The syndication market allows local television stations to air last season’s new episodes, with the same episode playing around the country each week.

In Season Four, Elizabeth Weir was written out of the show as actress Torri Higginson left the main cast (appearing in four episodes). She was replaced by Amanda Tapping, as Colonel Samantha Carter was assigned to take command of the Atlantis expedition. Also joining the team was Dr. Jennifer Keller (Jewel Staite), replacing Carson Beckett as chief of medicine.

To find out where Season Four is airing in your area, please check your local listings. Times, dates, and channels differ in each town, though stations in most cities tend to air the episodes on Saturday or Sunday afternoons.

For viewers who missed the SCI FI Channel run and want to get these 20 episodes all at once, Season Four is also currently available on DVD.

Viewership and ratings in the syndication market just aren’t what they used to be, and Atlantis typically turned in ratings at or below 1.0 for new episodes. But the market is still lucrative for studios such as MGM, which owns the Stargate franchise.

Rather than having no SG-1 in syndication (a market it has dominated) for the first time in a decade, there are rumors that MGM may be offering a “Best of” collection of episodes under the name “MGM Presents: Stargate SG-1.” We don’t have a solid confirmation of this yet, so watch your local listings for signs of Jack, Daniel, Teal’c, and Sam.

You can keep track of new syndication episodes throughout the 2008-2009 season by bookmarking GateWorld’s syndication Schedule! Broadcast dates (by week) for the second half of the season will be added in a few days.

(Thanks to Morjana for contributing)