SG-1 Cancelled! A call to arms!

[wackyfirefly]

"My fellow sci-fi lovers, the 'Gaters of the world need your support. We are at a time of great crisis as the Sci Fi channel have cancelled Stargate SG-1. The news came just before the party to celebrate their 200th episode! Of all the low, dastardly things to do! All skiffy wanted from SG-1 was bragging right about having the longest running SF show in history!

Now, they are trying to take it away from us! Well, we at Gateworld.net say let them try! They've taken Trek from us, they've taken Firefly and Farscape from us and so many other series! Let's band together and stop them from doing it again!

join in on the discussion http://forum.gateworld.net/showthrea...=33612&page=25

Join the Tissue box Campaign http://forum.gateworld.net/showthread.php?t=33666


Cpn. Chris(tine) Bowman

[Boomstick]

I was surpised to see that on Sci-Fi's website just now. The show had a great run, and the Sci-Fi channel owes alot to it. But I think it was inevitable after RDA left. No matter how good the actors they brought in were, it just isn't the same show without him.

I'll always enjoy the show, and look forward to seeing it's cast members in new projects.

[samdelfino]

Well it mentioned MGM want to continue it, didn't they? And I thought it pretty strange that they make this decision only four episodes in - this type of decision is usually left until halfway through a season, isn't it? Either way...I think they're going to realise the fans are still out there after this announcement. Or maybe that's what they want, to make sure the fans are still wanting more by doing something drastic.

Edit: Can you repost the links? For some reason it didn't work, or maybe it's my computer, lol.

[Calico]

This info from another SG-1 Mailing List. I agree that HAND WRITTEN letters will be very powerful. Stressing here that they be VERY NICE letters.
^Calico^

Announcement here:

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=2&id=37607

As everyone's probably heard, Stargate SG1 has been cancelled. I
for one will not just sit idly by and let them take our show from us.
So, on that note, I have a couple of things in the works. I'm trying
to organize a fundraiser to raise money for an ad in either Variety or
the Hollywood Reporter or the like. Also, since D*Con is coming up,
I'll have a paper petition with me collecting signatures as well as
some pre-addressed postcards if people want to sign them and then I'll
mass mail them to SciFi and/or NBC/Universal.

I posted this on some LJ comms as well as posting it here and
sg-command.net.

Edit: Here are some addresses to direct your letters to as well as an
email address, online petition AND a fan campaign. But please
remember when writing letters, emails, and signing online petitions,
BE NICE and POLITE. Being rude and using profanity will NOT win points.

Addresses:
If you'd like to send a letter, please send them to the following
addresses.

Bonnie Hammer, President
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel,
30 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York, NY, 10112

Mark Stern, Executive VP Original Programming
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel,
30 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York, NY, 10112

David Howe, Executive VP and General Manager
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel,
30 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York, NY, 10112

Also, support the show-runners and let them know how much you love SG-1
Charles Cohen, Executive Vice President
MGM Television Entertainment,
10250 Constellation Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA, 90067

Stargate SG-1 Productions
Bridge Studios
2400 Boundary Rd, Burnaby, BC
Canada, V5M 3Z3

SciFi Channel feedback email: feedback@scifi.com

Online petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Stargate/index.html

One fan campaign: http://laundr.us/

[Shait]

I just signed the petition and I will be sending letters also.
This is such a shock to me, I haven't even heard anything about this till I just came online this morning. :(






Hugs,

[Michael]

Just to round out the list of links, CNN has carried the cancellation on their main news page. Here is their story:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/0...eut/index.html

[august]

Yahoo has it too: http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060822/en_tv_eo/19824

[Boomstick]

I don't mean to be rude, and as many will know this has become my stance on all "save this show" efforts, but any letter writing campaign is a waste of time.

I mean, I love the show too, but SciFi, of all people, knows the score here. These people are assualted by fan mail of this type all the time. If it's not a campaign to save a SciFi show, it's one to have SciFi pick up a show that someone else has canned.

Call me cynical, but after they annouced they were ending SG-1's run, they probably rented a dumpster to take care of all the impending fan mail.

I have an axe to grind with these campaigns because I feel they are irresponsible and abuse information. No matter what you think of Bonnie Hammer, I don't feel people should send her personal mail griping about they're favourite show being pulled.

All that accomplishes is Bonnie Hammer never reading anything that fans send her, so anything of substance that might have reached her is now lost in the mix. Core fan communities, it seems, never heard the story about crying wolf...

[Michael]

Well, the blogs are humming with outrage and indignity over this non-renewal. It will be interesting to see if SciFi can stir enough reaction to save the show. But, really, it all comes down to ratings. They wouldn't non-renew a show that wasn't struggling.

I would like to see it continue, myself, but it's getting difficult to sustain the concept.

[Boomstick]

Well, the blogs are always outraged and indignant about something, aren't they?

I'm not happy to see it go, but after so many seasons and RDA no longer being there, it's just not the same. As you've said, Michael, it's getting hard to sustain. Especially with the spinoff and everything. As a concept it's more or less been explored to the hilt.

[ukkiller]

This cannot be possible, there are too many storylines that need to be finished!!!!

[Bern]

Wow. Just saw this. And sad to say, I`m not surprised. I`ve been to GateWorld and saw things this season about the ratings being low, and that seemed rather ominous, especially since they cancelled Farscape shortly after bragging about how well it was doing. So no, I`m not surprised. Disappointed that a genre network that can never expect more than a certain audience share would do that, but surprised? No.

I cynically agree with wackyfirefly that all SlyLie wanted was bragging rights on having the longest running SF show.

I also agree with Boomstick about the effectiveness of a letter-writing campaign. Sure it won`t hurt to try, but I remain cynical. And jaded after what they did to us with Farscape.

So is it canceled as of now or will they let the season finish and just not pick it up for an 11th? If they at least let them finish out the season they can at least tie up the story.

[masterblaster]

I have to agree. the thing that got me into the whole blog thing was when "angel" was cancelled originally. The fans did everything and the actors where out in the trenchs too. I remember Charisma Carpenter doing everything to bring the show back, then when the show was renewed, the boss fired her and changed everything. It spent the final year in a nosedive.
I think this was a dollars and cents decision and thus, cannot be challanged. It just became too expensive to make. We can save the francise but I fear that the show is finished.
I just hope they tie up all the loose ends. Charmed did, JAG did, Farscape finally did ; but I have a bad feeling that because the last show this year is written, and maybe shot, it will end like Joan of Arcadia did. The last technician off the set turned off the lights.

[sarahloui]

Well this isnt the news I wanted to see cramming up my email box from fellow fans ranting, whining and generally complaining about it, after a stressed out week, but weirdly enough it doesn't come as too much of a shock. The cloud of doom has been hovering over this season and the medicocre ratings haven't exactly helped the cause.

Ever since TPTB gave an interview on how they weren't sure how the show could continue due to money/budget I've had a feeling Sg-1 may be drawing to a close. But did they have to announce it when the show was on such a high as entering the GBOR and ariring its 200th episode. Perhaps they thought the hype would shadow the bad news.

Like a good little gater I'll sign the petitions, but deep down I doubt anything will come of it, SG-1 has ran for ten years and despite infusing new life into it, its apprently just not possible under the circumstances for it to keep going.

The franchise is a good one, they could do great things with it if they go about it the right way, and hopefully they will. Atlantis can take over the 'reigns' for a whle and maybe, just maybe we'll see a third show born from the Stargate Universe.

I just hope they can give us the decent spectacular and down right psoitively best final finale that we deserve after sticking with the show all these years. Or at least do a nice little four/six part series (hopefully with Farscapers running around the set they'll think of this) a nd tie up the loose ends whilst going out with a bang.

[august]

Yep, you have to admit, a ten year run is pretty impressive for any show. More than enough for assorted cast members who have moved on to other things over the years. I don't follow the show, so I don't know the answer to this - are the same producers/creative team still working on the show, or have they too come and gone over the years?

I can't imagine that "low" ratings had anything to do with anything, as the show remains one of the network's highest-rated offerings. The ony things that have ever consistenly done better in recent years are brand-new shows like Eureka and BSG - the novelty of a new series adds a few tenths of a ratings point, but no more.

That said, *if* some of the same creative people are still there, and some of the original cast, it naturally gets more and more expensive to keep them on, since naturally they want (and deserve) raises like all of us do.

Often times after a certain number of episodes, it actually becomes more profitable for a show *not* to film any new episodes, but instead just to sit back and make $$ of the endless reruns in syndication.

So for example, say 1 ep of Stargate costs $1 million, and earns $2 million, with a net profit of $1 million. (And I'm just using these figures as examples, not as anything real.) But let's say that a rerun of Stargate costs zero $$$ ...yet earns $1.5 million. Net profit of $1.5 million ...for doing nothing. And if a producer or studio can use that time and effort to create a new series, spending that same $1 million to earn $2 million or more from something new..... then they are working the same amount... spending the same amount...but now gettting a profit of $2.5 million total.

On petitions... I really only know of two that have ever worked: Roswell got an extra season as a result of fan petitions... and so did Trek.... but the latter was nearly 40 years ago. And both eventually bit the dust anyway. Unsure about Roswell, but I could have lived without half the Trek eps from that third season.

Overall, I think it's healthy for creative people who move on to new things every few years. Otherwise, had I Love Lucy never ended, we'd never have gotten The Lucy Show. Had Andy Griffith never ended, we'd never have gotten Matlock. Plenty of famous actors got their start in the musical Cats.... but when it ended, there was one poor loser that no one had never heard of who'd been with the show from the very beginning, rather than moving on to something better.

Think about it.... if Kurt Russell and Richard Dean Anderson had never been willing to do new projects, the latter would be dying his hair for season 20 of MacGyver (as he does in his wonderful new VISA commercial) and the former would sill be playing a Swedish pioneer in season 32 of The New Land.

[sarahloui]

Originally Posted by august

Yep, you have to admit, a ten year run is pretty impressive for any show. More than enough for assorted cast members who have moved on to other things over the years. I don't follow the show, so I don't know the answer to this - are the same producers/creative team still working on the show, or have they too come and gone over the years?

As with the cast, alot of the main producers/writers/directors etc are still with the show, most of them either split time between or crossed over to Atlantis when it was created.

At least we know that Stargate has become a great franchise with a lot of potential and surely at least another spin off series can be produced from it. We can also rely on the fact that TPTB know what the fans want and usually remain faithful to them, and will hopefully produce something of value for us.

The show has had a fabulous run of ten years, despite the fact it nearly bit the dust four times, survived the scandalous sixth season with many fans up in arms about the whole Daniel is gone, Jonas is in affair. We've watched RDA shorten his tenure with the show until enough was enough and he decided to move on, and new cast changes hailed in a ninth season.

I can't help wondering had they changed the name of the series to Stargate Command and started the ninth season as the rumoured third spin off, could the show have survived to a 'third' season rather than the 'eleventh' of SG-1.

But still, we don't know what the future holds, we do know that rumours are already milling around that movies, spin-offs, mini series etc etc abound in hopes that the show will continue in some way. We don't know which of the cast will say thats it, we put in ten years and its time to move on, we don't know who will crossover on to a new spin off (think Worf of ST NG and DS9).

Now a Walter and Siler show would be a fabulous mini seires!

[WolfBrother]

Ok. I don't know where it was heard at. But my brother in law. Who follows Stargate Religiously, heard a rumor that showtime may be interested in taking the show back.

[samdelfino]

Originally Posted by sarahloui

I can't help wondering had they changed the name of the series to Stargate Command and started the ninth season as the rumoured third spin off, could the show have survived to a 'third' season rather than the 'eleventh' of SG-1.

But still, we don't know what the future holds, we do know that rumours are already milling around that movies, spin-offs, mini series etc etc abound in hopes that the show will continue in some way. We don't know which of the cast will say thats it, we put in ten years and its time to move on, we don't know who will crossover on to a new spin off (think Worf of ST NG and DS9).

Apparently Sci fi put a stop to that; there was a suggestion also of them doing that now to navigate around the crap that they [sci-fi] are talking, and they said no. Possibly because if there was a ""third" spin-off, which is really a new season of SG-1 with a different name, sci fi would have no say. But someone on Gateworld mentioned that MGM could just not renew the contract with sci-fi at the end of the year --so they would hvae no say in SG-1's future anyway. All that would be needed, I hope, is a bit of patience and no rash decisions.

Originally Posted by Wolfbrother

Ok. I don't know where it was heard at. But my brother in law. Who follows Stargate Religiously, heard a rumor that showtime may be interested in taking the show back.

They are/were, as well as other networks, as a new series.

Originally Posted by wackyfirefly

"My fellow sci-fi lovers, the 'Gaters of the world need your support. We are at a time of great crisis as the Sci Fi channel have cancelled Stargate SG-1. The news came just before the party to celebrate their 200th episode! Of all the low, dastardly things to do! All skiffy wanted from SG-1 was bragging right about having the longest running SF show in history!

Now, they are trying to take it away from us! Well, we at Gateworld.net say let them try! They've taken Trek from us, they've taken Firefly and Farscape from us and so many other series! Let's band together and stop them from doing it again!

join in on the discussion http://forum.gateworld.net/showthrea...=33612&page=25

Join the Tissue box Campaign http://forum.gateworld.net/showthread.php?t=33666


Cpn. Chris(tine) Bowman

Hi. I'm doing an essay on fandom and i was wondering if i could have your permission to use your posts to forward my points. thanks

[Fazza]

I don't know how well this campaign really will be but I'll take part in the letter writing, that's about all I can do from England.