Stargate was a fantastic 12-year experience for me. I learned a lot from showrunners Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, the cast, the crew, and fandom. Among the greatest takeaways from my time on the show is this oft-repeated (by me) nugget: “Fans tune in for the hook, but they stay for the characters”. To that, I would add the importance of family, something that is at the core of all three Stargates. On SG-1, it’s team SG-1. On Atlantis, it’s the Atlantis Expedition. And on Universe, it’s the crew of the Destiny. They may be very different personalities, have totally different outlooks, and disagree at times, but despite all the challenges they face, they are family – to each other and to fans around the world. Looking back, it was no coincidence that one of the final scenes I wrote for Stargate was the farewell dinner scene for Stargate: Universe in which Eli toasts his fellow crew while likening them to family members (Rush, of course, drawing comparisons to “the crazy uncle”). It was also no coincidence that this very concept was at the heart of my show, Dark Matter. The crew of The Raza are family. Like SG-1 and the Atlantis Expedition and the Destiny crew, they alway find a way to come together and have each other’s backs.
This sense of family was ever-present behind-the-scenes on all four productions. And obvious in the support and love these show continue to receive from their many fans. So when we rallied to fight for Dark Matter following its cancellation by Syfy, that sense of family was evident throughout the campaign with hashtags like #WeCarryEachOther and #DarkMatterFamily. Stargate fans came out to support Dark Matter fans and I’m heartened to see Dark Matter fans now joining this campaign to support Stargate fans. [I’m also seeing a lot of Dark Matter fans checking out Stargate for the first time and vice-versa which makes me very happy. If you’ve yet to cross-sample, might I suggest Dark Matter fans check out Stargate: SG-1 Season 4, Episode 6 “Window of Opportunity” and Stargate fans check out Dark Matter Season 3, Episode 4 “All The Time In The World”. You’ll love the parallels.].
Stargate fans, Dark Matter fans, hell, scifi fans in general are family. We know the difference between a goa’uld and a tok’ra, a ha’tak and a mothership, O’Neill with two L’s as opposed to one. We know that TWO is Portia is Rebecca, and SIX is Griffin Jones is Kal Varrick, and THREE named his big gun Bubba and his sidearms Lulu and Pip but didn’t name his knife because what do you think he is, psycho? We know to Keep Looking Up, that Crackers Don’t Matter, and that Han Shot First. We have each others backs. #WeCarryEachOther
And we’re about to send one helluva message.
Trust me, we are closer to a fourth in-canon Stargate series than ever before!
Tomorrow, finally, I’ll give you the details of how we’re going to pull this off – exactly what we’re going to do and when.
In the meantime, if you haven’t already done so, head on over to twitter and follow @StargateNow and yours truly. If you’re not yet on twitter, fear not. It’s easy. Just go to the twitter home page, sign up, then come back here and click on the above links to be taken to the aforementioned accounts. Click the “follow” button and you’ll be automatically dialed in and updated on the latest developments on the campaign front along with Stargate-related pics, gifs, vids, commentaries, and more than a few surprises.
I can’t wait to get going on this. The Dark Matter Twitter campaign was so much fun in and of itself, that had it been renewed it would only have been the (wonderfully satisfying) icing on a very tasty cake. I actually made quite a few new Twitter friends that I’m still in touch with. Plus, having the knowledge that we tried everything practical to save the show was a bit of consolation to something that was very difficult for a lot of people.
It would appear that the stars are coming into alignment, as they so infrequently do, to save another of our beloved shows. I really encourage anyone who hasn’t done so to sign on for this event.
It will be incredible.
Windows of Opportunity, The 5th Race, Point of no Return, Wormhole X-Treme, Unending (that episode made me cry) and quite a few other episodes are some of my favorites. Oh, my! Is there really a whole generation that hasn’t seen or know of the Stargate Franchise? They don’t know what they are missing! Till tomorrow..
I’m hoping to get my defecation coagulated and be posting on your blog more. I read but hardly post because most of the time I’m on my phone and or iPad. Problem with phone is my fat fingers. IPad, welllll. Key board sucks. Lol I really wish for another chapter in the Stargate franchise! We need it. I love sci-fi and I love the possibility of traveling to other worlds and meeting different cultures. I enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps, going to other countries and meeting different people. I will do whatever I can to help you Joe and everyone here to get this show on the road. Just let me know what I can and need to do.
Er, do you mean “get your shit together”?
😀 😀 😀 Good one Woody. Will have to remember that line. It was even better than Teal’c saying “Undomesticated equines could not keep me away” xo.
🙂
“Fans tune in for the hook, but they stay for the characters”
I watched ten seasons of SG-1 solely to see if Sam & Jack were going to get together.
You know what I loved about your take on Stargate Joe, was the ever-present meta-fictive factor. it made for a great, enjoyable fun show. Good old fashioned fun is what makes repeated viewings. SGU was in my opinion underrated. I often thought of it as a post-punk version of lost in space with Eli as Will Young as the Father and Rush doubling up as Smith and the Robot(although you could argue that Greer and Chloe could fill in) and yet although I just mentioned three male leads I thought that It had a fair gender representation. I liked that some of the heroes were also arseholes because you get arseholes in your family but you still love them.
I think SGU went before it’s time. SG1 hit some brilliant heights. I absolutely loved last season SG1 “The Bad Guys”. I have tried to love Star Trek Discovery in the same way but there is no fun (The Orville ticks most fun boxes) It’s all a bit closed shop on the new Star Trek if you know what I mean. It’s my impression that the production team have become a little bit “Emperors new clothes” I don’t think the show will stand up to repeated viewings like SG1, SGA or SGU (or for that matter the original Star Trek which it’s success was actually cast from repeated viewing).
What is great about some of the characters in both Stargate and Dark Matter is the negative space they inhabit (no pun etc). They are not always on the nose. It IS like a family. We all have watched since the end of SGU as you developed DM and it was a pleasure to see it grow into a fantastic show. We always want to support our family members particularly when you have been so magnanimous to the audience as a storyteller. Cheers J
Loving where this is going, but sadly, I won’t be joining Twitter….but any other way I can help….
I follow many of the former Universe cast on Instagram and they are still like family….that cast seems to have the most presence on Instagram (of any of the other casts). I do follow others, but except for Jodelle, not many Dark Matter cast seem to post on IG….I am only on IG and Facebook, so any way I can help there….
Jodelle was pretty active on social media, I follow her on Tumblr, but she’s been pretty low key for the last year. She sometimes promotes her new show, but very rarely.
My typing fingers are ready!!!
It’s so much fun. I will say we had one individual who found the constant messaging on her phone to be too much. But there is a way to fix that. So if anyone is feeling overwhelmed by the excessive tweeting, let me know. Email us at StargateNow2018@gmail.com I will guide you step by step. We don’t want to lose you and need you to participate so this is a good compromise.
I can’t wait to fight for Stargate ❤ this is something really important to me and were I have fun to work for. I feel bad that I didn’t watch Dark Matter yet but I’m going to, maybe after this crazy ride until the tweetstorm 🙂 thank you, Joe, for all what you do!
Pretty cool article, Joseph.
I’m in! Twitter Jail here I come!
Smitty: I loved Orville! My favorite was the practical joke episode.
We went to Hot Springs to visit my hubby’s family and had a great time. Plus, I tried out the new pet sitter. Lucy was a little freaked by the whole thing but she was well cared for. Success!
Any plans you can share?
So true about the characters. What really grabs me about a series is whether I care about the people involved. There have been some expensive sci-fi shows with great concepts that I struggle with because I’m not connected with the characters. On the other hand, shows like Dark Matter and Brad Wright’s Travelers work because I’m on board with the people, not just the idea. That’s always been true for Stargate. I may not remember every moment of every episode, but O’Neill, Carter, Sheppard, McKay, T.J., Young, Rush, Eli, and so many more are what keep me wanting more Stargate.
Twitter blew up my phone, so I keep it on the laptop now. Not as efficient, but I drop in daily at a minimum.
Family indeed. I hear from my internet connections far more often than my actual relatives, and this includes birthday and Christmas cards, and even visits. Last two contacts from relatives in other states was news of one in prison and one in the hospital. How sad is that?
SGU was the first show that I ever knew or cared about the production crew. Sure, everyone knows the actor’s names, but I knew the names of the writers, the costumer, the VFX specialist and the production assistant. I joined Twitter expressly for the purpose of supporting the cast and crew of Stargate Universe. They were all so friendly and open. I felt like I belonged. When it was abruptly cancelled, I literally grieved as if a close family member had died. I did the letter writing campaigns and signed petitions, tweeted and emailed. And I’m still on Twitter to support Stargate all. Glad to be here; proud to serve.
Yes, family! Best part of the story. 😀
I remember hearing of a LOT of actors say how much they loved guesting on SG-1 starting in the first few years of the show and would do anything to return to the show. I realized then that I’d always want to support Stargate.
Please bring start are SG1back on tv again i miss all of u guys please consider this it would be so awesome thank u !!!!
I would really like to see a Stargate that weaves the different incarnations together.
Bring Jack n Sam in ad helm, Daniel and T’ealc in place as advisors and position other characters as you can. I DO think that, to succeed, you’d have to have the original bunch. For me, that’s the only way I’d watch it.
You’re the producer of Dark Matter, I had no idea you had a wordpress blog. I was doing some reading up on the series, I heard SyFi canceled it…. I’ve literally just spent the last half hour reading more about it and what’s been going on and I also found out you’re a producer of one of my childhood tv shows (Stargate). I think you’re incredibly talented and SyFi as an industry should have tried to sign you to the network to keep the show going. Dark Matter had way more views than the other shows on SyFi. I mean I got my own Netflix just so I could catch up on it. I know Netflix has a lot planned for this year and I think it would be interesting if they signed your show.
I just finished watching all seasons of Dark Matter and am completely at a loss now that there are no more episodes. I loved the characters and how they grew into their new selves after their memories were erased. And I felt like the writing and acting had started to be very magical by Season 3. I can’t believe the show was cancelled. Is there really no chance of at least a mini-series to finish things out? Although, I’d be sad after the mini-series was over too. There was something really special about this group of space travelers and their Android.
(p.s. I have watched and enjoyed SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe)