I keep hearing how SG-1 started very weakly but got much better as it went along. Is there a fan consensus about what season SG-1 started to get good, like how nearly all fans agree TNG season 3 was when that show became great? Also which seasons were the best?
SG-1's first season is really weak, though there's some great episodes throughout it and by the end it's certainly picking up steam. Season 2 is definitely when it got good and doesn't disappoint. Seasons 2-5 are generally considered among fandom in general to be the show's golden years. I personally think the show stayed good up to season 8, though seasons 6-10 get mixed opinions among fandom. And while I don't think seasons 9 and 10 are as good as the first 8, I can't call them bad seasons and they are worth watching all the same.
I was going to say that my impression was that it didn't really come together until season 3 or 4, but I just looked over an episode guide and there's some really great, classic stuff in season 2, although there are a few duds too. Ditto for season 3. I'd forgotten how many big storylines and seminal events happened that early in the series. For that matter, I think you could say the show more or less found its voice midway through season 1. The pilot and episode 2 are pretty good, but the next two after that -- "Emancipation" and "The Broca Divide" -- are pretty awful. Then there's a run of several mediocre ones, but by around midseason there are some more solid episodes, and while the rest of the season is mixed, there are some pretty good ones in there.
There were good episodes in every season. I would say that you should watch them all, although the last two dropped in quality a lot. I do have fond memories of quite a few season one episodes. From then on it's great.
The first season has some strong episodes, but also a number of duds. I think the ratio of good episodes to bad ones improves in season two, and then gets even better in season three.
I enjoyed 2 through 6 the most. In 7 and 8, RDA cut back his time on the show and I feel the series suffered for it. I view seasons 9 and 10 as a different series all together and if viewed that way, it's not bad at all. They really should have gone through with the name change to Stargate Command.
If I had to narrow down S1 of SG-1 to the good episodes (and the ones that add to the shows overall Mythology) Children of the Gods The Enemy Within The Nox The Tourment of Tantalus Bloodlines Enigma Solitudes There But For The Grace of God Politics Within the Serpent's Grasp
I'd add three episodes to that list which are somewhat important to the show's mythology down the line: Children of the Gods The Enemy Within The Nox Thor's Hammer The Torment of Tantalus Bloodlines Singularity Enigma Solitudes Tin Man There But For The Grace of God Politics Within the Serpent's Grasp That's actually not as bad as I remembered (13 out of 21 episodes), although most of the ones off the list are among the series' worst. I suppose "Hathor" is somewhat important to the show going forward, but it's such an awful installment that I tend to exclude it.
^I'm not sure how much "Politics" deserves to be on that list, since it's a Dreaded Clip Show; but it's a Dreaded Clip Show that plays a significant role in the arc of the last three episodes and the upcoming seasons. SG1 did have a way of making its clip shows worthwhile by doing important stuff in the frames.
That's part of the reason why I put it on the list, whilst as you say it is a clip show it's kind of integral as it in essence forms part 1 of the three part season ending story(It also introduces us to a certain Senator). As for SG-1's clip shows. They did for the most part add to the shows mythos the weakes one being "Citizen Joe". Yes it had it's moments but I don't think it really add much to the show as a whole.
I tried to watch SG1 on Showtime but never really got into it. The wife and I really started watching the reruns when it was in about season 6, got caught up, and stayed with it until the end. The Replicators' storyline was creepy at the start, but when they started making human clones it got a little stupid. The whole Ori arc just lost me. It seemed like just another supposedly undefeatable enemy with a huge Achilles Heel, like the Goa'uld turned out to be. And the Asgard? Yeah. Still, it was a fun show. RDA's sense of humor carried it for a long time, and they tried to duplicate it with Ben Browder. Some of it worked, some not so much. In case no one has noticed, I'm big on the humor thing.
I think my favorite SG-1 clip show was "Inauguration," the one introducing William Devane as the president. It was cool that they got to reuse the White House sets built in Vancouver for X2: X-Men United. My one problem was that the opening walk-and-talk scenes were clearly written as a pastiche of The West Wing, but were directed with a much slower, more languid pace, so they just didn't feel right.
Willaim Devane of course appeared in The West Wing, if memory serves as Secretary of State Berryhill.
There's plenty of good eps. in the first season and the chemistry of the cast was there from the start.
And he played President Kennedy in The Missiles of October, and he was the President in The Dark Knight Rises. (Does that mean the Nolan Batfilms take place in the Stargate universe?)