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Robert Carlyle speaks about Universe

That's right, they did say SG-A would be darker, we all know how that turned out

It was darker than SG1 and here it's the lead of the show talking about how dark the show is and he wasn't comparing it to the other shows.
 
I wish they had kept Atlantis to be the happy show and hired new writers for Universe to make it dark like they want. I just don't think the same old people behind Stargate will produce anything ground-breaking. Deaths don't equal dark. Are all the big names they announced going to die?
 
That's right, they did say SG-A would be darker, we all know how that turned out

It was darker than SG1 and here it's the lead of the show talking about how dark the show is and he wasn't comparing it to the other shows.

Yes. Atlantis was darker before the Daedalus showed up. IMO Atlantis became another show after they got the ZPM and the Daedalus to save them. Those elements should have been introduced much later. However, to credit of TPTB, they didn't know SG-1 would be picked up for another season. I can see them introducing the Daedalus because otherwise they might be decommisioning the Prometheus sets.
 
Funny how I recall that once upon a time, they were saying that SG:A would be "dark" too. ;)

It was relatively dark before the cheap resolution of the season one cliffhanger. After that the darkness only seeped in when they had to get rid of yet another actor/actress, and then it was quickly abandoned.

So, given that track record, maybe we'll get a great first season before they return to Earth and the entire show goes down the tubes?
 
That's right, they did say SG-A would be darker, we all know how that turned out

It was darker than SG1 and here it's the lead of the show talking about how dark the show is and he wasn't comparing it to the other shows.

Yes. Atlantis was darker before the Daedalus showed up. IMO Atlantis became another show after they got the ZPM and the Daedalus to save them. Those elements should have been introduced much later. However, to credit of TPTB, they didn't know SG-1 would be picked up for another season. I can see them introducing the Daedalus because otherwise they might be decommisioning the Prometheus sets.

How does being out of contact with earth mean the show was dark? They were never meant to stay out of contact with earth. That didn't prevent the wraith from learning about the location of earth, the city was put in danger and had to be moved, Weir was turned into a replicator. There was plenty of darkness on Atlantis, it wasn't a safe place to work or live for that matter.If it were there'd be nothing to do each week.
 
I must admit, I'm not broken up at all over Atlantis' cancellation. The show lost my attention after the first season, and was teetering on abysmal in the last season I saw (the fourth).

Universe has caught my interest, but we'll see. For the writers of Universe to create a dark, adult show they will have to go against almost everything they've been doing for fifteen seasons of television. We'll see if it works, and, by the chance that it does, we'll see if there's an audience for that kind of Stargate.

I agree there. A dark Stargate show could be very intriguing and I'd love to see it but I'm not sure if they can pull it off.

STARGATE needs more hot chics and more sex...thats all..

Rob
 
These writers have missed the boat for "dark." Cynicism is dying out. Angst is no longer part of the cultural zeitgeist. BSG was very much a show for the Bush years where we were scared of our neighbors and our mail. As we move into the era of hope the show should try to be ahead of it's time not behind it. This show should be character based, fun and edgy like Burn Notice or Leverage. BSG is ended at exactly the right time because it's not any darker or nihilistic than it's always been, it's just that we've changed and have grown tired of the darkness.
 
It was darker than SG1 and here it's the lead of the show talking about how dark the show is and he wasn't comparing it to the other shows.

Yes. Atlantis was darker before the Daedalus showed up. IMO Atlantis became another show after they got the ZPM and the Daedalus to save them. Those elements should have been introduced much later. However, to credit of TPTB, they didn't know SG-1 would be picked up for another season. I can see them introducing the Daedalus because otherwise they might be decommisioning the Prometheus sets.

How does being out of contact with earth mean the show was dark? They were never meant to stay out of contact with earth. That didn't prevent the wraith from learning about the location of earth, the city was put in danger and had to be moved, Weir was turned into a replicator. There was plenty of darkness on Atlantis, it wasn't a safe place to work or live for that matter.If it were there'd be nothing to do each week.

I don't mean being out of contact was the reason it was dark. However, their Limited Resources made the characters more dark. The situation became more dire on Atlantis every episode. The losing battle from The Siege parts I and II. The protagonists killing POW (twice). Nearly having the city destroyed in The Storm/The Eye. The Wraith seemingly everywhere. It wasn't as dark as BSG, but that doesn't mean it wasn't dark.

After the Daedalus and the ZPM were introduced, the number of challenges were reduced. Threat from the Wraith was reduced. The expedition didn't need to worry about being recrewed, resupplied, or replenished with power. Vacation on Earth was only a few seconds away by Stargate. This made the show less dark because there were fewer challenges to the characters.

Dark, to me, means characters have to make choices about the lesser of evils given dire circumstances. This comes about from a lack of resources to meet the critical problems faced by them. Even if that choice is simply to come to terms with the issue rather than solve it (as the BSG characters eventually had to come to terms with the realization about Earth). Take those challenges away, and you have a less dark show.
 
The formula for a "dark show" is REALLY easy.

Make the characters likable then force them to do despicable things. That's all there is to it.
 
As we move into the era of hope

:guffaw: :guffaw:

If shows are going to be that rooted in the time period they're made in this ship better have long corridors for the lines of people at the soup kitchen.

You prove my point. People aren't hopeful when times are good. We are selfish.

If you pay attention to history when times are tough entertainment becomes a bigger outlet for escapism. The last time economic times were this bad, the early 80s, movies, TV, music all became less reflective of the times and more cheestastic fantastic. The same shift will occur in the couple of years. If Stargate wanted dark and broody, Atlantis the time for it because 2004 was when shows like BSG, The Wire, The Shield, Six Feet Under were in vogue.
 
I still can't believe they're calling this series Stargate "Universe"

Talk about fanboysishly cheesy.
 
There's a lot of interesting points here; I'd be more interested in a 'dark' Stargate than 'just another' Stargate, but equally, it might be coming in the wrong order: I can see the argument that Atlantis should have built on the harder aspects of its initial concept, so that now a new Stargate seris could be more escapist.
But Atlantis didn't, not really, and a new series has to be different to be more interesting than the 300-plus episodes we've all got on DVD.
My one reason for trying Universe is that Robert Carylye is in it; but then my one reason for trying Enterprise was that I didn't think Scott Bakula would be doing it if it was just going to be more of the same...
 
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