Grade Each Stargate Series - SG1 - SGA - SGU

[Brent]

Now that all series are over, SG1, SGA and SGU are completed as much as they can be, we can grade each one from 1-5. Feel free to post your comments about each series and reminisce in the good times of old!

(Note that the poll is multiple choice so that you can vote in each category, please only vote once in each category)

 

[firehawk12]

SG-1 was definitely the height of the franchise. Once the mythology became too big and overloaded though, was when the franchise started its slow demise. It basically suffered the Star Trek TNG problem.

 

[BlobVanDam]

SG-1 - 4/5
SGA - 5/5
SGU - 3/5

I gave SG-1 a 4/5 because it had weaker seasons due to it's extended run and cast changes. I'm a big fan of seasons 9 and 10, but 8 was really weak, and there were other points of weakness. But it also had a lot of great stuff, and built up the entire mythology of the franchise (aside from the movie, I mean)

I gave SGA a 5/5. I know many will disagree with me. Yes, it relied a lot on SG-1's ideas and recycled a lot, but for me it was also the most consistently good show. For me it didn't have a weak point at all. It started very strong, and finished equally strong (well, aside from Enemy At The Gate). Despite being less original, it more consistently entertained me from first to last season, which is what is important to me rating them here.

I gave SGU a 3/5. The second have of season 2 was a 4 or 5/5, but the rest was a 2 or 3/5 at best. It was really just winding up when it got canceled. Had it continued, that figure would have climbed, but season 1 was just too weak overall unfortunately.

Even though I picked SGA as the winner on points, I didn't vote for a favourite. I just can't. Despite giving them all different ratings, they all had their strengths that I enjoyed over the other shows.

 

[SG-17]

SG-1 was a 5/5 the whole way through. There isn't an episode that I wouldn't watch again.

Atlantis on the other hand had some pretty weak episodes in season 4 and 5 so it is only a 4/5.

SGU was weak for the first season, though it did have shining moments. Season 2 was some of the best Stargate ever made, so it also gets a 4/5.

My favorite SG series is, no contest, SG-1. SGU in second place and Atlantis last. Though by a small margin.

 

[Harvey]

SG-1: B
SG-A: C
SG-U: D

I admit, I've only seen the first season and one episode of SGU. But those episodes were mostly terrible, and with the cancellation and a big cliffhanger, I see no reason why I should even bother to finish out the series. I doubt it would change my mind about it.

 

[BlobVanDam]

SG-1 was a 5/5 the whole way through.

I'm going to force you to watch Citizen Joe, Seth, The Other Guys, Affinity, and every flashback episode in a marathon until you realize you're wrong.

 

[SG-17]

SG-1 was a 5/5 the whole way through.

I'm going to force you to watch Citizen Joe, Seth, The Other Guys, Affinity, and every flashback episode in a marathon until you realize you're wrong.

I loved those four and Disclosure as well.

 

[BlobVanDam]

SG-1 was a 5/5 the whole way through.

I'm going to force you to watch Citizen Joe, Seth, The Other Guys, Affinity, and every flashback episode in a marathon until you realize you're wrong.

I loved those four and Disclosure as well.

Then you're a braver fan than I.
My one consolation for flashbacks was that they only did them to save money and shooting time for big action episodes directly afterwards. So I'd get pissed off and switch off the TV, but then get excited knowing that next week's episode was going to be awesome.
But my theory is that all of season 8 was cheap and nasty to save up for Reckoning/Threads/Moebius, and I'm sticking to it.

 

[AJ86]

SG-1 - 5/5
SGA - 3/5
SGU - 5/5

 

[highlander]

SG-1....5/5
SG-A....4/5
SG-U....4/5

SG-1 is still my favorite. I bought the first season on a blind buy a few years ago and quickly got hooked. So i bought and watched all of SG-1 and SG-A. Sure each series had some bad episodes, but over all I loved them both. SG-U was the first one I watched on SYFY and it started out slow but it really grew on me. It was a great franchise and I will always kick myself for not getting on board sooner. Now its time to wait for the next great sci-fi series/franchise.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I admit, I've only seen the first season and one episode of SGU. But those episodes were mostly terrible, and with the cancellation and a big cliffhanger, I see no reason why I should even bother to finish out the series. I doubt it would change my mind about it.

SGU was morphing into the show a lot of people wanted to see. The melodrama was toned down, people started getting along, characters got fleshing out, there were fewer earth trips, the stones were used sparingly and in more interesting ways, a story arc started to take shape, there was more humor and some clever humor at that, etc. I think it's worth it to see what the show became. I agree that a lot of stuff from 2x12 onward was among of the best the franchise had to offer.

 

[BlobVanDam]

I admit, I've only seen the first season and one episode of SGU. But those episodes were mostly terrible, and with the cancellation and a big cliffhanger, I see no reason why I should even bother to finish out the series. I doubt it would change my mind about it.

SGU was morphing into the show a lot of people wanted to see. The melodrama was toned down, people started getting along, characters got fleshing out, there were fewer earth trips, the stones were used sparingly and in more interesting ways, a story arc started to take shape, there was more humor and some clever humor at that, etc. I think it's worth it to see what the show became. I agree that a lot of stuff from 2x12 onward was among of the best the franchise had to offer.

I agree entirely with this. I really can't blame those who gave it a fair chance for all of season 1 and gave up. But the second half of season 2 was when it finally met my expectations and became the show I was hoping for from the start. They found a good balance of the humour I loved from SG-1/SGA, the characters started getting along and stopped whining at each other, and they actually had interesting stories.

 

[rafterman1701]

I love all the series, but really SGU is the best one.

 

[cylkoth]

SG-1 was a 5/5 the whole way through.

I'm going to force you to watch Citizen Joe, Seth, The Other Guys, Affinity, and every flashback episode in a marathon until you realize you're wrong.

Don't leave out Emancipation, and the s10 Alcade must Die eppy.

 

[MacLeod]

To be fair to SG:U, SG-1 was hardly stellar in it's first year for the most part.

 

[BlobVanDam]

To be fair to SG:U, SG-1 was hardly stellar in it's first year for the most part.

In my observation scifi shows seem to generally take longer to find their footing, probably because there's more to establish about the world and the technology. Neither SG-1 or SGU had great first seasons. SGA had a good first season, although because it carried on the style and mythology of SG-1 so closely, it was pretty well established already. Because SGU was such an attempted departure in style, it started more from scratch than SGA did.

 

[MacLeod]

True, SG:A established itself in the mold of SG-1 far more than SG:U. Even some of the characters had similarities to SG-1's. SG:U tried something new and for the most part I enjoyed it, shame it'll be over in another 5 episodes (on this side of the pond).

Though I do wish networks would give the writers enough time to wrap up a show before cancelling it. A few spring to mind that weren't wrapped up in any way over the last few years.

The 4400
Odyssey 5
SG:U

As I've said previously, part of the reason why some of these shows get low ratings is that people don't want to invest their time in a show that might only last 1 year.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

SG-1 - A
SGA - B
SGU - C

I find it hard to top SG-1. Atlantis felt like more of the same, albeit more polished, but loses points for not really blazing any new territory. SGU tried to be different and was very hit-or-miss, hence the C.

 

[Harvey]

To be fair to SG:U, SG-1 was hardly stellar in it's first year for the most part.

The first season of Stargate: SG-1 has a number of mediocre episodes, and a few terrible ones ("Hathor" and "Emancipation"). But at the same time, it has a solid pilot episode in "Children of the Gods," a good three-part cliffhanger, and a few classics ("The Torment of Tantalus" and "Cold Lazarus"). It's uneven, but there's a real sense that it is finding its footing.

Stargate Universe has a mediocre pilot episode, a terrible first season cliffhanger (Lucian Alliance? Really?), and a season-long string of unremarkable episodes. I can't think of a single classic amongst the 21 episodes I've seen (including "Time," which is really only interesting in comparison to the rest of the first season).

If it became interesting by its thirty-second episode...well, I'm going to be plainly honest: it waited too long to grab my attention or earn my devotion.

 

[AJ86]

Human was one of the best hours of sci-fi I've seen in years.