Here’s some news we have been waiting for since back in the spring of 2021, when Amazon announced it was buying Stargate’s home studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The Stargate franchise is back on Prime Video in the United States as of today.
All ten seasons of Stargate SG-1, five seasons of Stargate Atlantis, and two seasons of Stargate Universe are up and streaming again on the service.
The shows seem to have appeared just as the calendar rolled over to September 1 on the East Coast. It’s been 18 months since the shows were available to stream on Prime Video, last departing at the end of February 2021.
During that time Amazon announced its $8.45 billion acquisition of MGM, went through the lengthy process of regulatory oversight by the U.S. and E.U. governments, and eventually finalized that deal. In the five months since then, there has been no signal from the retail giant about what it will do with the science fiction franchise.
Viewers in some territories outside the U.S. have been able to keep watching Stargate through Prime Video’s “MGM Channel” add-on. But that isn’t available in the States.
Stargate’s return to Prime Video is great news for the franchise on several different fronts. For starters, Prime has a far superior copy of the episodes. These are 16:9 widescreen episodes, with a higher resolution (evidently upscaled to something around 720p).
Netflix not only has the 4:3 edition of SG-1 early seasons, but is still falsely listing all 214 episodes as rated TV-MA for nudity — arguably doing harm to the show’s discoverability by new viewers. (Only the first episode has nudity, a concession to Showtime that the producers immediately moved away from.) Hulu, meanwhile, is streaming the version of Atlantis that is edited with disruptive hard act breaks for commercials.
Amazon is also the only streaming service with the “Final Cut” version of the pilot movie, which removes the nudity among other changes.
Last but not least, Stargate Universe hasn’t been available to stream ad-free anywhere since Hulu’s license expired last year. (All three shows have been available with ads on Pluto TV in the U.S. since April.)
There is no sign of SG-1’s two movies, The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, on Prime Video just yet — though they can be rented for $3.99 each.
Since MGM licenses the rights to Stargate under fixed and finite terms, which vary from streamer to streamer (and from country to country), there’s no telling how long the franchise will remain on Prime this time. But the fact that Amazon just bought MGM in order to acquire its film and TV library suggests — Bezos willing — that it might stay for good.
Over on Netflix SG-1 will hit the 1-year mark on its license at the end of November. We’ll find out then if Netflix will re-up, or if the show will be leaving that service. Atlantis, meanwhile, will reach the 1-year mark since the most recent license renewal in October.
Keep your browser locked on GateWorld for the latest on Stargate and its future with Amazon! You can use our continually updated Where To Watch page to find out where all of the Stargate movies and television series are available to stream in the U.S.
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Sounds to me like someone has also seen The Popcast video on Youtube a few weeks ago about "why Amazon isn't making new Stargate" :)
I’m excited to start watching these episodes again!
Even though this article says that SGU is. SGU is still not available to stream on prime.
I found a listing for SGU that was not, and another that is. Try the "Stargate Universe" link at the top of the article.
I finished watching the first two episodes of SGU a couple of hours ago. You should be able to access both seasons.
Texas boy here. Darren is right, the link in his article takes you direct to Amazon SGU and it is playing. Really nostalgic, I forgot how good the production quality of SGU was.. it sure was a different take on Stargate.. much more like a trip back to the Roland Emmerich movie.. "It will Take you a Million Light years from Home.. but will it bring you back?". I think Battlestar Galactic had played out by then and everyone was just tired of dystopic shakey cam. Looking at it now, it stands on its own a lot better. I prefer the Comedic with the Serious elements of SG-1 but this will do for a while.
Its on prime but it cost extra. I'll stick to torrents. Amazon get enough of my money
When you think about it, most die hard fans already have the DVDS. So this is not really big news.
Well, you may be surprised how many new fans streaming has made for Stargate over the last few years. We hardcore fans scooped up the DVDs years ago, but now there is a whole new generation of fans and potential fans -- thanks in large part to the shows' availability on streaming platforms.
Good point ?
Thank you.
But when in Canada is it on prime
It is...
It's there now, go look :)
Only via the mgm channel addon, which is an extra fee
Not in the UK.
Not yet, at least.
Truthfully, you can watch them all on Pluto for free right now...
I've been watching Stargate on Prime Video in Australia for over a year now? Didn't realise it wasn't in the states yet. I've been paying the MGM subscription add-on and been rewatching the series.
Confirmation. All three shows are available on Prime here in the United States.