The future of Stargate is in question today, as SCI FI Channel has cancelled the long-running Stargate SG-1, Multichannel News reported today and a GateWorld source has confirmed. The news regrettably follows the airing of the show's milestone two-hundredth episode on Friday.
SG-1 has struggled in the ratings all summer, with the record-breaking tenth season premiering with a 1.4 household rating -- down more than 20 percent from last season's average. After a brief climb to a 1.6 in its second week, the show fell to a 1.3 in week four.
Viewers and production personnel alike have blamed a number of factors for the show's dramatically lower ratings, from SCI FI and Sony's lack of promotion to the removal of anchor show Battlestar Galactica from the Friday night line-up, to new competition from such shows as USA's hit Monk.
"Studio executives are working to identify an alternative outlet for Stargate SG-1," Multichannel News said, citing sources close to the production.
Stargate SG-1 premiered on Showtime in the United States in July, 1997, where it aired for five years before the pay cable network cancelled it. In 2002 MGM brokered a deal to continue production and move the show to SCI FI Channel, where it became the cable channel's biggest hit and aired ten times per week in reruns.
In addition to holding the record for the longest-running science fiction series ever produced in North America, the series is largely responsible for making SCI FI a Top 10 cable network. Though the writers intended to end the show several times, its larger, newfound audience on basic cable rejuvinated the series, extending its life far beyond the average science fiction series.
Following the September 22 mid-season finale, SCI FI Channel intends to air the final 10 episodes of Stargate SG-1 beginning in March, 2007.
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"SCI FI Channel is proud to be the network that brought Stargate SG-1 to its record-breaking 10th season. Ten seasons and 215 episodes is an astounding, Guinness World Record-setting accomplishment. Stargate is a worldwide phenomenon. Having achieved so much over the course of the past 10 years, SCI FI believes that the time is right to make this season their last on the channel. SCI FI is honored to have been part of the Stargate legacy for five years, and we look forward to continuing to explore the Stargate universe with our partners at MGM through a new season of Stargate Atlantis."
New episodes of both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis continue Fridays this summer starting at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific, leading up to the mid-season finale on September 22. The second half of the season will begin in March, leading to SG-1's final bow on SCI FI in June.
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Don't count Stargate SG-1 out just yet. Though SCI FI Channel has cancelled the long-running series, the show's producers are hard at work looking for a new outlet for the story to continue, executive producer Robert C. Cooper told GateWorld exclusively.
"As far as the future I can't comment yet because nothing has been confirmed," Cooper said. "What we want to emphasize is that the franchise is not dying. SG-1 will go on in some way. We're just not ready to announce how."
A formal announcement from the studio and the network is expected later this week.
Cooper also emphasizes that, though emotions are running high among Stargate fans who have just learned the news, it is important to keep the show's ratings strong throughout the remainder of its run on SCI FI. "What's most important is that fans don't take out their frustration with SCI FI by not watching," he said. "In fact, what they need to do is watch both SG-1 and Atlantis LIVE and make sure the ratings stay strong.
"That helps prove to other outlets that might be interested in SG-1 that the show is still as strong as we think it is."
Could Stargate SG-1 find its way to yet another network in 2007? Or might the SG-1 team be headed for a TV movie, mini-series, direct-to-video feature ... or the big screen?
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