Here’s an odd story that has come out as news has broken today of Syfy Channel‘s decision to cancel Stargate Universe (story): Many of the show’s cast didn’t learn about the fate of the show until their fans told them on Twitter.
“Crap. Just heard the news as well,” David Blue (Eli Wallace) posted on his Twitter account. “Apparently, nobody decided to tell us ahead of time. My rep heard it online. Seems they canceled SGU.”
“Look out for the back half [of Season Two,” Blue added. “Really proud of it. Shame, because where they leave Eli is frakkin’ cool. REALLY wanted to see where it went. But I appreciate all of your continuing support in all my future works, as well. Hope you’ll come along for the ride!”
News of the cancellation first broke on Deadline.com, and was then posted by Syfy’s Craig Engler via the network’s Twitter account. Thanks to the instantaneous nature of Twitter, fans were offering consolation to tweeting cast members within seconds.
“To find out SGU is canceled first from my tweeps is the power of Twitter,” Ming-Na (Camille Wray) wrote. “I’ll miss my SGU family very much! Thank you for your love and support!”
“David Read from GateWorld called and informed me,” stunt coordinator James “BamBam” Bamford wrote. “Moments later, it appears on Twitter … Much LOVE to EVERYONE involved in the SG franchise. It has been an honor and pleasure working alongside you all.”
Actor Peter Kelamis plays Dr. Adam Brody on Universe. He tweeted: “What can I say other than Thank You from the bottom of my Heart to all those who supported SGU.”
“What a wonderful SGU experience it was,” Lou Diamond Phillips (David Telford) tweeted. “Only sad I won’t see that wonderful cast & crew as often. But I know I made good friends for life!”
With the exception of Robert Carlyle and Louis Ferreira, all of the show’s main cast members are on Twitter, as are many supporting cast members and production team members. (Here’s our slightly out-of-date list.)
Other genre faces and friends of the Stargate crew reacted to the news on Twitter, as well. Stargate Atlantis‘s David Hewlett (Rodney McKay) wrote: “I thought the DMV was about as bad as it was going to get for me today … but I return to find out Syfy cancelled SGU!?” Hewlett puts in a guest appearance on SGU in the back half of the final season, which will air on Syfy this spring.
David’s sister Kate Hewlett (SGA‘s Jeannie Miller) wrote: “So … today marks the end of the Stargate franchise? Very sad indeed if that’s the case. SGU was a damn good show with a kick-ass cast.”
“Ack with SGU being canceled and delicious.com being shut down, today is grim!” wrote Felicia Day (Dr. Horrible, The Guild).
“Condolences to all my SGU buddies,” added Eureka‘s Neil Grayston.
“So bummed for my friends at SGU,” Ryan Robbins (Sanctuary) said. “Horrible news. I have no doubt that your next endeavors will be amazing. You guys are awesome. Much love.”
Former Stargate Atlantis writer/producer Martin Gero weighed in, as well, saying: “What a bummer. I thought the second season of SG:U was some of the best Stargate ever. Sad for that amazing team.”
Executive producer Carl Binder said that he learned the news via e-mail, about an hour before it hit Twitter. Calling it “like a punch in the gut,” he capped off the day’s developments nicely, so we’ll give him the final word: “Thanks for all the kind words, everyone. And to the cast and crew of SGU, thanks for making this the best job I’ve ever had.”
Darren, With no more Stargate what will happen to Gateworld.net?
I think this is just disgusting, these companies cannot be allowed to do that sort of thing. Stargate Universe was a brilliant show, it’s not our fault it got bad rating on a bad network on a bad day.
Making an announcement to the world before even announcing it to the cast and crew. Man that is a low blow Syfy!
No more Stargate ???
It’s not a reason !!! It’s to us, now, to make live Stargate as long as possible !!!
Make know Staragte to all person you know. Go to conventions, make fan-films, make props exhibitions, dess up….
French fans are very very disappointed too for this news… :-(
There has to be somewhere where we can PROTEST this ridiculous decision! We have to get someone to pick this show up. Syfy is STUPID to cancel such an excellent show! What the heck do we do???
Could the show still be rescued the same way SciFi saved SG 1 after Showtime canceled it?
Could it be that the actors weren’t told first because MGM may be looking to set up the show elsewhere and they didn’t want to create a panic among the talent and have them sign up to do other things?
Say what you want, whether you hated the show or loved it (I loved it) the way SyFy broke the news to the cast and crew is about as low as I’ve ever seen a network stoop to canceling a show. The fact that news of the cancellation and how it happened is spreading like wildfire around the internet can NOT be good publicity at all for SyFy, look at how even former Stargate series cast members are reacting like David Hewlett and his sister. I hope that how this happened will really damage SyFy’s reputation in the industry and… Read more »
I guess this shouldn’t be surprising from a network that considers professional wrestling to be a cornerstone of its science fiction lineup.
It’d be great to see some sort of grassroots effort pick SGU up and run with it, without being too focused on return-on-investment and that sort of thing. As always, though, the problem is getting money on the front end to get things started.
i’m starting to hate syfy. farscape, sg-1, sga and now sgu? cmon!
Personally I’m boycotting that channel, and all their content.
Hey guys, I hate Syfy for this too. Believe me. This was lower than announcing it at thw 200 episode party, and I didn’t think SyFy could get lower than that. However, let’s not forget to support our friends while they are still stuck with Syfy. We all need to watch SGU live when it returns to show SyFy how big of a mistake they have made. We also need to all tune in to Sanctuary to support Amanda Tapping, Ryan Robbins, and other Stargate alums. Heaven forbid Sanctuary be next to the chopping block. It’s fate is not yet… Read more »
I just found out on Twitter too from darthvader, then immediatly jumped over here. This is a sad day for all. SGU wasn’t my cup of tea but I watched and admired what they were doing. Best wishes to the cast, and crew.
sighs how low can people get, learning about a shows cancleation should be heard by the production first. not to be posted on twitter…
I sinceraly hope this isnt the end for the franchise, i hope they will make a 4th show, on another channel and also make some SGU movie to complete the storyline.
mayby some more guns and explosions the next time, since its seems to be what resonates with todays audiance!!! screw personal relations and compelling story telling!!!…. sighs
Thank you SyFail Network for bringing on more reality shows and more wrestling. I’ll be sure NOT to watch…
I’m sure the producers and MGM knew about the cancellation before the announcement, that they didn’t tell the cast and crew is on them.
Sucks for them that they found out that way, that was cruel.
We all saw that coming
Wow…I wasn’t a fan of SGU (too much like BSG for me) – but really, SyFy?
I’m thinking we should start taking bets on how much longer it’s going to be before the SyFy network collapses completely. Here’s a hint to TPTB – you don’t cancel successful shows (like anything with “Stargate” in the title), and you don’t include wrestling in your programming schedule (we all know it’s fiction, but it’s a little lacking on the science portion). And you don’t make the cast and crew find out via Twitter!
Hey guys, just an FYI: Syfy does not contact the actors directly. They tell MGM, who tells the Agents, who passes that info on to the producers/actors/crew. Carl Binder received a message prior to the announcement so Syfy did tell them in advance, it’s just someone dropped the ball. Either MGM or the Agents did, if they found out via twitter. Gateworld, please get your facts right.
It was NOT SyFy’s obligation to tell the cast and crew, it was Brad Wright & Co.’s. According to the mod of SyFy.com’s forum, the cancellation was announced internally two days ago. SyFy waited 24 hrs. before announcing it via Twitter. Not their fault that Wright and Co. couldn’t be bothered to call the cast and crew.
Please, stop blaming SyFy for everything, peeps!
Maybe SyFy isn’t to be blamed for cast and crew finding out about the cancelation vie Twitter,but it has stooped so low on all other possible levels ,that something has to be done about that disgusting disgrace of a network! Let’s all let them know how we feal,let’s be heard,let’s boycott it..their programming and business decisiones are already killing the network,they’ve already turned it into a ruin,a shaddow of it’s former self..it’s almost as they were doing it on purpose,someone has been sent to ruin the network..happens in todays business world,especially cruel tv industry.So,even that is not out of the… Read more »
At this point Syfy Channel has almost nothing to offer. I do like Warehouse 13 and Eureka, but to me they are not on the level of SGU, Caprica, BSG, SG1, or SGA. The best show left on the network is Sanctuary. I suppose it’s just a matter of time before they choose to get rid of it too. I should probably just stop watching now. I know that’s not right, but that’s how I feel. I don’t give a damn about the wrestling or the stupid reality shows. I am disappointed and actually disgusted at what Syfy Channel is… Read more »
@Alexandria7 and katikatnik: Oh please! Carl Binder indicated that he learned barely an hour before the announcement went public. The producers barely had enough notice themselves to even formulate a plan and a strategy. I mean think about it… you get news on the 16th of December, how do you think that makes your talent feel for the holiday season? You don’t just call them up and say, “Hey, I got news you’re fired, sorry about that. Gotta run… got others to fire as well!” That sort of thing doesn’t go over well. So spare me your SyFy forum moderator… Read more »
@GoodThings2Life
AMEN and So say we all!!
sci fi was too busy watching wrestling to let them know before us. whether the show was good or not makes no difference. this is just plain wrong.
@GoodThings2Life: SyFy @Twitter did damage control, true. But you should blame the person who went and spilled their guts to Deadline who brought the story out first. Someone somewhere flapped their big mouth. Craig @Twitter said something only after Deadline brought it up. So, yeah, I agree, it was damage control but not the way you put it.
But people will blame SyFy no matter what ::shrugs::
I sooooooo can’t believe they cancelled SGU?!?!?! That is just so low, not telling the actors first!….im in england and so cant protest about syfy. But i do think that maybe they will bring sgu back if everyone watches it live….maybe sgu will get picked up by another channel, like you say, they might not have told them because they were trying to get someone else to pick em up?? *fingers crossed its renewed*
I am really going to miss SGU. Granted it started off rough, I made sure my TV was set to it every Tuesday night even if I wasn’t home myself, just to help the ratings….as much as 1 person can anyway…. I wanted to see the whole 5 year plan, I really did…flippin syfy for canceling it. Tuesday nights were just a bad time slot….
This comment board is so one-sided. Ever since the beginning of SGU most hated it and demanded it get the axe. So, you go what you wanted. As is said, “be careful what you wish for”. Had SGU season 2 been season 1 maybe it would have gained support. But with Brad Wright and others simply poo pooing the fans and acting outraged that the blog was hijacked by haters, who is going to feel sorry? Not me. Sure it’s terrible the cast was not notified but this is the nature of the beast. This happens in the industry all… Read more »
Join the Facebook group to continue SGU http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=130633176989391
Terrible news! I am a huge SG fan from day one. I was very sad when they canceled SGA, now I’m mad and as I write this I am pissed. SGU started slow building the characters the way a good show does. This season is just great. My sympathy to the cast and crew for finding out the way they did. I don’t know how to break the news to my daughter who is coming home from collage today. We sit down and watch SGU together. We love Greer great job Jamil Walker Smith what a bad ass. There is… Read more »
@ Michael Sacal I recall reading in one of the press releases or comments online that the channel had legal rights to the franchise for the next several years. So MGM cannot shop it around unless they pay back the channel. This would likely be impossible for a company in Chapter 11. I’m sorry that so many talented people will be unemployed by this decision. However, when they fired Torri (Dr. Weir) they did much the same thing only telling her after she had relocated and been promised a permanent lead. They did that so they could bring Amanda over… Read more »
they controlled the audience in America but not in Europe
I strongly disagree with not telling the production’s employees before it went public.
It’s like going to the company cafeteria & being told you’ve been fired by the lunch lady.
The worst part is announcing you’re cancelling a serialized television show when you still have ten more episodes to air. Why on earth would I invest any more of my valuable time into a story that I now know will be cut-off in the middle. With Caprica and now SGU being cancelled without giving the show’s producers enough warning to even attempt a wrap-up… I just can’t, in good conscience, support anything on their network anymore.
it happened to the sga cast members as well. they had no clue what was going on.
What really sucks is the next and last batch of 10 episodes almost certainly ends with a cliff hanger, one that will never be resolved.
To bad a network like Starz won’t pick it up. They were considering doing more Sci-fi like with Teal’c angel show. It is sad how they had to find out about it on Twitter. Hell, I would love for TNT or someone to pick them up. Sad, so sad.
Some people are ttalking about it being just busibess,but the matter of a fact is that SyFy’s business and programming decisions are so incredibly bad that it is no wonder the whole network is falling appart. And it should,it should suffer the SGU’s faith,which I’m sure it will. Why,because for years now they’ve been making one bad decision after another,distancing themselves more and more from real sci-fi and real sci-fi fans,fans who understand what sci-fi is and should be. So now they are running with bad c-movies,constant reruns,reality shows insulting for inteligence and get this..frakking Wrestling!!GEEZ!! And with the cancelation… Read more »
Um, has it occured to anyone that SyFy was going to tell the cast but between the decision and getting the notices out someone leaked the decision and when that happened they just went ahead and confirmed it?
Im not defending SyFy but to say that they felt like telling the public first and then their employees later is pretty ludicrous.
At first I said I’d not watch the show but wound up giving it a chance and have watched (and enjoyed) most of this season.
Maybe USA would pick it up. They could stand to drop a handful of Law and Order episodes- that show seems to be on several hours a day- surely no one would miss a couple hours of it.
btw……Yes it’s a shame how the cast found out about the cancellation tsk tsk tsk I’d be furious and who would want to work with people that would treat someone like that?
Absolutely shameful they find out like that. I hope syfy goes bust
SGU – Possible future? I wonder if we cant get the series to continue online like Sanctuary did when it first started out? Can we do a donation thing where the fans an give money to help fule the show so that additional episodes can be made, even if it is a limited amount to give the series a chance to play out and end with dignity? I have no problem supporting the show, but is this a possibilty? If fans like this idea and support the idea of taking it into ur own hands to try and move past… Read more »
I feel so badly for the crew and cast – especially hearing this bad news right before the holidays. I just want to say again how grateful I am for all their hard work and that they did a great job.
I wish them all the best in their future endeavors!
All this story says is that some of the cast members (David and Ming-Na posted explicitly to this effect) didn’t know the show was canceled before they saw it on Twitter. It doesn’t mean the whole cast and crew. Let’s be clear here, folks: It isn’t Syfy’s job to inform the cast. We don’t know how long they gave the producers to disseminate the information, but I choose to give them the benefit of the doubt here. We reported this story because it’s an interesting anecdote surrounding the cancellation — not because we think Syfy needs to be called out… Read more »
Here are tweets from Craig Engler @Syfy, on this situation:
“Wanted to clarify, news about SGU was not announced on Twitter. It broke on Deadline.com. After getting Qs on Twitter we addressed it here.”
“Once news broke we felt it was better to address it here and not ignore the Twitter questions we were getting.”
So someone leaked the news and they had to respond. I’m sure the producers would have had time to notify the cast if this hadn’t happened. People really jump to conclusions sometimes.
All the new tech is nice untill it tells you you’re out of the job before you hear it from your boss.
Star trek was brought back by the fans, Sg can be too, GATE HEADS UNITE!!!!!
“If you don’t like the character interactions, romance, and open-ended story elements introduced to date, you’re in for a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong haul because that’s our show.” – Joseph Mallozzi
Two years? A “long haul”?
“I think what kind of destroyed the franchise, in some ways, was ego and vanity. When that element of ego and vanity that’s sitting there in the franchise right now gets pushed aside, I think the whole thing could be re-tooled. I think it’s the type of franchise that has years in it, and has lots of legs.” – Joe Flanigan
Since not all actors learned of cancellation on twitter, shouldn’t the title include “Some” in front?