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Axed: Stargate Universe

When Stargate Universe ends next year it brings to an end a franchise that has run since 2002.

Stargate Universe was axed by the Syfy network late last week.

The remaining 10 episodes will air in the US spring.

About a million people watched each episode of the first season about half what SG-1 and Atlantis pulled in their heyday.

The cancellation was the second to come from Syfy in recent months. It ended Caprica in October after only one season, but will debut the US version of Being Human in mid January and it recently greenlit Alphas and Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome.

Syfy has had a Stargate series –SG-1, Atlantis or Universe– since 2002.

Aside from premiere episodes on the SciFi network in Australia, ELEVEN will also screen the series.

Source: Variety

16 Responses

  1. Loved SG1 and Atlantis, but Universe always felt like it was trying to limit itself and be more of a drama than a sci fi show. I can’t say i’m surprised, but i’m disapointed in the loss of another sci fi show. Sci Fi has very little content on our television sets these days and it’s a trend i’m not happy with.

  2. I was a huge fan of SG1 and Stargate Atlantis … particularly Atlantis. I can’t believe they axed that show in its prime. SG1 ran for 10 seasons but was nowhere near as good as Atlantis. Having said that, Stargate Universe was rubbish. The premise of the plot wasn’t original .. humans trapped on a spaceship??? Please, it’s been done .. and done, and done. The characters were boring – bordering on annoying. Won’t miss this show but definitely looking forward to the new BSG .

  3. SGU was not as engaging as SG1, nor was Atlantis …
    They should never have ended SG1 … the cast still keep turning up in many other Sci-Fi programs. SG1 had real Sci-Fi I hope they keep going with Sanctuary!

    Unfortunately, SGU is very restricted by the premise and is overall too gloomy in appearance, sci-fi shows need more sparkle like Doctor Who and SG1 had … that is also why I can’t get into the Galactica franchise … too much grunge and too little glamour!

    I still hope they use the “League Of Superheroes” as the replacement for Smallville when it ends this season!!!! Lots of pretty poeple and pleanty of comic moments to keep the “family” balance. That way Clarke and all can do guest appearances too …

    “Serious” and “dark” sci-fi only works in movies, it is not sustainable as a series … just look at what they do at BBC Wales and you will see exactly how “high popularity sci-fi” should be made!!!

  4. Bummer.
    But what would you expect from morons who called their station something so stupid I pronounce it siffy.
    Nearly as bad as “mate” and those other ridiculous names.

  5. @ wayne

    yes Atlantis would have still been going strong.

    It’s interesting, all 3 star gate shows have been ended prematurely by the networks.

    SG1 was planning to have an 11th season but the network decided they didn’t want to order more. Instead wanting just Atlantis. Then to develop a third spin off.

    Then they decided they wanted the third series and did so by deciding to not order any more Atlantis. Like SG1 this decision was made toward the end of the series production and so they had to scramble to end it.

    Atlantis Still has the DVD movie to wrap it up script sitting on a shelf waiting for MGM to greenlight it when they’re done with the financial troubles. There’s also another SG1 movie script sitting there.
    The main Atlantis Sets are also still standing.

    Now Universe with a slightly different production schedule is cancelled when the season final written and made for there to be a season three.

    They better make a DVD movie. That decision is MGMs thankfully not SyFys.

    You can see a pattern of dislike and bad treatment of Stargate by SyFy, even though it’s a show that helped build them. Maybe it’s because they don’t own it. Don’t get DVD sales ect.

  6. its a damn shame,but i cant help but laugh a little bit bcause the producers of stargate and syfy agreed to cancel atlantis in order to fully concentrate on universe.They probably could”ve still had atlantis…idiots.

  7. @Secret Squïrrel

    The issue with die hard fans was that the show was a change of style and seen by many us not necessary. Atlantis was still going strong but the Network wanted something more BSG. It is SyFys fault. The producers had their idea of what they wanted for a third series. BSG brought some credibility and mainstream respect and audience to SyFy. Stargate was seen as kind of cheesy and b-grade.

    Stargate was a solid and consistent performer so they went, Ah stargate fans will watch anything called star gate and then maybe we can get some of the BSG audience over on top of that. The audience that had never watched SyFY before BSG. They thought, hey SG people, give us something more BSG. They had a challenge of a BSG show but they couldn’t be as serious and dramatic and explore themes the same way. Had to meet the two shows in the middle. They also demanded better production, but then gave them a budget less than SG Atlantis.

    This is why it dragged, episodes set on earth, character based that did little to progress the story further. So the show had a bunch of obsticles to over come. Either first half of second half of the first season would have been effected. They chose first half to let people know characters, this is what put a lot of people off. Show started good, then dragged. It really was only for a few episodes but it was enough. People stopped watching right before It got excellent week after week. The show also removed a lot of what people liked about Stargate. The sense of fun and the likable characters. People of all ages could watch and enjoy Stargate.

    People were put off by the forced change to what they liked. Then the new show was harder to get in to. It was really more a re-invention spin off, considered in name only stargate. It’s a shame I think a lot of people who weren’t watching would have come around from DVD ect. I liked it, but I still miss SG1 and Atlantis.

  8. Been wondering when you guys would get around to putting this up.

    This sucks, it actually is a very well made. Yeah it dragged early on, but for the most part it has been good. This really is the last of these kind of sci-fi shows on any more. Sucks to see it go.

    I still hope some cable network wanting to expand it’s original programming and attract viewers picks the show up, but it’s probably unlikely.

    Best bet is MGM goes ahead with the next SG1 and SGA DTV movies. Also hope they make a SGU one to wrap it up.

    If the franchise is one that was constantly mentioned as been one of the most valuable ones for MGM during it’s recent troubles, I’m sure they won’t let it go quietly just because SyFy doesn’t want to be a sci-fi channel any more. SG1 started on Showtime, so yeah… lets hope there’s a silver lining.

  9. Syfy (not SciFi) shot itself in the foot with this one, experimenting by moving SGU and Caprica to tuesdays then killing them both. Syfy (not SciFi) seems to be distancing itself from typically Science Fiction shows and moving in a new direction, hence the name change. Does this mean an end to these typical genre shows? preferring instead light-hearted, comedic episodic Syfy (not SciFi) shows.

    SGU was becoming the best kind of scifi, exploring ideas not seen in science fiction, the beginning of the universe whilst telling very human stories over a very long story arc and became a casulty of a changing time in TV.

  10. Bugger! Stupid Sci-Fi, they did this to SG1 except that was still pulling good numbers, I never understood the logic of that one.

    I’m annoyed, I love Stargate…

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