The newest issue of The Official Stargate Magazine is out now,including a brand new interview with Stargate SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe co-creator Brad Wright. In it Wright talks about how he and fellow co-creator Robert C. Cooper first conceived and pitched the concept for SGU.
“The germ of Stargate Universe began as a movie by Robert Cooper, as do many of our ideas,” Wright told the magazine. “We always come up with a movie, pitch it to MGM, and they say, ‘Terrific, let’s make it a TV show.’ When we were spinning the film idea, we knew deep down that Universe was really a series because it had so much scope.”
The writers did have a long lead-time to think and re-think how they would approach a third Stargate television series.
“Oddly enough we pitched Universe a couple of years before we actually thought we were going to end up doing it,” Wright said. “We went to the Syfy Channel with the idea and it appeared to be really well-received, but then a very long time went by without us hearing anything more. At one point we thought, ‘Oh, well, it looks like it’s not going to happen,’ and then we received the series order.
“It came as a little bit of a surprise. Honestly, I expected Atlantis to go another year, and then we’d either have another year before Universe started up, or we would just wind up doing a couple of more direct-to-DVD Stargate movies. Now, however, we’re doing Universe, which, believe me, is great.”
As fans know by now, of course, the third series would take a different approach to storytelling in the same universe. Instead of a single “big bad,” the driving conflict would come from within the Destiny crew itself — and, often, within the hearts of individuals.
“Both those shows were about fighting big bad guys,” Wright said. “With Universe, our stories are much more character-based and those interactions and relationships are what drive the stories. Sometimes it’s very fundamental. A murder can take place on Universe, and that could be the whole story, where on SG-1 it could be just a story beat and an act.
Brad Wright
“That doesn’t mean this series is slow-paced or less interesting, but we do reveal less all at once.”
Wright also said that many viewers seem to be surprised that they are doing just what they said they would — making a very different kind of Stargate show.
“We set out to make a show that’s not your father’s Stargate, and I think to a lot of peoples’ surprise we’re actually doing it,” he said. “Most people probably thought, ‘Yeah, they’re saying that, but they’re going to do [the usual] Stargate.’ Sure, there are elements of Universe that I feel are the touchstones of Stargate, such as the humor and people from the here-and-now, with a 21st century sensibility and everything that comes along with that. However, this show also has a different energy, a different dynamic and a different look.
“Even the Stargate itself is different, and I think it’s the most beautiful Stargate we’ve ever had. It’s the first one that the Ancients built and it has a whole new set of limitations that will make for interesting storytelling.”
Look for more from Brad Wright in issue #32 of The Official Stargate SG-1/Atlantis/SGU Magazine! This issue also includes interviews with the women of SGU, original concept art from the show, interviews with Amanda Tapping and Jewel Staite, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the SGA episode “Vegas,” and more.
Look for it at major bookstores (such as Borders or Barnes & Noble, in the U.S.), or visit Titan Magazines to learn how you can subscribe.
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Sorry guys, I’m a loyal SG guy and always will be but that said if there was EVER a word that described SGU to a tee, “slow” would be it. I get what they were trying to do with it and I’ve given it a chance, but if it doesn’t pick up by the end of this first season, I’m throwing in the towel. On another note, when in the hell are we getting a ‘SG Atlantis’ DVD movie? Come on guys, you scrapped my fav of the SG franchise and I’ve stuck with you despite the fact. Can I PLEASE get my SGA fix before Momoa is too big to bring back as Ronan?
ijazner | January 26 @ 9:46 amActually yes Brad, it does mean its slow-paced and not interesting. The writers ability can’t cash the cheques their egos write.
GateHunter | January 26 @ 10:13 am@ GateHunter
There’s a reason why most good books, for example, starts off slow. Without a good build-up, the rest suffer. In Star Trek Voyager they did almost everything in the pilot, and most conflicts were resolved in the next few episodes. As a result, the arc suffered heavily.
Most writers for traditional sci-fi TV shows don’t realise the crippling effect writing like that has on the quality of the show. Babylon 5 is one of my all-time favourite shows because it has such a strong, cohesive storyline, one that it took two seasons to really build up.
Stargate Universe is very similar in that respect. Even down to the quality of the first season. First season is boring, but it makes you want more, and as the show goes on it does give you more.
Evilslayer | January 26 @ 10:47 am@ijazner: I like you! :)
I miss my old SG1 team, I miss the team, I miss the feeling of people that have to trust their teammates more than themselves, I miss the family feeling. Nevertheless I think SGU is a great show. The only problem is that it is going/ already has to divide/divided the fandom. Which is sad because the SG fandom was my favourite. But that’s what happens when things get too big! Remember the Roman Empire?
Siba | January 26 @ 11:21 am@Evilslayer
I agree completely.
And starting slow means you ultimately can last longer. When you rush story lines they end up making no sense looking back. For example in Atlantis after 5 years they didn’t explore very much of the city, there was little archaeological discovery which ended up making the city feel small. Ultimately making the show feel small. If they had taken it slower they could have made the city much more amazing and more of a focus and really could have had more stories that weren’t carbon copies of SG-1 story lines. SG-1 never had the aspect of a huge home base to explore. And Ultimately Atlantis wasted that huge asset.
I understand that people feel bummed that Atlantis is over. But rushing the first season made the show weaker than it could have been.
giza1928 | January 26 @ 11:29 amI’m very sorry that I have no interest in this new show. I am very nostalgic for SGA, reading this doesn’t help much.
Sylvia | January 26 @ 11:40 am@Evilslayer you say that the first season is boring? I agree. The difference is that it doesn’t make me want more. I don’t care about the self absorbed characters or the soap opera plot. Ten episodes in and how many fans are still waiting for a payoff and waiting to get hooked on the show? The writers really messed up how they introduced the show and now it won’t be able to recover.
Imitation Tofu | January 26 @ 11:51 am@Evilslayer I agree.
First off I have been ridiculed for picking on those with negative comments (even though all I wanted is for those comments to be more tactful & constructive). Anyway I will try and just focus more on show related points from now on and not the generality of naysayers.
SGU is a love or hate kind of show and has mixed feelings throughout the Stargate fandom. To some it has killed everything that it means to be Stargate and to others its an interesting new direction which will allow the franchise to evolve (I’m almost certain that the same thing is happening with BSG fans and Caprica but that’s a topic for another day).
I personally fall in the 2nd category. Like Darren said on the podcast the first half of season 1 has been like the setting of pieces on a chessboard. A slower pace early on allows better storytelling further down the road (in my opinion).
For the question on whether or not SGU is science fiction I would advice you to visit this topic on the forum: http://forum.gateworld.net/showthread.php?71444-Would-you-say-stargate-universe-is-sci-fi
Now onto points in the article;
“Oddly enough we pitched Universe a couple of years before we actually thought we were going to end up doing it”
This goes against the theory that ScFy wanted the Stargate producers to create a BSG like show for its replacement.
“Honestly, I expected Atlantis to go another year, and then we’d either have another year before Universe started up”
Actually fully expected that aswell. In my opinion Atlantis did have at least 1 year left in it. Maybe if Atlantis did get the ending that it deserved then the negative reaction to SGU would have been reduced.
“Wright also said that many viewers seem to be surprised that they are doing just what they said they would — making a very different kind of Stargate show.”
To be fair they did do many announcements long before SGU’s pilot detailing in length that it was going to be different. Its not like it was just all of a sudden.
Thought in my opinion the wording used to describe SGU early on was poor. It wasn’t until the Comic Con trailer that my interest was sparked.
Tanith | January 26 @ 11:58 amIt wasn’t until SGU aired that I realised how much like a comic book Stargate Atlantis was. I like Atlantis but there are vampires who wear leather that fly spaceships… It’s fun but it’s ridiculous.
giza1928 | January 26 @ 12:17 pmI apologise for the length & the odd typo lol
Tanith | January 26 @ 12:18 pm@giza1928 I kind of agree, both SG-1 & SGA teams were like comic book heroes to the extent where you eventually always knew they would save the day in the end. But at the end of the day that didn’t matter since they both still were great series.
I personally find SGU more realistic but I wont play that card, there is quite a lot of things in SGU that don’t make seance in real life. So I will just say that SGU is just as unrealistic as SG-1 & SGA. But that doesn’t matter. Sci-Fi fans tend to not watch shows in this genre for realism.
Tanith | January 26 @ 12:26 pm@Tanith
Yeah in terms of realism these are just TV shows but the suspension of belief is so much easier with SGU than SGA. At least for me.
giza1928 | January 26 @ 12:32 pmHey Everyone,
In my opinion (and this is just my opinion) a slow pace does not equate to better storytelling. Interesting stories actually equate to better storytelling. I understand that having plots that move too fast can be detrimental to a show, but plots that move too slowly have the same effect. I have said this all along, if you are going to have a character based show then you better have good characters that people want to know more about. For me, I could care less about any of these characters which makes the slow pace even more undesirable.
I have agreed to give SGU one year before I decide if to continue with it. I owe it one year to find its footing. However, based on the first half of the season I am less than impressed with this show and find myself more interested in recording it for later viewing than actually looking forward to episodes weekly. My hope is that we see what I consider a weak first half blossom into a show I am interested in. Notice I said “I am interested in”. I know there are plenty of people who like the show, I am just not one of them.
I think in their attempt to make it a “different kind of Stargate” they screwed the pooch and went too far with it. Not only is it a “different kind of Stargate” but in my opinion it doesn’t even resemble or feel like a Stargate show to me.
I do want to say I agree with giza1928 that one of the failings of SGA was that they didn’t do more with Atlantis the city. Instead of going more deeply into the history of the Ancients, finding new and interesting things about Atlantis they went for the cliché “visit a plant and find something” approach of storytelling. If there was anything I think could have saved Atlantis’s ratings it would have been for better plots the dealt with the city itself. I do think Atlantis with a little tweaking to some of the plot points could have been a stellar show and gone on for several more years. I am saddened right now that a show I liked and had hopes for is replaced by a show that I feel is meant for a different audience than Stargate fans.
Anyway, like I said I will give SGU a chance and see how the first season pans out. It’s got a long way to go to impress me, but I am willing to give it a chance to do so.
jjs
jjs | January 26 @ 12:35 pmSorry Brad, but Universe *is* slow-paced *and* less interesting. Just because you said that the conflict would be character-based and you are actually doing just that doesn’t mean that you *should* be doing it. You’ve lost at least half your fan base and you won’t pick up the slack the way things are going now.
It seems that you people wanted to re-configure Stargate in the image of Battlestar Galactica and believed that you would then gain their higher ratings. However, the pilot of “Caprica” was more dynamic and interesting than the entire first half of Season 1 of “Universe”. It was written in a way that your writers *wish* they could but, sadly, can’t.
Pioneering | January 26 @ 2:19 pmPioneering definitely has a gooooood point!
And yeah, pilot of caprica alone, although not comparable to BSG, was better than SGU’s first half!
Btw: was I wrong in seeing a very strong, intelligent, young, dynamic and LOYAL fanbase?
What happened to that?
Siba | January 26 @ 2:26 pmI don’t think the writers are bad, I just know that when I see the label Stargate on a show, I expect a certain style and presentation and that SGU just isn’t it for me.
Sylvia | January 26 @ 2:26 pmI do believe that not attaching the Stargate label to it, but saying “Universe – brought to you by the makers of Stargate” would have been a better strategy. You could get the people who liked your other shows to tune in out of curiosity but not alienate the fans of the old shows who truly loved how they were made.
Although Atlantis is my favorite… i think Universe is great. Keep up the good job, i know that the urge to complain is so huge… but i know many MANY (new) fans have joined stargate :) and are watching the whole series because of unverse. more sale, more movies, more enlightenment: “Believe in the truth of all things and you too may find the path to enlightenment.” – Origin
lordmusashi | January 26 @ 2:58 pmWhy doesn’t this guy just admit this was modeled on the SG 200 Melrose Space parody? Gate Gals? Give me a break. I think it went like this, “Yo whitebread, which Gategal you lookin to tap dawg?”
Mentat | January 26 @ 3:24 pmBabylon 5 is my all-time fav series… but I’m gonna torch your house for favourably comparing it to Universe! (lol jk). B5 did start off slow, but there was no daddy issues, suicide, love triangles, etc. that we’ve seen in SGU. And we’re only half way thru the 1st season.. As someone else said, it’s the combo of “slow” AND “not interesting” that is the problem (to us on our side of the fence, anyway:)
Also… when has SGU been funny or had “Stargate humour”? All they do is cry and have sex as far as I can tell? I’m just commenting on this because just last night there was a preview for Atlantis, and a Wraith told Sheppard to “kneel” and he said, “you know what would be really creepy and unexpected is if you got down and kneeled” that really cracked me up and made me miss Atlantis :(
Kosh | January 26 @ 3:28 pmI gave it a shot, will prob give it to the end of S1 to see how it pans out with the LA..
Somethings i do like, especially the ship – but I feel like there could be so much more..
Why take away the action scenes that we all loved? – it’s like i’ve been told that it’s bad for my health, thus it’s banned! Surely they could have their cake and eat it?
I just hope they pick up the pace rather soon, it’s not like SGU is an alternative show to watch as well as.. it’s a replacement! no wonder fans are so miffed..
P.S: Bring back SG:A – with ALL SG:U’s good looks :)
acelove | January 26 @ 4:13 pmRegarding sex its way been overblown in my opinion, out of 10 episodes there has been around 1-3 minutes worth of ’sex scenes’ in total(a lot of which you can barely call sex). At most I would give it a rating of 12.
Regarding humour, that’s mostly been done through comments made by the character of Eli. Keeping in mind that its a bit hard to crack jokes in the situation there in.
I agree that the pace needs to pick up soon & judging by info about the next episode it will.
Tanith | January 26 @ 5:00 pmSylvia, just calling it Universe wouldn’t have made a difference– Star Trek tried it with Enterprise and it didn’t work.
While I am enjoying Universe, it is slow and slow is bad if it isn’t interesting. One of my favorite shows, Dexter, is also about the characters and the plots tend to be slow in that show as well. But Dexter if very interesting to watch while parts of Universe (and entire episodes such as Earth or Life) drag horribly– I have never had that complaint with Dexter (Dexter, the main character, is a serial killer– obviously not a ‘good guy’, yet the show still was able from episode 1 to make me want to know more about him).
Again, I am enjoying Universe, I plan to keep watching it, but I don’t make sure I am home Friday night to watch it like I did with SG1 and Atlantis. I am hoping it will get better (unlike BSG that started great and dropped off fast).
davey1983 | January 26 @ 5:12 pmGlad im not the only feeling this way.
I watch SGU but as many i dont make it urgent, only SG1 i made urgent till season 8 and SGA i put some effort.
But this may not go well with some but SG got what it deserved because brad and co got arrogant. I remember he said something about SG being as big or bigger then Star trek. Now look Sg1 ended (not well i might add) SGA ended far too early. yes yes direct to DVD movies are okay but in todays world happening far too often.
Now SGU i honestly dont see the show going past season 4. Yes they can keep coming up with ideas after ideas but thats all it feels like, there so many story lines that didnt get finished with SG1 and SGA that it always felt Unfinished.
I mean look at star trek, only Enterprise was a real failure thats because they tried to do things a bit different. Which wasnt popular with the critics. I will watch SGU till the end of season 1 if it goes the way I think it will I doubt i will watch it any more. Im only watching it now if i get bored. If the show goes down, it goes down because of the management far too arrogant.
lonix | January 26 @ 5:37 pmI love it. It makes me think about things I wouldn’t normally think about – like the first half of SG1 when they were still working things out. By the end SGA was almost an action movie set in space.
erica | January 26 @ 5:58 pm