In the days following the premiere of Stargate Origins I’ve been enjoying the franchise’s return to live-action storytelling. Origins is a fun bit of back-story for our favorite franchise, set in the late 1930s and running in a 10-minute “Webisode” format on Stargate Command — MGM’s new digital streaming and fan engagement platform.
As great as it is to see that big, glorious ring spinning on our screens again (and it’s cool that I can watch Stargate on all the screens in my house and in my pocket), the arrival of Stargate Origins does prompt one very big, very important question for the future of the 24-year-old franchise: What’s next?
Will there be a second season of Origins, sticking to the short format? Will there be a full-fledged fourth TV show, or perhaps another movie first? Should the next project tie up the dangling storylines of Atlantis and SGU before a new team and new adventures take over? Will whatever is next have anything at all to do with Stargate SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe — or will it chart its own path, even while sticking with the franchise’s established continuity?
There are lots of questions for fans to ponder in the weeks and months ahead. For the moment, though, let’s stick with one question: If MGM were to green-light a full-length, live-action series, where could it “air?”
I can think of four ways that Stargate could return to television (though there might be more). To explore the possibilities in some detail, we’ll need to dig into the weeds of Stargate’s TV history and the inner workings of the television business.
Note also that I am focusing primarily on U.S. television here — though MGM’s international distribution of the Stargate series has always been a major component of the franchise’s profitability. And there’s a good case to be made — in this day and age more than ever — for a strategy that empowers same-day availability of the next Stargate show to a worldwide audience.
STARGATE COMMAND
The logical place to start the conversation is where Stargate Origins is available right now. MGM launched its Stargate-centric service in September of last year, with every Stargate TV episode and film plus behind-the-scenes content and an integrated fan community. It has served Origins nicely as a digital home, and energized the fan base. Despite some recent upgrades, however, the service is still behind the curve when it comes to full functionality and universal accessibility (Roku and Apple TV are among the apps currently in development).
There has also been some marginal discussion of opening up the site to non-Stargate programming.
But a Stargate-specific streaming service is far from ideal for a new, full-length series that comes with a healthy budget (say, $50 million or more). The potential audience pool is limited to only the biggest, most in-the-know Stargate fans. Subtract from that number those who are unable or unwilling to pay for yet another stand-alone service (alongside their monthly bill for cable or satellite, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, CBS All-Access, Disney, Warner Bros. / DC, etc.). And subtract those in countries MGM is unable to include (a current limitation of Stargate Command’s All-Access pass). MGM likely cannot fund a Stargate series — with costs that rise as the years roll on — all by itself based entirely on these subscriptions.
The studio itself will have a much better sense of what the balance sheet looks like. But more than this, Stargate would be isolated from the sort of broad, public exposure that the franchise needs in order to grow. How many of us stumbled upon SG-1 reruns one night; or were convinced by a friend to give Atlantis a look; or decided to give SGU a few episodes only to get hooked? Even long-established franchises need exposure to new and casual viewers. Without that, the ability to keep a streaming show in production becomes a game of attrition.
There’s also the fact that the Stargate Command we are enjoying right now isn’t going to be the same site that exists in a few months: after May 15 some of what the site calls “premium content” will go away. It remains to be seen what the service looks like down the road, and if it will adopt a new subscription model for future content.
Pros: No profit sharing, no dependence on a broadcaster’s renewal decision
Cons: Audience limited to only the most hardcore Stargate fans
BACK TO CABLE
Perhaps the most obvious and straight-forward route for any new television show is to look for a traditional broadcast partner. Since the three Stargate series left Syfy Channel MGM’s television arm has continued to produce scripted drama for networks such as MTV (Teen Wolf), History (Vikings), and FX (Fargo). The broader genre of speculative fiction is enjoying a renaissance here, from ratings leaders like Game of Thrones (HBO) and The Walking Dead (AMC) to acclaimed dramas such as Doctor Who (BBC America) and Westworld (HBO). And this plan definitely solves the problem of the casual viewer.
Syfy is right out.
Considering the fact that the Stargate franchise is among the most successful in science fiction (with more than 350 hours produced) it is somewhat ironic that all three series to date have suffered premature cancellation. The cast and crew of Stargate SG-1 received the bad news from Syfy while they were celebrating the 200th episode. Atlantis Season Six seems to have fallen victim less to ratings than to a desire to pull the trigger on Stargate Universe. And SGU got the axe after two years, its flagging ratings unable to keep up with Syfy’s overt decision to shift its brand away from hard science fiction.
No one who loves Stargate is eager to be burned a fourth time by fickle network executives who might send a show to an early grave.
Pros: Licensing fees paid to MGM cover most, or all, of production costs. And the show gets in front of a lot of eyes, potentially growing new fans.
Cons: Cancellation decisions depend on the whim of the network. And on some networks the execs like to stick their fingers into the creative pie.
NEXT: MGM-owned broadcast outlets … or Netflix?
Great piece. My only disagreement is with the anti-SyFy sentiment when it comes to SGU. The truth of the matter is that SyFy committed to 2 seasons of SGU before anything was filmed. The producers knew, ahead of time, that they were getting 40 episodes to film. They also knew, quite early, that it wasn’t doing well. They had the power, in their hands, to wrap the story up neatly by the end of the 40th episode, but *they* chose to end it on a cliff hanger. When the renewal didn’t come (the show wasn’t ‘cancelled’, it just wasn’t renewed… Read more »
Very fine points, Langley — thanks for your comment. “Cancelled” here (and commonly in television) simply means that the show was ended by the network before the producers wanted it to end. Network commitments are, as you say, almost always year-to-year. (We had a recent guest editorial addressing this point …) You may be right that the writing was on the wall by the start of SGU Season Two, and so ultimately the show’s writers bear some of the blame for the show ending the way that it did. But since they were hoping for a chance to tell their… Read more »
I would have to say….SyFy is out. There would be no way that they should open dialog with them if this would occur. SyFy burned the Stargate franchise once…no need in subjecting them to it twice. I would honestly say the market these days could easily be Netflix or Hulu. And the latter would be more reasonable as Hulu currently still shows ALL three SG series on their platform. So Hulu could be the best market with that notion. Netflix is possible, but MGM would have to licence the rest of the SG series to Netflix in that case to… Read more »
Thanks Darren: I’d still disagree — the guest editorial you link to is also based on the same false premise, that the cable network was at fault for the end of SGU. I’d hate to think that all this network-bashing by fans is being read by other networks, and that would cause them to pass on licensing future SG properties. I’ll also disagree with the presumption that they were going to move away from SGU’s type of SciFi because of WH13. Prior to that they had Eureka and Battlestar Galactica going side-by-side, and from this angle it looks like they… Read more »
I think the documented history of Syfy Channel just doesn’t bear this out. For years I read (and covered at GW) interview after interview where execs talked about the full scope of the 2009 and post-2009 rebranding strategy. It entailed a deliberate set of decisions to try and give the network more mainstream appeal by purging traditional hard science fiction (spaceships, time travel, aliens) and commissioning more lighthearted stuff. Eureka was the established pattern; Warehouse 13 was the ratings hit that justified the move. And a marked increase in reality shows, as well as wrestling, were the companions. Fortunately this… Read more »
I wouldn’t dismiss SyFy outright, but ultimately I think this is a pretty valid list. There are only two realistic outlet options for a new series on a real budget: a major TV network, or a major streaming service. MGM can’t carry it on its own; their subnets nor their streaming service is big enough for critical mass. With that said, while I suspect most people agree with Darren that Netflix looks like the most tantalizing option, I don’t think the problems should be dismissed out of hand. Dropping 13 episodes all at once is a big problem; viewers quickly… Read more »
One thing I am sure of… if more Stargate means more of the same production quality (in all aspects) that Origins exhibits then I would prefer not to taint the legacy of the show. I have been a torch carrying hardcore fan since the original movie. Origins is bad. The writing… the direction… the budget… And I am still trying to figure out how they are going to justify Catherine going through the gate with her revelation in the original movie that “this is as far as we have ever gotten”. No more prequels!
There could be a very convenient “excuse” for why Catherine didn’t mention it. We already know there’s a “Time Copy” of Mitchell in the past, in that exact era, he could easily tell Catherine that she needs to keep this to herself “to preserve the timeline”.
Hey Darren: Thanks for the answer! I’ve learned that to ignore what the networks ‘say’ and watch what they ‘do’. They’re nothing if not derivative. In the case of moving away from genre-heavy programming, IMHO they ‘said’ they were doing that because others ‘said’ they were doing it. Their lineup of flagship shows included SGU and Caprica, so they didn’t ‘do’ what they ‘said’ they were going to do. Ditto with the move back to more hard sci fi. The lineup really hasn’t changed *that* much, they just speak about it differently. Ditto with MGM. CBS decide to do a… Read more »
(And I’m biased, I know, because I had many good years of employment at various studios around Vancouver because of the orders and $ and commitment SyFy put into shows that were filmed here)
The end of the SG franchise is , from my standpoint, a culmination of different factors. To be more specific three big factors : the fans, SyFy and the vibe of tv audience at the time. The fans were rigid and not very open to SGU. The mainstream started to want story, immersion, darker, real. And they got it in 2011 when ironically SGU ended – (shows like True Blood, GOT, Grimm, Hell on wheels, Falling Skies, The Borgias, Alphas,….) Maybe Syfy tought they would hit gold with SGU, but they were to soon and the writers failed in the… Read more »
Is Syfy’s hold on the show over? I remember, I thought, that when SG1 was canceled that the producers couldn’t take it somewhere else (and there were claims of Showtime being interested in bringing it back) because Syfy had a right of first refusal plus veto power in their contract with MGM for anything Stargate related. If that’s still in effect than it’s Syfy or nowhere.
Emteem, thanks for your comment. Syfy’s “hold” would have been contractually specific to the individual shows, I believe. They don’t have any first-look deal with the franchise at large or shows that haven’t been created yet.
Loved SG1……. New stuff yeah sweat but old hat now…? Let go bygonnes?? I’m sure there are stories to be told but the Original stuff pretty much explained all. Like most fictional tv series they run out of ideas.? As it finished long live the f—ing Ori!!
I would love to see the next stargate series on netflix it would be easy to access since most of us use it.