SciFi Channel Picks Up 'Stargate SG-1' Movies

According to MICHAEL HINMAN at the SyFyPortal blog: The two direct-to-DVD movies MGM made over the past couple years based on the "Stargate SG-1" universe are coming to the SciFi Channel beginning this spring. "Stargate: Ark of Truth" as well as "Stargate Continuum" will air on SciFi Channel as Sunday night movie events, and could complement the release of the new series "Stargate: Universe," which may come out in July.

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RIP Don "General Hammond" Davis

On the list of things that make you just say..."oh crap, that just plain sucks!" is the news of actor Don Davis' passing. For years, Davis was the steadying influence counter-balancing the over the top nuttiness of Richard Dean Anderson. Don Davis' most recognizable character was Stargate SG-1's Major General George Hammond which played for 10 seasons on the Sci-fi channel. The General Hammond character was a part of the cast from 1997 – 2004. Curiously enough, Stargate was not the first time Anderson and Davis worked together. Their first pairing was during Anderson's program McGuiver where Davis played a stunt double. Davis of course was no stranger to the "General" persona that he played so well. He played Major Garland Briggs on the television series Twin Peaks from 1990 to 1991. Davis' last Stargate appearance will be in the DVD movie Stargate: Continuum.

<Davis Wiki> <IO9 article>

Stargate Universe Revealed!

Gateworld via Sciframa are breaking the news concerning Sci-Fi's newest Star Gate franchise called Stargate Universe.

“The idea of Stargate Universe is that it is set on a ship that was part of an Ancient experiment that was set in motion probably millions of years ago — one that they never saw to fruition, but that we can,” Wright told GateWorld exclusively. “They got busy with the whole ascension thing.”

The first obstacle that Universe ran into was the writer's strike...next was expense...universe is going to be one of the more expensive shows for the Sci-fi Channel. Finally the writing team of Brand Wright and Robert Cooper are still quite busy and word has it that they don't relish returning to the schedule that requires them to produce 40 hours of television each year, indicating that Stargate Atlantis could share a fate of SG-1. Then again, it could also mean Stargate Universe will be put on hold until Atlantis concludes its run.

Tapping leaves Atlantis for Santuary!

Mike over at SyFy Portal floored me with this one. Amanda Tapping late of SG-1, with one season of Stargate Atlantis tucked away...is moving on. WTF?! The reports have it as "nothing personal" but I would suggest that might be a point of reference. The one good thing about this is that she'll be replaced by former "Star Trek: Voyager" actor Robert Picardo - though I can't say that I enjoy Picardo's character so much the few times I have seen it on SG. I did like him on Voyager. He added depth and pathos to a part that could have been done woodenly and gotten away with. What is being pointed out about Picardo's character, the recurring character of Richard Woolsey, is the very thing that I am put off by. Self serving, aprasive and political. I am really going to find it difficult to watch a show that spends more time with infighting than gate jumpin. Tapping's departure I would speculate has something to do with the Sci-Fi channel picking up the internet based series that she stars in called Santuary. Reports have the show already in production and Tapping may feel that her character in Santuary a bit more fun than her SG persona which has grown a bit long in the tooth. Santuary for those of you that might be living in caves....centers around Dr. Helen Magnus, an immortal protector of aliens in a series that began as a computer-generated world first found on the Internet. SciFi Channel, impressed with the work, greenlighted a series pickup and gave the show a 13-episode commitment as a fall series. The series will be the first television show to use completely virtual sets thanks to green- screen technologies.

SG-1 Stargate on Make Magazine's bog!

Oh this is sweet! Someone sent in a project they made to "MAKE" magazine's blog website. Seems they made a "working" Stargate for SG-1. Like the article said, "working" as in it dials up a planet and lights up, etc - it doesn't actually transport you anywhere, yet. Well yeah duh, but it's still cool! I'd have one!

Eureka & SG1 may have some faces in common

From SyFy Portal

It seems the cast of SG-1 has already started branching out. Amanda Tapping (Samantha Carter)
has moved over to Startgate Atlantis and others are taking on roles on some of the networks other programming. Michael Shanks, who played archaeologist Daniel Jackson for 10 years on the series, is set to enter the small town of “Eureka” as is his wife Lexa Doig. Doig, who is most known to genre fans as Rommie from “Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda,” as well as a recurring role on "SG-1" in the ninth and 10th seasons, will enter the series for a single episode, “Maneater,” playing a biologist who deals with sexual harassment cases for Global Dynamics. A week after her appearance on the series, her husband Shanks will take on the role of a suave artistic genius who discovers that one of his metal sculptures has been transformed into solid gold. The episode, “All That Glitters,” is set to air Sept. 25.

Eureka &

From SyFy Portal

It seems the cast of SG-1 has already started branching out. Amanda Tapping (Samantha Carter)
has moved over to Startgate Atlantis and others are taking on roles on some of the networks other programming. Michael Shanks, who played archaeologist Daniel Jackson for 10 years on the series, is set to enter the small town of “Eureka” as is his wife Lexa Doig. Doig, who is most known to genre fans as Rommie from “Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda,” as well as a recurring role on "SG-1" in the ninth and 10th seasons, will enter the series for a single episode, “Maneater,” playing a biologist who deals with sexual harassment cases for Global Dynamics. A week after her appearance on the series, her husband Shanks will take on the role of a suave artistic genius who discovers that one of his metal sculptures has been transformed into solid gold. The episode, “All That Glitters,” is set to air Sept. 25.

Claudia Black interview

Thanks to the blog SF Signals for the heads up

For you Claudia Black fans (I know your out there and you know who you are!) Farpoint Media's Slice of SciFi has an excellent interview the the raven bombshell.

Claudia Black has been an actress on great SF television series’ such as the highly acclaimed “Farscape” where she portrayed Aeryn Sun and also in the tele-film “Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars.” From there she assumed the role Vala Mal Doran on “Stargate-SG-1,”. Claudia is currently shooting two made-for-DVD Stargate films which will continue the series in that format.

Her talents have not been confined to the small screen at all. Black has appeared in the Anne Rice feature film “Queen of the Damned” as Pandora and and in the SF hit movie “Pitch Black” with Vin Diesel.

Sci-Fi channel shows....loosing ground

According to MICHAEL HINMAN over at SF Portal

The second week showing for some of the Sci-fi channel's pillars of Friday night have not faired as well as hoped.

"Stargate SG-1" and "Stargate: Atlantis" both lost a good chunk of their audiences for their second episode outings last Friday, with SG-1 losing as much as 30 percent of its mid-season premiere audience from just the week before. This according to GateWorld.

Atlantis dropped 15 percent to a 1.2 rating.

Painkiller Jane finishing behind both Stargate series, losing 26 percent of its own audience to earn a 0.95 rating.

Stargate SG-1 airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on SciFi Channel with "Atlantis" and "Painkiller Jane" finishing right behind.

Third Stargate series in development

From the GateWorld Blog:

A third television series in the hit Stargate franchise is now in development. A production source has said that the new series is in the concept phase, and is being actively worked on by the Vancouver creatives behind Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. No concept for the show has yet been revealed. The third TV series is also not likely to be rushed into production for a 2007 premiere in order to replace SG-1, which takes its final bow with 10 new episodes this spring. Instead, a premiere in 2008 or later is more likely at this point.

Day Break ABC's midseason LOST replacement

First off is Day Break science fiction? hummmm Time is screwed up and now police officer Harper is caught in an apparent time loop. Sounds like good sci-fi to me! Wow, when I first heard about Day break .from an ABC blurb that said Day Break was ground hog day with a bit of die hard mixed in. I thought “ Oh yeah fat chance!” But by the third time Harper wakes up into the same day, I was seriously hook. And talk about bringing out the big guns! - car chases, fights, falls, beatings, interrogations, car crashes, thugs, hoodlums, murders, shootouts you name it.. And just who isn't involved!! ABC aims to keep you interested enough to tune in again next week. Can they keep this pell-mell pace up? I doubt it, but I sure will watch next week. click the title to go straight to this weeks episode player online. Some of the notables in the cast are Tayne Diggs plays Harper on the run - wanted for murder that he is being framed for. Diggs as you remember played in Basic, opposite Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta. Adam Baldwin plays Chad Shelten an IAD officer hell bent on getting Harper and may or may not be involved with the shadowy group that is framing Harper. Baldwin has appeared in projects that include HBO's acclaimed miniseries From the Earth to the Moon and is known to the sci-fi world audiences for his starring role on Firefly, recurring roles on The X-Files, Angel and The Visitor, and guest starring roles on Stargate SG-1 and the new The Outer Limits. He followed up his Firefly character once again in Joss Whedon's motion picture, Serenity. Victoria Pratt plays Harper's police partner Andrea Battle. You might remember Pratt from her stint on Fox networks Mutant X where she played Shalimar Fox.

Stargate SG-1 Movies To Follow TV Series

From the Solar Flare blog

SciFi Wire is reporting that while the 10th Season of Stargate SG-1 is going to be the last, there will be at least two movies produced to wrap up any loose ends.

Currently the plan is for the first movie to tie up lose ends from the series finale and it's being seen as the "climax of the Ori storyline". The second movie will apparently involve time travel in some fashion.

Right now there are no deals signed with any of SG-1's stars, but apparently several of the actors are eager to continue in their roles.

Dr Who 'longest-running sci-fi'

Doctor Who has been named TV's longest-running sci-fi show, after 43 years and 723 episodes. The series began on 23 November, 1963, and was revived in 2005 after 16 years off the screen. Stargate SG-1, now in its 10th series, holds the world record for "longest-running science fiction show (consecutive)".