Stargate survived for a very long time, considering that it was mired at the same level of mediocrity for years on end. They milked that cow to death, and couldn't figure out how to make a new cow. They ended up with a leprous armadillo that got run over by a semi, getting more rotted and stinky as time went on, until only the fans with no sense of smell whatsoever could tolerate it.I have now watched the first two episodes of Stargate Universe, which I have seen described as "Stargate Clusterfuck," and with good reason.
That's actually pretty insulting. SGU's definitely not perfect, but it hits the right notes for me.