quote:The SCI FI Channel is ending Stargate Atlantis after five seasons, Multichannel News reports.
The show will go on, though, with a 2-hour movie that will air on SCI FI in 2009, and be released on DVD by MGM. The film will be written by executive producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie.
It's intended to be the first of an on-going series of Atlantis movies, according to the report. Stargate SG-1 has released two very successful movies direct-to-DVD this year (Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum), though neither has aired on U.S. television yet.
"The show will live on as a network franchise," the report also says. This could indicate that future Atlantis movies are a lock for SCI FI, or it may be a general statement about the cable network's commitment to the Stargate franchise.
Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, who created and executive produced Atlantis, pitched a third television series in the 11-year-old TV franchise to the network last year (story). While SCI FI has not yet announced a green light for that show, the end of Atlantis may clear the way -- the dollars available for original programming, that is -- for the next series.
Though Stargate Atlantis has been a solid ratings performer for SCI FI -- and was its highest-rated original program ever when it premiered in July 2004 -- in recent years series like Eureka have supplanted it in the "Live" ratings.
Atlantis remains an extremely strong performer in DVR-delayed viewing, though, often building as much as 25 to 30 percent on its premiere night audience.
Season Five will go out on a cliffhanger, with "Enemy At the Gate" expected to premiere in January. Expect the first Atlantis movie to wrap up that hanging storyline.
Not since Enterprise was canned have I been so pissed. There is no good sci fi on TV afte this- and for that lame-ass Eureka show to remain on while Atlantis is scrapped shows how the head of Sci-Fi channel truly does not give a shit about sci-fi.
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
I'm a lot less pissed about this decision than any of the others (Atlantis isn't the greatest show ever, though I definitely enjoy it), but it never ceases to amaze me just how many sci-fi shows the so-called "Sci-Fi Channel" can actually cancel while still putting out such ridiculous drivel as Ghost Hunters.
Of course, everyone was swearing the same kinds of vengeance (I'll never watch this channel again!) way back when they pulled this shit with Farscape, and look where that's gotten us.
But the root problem remains, and the indication thereof is right in the quoted press release: the television ratings system that determines whether a show lives or dies is a dinosaur from the eighties and has no relevance in today's television world.
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Registered: Nov 2000
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-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Does the "younger vibe" comment remind anyone of the scene in "100" (SG1) when they joked around about replacing the cast with younger, hipper versions of themselves?
If any of the crew uses the phrase "I'd tap that" I'll quit watching.
At the very least, there's a plan in place to finish the series and even continue it through movies. We'll probably get a situation like SG1... the series is over, but the crew is still there, doing stuff, leaving the way open for more movies dealing with both casts.
Sill... one wonders at the network's logic. "Well, it's performing well, people are watching it, and the DVDs are selling. What can we do? I guess it's time to cancel it."
posted
I'm guessing that the amount of money they were spending per episode was too much for the amount of veiwers it got, and reducing budget would lead to the loss of VFX, and story, and guest actors, which would probably lower the ratings even more. So, they canned it while it was still "on top".
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Registered: Jul 2007
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Teh PW
Self Impossed Exile (This Space for rent)
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posted
As I grow older, I find that I watch less and less Network Television (read: Zero) outside of maybe Today Show and a glimpse of Leno (maybe the evening news). Even if I wasn't on a ship, and shore based, I watch only certain shows, almost always syndicated.
That's business. And if business requires the TV execs to inspect their own rectums instead of their proctologists? So be it.
There's always Youtube/Youpr0n...
Registered: Jan 2004
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Great now they can put more wrestling, ghost hunters, ghost hunters international, scare tactics, and $1.00 budget movies. Even though I'm not a fan of Stargate, it is a staple in Sci-Fi TV viewing. I wonder how long Caprica will last.
Registered: Feb 2005
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Teh PW
Self Impossed Exile (This Space for rent)
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posted
quote:Originally posted by Mars Needs Women: Great now they can put more wrestling, ghost hunters, ghost hunters international, scare tactics, and $1.00 budget movies. Even though I'm not a fan of Stargate, it is a staple in Sci-Fi TV viewing. I wonder how long Caprica will last.
you're assuming it even gets made. Look at the broken track record of BSG because of various BS the past year...
Not a big deal, Sci-Fi simply looses more viewers until it finally changes Hands/name/format.
The Sci-Fi Channel is Now...
SHITV!
i mean, i don't even remember what SpikeTV was called before it became Spike!. and that occured in the late 90's. think things are gonna be better for TV in general when they go all Non-Rabbit ears next february (Got your decoder box, non-cable peps?)?
Registered: Jan 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Pensive's Wetness: i mean, i don't even remember what SpikeTV was called before it became Spike!. and that occured in the late 90's.
It was TNN, which stood for The National Network. Before that it was also TNN, but it stood for The Nashville Network.
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