New "Stargate" series announced

[payn]

To a large degree, I blame Cas Anvar (the actor playing Alex). He was credibly accused by ~40 people for sexual harassment and/or assault, things were investigated, and he was fired (that's why the character dies in such a weird way at the end of season 5). But not having him on the show messes the entire chemistry of things up.

(Note: I think they made the right call morally to fire him, I just wish it didn't have the consequences it did).

Oh that’s not even what I’m talking about. They made the right call (though from what I hear Anvar worked overtime selling the show to Amazon).

I mean cutting them from 10 to 8 to 6 episodes and finally canceling them after t they started shooting. Also, they took liberties during the first three seasons improving on the books and that all stopped 4-6. It was all a crap show but that’s what Amazon does when they take over.

SGU was very different from the other shows. To me, it felt a lot like "What if Stargate, but Battlestar Galactica?" You had the ship traveling seemingly aimlessly through space, cut off from support, a lot of people there that really didn't have any business being there but were stranded, and a scientist of questionable loyalties delving into Deep Secrets. It was even shot in a different way that was more reminiscent of BSG (though that might just be advances in camera tech). I can see how some people would like that, but personally I like my Stargate to be Stargate, and not BSG.

It wasn’t as bad as folks make it out. It was a stand out in the franchise and it did get rather bad by the end but it had a great premise and cast for a min there.

 

[MarkB]

It wasn’t as bad as folks make it out. It was a stand out in the franchise and it did get rather bad by the end but it had a great premise and cast for a min there.

I mostly remember being icked out by the body-swap kludge they used in order to still have their back-on-Earth segments in their lost-in-space series. It was pretty eww in concept from the start, and then they played into the eww, having characters pursuing sexual relationships in other peoples' loaned-out bodies.

 

[payn]

I mostly remember being icked out by the body-swap kludge they used in order to still have their back-on-Earth segments in their lost-in-space series. It was pretty eww in concept from the start, and then they played into the eww, having characters pursuing sexual relationships in other peoples' loaned-out bodies.

Yeaaaah… I remember eye rolling about needing an Earth connection and this oh so convenient tech. I figured eh as long as they don’t…oh god they did.

Show could have been totally independent without Richard Dean cameos once a season.

 

[Ryujin]

True but the Expanse went downhill fast once prime took over. What they did to the final season was criminal.

That's more on the writing team/producers than it is on Prime. When they found out that they weren't being renewed, they rushed to squeeze in as much as possible that otherwise would have run for a couple of seasons.

 

[payn]

That's more on the writing team/producers than it is on Prime. When they found out that they weren't being renewed, they rushed to squeeze in as much as possible that otherwise would have run for a couple of seasons.

Actually they already started filming when the axe dropped on them.

 

[Dire Bare]

To a large degree, I blame Cas Anvar (the actor playing Alex). He was credibly accused by ~40 people for sexual harassment and/or assault, things were investigated, and he was fired (that's why the character dies in such a weird way at the end of season 5). But not having him on the show messes the entire chemistry of things up.

(Note: I think they made the right call morally to fire him, I just wish it didn't have the consequences it did).

Anvar was so good as Alex, it was perfect casting . . . well, other than the landmine that he was a terrible person. I'm angry at him for harassing tons of women, but also for screwing up such a great show!

But despite killing off Alex's character suddenly . . . I still enjoyed the heck out of The Expanse! I'm currently listening to the audiobooks of the series, and it just makes me appreciate the TV show even more!

 

[Dire Bare]

I mostly remember being icked out by the body-swap kludge they used in order to still have their back-on-Earth segments in their lost-in-space series. It was pretty eww in concept from the start, and then they played into the eww, having characters pursuing sexual relationships in other peoples' loaned-out bodies.

It was an interesting sci-fi idea to explore! It was icky, for the characters themselves as well as the audience, that was very much what they explored, the ethical problems in using this tech versus the necessity to maintain contact.

Stargate Universe was definitely a darker show, and a huge tonal shift from SG1 and Atlantis . . . it was a risky move that didn't play out . . . but I'm one of the fans who absolutely loved the show. I doubt very much they'll make the same mistake again, but we'll see.

 

[Staffan]

Yeaaaah… I remember eye rolling about needing an Earth connection and this oh so convenient tech. I figured eh as long as they don’t…oh god they did.

It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure the mindswap stones were established on SG-1 a couple of years before SG:U.

Which reminds me of one of the things I liked about Stargate: while it was mostly episodic, it was pretty good at maintaining logical continuity. If a thing got solved, it stayed solved and often other solutions would call back to that one.