Stargate Emoverse to be cancelled

[JacktheRabbit]

Actually, only 8 years. I absolutely LOATHED the last two seasons and the whole ORI story arc. And I couldn't really get behind the two new cast members either.

I did enjoy SGU, though. It provided a nice change of pace for the franchise.

I agree in that the Ori arc was a mistake. It was a blatant example of wringing extra years out of the series combined with power creep. Stargate Command along with their allies like the Asgard were so powerful that they had to create some rather absurd challenges.

On the other hand any episode that featured Baal, no matter what season was pretty awesome.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

SGU is a good example of a show that suffered for not grabbing the low-hanging fruit. They aimed at a mature audience, offered characters with subdued personalities, and featured no bass-voiced villain in outlandish garb for the auidence too root against. Not nearly enough scenes of people being chased down hallways by explosions.

This is apparently the working definition of "emo".

Lord knows the show wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed that it tried. Not every sci-fi series should be required to have a tin man/scarecrow/cowardly lion scheme where everyone's traits are clearly labeled in broad print.

Bahhh, I am so tired of their implied "your just not sophisticated for this show attitude" that your post just oozes.

Quite simply people (myself included) like to watch shows where they actually like a good number of the characters. Its the difference between a critic approved and audience approved show.

Here is another example. Several years (199) back Kevin Spacey was in "American Beauty" it was a show that won lots of awards and the critics practically <inappropriate action> in their pants they loved it so much. I hated it. Halfway through the DVD I turned it off when I realized that if every single character in the movie died right then I wouldnt care at all.

That is how I felt about SGU. I didnt care about any of them beyond Rush and with him it was more sympathy over the number of complete buffoons he was stuck with while having the chance of his life. How can a show be enjoyable when you dont like anyone on it?

 

[Felon]

Bahhh, I am so tired of their implied "your just not sophisticated for this show attitude" that your post just oozes.

Quite simply people (myself included) like to watch shows where they actually like a good number of the characters. Its the difference between a critic approved and audience approved show.

Sort of. But I would slant it a bit differently and suggest that the difference between a critic-approved and mainstream-approved show is rather the basis for deeming a character "likable" (or, perhaps more accurately "entertaining").

For instance, Jack O'Neil is designed to please the masses. He has a glib response to everything, he doesn't take no poop off nobody, and he always wants to throw the most direct, heavy-handed solution at every problem. His nerdy buddies are there to explain to him (and, consequently, us) why they can't just shoot the thigamajig or blow up the framastat with some C4.

And best of all? His imprudent, ham-fisted inclinations often turn out to be the right answer after all, thus reinforcing that men of action are eminently superior to bookworms. In ten seasons of Stargate and beyond, Jack O'Neil develops not an iota as a character. Nor does he need to. His minimalist personality requires no refinement in order to fill its role to perfection. He's a tough-guy, never-say-die leading man who you know will always win, like Kirk or Bauer or Number Six.

SGU is not a particularly sophisticated show, but it certainly requires its audience to appreciate characters for their shortcomings and vices as much as their strengths. Maybe more.

 

[catsclaw227]

His minimalist personality requires no refinement in order to fill its role to perfection. He's a tough-guy, never-say-die leading man who you know will always win, like Kirk or Bauer or Number Six.

Easy tiger. I am a big fan of Number Six and her duplicates. They provided a varied personality to each incarnation.

And Bauer, well... he's the everyman's tough guy. Not too big, but kick-a** none-the-less.

You can tease me about liking Bauer, but Number Six was an incredibly deep character.

EDIT: It it wasn't clear earlier, I like SGU.

 

[Blastin]

Wow...if you hated American Beauty....I can see that our tastes are polar opposite. But that's cool....

Bahhh, I am so tired of their implied "your just not sophisticated for this show attitude" that your post just oozes.

Quite simply people (myself included) like to watch shows where they actually like a good number of the characters. Its the difference between a critic approved and audience approved show.

Here is another example. Several years (199) back Kevin Spacey was in "American Beauty" it was a show that won lots of awards and the critics practically <inappropriate action> in their pants they loved it so much. I hated it. Halfway through the DVD I turned it off when I realized that if every single character in the movie died right then I wouldnt care at all.

That is how I felt about SGU. I didnt care about any of them beyond Rush and with him it was more sympathy over the number of complete buffoons he was stuck with while having the chance of his life. How can a show be enjoyable when you dont like anyone on it?

 

[El Mahdi]

Towards the end of SG1, I didn't think the story lines were all that great either. But I still found a lot of enjoyment in the characters. They were characters I knew, and there were always humourous interactions and inside stuff between them. That was what kept me interested until the end.

Atlantis didn't grab me as much. The characters were okay while the story lines were just more of the same from SG1. I watched it through to the end, but it wasn't as good IMO as SG1.

Now SGU however, I didn't like at all at first. I toughed it out through the first 10 episodes, and then just kind of gave it up. I liked the idea of more varied and flawed characters. Definitely a departure from the clear good/bad divisions in SG1 and Atlantis. But I don't enjoy the only unifiying plot being "we need to find a way home..." It's been done before so many times, and ends up being something you know they are never going to achieve, at least not until the series ends.

But one day I was hankering for some Sci-Fi, and preferably Sci-Fi I hadn't seen, so I gave SGU another shot. I thought the last 10 episodes of season 1 were an improvement. Enough that I went ahead and watched the first ten of season two. Season two was even better. The subplot of figuring out what Odyssey's true mission is, was much more interesting to me.

I'm not surprised that it's going away, and of course there's no way of knowing if they would have kept improving, but I am looking forward to the final 10. I hope they do wrap up the true mission story, and finally get home. But yeah, I don't expect it to go anywhere after the last 10 are over. I do want more Stargate from MGM, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[El Mahdi]

Bahhh, I am so tired of their implied "your just not sophisticated for this show attitude" that your post just oozes.

It's obvious to me, and I'm sure to everyone else in the thread also, just how much you didn't like this show. Fair enough, we all like different things, and you have just as much a right as everybody else to express your opinion. But I really don't think that gives you license to be rude and combative, or accuse people of calling you unsophisticated when they haven't. That isn't what Felon was saying.

Nobody has said that your reasons for not liking the show are bad, why are you saying that peoples statements of why they do like the show are wrong and somehow a personal dig at you?

I think you've had an axe to grind since your first post in this thread, and you're taking it out on those that have posted here. I think you've overeacted considerably, and probably owe Felon an apology...

 

[Fast Learner]

Quite simply people (myself included) like to watch shows where they actually like a good number of the characters. Its the difference between a critic approved and audience approved show.

No, "quite simply" some people like some things and some people like other things. That a show is hailed or banned by critics has very, very little to do with how many people watch it.

Me, I saw American Beauty in the theater before having seen a single review and absolutely loved it; it's in my top 10 favorite films of all time. Yet here I am, a member of "people," not a member of "critics," and I still love it.

Is it possible that your opinion isn't the only valid opinion?

 

[Felon]

Easy tiger. I am a big fan of Number Six and her duplicates. They provided a varied personality to each incarnation.

And Bauer, well... he's the everyman's tough guy. Not too big, but kick-a** none-the-less.

You can tease me about liking Bauer, but Number Six was an incredibly deep character.

EDIT: It it wasn't clear earlier, I like SGU.

Not that No. 6 . The original No. 6. The No. 6 that should be considered the de facto No. 6 when no further information is available.

One of my fave characters of all time, along with Kirk. Bauer's a good example of a character that isn't "likable" by a long shot but is certainly enjoyable and entertaining.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

No, "quite simply" some people like some things and some people like other things. That a show is hailed or banned by critics has very, very little to do with how many people watch it.

Me, I saw American Beauty in the theater before having seen a single review and absolutely loved it; it's in my top 10 favorite films of all time. Yet here I am, a member of "people," not a member of "critics," and I still love it.

Is it possible that your opinion isn't the only valid opinion?

Of course. Only in very small select situations is only one opinion a valid one and this is not it.

That being said, the real deciders here (the dollars) is pretty overwelmingly in my favor. How many shows who go the edgy, no one you really like, attitude are as sucessful as shows that create likeable characters that you can root for? Its not to say its impossible to do. I am sure there are sucessful shows and movies out there where you dont like any of the characters, but its much less common and a lot harder to pull off sucessfully.

The biggest problem with SGU was quite simply it was a fraud. It was not a Stargate show, it was a show with a stargate in it and there is a huge difference. The producers wanted it both ways, they wanted an edgy, cool, drama to draw in a new audience, and they wanted to keep the old Stargate fanbase with a few backhanded tacked on holdovers from the old show.

Unfortunately they did a better job of angering and alienating far more Stargate fans than they did of bringing in new fans. In addition the Stargate fanbase had already suffered from the last season of SG1 which showed considerable fan drop off. You can probably say the same thing about SGA but I actually felt that the final season of SGA was infinitely superior to the final two of SG1.


BTW, my apologies Felon if my post to you came out as insulting or rude. It was not my intent. I just get very annoyed when people go the "your just not sophisticated enough" route when discussing their likes versus someone else. Its a bit of a hot button when discussing movies or shows.