Stargate Atlantis CANCELLED

[MPH]

Dissapointed but not supprised that its ending, and I can also on see them doing one TV movie as I imagine they would have to dismantle the SGA sets.

Anyway thats it for space based sci fi then now isnt it with SGA and BSG finishing next year.

 

[Harvey]

It's not cancelled it's ending.

With DVD movies in the pipeline, but series production coming to a stop, I'd say it's not ending it's canceled.

 

[that1guy]

I can't say that I'm completely surprised by it's cancellation. Here's hoping that they're using the time off to get going on Stargate Universe. They really need some new, fresh ideas on where to take the franchise. It seems like Stargate Universe has the right idea, but they can't split their attention like they did when Atlantis first started.

 

[EnsignRicky]

This could all be part of thier grand plan, Stargate The Motion Picture..... Oh wait, never mind.
Maybe I shouldn't joke, the franchise IS just about hitting reboot age.

 

[witchie]

According to posters on GW, all of the S1 actors had 6 year contracts. So the 3 original cast had 1 more year of pay due them. Not sure how that works out with the show ending in 5.

 

[that1guy]

According to posters on GW, all of the S1 actors had 6 year contracts. So the 3 original cast had 1 more year of pay due them. Not sure how that works out with the show ending in 5.

EXTRA MONIES! YAY!

 

[Samurai8472]

Maybe some limited role on "Universe" and then a year later they're let go? like Amanda tapping

I can understand that that might make Canadian shows more expensive but why does this specifically limit them to 5-year runs?

maybe a 100 episodes for syndication? any more seasons than that, things have to be renegotiated I guess.

Yeah. And TV series actor contracts are usually only for 5 years (presumably why we started seeing less of Jack O'Neill & Daniel Jackson in the later seasons of SG-1) but is there any reason to think that Joe Flannigan & David Hewlett would start getting significantly more expensive after Season 5?

Hewlitt probably since he has the coveted "And David Hewlett as Dr Rodney Mckay"

btw why did he get that spot anyways? was it because he was already established as a character from his SG-1 appearences?


Also Hewlett believed season 4 would be the last
http://www.adogsbreakfastmovie.com/content/view/149/35/

However, now it's my turn to bend him to my own evil ways. I can already see him working out how to create an army of flying robots that he can use to take over the world..all for peace and prosperity for all mankind of course...but then, maybe I'm projecting.
I am officially on hiatus! We shot the exciting conclusion to season four (possibly the last Atlantis season?) and I already miss my fellow actors and crew...okay, maybe just the breakfast sandwiches and lunch, but you know what I'm getting at ;-) So now we wait to find out what if anything we'll be up to next year! I figure worse comes to the worse I could get the cast to sign Baz (with a name like Sebastian, you've got to have abbreviation!) and I'll auction him off on ebay. There's good money in babies I hear ;-)

 

[Harvey]

According to posters on GW, all of the S1 actors had 6 year contracts. So the 3 original cast had 1 more year of pay due them. Not sure how that works out with the show ending in 5.

Most shows (and franchise movies) these days try to sign actors to multiple season/movie contracts. It doesn't mean that they're owed the money for those seasons. That would be a pay-or-play deal, which is rarer, and the kind that gave Tim Burton, Nicholas Cage, and others a huge sum of money for the never made Superman Lives! movie in the 1990s.

For example, the Serenity cast were signed for multiple films. When that film flopped at the box office, said sequels were simply never made. The core cast of SG-1 actors were also signed for an 11th season. Amanda Tapping was brought over to Atlantis using this contract, but the other actors were simply let go (with no money paid).

I'm totally in the dark in how these deals would translate to bringing the cast on board for a DVD movie, though.

 

[witchie]

btw why did he get that spot anyways? was it because he was already established as a character from his SG-1 appearences?

2 reasons that I can see.

1) Established character from SG1
2) Most popular character

 

[V]

maybe I'm too jaded to say "the concept wore itself out"

but really

The Ori of seasons 9 to 10 SG-1 were a rehash

and then the Wraith...weren't even the Goa'uld. The Goa'uld had personality! But even the Goa'uld were worn out in season 8

either way, I agree with Temis that Season 1 really was the best season (though I must admit, season 5 is better than all past seasons because Weir is gone, Woolsey is actually a good character; and they're using Teyla less and McKay more)

***I mean the whole selling point was "they're trapped in ANOTHER galaxy, different from ours, its really remote and they're NOT in contact with Earth"

but after they found the first ZPM, what's the point. What do they have, 3 or 4 of these things rattling around now?

They can get to Atlantis via ship in 3 weeks, and if they REALLY need to they can hook the Antarctic ZPM or something up to the Earth-gate and just hop through the gates using the 8th chevron (or just unhook it from Daedelus if it is near Earth)

After that, it became "Stargate lite" just as Voyager was "Next Gen light"

can't we just let it die?

Can't we move on to other shows?

do we keep having to "suck away at the show until we've sucked the marrow from its bones?"

 

[RoJoHen]

^I was actually glad they made contact with Earth so early, but I think it would have been better if it had been limited to short radio communications and data bursts. It has become too easy to travel back and forth.

 

[cylkoth]

btw why did he get that spot anyways? was it because he was already established as a character from his SG-1 appearences?

2 reasons that I can see.

1) Established character from SG1
2) Most popular character

More like a good agent.

Sad to hear that whoever made this decision, MGM or Sci Fi, is calling it quits. There is still so much that could be done, so much that could've been done, I just don't want it to end.
Darn it, now we'll never get to find that blasted ZPM factory!

Ironically, I found this comment about the show in an article discussing the success cable networks have had this summer...

Wakshlag said DVR viewing plays a significant factor in the final ratings for many cable shows. The series that gets the most boost in the 18-49 demo from DVR playback is Sci Fi Channel's "Stargate: Atlantis," which on average doubles its numbers when factoring in Live+7 data. Other shows that see big DVR-fueled ratings boosts are Bravo's "Project Runway," which typically rises by 73%; "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" (68%); and Sci Fi's "Eureka" (60%).

Summer of Cable Love

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Sorry, fans have declared SCIFI dead or dying since about three months after it started transmitting. Ain't happening any time soon - they'll generate more programming of one kind or another as they always have.

Sci-Fi Channel = the COBOL of television programming.

That would be CBS - old, ungainly, and everyone who cares about it has one foot in the grave...but it ain't going nowhere.

 

[Ro_Laren]

Sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I always liked SGA better than SG1. The show has good eye candy!

 

[Captain Shaw]

Mallozzi just posted this on his blog.
Regardless of whether we got the pick-up or not, we had always planned a clean conclusion to our 100th episode, one that would hopefully leave fans satisfied yet eager for more. And that “more” will come in the form of the Stargate Atlantis movie…

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Who would have thought that the Enemy at the Gate would be......MGM/SG-1 DVD Movie Sales?

Which is a shame because I think that the premise works terriffically as a weekly series but the 2 direct to video movies have left me distinctly unimpressed. ("The Ark of Truth" gave us yet another piece of deus ex machina Ancient tech to save the day. "Continuum" was a slightly improved rehash of "Mobius.") Here's hoping that the Atlantis movies offer something more interesting.

 

[Samurai8472]

Mallozzi just posted this on his blog.
Regardless of whether we got the pick-up or not, we had always planned a clean conclusion to our 100th episode, one that would hopefully leave fans satisfied yet eager for more. And that “more” will come in the form of the Stargate Atlantis movie…

interesting change when only last week it was reported the last episode would be a cliffhanger

The last episode will end on a cliffhanger

http://gateworld.net/news/2008/08/iatlantisi_finale_is_enemy_at_th.shtml

The show's writers have previously confirmed that this season will end on a cliffhanger, regardless of whether or not the SCI FI Channel decides to pick up Atlantis for a sixth year. (That decision should be announced some time in the fall.) Should the show fail to be renewed, a direct-to-DVD Atlantis movie is likely.

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com

By now, I assume you’ve all heard the news. This will be Stargate Atlantis’s fifth and final season. I’m disappointed but not surprised. We came into this year knowing that renewal would be a longshot. With 100 episodes under our belts, rising production costs, and the US dollar’s steep decline, the odds were stacked against us. Still, we’d heard no definite word either way and if SG-1’s surprising 10-year run taught us one thing, it’s that anything is possible. The circumstances that contributed to SG-1’s longevity were very different but, back then, we hadn’t expected it to get a sixth season pick-up either. Furthermore, with our strong premiere numbers and the equally impressive showing of the ensuing episodes, some of us were, if not exactly upbeat, then cautiously optimistic. We watched. We waited. And, finally, received word the other day.

We told the cast first, then headed down to set and broke the news to the crew. These are people who have given so much of themselves over the show’s five-year run and we felt it only right that they hear it from us rather than finding out about it elsewhere.

It’s been a bittersweet couple of days. On the one hand, I’m sorry to see the series end but, on the other hand, I’m extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished. 100 episodes is pretty damn impressive feat and, as evidenced by the quality of recent stories and the uptick in the ratings, we’ll be going out on a high. Even though I see a lot of anger directed at both MGM and Sci Fi, the fact is we couldn’t have done it without their support. And we’re going to count on that support as Atlantis continues its adventures as a movie franchise.

Episode 20, Enemy at the Gate, will mark our 100th episode and, contrary to online speculation, we will not be ending things with a cliffhanger. Regardless of whether we got the pick-up or not, we had always planned a clean conclusion to our 100th episode, one that would hopefully leave fans satisfied yet eager for more. And that “more” will come in the form of the Stargate Atlantis movie…



About a month ago, with so much uncertainty about the future of the series, Rob Cooper pitched out the idea of shooting the SGA movie at the end of this season. His thinking was that if the series did end, we would have a movie in hand. If, however, the series was picked up, the “SGA movie” (codenamed Project Twilight) would simply become the opening two episodes of the show’s sixth season. Alas, this notion never got past the consideration stage and, as a result, we won’t be rolling right into it as planned. On the bright side, however, the network has greenlit the movie and we do have a terrific idea in mind. Obviously, I can’t say much about it at this point but suffice it to say that it should include the entire cast in addition to a certain gaunt and pallid flowing-locked guest star. And, if it proves anywhere as successful as the first two SG-1 direct-to-video features, you can be assured that this will be the first in a long, long line of Stargate Atlantis movies.

Like my grandmother used to say: Whenever a gate closes, a hyperspace window opens…

could that be todd?

 

[Kirby]

Wow, I don't check in one day and all hell breaks loose. I don't know what to think. Atlantis was inconsistent enough to warrant the cancellation, but this season seems to have hit a pretty good stride.
I hope Universe, or whatever the hell it is, will be good. Maybe they can take the lessons learned from problems they've had with Atlantis and keep it on an even keel.

That said, this now frees up more money for the Saturday night movies. I'm hoping for Mansquito II. Mansquito just left too many unanswered questions...

 

[Dream]

Stargate Universe sounds like a bad Voyager knock off to me.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Well, that's still better than the absolute rating plummet that Star Trek: Voyager did after its first few episodes.

Not really.

"Voyager" dropped off after one or two weeks, yes, same as DS9 - people sample new shows and a certain number move on. In fact "Voyager's" drop over the course of its first year was less steep than DS9's, and both shows declined on similar curves for their seven year runs.

The lowest ratings "Voyager" got - which were in its seventh year - were around the threes, about the same as the "Star Gate Atlantis" premiere numbers. Similarly, "Enterprise's" ratings didn't fall to SG-A levels until its third season.