Stargate: SG1 - Sell me but don't spoil me...

[Rackhir]

It has John Crichton's actor and Claudia Black in the current season.

 

[John Crichton]

I've seen a ton of Trek, so that's the only one I can compare it to. SG definitely has stronger continuity, and it's darker than all but possibly DS9. They have compelling characters in common, as well as a good sense of fun (though I find SG's humorous episodes tend to be funnier).

In it's own right, I love SG because of its internal consistency -- the show takes a fairly cheesy concept (the Goa'uld) and builds it into a rich and believable background for the series. And while there are some clunker episodes -- give season 1 at least 4 episodes until you make a decision! -- overall the writing is solid through the whole first 6 seasons (as far as I've seen). Good stuff, and there are some truly fantastic episodes in seasons 3-5.

It has better continuality of all those shows except B5. Liuke B5 things that happen seasons ago are brought up and matter.

B5 & Farscape had the same respect for continuity so that's good.

I'm a big fan of a continuing storyline.

 

[sniffles]

I wasn't a fan initially; then a friend of mine got hooked on it and made me watch his first season DVD set.

I don't enjoy it quite as much as, say, Farscape, but it's a worthwhile show. I agree with the other posters who mentioned continuity as a big factor in SG-1's appeal. It's just so nice to see a show where they don't ignore their own internal history. The character development has also been good. It has an advantage over B5 for me as far as characterization, because the characters are less archetypes and more like real people. The writers are also obviously science fiction fans themselves and their love of the genre really shows.

Two things really hooked me: in the second episode of the first season, someone dies by the coolest yet most gruesome method ever in a tv show, IMHO - even cooler than death by being melded into a floor plate in ST-TNG. And the fourth season episode "Window of Opportunity" is one of the best 'time travel' stories I've ever seen - and I was hooked into Farscape by the "Back and Back and Back to the Future".

 

[cuteasaurus]

I initially didn't like it. The movie started out good but then by the end it ...well wasn't so good. And, I was a little "bitter" about the whole Stargate vs Farscape thing. But, they've shown reruns of Stargate on the weekends and after watching quite a bit, I must say it's pretty good in a lot of respects. The "not-so-goodness" that was the second half of the movie doesn't really exist in the show. In fact, it has the same "brand" of humor that Farscape does (albeit to a lesser extent). The plot continues (which can suck when you see reruns and they're not all in order ). I don't know enough about it to "sell" it, but as someone who loved Farscape, Stargate is pretty entertaining.

 

[Kesh]

Second half of the movie? You mean, when Ra shows up? Trust me, that happens a lot in the series. They just retconned it to say Ra was a Goa'uld, and there are lots of Goa'uld out there with the same toys (or better ones).

 

[cuteasaurus]

I'm not talking about specific "plot points" in the 2nd half not coming up...I was instead talking about how the movie stopped being entertaining and the plot didn't resolve itself in a way keeping with what I thought the first half of the movie had going. It was a stylistic comment (if that makes sense...)