Puppets, Weddings, and Furlings: Oh, My!

Beware of minor spoilers in this story.

What do Star Trek, The Wizard of Oz, Team America, detective shows, teenage dramas, and furry aliens all have in common?

But wait, there’s more.

What about Farscape, weddings, zombie horror flicks, and the guy from Sex and the City?

All of this, and more, is packed into tonight’s milestone two-hundredth episode of Stargate SG-1, for which the show’s writers, cast, and crew pulled out all the stops, opened the flood gates … and show fans just how crazy things get when everyone gets what they ask for. A mostly spoiler-free review is now online at the Chicago Tribune’s “The Watcher” column, along with photos.

“200” (9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific on SCI FI Channel) is an event not to be missed by any TV fan. When TV-writer turned film-producer Martin Lloyd (Willie Garson, Sex and the City) seeks SG-1’s help with his script for a “Wormhole X-Treme!” movie (based on his failed TV show based on the real — and very top secret — Stargate program), everyone has something to say about what a great sci-fi movie ought to have.

The episode proceeds to a series of vignettes, each from a different Stargate writer, placing SG-1 in the worlds of Trek, Farscape (with former Farscape lead Ben Browder recast as Stark, and his “look-alike” Michael Shanks playing John Crichton), The Wizard of Oz (beware the Tin Man’s codpiece!), and even as Team America and Thunderbirds style marionettes.

In the hilariously underplayed puppet sequence, the writers riff on their own show’s origins — with help from guest star Don S. Davis (“General George Hammond”) — and answer the burning question: “How can marionettes walk through a Stargate?”

Also suggested to Martin is “Teen Gate,” with each member of SG-1 played by a younger, heart-throb actor. And Teal’c stars as a private investigator in a series of his own.

The episode also features the long-awaited return of Richard Dean Anderson, who starred on the show for eight years before retiring in 2004. Jack O’Neill (now an Air Force General) returns to Stargate Command along with Martin, and features prominently in some of the imagined sequences.

Anderson also guest stars in the Stargate Atlantis episode “The Real World” at 10 p.m., and will return for three additional, pivotal episodes later this season.

“200” also offers up what are perhaps the two most requested — or demanded — moments from fans: SG-1 meets the elusive Furlings, and Sam and Jack get married in an all-Stargate wedding. Sort of.

The Furlings were first mentioned in the pivotal second season episode “The Fifth Race,” when the Asgard listed the four advanced races in our galaxy who were once allied. Only the Furlings have heretofor gone unrevealed — though fans may be left wondering just how real any of tonight’s episode is.

As promised by executive producer Joseph Mallozzi, the advanced species turns out to be cute, furry, Ewok-like creatures.

“200” lets the laughs flow at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific tonight on SCI FI Channel in the U.S. before returning to the more serious Ori story arc next week (“Counterstrike”). Learn more about the episode — and check out exclusive new photos! — at the Chicago Tribune’s “The Watcher” column!