UPDATE – We’ve made a new version of this guide! Follow this link for three ways you might choose to watch Stargate, depending on how you like to binge:
One of the most common questions we get is about the order in which newcomers to the franchise should watch Stargate SG-1, Atlantis, Stargate Universe, the movies — and now the Web series Stargate Origins. You asked for it — now GateWorld is pleased to present our recommended Stargate Viewing Order!
Generally speaking, the continuity between the shows and films matches the order of their original broadcast and DVD release. In order to maintain the highest degree of continuity in your viewing of the Stargate franchise, follow this guide. (Don’t worry — there are no plot spoilers here.)
Looking for the shows online in the U.S.? Find out where to stream Stargate on our Where To Watch page!
Season One through Season Seven of Stargate SG-1 covers the show’s run from 1997 to 2004, before its spin-off Stargate Atlantis premiered. Starting with the pilot movie “Children of the Gods” (we recommend the Final Cut edition), the story picks up one year after the film.
During the 2004-2005 season, SCI FI Channel paired the two shows on Friday nights and the writers wrote the timeline accordingly. For the most part, the two shows’ continuity remained cleanly separated. (There are only a few passing references, such as in “Prometheus Unbound.”) If you don’t mind going back and forth, be sure to start with SG-1‘s two-parter “New Order” and then watch Atlantis‘s “Rising.” Then alternate, making sure to watch both parts of the SG-1 season finale “Moebius” before “The Siege.”
If you’d rather not alternate between the two series, watch SG-1‘s eighth season first. You can even finish all 10 seasons before starting Atlantis, though there will be the occasional reference to the other show — and one big crossover episode, Season Ten’s “The Pegasus Project.”
The same goes for the 2005-2006 broadcast season. There are less points of contact in continuity this year, so it’s not as big a deal to watch them alternately or to watch SG-1 first.
Same for 2006-2007. Stargate SG-1 concluded its television run with “Unending” (leaving the primary storyline from the final two years unfinished). Again, there weren’t a lot of direct points of contact (beside the occasional aside) during this year. The big exception is that crossover episode “The Pegasus Project” (SG-1 Season Ten), which technically ought to be viewed after you pick up the resolution to Atlantis‘s second season cliffhanger with “No Man’s Land.”
The Ark of Truth is the SG-1 team’s first direct-to-DVD movie, which wraps up the storyline from the last two years of the show. Pick it up after “Unending” — no need to finish the third season of Atlantis first.
There’s a major cast change with the fourth season of the show, so you’ll want to have watched all of SG-1 and The Ark of Truth before continuing on into this season. (The last two years of Stargate Atlantis ran by itself, after SG-1 was cancelled.)
Though it is a stand-alone adventure for the team, Stargate: Continuum is set chronologically just after “Search and Rescue.” You’ll see why. Continuum also wraps up another story (that of a recurring villain) from SG-1‘s television run.
After Continuum, head back to pick up the rest of Atlantis‘s final season, with episodes 2 through 20.
Season One of the third Stargate series picks up soon after the events of the Atlantis finale. There is only one obvious point of connection, putting the premiere “Air” some time after the events of the Atlantis finale.
The second (and final) season of SGU further develops the story arc in important ways. But don’t expect any grand resolutions; the show was cancelled just when things were really getting going. (There have not yet been any announcements about any future continuations of the story in an official, canonical medium.)
Origins was also produced on a modest budget without involvement from the writers of the TV shows. So it’s a bit different in tone and in scope, and we don’t recommend it as the best place for newcomers to embark on the Stargate journey.
Welcome to the world of Stargate! As you enjoy the franchise’s 354 episodes, three movies, and 10-part Web series you can read detailed analyses in GateWorld’s episode guides, and chat with other fans at GateWorld Forum!
We’ve also done season-by-season audio reviews of the shows on the GateWorld Podcast (and for individual episodes starting with Atlantis Season Five) to keep you company while you watch.
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This is great to know! Though if you do a little research it's pretty to easy to watch Stargate chronologically without screwing up too badly.
11 years later my research led me here. Thanks Darren!
You could simplify this a bit more, like the episode discloser gives a good overview of the previous seasons, which will take away the first 5 to 6 season, than you can watch 7 and up and atlantis
The only problem is that this news story will disappear off the main page after a few weeks and then newbies will start ask in the forums again.
11 years after you said this and i just found this on google ;)
As did I lol
Indeed
Here 14 years and found the page via DDG.
Still kicking for a kid of 25yr! I remember the excitment as a kid and bought everything the second I could. Still the best scifi!
Well... it's 2021 and this article didn't die at all. I'm brand new to SG world but didn't have a chance to watch everything. I was in the middle of SG1 when Amazon Prime contract with the studio ended and not sure if it will renew.
Done quite some research but can't find a reliable source of streaming. Anybody got a pointer?
Welcome, Kevin! We've recently replaced this with a new, fuller post on Stargate watch orders.
And you can find GateWorld's up-to-date Where To Watch page to see where Stargate is streaming at any given time (in the U.S.). Right now SG-1 is on Hulu and Netflix.
netflix has all 10 of SG 1now
Hulu
/Rommel43: But then you'd miss some of the best years of SG-1? I'd rather watch those seasons than SGA any day.
@TwiceBorn I agree and the viewing order is not that hard to figure out. I would say to save 2010 and watch it just before 2001.
Since the last week of December I've been watching all of SG1 and SGA on DVD, two episodes a day, five days a week.
Here's the order list I came up with. Please, feel free to make corrections to it based on continuity (which is something I tried to pay attention to but I may have missed a few things).
http://forum.gateworld.net/showpost.php?p=10166263&postcount=80
It's interesting... that 11 years later I read this thread and I can't remember when the last time it was I said DVD. I dont even know why carmakers still make their cars with the CD slots when there's no CDs around.
In the future we won't even talk about streaming things. Our devices will have millions of terrabytes and will already have the entire internet and all media preloaded. They will just continually update as new content becomes available. There may be an intermediate phase where our devices have no storage and everything is in the cloud.
Shouldn't they include the new Stargate:Atlantis movie in there?
@Michael Sacal - I always do that, I only watch the shows on DVD so get though a season in about 10 days (over 2/3 weeks)
How To Get Started Watching Stargate...
My answer is at:
http://www.compuvision.info/stargate.html
Here's why I came up with it and what it's main focus is:
Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson were talking about Stargate on Security Now! Episode 156 (and Leo and Colleen were also talking about Stargate on the August 8th Ultimate Gaming Machine program on TwitLive.tv) and I was shocked to discover that Leo was a Stargate newbie. I wanted to offer up the attached page, which I have sent to many other people over the past few years, as a way to help Leo and anyone else get to the good parts of Stargate, with as few painful early episodes as possible.
You could watch Stargate from any point, but it really is worth watching from the beginning. While their mythology is not perfect, often times it does appear that they are setting up concepts and storylines five years in advance. Especially with Stargate SG-1, they tried to not let any story go to waste – it built on what came before it and would be referenced again at a later point.
Stargate SG-1 suffered from the miracle of being picked up as a series, then thrown into production. As such, many of the early episodes were just crap. I wanted to like it, but I really couldn’t stand it and stopped watching during season one. (I did see the season one finale, but even that wasn’t enough to draw me back in, because I had already missed almost all of the few good episodes of season one.) It wasn’t until I saw enough really good episodes five or six years later, as reruns, that I wanted to go back and really understand the whole thing. The purpose of this guide is to spare you from most of that early crap.
The golden era for Stargate was from the end of Season 7 of Stargate SG-1, with episodes Inauguration and The Lost City, parts I and II, until the end of Season 8. This included all of Season 1 of Stargate Atlantis.
When people would ask me when this show takes place, I’d say “today”, as in the day it was aired. For those three years that we had both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis on the air, the storylines where not only continuous within each series, but critical elements would jump back and forth between the two series. It wasn’t required that one watch both series, but there certainly was extra value and deeper understanding when one did. When you get to the overlapped years, I’d recommend interlacing the episodes to match the original airing dates and times.
For more information, see http://www.GateWorld.net.
I'd have to disagree with StevenKo. Stargate peaked, for me, with the Season 7 finale. I do agree, however, that it was REALLY hard to get into the first season. I know a lot of people got very discouraged. It wasn't until late Season 2, early Season 3 that it really found its focus as a show. But the first 7 seasons of SG-1, taken as a whole, were an AMAZING show.
Atlantis is fun and we watched it faithfully, but failed to compel me in the same way. It remains to be seen if Universe will be good.