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STARGATE UNIVERSE CANCELLED

Stargate Universe cast

Syfy has confirmed it has cancelled STARGATE UNIVERSE. Currently in the middle of its second season, SGU has struggled in the ratings, which, while not confirmed, is believed to be the reason for the cancellation. The remaining ten episodes will air in spring 2011.

Stargate Universe followed Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) and his team of military and scientific personnel who wind up on the Destiny, a millions year old starship designed to explore the far ends of the universe.

This cancellation means that for the first time since 1997 there will be no Stargate series on Syfy, and there are no current plans to continue the franchise. Syfy also cancelled Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica in October, making this a tough few months for fans.

Will you miss SGU? Why do you think it didn’t succeed? Sound off below.

By | December 20, 2010 | 49 Comments
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  • http://NA TMAN

    Nah, we won’t miss it around our house.

    The forumula was all wrong for Stargate. They lost us after 4 episodes. From what I have read, there where only 2~3 good action/sci-fi episodes after that. “Time” being one of them.

    I maintain that if they would have screened the pilot to a group of mature Stargate fans, you know, the ones with buying power, that the show would have never seen the light of day. (despite the show being so physically dark … i thought they meant ‘dark’ as in intelligent drama, but they actually meant dark, as in, low light. Yeesh)

    I can admire Brad Wright for trying to reel-in some bigger viewing numbers. I also understand that melodrama and feelings are a big part of what mainstream enjoys seeing on TV.

    Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for Stargate, and that should have been detected at the pilot. That’s what pilot’s are for!

    Forsaking intelligent sci-fi and fun escapist action, weekly resolution of stories is a no-go, in exec parlance, when it comes to an Action Sci-Fi brand like Stargate.

    RIP SGU, I can only hope the franchise can get a new li

    • Peter K

      I will miss this show. Not only were the plots excellent, they left even the people who hated SGU on the edge of their seats. I will totally buy the (sadly, entire) series on Blu-Ray so I can enjoy it over and over.

      And it was just getting to be really interesting, too…

      …*sniff*…

      Hope they can get another Stargate series on soon, or I may have to cry.

    • Dragonrider1

      I have to disagree with you. It wasn’t menat to be like either previous Star Gates. This was to ba darker version unlike the others.

  • Pat

    I was watching this program, since I loved SG-1 and Atlantis, but will not really miss it. It felt like it needed to be on the CW, with lots of “drama” and “lust.” Not at all what Stargate is truly about.

    I agree with TMAN about the dark part – I hate low light programs, and this was one of them. and I think it was intended to be a Battlestar clone, and failed horribly because of it.

    Again, with TMAN, if they had stopped to consider Stargate fans, they would have known it would fail.

    Thank goodness I have my wonderful dvds of SG-1 and Atlantis to sustain me. Maybe someday studio execs will start listening to the fans.

  • terp0709

    SGUniverse had absolutely no sense of humor…SG-1 and Atlantis had it, and that’s why they were successful – they didn’t take themselves too seriously all the time. SGU was too tense, suffocating, and way way way too much hollow male bravado. I wish the guys would all just whip ‘em out, measure them, choose a winner and be done with it… Blech.

    • Sad day

      This show had humor, Even if it was lost on some people because they don’t understand subtle, blue or dark humor. I laughed, I was intrigued and now I will probably not find out where Destiny was heading.

      The reasons I love these shows is because most of it is based in science fact or theory and this one was a great escape from the last 11 years of humor with a dash of action with no real consequences.

      I’m sorry but I hate not being surprised. I could predict the outcome of a SG 1 or SG A episode 10 min into the show. It’s fun for a escape but it’s ultimately a kids show, Good guys win and bad guys lose and the good guys always do the right thing. There where also never long term consequences and hardly and mental baggage on the characters that you would see in soldiers that venture out into the universe and see messed up things, until Atlantis and that was minuscule because of the fact it would only last until they fixed it.

      At least this show had realism to it. Some people have a agenda and we don’t always know what it is. It could either be to help the mission or screw everyone on the ship over.

      I love it, It’s fresh and good to see that the show didn’t have to be linear format, Even if it’s brilliance was lost on the majority I will remember this show fondly and hope that it will hit a cult status later on like Futurama or Family guy and that I will see a movie sometime in the future.

      • Dragonrider1

        Thank You!

      • Rhodes

        Thank you so much, you have no idea how many times I thought the exact same things whenever I watched an SG-1 or SGA episode. I loved the fact that there was no true good or evil on Destiny, just a bunch of desprate struggling people. I also loved the fact that not EVERY problem could be solved by someone pushing a few keys on a computer (Mckay).

        All in all I complety agree that it is a sad day for not only for Stargate Universe but for North American television in general.

  • Joseph Blosch

    The initial premise was was grand. However, the dark lighting, shaky cam, lack of respect for the military image, and shallow romance ended my interest extremely quick. Open ended plots, forced lines, and utterly no resolution to any details marked the story line as well. As a casual fan, the lack of resolution to…well…anything was too big of a hurdle to overcome.

    Then, the Syfy channel broke the series up into long breaks which lost my interest further. By the middle of the second season, there was no reason to catch back up. What was the point? You catch back up and it goes away for another long break.

    The final tack in the coffin for me was the Mission. Really? Somebody left the flashlight on at the center of the universe. Now, evolved monkeys are following the light. I believe Kirk said it best. “What does God need with a starship?” Even if there is a mystical origin, the best thing that viewers were left with involved a rehashed Star Trek plotline and unresolved weekly content with a long break that only allowed people to forget what little story was put on the screen.

    In the end, the dark lighting only allowed us to forget the show without actually watching it. The overly broad story arc was destroyed by an overly long break in airing time. We were left with nothing to miss.

  • R Tyree

    Now Syfy will have more time to run wrestling and ghost stories.

  • Wynter

    Canceling it was a mistake for SyFy. Early on the characters were rough and the storylines were very gritty and rough. But the premise and the overall flow of the show was fantastic. Those that refused to appreciate the show were expecting the quick one hour “save the planet” episodes (for those with short attention spans) and those that required Shepherd or O’Neill’s puntastic humor. Both Atlantis and the original Stargate series were great in their own right. But Universe was something beyond both of them. It was an ongoing voyage into the unknown whereas Atlantis and SGC both could simple go back to base and await further orders.

    For those that watched the series it was very original in respect to how much we take for granted when we don’t have a safe base to return to. So much of the story went around surviving early on that if you missed a show it could throw you for a loop. But other than the necessary connectivity between shows, it was an intense story with effects to match. I hope they don’t mothball it but rather bring it back in some form sometime soon.

  • Diana

    What a shame. I enjoyed every episode, the dynamic idea behind the show and the character driven stories. I enjoyed Mr Carlyle’s Dr Rush for his frailities, fully created. I am disappointed that they will be no more after spring.

  • Tippo

    absolutely gutted, just found out both caprica and SGU cancelled, that’s my two favourite tv shows gone, what the hell are syfy doing? what’s even on that channel otherwise? terrible, terrible cheap b-movies nobody watches? repeats? what a bunch of tools.

    as for ‘the formula was all wrong for stargate’, it’s not the nineties anymore mate, happy-go-lucky fun times sci-fi like TNG and sg-1 has had it’s day and it’s done. people want more darker, realist shows now. yeah, i loved sg-1, but god the last few seasons were bad, and why? because the formula was tired. oh look the teams in trouble, don’t worry they’ll be rescued in the nick of time by a teleporter so whatever. the reason i love bsg, sgu and caprica is because they portray realistic characters, not this artificial gloss which tv ought to have moved on from. if you want happy-pretend-playtime sci fi, buy a voyager box set and go nuts.

    • bob

      i agree 100% and there also crap like fake wrestling an ghost story that are totally fake and made terribly. sgu was just warming up they need another chance to show their glory.

  • Mike from NJ

    In summary, too many plot points. Too many “important” characters.
    1. Develop a overarching plot (Semi check, it got lost in the background)
    2. Develop 1-4 major characters.(Total miss here, Young and Rush and Eli should have been THE characters, not some of the characters, SG1 had a team of 4, and one barely talked, you can not run a narrative with a ship full of major characters.)
    3. Show some action (Miss, with soo many people needing screen time there was not enough time to get the action going per episode).
    4. Explore the world. (Semi Check just like the action, too much time was taken up dealing with minor characters)

    This is the same problem Caprica had, they acted like they were in season 5, where they were showing back stories to minor characters before anyone really gave a darn about them. Also it is tough to put a group of top notch actors together like in LOST. Most Scifi actors… stink. When you have a Richard Anderson A Nathan Fillion a Robert Carlyle an Eric Stoltz, you use them for all they are worth, top actors can take a junk scene and pull it off, have a minor actor take the same bad scene and they will make it look worse.

    The plot between Ferreira and Lou Diamond Phillips was horrid, but they gave it a good shot, every Ferreira/Carlyle scene was worth it even when it was trite. But they strayed from the main plot and main characters, and the show suffered.

  • Skywarp2

    Yes I will miss SGU, it had come a long way and was showing so much promise!.
    People who complain it was too serious or too “dark” have no idea what they are talking about. The shows story line is a perfect fit for a mature Stargate franchise.
    If anything it seems to be trying to replicate the battlestar galactica feel and I think it worked to an extent.
    I do agree with some comments from “Mike from NJ Dec 27, 2010 | at 4:17 PM” – They were trying to hard to make a lot with the minor characters, but in saying that Battlestar Galactica had a ton of characters you followed…..

    Either way I will miss SGU it was really starting to become a great sci fi.

  • sammy

    WHAT THE FRACK! i cant believe they have cancelled the show? im shocked, as i am sure fans of SGU are. SHame on them for cancelling it.

  • rushx

    Good ths show sucked i wont miss it

    btw loved sg1 and sga me and my dad always watched it , but my dad hated sgu and refused to watch “boring crap”

    me being too huge a fan watched it (falsed myself) and im glad its over maybe they make a better show or has sgu killed it?

  • bob

    i have to admit i though Stargate Universe was a really crap show at first and that it was so different than SG-1 and Atlantis that it wouldn’t work out. but once i started watching it,i got into it. it got good it just took a while to get good. i think they had a slow first season but i think it has just started to take off and i am excited to find out how they end the series. I think syfy just needs to give it a little more time for the show to real take off and win people over.

  • Natalie

    I am pissed as hell that Syfy canceled SGU. I was a bit of a latecomer to the show, only having discovered it while channel surfing late at night and running across one of my favorite actors, Robert Carlyle, screwing around on some spacey looking podium. I always lose track of him and was very surprised to see an actor of his caliber on Stargate of all things. I was suckered in because of him, but stuck around because the show totally pulled me in and has since hijacked my imagination. I understand why Carlyle signed on for that show… it’s epic. I really, really wanted to see where all they were going to take this show. I was so excited to find a such an excellent Stargate show (the other two didn’t really do much for me), and I’m really sad to see it leave so quickly. I hope MGM can work some magic and get SGU going on some other channel so we can watch this story play out how it was meant to be.

    I understand how this show could be a bit on the slow side for some people, but it really picks up after they get past the initial shock of what happened and where they are now. Not that I didn’t enjoy the first chunk of season 1… because I was all over that too.

    I think Syfy needed to give it more time, more support, and stop screwing with its scheduling to make way for wrestling and I believe that some SG1 and SGA fans needed to let go of their reservations and pissiness towards SGU and give it a real go.

    • Darrick

      I guess the only answer is Sci Fi Channel…oh crap, let me go back to the first grade again so I can be hooked on phonics…SYFY (See Fee)is either having a Friday Night Smack Upside the head and the CEO’s get thier pee pee hard watching redneck Spike programming or they are suffering from a mid life crisis. Flat out, the two shows they cancelled (Caprica and SGU) were not only refreshing, intelligent and yes Dark (Filmed or otherwise)and plain and simply had courage to go beyond what people that have all the opinions in the world that couldn’t be involved in the production of a show, let alone sit infront of a paper and come up with a story as bold as these two shows did could do any better naysayers could. “oh it lost me” “oh the show sucked” “oh, is the lithium and floride in my drinking water making me even more dumb?”. I guess it’s off to the vault, intelligent but cancelled. Thank you all for not watching so the 100,000′s of us can get a cliff hanger to end the series. And thank you Syfy for the continuing dumbing down participation you are doing for bringing us original programming like a rip off of another already existing Brittish Show “Being Human” and the next Saturday night original movie “ManBearPig”. I am sure Al Gore is peeing himself silly right now.

  • Darryl Williams

    SGU used the same old and tired casting and transparent plots to elicit action, suspense or drama. The blacks guys are usually eunuchs or crazy; whites in charge or fight each other for command or the smart ones; Latinos are beaten. The writing never unified the crew or fought the urge to write stereotypes in the storylines. The SGU crew only endlessly fought each other or were at each others throats. Viewers did watch and shuttered in agony. Good riddance

  • S P Henchy

    I wasn’t feeling it. Both SGU and Caprica had a strong “soap opera” feel to them, the likes of which where not evident in Battlestar and Atlantis. I was expecting a level of action laced with drama etc, not drama driving the viewing experience, (SGU more than Caprica I must say). And while building story lines is the cornerstone of a long lasting series, you still have to keep people watching along the way. I can respect trying new ideas and mixtures and thats great. I was realy looking forward to SGU for instance and the only thing that was not dissjointed was the exploation of the crew members feelings.
    Please entertain us, this is Sci Fi, the action story line possibilities are endless, we’ve already got enough soapys on our screens.
    Thank You..

  • fan of stargate

    Ive been a HUGE fan of both SG1 and especially SGA. When they cancelled SGA i was really mad and was not excited for SGU. I still decided to give it a try and after the first episode i absolutely hated it! Then i thought that maybe it will get better so i watched a few more episode but it didnt get better at all! I think the show could have worked if they used at least some actors from the other stargates movie. In my opinion, SGU was way to weak to stand up to either SG1 or SGA. I mean in both of those shows you can find similar characters like O’Neil to Shepard, Carter to Mckay, and Teal’c to Ronon. In SGU sure you can still compare some characters but its just not same. I know i wont miss this show at all, i am not surprised why it got cancelled, it was just boring and it reeally didnt make me hang on to my chair or yell “no” when a commercial started. At least thats my opinion.

  • UncleRancid

    SyFy (pronounced like “Siffy = short for Syphilis) has *never* been know to have both oars in the water. Whoever they’ve chosen as head of Programming had been a toadie of the Nielsens and not the audience.

    I sincerely hope that the a-hole in charge of SGU has the decency to end the show properly — either by the ship blowing up (hint, hint) or _____(?).

  • SFfool

    SGU and Caprica…. cancelled
    Yep, I CAN imagine greater.

    • http://www.daemonstv.com/ Eric

      Clever one. I will use that one in the futur.

  • Professor D

    I have to say, I was not a fan of Caprica at all. I think it was written to appeal to angst-ridden teens making the transition from iCarly to werewolf/vampire crap. SGU seems to have been trying to capture that same audience, and at the same time keep the original (significant) old-school SG-1 audience. I think these demographis are mutually exclusinve, and trying to satisfy both is obviously a recipe for failure. Personally I can’t stand characters like Chloe, or fat video game addicts, officers that disobey orders on a whim, etc.All this being said, however, this beats the hell out of most of the crap SyFi shows now, i.e. Ghost Hunters, Ghost hunters international, wrestling… God what garbage!!!!

    • 1S1K

      I agree. It’s just hell when characters act like humans….don’t follow the rules, respond to stress, revert back to survival instincts, make unexpected decisions or just stall and make no decisions at all. Reality of an SGU-like voyage is not always entertaining and the subplots playing out are just mind boggling…like when do we kill a transforming crew member that threatens our community’s survival?

      SGU – The dark side rules until they return to civilization. Gotta love it!

  • Foguie

    I ever so much wanted to like SGU but virtually from the getgo, I just couldn’t warm to it. Everything I liked about SG1 & SGA was absent from the new series. I forced myself to watch it hoping that things would change but alas, it only went from bad to worse. Even when one of the rare good ones was aired I would get excited, only to be let down by the next episode diverging onto a new tangent without providing any closure to the previous episode. While the actors do their best, they are let down by poor scripts, poor incongruent sets, a diversion from the original series idea of believable science. One simple issue lies in the differences between the clean design and sleek lines, well lit ships of the Ancients in SG1 & SGA to the dim, dirty, dark and cluttered examples in SGU. The list of problems that relegates SGU into the realms of unbelievability keeps mount from there.

  • FootSoldier

    It wasn’t Stargate. It was Battlestar Galactigate Unitrash. The stargate formula is a leading team with a supporting cast, not a bunch of whiny, narcissistic emo misfits, a slut bitch that turns into an alien, and moral ambiguity around every turn. Disappointing.

  • Epiclimp

    It was not stargate it was battle star under a differant name. It lost all its humour and charm stargate is fun viewing and catchy story lines not brooding actors and daft camera angles.

  • Jeff Blazeen

    All i can say is DAMN IT!!! It was just starting to unravel and now its cancelled, Just like farscape and SGA, which while slow moving and having lots of “filler” episodes were finally starting to build before their unexpected cancellation. Who runs SCYFY?? I imagine a board of ADD people who are like “oh, what shall we do today?” “What about a spaceship??” “Awsome!!!” Later that afternoon are like “Oh, Im bored of it now.” WHAT A JOKE.

  • chris

    THANK GOD SGU WAS CANCELED, now please bring back the better series, Stargate Atlantis :)

  • Sandblaster

    I got an idea, cancel the network. that whats going to eniventually happen if they keep cancelling shows. Even the bad ones on the major networks got a chance to kill themselves. So called SyFy (which means: Standby You Fired Yo) put these actor and actress to work just to put them out of work again. Next show don’t get your opinions from film crew of hold my hand while I change mind on your terrible producing skills, but geet it from the ones who actually sit on the couches and blog and sobb all day long because their cheetos didn’t get wet when they warm them up in the microwave. Those are the true fans and know what TV shows are suppose to be like.

  • Batchwife84

    Stargate was finally getting around to being and actual SHOW. Not just some nerdy hubba baloo with shit acting. So sad about this one…

  • Kevin

    SGU was the future of Stargate Series… They should have let it go on for another episode or something. They cancelled it when the actual series started. Sure it isnt like SGA or Sg-1 which i do love btw, but it had its own glory in its own twisted way that may be hard for people to understand. So i would say keep it going tho it will get more and more views.

    That i could promise :P

  • SGU fan

    I liked this show I tryed to get into Atlantis and SG-1 but both were to corny for me and the acting was horrible.SGU felt like a real show like what would happen if people actually got stuck in space.There was some stuff I didnt like (communication stones and the episode that was like Andy Griffith)but all around good show.I guys im just a guy who likes real life portayals and not sesame street happy go lucky stories.

  • Dragonrider1

    SYFY is just like the rest of the T.V. companies. It about numberrs and greed. I’m going to file a complaint on SYFY about this. Good Science Fiction cancelled but their Saturday movie selections are worse than horrible.

    • Michael Ping

      Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face…ergo Syfy (which will always be Sci Fi to me…you can’t make it hipper by changing the name, boys). And why change it? Some ridiculous focus group, no doubt. The transition from SG1 to SGA to SGU was brilliant, but perhaps a bit too abrupt for the latter 2 franchises. Nevertheless, thinking viewers certainly appreciated the conflicted characters and gritty themes of SGU. Where the other series seemed based totally based in fantasy, SGU was genuine and real, all the time. This doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the other series, but that I really appreciated the evolution of the franchise into something more real and relatable. Way to go for marooning it on Tuesday nights. What is Sci Fi without a Stargate franchise? That’s rhetorical, by the way. Disgusted and done with SyFy (ughh).

  • http://twitter.com/pfoty Paul Foty

    The thing that surprises me the most is that they canceled Atlantis to put this crap on. The entire show was nothing more than a science fiction SOAP OPERA! Then when towards the end it finally started to get decent they cancel the show altogether. Sci-Fi, excuse me Scy-Fy, you guys have no idea what you are doing. Maybe you should actually hire people that enjoy science fiction.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4J7R537NKVY5Z4A7O7N6EPU4KA Frakeer

    was a good show. Not a great show. This couldn’t have been because of ratings because there is very few places for Sci-fi fans to goto. Likely some political message that isnt in line with the SyFy owners opinions.

  • Stirewalt9

    They went from fighting the Gouald, the Replicators, the Ori, the Wraith, the second Replicators, to fighting who. Without memorable bad guys and 0 humor which has been fundamental to the franchise (Even the movie had humor) why even bother making the series. it’s not like SGU had different writers it was the same guys. It was also dark like Battlestar G. The new crew did not act like they new anything of Ancient tech even with Atlantis sitting in San Francisco bay, and none of the ships designs looked anything like the Ancient designs on Stargate Atlantis. With unlimited galaxies to explore (which it seems never took place on SGU) why not have a storyline of finding a secret lab on Atlantis that would give the location of another race of beings like the Ancients or the Asgard or how about the Furlings who were never talked about much on SG1. Take that line find some good charachters like Jack, Daniel, Teal’c. Sam, Sheppard, McKay, Ronan, and the others and have them go do what makes Stargate fun, exploring new worlds and meeting new races both good and bad, and add in humor and mistakes that lead to more trouble. it’s worked for 15 years with good loyal fans and it can work again, just be Stargate and nothing else no matter what Battlestar did( It got canceled is what it did despite the accolades) or any other show. Here’s hoping we get to step through the gate just one more time, INDEED!

  • I M Right

    Despite the naysayers, the show was good. It was just getting to where the audience had decided which characters were worth following. Personally, I’ve given up on SyFy regarding new shows. They have their heads up their collective butts. Ratings should not be a deciding factor for keeping or canceling shows. What’s wrong with giving a new show a chance to develop? Star Trek Enterprise was a perfect example of dropping a show just when it hit its stride. This is another one. One more little thing. I’ve noticed that the people who always have negative opinions of this show have extremely poor English skills. Bad spelling, grammar, punctuation, everything. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

  • Heartbroken

    I have just read through what everyone has to say about this show.
    I feel hurt, and slightly betrayed, come on people, we grew up with the series SG-1, I remember the movie, and watching those “kids” battle the “zombied” soldiers in the movie SG. so why the hell not take it down the rabbit hole and see how far it goes. I loved Rush, and I was rooting for the crew to realise that Dr. Rush was the one with the balls, and Young was just waiting to realise that Dr. Rush had it right all along. The mere fact that Chloe was sleeping with Scott every single episode that was annoying.

  • Heartbroken

    I have just read through what everyone has to say about this show.
    I feel hurt, and slightly betrayed, come on people, we grew up with the series SG-1, I remember the movie, and watching those “kids” battle the “zombied” soldiers in the movie SG. so why the hell not take it down the rabbit hole and see how far it goes. I loved Rush, and I was rooting for the crew to realise that Dr. Rush was the one with the balls, and Young was just waiting to realise that Dr. Rush had it right all along. The mere fact that Chloe was sleeping with Scott every single episode that was annoying.

  • Jmahan

    I love the show, Plus it is the only decent space show to watch without Battlestar or Star Trek ….
    If they get back to actually going to different star gates and finding new parts of destiny they can get back on track. There is so much of the ship they could have used. So many relationships that they didn’t develop. Don’t cancel the show!!!! Get some new ideas!

  • Murraycreighton

    Shows that cater to your intellect seem to get cancelled..is this indicative of the average US citizen? If so, just like the Romans…time is running out!

  • Booclause

    The show painted the military in a negative way.  No one was really respectable.  The Col. was having a affair and knocked a girl in his chain of comand.  Everyone else had some sort of issues none of the prior series showed the military this way.  They totally changed the formula and made the military seem far worse than it really is. 

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