What is the consensus on Stargate SG-U?

Most people in this section of the forum have been critical, while there is more support for it in the TV and HDTV Programming section.  I mostly like it with some caveats.  It's a different show.  It's the most serialized Stargate yet, and where SG1 and Atlantis pretty much left sex and politics out of it, they seem to have more of an agenda to push with this show.  That's where I'm on the fence with it.  I like the characters and the situation and want to see where they're going with it, but they are pushing the sex thing to the point of being pretty distasteful as far as I'm concerned.  Others may be thrilled with that aspect.  Can I recommend it as a blind buy?  I really can't say.  I imagine Sci-Fi reruns it, so you'd probably be better off putting up with the trappings of network television to see if you like it rather than risking money.  You can also find episodes for free on YouTube, though quality is an issue and they are probably taken down as soon as they are discovered.

If you want some insight into the sex thing, I'll spoilerize it.  Note that some here think I'm strange to have a problem with this:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

The problem with the new series is that it's stagnant and the characters are two-dimensional who seem to have all of the talent of a cardboard box. SGU and Caprica are suffering from the same problems ...

There's a review of the Blu-ray here:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/298058/htf-blu-ray-review-stargate-universe-sg-u-1-0

Luisito, I would stay far away from this series. $50-60 for 10 episodes is far too steep for a half season set. That is why blu ray sucks so much is because of the price. At any rate, NBC definitely has a problem with SGU and with Caprica. Caprica's ratings seem to keep sliding every week and they hit a new low last week, where the ratings for Caprica hit a new low, Jay Leno's last episode for his prime time show received more viewers than Caprica and SGU isn't much better.

The problem with SGU is that Sci Fi isn't giving it the kind of exposure it so desperately needs. The show definitely needs to be shown in repeats on the channel and give new fans a chance to absorb it. Instead, Sci Fi has decided not to show any repeats and that may end up dooming the show to failure. I couldn't even get through the first epsiode because it was so dull and boring.

Just take a look at the complaints over at Sci Fi's own website and the viewers say it all ... it's just not Stargate and the producers and directors are too intent on breaking the mold of the previous shows and they've tried to reinvent the franchise and it's just not working. More and more fans have abandoned the show.

Caprica has been on for three weeks. The way that ratings generally work for a show (whether it's a hit or a failure) is that people tune in for the first few episodes and inevitably, some don't like it and don't come back so the numbers continue to drop from the premiere until they hit a basic plateau. If the ratings continue to drop, the show is doomed but saying that it hit an all time low after the third episode is just twisitng the facts to suit your point.

I want to mention that while all sci-fi series have their detractors, the SGU haters tend to take their hatred to the extreme. They like to search for online articles with comments sections, discussion forums and threads like this (though not this one, not yet anyway) just so they can spread their bitterness as far and as wide as they possibly can in some kind of bizzare attempt to make the show look less popular than it is.

I'm not being paranoid here, I've looked around and found the same people posting the same stuff on different sites over and over again. Usually they'll start off by saying something like "I wanted to like this show. I really did." in an attempt to gain some cred, although they're obviously lying as anyone who's been (I wanna say "unfortunate enough to be") around Stargate fandom for a while knows this hate campaign has been going on since long before a single frame of show was even shot (I won't go into the twisted reasoning behind it - feel free to look up old posts on Gateworld or whatever if you care). Anyway, they'll go on to criticise the show with all kinds of unreasonable complaints ("It's a soap opera, plain and simple!"..."It's just boring!"..."It's like the young edgy SG-1 segment from 200!!"..."It destroyed Stargate forever and raped my sister!!"). And you can bet at some point they'll refer to the show as "BattleGate Galactica" or "Stargate: 90210" or one out of any number of "witty" combinations they can think of.

There are legitimate reasons to critisize SGU, sure. Personally, I tend to agree with what Greg said above; there's a little too much sex and such. I hope to see this diminished as the series progresses.

Why am I ranting about this? Well - the original poster wanted to know if SGU is worth checking out. I just want to let him and everyone know that a definite useful answer to this is not going to be found anywhere. Stargate fandom is very fractured and all sides (but mostly the haters) are out there preaching their beliefs any place they can. The only advice I can give is; check it out and decide for yourself. For what it's worth, I'm a longtime Stargate fan who loved SG-1 and liked Atlantis. I currently like SGU, but more for the potential I see in it than what's already been shown. After ten episodes, the show still feels like it's in its introduction stage and it has yet to really find its tone (which, by the way, makes it a big mistake for MGM/Fox to release the first half of the season by itself, IMO). But based on what I've read about the show's future, I'm confident it will start to take off pretty soon.

Bottom line - there's no consensus on SGU. If you're unsure, I'd say wait until you can check out the whole season. Don't judge it by these first few episodes, and don't take anyone's word as to its quality.

Pretty sure this is false. Initially, the ratings actually went up with the first episode after the premiere - which practically never happens. Towards the end of the half season, ratings went down but this was due to a significantly increased competition. The amount of viewers actually stayed pretty much intact, it was just that a lot more of them were DVR'ing the show.

Also, comparing Caprica's ratings to Jay Leno is just... well, really out there. Leno is on NBC. Caprica and SGU are on cable. It's comparing apples and oranges. Cable shows just won't be getting the same ratings as a prime time show on a mejor network.

Also, Blu-Ray doesn't suck.

You could always netflix it.

Arild, the problem with Sci Fi is that they tend to stay away from repeating or rebroadcasting episodes of the television series, if it's currently producing new episodes. If Sci Fi is broadcasting a new season of a television series, they don't broadcast repeat episodes of that same season and that's killing the ratings because fans who might be interested in checking out the series won't check it out.

Also, Arild, the complaints I'm referring to are the complaints posted by Stargate fans on Sci Fi's own website and their own forums.

I was more than willing to give this new series a chance and tried to make it work. However, after watching the initial 3-part pilot, which was extremely uninteresting, I also tried to sit through the series but couldn't get through it. I'm not a Stargate basher as I own all ten seasons of SG1 as well as the Stargate Atlantis series. I've just been disappointed at the direction of the series because while it's a Stargate series, it just doesn't feel like Stargate.

A lot of Stargate fans feel the same way. Even Sci Fi has reported that the ratings for the show have been steadily decreasing and the last report that I saw was back on January 9th.

Hence the mid-season DVD release, I guess...

Yes... those are the same people I was talking about. But forum posts are certainly not a good indicator to what the general consensus is. Never have been, never will be. Stargate forums (and most online fandoms in general, but Stargate especially) have been flooded with complaints, bitching and general negativity for a very long time. It has just reached new extremes with SGU.

Like I said... DVR. The ratings have gone down, but people have kept on watching. And I don't care. Whatever the viewing numbers were, it was obviously enough for SyFy to renew the show for another year. That's all that matters as far as I'm concerned.

Arild, the members on the Sci Fi forums are the very same fans who watch their programs. You make it sound like the forum members on Sci Fi.com's own website are just anti-Stargate fans. That simply isn't true.

SyFy ordered the new season because (1) they aren't ready to abandon the show just yet or (2) they don't have another new series to replace it. Also, releasing the season in half season sets isn't compelling fans to purchase the release.

I purchased all 10 seasons of SG1 and Atlantis as full season sets and usually paid around $35-40 for a full season set. Now, why would I want to pay that same price for a half season set? Would I purchase the DVD release sometime down the line? Maybe, but I don't buy any television shows that are released as half season sets. 

I enjoyed the first season of SGU to date.  The quality was (admittedly) a bit up and down, and there were some side-treks that didn't sit well with me as I watched it, but overall, it was decent.

Will I buy the half-season DVD set?  Not a chance.  I'll be waiting for the full season to come out down the road.  Like Kemcha, I don't buy half-season sets.

In terms of the SyFy forums -- like any set of channel forums, not everyone visits those.  Most of the comments I've read on other SG-related forums are generally positive about the series (like me, with some issues and problems with it along the way, but that's natural), but the SyFy ones seem almost uniformly negative from my brief visits.

I didn't say that. What I mean is, nerds on internet forum - be they here, on SyFy's own forum or any Stargate fansite you can name - are not representative of the general viewing audience or even Stargate fans. As with all discussion topics, the ones with an axe to grind will always be the ones who call the most attention to themselves. They mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. If you've been around internet discussions for any significant amount of time, you should know this to be true.

Also, I was never talking about "anti-Stargate fans". I think you missed my point. My earlier rant was about Stargate fans who are rabidly anti-SGU. There's a group of fans who have hated SGU from the moment they heard about it (for their own sad fan political reasons), despite knowing nothing about it and have kept bashing the show since, never having given the show a fair chance at all. They are the ones I was talking about earlier.

Like I said, you make it sound like anyone who voices an opinion about SGU not being a good series is a "nerd" and is a Stargate hater.

Arild, you jumped to the conclusion that unless someone likes SGU, that they are nothing more than "nerds" or Stargate haters. Instead of accepting the idea that there is a very large segment of the online community that just doesn't like this series you just dismiss those fans as nothing more than haters.

Believe it or not, while there are a percentage of viewers who don't like a certain series, and this is with every show, there seems to be a lot of Stargate fans who don't like SGU. Obviously online surfers who like previous Stargate shows don't like this new series. Otherwise, they wouldn't waste their time creating an account on the scifi forums and posting hundreds upon hundreds of comments.

While I've tried watching a few of the episodes, SGU doesn't have that same atmosphere of being a Stargate series. The fact is that the producers of the series shouldn't have tried to rewrite the direction of the franchise and that's what has kicked off this firestorm of negativity among these Stargate fans who have been commenting.

What Arild is neglecting to mention is that if these forum members who have been commenting on the Sci Fi forums as well as the SG1-Archives website/forums wouldn't be commenting if they didn't care about the future of the series. Personally, I don't see SGU lasting too long unless they go back to the formula that made the SG1 and Atlantis so successful.

The series just lacks those ingredients that made the first two Stargate series so popular among fans. For me? I've enjoyed the SG1 and Stargate Atlantis tremendously but I have a hard time getting into this new series. With SG1, there was Richard Dean Anderson to bring in science fiction fans into the series. Don S. Davis was also a very recognizable presence as he has appeared in a great deal of Hollywood movies. Stargate Atlantis carried over those Stargate fans but a great deal of fans have had trouble with following or becoming interested in SGU. If I didn't like Stargate, I wouldn't have spent over $200 on 15 boxed sets of the franchise series.

Seriously? Is it really necessary for me to repeat things I've already said, again? In my previous post - the one you're replying to - I said:
So no - I am not making it sound like everyone who dislikes SGU is a Stargate hater. I did call them nerds, which they are. I did not mean that in a derogatory sense. When I say people who discuss this stuff on the internet are nerds, that includes myself.

I already stated, in my original rant even, that there are valid reasons for not liking SGU and even shared some of my own objections about the show. I am not trying to dismiss anyone who has a different opinion than me. You say I'm not "accepting the idea that there is a very large segment of the online community that just doesn't like this series" - of course I am. It is obvious there are people who dislikes SGU. I wouldn't agree with the "very large segment", but a significant amount, sure. I'm sorry if it sounded like I was generalizing earlier, but - what I said still stands. I just wasn't talking about everyone who isn't an SGU fan. As I have tried to explain to you, my rant was about those people who have been bashing the show since before it was even written, the people who were never going to enjoy SGU because they didn't want to. Those are the people I was talking about, and yes, they exist and they're spreading their SGU hatred as far and wide as they can. But nowhere did I say or imply that everyone that doesn't like SGU is one of those people.

See, now you're generalizing. I'm an online surfer, I loved the previous Stargate shows for many years, and I do like the new series. And I'm far from the only one. We both have seemingly large groups of Stargate fans out there who we can point to and say, "See? They agree with me." But - and this is the point I've been trying to make - fractures of online fandom does not a full audience make. Whether you'd like to believe it or not, people are watching and enjoying SGU. Plenty of people. More people than there were watching Stargate Atlantis towards the end of its run. Enough so that SyFy renewed the show for a second season. You accused me of "not accepting" the fact that there are Stargate fans who do not like SGU. But it sounds to me like you're the one who's in denial over the fact that there are Stargate fans that do.

Well, that's your opinion. I strongly disagree. I understand that you don't like the new direction they've taken. I really do. That's okay. But they did pretty much the same thing for 15 seasons - they had their successful "formula", which you allude to, and stuck by it.

Whether you or anyone like the "new" Stargate or not - it was time to change it in one way or another. The "old" Stargate was getting, well, old. Atlantis, as much as I loved it, was getting stale towards the end. SGU feels new and fresh and exciting by comparison.

You're right in that it doesn't have the same atmosphere as the old shows, but it's still Stargate. It's still about present day humans exploring the universe, traveling to alien planets using stargates, and cracking jokes (less so than before in regards to the jokes, but - they're there). It is a given that not everyone is going to like big changes in an established franchise, but had they made changes that you actually liked - there would have been someone else who didn't. They could never please everyone, and you happened to be among those who got the short end of the stick this time.

Okay - that was way too long. I believe I've had my say now and then some, and I already advised the OP to the best of my ability. I think I'm done with this discussion. If you wish to make yet another post with strawman arguments implying I said that nobody who doesn't like SGU likes Stargate, then don't expect me to answer. (BTW, love how you're phrasing your arguments with statements like "What Arild is neglecting to mention..." and such, implying that I'm trying to hide something. How clever.)




Only $200?

Actually, more than that. I've paid about $20 per set. More like $300. The only thing I do know is that Sci Fi needs to change the direction of the show. Otherwise, they're going to end up losing more viewers and fans of the franchise. This is the same reason why I don't watch Caprica. That series is just plain boring. It's basically Dynasty Meets the O.C.

While each series is a spinoff from the core series, they have taken drastically different directions. Caprica could have been written as a science fiction series while exploring how the cylons came to be. There really was no need to turn it into a soap opera. SGU is basically a series about humans who are trapped on a spaceship that flies itself and comes out of warp when its low on supplies.

This is why reboot shows like Knight Rider, Invisible Man, Tremors have all failed. I think the producers of both shows are hoping that fans will stick with Caprica and SGU but I just don't see that happening. I even caught a more recent episode of Caprica where Joseph Adama's daughter, Tamara, was released from her holoband cell ... it just don't get more boring than that episode.

"[M]ore recent episode" is a funny thing to call it when the series has aired a grand total of three episodes.

Five episodes. The pilot episode is considered two episodes. And, it is a more recent episode, no matter how many episodes have been released. Because it has only three regular episodes does not make it less so. 

Even if you count the pilot as two episodes (though I don't know why you would since it was produced and aired as one episode), there's been 4 episodes. I guess you have a point though- the latest episode aired is still a more recent episode... even if there's been a total of 3 episodes that have aired.

 SG-U is okay, considering that you can watch it nearly commercial free on Hulu. It's competently put together, but it seems to be going for grit, and tends to lack humor and fun. I think they botched this trade-off, for the most part, because, while the show is grittier than SG-1 and Atlantis, it doesn't come close to BSG. If you're going to go for grit, go all the way. Also, I have a hard time not thinking of that drunken loose cannon guy from Trainspotting the entire time.

I'm interested in giving this a go because Robert Carlyle is in it. Though my Season 1 set still sits waiting for a viewing - whenever that will be. I'll look for SG-U cheap cheap.

IMO apart from the pilot, first episode and a couple of episodes during the season, Season 1 of SG1 is one of the worst seasons of any Stargate series.

Im willing to give the new show a chance for a whole season based on this because they are trying to be a little different. They were never going to break the formula too much but it is different enough for me to see where they are going with it. I also like Robert Carlyle (i think most Brits do) and im interested to see where they take this character.

The show definitely has problems but at least they aren't as deathly dull as SG1 Season 1 where a huge proportion of the episodes were so formulaic, predictable and boring for a large proportion of the time that I cant believe I stuck with it (Im glad I did). Id take any episode of SGU over something like Emancipation from SG1.

I looked at an episode list and saw a lot of good episodes.  You just singled out the worst!  I do wish there had been a scene where someone asked, "Why can we understand everyone?" and it had been revealed that the Goa'uld had a universal translator of sorts.  Then, after a brief mission, they could have obtained one.  Would have easily answered a question.

It's not as bad as the Trek I watched last night, though.  Voyager was above a planet where a day progressed for every second on Voyager.  Actually a good episode, but the people on the planet tried to write a letter to Voyager.  It was shown to be written in English!  That was something I don't think I've ever seen on Trek.  Usually, they'd either not show it or it'd be "gibberish."

To be fair, though, BSG didn't exactly invent that themselves either.

 Yeah and especially now that BSG is over I'm happy to see others making use of the things it did well.