Stargate SG-1

2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Television

Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1's intertitle for seasons nine and ten
Format	Military science fiction
Created by	Brad Wright Jonathan Glassner
Starring	Richard Dean Anderson Michael Shanks Amanda Tapping Christopher Judge Don S. Davis Corin Nemec Ben Browder Beau Bridges Claudia Black
Country of origin	United States Canada
No. of seasons	10
No. of episodes	214 ( List of episodes) 2 DVD films
Production
Running time	approx. 42 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Showtime (Seasons 1–5) SCI FI (Seasons 6–10)
Original run	July 27, 1997 – March 13, 2007
Chronology
Followed by	Stargate: The Ark of Truth (2008)
Related shows	Stargate Atlantis Stargate Universe Stargate (1994)
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Stargate SG-1 (often abbreviated as SG-1) is an American-Canadian science fiction television series, part of the Stargate franchise. Its story begins one year after the events of the 1994 science fiction film Stargate. It was produced in and around Vancouver, Canada.

In the Stargate science fiction universe, a network of ancient alien devices called Stargates connect the far reaches of the Milky Way, Pegasus and Ori galaxies, opening the door for near-instantaneous interstellar travel. Stargate SG-1 chronicles the exploits of SG-1, the "flagship team" of at least 25 teams who explore the galaxy and defend Earth against alien threats such as the Goa'uld, Replicators and later the Ori.

The series is currently broadcast in several countries around the world; in some places, such as Europe, North America, Japan, Latin America and Australia, the series is broadcast in HD.

In 2007, after completion of the series run, Stargate SG-1 was named as number 28 on TV Guide's list of "The 30 Top Cult Shows Ever".

Production

Developed for television by Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright, Stargate SG-1 was produced by MGM and filmed at Bridge Studios in Vancouver. The first episode was broadcast on July 27, 1997 on Showtime in the US and December 3, 1997 on the Seven Network in Australia. Showtime produced and aired the show's first five seasons. Beginning with season six, it was produced and aired by the Sci Fi Channel. A spin-off series, Stargate Atlantis, began airing in 2004. The two shows ran in tandem for three years, with occasionally interconnected plots and simultaneous story timelines.

Stargate SG-1 became the longest-running North American science fiction series on television, surpassing the nine seasons and 202 episodes of the The X-Files. It is also listed in the 2007 Guinness World Records as the "longest-running science fiction show (consecutive)"; Doctor Who fans dispute this claim, as 694 episodes of the British show were produced and shown consecutively between 1963 and 1989.

On August 21, 2006, the Sci Fi Channel announced that it would not be renewing the show for an eleventh season; however, executive producer Robert C. Cooper stated that Stargate SG-1's story will continue in a yet-to-be-announced form. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced that they are very keen to carry on the Stargate SG-1 story, and that they "intend to vigorously find a way to extend the franchise". Two Stargate films are currently planned, a continuation of the Stargate SG-1 story lines (see List of Stargate SG-1 episodes). The last day of shooting for season ten was on October 5, 2006. The final episode " Unending" was first broadcast by Sky One in the UK on March 13, 2007, and was later aired by the Sci Fi Channel in the United States on June 22, 2007.

In December, 2006, there were suggestions that a third Stargate series was being developed by the team behind Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. The working title of this series is Stargate Universe.

End of the series

On August 21, 2006, the Sci Fi Channel confirmed that Stargate SG-1 was not being renewed for an 11th season. However, Executive producer Robert C. Cooper told GateWorld that they are hard at work looking for a new outlet for the story to continue.

Mark Stern, executive VP of original programming for the Sci Fi Channel stated that the decision "was not a ratings-based decision", adding that the production staff has been given enough time to tie up all the loose ends and to create a good ending for the show. Stern has also said that SciFi plans to use some SG-1 members on the still-continuing spin-off Stargate Atlantis. MGM, the rights holder, has expressed a desire to continue SG-1 through another outlet, suggesting that another network may pick up the series. This could possibly mean that the series has not actually finished, but is simply on hold. MGM announced that they wish to continue the SG-1 series, either as a movie, mini-series, or an eleventh season on some other network, suggesting that G4 and Showtime have presented interest in such an option. However, the Sci Fi Channel is attempting to block the action, citing their contract with MGM. On September 26, 2006, GateWorld released news that IGN had reported that there will not be an eleventh season, but rather that there will be a series of SG-1 TV movies; the report cites an unnamed cast member.

On December 14, 2006, production sources informed GateWorld that a new series is in the idea stage, and is being actively worked on by the same creative minds behind Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. There have not been any plot lines released as of this time. Considering previous releases of SG-1 and Atlantis, the release date should not be expected until at least 2008.

On December 20, 2006, verified reports from GateWorld confirmed the production of two movies, with filming expected to begin in late April 2007. The regular cast of Stargate will be part of the cast. Executive producer Robert C. Cooper will both write and direct the first film, to be named Stargate: The Ark of Truth. The first movie "has to do with wrapping up the Ori storyline, which is the storyline that has taken prominence for the last two years of the show," said cast member Michael Shanks. The second movie, called Stargate: Continuum, started shooting June 1, 2007. Executive producer Brad Wright will write the second film, with Martin Wood directing. That story is a time travel story taking SG-1 to the past. "It has something to do with our main villain Ba'al ( Cliff Simon) doing something in the past," Shanks said. "He basically finds a way to lift the Stargate from Earth so the Stargate Program never happens, and I imagine the characters will have to go through some process to reset the clock and fix everything".

On December 22. 2006, GateWorld reported that with MGM beginning production of the first direct-to-DVD movie, MGM and the show's Vancouver-based producers are no longer pursuing an eleventh season. Ark of Truth was released on March 11, 2008, with Continuum scheduled to release on July 29, 2008, and the possibility of more future films remains high.

The first episode of Season 10 was aired in Australia on Seven Network on July 5, 2007. The second half of Season 10 began airing on Sky One in the UK and Ireland on January 9, 2007 and concluded with the series finale, "Unending", on March 13, 2007. The second half of the season began airing in the United States on April 13, 2007 and ended on June 22, 2007.

Plot

Stargate SG-1 follows and expands upon the Egyptian mythologies presented in Stargate. In the Stargate universe, the human race on Earth, known to the rest of the galaxy as the Tau'ri, were descendants of the Ancients, a race of highly evolved beings. Earth was believed to be the first planet where humans existed in this galaxy. Humans were enslaved and transported to other habitable planets by the Goa'uld such as Ra and Apophis. For millennia, the Goa'uld harvested humanity, heavily influencing and spreading human cultures. As a result, Earth cultures such as those of the Aztecs, Mayans, Britons, the Norse, Mongols, Greeks and Romans are found throughout the known habitable planets of the galaxy. Many well-known mythical locations such as Avalon, Camelot and Atlantis are found, or have at one time existed.

The series explores both long story arcs (discussed below) as well as more contained one-episode stories. Often these shorter stories will detail SG-1's exploits on a previously unexplored planet.

Presently, the Earth Stargate (found at a dig site near Giza in 1928) is housed in a top-secret U.S. military base known as the SGC (Stargate Command) underneath Cheyenne Mountain. Col. Jack O'Neill ( Richard Dean Anderson), Dr. Daniel Jackson ( Michael Shanks), Cpt. Samantha Carter ( Amanda Tapping) and Teal'c ( Christopher Judge) compose the original SG-1 team. Along with 24 other SG teams, they venture to distant planets exploring the galaxy and searching for defenses from the Goa'uld, in the forms of technology and alliances with friendly advanced races. Later in the series, some members of SG-1 leave such as Dr. Janet Frasier ( Teryl Rothery), Major General George Hammond ( Don S. Davis) and new members join, such as Jonas Quinn ( Corin Nemec), Major General Hank Landry ( Beau Bridges), Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell ( Ben Browder) and Vala Mal Doran ( Claudia Black).

The parasitic Goa'uld use advanced technology to cast themselves as gods and are bent on galactic conquest and eternal worship. Throughout the first eight seasons, the Goa'uld are the primary antagonists. They are a race of highly intelligent, ruthless snake-like alien parasites capable of invading and controlling the bodies of other species, including humans. The original arch-enemy from this race is the System Lord Apophis ( Peter Williams). Other System Lords, such as Ba'al and Anubis, play pivotal roles in the later seasons. In the third season, the Replicators are also introduced. The Replicators are mechanical bugs that feed on metals to "replicate" and create more bugs. Enemy of the Asgard, they are the main reason why the Asgard cannot eliminate the Goa'uld threat. In the ninth season a new villain emerges, the Ori. The Ori are advanced beings with unfathomable technology from another galaxy, also bent on galactic conquest and eternal worship. The introduction of the Ori accompanies a departure from the primary focus on Egyptian mythology into an exploration of the Arthurian mythology surrounding the Ori, their followers, and their enemies — the Ancients. Both Ancients and Ori are Ascended Beings, meaning that they have 'ascended' to a higher plane of existence, giving them extraordinary powers.

Goa'uld arc

When Apophis visits Earth at the beginning of the series (which is set one year after the events of the original film), the SGC military base is brought back into action. The SG teams are created—spearheaded by SG-1—to help defend Earth from the new threat. It is quickly revealed that Apophis is but one of many Goa'uld System Lords who battle for power in the galaxy. The Stargate itself is also revealed to connect not only Earth and Abydos, but is one of many gates forming an enormous network connecting countless planets. The Goa'uld are parasitic beings that take control of other species, usually humans, and use them as unwilling hosts. The System Lords possess interstellar pyramid-shaped warships and vast armies of foot soldiers.(Later throughout the series the warships become less pyramid shaped) The bulk of these forces are modified humans known as Jaffa.

In the first episode the lives of the SG-1 team are saved by a Jaffa, Teal'c, the First Prime of Apophis, who defects hoping the Tau'ri (Earth humans) can defeat the Goa'uld, freeing the Jaffa. Earth becomes exposed as a threat to Goa'uld power throughout the seasons and comes under attack multiple times.

SG-1 and the SGC forge several alliances with other races in the galaxy, among them the Tok'ra. The Tok'ra are the same species as the Goa'uld, but opposed to the System Lords and everything they stand for. They blend with their hosts voluntarily to share their bodies. Other races depicted include the Tollan, as well as other advanced human civilizations. They also encounter races that have been surviving in the galaxy for millennia, such as the Nox, the Asgard, and the remnants of an extinct race that comes to be known as the Ancients. It is later discovered that the Ancients had been the most advanced race in history, and were the builders of the Stargates. It is also revealed that Earth came to be the homeworld of the Ancients after they fled their original galaxy. The Ancients then ascended into a being made purely of energy.

There is a constant attempt by forces on Earth to take control of the Stargate. In particular, rogue NID agents, which eventually become the elite syndicate known as The Trust, constantly try to steal the Stargate or use alien technology for its own ends. The political powers on Earth are often at odds over the Stargate, once the program is revealed to ambassadors from the major powers of Earth. In this episode it is Thor (an Asgard) who helps convince the ambassadors of the other nations to accept the current Stargate program and not to reveal it to the general population.

In season three, another threat arises—a race of non-sentient machines called Replicators. These Replicators have rarely posed a direct threat to the Milky Way galaxy, but are revealed as being on the verge of wiping out the Asgard.

Season four premieres focusing on the war against the Replicators. The show begins to move away from its Goa'uld-orientated roots, instead focusing on stand-alone episodes and exploring alternative concepts for episodes. Throughout the season, SG-1 encounters everything from genocidal civilizations, to advanced strength-enhancing gauntlets, to a newly recurring species, the Unas. The season ends with a major battle against the Goa'uld System Lord Apophis.

Anubis arc

After Apophis was defeated at the beginning of season five, another Goa'uld System Lord takes his place as the main villain, Anubis. Anubis has much knowledge of the Ancients and their technology. The theme of Ascension is introduced fully, explaining that the Ancients survived extinction by Ascending to a higher plane of existence. Anubis tried to do this as well, to harvest the vast knowledge and power in that plane, but was cast down, leaving him in a dangerous, half-Ascended state. Anubis gains great power by using Ancient technology and stealing Asgard technology. Daniel Jackson sacrifices his life to prevent disaster on another planet. With help from Oma Desala, an ascended Ancient, Daniel too ascends to the higher plane of existence.

In season six, Jonas Quinn joins the team, filling Daniel's place; now that Daniel is engaged in cosmic affairs on a higher plane. Occasionally, Daniel appears to his friends to help them out. He only appears to them individually, often causing them to think that they are hallucinating. In the season six finale, Anubis threatens to destroy Abydos, the planet most dear to Daniel apart from Earth, and Daniel promises to stop Anubis.

Daniel is ultimately unable to use his Ascended powers to keep Anubis from destroying Abydos; it is revealed in Season 8 that, as Oma Desala's punishment for helping Anubis ascend, it has been prohibited that any ascended being take action against him - Oma must suffer by seeing innocents come to harm because of her interventions in the mortal plane. Daniel's transgression results in his return to the mortal plane of existence, where he rejoins SG-1. Soon after Daniel's return, Jonas Quinn is permitted by his world to return home, and he leaves the SGC. Throughout season seven, Anubis consolidates his power by wiping out other System Lords, while Daniel and the SGC search for the Lost City of the Ancients where powerful technology capable of defeating Anubis is believed to be located. In the season seven finale, an Ancient outpost is located in Antarctica, and O'Neill is able to use the weapons there to annihilate Anubis' entire fleet.

In season eight, the System Lord Ba'al subsumes much of Anubis's power, but Anubis is discovered still alive, due to his half-Ascended state. He eventually comes to rule secretly over Ba'al as well. Anubis genetically creates a great army of Super Soldiers, immune to all weapons, to defeat the System Lords. Alongside this, the Replicators escape and begin to conquer the System Lords. A human-form Replicator created in the image of Samantha Carter (" RepliCarter") becomes the most powerful force in the galaxy.

Towards the end of season eight, Anubis seeks to destroy all life in the galaxy using the Dakara Superweapon, so he can remake it as he sees fit. However, SG-1 reaches the weapon first and adjusts it to destroy all Replicators throughout the galaxy. They achieve this end, but not before Daniel is killed by RepliCarter. He finds himself returned to the Ascended plane (again with Oma's assistance), where he learns that Oma also helped Anubis to Ascend. Daniel is able to convince Oma of the danger posed by Anubis, and she stops him once and for all by engaging him in an eternal stalemated battle on the Ascended plane, thus preventing him from acting on the mortal plane. Daniel then returns to the mortal plane, arriving at the SGC. Ba'al is forced by the Jaffa Rebellion to flee. The System Lords have been decimated, the Replicators annihilated, and the Jaffa have won their freedom.

Ori arc

In season nine, Jack O'Neill is promoted to the rank of Major General and leaves the SGC to replace Retired Lieutenant General Hammond as the new Commander for Department of Homeworld Security, to be replaced as base commander by Major General Hank Landry ( Beau Bridges). Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell ( Ben Browder) also joins the SGC as the commanding officer of SG-1. The SGC discovers that Ba'al has fled to Earth and is rebuilding his power from there, while the Goa'uld have infiltrated The Trust.

An accidental visit to a distant galaxy by Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran draws the attention of the Ori to the existence of sentient life in the Milky Way. The Ori influence the mortal plane through commanding Priors, mortals they evolved and enhanced with supernatural powers. The Priors spread and enforce a religion called Origin. Followers of the religion are promised Ascension (a promise later learned to be false), and unknowingly augment the power of the Ori through the act of worship. They begin to make incursions into the Milky Way, with the ultimate goal of converting all sentient species and destroying the Ancients.

When SG-1 learns that Merlin, a formerly Ascended Ancient and founder of the Arthurian legends, had been secretly working on a weapon to incapacitate or destroy Ascended beings as a means of defense against the Ori, they travel to the planet where he is believed to have left it. There they find a village, Camelot, with a sword in a stone and discover the "weapon" is no less than the origin of the Holy Grail myth, and is long lost. The Ori attempt to establish a beachhead in the Milky Way galaxy by creating a giant Supergate through which they launch their crusade. Vala is accidentally transported to the Ori galaxy, where she finds herself pregnant with a child. The Ori manage to open a Supergate into the Milky Way and send four Ori battlecruisers to begin their evangelical crusade; they effortlessly wipe out the combined fleet of Earth, Jaffa, Asgard, and Lucian Alliance ships.

In season ten, Adria, the daughter of Vala, is born and ages rapidly. She is the Orici, leader of Ori forces in the Milky Way. SG-1 continues the search for Merlin's anti-ascended-being weapon, the Sangraal (Holy Grail). However, they must now contend with Ba'al and his clones, who are attempting to find and use the weapon for their own purposes.

Following a visit to Atlantis, Daniel learns from Morgan Le Fay of two planets that may harbour the weapon. The Jaffa use the Dakara Superweapon to wipe out the crew of an Ori ship, allowing its capture, but Adria survives the assault and destroys the weapon at Dakara. SG-1 travels to the planet where they believe the Sangraal is kept, and proves their worthiness to possess it through a series of tests, culminating with a battle with a dragon. Upon passing the tests, they are transported to Merlin's laboratory; Merlin transfers his consciousness into Daniel, and he begins constructing the Sangraal, but Adria interrupts and captures Daniel. Mitchell and Carter successfully transfer an entire village out-of-phase, protecting them from the Ori. Daniel becomes a Prior so he can send a ship with the Anti-Ori device through the Super-gate into the Ori galaxy. Langara, home world of Jonas Quinn, falls to the Ori. SG-1 visits the Pegasus galaxy and Atlantis for the first time (though Teal'c does not make the journey), and conducts its first joint mission with Atlantis. The 200th episode was aired during this season.

Several story arcs created during the Ori Arc of Stargate SG-1 were not resolved before the conclusion of the tenth Season, due to the cancellation of the show. These arcs were wrapped up in the first of a series of SG-1 Direct-To-DVD movies, the first of which - Stargate: The Ark of Truth - dealt specifically with the ending of the Ori arc.

Cast

Along with the central cast who are listed below, Stargate SG-1 has a large cast of supporting/recurring characters.

Toys

Hasbro originally released a series of action figures and playsets for the movie. In 2005 Diamond Select with Jean St Jean Studios launched series of toys. Wave's 1 ( Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, and Serpent Guard) and Wave 2's ( Thor, Samantha Carter, & Teal'c) are needed to complete the gate that came with toys. Note that either the Black Op's Jack O'Neill, Col. O'Neill, or General O'Neill's sections of the gate will work, as is the case with Wave 2's Teal'c, Black Op's Teal'c or Preview Exclusive Serpent Guard Teal'c section of the gate.

Themes and allusions

Episodes frequently open with SG-1 exploring a new planet for potential technology and allies. Upon discovery of civilized settlements Daniel Jackson, the archaeologist and historian, often takes further interest in anthropology, alien society, culture, and even moral issues encountered. The philosophical and sociological differences between cultures are explored through SG-1's journeys.

Human curiosity is often depicted as a double edged sword, and major events—including the introduction of new villains—often result from this.

A recurring motif is the way in which human characters from Earth speak in naturalistic, everyday language, while most characters from other planets use a more eloquent, archaic variant of English. This is also present in Stargate Atlantis and is typically played for humor, especially when characters such as Teal'c attempt to use human slang terms. There are, however, exceptions to this rule such as Jonas Quinn, Vala Mal Doran, and Ronon Dex (from Stargate Atlantis).

Stargate and the military
The USAF cooperates closely with the producers of the program. Two successive Chiefs of Staff of the USAF, Generals Michael E. Ryan and John P. Jumper, have appeared in the show, playing themselves. Ryan appeared in the episode " Prodigy" because of his fascination with science fiction, especially space exploration. Jumper made a cameo appearance in " Lost City", the episode that was originally slated to be the show's last. The Air Force Association recognized Richard Dean Anderson at its 57th annual dinner on September 14, 2004 for his work as actor and executive producer of the show, and "for the show's continuous positive depiction of the Air Force". Many of the extras portraying US Air Force personnel are in fact real US Air Force personnel.

Allusions
The series frequently references other television and film productions for example: Star Wars, Star Trek, The Wizard of Oz, and The Simpsons.

• In " Children of the Gods", the pilot episode for the series, when Samantha Carter sees a DHD for the first time, she comments on how it took "fifteen years and three supercomputers to MacGyver a system for the gate on Earth." This is a reference to Anderson's well-known portrayal of the television character MacGyver.

• Throughout the show, there are many references to The Wizard of Oz, mainly by Col. O'Neill, as well as many references to The Simpsons as Jack O'Neill's favorite television series—it is, in fact, Richard Dean Anderson's as well. In the season eight episode, " Citizen Joe", Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, made a guest appearance as Joe Spencer. In turn, Richard Dean Anderson later made a guest appearance on The Simpsons in episode 17 of the seventeenth season Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore as himself.
• In the season one episode " Politics," Daniel Jackson facetiously suggests that they can stop the Goa'uld invasion by infecting their mother ship with a computer virus, poking fun at the movie Independence Day, which was written and produced by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the writers of the film Stargate.

Popularity

The decade-old show remains popular; in 2004, TV Guide suggested that its popularity may be exceeding that of the Star Trek franchise. Testifying to its vigor, Stargate SG-1 broke Nielsen Ratings records for the U.S. Sci-Fi Channel throughout its eighth season. Although Richard Dean Anderson departed as a regular after season eight, he made guest appearances in several episodes of seasons nine and ten of SG-1 and season three of Stargate Atlantis.