FROM SCI FI CHANNEL:
RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON, CHRISTOPHER MCDONALD AND
GRAMMY NOMINATED RECORDING ARTIST, JANELLE MONÁE
SET TO GUEST STAR IN SCI FI’S ORIGINAL SERIES,
SGU: STARGATE UNIVERSE
Series Premieres in October 2009 With a Two-Hour Special
New York, NY – April 15, 2009 – SCI FI Channel rounds out its stellar cast of the highly anticipated drama-adventure series, SGU: Stargate Universe with an array of celebrity guest stars, set to make appearances throughout the season including, Richard Dean Anderson, Christopher McDonald, Grammy nominated recording artist, Janelle Monáe, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Gary Jones and Carlo Rota. The new original one-hour series stars Robert Carlyle, Lou Diamond Phillips and Ming-Na. Produced by MGM Television, the series is currently in production in Vancouver, BC and is set to premiere on SCI FI in October 2009 with a special two-hour episode.
Edgier and younger in tone, SGU will take the franchise in a dynamic new direction, appealing to longtime Stargate fans and first-time viewers alike. The two-part premiere of Universe is being directed by Andy Mikita (Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1) and lensed by Rohn Schmidt (The Shield, The Mist). The series also stars Alaina Huffman, Justin Louis, David Blue, Jamil Walker Smith and Brian J. Smith.
SGU follows a band of soldiers, scientists and civilians, who must fend for themselves as they are forced through a Stargate when their hidden base comes under attack. The desperate survivors emerge aboard an ancient ship, which is locked on an unknown course and unable to return to Earth. Faced with meeting the most basic needs of food, water and air, the group must unlock the secrets of the ship’s Stargate to survive. The danger, adventure and hope they find on board the Destiny will reveal the heroes and villains among them.
Guest Stars Include:
o Richard Dean Anderson (Stargate SG1, Stargate Continuum, Stargate Atlantis) Anderson reprises his role as General O’Neil. O’Neil is the former leader of the elite military team SG-1.
o Christopher McDonald (Superhero Movie, Rumor Has It) Stars as Senator Alan Armstrong. The U.S. Senator and head of the International Oversight Committee that governs the Stargate program. He is the father to Chloe Armstrong.
o Janelle Monáe (Bad Boy/Atlantic Records) The Grammy® nominated artist plays herself in an upcoming episode. Janelle and her band will perform “Many Moons” and “Sincerely,” two songs featured from her latest album titled “Metropolis.”
o Amanda Tapping (Sanctuary, Stargate SG1, Stargate Continuum, Stargate Atlantis) Reprises her role as Samantha Carter, an astrophysicist and United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel.
o Michael Shanks (Stargate SG1, Stargate Continuum, Stargate Atlantis) Reprises his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson, Stargate’s archeologist and linguist.
o Gary Jones (Stargate SG1, Stargate Continuum, Stargate Atlantis) Reprises his role as Chief Mst Sgt. Walter Harriman, commander technician of the team.
o Carlo Rota (24, Saw V) Stars as Carl Strom, head of the International Oversight Advisory (IOA), the civilian oversight committee that heads up the Atlantis Expedition and all funding.
Robert Cooper and Brad Wright, of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, serve as executive producers and writers on the new series. Stargate Universe is distributed by MGM Worldwide Television Distribution.
About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music, and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., Ventanazul, MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Distribution Co., MGM International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching approximately 120 countries and territories around the world. MGM ownership is currently as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%), Texas Pacific Group (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more information, visit www.mgmchannel.com
SCI FI Channel is a television network that fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com). Launched in 1992, and currently in 95 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. SCI FI will become Syfy on July 7, 2009.
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LOL
Sylvia | April 15 @ 3:48 pmLOL indeed but not at the guest stars. It’s for the O’Neil with one L in the press release :P
Osiristi | April 15 @ 4:05 pmDude, Carlo Rota is ultimatt bad-a$$! The line of great stars continues to grow. I’m stil (one L.. haha) very excited for this show. Should be a great mix of all things awesome.
AscendedTauri | April 15 @ 4:16 pmI’m no expert on “Universe,” but I thought the whole premise of the show is that the characters are stuck on a ship, randomly gating from one place to the next, and not in control. If that’s the case, how are they going to continue running into familiar Stargate Command people??
jyh | April 15 @ 5:32 pmI was on the fence about this series but now clearly they’re going the way of 90210 and The OC in space: they’re having pop stars play themselves and perform. How lame is that? Smells like teen spirit…which means it smells like sh*t.
Inter arma enim silent leges,
AllTerroristsMustDie | April 15 @ 5:40 pmATMD
jyh, they are going to use a method of communication seen on Stargate before to tell an ongoing arc of Earth stories while still on the Destiny.
David Read | April 15 @ 6:16 pm“It’s O’Neill. Two L’s!”
Very interesting that they’re bringing in Carter. All we need now is Teal’c.
On a more serious note regarding their continuing to run into familiar faces, it’s probably either flashbacks, or the action is alternating between the Destiny and Earth with the SGC trying to figure out what happened to the team. The latter is more likely.
McClance | April 15 @ 6:21 pmBRILLIANT!!! FANTASTIC!!! AWESOME!!! COOL!!! First Rick and and Michael and now Amanda guest starring…I am waaaaaaaaaay above and beyond Cloud 9 with this news!!! Bring it on!!! :D :D :D :D
Alan | April 15 @ 7:05 pm*sigh*…after all these years, they still can’t spell “O’Neill” right? Oh wait…waht if they’re referring to the O’Neil from the original movie? o_O
I’m happy that Daniel and Jack and Sam are all guest starring! Is Sam gonna die her hair blonde again? Cos it would be kind of cool to see her with dark hair on Stargate. :P
caramelmonkey | April 15 @ 7:16 pmis Carlo rotas character name Carl or Dale?
John Sheppard | April 15 @ 7:48 pmThe thing that comes to mind for me is some of them have been cast beyond the first episode. This is going to mean a) regular-ish flashback type scenes, not something done a lot in stargate.
b) Some sort of tie to earth beyond them going through the gate.
sargemat | April 15 @ 8:22 pmsam/amanda’s going to be on?…
okay, now i’ll watch. :p :D
majorsal | April 15 @ 8:24 pmI thought the premise of the show was that it was one-way gate travel.
gojira66 | April 15 @ 8:37 pmCan’t the people on Earth still dial the gate to the ship but not the other way around?
Cannot they send supplies and whatnot to the ship but not back the other way?
Presumabbly that means that earth can communicate with the ship.
But knowing that they can let earth know what is happening aboard ship but can’t return home would be really frustrating to the crew.
If i knew my kid was growing up without me but I could never see him/her again would be incredibly painful. It would drive me crazy.
Dave C.
Also it would seem to me that if the crew can communicate with earth wouldn’t thay use the MALP or cameras to send pictures of the ship-gate to earth to have Carter and everybody try to figure out how to identify the ship-gate symbols and try to figure out how to gate home?
gojira66 | April 15 @ 8:39 pmDave C.
It’s all great news, but…
WHERE IS CHRISTOPHER JUDGE?
….And As Always….
Have A Very Stargate Day!
:-))
BillieO | April 15 @ 9:10 pmI just checked out those Janelle Monáe songs… They’re terrible, I hope they are only used as background music at a restaurant or something.
TwiceBorn | April 15 @ 9:23 pmGreat. As long as they do also get Chris Judge. He is definitely part of SG1, and became one of my favorites! Hope he doesn’t get excluded!
vanity01 | April 16 @ 3:49 amI liked Carlo Rota character in 24.
kzap333 | April 16 @ 8:49 amI wonder what they are going to go about Carter’s hair?
Call me crazy but I’m going to assume that not only is that gate one way but they only have enough power to dial once.
I am a tad worried about Janelle Monáe playing herself.
kzap333 | April 16 @ 8:52 amTo me celebrities playing them selves in TV shows always seemed fake, but I’m not going to go on about that until I have seen a few episodes call me a hater if you will but I’m still unsure on this series.
@jyh
kzap333 | April 16 @ 8:58 amI don’t think they are I think the whole point is that they will be in the pilot and flashback.
RDA, Michael Shanks, Gary Jones AND Amanda Tapping! This so rocks!
And it’s nice to see Carlo Rota in the cast list- he’s my favourite part of Little Mosque on the Prairie!
sheenabeena123 | April 16 @ 10:08 amarghhhhh! They really are trying to get me to watch this thing aren’t they?
sanctuary4all | April 16 @ 11:36 amI’m sorry…no amount of stunt casting will drag me into this “thing” they call SGU. I don’t like soaps.
Pippin | April 16 @ 12:54 pm@pippin, my sentiments exactly.. Throw a hook with flashy lures (in this case, our favorite actors for a 30 second cameo), and see who’ll bite..
US06154 | April 16 @ 1:37 pm@US06154 You could watch the clips with them in on youtube and if it really doesn’t look like BSG or a soap (why wouldn’t they show that in the trailer) then you can watch the episodes on TV, but I think it will be shame :(.
kzap333 | April 16 @ 3:39 pm