Anyone agree with McKay on why SGU got cancelled?

[AJ86]

Doctor Who successfully had a very adult series spun off from it,

That's debatable. I'd agree that it had some very dark subject matter, but the portrayal and the tone was never really that dark or serious, which makes all the difference. SG-1 for example had three instances of rape in it's first season alone, but it still seems to be considered a family show. Ditto Atlantis, where we've seen severed heads and bugs forcing their way out of abdomens. I think it's the follow through on that dark subject matter that really matter, not just the fact that it's there.

 

[DWF]

Doctor Who successfully had a very adult series spun off from it, a much harder prospect for it than for Stargate. . And while I love Torchwood now, I can't lie and say season one was without it's problems. But those problems weren't necessarily the 'adult' elements, but rather, how the show seemed to shove those elements at us to prove how grown up they were being. However, by the second season, the show improved, and now, it's creaky beginnings are all but forgotten. If s1 of SGU had been better written and paced, I believe even those who were wary of it would have fallen in line, just as early Torchwood viewers did.

Again, it's not the so called dark and gritty(tm) meme that most reacted to. It's the fact that, sadly, S1 just wasn't as good as it should have been, opening the door for the visceral haters to solidify into a visible (bbs) faction. If the show had been engaging, there would not have been a fan backlash.

I'd hardly call Torchwood more mature nor is it a charcater based show let alone a serialized show. Although I have to wonder if Stargate Universe might've benefited from only having 13 ep. seasons.

 

[Checkmate]

Why don't you tell us how you really feel?

I believe I did. What, you were expecting me to tell you how someone else felt?

The term 'teen angst' needs to die because it doesn't really apply to the show. It has become a catch-all term for saying 'I don't like this show' and is extremely vague in meaning.

Actually, no, it means exactly what it implies. Particularly in the way of Eli, Drowsy McBitchface (aka Chloe), and Lt. Fucknuts (aka Scott). What's worse, it never went anywhere. Because, again, these knuckleheaded writer's have no idea how to write a real drama despite their apparently serious attempts to do so.

It's just different. It's not bad.

No, it's bad. It deserved to be cancelled, and I'm very happy it is so that in a few years some other people can have a shot at making an interesting, well-written show.

 

[AJ86]

Actually, no, it means exactly what it implies. Particularly in the way of Eli, Drowsy McBitchface (aka Chloe), and Lt. Fucknuts (aka Scott). What's worse, it never went anywhere. Because, again, these knuckleheaded writer's have no idea how to write a real drama despite their apparently serious attempts to do so.

Two men attracted to the same woman, one is with her the other is not. How was it in any way 'teen angst'? It did go somewhere too by the way, it was addressed and resolved by Chloe in Incursion.

 

[NKemp3]

Another problem SGU faced was being TOO much like nuBSG it's like they thought they could make a near carbon copy and they'd think we wouldn't notice?

Carbon copy?! Hardly. I wish nuBSG had entertained half of the science fiction concepts present in SGU. SGU is also a helluva lot more optimistic than nuBSG ever was. Moore's show never once stopped to look at the awe and wonder of their environment ... except possibly that one fly-through of the Eagle Nebula.

SGU primarily got the look of nuBSG, along with a more realistic take on the challenges faced by space travelers. Hewlett is also right about the adult storylines -- shows where the commanding officer smothers one of his subordinates and the audience is forced to sit through the whole process aren't exactly kid-friendly.

Or Psion-friendly. [shudders]

Bingo.

I loved Ron Moore and I appreciate the sophistication and tone of BSG. But I didn't care for the characters. It was too "cold" of a show for me to warm up to. I watched with a bit of detachment. I marveled at the craft and the boldness of the series without caring about the eventual outcome of the characters who populated it. It depressed me. Heck, "The Wire" didn't depress me that much and that's probably because even with the drug pushers "The Wire" was actually more funny and its characters were, well, more endearing.

BSG was too extreme. SGA was the other side of the extreme. SGU got it just right IMO. Didn't take itself as seriously as BSG but took itself more seriously than the lightweight SGA ( a show where I never got the impression that characters, major or minor), were ever in any real danger. SGU was my favorite space series since DS9 and B5.

Hewlett in the interview also said the show would have been better off if it didn't have the Stargate tag attached to it. Not only is that probably correct but that was similar to something said about another spinoff around twenty years ago. Armin Shimmeman and others said DS9 would have been better received if it did not have "Star Trek" in the title. The Star Trek baggage, including expectations of what a Trek show should be, weighed down DS9 in many ways. I can remember the Trek fans who bashed DS9. Too dark, too much bickering, unlikable characters, not enough trekking/travelling across the galaxy, etc. Not enough like Star Trek to satisfy most Trek fans. So TPTB played it safe the next time and came up with Voyager which was simply TNG light.

Kudos to Hewitt for being complimentary to the previous Stargate shows but describing them perfectly as being like "Disney" shows. Exactly. That's why I never loved those shows (although I respect the great chemistry amongst the original main four actors of SG1). Hewitt reminds me of the late DeForrest Kelly who, unlike some cast members of TOS and TNG, did not belittle the following Trek shows or dish out backhanded compliments. He could love his show without putting down the following ones.

 

[Brian]

Totally opposite experience here. I cared about the characters on BSG (it even made me cry at times). But I never could give a flip about anyone on SGU. Dull and uninspiring, through and through.

 

[Agent Richard07]

For me, it was the sophistication of both SGU and BSG that grabbed me and held my interest. I eventually came to enjoy the characters on both shows, but that took time.

 

[JoeZhang]

I have never watched SGA* beyond ten minutes here and there so no idea on the difference between the two - I thought that the main problem with SGU was that it was so boring - In the episodes I saw (the first five I think) I honestly couldn't find any reason to keep watching - none of the characters were particularly compelling and I also found it completely jarring watching Robert Carlyle in scenes with actors who couldn't out-act a pot-plant.


* I have never seen even a second of BSG so that's not colouring my judgement either.

 

[bullethead]

I have never watched SGA* beyond ten minutes here and there so no idea on the difference between the two - I thought that the main problem with SGU was that it was so boring - In the episodes I saw (the first five I think) I honestly couldn't find any reason to keep watching - none of the characters were particularly compelling and I also found it completely jarring watching Robert Carlyle in scenes with actors who couldn't out-act a pot-plant.


* I have never seen even a second of BSG so that's not colouring my judgement either.

Yeah, Robert Carlyle out-acting everyone isn't surprising when you remember the man made a six minute Johnny Walker commercial where all he did was stroll through the Scottish countryside, talk, and interact with a few props set up for him.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Carlyle has both the best acting chops and the best character on this show. I wish he'd have another meltdown, those are epic.

 

[Saquist]

Agreed. Atlantis though wasn't always a family show. There was dark moments, not like SGU though.

Lets just say then that that it was far less objectionable to parents and people of stern moral fiber.

As my Aunt once said.
"The last thing I need is some TV show teaching my kid how to have sex".

 

[Dac]

Agreed. Atlantis though wasn't always a family show. There was dark moments, not like SGU though.

Lets just say then that that it was far less objectionable to parents and people of stern moral fiber.

As my Aunt once said.
"The last thing I need is some TV show teaching my kid how to have sex".

Biology usually does that, don't it? 0_o

 

[AJ86]

Wholesome family fun!

 

[Skywalker]

Wholesome family fun!

Looks like she had the special.

 

[Noname Given]

The reason it got cancelled is very very simple: they tried to go for the BSG style, and missed. Badly.

There's an obvious market for BSG style "dark & gritty" - frakheads are still around and searching for something worth watching on TV (I know I am, what a wasteland!!) - but before you can appeal to that crowd you have to actually be able to deliver it.

Actually, I think they DID 'hit it' - and that's the problem, because past Season 1 - NuBSGs ratings declined sharply and in Season 3 and 4 ratings WERE NOT why Sci-Fi kept nuBSG on - it was kept on because it was the darling of a few respected critics and the Sci-Fi brass at the time felt that this gave the cable channel some 'credability'.

The whole reason nuBSG didn't get a Season 5 was the fact that the ratings didn't support it; and even the 'credability' angle had played out.

Ratings wise - they NAILED the NiBSG paradigm; (and maybe that was part of the overall problem.)

IMO - I enjoyed the show, and it brought me back to watching a Stargate Franchise series after SG:A had just turned me off from the concept. Yes, SG:U had some real bad episodes (what series doesn't?); and took some stumbles with regard to pacing at the start, but this season's pacing has been much better, and right now they are going at a good clip and seemed to finally have a handle on how to execute the concept (again IMO); but too little, too late.. which is a shame.

 

[Star Wolf]

Wholesome family fun!

Yes because its sex and language which hits the "family" button in America, not the aftermath of violent situations. In fact many complaign about cartoon violence when there is little or no consequence to bullets ripping through bodies or alien parasites eating their way out of our intestines

 

[Harvey]

'Credibility' never kept Battlestar Galactica on the air, and it didn't seem to go down much in the final two seasons. The SyFy Channel was certainly happy to have the prestige, but they renewed it for four seasons because it had satisfactory ratings for a basic cable show. And when the ratings began to significantly decrease, the network was unable to guarantee a renewal for a fifth season. As a result, Moore and Eick chose to play it safe, and ended the series in its fourth year (and it was probably better for it).

Both Caprica and Stargate: Universe had ratings that were in the toilet -- far worse than anything BSG ever had (barring an anomaly like the television movies, which were produced for the benefit of Universal's home video division and were summarily dumped by SyFy into weak time-slots with little promotion). They also had budget problems for young series (Stargate Universe was the most expensive 'Gate series to produce, even given the yearly contract increases incurred on the five and ten-year long runs for the previous two shows and Caprica had such dramatic cost overruns that it meant SyFy could only afford 19 hours for the money it had budgeted to 20).

It's no wonder the more recent series were cancelled. If MGM hadn't cut a two-season deal for Stargate Universe, it probably would have ended after a single season, too (although perhaps not -- looking at wikipedia, it seems that the ratings didn't seriously nose-dive until the second year began, even though they were steadily declining).

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Um guys I thought the problem with SGU was the show runners only have enough of a plot for 1 season, but were going to use it for 5 seasons at the most.

 

[Silvercrest]

Wholesome family fun!

Looks like she had the special.

Check please!

 

[Skywalker]

Wholesome family fun!

Looks like she had the special.

Check please!

You, sir/madam, are a winner.