So, I just picked up the first 3 seasons of Stargate SG-1...

[John Crichton]

... and I won't have time to pop them in for a day or so. I haven't watched any of the Stargate TV series yet but couldn't pass up picking up the first 3 seasons for $20 each used at my local Gamestop when I stopped in to pick up Dead Rising (Xbox 360).

I see lots of threads around here about the series and it's been around for a long time so what am I in for? I love most of the genre shows that I've watched (anything Joss, B5, Alias, 24, TNG, DS9, Farscape, BSG, Smallville). What are the best seasons and what has made it endure for that long?

And please, no spoilers.

 

[sniffles]

It's hard to pick a best season, especially since I've seen a lot of it out of sequence on Sci Fi. But I think what has made it last so long is the good characterization and character development, and the fact that the show's writers and producers know the show's internal history. Episodes can refer back to events that occurred several seasons previously, and something that happens in one story can have far-reaching consequences. They don't 'push the reset button' at the end of every episode, the way Star Trek often did.

I'll tell you what is my favorite episode, though: 'Window of Opportunity'.

 

[Fast Learner]

The earliest seasons were when it was a Showtime program. I'm not sure when it switched.

 

[Tuzenbach]

It seems that the early seasons were fairly serious, but the longer the show went on, the more relaxed & humorous Richard Dean Anderson's character became. In fact, his humour alone is worth the price of admission from about season 4 onwards. In season 5, one of the characters becomes temporarily replaced with somebody else, but the show doesn't suffer one bit as a result. In fact, I think it got a little better!

 

[BrooklynKnight]

I belive it switched after the 4th season.

 

[Arnwyn]

But I think what has made it last so long is the good characterization and character development, and the fact that the show's writers and producers know the show's internal history. Episodes can refer back to events that occurred several seasons previously, and something that happens in one story can have far-reaching consequences. They don't 'push the reset button' at the end of every episode, the way Star Trek often did.

Yes. Exactly that.

 

[Rackhir]

There's a lot of little bits that add up. Like at one point during the series they started refering to the fact that by that point the team had saved the earth 10x and therefore the President "owed" them and occasionally they'd cash that in to get their way on this point or another problem.

 

[Staffan]

Episodes can refer back to events that occurred several seasons previously, and something that happens in one story can have far-reaching consequences. They don't 'push the reset button' at the end of every episode, the way Star Trek often did.

At the same time, they are not as continuity-heavy as Buffy, Babylon 5, or Deep Space 9. If you miss an episode or two, you're not very likely to go "what the heck did I miss?" when you catch the next one. They manage to strike a very pleasing balance between stand-alone "reset" episodes and the heavy continuity on other shows.

For a fanatic geek like me, that's not necessarily a plus - but I can see that it helps from a commercial standpoint.

 

[Wolf72]

...

For a fanatic geek like me ....

I tend to skim when I read posts ... like I did on this one. I read frantic instead of fanatic ... but I'm guessing the two go together when the power goes out and knocks out the vcr (or equivalent) programming ... and they just happen not to show encore episodes the week later (BSG I'm talking to you!!!)

there's some cool angles that were one shot episodes in SG, some which could still be reopened.

 

[DreadPirateMurphy]

Stargate has got the best excuse for the "away team" plot. In Star Trek, they had to fly to another planet for some reason, and there was always some contrived means of keeping them from just transporting back to the ship and flying away. In Stargate, Earth is under threat, so they need to search alien worlds for allies and technology. It is worth risking the lives of a few teams to go out and find something that could save the planet, and since they never know what to expect at any particular address, almost anything can happen.

Otherwise, the show is an entertaining mix of action, humor, and character development, with good actors in the lead roles and a huge amount of backstory to draw upon. Even the pilot had the movie's relatively complicated backstory as inspiration. They've done a fairly good job of evolving the capabilities of Earth over the years, too...technology doesn't just go into the warehouse next to the Ark of the Covenant, never to be seen again.