Stargate is… its own thing, but if you like it then Stargate Atlantis is good.
Personally, I never felt like any of it was ever as good as even mediocre Trek, and it definitely has this military fetishism / combat focus that I didn't care for as much, but there are some pretty good and fun episodes as well and there's a ton of Trek/90s scifi alums you'll recognize (including Connor Trinneer playing a big bad that is definitely not Trip Tucker).
Stargate is great
SG1 is a lot of fun and knows it’s generally not to be taken seriously
Atlantis is big swings of good and just fuckterrible
Universe sucks hard
I think that description of Universe is somewhat tainted by comparison. It's not as good as the rest of the Stargate series, but IMO it's not bad. The first season was darker and more melodramatic than my tastes, but I really liked the underlying mysteries and adventures and things were looking a lot better in season 2 (after which, alas, it got cancelled).
I agree with this. Maybe this is a consequence of binge watching SG1/SGA over the course of 3-4 months, but their episodes ended up feeling very repetitive, formulaic, and too often leaned on Carter/Rodney being super geniuses to get them out of trouble. SGU was a much needed shake up and, even though it did get too soap opera drama sometimes, I appreciated that it kept that BSG back-to-the-wall energy up from episode to episode. It may not be as good as SG1/SGA, but it never dragged like those shows did mid-season.
It wasn't darker, it was just whiny. They basically had teenagers mooning over each other and one of the main characters was literally just there to have sex with all the female characters (including the female lead). Even the adults acted like teenagers. There's a subplot where the cheating male lead has his wife cheat on him with the guy whose body he uses to talk with her back on earth.
The only good thing about the series was Christopher McDonald, and they kill him off in the pilot.
Stargate Universe is their attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Battlestar Galactica and Degrassi.
I've heard the second half is better, but I could never get past the first season. Entirely too much melodrama, and not the fun kind they had in SG-1, with good characters and interesting plot lines. Just straight up melodrama.
I forced myself to watch it just to see if it gets better in the second season and it sorta does. There's less melodrama, but it doesn't start feeling like Stargate until six episodes from the finale. And the finale isn't very satisfying.
I felt that the finale was thematically satisfying. The Ancients set Destiny in motion to discover the greatest secret of the universe, but never saw it through to the answer. The Tau'ri, the Ancients' chosen successors, picked up the torch and helped keep it moving. They repaired and resupplied Destiny. But they, too, never saw it through to the answer. Destiny continues on.
Yep. I think, in terms of being thematically accurate, the ending of SGU was better than BSG. It's not a satisfying ending because you don't get to find out what the mission is. (BTW, a message in the CMBR is a really interesting idea.) But it feels right for the show, more right than throwing all your ships into the sun, anyway.
Also, the idea of putting themselves to sleep might have been a way to pick the show back up if it got renewed. I just wish they'd have made season 1 an actual sci fi show and not Degrassi in space.
I love Janelle Monae but she didn't need to be in the show.
See now, for me the first season is so good, better than most other sci fi, and this even though it starts with the base of mazlowes hierarchy of needs, air, water, food… Meanwhile the second season is some rubbish with aliens and other stuff ruining the plot, and ends suddenly when it runs out of money.
I find SG1 too corny for repeat watching, SG Atlantis is better but not great. But SG Universe I have watched uncountable times. Enjoy it a lot.
Universe is a lot like Star Trek Discovery (Season 1): it deviates strongly from the source material by leaning hard into the "everybody kind of hates and/or distrusts everyone else" trope. At the same time, it explains some mysteries and expands the lore, so it's canon despite not being anyone's favorite.
Sg1 is so good imo. It's like lower decks is to the rest of trek. Still thought-provoking and interesting at its best, but at its worst it's just a whole lot of cheesy fun. Voyager straight up copied some episodes from it, or at least was "heavily influenced" by episode concepts.
I've been meaning to watch it, it's supposed to be good right?
Stargate is… its own thing, but if you like it then Stargate Atlantis is good.
Personally, I never felt like any of it was ever as good as even mediocre Trek, and it definitely has this military fetishism / combat focus that I didn't care for as much, but there are some pretty good and fun episodes as well and there's a ton of Trek/90s scifi alums you'll recognize (including Connor Trinneer playing a big bad that is definitely not Trip Tucker).
Stargate is great SG1 is a lot of fun and knows it’s generally not to be taken seriously Atlantis is big swings of good and just fuckterrible Universe sucks hard
I think that description of Universe is somewhat tainted by comparison. It's not as good as the rest of the Stargate series, but IMO it's not bad. The first season was darker and more melodramatic than my tastes, but I really liked the underlying mysteries and adventures and things were looking a lot better in season 2 (after which, alas, it got cancelled).
I agree with this. Maybe this is a consequence of binge watching SG1/SGA over the course of 3-4 months, but their episodes ended up feeling very repetitive, formulaic, and too often leaned on Carter/Rodney being super geniuses to get them out of trouble. SGU was a much needed shake up and, even though it did get too soap opera drama sometimes, I appreciated that it kept that BSG back-to-the-wall energy up from episode to episode. It may not be as good as SG1/SGA, but it never dragged like those shows did mid-season.
It wasn't darker, it was just whiny. They basically had teenagers mooning over each other and one of the main characters was literally just there to have sex with all the female characters (including the female lead). Even the adults acted like teenagers. There's a subplot where the cheating male lead has his wife cheat on him with the guy whose body he uses to talk with her back on earth.
The only good thing about the series was Christopher McDonald, and they kill him off in the pilot.
If you like SG1 you'll like Atlantis, because it's basically the same show with different characters. Stargate Universe is… different.
Stargate Universe is their attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Battlestar Galactica and Degrassi.
I've heard the second half is better, but I could never get past the first season. Entirely too much melodrama, and not the fun kind they had in SG-1, with good characters and interesting plot lines. Just straight up melodrama.
I forced myself to watch it just to see if it gets better in the second season and it sorta does. There's less melodrama, but it doesn't start feeling like Stargate until six episodes from the finale. And the finale isn't very satisfying.
I felt that the finale was thematically satisfying. The Ancients set Destiny in motion to discover the greatest secret of the universe, but never saw it through to the answer. The Tau'ri, the Ancients' chosen successors, picked up the torch and helped keep it moving. They repaired and resupplied Destiny. But they, too, never saw it through to the answer. Destiny continues on.
Yep. I think, in terms of being thematically accurate, the ending of SGU was better than BSG. It's not a satisfying ending because you don't get to find out what the mission is. (BTW, a message in the CMBR is a really interesting idea.) But it feels right for the show, more right than throwing all your ships into the sun, anyway.
Also, the idea of putting themselves to sleep might have been a way to pick the show back up if it got renewed. I just wish they'd have made season 1 an actual sci fi show and not Degrassi in space.
I love Janelle Monae but she didn't need to be in the show.
Yeah. Sadly season 2 of SG: Universe is just good enough to make it sad that they cancelled it after it started to find it's legs.
If season 2 was season 1 we'd have seen a fan campaign that would have revived it.
Agreed!
See now, for me the first season is so good, better than most other sci fi, and this even though it starts with the base of mazlowes hierarchy of needs, air, water, food… Meanwhile the second season is some rubbish with aliens and other stuff ruining the plot, and ends suddenly when it runs out of money.
I find SG1 too corny for repeat watching, SG Atlantis is better but not great. But SG Universe I have watched uncountable times. Enjoy it a lot.
Which just goes to show everyone is different.
Universe is a lot like Star Trek Discovery (Season 1): it deviates strongly from the source material by leaning hard into the "everybody kind of hates and/or distrusts everyone else" trope. At the same time, it explains some mysteries and expands the lore, so it's canon despite not being anyone's favorite.
I'm still salty they cancelled it right as it was getting good.
Atlantis is the definition of “pretty okay, I guess.”
It’s what you watch when you want to watch SG-1 but also are burnt out on SG-1.
Sg1 is so good imo. It's like lower decks is to the rest of trek. Still thought-provoking and interesting at its best, but at its worst it's just a whole lot of cheesy fun. Voyager straight up copied some episodes from it, or at least was "heavily influenced" by episode concepts.