The cancellation shadow is looming large over Stargate Universe‘s live ratings. An estimated 928,000 viewers in the U.S. (Live + Same Day) tuned in for “Twin Destinies” on Monday night.
This is a drop of 10 percent from last week’s mid-season premiere, and SGU‘s third trip south of the 1 million line (chart). It is also the series’ lowest to date — not a great surprise, considering that Syfy cancelled the show back in December.
The show did hold on in the adults 18 to 49 demographic, with a 0.5 household rating.
Being Human — which Syfy just picked up for a second season — earned 1.372 million viewers at 9 p.m. Despite the good lead-in, Stargate lost more than 32 percent of that audience.
On the broadcast networks at 10 p.m., with NBC’s Harry’s Law drawing around 10.2 million viewers. Almost 7.5 million caught a repeat of Hawaii Five-0 on CBS, and ABC won the hour with 13.96 million for the special The Bachelor: After the Final Rose.
Over on USA, 5.87 million were watching WWE Raw during the 10 p.m. hour.
As noted by the usually excuse-wary TVbytheNumbers, Monday night shows were expected to see slight declines this week due to the arrival of Daylight Savings in the U.S. — since casual viewers in particular were more likely to stay out later.
Tune in next Monday at 10/9c for “Alliances,” a brand new episode of Stargate Universe! French Stewart (Third Rock From the Sun), who appeared in the original Stargate movie in 1994, guest stars.
Not a surprise, with an extremely long break and the fact that the series was canceled and everyone knows that the show will air on a cliffhanger, despite what SyFy is trying to tell us in the ads isn’t helping. That being said, the comparison between he most recent ratings of Being Human and SGU is almost like comparing SGU’s ratings in the fall to Caprica’s ratings. I honestly wish I knew what to do to get more people to watch live. I think the problem is that people feel that “I’m just one person, my viewership doesn’t count” thus… Read more »
One of, If not the best Episode yet. I was wondering how they were going to get ahold of another shuttle. The only thing that bugs me is how Telford ended up back on earth..It’s almost as if it was added as afterthought to get rid of the duplicate Rush, but still keep Telford. He went back on his own Timeline, which would have, and did prevent Telford from going to earth in the first place!
In the past Stargate has been pretty accurate in these matters, Exept for Episode 1 season 4 of Atlantis when The Apollo was able to talk in real time to the Midway space station in Real time. Being as how each gate in the bridge has to accept incoming matter/Transmissions, and then shut down and dial the next gate in the bridge. They could have sent a Data burst, but that’s it.
this was trully a great episode, but its just sad to see the ratings drop this low. Its just up against other good shows on a bad timeslot!!! I’m wondering if their adding the ratings from the second showing that plays on monday’s because thats when a lot of people are watching it then too
Really, really sad. I’ll never understand how they could kill such an amazing franchise, and a show that was just beginning to unfold its true and glorious potential. As for the Telford matter, I think the timeline shift must have occured while he was mid-travel, similarly to what occured in Continuum. So even though the timeline was altered, he was unaffected. But well, time travel eps are always a bit funky when it comes to logic… Tropers already know all about the “Timey-Wimey Ball” =)
This was my favorite episode so far, syfy really shouldn’t have moved stargate to a new night in the first place. As it is, hopefully the DVD, iTunes, and, and other sales of not only SGU, but of the franchise at large stay strong so that there can be a future for the franchise.
Did you guys see that Netflix is getting into the producing original TV show business? Maybe that is where Stargate could go? Not any time soon I suppose…
SciFi in general would do betterff o with an online only model.
http://bit.ly/fZHFOT
As much as I love the SG series, I am not surprised about the number of viewers (on the Nielsenn ratings). In fact, I DVR’d it and watched it just last night. Watching it live (whether or not your are a Nielsenn ratings viewer) will not do any good or matter for that fact. Plus, the SGU s.2 will be on DVD over the summer anyways. In addition, being on at 10pm EST is not really worth staying up for these days – thank god for DVR.
i dont see how the ratings are so low. deliverance and twin destinies were soooo good.
I see a pattern.. the better the episodes get, the lower the ratings go. Paradox.
they where up next to a big NHL game
That’s always been my complaint about the Stargate series…why does SyFy ALWAYS HAVE TO HAVE THEM ON SO EFFING LATE?? I mean, its no wonder nobody wants to watch them live at 9:00 on a Monday night, if I had to choose I’d probably choose Castle since that’s probably a better show to wind down to on a Monday (but I choose SG out of loyalty) – at least its on at 9. If it was on at 10, I’d say forget it. I’ve never understood that, I mean, its no wonder Stargate has gotten such low viewing ratings this… Read more »
I should also add that to my knowledge, Stargate is on at a later timeslot than any other sci-fi series. The most any other sci-fi series that I’m aware of this season has been on is 8:00 (Fringe on Fridays, V on Tuesdays, and I’m sure I’m missing a few). In fact, in all my years of watching sci-fi, SyFy is the only network to program new episodes of a SF series so late at night…
great frakin episode at liest it will go out on a great note and im shure the books will come to finish the story and who knows what the future holds i have a fealing we havent seen the last of stargate galactica took like 25 years off and came back great so heres to the last few chapters in this book but not the series
and im still hopein for a movie i mean they gave firefly 1 and it only made 1 season and it was good but not watch it twice good and i have watch stargate episode over and over and over
Its rediculous that a show this good can have the ratings that they do, but it doesnt suprise me. They love those stupid reality shows the cake shows and the jersey shows. It makes me so mad!!!!! I mean look what its up against… harry’s law? NCIS with LL? wrestling??? I couldnt even sit through a whole episode of that mindless garbage. I really hope that they make a SGU movie, u can’t leave a story this good go unfinished
As much as we disagree on Stargate Universe quality, you have to admit, when wrestling of all things draws well near 6 mil viewers, something is wrong with all these people.
@Togame…. amen…. the American audience is deplorable.
The 2nd season of SGU has been some of the best science fiction EVER, yet…. somehow… it’s ending???
Wow America… enjoy your over-sexed vampires.
OK…. been a long time fan since the start. Yeah theres gonna be a SGA wrap-up movie or two. but what they should do is a three-way mini series with all the franchises. ALL the main players. It’ll cost a bundle, but that would be a helluva finish.
If they wanna improve their ratings, first things first: Give us an additional HALF season atleast, to try and tie up some loose ends, and not end the show on a cliffhanger. Second, move the show off of Mondays/Tuesdays. Those two nights are the busiest for network shows, and will instantly cause a distinct drop in ratings numbers. Third, FIRE whoever was in charge for SGU’s “BSG-style” direction of Season 1. Season 2 has been leaps and bounds above Season 1, but the fact that the show is currently considered cancelled, and ending on a cliffhanger, won’t make people “Tune… Read more »
Also, as I stated above:
Fourth: don’t put the show on so late at night unless its on Fridays or Saturdays. I honestly sometimes have problems getting to bed after watching an episode of SGU because my mind is thinking about it.
For Crying out loud! 17 comments so far and all you see is excuse after excuse for the ratings. It was the wrestling It was the night It was the Competition It was the time slot The G.P. are a bunch of morons It doesn’t suit me to watch it live I don’t have a nielson box so what does it matter. (and those are just the “common ones) and it just rolls on and on. How many excuses does it take before the simple realisation that the show just wasn’t interesting to the “general viewing audience” starts to sink… Read more »
@ darkthunder
“Second, move the show off of Mondays/Tuesdays. Those two nights are the busiest for network shows, and will instantly cause a distinct drop in ratings numbers.”
You do realise that those nights also generate the largest potential viewing pool, because apparently most people watch more TV on those nights as well yeah?
@Browncoat1984: Earlier time slot = much tougher competition. Look at USA Network’s winter ratings for Burn Notice and Royal Pains (their best rated shows in the summer!), that were moved from 10pm to 9pm – 30% slip. Which is why they didn’t air White Collar at 9pm in winter, but they will air it at 9pm in the summer, less competition in that time slot then. SGU aired at 9pm on Tuesday and the ratings dropped like a rock. Would you want it to air even earlier? Against House or NCIS/Glee or AI/Survivor or AI/TBBT? That would flatten the show… Read more »
Another good season 2 episode betrayed by bad scheduling and cancelation. Has someone at “Syfy” got a grudge against stargate or something?
I’m not suprised at all by even lower numbers. First of all the show has been canceled and due to a complete imperfection of nielsen,people are abandonong the inadequacy that is SyFy,because there is no way that their live viewing will change anything. And secondly,connected to the first point,the reasoning is;Why should then I watch it live,support SyFy in any way,when there are other ways to see it,or I can DVR it and watch it at my own leasure,when I want/can/feel like it. I also have to say that I agree with what everybody here had to say and with… Read more »
It seems that a lot of viewers have missed out on an awesome episode of SGU. The show is really coming into its own, and has become a highlight to my viewing week. I must say that “Twin Destinies” is one of the episodes that feels like a “Stargate” show, a more mature, grown up Stargate.
There were many factors that brought this show to a premature end, and there are many other factors that should keep this show going (great cast and crew). But I will be watching and enjoying every one of the last 8 episodes of SGU.
I can’t see why they would go on live ratings anyway, surely these days when the options are there to watch, online, live, record and watch later and dvd sales, that they would choose “live” ratings are the most important. SGU is possibly one of the best series i’ve seen, and like has been said, its only just beginning to unlock its potential. Personally i don’t have the means to watch it ‘live’, though if i did, i certainly would just to try help keep it alive.
Regarding the time travel paradox they created, this is why SGU isn’t sci-fi. There are several ways it could have been explained but they didn’t really explain it at all. There were just suddenly 2 of everything. The only explanation being the foreshadowing that strange things can happen if you open a wormhole in a star. And the show’s ratings are low the world over. It hasn’t been particularly successful anywhere. If it had, the show would have picked it up by someone. So it’s not just US viewers that aren’t watching. Face it, SGU just wasn’t good enough. No,… Read more »
You know what kills me is how can they get a true read on what people are watching with such a small sample size Nielson uses. There are 25,000 total American households that participate in the Nielsen daily metered system. The number of U.S. television households as of 2009 is 114,500,000. As a result, the total number of Nielsen homes only amounts to 0.02183% of the total American television households. I know its suppose to be a represenative because its random sampling, but “random sampling can be so biased its not funny” what criteria is used when selecting the sample… Read more »
Just comes down to if people wanted to watch this show, they would have. They didn’t.
Sad for the fans, though.
So who is surprised? didnt most people here swear to stop watching it on SYFY? i’m actually surprised they got close to 1 million unless that number includes itunes and such. either way they cancelled it, why do we still talk about ratings? anyways love the show and i hope this find a way to keep the franchise going somehow SGU or no. I’m still sad we never got to see what happened in pegasus.
This was one of the best SGU episodes thus far. I am sad that the show is still going to be canceled.
@WilliamBD Exactly,lol..this time nielsen may have actually shown bigger numbers than what they really were..it’s ridiculous!
@Gatefan1976
You know, I agree with you some respects. SGU was fairly poor early on in Season 1, but did improve dramatically towards the end of S1, and S2 has been truly excellent for the most part. But I guess the damage was done.
That being said though, all the “excuses” people are coming up with, shouldn’t just be discounted either. They all played their part.
Regarding your comment on the viewing pool on Mon/Tue being higher, I have to say this: I’d much rather have 80% of a small pie, then 20% of a big one.
It’s painful to watch only because the closest thing to a “thinking person’s” TV show will be drawing to a close. I do blame the creators for starting so poorly in the first season but even then I had a gut feeling for SGU’s potential. Regardless, the show has finished so will my patronage to the Siffee network.
@scifi75 I know,right? But that has always been the problem with smart shows,ppl don’t understand what author tried to say,most ppl. Why wouldn’t smart be fun and enterteaining as well?But no,some say ppl mostly wanna be entertained when they come home from work,as if 90% of ppl were working as astrophysicists durin the day,when in fact most go about their routine as robots.That exactly is the problem,they can’t get out of the stultifying programming of the everyday consumeristic life,so there you have it..lifestyle shows,reality shows,singing/dancing with stars and selling dreams.Why should anybody think,or feel anything more?Keep ’em stupid and happy… Read more »
Like with this ep.the BIG problem is the time paradox,as if the word itself didn’t have it’s meaning,that is a prob,not what the real message is,it’s too tyring to bother yourself with the big picture.
I’m afraid if someone can’t understand how short-distance time travel could theoretically create two of everything, they probably should be watching wrestling instead.
@Xyla lol..WORD girl!! I was saying something similar in a post that is awaiting moderation,because I used one “inappropriate” word!Geez!It’s even funnier that such ppl label this show as non-scifi,because of that one thing!
Anyway,thank you for posting!
Also I want to say that the star and stargate wormhole are the keys here,to the point that I’m almost ready to say there was no paradox here.The episode was amazing and completely within the previously established(in sg1 and sga)stargate canon.
Not a whole lot to the plot of the episode. Looked like an exercise in resetting everything. If the ratings weren’t already so low.. I think it would have been the “Jumped the Shark” episode for sure. I mean how could you “believe” they wouldn’t do this kinda thing again? They broke the contract with the audience, they’re own contract.. that everything was permenant.. zombies wouldn’t spring back from the dead to resurrect old team members.. oh wait.. they did that.. they even included it in the pre-show reminding us they could bring anyone back from the dead. The acting… Read more »
Forgot totally how they wrapped up Chloe’s story.. wasn’t that forgettable? So she had an alien rash.. the aliens cleaned it up and sent her on her way. Really? And how convenient, the Blueberries are Galaxy hopping trolls without much purpose except to act superior and offer no real threat.. but they’re good at getting killed.. galaxy hopping blueberries.. really.. you can stride galaxies.. but you can’t offer much defense against robots.. but you can whoop up on Destinys shields any day of the week.. weak.. they deserve to be blown up. Now how would a big baddy like Apophis… Read more »
People are presenting legitimate arguments in their defense of SyFy’s failure in working to provide SGU’s better chances of survival. Regardless, I’m completely uncertain as to why internet viewings, DVR, and the like aren’t contributing to these shows’ ratings… I have never watched SGU live… and quite frankly, I loath commercials – especially for really great shows. I always record my SGU and watch it when the wife and kids are asleep and I got the house to myself and quiet with no interruptions. SGU is absolutely incredible and I’m a little sick and tired of seeing good shows go… Read more »
Here’s an idea to Save SGU.
Get Harlan Ellison to shadow the remaining episodes offering commentary aka Mystery Science Theatre 3000
Then perform a post story analysis of where they went right and where they went wrong.
Battlestar kind of did this when introducing the Lucy Lawless character. Except it was a part of the show.
I’d take just letting Harlan go crazy on it. Would spice up the DVD sales too.
lol this proves how bad it is, nothing against the actors at all you are ALL amazing, REALLY. i mean the first three episodes were about fixing the life support, doctor who has a best plot structure!!!! We want ATLANTIS!!!! bring it back its the bomb!!!!!!! :)
Well, I was one of those fans that said I wouldn’t watch SGU in real time, on SyFy, but, I couldn’t do it, I am watching it on Mondays at 10. I still can’t believe tptb wouldn’t film a alternate ending for season 2. I still say now would be a great time to pull a Dick Wolf and make the next spin-off, Stargate UK.
I also agree with the earlier post that a mini-series/movie with cast members from all 3 shows help bring Destiny home.
1. Why are we even talking about ratings now? It’s frankly a moot, and somewhat of a depressing point. SyFy is not going to reverse the shows cancelation even if the second half some how were to grab ratings worth the sum of American Idol, the exec’s are not known for intelligent choices. Lets just wait out the clock with some dignity shall we? 2. Comparing Being Human to SGU is comparing Apples to Tomatos. Both are shows on the same network but thats where the similarities end. To be frank, the comparison feels more like a jaded ex girlfriend… Read more »
Jesus Christ, you really need to stop defending this show. That was the worst writing I have ever seen in any stargate episode. Oh yes, somehow, the entire ship just magically went back in time, and oh look, now we have another ship full of spare parts, and we have two telfords and two rushes so we can kill off one of each for the drama great!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously, that was an absolutely pathetic script.