putting the "fan" back in "franchise" -- no, wait...

[hth]

So, okay, here's my thing about the SGA cancellation -- oh, I'm sorry, I mean *format change.* Guys, the show's not all that good. Those of us who love it, love it, and probably always will -- I assume it's some kind of random mutation that produces Atlantis fans, I don't know. But from a creators' perspective, what you hope for really is something that has room to grow, that will keep bringing in new fans, and I don't see how SGA is ever going to do that, ever. It is what it is, and after five years, it's not going to be anything else. The audience it has is the audience it's stuck with, so honestly, I can't blame a writer *or* a businessperson who wants to move onto something else.

I love Atlantis, I'll miss Atlantis, I'm sort of mildly pleased that there will be Atlantis movies, I suppose, but it had a five-season run, and it never really found a direction for itself, any kind of strong narrative spine or thematic core. Add to that the fact that tv shows NEVER GET BETTER AFTER THE FIFTH SEASON -- they can only hold ground, or get worse, and most get precipitiously worse somewhere around s6 or s7 -- and I have to say it doesn't seem wrong or unfair to me that people want to call it off here.

As for Stargate Universe, well -- why not? I know that there are people up in arms about TPTB wanting to skew to a younger demographic and throwing around crazy terms like "character-driven" -- OMG, soap opera!!! Frankly, they'd be insane not to do those things. In the era of big ensemble cast dramas in sf like Lost, Heroes, and BSG, Stargate has looked like a dinosaur for years now, with its insistence on framing the blowing-up-monsters episodes as the event episodes of the season and its cultish reverence for science fiction conventions estabished in the 1960s. The production values and direction have always been nice, but it just feels like an old show. That was a fuck-up -- they could have fixed that with Atlantis, but they didn't. Now they're going to give it another shot, so we'll see. They're even pitching it as a "cut off from Earth and stranded in space!" show, which *we all know* that even Atlantis's biggest fans have been bitching for years that they should never have bailed on with Atlantis. This is obviously a do-over for them, and again, I can't begrudge creators a chance to use what they've learned from their mistakes.

Will it be awesome? No idea. These guys are one step above hacks, but at least they seem to have noticed what's gone wrong -- people tune in to watch characters and stories! Well, good, maybe their next lead will be something other than a clever cypher, and maybe they won't put anyone in the main cast without knowing what kind of stories they want to tell about these people. The advantage they have is that they've always been very, very good at casting -- SG1 had a very strong, memorable cast, and SGA's cast was leagues above their material. If they really *can* do a series that's about the terror and wonder of exploring the universe, that puts good actors in roles that let them flesh out their characters, that values drama and human emotion at least as much as nice sets and flashy space battles -- well then, hell, it could be a show worth watching.

And hey, fandom's always done better by these characters than canon ever did. The way I choose to view it, they're just leaving Atlantis in the hands of the experts.

Comments

[whatifisaidno.livejournal.com]

Finally, someone with some sense!

But, who's calling "character driven" crazy? Really? I thought "character driven" (and sex) was the reason we all wrote fan fiction, because there was such a lack of it on the show.

It's the "more spaced-based action" from this article http://www.gateworld.net/news/2008/08/sci_fi_green-lights_istargate_un.shtml that I'm not thrilled about. Action as in blowing stuff up (as to appeal to a younger audience) or action as in... plot happening in space? I'm inclined to think the former just because of all their words about "fresh faces" and "younger vibe." But otherwise I wouldn't think that and I hope it's not what they mean. (ETA I'm sorry I think I'm being irrational, I just don't know what to think about this younger vibe they're going for) I just hope "younger" isn't another word for "more cartoon like" and "even less sophisticated."

My other concern is... what age of viewers they mean by younger? Since when to teenagers like me not like Stargate? (even though SG1 was for long time boringly character-less and psychological tension-less and SGA was absurd and disjointed)

So yeah, Atlantis is a failure, and I'm just not sure about Universe. I'm going to miss McKay so bad.

[raine-wynd.livejournal.com]

I like SGA, and eps like Friday's "The Shine" made me decide to finally watch the three I'd missed out of boredom with the show -- but I'm with you on the whole "it doesn't seem unreasonable." I've been a fan of shows that were brief (Chris Carter's Strange World, HLTR) and long (BTVS, HL, DS, STNG) and five seasons seems to be just about right. It's long enough to create a solid canon from which fannish joy can be made.

I just am seriously hoping Stargate Universe doesn't end up being a Star Trek Voyager retread, in which it was yay, we got this (in ST:V, a female captain as a major lead), but then we got the "oh, no, we're stranded in space, whatever shall we do?" whiny element to things.

[copracat]

The way I choose to view it, they're just leaving Atlantis in the hands of the experts.

Heh. What you said.

[inkscribe.livejournal.com]

The way I choose to view it, they're just leaving Atlantis in the hands of the experts.

Amen to that.

[tafkarfanfic.livejournal.com]

Well, one could argue that Dr. Who got better looooooong after it's 5th season, but that is a unique example. (And my favorite seasons of SG-1 were S9 and 10, but it was really a new show and shouldn't have been under the same title, as the producers had said.)

I'm looking forward to SGU. I think it could be worlds of fun.

[yinkawills.livejournal.com]

Brilliant analysis!
SGA has good actors and SFX people, poor (inconsistent, hackish) writers and costume etc people(every village the same)

They can come up with a concept, and as you said, pick good actors, but that's as far as it goes.
One thing theyve done with Atlantis that they didnt do with SG1 is change the central cast every season.
Maybe it would have been better with Wright & Cooper in charge?

Its not even about budget.

The new Dr Who has about 1/3 of SGA's budget- the BBC are
notoriously mean with money- and is better executed.
And BSG.... well.
What would SGA have been like, if some of the BSG writers had been let loose on it?

Still, fanfic writers - like yourself (loved your Alpha Centauri 'verse, even though Im a McShep girl)have done and will do more in telling SGA stories than the canon writers ever could.

[red3_standingby]

I will admit that I was really devastated by the loss of SGA, but having read your post, perhaps I can be reconciled with the loss. And you're totally right, ff writers have done more for the story than the writers ever did (ridiculous hacks)...

[tehopheliac]

So, I'm curious. Now that the second season of SGU is out, do you have an opinion on the show? Have you watched it? What do you think of it?

P.S. Yeah, I know this comment comes 2 years too late, but... I just found out that you, your fic (even if you never intend to write more again-- which is totally fine, I go in and out of that and you're write, your writing really deteriorates in between), and mainly... YOU are online again.

Ack, that sounds kind of creepy. It's just, when I got into SGA and caught glimpses of your fic, I always regretted never getting the chance to talk to you! o.o;;