Alternate "Stargate: SG-1"???

[Volpone]

So. For a few years now, I've been a fan of the TV show "Stargate: SG-1". The show has really gone downhill the last three years or so, but even in its prime, there were some issues with it.

Like the whole thing of not having to figure out the dialing code when they get to the other end like in the movie. Or how everyone on all the alien planets just happens to speak not just English, but 21st Century North American English instead of having to figure out the language--again, like in the movie. (To say nothing of how every planet looks remarkably like the Pacific Northwest.)

Or how every week a four man team travels to a new world and has a new adventure. If the show was real, each mission would involve months of planning, a large team, setting up a base camp on the new world, and a defensive perimeter, and spending several years exploring each planet.

For that matter, after the second or third planet, they'd be having a pretty hard time keeping it under wraps. There'd just be far too much to explain--new medicines, new technologies, all these scientists and archaeologists with secret jobs...

Not that I'm saying that they should go for total "accuracy"--it would be boring as Hell to spend three episodes trying to figure out a new language, etc. But I can't help but wonder how things would be if they had had a bit bigger budget and took things more slowly...

Does anyone else watch the show? Any thoughts?

 

[Tyrant]

There were a couple of fans here. I'm not one of them, but it's a series I'd take with me to a desert island.

I think they lost the proper grasp on arcing storylines later. Some of the episodes were pretty good. Well we all know most shows like this, including Star Trek, are usually 'who done it' detective stories.

The whole shifting of the cast, the entire premise of the show, etc etc. It doesn't do much for me.

 

[Enkephalen]

And germs!! What about germs?! Why aren't they decontaminated before and after an off-world trip? Maybe that Babel Fish they have in their ear that allows them to all speak one language (with the same accent) kills off those "cavorting beasties"?

Also, why is it that only people of Earth have a sense of humor but people from other worlds are have long sticks stuck where the sun don't shine, and they are Star Trek Data-like in their inability to use contractions?

 

[Volpone]

And no other society seems to develop any kind of vehicle. There are never any roads or street signs and everyone walks everywhere.

 

[Tyrant]

English is the official language of the entire galaxy.

 

[Fuddlemiff]

There are some worlds they've been to which have had cities with roads, some that have had animals, some that have had germs and some that have had languages based off of ancient Earth lingo, it's just not feasible or interesting to do all that every week. There are some elements of the show which I'm not so fond of, but I try to take it as it's intended; a jolly adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously.

 

[Night_Wolf]

I enjoy the show, have watched it off and on for years. I think they initially explained the whole why everyone speaks english in a very early episode. Something to do with because all the human inhabitants were put on the different planets across the galaxy by the go'oald, or something. Still doesn't much explain why all the alien species, like the asgar and that all speak english.........anyway, I enjoyed the show.

 

[Volpone]

I enjoy the show, have watched it off and on for years. I think they initially explained the whole why everyone speaks english in a very early episode. Something to do with because all the human inhabitants were put on the different planets across the galaxy by the go'oald, or something. Still doesn't much explain why all the alien species, like the asgar and that all speak english.........anyway, I enjoyed the show.

Yes, but it also doesn't explain why all the humans speak English--specifically 21st century North American English. If you had a culture based on an Egyptian god or a Mayan god, why the hell would the followers speak English? Heck, if you had a culture based on Saxons that were taken off the planet thousands of years ago, THEY wouldn't speak anything we would recognize as English.

Of course it would make for pretty boring television is every episode involved a lot of "Jack. Jaaack. Me, Jack. What's your name?"

 

[headvoid]

The point about an arcing storyline is the most valid. It seems to have been written safely so that people can dip in and dip out. They should do more two parters

A stronger link every episode to where and why the gates were constructed, moving the arcing story along every time would be better. I also think the acting was a bit poor, for such a dark storyline there is a lot of cheeky winks and innuendo stuff. Good idea weakened by a studio system of guest writing IMO.

 

[Volpone]

For my money, the worst sin of the studio system is that the show is a cash cow. So the criteria for cancellation wasn't when they ran out of episodes to do. It was when the ratings got low enough that they were no longer turning a profit. To make matters worse, when you no longer are profitable, you STILL don't need to cancel--just cut your budget.

If studios had a brain, what they'd have done was wrap the series after 5 seasons (7 at the absolute most). Then they could've started a spinoff series with a new, younger, and cheaper cast. This gives you a fresh charge on the franchise. Meanwhile, you take the original cast and start doing movies. Then, by the time they're too old for movies, your next cast is ready. Lather, rinse repeat.

(OK, that doesn't exactly fit with my statement that they were out of ideas, but bottom line is that a retarded chimpanzee could manage an entertainment franchise better than most studio execs. )