If the series had played out as long as you wished, would they have actually become friends at one point? I think if you could have developed them to that point naturally, it would have been one of the best character relationships ever done in anything, much less sci-fi.
Fannish, Super-geeky questions.
1.) Rewatching SGA Season 2, I have to wonder at what point Caldwell was meant to have become a Goa’uld. Was it meant to be that he was a Goa’uld from Siege 3, or just before Critical Mass or sometime during the season?
2.) Did you guys have an official speed worked out for the Jumpers? I once actually did math (gulp!) from info given in The Defiant One to figure out a speed of 2% of light speed. I’d love to know if that was ever worked out for the sake of the series.
3.) What was the message in the Microwave Background? If it was “Hello, Sweetie” and some coordinates, I’d laugh.
Oh, and I’ve been enjoying your look back posts on SG1 season’s past. I wish you could find the time to write a book about your time on Stargate. I’d buy it. Even if you just self-published through Kindle.
Thanks, Joe. Thanks for making Stargate a welcoming place for fans.
I haven’t been this sad about a cancellation in quite some time. I’ve enjoyed all the incarnations of the Stargate franchise but SGU was really the only one that kept me hoping for the week to pass by quickly to get to the next episode.
One of the things that I felt almost right away was the very strong sense of wonder about the unknown (and this was even before we found out about Destiny’s mission!)
It’s great that the crew had real flaws, hangups and conflicts and didn’t have all the answers or fix everything up neatly by the end of the hour. SGU was about the struggle to survive and overcome external and internal obstacles and that sometimes we fail no matter how bright we are – because that’s life and answers aren’t guaranteed.
Some speculation, comments and questions
One scenario I though about was that something was going to happen to make them wake up quite a good deal later than anyone was expecting – perhaps with some significant changes on earth – perhaps even limiting their use of the stones altogether.
Heck some of them might not even have woken up at all.
Alternatively, perhaps Eli was going to figure out something to get by but not be able to go into stasis and instead go the whole 3 years awake.
I also see the stasis pods as TJ’s only recourse to stave off the ALS if a cure wasn’t found – whether that would come into play or how is anyone’s guess.
The god-like aliens…I’d like to know what they had to do with Destiny’s mission (if that had been worked out). I get the sense that there was link there somehow but maybe that’s just wishful thinking.
Would the Aliens that modified Chloe make another appearance?
I liked the Varro character and thought he was a really good addition to the crew – i would have liked to see him become a more integral part of the main group. Not so sold about the pairing with TJ though…
Volker and Brody were great – you can find guys like that in just about every IT department in corporate America.
One of the most interesting aspects to the show was the degree to which one could warm up to the characters over time. For instance I didn’t much care for Wray and Greer at the beginning but this changed as they gained greater depth over the course of the show.
Anyway enough rambling. Thanks to you Joe and to your colleagues for giving us two great seasons.
Now I’m going off to work on a device to take me into the parallel universe where SGU has a full 5 season run.
Good luck on Transporter. And the comics. Perhaps we could talk at Comic Con if you are going. I’m not yet sure what I’m going to be doing there, but will know my schedule closer in.
Love those drawings! And getting to see the revisions. Six reminds me of Djimon Hounsou.
I’m so sad to see Stargate go.
I don’t know what I will look at after these, but it is sure that everything else is a series onto light-years it is because of all three of SG parts.
It is possible to continue after some years the SGU, if the spectators feel the deficiency. Story like that not heavy to find one’s way in SG, which “replaces” the actors body. 🙂
Let the sceneries not be thrown out only!!!
SG1, SGA, SGU are on all of them the best series ever!!!
Thanks for them! I look at all parts again now his front, while he will not be new. 🙂
Fun from Hungary!
Coucou!
Bah derien, c’est normal vous êtes tellement exeptionnel!!!!!
Je suis vraiment fan de vous que je vais suivre tout vos projets, et je l’espere vous rencontrez un jour!
Gros bisou bisou!
Anais.
Ps: bonne audience du dernier épisode de sgu 😉
Still haven’t watched the finale yet but a couple of questions.
Is a Mini Series or anything now totally out of the question even if there was a fan campaign etc similar to what happend with Farscape?
Was animation considered (something like Animatrix etc)? as a cheaper option to conclude the series.
Good luck Joe Thanks.
Some people have asked whether StarGate Command would have found a way to dial Destiny to provide a supply line. I, personally, am not in favour of that. Too much of a cop out. The fact that they are on their own survival-wise is a core element of the series.
Speaking of TJ, I expected that the descendants would have taken their medical knowledge with them, which would have included the cure for ALS. Kind of surprising that they don’t seem to have had it. I know they had to leave their home planet, but they knew the black hole was coming for some time – enough time to evacuate millions of people – and I would think they would have taken as much of their knowledge as possible.
I also expected that the stasis pods would be used to transport the descendants from the first planet to the home planet, but I guess Rush’s discovery of the foam stuff negated the need for that.
Other questions:
1. Way back when I asked if there was some pre-existing friction between Rush and Young while they were on Icarus. Was there or was I reading too much into things?
2. Would Ginn and Mandy have resurfaced somewhere down the road? Would Mandy still have been heading off to the deep end in her desire for Rush?
3. How about Franklin? Did he ascend or incorporate/upload himself into Destiny’s systems? I’m tempted to compare Franklin’s fate to what Rush did BUT Franklin left nothing of himself behind, while Rush’s body remained even though his consciousness had been uploaded into Destiny. So . . . not the same. I’m leaning toward ascension and that the Franklin we “saw” was a manifestation created by Destiny of someone familiar to her new “crew” to be used as a means of communication.
4. As part of the process to “skip” the remainder of the current galaxy and go to the next one, would the Gate have been taken offline in order to ensure that no one dialed in, thereby depleting what little power they have to make the journey and possibly making them fall short of the next galaxy?
The ending of season 2 was perfect for me becouse gives hope… so please dont tell what u had for season 3… or just dont reveal all threads 🙂 thx
I’d just like to send my warmest regards on SGU. This last season has, in my opinion, been not only the best in all of the Stargate franchise’s history, but some of the best television on television, period. It truly shows that successive iterations of franchise shows can not only improve upon the original, but revitalize and mature that franchise in some spectacular manners.
I am truly sad that the widespread attention deficit from television executives in a broken system that relies on Nielsen ratings has claimed another series with such obvious potential after claiming other venerable franchises as Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica.
Your program proved that science fiction could be serious, but still fun, and intelligent to boot. It was not only unafraid to tackle such important and real issues as life-changing disease and had a varied and diverse cast of many ethnicities and lifestyle orientations, all treated as simply aspects of life and the human experience. I applaud your incorporation of kidney disease and ALS into plotline – as an organizer of this summer’s Vancouver Kidney Walk, I spend each day steeped in the only-now growing public knowledge about the seriousness of such conditions.
The plotlines in this last season not only followed some of the best traditions of “hard” science fiction by embracing developments in ‘weird’ physics and weaving these masterfully into interesting stories on a weekly basis. These aspects of the plotlines were combined with such dynamic characters and growing family relationships that made this serious a true gem to follow, so much that I am very saddened we will not get to see where the show may have gone. In a way, the artful manner in which the character relations knit together into a family almost brought the show to a satisfying conclusion. “Gauntlet” was – in as much as any show killed before its time – just that: a beautiful ending to an amazing series.
Just a sad about the ending of this show is the brilliant work of everyone involved in the show’s look and sound. The show’s soundtrack was utter perfection, strikingly evocative of the grandeur of the vessel, the emptiness of the crew’s situation, and the sentiments of the characters. The sets were cinematically brilliant, and each element from the ornate lighting to the manners in which the control interfaces were designed was novel and innovative – different. The show was never campy, which was – respectfully – my major reservation about every other iteration of the Stargate franchise (which I’ve also followed since the beginning), and yet SGU accomplished this without a “reboot” or a “reimagining” of its roots. That in itself was a significant accomplishment in my books that will forever punctuate my memory of this show: it demonstrated that a franchise could evolve completely without having to resort such tactics so popular in the entertainment of today.
Finally, I’d like to comment on how much I loved the fact that everything in this show was epic in scale, from the fantasy and grandeur of the Destiny itself, to the mindboggling scope of its mission. It is yet another comment on the boldness of your writing staff that you chose to incorporate such grand intellectual ideas into your show without resorting merely to space battles (not that space battles are not welcome and enjoyed as well). Bravo! Encore!
A heartfelt pat on the back to everyone involved in this show, and a genuine wish – despite the realities of the entertainment industry – that some chance will present itself for this brilliant series to be resurrected and properly concluded. It is a crying shame how this is most certainly impossible – someday we need a network brave enough to specialize in bringing back celebrated and canceled shows (or franchises) like SGU, Farscape, Firefly, and Star Trek.
Until then: Rest assured in a job well done.
Yikes! Typos. Serves me right for not proofreading a late night comment before posting.
Hey, to everyone that just watched the SGU finale, check out this funny video with LOUIS FERREIRA (Colonel Everett Young).
I had a smile on my face throughout the entire video. He’s such a funny guy. Damn it, I really miss this show. ;(
hi joe,
i would say thank you for the stargate seasons.
SGU was after the struggling first season, the best one.
And after season finale i´d like to see more of SGU.
The way it goes in the second season was the right one.
Why does not crew explored more of Destiny?
The ship seems to be so huge. There must be some secrets or stuff they needed.
I hope you find a way to revive SGU.
Mybe you can sell it worldwide over the internet,
where the fans can buy a season pass or something like that.
And provide subtitles of any languages should not be a problem.
Kind Regards and best wishes for the future
Donnerbalken
from Germany
Thanks for all the Stargate! They were all good in their own ways, but I think Stargate Universe was the best of them all.
Question: Was the actual ending of Season 2 what you planned all along, or did it include changes because you had time to make them after you knew the series wouldn’t be renewed?
Regardless, I think that the S2 ending was very effective. In particular, I like that the ending sets up a lot of flexibility for the future.
Best case scenario, you’ve just provided a reasonable in-canon *not contrived* explanation for why the story is going away for awhile, and give yourself or other franchise maintainers an opening to pick up in a few years and continue the SGU story, and they have a lot of flexibility to maintain or change things at that time.
Worst case scenario, that the series isn’t continued later, you have provided a satisfying conclusion, and explicitly stated that the characters’ or Destiny’s story is continuing, even if we don’t see it.
I have watched Stargate since SG1 season 1 and bought all the DVDs, and I look forward to more, when MGM can do so.
By the way, for those people complaining about just DVD and no Blu-ray for SGU season 2, its no loss to me. DVD is quite superior to Blu-ray in that it doesn’t have the draconian DRM.
Hi Joe,
Long time reader, first time poster.
Love what you do with the site and obviosuly love Stargate (one of the best shows ever!), shattered its gone.
Now over my time of watching Stargate, right from my first ep a few years back, to even watching a repeat today I have thought of a number of questions which I now unfortunately cannot remember although I still have a couple so here goes:
1. Was there any plans to make further mention of or for the Furlings to appear in an episode?
2. How long does it take to build a Daedalus – class ship because I found it a bit strange that Earth didnt just start churning them out especially during the Ori threat.
3. Could you reveal a bit about what the plan was for the movie which featured characters from all 3 seasons which I read was being planned, and which would have been awesome!?
Thanks Alot, Keep it Up
Hi Joe,
I’ve been a long time (looooong time) lurker and reader of your blog and, after watching Gauntlet I decided that now was the time to actually make a comment. I know, lurking in the shadows for years is rude and I apologise.
I wasn’t SGU’s biggest fan during it’s first season, it’s fair to say. But it was Stargate. I couldn’t not watch it. But season 2.5, for me at least, was a massive improvement over what came before. And Blockade and Gauntlet specifically were both really good, enjoyable episodes.
Like most people I watched season 2.5 knowing the show was already cancelled. I wasn’t too bothered. It was a show that I hadn’t been enjoying all that much, although there were some cool episodes (Time springs immediately to mind). I was more saddened by the franchise as a whole being cancelled.
I think it was Alliances where I started getting that sinking feeling, a feeling that I was trying to deny with every fibre of my being. I was enjoying SGU. I really didn’t want to, because I knew it was coming to an abrupt and sudden end. But I couldn’t help it. I guess I was finally a believer, after a year and a half. Better late than never, right?
And then came Gauntlet. After reading your blog posts on the matter, I was pretty sure I would be screaming by the time the credits came up. But, actually, it was a surprisingly fitting way to end the series.
Anyway, I’ve already assaulted you with a wall of text. I’ll stop rambling now and end with what I originally came here to say. Thank you for 17 seasons of Stargate. It’s consistently been my favourite series on TV.
Oh, and a question: Any chance of a spin-off for Brody/Volker/Park?
Hi Joe,
I’ve been following your exploits since the ice cream and anime Gateworld days, but I’ve always been content to just read. But this is the end of an era, and I had to say…
The first episode I saw was Thor’s Hammer in the living room of my brand-new, first apartment. I was hooked. (I remain a HUGE Asgard fan–darn Robert Cooper for killing them all!). Sadly, my building changed cable providers, and I stopped getting Showtime. Years later I saw an ad, “SG-1 coming to SciFi!” So, my new husband (married a few months earlier) and I caught up on past episodes and then haven’t missed a minute since.
And through your blog, I also got to know the brilliant and awesome people who made it all happen.
But we’ve reached the end (for now?). And while I mourn the premature loss, I also want to thank you (all of you) for 14 wonderful years.
And thank you for this blog where I can continue to follow all things Stargate, Transporter, anime, and food! (And hopefully get some answers to those darn cliffhangers!)
Also, coincidently, we’re just about to sell that apartment where my Stargate obsession first began. We have come full circle…
Thank you!!!
Joe and every people around SG 🙂
Thank you for those briliant years .. If i ever have a lot of $ i swear i would give it to you because i want see rest of SG 🙂
You are the reason why i go to film school here in Prague 🙂 (Sorry for broken english 🙂 )
I have many question, but these are the important:
1- When they wake up after three years, people of Earth will be ready with another Icarus Base to dial Destiny?
2- What about Amanda Perry and Ginn?
3- Will T.J. find a cure?
4- The other Rush, is he dead or maybe ascended?
5- Who are the aliens that restore the Shuttle to the original condition?
And finale, will the Destiny crew ever find out, who created the message?
Thanks!
Were the obelisk aliens the ones who left the signal at the begining of time . Or! Or was the signal from the crew of the destiny, maybe rush and them all would have ended up up going back to the begining of time and being the source of the signal. Ha just a crazy thought. Could sgu be continued as a comic like buffy and angel. There would be a market out there for it. And thanks to everyone who had any part (big or small) who helped bring any of the stargates to the world.
“Gauntlet” was perfect. Just like Caprica’s season finale worked well as a series finale. THANK YOU. Now, I have some questions, but excuse all the typos. It’s kind of hard to type when eyes are filled with tears, k.
I remember some talk about space dolphins. What were they all about, and why didn’t we see any of ’em? Unless it all was a crazy dream…
Where would’ve you gone with TJ’s storyline about the disease?
I’m sure all other topics I’m interested in will be covered. While I’m looking forward to hearing it all, it will mean there’s really no hope whatsoever for continuation. Sad I haz.
It’s fascinating to see the progression with the comic characters. Speaking of Ben Browder, what has he been up to lately?
On a not Stargate related note… Number 6 struck me as looking like the cloned love child of Djimon Hounsou and Captain Sisko from Deep Space 9. Obviously his bad ass quotient will be very high.
The comic book looks awesome and I look forward to reading it.
Six has a Ben Sisko/Avery Brooks look to him.
The characters look awesome. I look forward to more on the comic series.
My biggest Stargate related question: We know some of what Carl is doing now, but have the others in the Stargate production offices been as lucky as you to find work? What are they doing, now?
Thanks for the years of entertainment. I’ve enjoyed the ride that was Stargate.
–Greg
My questions:
1) Is a crew integral in Destiny being able to complete her mission? Is it realistic to believe that after millions of years of travel, the crew “happened” to show up within 5 years of completion? Before loading Franklin, how intelligent was Destiny’s computer system?
2) What happened to Franklin’s body (vaporized, moved to a stasis pod).
3) What other stuff would the crew have discovered elsewhere in the ship?
4) Would a flashback episode of Destiny’s conception and launch eventually have been made? Will we find out why the Ancient’s never went there, or seemingly hid the information on Destiny (these people left their tech, everywhere, and wrote instruction manuals on walls for cryin’ out loud…)
5) Anything you can share about the intended arc of the show, frankly, would be great…
6) Would Season 3 have been 3 years later? Or 10, or more?
I’m sure there are more…
Hey Joe
Sounds like the start of the Jimi Hendrix song! Anyway wanted to thank everyone responsible for the whole Stargate adventure, even SyFy and MGM (even though their heads are stuck in a dark place).
I have just one question. In the closing moments when Eli was looking out into space he smiled. Was it becuase he was relieved that there was hope for Destiny’s and the crews survival or didn’t he know something they didn’t?
Example was he planning something other then the 3 year journey. Something similar to finale of Atlantis.
Where’s JJ Abrams and Paramount when we need them. The man that gave us Star Trek back, Fringe, and soon 8 MM. If anyone could bring Stargate back I think they’d have the guts to do it. Just my opinion.
hi joseph, please answer to this: will ever be any third season or any tipe of continuation for sgu ? i an terribly sad and gauntlet,s ending was hardbracking and epic and i cant acept is the end. i dont know! im now something like: please ! this has to be a dream a very bad one, please someone weack me up.. . . it cant b the end for sgu
I think the first character looks much more serious than the charming and goofy look you’re going for. Otherwise, all the characters look great. Dark Horse is a great label. Good luck to you and Paul with your comic book career!
I saw Gauntlet last night, and it was superb. It did have a series finale feel to it, despite the fact that it ended on a cliffhanger. And, I was expecting it to be much more “cliffhangerish”, considering the warnings that you were giving us. I love the scene with everyone sitting around the table, and the little speech about being a family, including the “crazy uncle”. Also, I love how Space gave such a respectful farewell to SGU and the franchise, using InnerSpace as a vehicle to provide a tribute. SyFy could really learn from Space’s example.
I only wish SGU had been given more time. Many great shows didn’t find their footing until the second or third seasons. As an example, I think that Star Trek: Next Generation was truly mediocre until it began to step up in about season 3 or so. In contrast, I really enjoyed SGU right from the beginning.
So, questions…. My question is not related to SGU or the SGA movie, but to Stargate: Revolution. I know that you didn’t write the script, but perhaps you can forward this question to Brad or Carl, and see if they can post their answer here? I am dying to know what the movie was supposed to be about. Also, equally importantly, what was the romantic scene between Sam and Jack? Was it the intention that, by now, Sam and Jack were in an established relationship, and the movie would have reflected that? I do feel, as you do, that they have been together since the end of Threads, however, I just hope this feeling is shared by all the other producers/writers and that this would have been reflected in the movie. I realize that earlier, you said that Brad and Rob felt that they couldn’t show that they were together, but perhaps they *believed* that they together, even if they didn’t want to be overt about it while the SG1 was still on.
Finally…. a great big THANK YOU to all the cast and crew and everyone else involved with so many great years of a fabulous franchise. Best of luck to all in your post-Stargate careers, and hopefully someday, we will see it all come together again (preferably with the original actors and characters!)
I have another question which is open to anyone.
I’m a non-Canadian viewer, and I would LOVE to see the final interviews the cast did on Inner Space. Does anyone know how I could go about doing that? Thanks so much!!
Hello there,
still sad about the end of Stargates. Waiting for Gauntlet.
You continue your blog, I will continue to read and wait for the Transporter the series but, before I will rent the dvds of the films, never seen them.
Have a nice day
Joe,
Thank you for 14 years of Stargate in every form! I was a little late to the party on SG-1 (I didn’t have Showtime), but as soon as I started watching it, I fell in love with the show. Atlantis was a lot of fun, and while I felt the main characters in the first season on Universe were too moody and whiney I kept with it, and season 2 of Universe has delivered some of my favorite Stargate episodes of all time. I’m so sad to see the show going away at this point.
That final shot of Destiny shutting down and Eli watching the stars at the end were beautiful.
I’m looking forward to the comic, thanks for the character designs. The final version of Five looks an awful lot like Ezri Dax from Deep Space Nine, and Six bears a striking resembalance to Captain Sisko… just sayin’
1.Could you spare some insight on the story arc regarding Gin and Amanda Perry being contained in the memory bank of the ship, if any progress would have been seen in this particular direction, or was is a closed chapter from the get go?
2. I’m just dying to know.. what kind of fate would you have envisioned for Rush if a third season would have been aired, and a proper series finale shot ?
Alright, so I asked it before but I’ll ask it again to make sure you see it:
Why not upload the consciousness of whoever is left behind onto the ship? Rush could be with Palmer or Eli could be with Gin. As long as the ship eventually powers up then they’ll be fine since they’re data. It might not be a perfect solution, but it’s probably a better one than out and out suicide by some method.
Also, this was actually for a few episodes ago, but the quarantine of the two avatars didn’t make sense to me. Once Rush is awake and in his body, why would you need to keep the quarantine? (Obviously this is because the actresses are not regulars but…) And I’m still not sure how you could quarantine Perry without also catching Rush in the net.
Living in Canada, I got to watch the final episode last night and, while I’m sad there will be no more, it was a good ending. (Thanks for the tip to watch Air again, that was well done!) In watching last night, my son fessed up to something that kind of surprised me. He’s always favored Atlantis over SGU but last night’s episode changed that for him, and we’ll be doing a rewatch of all the episodes soonish. Another one converted 😀
Thanks for one hell of a ride!
Hello! First, a thank you for all you’ve done with the Stargate world.
I didn’t read through everyone’s comments, so if this is a repeat or similar, I apologise. I just wanted to know what the plans were for the character Varro? I have followed Mike Dopud for a few years (love him!) and I really enjoyed Varro as a great addition to an already stellar cast.
Can’t wait to hear more about ‘what might have been’. I guess owning the seasons on DVD to watch over and over (and over…) will have to suffice! Keeping fingers crossed more a movie/mini-series!!!
Thanks for the great writing and directing through the years. SGU had a great story line and even though it started slow, it really picked up speed this season and if given the chance to thrive in a respectable primetime slot, it could have lasted the 5 years.
as for questions:
1. Where did Franklin go? He helped Rush out on the bridge prior to it becoming public knowledge, then he just disappeared. I was hoping to see more of his interaction with the crew or with Eli right at the end.
2. Destiny has some strange features on its hull along its length that look like it docks with something. Was Destiny ever supposed to dock with multiple Seed ships or something?
3. Were the power systems for the Seed ships significantly different from that of Destiny? Just one seed ship had enough power in it to dial Earth (per Eli), that would imply that the “batteries” were either larger than Destinies, or the power system in the Seed ship did not degrade at as quick of a pace as Destiny. Which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense as the seeders should have used more power with manufacturing gates, more FTL jumps, material collection, etc etc.
4. Rush has been saying it not about the destination, its about the journey and collecting data along the way. So did Destiny even have a final destination? Would it have collected enough data eventually to decode the message and then….. turned around?
5. Was a “map” of Destinies path through the Universe ever made? We’ve only seen the partial map from S1 that accounted for the first 10 galaxies, but we never knew exactly how far Destiny has gotten since launch.
6. The nose of Destiny is unique from the rest of the ship. its the only streamlined section. Does it house anything important?
7. Can the Lucian Alliance lore of Destiny be explained further? They seemed to have a near religious infatuation with Destiny. They even had those door openers that appeared to be made for Destiny doors. Is it possible they found the Destiny ship yard and were able to cobble together enough data that led them to believe it was grander than it was?
Hello Joe,
I’m pretty sure all my questions have already been asked, but I am certainly looking forward to seeing what you answer!
As for the season 3 opener, I don’t know how far you guys thought ahead, but I bet it would start off 3 years later (or whenever the pods open – plus or minus), and then fill in Eli’s 2 weeks with flashbacks. Maybe?
@PBMom Came here for the Stargate, stayed here for the friendship… and the puppies…and now Transporter The Series and this comic.
Don’t forget the chocolate and the food!!
Folks, Eli didn’t intend to fix the pod. Destiny *completely* powered down except for FTL. When the others wake up he isn’t going to be breathing. He just sacrificed himself to save the others.
*snif*
Damn Syfy for canceling it. I refuse to watch anything else on that channel again. I am blocking it out of my channel selections.
Joe, it’s possible that this question was already asked, or that you were planning to answer it anyway. But as I noted in our thank-you reply, Nomi and I would really like to know what was going to happen next. How was season 3 going to open? What happens to Eli and the crew? And all that.
On a different note, please do let us know the title of the comic book as soon as you can so we can add it to our sub lists…. 🙂
Thank you Joe for amazing show!
Questions from Russian community
1) Can you or Brad Wright write a novel Stargate Universe ,if fans gather money for it?
2) Is Atlantis on Earth?
3) How many space ships have Earth?
4) Is SGC in Pentagon or still in Cheyenne Mountain?
5) Have Homeworld Command a Space Base on Moon?
6) Destiny is older than Atlantis? Destiny launched before Atlantis? Because Rush said “Destiny Launched hundreds of thousands of years ago…” ? but we khow that the age of Stargate on Destiny is more than 50 millions years, and all technology on Destiny was a prototype… that mean that Destiny older?
7) What the age of Destiny?
@Keith: “Folks, Eli didn’t intend to fix the pod. Destiny *completely* powered down except for FTL. When the others wake up he isn’t going to be breathing. He just sacrificed himself to save the others.”
I disagree. I think there was minimal life support going on. But here is where I think it would have been interesting to go–that Destiny sacrifices someone of lesser importance in the stasis tube so Eli would have a place to go. Whether it is Destiny or Ginn acting through Destiny, it would have also been equivalent symmetry to what happened with Rush looking at the crew list to see who the candidate would be (while Senator Armstrong chose himself).
Question:
1. How exactly do seed ships gather, make and deploy stargates?
Second question, asked by a guy I know.
If they were so low on power for the chambers/FTL, how did they have enough power to dial the gate? Doesn’t that take a lot of power?
1-What’s your biggest regret regarding the initial season of SGU or do you even have one? Which storyline do you wish you could do over?
2-What is your favorite episode of SGU?
3-Which characters surprised you in how they developed compared to how they were initially conceived?
4-What stories were you most interested in exploring in the following seasons which I guess is the same as asking which storylines you regret not having the opportunity to work on
5-Would the Blues have returned?
6-Was TJ going to be cured or would she have died? Was Park’s blindness going to be permanent?
7-Which crew got the better end of the deal? The one that was sent back 2000 years in time and came to their own happy conclusion or the one whose fate is still up in the air? I know what Volker’s answer would be 🙂
8-Do you think Robert C would have stayed with the show for all five seasons? And what would have been the final fate of his character, Dr. Rush? I have a hard time imagining Rush being happy to resettle back on Earth.
9-If a third season had happened would a)the crew, along with Eli, actually awakes three years later b)the crew awakes and learns Eli had been out of the pods and survived by himself for three years or c)the crew awakes just a few months later?
10-Just how emotional was that final day of shooting? Was the toast by Young the final scene shot and if so why (or if not what was the final shot scene)? Did the cast feel they were coming back for season three? And did cast members who were not part of the final day of shooting turn up on set anyway that day?
11-From a series point of view I can understand why Chloe was not in a pod by the time Young did his toast. But from a practical perspective of the universe these characters existed in shouldn’t she had been put on ice before someone like James or Brody?
12-Where was the cook (Becker?) ?
13-Did you get talk to any of the cast after the final episode was aired?
14-Do these characters still live with you on a daily basis (any writer out there understand what I’m asking) or have you cleared them out of your head by this point?
15-Will the beautiful music from this show ever get released?
16-Did you get emotional watching the final episode ?
17-What would happen if Destiny came under attack while the crew was in hibernation?
18-Did you do any of the DVD commentaries this time around?
What are the chances that I (and many many many others) will get our hands on an official SGU soundtrack? Even a digital release through Bandcamp or TuneCore would be extraordinary!
Hey, Joe.
I have loved SG-1, SGA, and most of SGU. Sorry to see the series end like this.
Could you please give some details about the characters such as: birthdates, birthplaces, weights, etc?
Also I wish there had been more scenes with Lt. Vanessa James (Julia Benson), so if you could give some Bio for the character, like the above?
I *really* wish you/other writers could have given the “Blueberry Aliens” a actual name, like with the Ursini, so if you have an idea about that could let us the viewers know?
I enjoyed TJ/Varro, but did you guys have to give her a fatal disease?
What DID happen with Franklin?
Does Eli survive the two weeks?
If so, how?
What was the “Blueberries” plan(s) for Chloe?
What did they do to her body in the first place?
What was the weird skin thing about anyway?
Why didn’t the crew check out the crates, to see if there were more spare parts for the Destiny?
After all these years, why did you just skip over how the gates are made, like was not that important to anyone?
How come no one ever really did anything about the Furlings?
Why did you have Lisa get blinded?
How come Lt. James get more screen time, or start dating someone like Darren Becker (The cook)?
I love Lt. James’ way of shutting up whiny civilians, who are endangering the group. I believe that if you had had Lt. James get more screen time your ratings may have gone up! 😉
Hi Joe,
i liked SGU as Spinoff, and i hate it when series are cancelled when the plot wasnt finished.
1. – So my question is, when the story won’t be picked up again, will you write a book where you tell the end of the story? When every fan of the series buys it, it will definitely be a bestseller 😉
However you wrote that the story was planned as a 5 Season closed Story. So their has to be already an ending and a plot for the other seasons?
2. – Will there be an other spinoff of the Stargate saga? or is it now definitely finished?
Comix! Dark Horse! My inner (and outer) geek is very happy for you, love the crew pics. I really liked the original pic of Number 4 with the light eyes and white hair; looked very Sid Vicious from Bebop.
The final version is very cool too, looks like a young Anthony Kiedis from the Chili Peppers.
Great choice of artist too; oh Greg. You had me at that Dekkard drawing, sigh.
Three looks like Young Alt Word Spock, all that’s missing is the goatee and gold sash; this I like very much. Can’t wait to make that trek to the comix store to buy Dark Matter.
Probably my main one:
What would of been the outcome of “The Mission”, like what exactly do they find to explain the mysterious of the Universe?
@Keith
Destiny was shutting down all redundant systems, there’s no proof that life support for example was being shut down, as proven in darkness, Destiny can shut the lights off and pretty much everything else and still keep people alive.
Anyway, OMFG Joe, you must have like a 100 questions aimed at you, that’s going to take you ages, I can imagine some people have aimed samey questions so maybe not =/
Thanks for an amazing series 🙂
I hope I dont repeat a question that is already been posted:
What would happen to Destiny, when it would finally reach its target? Probably it would send some kind of a message back towards Earth and than what? What would it do?
Thanks for answering 🙂
These questions have probably been asked already (seems you’re getting buzzed) but I’ll put them out there in the hopes that I’ll get my answers.
First and foremost: ‘Gauntlet’ was absolutely BRILLIANTLY BEAUTIFUL. I mean, bravo to EVERY one. Cast, crew, writers, producers. I mean, how you said we’d feel after seeing it, I felt all those, but it just seemed like such a proud way to not only end SGU, but Stargate as a whole. And thanks to EVERY one involved, for giving me a year and a half of true TV enjoyment.
Now my questions:
I was curious, as to when the Destiny crew continued on, if there would be any of them following that one time line that was showed in “Epilogue” Obviously, it can’t follow “exactly” and we all know TJ has that horrible disease (do they ever find a cure?!?!), but does Greer hook up with Park, etc etc. Does TJ and Young get preggers again? I mean, I want to know those things.
Also, Ginn and Perry, we know Eli put them in Quarantine, but in any of the seasons that followed Season 2 (3-5), was Ginn and Perry going to be allowed back into the main Destiny systems like they were? Was Eli’s relationship with Ginn, or Rush’s with Amanda’s going to continue on and grow, or was that the end, period, for the pair of those ladies.
Maybe I missed this somewhere, but what happened to all the people they picked up?!?! Were they able to drop them off on a planet, or did the drones nip that in the butt? Did they really have stasis pods for ALL those people? (Pretty incredible lol)
(I’m sorry for all the questions lol, I promise two more)
Did Robert Carlyle express wanting to direct another episode of SGU in the future? Was something agreed that he would again, or perhaps, another cast member expressed they wanted to give it a go?
Is this really, the end? Seriously Joe, can we maybe “HOPE” that there will be say, a novel or comic, or ANY thing that will give us SGU fans closure, as to what was intended for the crew of Destiny? I’d really like to know, I’d give my kidney to just see how much Rush will grow, would have grown, with those last 3 seasons.
And thanks for your time. Despite SGU being done, I’m going to continue to hang around your blog. I love all your foodie posts and your beautiful pugs! 🙂
Hi Joe,
I’m very sorry to see SGU go – it was a good show, just hitting its stride, which is the worst time for a show to end. Gauntlet was a very good episode, and to me it felt like closure, an ending more than a cliffhanger.
Most of my SGU-related questions are already asked, but I know you’re going to reveal what you had planned for season 3, and I was wondering what plans you had for potential seasons 4 and 5 (although not necessarily Brad’s planned ending). Just if there was anything you wanted or intended to do with the characters (mainly so I have a basis for a fanfic parody I’m planning).
Also, Enemy at the Gate mentions that the Odyssey was off on a secret mission – what was that?
And finally, will the SG-1 and SGU be able to continue in some way? Like the novels have done with SGA (in the Legacy series), or maybe in comic form, or one of the Big Finish audiobooks? A set of short prose stories might work…
what is the relationship of the ascended ancients and the original crew of Destiny? Did the original crew ascend, die off, or in any way ever have contact with their ascended counterparts, or even the Ori?
What would the time line have been between the Ancients discovering ascension and abandoning Destiny?
And finally — can you give us an exact time line of all Ancient history, with the finding of Avalon(earth) and the leaving to Pegasus in relation to the Goa’uld rising to power in the Milky Way and the disease wiping out the ancients (as in Frozen?)
Thanks!
Strangely, Stargate has been the longest continuous factor in my life, even though I’m now in my fifties. It’s going to be very strange not to see any more.
I’ve enjoyed it immensely over the years, in all of its incarnations. I’m terribly sad to see it end.
While i have to accept that SGU is over, one thing that SGU as a whole has made me appreciate wholeheartedly is the crew. The people all behind the scenes who i never see or hear about who physically design, construct and create the sets, the special effects, Joel and co with the music, the lighting departments, the makeup teams and so on.
SGU is a wonderful example of visual medium embracing an art style of its own.
While Destiny, being bijillions of years old, may not be polished anymore, the love and care the crew gave to creating that look (and hence the overall production feel of the series) is something i hold as a standard that shows in the future will need to maintain.
To all those behind the scenes: THANK YOU!
And Joe, you have set yourself the standard now. I expect you to meet it on The Transporter!
What AMAZING closing episode!!!
He was closed with a story which can be continued perfectly, the realisation though impressive.
Detail like that which can be found again in the episode, that into a parallel adjustable with the real happenings.
I hope for it at worst it is necessary to wait for 3 years in the reality that the series should continue.
Till then me, too hibernate myself. 🙂
I ask for one directing on all of them and an author for him not to leave it in this much and let the series continue anyway!!!
On the “Gauntlet”….
– Would Eli survive?
– Where would Destiny end up?
– Would it take 3 years or 1000 years to reach the end of the galaxy?
– What was Destiny’s ultimate mission? What’s was supposed to be the final destination?
– Does Lisa go blind permanently?
– Would they find a cure for Tamara?
On SGA: Extinction…..
– What was gonna happen to Altantis? Would they keep it on Earth, or take if back to Pegasus Galaxy?
– What did you have in store for our beloved characrers? Would we get to see Teyla and Ronon on Earth more often?
– Would Sheppard get a promotion?
Coincidence: The original “Five” looked very much like my eighth-grade photo; long dark hair, no glasses, smirk. I was in a vain stage, hiding my “metal-mouth” braces and removing my glasses.
first of all, thank you for you and all of your team for producing what i consider the best franchise of television i have ever watched. i have every episode of every series on dvd (except the last season obviously) and i love them all. being over here in the UK i didnt find out about much of the commotion going on until i strolled onto wikipedia one day to keep reading the news as it got worse and worse. then i saw the cancellation and i was very upset. its like the end of an era for me, and its so sad to see it end without completion.
enough of my sobbing!
i do have a few questions.
1: if there was the lingering chance of season 3 not happening, why did you not try to wrap things up a little more?
2: did you have any more plans for dr perry or ginn?
3: (if we can branch on to SGA…) why was stargate extinction so hard to produce? As stargate atlantis was cancelled and then universe came on after a year, and lasted for 2 years, thats 3 whole years that just had no sort of structure for any movie what so ever
4: how would your ideal return for stargate be, if there is ever to be a return?
i would love these questions to be answered as they have been burning at me for some time now.
once again the biggest thank you from the bottom of my heart, for these 17 years (11 in your case) of absolute mastery
I’m writing this on behalf of five Stargate fans from Poland. We didn’t meet because of the show, but it certainly made the bond between us stronger. Watching together, swapping theories, cheering for our heroes – it kept us together for many years. For my part, I want to thank you and every amazing, creative person behind all three shows. I’m a fan of all three of them: I grew up watching SG-1, it was a part of my family’s Friday routine (I remember SG-1 running on Friday evenings here in Poland, right in time for late dinner). Then, as I changed schools, SGA premiered and it felt as a fresh start. Sometimes it even felt as if the franchise grew up with me – and SGU certainly did feel more mature, unlike me, the forever kid deep in the heart.
All my four friends and myself were – and still are, and always will be – deeply upset (nicer way than saying “downright outraged”) by the cancellation of SGU. If I had SyFy, I would have phoned my TV provider and told him that I didn’t want that channel anymore. (Sadly, I don’t, so I couldn’t show my support that way.) I dreaded watching “The Gauntlet” because I didn’t want to see such an amazing show – with brilliant plot and wonderful characters – go. I wanted to punch something every time I heard the SyFy announcer describing “The Gauntlet” as the “series finale”, because to me it wasn’t a series finale, at least not a proper one. So when I sat down to watch this episode, I literally had my heart somewhere in my throat.
But “The Gauntlet” was much more than I could have ever asked for. Of course, it would be much better if there was another season to look forward to, more adventures of this fantastic crew, but I think it served as a good finale. I love the parallel to “Air, Part I” and I love how “The Gauntlet” gives you the sense of making a perfect cycle. Time is circular, which means the journey carries on or will carry on, one day. We’re just not there to witness it.
My friends and I came up with few questions we’d like to know the answer to. If you won’t be able to give them, it’s fine – it’s summer break soon, so we’ll have plenty of time to try to figure it out ourselves. We’ll keep the story alive in our devoted hearts.
1) did your plans for season 3 involved it starting with a three-year jump in time? Or would the story pick up exactly where we left it, with Eli standing in the observation deck? Or would have something happened in the time between Eli’s two weeks and estimated time of the crew waking up?
2) was Eli going to find a way to fix the last pod? Would he make it somehow or did he really sacrifice himself? Or maybe someone would have saved him?
3) who is responsible for the drones? Have we already met them or were we to meet them? Why did they create the drones in the first place and why are they still activated? Does this civilization even exist anymore?
4) what would welcome the crew “on the other side”, assuming they were ever to reach it? Any more interesting aliens? Would we ever see the Blueberry aliens again? And very important questions, do they even have a name for themselves?
5) is the Alteran Home Galaxy somewhere on Destiny’s course? Has the ship already visited it? Would it ever?
6) what is the mystery behind The Signal? Would the crew ever find out where does it come from or who’s broadcasting it?
7) if Destiny ever finished the mission, what would it do next? Turn back and returned by the same path it came to its final destination? Stopped and started drifting aimlessly?
8) what plots were planned – if there were any – for Ginn and Amanda Perry? Would they have ever returned? And what about Franklin?
9) how would have the characters of Young and Rush (my personal favourites) developed? Were there any personal storylines planned for them? How would their odd relationship work in season 3?
10) Rush and Young were getting on quite well since “The Greater Good”. Was there a plan for them to have another major fallout?
11) would Lisa Park ever regain her sight? If not, how that would have affected her work on the ship?
12) what about TJ’s ALS? Would a cure have ever been found? How would the stay in the stasis pod affect the development of the illness?
13) who is the perfect man for TJ, Varro or Young? (We know that alt!TJ chose Young on Novus, but that was before “Alliances” and “The Hunt” and long before Varro got the chance to prove himself as an honorable and good man.) Whom would TJ ultimately choose?
14) what storylines were planned for Vanessa James, Varro, Brody and Volker? Would Volker ever tell Lisa Park how he felt? Would James finally and truly get over Scott?
15) what were the families of James, Park, Volker and Brody like?
16) did Rush really have no one back on Earth to visit or to care for him and wait for him? Or maybe he did, but he was the “couldn’t care less” type of guy?
And also a few questions from my friend Nessie, who’s a big fan of SGA.
17) is Atlantis still on Earth? Would it ever go back to the Pegasus Galaxy?
18) in the description for “Extinction” you mentioned a couple breaking up. Would that be Rodney and Jennifer or Teyla and Kanaan? And what about the couple that would get together? Who would that be?
19) how would the unlikely alliance/borderline friendship of John Sheppard and Todd progress in “Extinction”? Any amazing and snarky scenes together?
I’m sorry if any of the questions were asked already. And thank you and everyone involved in the franchise for all the amazing years which – for me – meant an amazing childhood. For us over here the Gate will always be open.
I am SO looking foward to the Comic Book Series…..Thanks to the cast and crew of the SG Franchise for such a great show….U will be Missed…..
I too want to thank you for sharing all your insider information about the franchise, and of course I am looking forward to your new series enormously.
Good luck with it Joe, but somehow I don’t think you’ll need it.
The Transporter films were the type of movies which appealed to both men and women alike. And, if the show is written with that in mind – and with you and Paul at the helm I’m sure it will be – it’s bound to be a sure fire success.
Hi Joe,
So, a few more days and I’ll be Dr. D.! 😀 I decided to go ahead and create a blog, within which I will chronicle life as a doctor (of music) and, well, various other subjects as can be expected from a blog. May 15 is the big day that I finally become Dr. D., it’s pretty exciting!
Anyway, so, I haven’t commented on your blog in a while, though I’ve kept up with reading your posts. A while back you mentioned to post Stargate questions and you’ll address them after SGU concludes. And I saw the reminder in this entry. I won’t re-enter those questions, though here’s a fresh one:
You may not always receive questions about various Stargate experiences or events from behind the scenes, or lesser known factoids about the franchise, shows, and people involved, though it would be great occasionally read about those things, especially topics that may have been “secret” while the shows were on but may no longer be now that everyone has moved on.
Question 1, Stargate:
Any chances of including blog entries similar to your “Q&A Mailbag” only more along the lines of “Stargate Secrets” or “Stargate BTS” or similar (like informal-informative factoids, now that the series have concluded)?
Perhaps even like a “full disclosure” kind of thing. Or, really, any kind of factoid stuff – from SG1, SGA, SGU – that would give readers a Teal’c-eyebrow or an, “ooh, interesting!”
You mentioned that even though Stargate has ended that this blog will still be gate-friendly. Creating something like an informative/factoids version of your recurring Mailbag type concept (only in non-Q&A form) would be a great way of continuing the sharing of behind-the-scenes thoughts, efforts, etc.
Transporter sounds like it’s off to a great start! 🙂
Question 2, Transporter:
The fight sequences between women in the Stargate shows were always more impressive, adrenaline-packed, mobile, and even shocking than the fight sequences between men. Any chances of keeping the awesome girl-fights going in Transporter? Any chances of upping the ante and awesome-factor with the guy-fights?
I know that’s pure action talk, not asking about the story or plot or whatever, but, hey, we’ve gotta have some serious edge-of-seat action, especially in a series like Transporter.
Question 3, Transporter:
Any ideas yet on types of car chases that we’ll see in the Transporter series?
Gotta have some crazy car chases! 😀
I think that if you implement some of the most successful elements of Stargate SG-1 – in a non-scifi way, of course – to Transporter, like…
1. The perfect balance of a natural (not forced) light/funny-factor, with
2. The thought-provoking (but not *too* dark) heavy/serious-factor,
3. A full spectrum of character dynamics, and
4. The combination of an even balance between both transport-of-the-week quick-resolution stories with cruel-cliffhanger serialized stories.
…then Transporter: The Series will easily last 5 or 10+ years.
And it might help if the words “dark and gritty” are *never* used in association with the show. 😉 I haven’t seen any reference to those words with the show, so that’s good. Going back to SGU, I love that show, it’s a work of art, though I saw the reaction people had to just those words “dark and gritty”. People were freaking out. Of course, Transporter is an entirely separate franchise, though still the action-adventure-etc. type descriptions are the most inviting.
Your comic book series, and Dark Horse has picked it up, very cool….
Question 4, comic book:
Do you realize that it is almost inevitable that your comic book will end up being produced as a major motion picture?
😉
Nobody’s psychic. But do the math, and chances are it’s going to happen.
I like Garry Brown’s artwork! Thank you for sharing those sketches of his preliminary character designs. Keep on sharing!
All the best,
soon-to-be-Dr.-D. (4 more days!) 😀
I would like to tell Thanks at all staff of Stargate. With this series I had the opportunity to find an interet to work my English (there is many French who like your work). With the end of SG it is as the end of the long page of a life that ends. So one more time tkanks you very much.
Reply to Matthew’s post:
what is the relationship of the ascended ancients and the original crew of Destiny? Did the original crew ascend, die off, or in any way ever have contact with their ascended counterparts, or even the Ori?
What would the time line have been between the Ancients discovering ascension and abandoning Destiny?
——-
I’m pretty sure that the storyline was told in the beginning of the series.
The Ancients were supposed to join Destiny’s mission at some point through stargate, but they figured out ascension before they did, so there never was any crew at Destiny.
The Ancients put the seedships first on their way, then Destiny with the plan to join the mission some day in the future.
And this is just my understanding/guess, but the Ori galaxy was probably quite close to the Milkyway, not neighbours but close enough to go in a relatively short time. Obviously it wasn’t super near if the Ori couldn’t find it just like that (even after ascension), but in the show Daniel Jackson estimates thousands of years and if they traveled with light speed or with superluminal propulsion (said to be faster than light but not a hyper drive) like the Destiny, the Alterans weren’t still that far away.
Where as the Destiny had been traveling for millions of years (a lot before ascension and at the time of sending ships the Ori didn’t know where the Alterans were) and was aiming at the “borders” (or at least where the “oldest known parts of the universe are) of the universe (not that it had never been able to reach that, because it’s not possible, because the universe expands a lot faster than light and is speeding faster and faster every moment).
So if you take all this info, the Ori probably knew nothing about the Destiny mission. Just my guess though.
Lance W says: “3. What year and month did they enter the pods? I wish to make a note on when the three years is meant to be up.”
I had to laugh whe I read this — my husband and I were discussing the (doubtful but, hey) possibility of resurrecting the show after the three years of real time were over. He said that if any of the actors weren’t available you could just write in pod-failure for them — ouch.. 🙂
I’m planning to watch “Gauntlet” at least three more times before I can let it go…
Have you hit a record for posts yet? I think I will enjoy reading the answers to all the terrific questions. Don’t forget to plug in some food pictures to break it up and pups pix. How is Akemi adjusting to TO? and the pups? Have a wonderful day!
If this is absolutely, finally, the last of SGU that we’ll ever see, then please give us a Kino-type interview with Eli, 3 years later? Let us know what happened with things? No need for sets, (maybe just his room on Destiny), but just him and the Kino telling us what happened?
Note to all concerned with the making of SGU:
First of all, STANDING OVATION FOR AN OUTSTANDING FINAL EPISODE!… this includes the exceptional music.
Time and again I’ve read how the sets of all three Stargate shows were like being with a second family. This shows the astuteness of the people who chose the actors and the competence and professionalism of those many others behind the scenes. . The comfortable comaraderie that existed behind the scenes showed on screen and helped raise the shows to a higher level.
I’ve enjoyed all three different but stargate-based shows, SG1, SGA and SGU. I am so sad at the ending of the franchise and truly hope that it is only for a little while – hopefully less than 3 years. If and when it comes back, I would like to see a proper resolution to the predicament of the passengers on the good ship Destiny’s journey. I would like to see the same actors come back as well.
All the best for all their future endeavours – hopefully to include more of SGU.
Many thanks to all for a wonderful ride – may it continue where it left off in the not-too-distant future.
Hell – the last ep was over so fast!
Liked it – the toys stored away until next playtime! Nice one!
The plot had to fit the network having pulled plug on the run but, I’m wondering, if things hadn’t been so then in this fictional universe could the crew have just blocked or messed the drones’ communication signals?
What about jumping to FTL as they accelerate towards a drone ship – would that blow it up? Hmmm – or vice versa, those buckets of bolts seem to learn fast.
Liked the use of the shuttle as a guided missile. Couldn’t missiles be built, reconfigure the attack drones to be such?
Could list loads of Qs but won’t. The reason is that there could be so many story threads from so many jump-off points and I don’t want to second guess, question, etc. Instead, I want to learn what was planned by the writers – your vision. That’s entertainment!! I’m looking forward to it, the eps that were planned, the grand arcs and the movies, too.
What would be interesting, though, would be some insight into when you sussed different arc/resolution/twist/antagonist possibilities during the long progression of story-breaking processes – and the triggers that brought such to mind. Not vital, but an insight both into the room and into the writers’ living creatively with the flux of possibilities.
Hey, and what was ruled out – definite no, nos, for the remainder?
Comic books – yup, definitely looking forward to your tales. When? And, if you were to write a wee trailer of a mind-movie to tease us into that world with those characters, what might it be?
What was it about the artist and his work, style and experience that brought you to choose him?
Thanks, again, for all your sharing with all this creativity from so many shows, brands and their incarnations. Real fun. Thanks, too, to all who have crafted and formed and acted out these tales. Great work.
So, where’s everyone at now? Would be great to have re-guesting!
Any chance of a load of pdf scripts?
And, what would be really, really helpful – and practically so! – would be your rules of how to story-break, for arcs and episodes. Generally, how do you do it well, and efficiently? How long should it take?
Many thanks for everything shared, and tales told!
best wishes
PJR
with all these questions, this is going to be one of the most comprehensive show wrap ups i’ve ever seen on the internet.
From the previous series i’ve been a fan of, usually you get a small paragraph about what would have happened in a canceled show.
Thanks again Joe!
Hey guys, I know what’s this all about! We have to wait three years until Destiny reaches the next galaxy. It is long time, but we have to be patient. Not a word about cancelling the show!
I have to say, SyFy or whatever should be ashamed of themselves. Ending a 14 year franchise without even letting them to wrap up the whole thing with a movie… I’m so dissapointed. I would love to know out of curiosity, how much would it cost, if they had made a movie?
I have never understood the networks basing things over US numbers. Considering that syndication is a huge source of revenue.
@Kismetal You are absolutely right! 🙂
Why did Eli smile at the end?
das
Hello again Joe! I asked this in my first post from your previous blog post. But since this is the one where you’re actually accepting questions, here’s mine that I don’t has ever been asked:
Who came up with/designed all of the computer “programs”, displays, “operating systems”, and the like? While I know they were made to make things more believable, I ALWAYS stopped and marvelled at their detail, completeness, and beauty. I KNOW that stuff is hard to do and your guys made that stuff look like a foregone conclusion, so to speak. I’ll never get over the amount of attention to detail that was prevalent over the course of the franchise and this is one detail that I feel got “overlooked” in a way and while only on screen for seconds at a time, I’m sure probably took hours upon hours to make.
Thanks again for everything Joe,
Mike
Joe,
Another chiming in on book continuation if possible! Or even comics, though I think books are a better medium.
And the music do you have influence with Joel? Can you tell how many of us want a CD or 2 of SGU and a couple more Sg1/SGA soundtracks.
Thanks
Jason