Stargate is a go for Season 8

[Mark]

Any knowledge of actors for SG-Atlantis? Maybe Marina Sirtis might show up...

 

[Phoenix8008]

You sure about that? I always understood that that spin-off would air once SG-1 was over. An 8th season of SG-1 means the spin-off has been pushed back a year. At least that's what I'm guessing. Got anything that says that they'll both air concurrently? I'd love it if they would, but I suspect that they're gonna wait for SG-1 to finish before Atlantis airs.

Well, here is part of the text from the Gateworld.net article about the upcoming TV Guide Stargate issue...

The magazine will also provide the inside scoop on the long-awaited "underwater" spin-off series Stargate Atlantis, which TV Guide reports is still planned for 2004. Could The Sci-Fi Channel be planning to air new episodes both series at the same time?

So if Season 8 is a definate go AND the Atlantis series is still planned for 2004, then it stands to reason that they will cross over to some degree at least.

As for the more sensible 'end one series before starting another', I believe that was the original plan. They were going to end SG1 with season 7, go to a movie from there, and then launch the spin-off. But now I've heard that the movie script has become the end of season episodes for season 7. So now they don't need a movie (which would probably not live up to expectations anyway) and can go straight into a spin off next year. I think the only surprise was that they would then re-up the SG-1 show for another season!

 

[Green Knight]

Ah, so the events of the 7th season finale are what lead to the spin-off? Kick ass. Can't wait to see 2 Stargate shows running concurrently, then.

And personally, I'm glad they're not doing a movie. It just wouldn't be right, with Richard Dean Anderson playing Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Shanks playing Dr. Jackson, when the FIRST Stargate movie had Kurt Russell and James Spader playing them. It'd probably confuse the hell out of people who only know Stargate by the first movie, and have never seen the series, who're expecting Kurt Russell to come back.

 

[Mark]

I just picked up a used DVD of the movie for a couple of bucks and I'd have to say Michael Shanks does a pretty good Spader impression...