I didn't like it at first since I didn't like any of the characters but I kept watching it because it was Stargate and it really grew on me. It was really disappointing when it was cancelled.
+1 This. I definitely enjoyed SG-1. I really didn't get into SG-A. It was OK. I liked a few of the characters. But it kind of let me slip out of watching Stargate. Then SG-U changed everything.
At first I found it depressing. They just kept struggling, a constant test of survival. Nobody really had any chance to relax and enjoy the thrill of exploring the alien ship and the journey it was on. But then... my perspective shifted. This series felt more REAL than any other sci-fi series I've seen in a long while. Yeah, there were some dud episodes, but most were very good. This show had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. At the end of Season Two, I was so geared up for several developments. I figured that eventually they'd find recordings of the ancients and finally get to see what these people looked like, what their concerns were, and perhaps glimpses of their developmental stage just prior to ascension (assuming that's what happened to them).
In reality, the team returning to Earth would find many years gone by with loved ones gone. They would be aliens to their own home. So, in all likelihood, a good number of them would stay on the team, continuing the adventure of Destiny even after establishing a wormhole connection back to Earth, or an SG-1 outpost on another planet.
I really wish there was something that could have been done to keep it alive. No way could you get the full original cast to return. My hope would be that SyFy would revive the franchise yet again, and find a way to pick-up where SG-U left off. Maybe at some point during the journey, several of the crew mysteriously vanish, kidnapped by aliens that managed to visit the vessel while everyone was in stasis, or perhaps some anomaly triggered some sort of teleportation.
Anyway... yeah. Count this guy here as still really sad SG-U suffered an untimely end.
