So they’ve cancelled Stargate Atlantis.
I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, I still very much enjoy the show, but on the other hand, I don’t think it’s done anything too novel or different in quite some time. Then again — have I run out of other hands already? — you could maybe argue that the show has never done anything terribly novel — and that neither did its parent show, Stargate SG-1, when it was on the air. Stargate is sometimes criticized for just recycling familiar science fiction tropes, and I do think there’s plenty of validity to those criticisms. But I also think the fun of the show is in the intelligence, humor and overall polish they bring to those tropes. Maybe it’s not the single most innovative franchise, but it’s exciting and fun and full of nice character moments.
Although, seriously, they should have made better use of Amanda Tapping the one season she was on the show. I never really thought the character was a good fit for the position they put her in, but once they had, they really didn’t try. Why no Carter-centric episode, for instance? And the way they wrote out Torri Higginson was, at best, unfortunate.
And I’m also not so sure how I feel about wrapping up the series with a DVD movie. That’s had mixed results for SG-1. (I enjoyed both Ark of Truth and Continuum, but they were both just decent episodes wrapped up in movie-length clothing.)
So basically what I’m saying is: I’m surprised and disappointed by the news, but not too surprised and not exactly heartbroken.
I think the cancellation was my fault. I’ve been watching SG1 on DVD, have now reached the point where the spinoff, er, spun off, and have started saying things in public about needing to watch that next. My viewership has a long history of serving as the kiss of death for a show, so I’m not surprised that it’s reached the point where it happens before I actually even start watching. 🙂
And IMHO the beauty of SG1 is that it takes tropes I was certain I never, ever wanted to see again, and livens them up with enough humor and characterization and sly self-awareness that they no longer feel tired. I honestly hadn’t thought at this point that that was even possible for me.
Yes, I think that’s exactly what I like about Stargate. It doesn’t do anything remarkably new, but it often does it remarkably well. (Seriously, “Continuum” — tiny spoiler warning — is more fun than another reset-the-timeline episode has any right to be.
There will be movies, so that’s nice. Well, at least one, but if it sells well, there should be more. Agreed, Amanda Tapping didn’t get much to do, but clearly, she wasn’t signed to be on every episode, and now she’s got her own show to debut soon, so she’s been rather busy. I suspect that was partly the reason she wasn’t on all the episodes of Atlantis last season, that and perhaps her duties as a mother.
I love both Stargates. They have wonderful casts and yes, lots of humor. The character interactions plus the intelligent scripts, the whole mythos they built up and maintained for all these years has endeared the show to me. So, I’ll miss it. Especially those actors. I hope I see most of them elsewhere soon.