Syfy Channel may have cancelled Stargate Universe (story), but fans of the series aren’t letting the show go down without a fight.
Fans have organized a number of campaigns and petitions to show their support of the show. “Save SGU“ on Facebook and Twitter has emerged in recent weeks as the most organized, though no Web site has appeared yet at the registered domain SaveSGU.com. A Twitter account and website for SG:Unite have begun more recently.
One petition has 3,500 digital signatures so far. Another hopes to “spread the love” for Stargate Universe with — amongst other actions — a Valentine’s Day card campaign.
Just what can fans who participate in such a campaign hope for its effectiveness? Of course there are success stories, including Firefly (which got a moderate budget film, Serenity) and Jericho (which got a 7-episode second season). But for every success, there are far more disappointments.
Fans fought for a sixth year of the Joss Whedon’s Buffy spinoff Angel after the now-defunct WB Network cancelled it in 2004. But even when fans united by organizing letter-writing campaigns, online petitions, blood and food drives, advertisements in trade magazines and via mobile billboards, the network never budged. Pushing Daisies on ABC. Wonderfalls on FOX. The syndicated Legend of the Seeker. The list of quality genre series that were denied a stay of execution goes on and on.
Will the fan outpouring and support have any effect in the case of SGU? It’s difficult to say at this point. Even executive producer Joseph Mallozzi has been quoted as calling the prospects of a third season of the series as “the longest of longshots.” But the producer also remains both positive and coy in terms of some sort of continuation of the story. An update on Mallozzi’s blog last week states there is reason to keep hope alive.
“Nothing definite as of yet to report but a minor hurdle was cleared,” Mallozzi states in the blog. “Quite a few hurdles still lie ahead and there’s always the chance it might all be for naught – but right now, things are looking positive.”
Keep your browser locked to GateWorld for more updates as they occur!
(Additional reporting by Darren Sumner)
(Special thanks to Marjorie Roden for the tip)
Thanks for linking to us! :).
I’ve still got hope for a third season. Even if it’s a shorter season, as long as it wraps up the main points, I’ll be happy.
-Chris
I don’t that there’s gonna be a third season. The fanbase is so rifted and SyFy is more in to wrestling, disappointing fans, and getting their shows cancelled these days. I just hope that another channel(preferably one that lives up to its name) takes over broadcasting the show. What we need is a miracle. Nothing less will do.
And I don’t think that SyFy(isn’t it combined with NBC or something?) will listen to anything else but $w€€£ old currency. What we need is a gazillion billion dollars.
Jauh0, it may only require $15 million as Brian J. Smith pointed out, but I’m not sure if he made that number up or if that’s the actual amount that is needed. Still, that’s a lot.
Source: http://twitter.com/BrianJacobSmith/status/28753238966673408
I cannot see a 3 season it not putting the rating and it not even a great show, it has got better in season 2 but the damage was already done and with the “we not making SG:A movies because u did not watch SG:U (i have watch all SGU)” I’ve lost all respect for these people
No offense, but why did you need a tip from the organiser of the Spread The Stargate Love campaign for you to report on all these efforts? Even the most casual of fan couldn’t have missed all the twitter and facebook activity, as the various websites that have sprung up.
Shocking then that a site promoting itself as the “complete” Stargate resource either didn’t notice, or couldn’t be bothered to report on it.
What we really need is a cable network dedicated to airing science-fiction programs.
Craig Engler (@Syfy on twitter) a senior executive at Syfy has stated many times that such petitions and campaigns simply do not work anymore because every show that gets canceled does this. And in the end, it really doesn’t work as Firefly and Jericho have unfortunately shown. On top of that, for every show that gets canceled people go to Syfy and ask if they are going to pick it up, which they don’t do anymore. All the people signing these are the same people who already watch the show and therefor they don’t matter, if you want this show… Read more »
I hate Syfy they are just wrong I think people should just defect from them not use them at all
While I’m not 100% convinced we’ll not see SGU in SOME form next season yet, I’m also not holding my breath that these campaigns will do any good, because the only times I’ve ever seen them work in modern times in any form is with Firefly and Farscape. I’m starting to resign myself to the fact that not only will there not be any Stargate on TV next season but that in general there might not be much genre programming on networks at all next season, except for The Walking Dead and Dr. Who and maybe a few shows on… Read more »
I can understand when this happened for SG-1 and Atlantis but I’m surprised that it’s happening for Universe. I’ve been a Stargate fan from the beginning and was upset when SG-1 and Atlantis were cancelled but I haven’t really cared that Universe got cancelled.
First off, I’d like to pick up the problem with the SGUnite campaign. It’s a death dealer…and obviously people who do not know the way things work. Their tip about contacting any other networks. Even IF (and it’s a big IF) another channel didn’t know SGU is cancelled a simple search would reveal it. Amatuers! As for the cancellation and fan response to it. I’d like to make a plee: DO NOT FIGHT THE CANCELLATION! Now, I am a fan of SG:1 SG:A and I actually thought that SG:U was okay. It was by no means great and certainly didn’t… Read more »
Any new stargate would be great
I’m hoping that we can at least get a mini-series to wrap up the show. Anything beyond that would be gravy.
@wnelson I’m not sad to see SGU go either but… Sure it’s possible to make shows on a smaller budget. But if networks can make several million dollars from airing an episode (advertising etc.) then smaller budget shows just mean lower quality viewing for us and more profit for the networks. That’s why we’re plagued with so much “reality” television. In SGU’s case budget is a big issue because the viewership isn’t big enough to warrant the 2 million they spend on making each episode. SG-1 and SGA had smaller budgets and more viewers so they’ve really gone backwards financially.… Read more »
Not a chance, guys. Come on. Enough is enough. SGU is a toxic product, nobody is gonna touch it. I’ll be amused to be proved wrong.
@ngreen I actually wasn’t necessarily referring to traditional TV. A lot of good creative stuff is coming out from the edges these days. I could list 9 or 10 good shows that could be made on a tiny budget, but be the same quality that we are used to. Sanctuary is one of those. In fact that’s where it started (small budget web-tv show). The Guild, Carpool, Anyone but Me, David Michell’s Soapbox, Re-invent the Wheels…there is something for everyone and all good “traditional TV quality”. I personally think that web TV shows will become the pilots of the future…the… Read more »
They should never have cancelled Atlantis for SGU. I bet they’re feeling dumb now.
Some of you may be surprised that there’s a fan base fighting to save SGU just like the SGU fanbase was surprised that gate fans and fans of science fiction in general didn’t give more suport to SGU which was clearly superior to the previous two SG shows. Why would you make a plea for people not to show support their show. Whether it’s futile or not it’s our choice to show our support and let the writers/producers and actors know that they got it right and that science fiction fans appreciate their ground breaking work.
@wnelson For quality you need people. Just look at few low budget films on “that channel”. Lower the budget and lower the number of people working on something and you’ll inevitably end up with something that people will not watch more than a few minutes of, science fiction is notoriously expensive for quality and in the case of SGU I think worth every penny.
It’s nice to see Gateworld is still the bedrock of positive thinking as always… >:(
Good luck guys. For everyone’s sake. (Myself included.)
@wnelson The best chance to continue SGU in some form is while the sets are still standing. Once these are demolished the revival cost bar is raised a lot higher. The existing SGU sets are a sunk cost. I expect that nearly 90% of the current per episode costs are personnel costs in one form or another. Getting these down to a point where revenue exceeds cost of goods sold is the key to restoring profitability. “Traditional studios now have too much bloat slim them down and cut the fat.” MGM’s recent journey through Chapter 11 bankruptcy might have engendered… Read more »
@bellboy: For the sake of our mental health.
btw, has anyone noticed that if you say anything bad about SGU on this site, it get’s cencored?
@Skiznot The show barely had any Sci-Fi at all to be honest. It was more of a drama driven show than Sci-Fi.
@wnelson
Yes, I’m planning to update the plan tomorrow, thanks for reminding me.
I know that emailing SyFy won’t help. Telling them they’ve made the right decision won’t help either though.
Also, I think you meant $750,000 per season, not $75,000, right? :P
-Chris
@Jauh0
I wrote several bad things about SGU and it wasn’t censored.
The Star Gate franchise possesses one other advantage held by few other shows. This an immense reservoir of institutional goodwill in the US Air Force and the US Department of Defense in general.
It’s intangible but “goodwill” has long been recognized as a real asset for accounting purposes. (except by NBC, which has no goodwill from anyone anywhere).
@Chevron Atlantis So what you’re saying is that it was a Sci-fi Drama show instead of Sci-fi Adventure?
Fellow fans, please read and follow my Shorty Awards Battle Plan: http://on.fb.me/dJP39F
@Chevron Atlantis. Fans of Astronomy find plenty of sci-fi. Tidally locked planets, gas giants, exo-bological speculation, binary pulsars, the cosmic microwave background. The hole premise was about surviving in words where humans didn’t evolve. If you don’t consider exploration of astronomy first hand via ftl science fiction then I don’t know what science fiction is. The core of SGU was exploring what’s out there.
I could see a TV movie, or 2 part mini-series being done to wrap up SGU’s storyline. If they brought in some SG1 and SGA characters to help bring home Destiny’s crew, it could even be billed as a sweeps-week Stargate extravaganza. But continuing SGU as a series? Not a chance. It just wasn’t popular.
ah this place is a mess.
the guys at syfy said that petitions won’t bring back sgu just stop fighting. quit beating a dead horse.
AFAIK, the only show that went to a different network successfully was The Game – from the CW to BET, setting a cable record. Even Medium was flopping on CBS and they kept it stubbornly on air only because it was an in-house production and they got money from syndication. Jericho and Firefly – yes, they got a closure but the closure was a flop too. See Jericho’s ratings and Serenity’s box office failure. Which proves that even when a petition works, the end product doesn’t – when a show gets canceled, it usually (SGA aside) gets canned because nobody’s… Read more »
A little note on censorship:
1) You’re welcome to criticize the show(s) and TPTB, if it is stated respectfully. What we edit or delete are words like “crap,” “s**t,” “stupid,” “morons,” “idiots,” etc. Just state your opinions with respect, and it’ll probably make it through just fine.
2) When you post here you agree to follow GateWorld’s comment rules. If your post is edited or deleted, frankly, it’s on you.
Let’s face it,tne best petitions for any show are the frakin ratings!And the populus has spoken.Regretably,sci-fi has always been the avangard and as such,not part of the main stream.Also the fact is that many of the people that’d been posting here talking about SGU not being the real sci-fi,really just want ass kicking action,gunfights between bad guys and the good guys,just like westerns.And when any sort of depth to the characters,or god forbid tnree dimensions occure.,any kind of shades of gray,they cry soap opera!Of course that tney don’t understand even what soap opera is,not to mention sci-fi.But the thing is,we… Read more »
Let’s face it,the best petitones for any tv show are the ratings..and the populus has spoken!Regretably,we’re all at the mercy of the masses and we know what masses always had represented in history..masses,mainstream..never was a synonyme for quality.So many of the people who had posted here are the representatives of those masses that took way our show?from us and that is the fact.I’m talking about the people who immediately start crying,soap opera,whenever any hint of the depth of character,or shade of gray appears,instead of black and white but kicking action between the bad guys and our perfect heroes..ha! the real… Read more »
I do like SGU, but I’m more interested in the Save the Movies campaign
No offence to SGU fans, but personally, I would rather see save the SGA or like Jedi_Master_Bra’tac said – save the movies campaign! Can we organize one of those?! :)
I hope all actions of the fans will help keep SGU. But watching the series is best thing to do and will keep ratings higher. And I dont think the ratings were to great and so SGU moved to Friday wich means not a long live unfortunetly.I read about Fringe tv series and thats another channel (network) but they also put it on the Friday and that means oh no people watch or its out with Fringe. So its not only syfy who does it with series they have on their channel.so SGU to another network? I dont think it… Read more »
Just wondering, why can’t syfy make a Stargate movie and show it on their Saturday night time slot? Nobody in the cast and crew of all three shows want to go to Bulgaria? I believe that’s the country of choice to make cheap movies for syfy.
Also, I think now is a good time for a Stargate UK series.
What if all of us, that want the show to continue, each donated $10 to cover the the SyFy cost. Would that work to get it going again?
This will do no good. It’s a waste of time. If I wanted to waste time and effort, I’d lobby for the SGA movie. There’s the same amount of likelihood of that happening.
There is a SG1 and SGA movies campaign.
http://www.stargatemoviescampaign.com/
Unfortunately I think it is a waste of time. Online campaigns are usually not successful. But feel free to participate, if you want. ;-)
@axcel1: Because SyFy doesn’t own the rights for SG. They already do own the airing rights for the SGA movie but MGM just isn’t delivering. Blame MGM, not SyFy.
Why do fans wait until after a show is canceled to do this?
It’s much easier to “save” a series before the decision is made until after.
It was obvious from watching the ratings last spring that the show was in trouble.
But, fans were in denial and did very little, if anything, to lift the show’s ratings and revenue.
Maybe they’ll learn: watch the ratings, folks. When anyone says they’re “not good”, kick in your campaign.
@MediaSavant SGUAwareness (Which originated on a GW thread) tried back in September but most fans don’t pay attention to ratings sadly. On a lot of shows the bulk of fans don’t know that it’s in danger until its gone. We all should know that the movies are now on an indefinite hold due to the cancellation of SGU. It was MGM’s financial issues that were a main factor in those movies not being produced before (They weren’t faking that) but they are not in that situation anymore. This makes me assume that they do not wish to do the movies… Read more »
I don’t want to save SGU but for very different reasons. It’s no secret that I wasn’t much a fan of the direction of the show (which after having just watched the SG-1 episode “200” over the weekend seems even more surreal), though I have watched every episode that has aired. My reason for not wanting SGU to be saved is that it was meant to wrap up the franchise. There’s really nowhere left to go when you’ve solved the mystery of the universe. It can be done, but everything would seem kind of small after that.. There are many… Read more »
@Gate_Fan
SGU was not cancelled for SGU, how many times do people have to say this?
i mean SGA for SGU