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Stargate Sg-1




  Caption The original ''Stargate SG-1'' characters From left to right: Daniel Jackson , Samantha Carter , Teal'c , George Hammond and Jack O'Neill
  Format Science Fiction
  Runtime 42 minutes
  Creator Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright
  Starring Richard Dean Anderson <br> Michael Shanks <br> Amanda Tapping <br> Christopher Judge <br> Ben Browder <br> Corin Nemec <br> Don S Davis <br> Beau Bridges <br> Claudia Black
  Country United States
  Network Showtime
  First Aired July 27, 1997
  Last Aired Present
  Num Episodes 205
  Imdb Id 118480
  Tv Com Id 185


''Stargate SG-1'' (sometimes written ''Stargåte'' to mimic the title art, and popularly abbreviated as '''''SG-1''''') is a Television Series based upon the 1994 Science Fiction film '' Stargate ''. The premise of both is the existence of devices called Stargate s, which allow travellers to cross the vast distances of Space in an instant. The show focuses on a team called SG-1 , who, in the Top-secret U.S. Military Base called the SGC hidden underneath Cheyenne Mountain , use the Stargate found on Earth to explore Other Worlds and defend Earth against Alien threats. Thus unlike many other science-fiction franchises with an interplanetary-exploration theme, ''SG-1'' is set in the present day, is based on Earth, and primarily involves Humans .

The series is produced by MGM and filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia , Canada . The first episode was broadcast on July 27 , 1997 on Showtime , which aired the series' first five seasons. Since season six, the show is aired on the Sci Fi Channel . In July 2005 , the Sci Fi Channel renewed ''SG-1'' for a tenth season, making it the longest-running science fiction series on American television, surpassing '' The X Files's '' nine seasons and 202 episodes.

Developed for television by Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright , ''SG-1'' originally starred Richard Dean Anderson , Michael Shanks , Amanda Tapping , Christopher Judge and Don S. Davis . The cast would change in later seasons. Actor Corin Nemec was a regular during the 6th Season, replacing Shanks. Davis left as a regular during the eighth season, and Anderson in the ninth; the latter season added new regulars Ben Browder and Beau Bridges . For Season 10, Claudia Black will be added as a new regular, reprising her recurring role as Vala Mal Doran .

A Spin-off series, '' Stargate Atlantis '', began airing in July 2004 . The two shows now run in tandem, with plots that are occasionally interconnected.


SHOW SUMMARY

from ''Stargate SG-1'']] magazine.]]
The series follows the adventures of four explorers designated as SG-1 , one team among at least 22, who use an alien artifact called a ' Stargate ' to travel the vast distances between planets, operating under the aegis of the United States Government 's top-secret military base, Stargate Command (the SGC ). The members of SG-1 were originally Jack O'Neill ( Anderson ), Daniel Jackson ( Shanks ), Samantha Carter ( Tapping ) and Teal'c ( Judge ).

The primary goal of the SG Teams is to travel to other worlds through the Stargate and procure alien technology to help defend Earth against the Goa'uld , a galactically dominant alien race who became aware of this planet's now relatively advanced civilization after the recovery of Earth's Stargate and the subsequent destruction of Ra , a powerful Goa'uld System Lord (the events depicted in the 1994 Movie ).

One of the most endearing qualities of ''Stargate SG-1'' is that it takes place in the present day. Humans, as depicted in the series, are technologically behind some of the alien races the Stargate teams have met, but are rapidly gaining the ability to fight, defend, and benefit from the advances they have been exposed to in both significant and material ways. After more than 8 years, despite having advanced sufficiently to defend Earth against the Goa'uld, when the new threat of the Ori is revealed, Earth has once again begun to taste severe inferiority to its enemies.

The show remains popular despite entering its ninth season on the air. '' TV Guide '' recently proposed that its popularity may be exceeding that of the '' Star Trek '' franchise. ''Stargate SG-1'' continues to break records in terms of Nielsen Ratings for the Sci-Fi channel, while the eighth season two-part episode "Reckoning" was widely regarded by fans as one of the five best in the show's history. Although Richard Dean Anderson , as the show's effective main character, departed as a regular in Season 9, he left the door open for future guest appearances.

On October 24 , 2005 ''Stargate SG-1'' was renewed for an unprecedented tenth season. This will make Stargate the longest running Science Fiction television show in U.S. television history.


PLOT SUMMARY


:''See Stargate for a general summary of this universe.

's opening title]]

The original villain of ''Stargate SG-1'', Apophis , was a powerful Goa'uld System Lord who caused the Stargate program to be brought back into action when he attacked Earth at the beginning of the series. He was, however, but one of many System Lords who battle for power of the galaxy. All Goa'uld are parasitic beings that take control of other bodies (usually humans, whom they transported across the galaxy in the distant past). System Lords usually have vast armies of footsoldiers, the bulk of these forces consisting of modified humans known as Jaffa . Throughout the course of the show, some Jaffa – and then an increasing number – form a Jaffa Rebellion led by main character Teal'c , a high-ranking Jaffa who defected to SG-1's cause in the first episode.

SG-1 and the SGC make several alliances with other races in the galaxy, such as the Tok'ra . The Tok'ra are the same species as the Goa'uld , but their hosts willingly ''share'' their bodies. The Tok'ra are opposed to the System Lord s. Other races include the Tollan and other advanced human civilizations. They also meet races that have been surviving in the galaxy for millennia, such as the Nox , the Asgard , and the remnants of an extinct race that come to be known as the Ancients . It is later discovered that the Ancients were the most advanced race ever, and were the builders of the Stargates.

In the background of the show, there is a constant attempt by forces on Earth to take over the Stargate Program. In particular, rogue NID agents, which eventually become the elite syndicate known as The Trust , are constantly trying to steal the Stargate or use alien technology for their own ends. The political powers on Earth are often at loggerheads over the Stargate, particularly after the program is revealed to ambassadors from the main powers of Earth ( France , China , Russia and Great Britain ).

Besides the Goa'uld, another threat arises in Season 3, namely a race of non-sentient machines called Replicator s. These Replicators rarely posed a direct threat to the Milky Way Galaxy, but were on the verge of wiping out the Asgard. As a last desperate measure, the Asgard devised a plan in Season 6, using a command code from the deactivated Replicator creator Reese , to trap every Replicator in a Time Dilation field, effectively containing them for thousands of years.

After Apophis is conquered in Season 5, another Goa'uld System Lord takes his place as the show's main villain, Anubis . Anubis is considerably more evil than Apophis, and has much of the knowledge of the Ancients. The theme of Ascension is introduced fully, explaining that the Ancients survived extinction by Ascending to a higher plane of being. Anubis tried to do this as well, to harvest the vast knowledge and power in that plane, but was cast down again, leaving him in a dangerous half-Ascended state. Anubis gains great power by using Ancient technology and stealing Asgard technology.

's opening title]]

Near the end of Season 5, Daniel Jackson is killed, but Ascends with help from Oma Desala . In Season 6, his position is filled by Jonas Quinn ; he is now engaged in cosmic affairs on a higher plane. Occasionally, he appears to his friends to help them out, but is only visible to them alone, often causing them to think that they are hallucinating. However, in the Season 6 finale, Anubis threatens to destroy Abydos , the planet most dear to Daniel, save Earth, and Daniel promises to stop Anubis.

However, Daniel is ultimately unable to keep Anubis from destroying Abydos as the other Ascended beings have a rule against interfering in the affairs of mortal beings. His transgression causes him to be cast down by the Ancients to the human plane of existence allowing him to re-join SG-1 again. Throughout Season 7, Anubis consolidates his power by wiping out other System Lords, whilst Daniel and the SGC search for the Lost City of the Ancients, where powerful technology will be found that can defeat Anubis. In the Season 7 finale, an Ancient Outpost is located in Antarctica, and Jack O'Neill is able to use the weapon there to utterly defeat Anubis's entire fleet.

In Season 8, the System Lord Ba'al subsumes much of Anubis's power, but Anubis is discovered not to be dead due to his half-Ascended state. He eventually comes to rule secretly over Ba'al as well. Alongside this, the Replicator s escape and begin to conquer even the System Lords. A human-form Replicator (" RepliCarter ") is created in the image of Samantha Carter , who becomes the most powerful force in the galaxy.

Towards the end of Season 8, Anubis seeks to destroy all life in the galaxy so he can remake it as he sees fit, and he seeks to do this using the Dakara Superweapon , the most powerful piece of Ancient technology known. SG-1 and the Jaffa Rebellion get to it first and through SG-1's efforts try to alter it to destroy Replicators instead. Meanwhile, RepliCarter captures Daniel Jackson , and whilst she probes his mind for Ascended knowledge, Daniel takes control of ''her'' mind, and manages to halt all the Replicators in the galaxy long enough for the Superweapon to be realigned and fired. Daniel is killed, but finds himself in the Ascended plane again (again Oma has helped him), where Anubis is finally stopped in his plans by Oma. Daniel Jackson then is de-Ascended once more and arrives at the SGC. Ba'al has to flee under the total success of the Jaffa Rebellion.

's 10-second opening title]]'s extended opening title]]

In Season 9, Jack O'Neill leaves the SGC and SG-1 to be replaced by Cameron Mitchell ( Ben Browder ), with Hank Landry ( Beau Bridges ) taking control of the SGC itself. It is discovered that Ba'al fled to Earth and is rebuilding his power from there, whilst many Goa'uld have infected The Trust.

Due to an accidental visit by Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran to a distant galaxy, they draw the attention of a cosmic group of evil Ascended beings, the Ori , to the Milky Way. The Ori influence the mortal world through commanding mortals that they evolve and enhance. These mortals are called Prior s, and uphold a religion that worships the Ori, called Origin . The Ori begin to make incursions into the Milky Way, with the ultimate goal of converting all humans to worshippers and wiping out the Ancients.

When SG-1 learns that Merlin , a formerly Ascended Ancient, and founder of the Arthurian legend, had been working on a weapon to destroy Ascended beings as a means of defense against the Ori, they head to the planet where he was said to have left it. There they find a village with a Sword In A Stone – the true Camelot – where they discover that the "weapon" is no less than the origin of the Holy Grail myth, and is long lost. Meanwhile the Ori manage to open a Supergate into the Milky Way and send a fleet of Ori Battlecruiser s on a evangelical crusade; they effortlessly wipe out the ships that had been waiting to defend.


FICTIONAL UNIVERSE

''SG-1'' has a rich backdrop of aliens, planets and technology. For more information, see the relevant articles:


CAST


Regular characters



Other characters

For complete character lists, including dead characters, see:


EPISODES

See Also: List of Stargate SG-1 episodes


".

For an overview of all episodes, see List Of Stargate SG-1 Episodes . Alternatively, to study the plot in detail, begin with the first episode " Children Of The Gods " and progress from there.


BROADCASTERS



SPIN-OFFS

The ''Stargate SG-1'' story and surrounding mythos has spawned many subsidiary productions which are often considered Canon with the occasional obvious exceptions.


Television Shows



Video games



Literature

Since 1999, several novels have been released based on the ''Stargate SG-1'' series. These books were written by Ashley McConnell and published by ROC .
  • ''Stargate SG-1'' (novelization of the series' Pilot , " Children Of The Gods ")

  • --- In the book, McConnell describes Teal'c as "African-American." While an amusing bit of political correctness, it is inaccurate as Teal'c was in no way African. Jaffa-American might be a more apt description; however, some Jaffa in the series are white, so the reference to Teal'c's skin color would remain unknown.

  • ''The Price You Pay''

  • ''The First Amendment''

  • ''The Morpheus Factor''


A series of books from Fandemonium Press is also available in the UK , Australia , New Zealand and South Africa . They are not sold in bookstores in the United States due to licensing issues; however, they can be ordered from stores in the UK.
  • ''Stargate SG-1: Trial By Fire'' by Sabine C. Bauer

  • ''Stargate SG-1: Sacrifice Moon'' by Julie Fortune

  • ''Stargate SG-1: A Matter Of Honour (1 of 2)'' by Sally Malcolm

  • ''Stargate SG-1: City Of The Gods'' by Sonny Whitelaw

  • ''Stargate SG-1: The Cost Of Honour (2 of 2)'' by Sally Malcolm

  • ''Stargate SG-1: Siren Song'' by Jaimie Duncan and Holly Scott (upcoming)

  • ''Stargate SG-1: Survival of the Fittest'' by Sabine C Bauer (upcoming)


A series of Atlantis books is also forthcoming from Fandemonium Press. See the Stargate Atlantis article for more information.

The ''Official Stargate Magazine'' produced by Titan Publishing has also published a series of short stories based on the series. The magazine is available in the UK.
  • ''Archeology 101 '' by Martha Wells (January/February 2006, ''Stargate Magazine'' #8)


The magazine also features stories based on the ''Stargate Atlantis'' series. See the Stargate Atlantis article for more information.

A series of comics has also been published by Avatar Press . See Stargate SG-1 Comics for more information.


TRIVIA


Film/series Continuity

The original film did not develop as much of the setting's depth as would be needed in a television series. MGM , which owned the rights, took Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin's product and handed the reins to a new team of creators (Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner). This new team introduced many new concepts to make the Stargate universe into a workable weekly science fiction show. Also, certain details were changed.

For example, in the film:
  • Ra 's species was not named (not strictly a contradiction, but a difference), and Ra was presented as using a sort of incorporeal "possession" of a human host instead of direct biological parasitism.

  • Ra was the last of a dying race rather than just one of many Goa'uld . However, this may not be an actual contradiction since it would be rather easy for the Goa'uld to have repopulated in the 10,000 years since Ra discovered humanity.

  • Abydos was located in the Kaliem galaxy, "on the far side of the known universe," rather than one of the closest Stargates to Earth.

  • The Air Force base was under Creek Mountain, rather than Cheyenne Mountain .

  • A few names were spelled differently or changed, which has been a source of in-jokes and pedanticism ever since:

  • --- Colonel Jack O'Neill's name was spelled ''O'Neil''.

  • --- Colonel Jack O'Neill's wife/ex-wife was named ''Sarah'' rather than ''Sara''.

  • --- Colonel Jack O'Neil's son was named ''Tyler'' rather than ''Charlie''.

  • --- Dr. Jackson's wife's name was ''Sha'uri'', rather than ''Sha're''.

  • The first time Daniel Jackson sees the Stargate is after he figures out the seven-coordinate address system, but in the TV episode " Lost City ", he tells Elizabeth Weir that "I remember when we were first trying to get the Stargate to work, I would just come here, and stare at it for hours." However, it is entirely possible that he's referring to the cover-stones that the seven-symbols were printed upon, which he did stare at for hours on end, and that this is not, in fact, a contradiction; Daniel merely misspoke.

  • In the episode " The Torment Of Tantalus ", it was clearly stated Catherine Langford was twenty-one in 1945 , which would make her about four years old in 1928 . However, she is much older in the opening sequence of the film, which is set in that year.

  • In the episode " Children Of The Gods ", O'Neill told General Hammond that their "first clue" Ra was an alien was the fact that his eyes glowed. In the film, O'Neill didn't encouter Ra until after Daniel Jackson had discovered he was an alien. It is possible, however, that O'Neill was simply being sarcastic, referring to one of the more alien "tells" that Ra possessed as their very first hint.


Several of these differences were simply ignored by the TV series, but others have been addressed in various episodes of ''Stargate SG-1''. For example, it was sarcastically mentioned at one point that there is another Colonel named Jack O'Neil whose name is often mixed up with Jack O'Neill's (and who "has no sense of humor"). Other changes have been explained as advances in technology, such as more precise "aiming" by Earth's dialling computer (to compensate for the drift of the planets in 10,000 years) that prevents the frost effect. Others are most likely just oversights.

Because of these differences, some fans of the film consider the television series as its own separate entity, rather than a proper sequel to the film. Using some of Emmerich's notes, Bill McCay wrote a Series Of Five Novels continuing the story the original creators had envisioned.


Series trivia

  • The show is filmed in and around Vancouver . Many of the minor characters (and the extras) are Vancouverites. Numerous references to Vancouver culture (eg. place names) have been made throughout the series.

  • As of Season 9, Teal'c ( Christopher Judge ) is the character to appear in the most episodes, having only been absent in the episode "Prometheus Unbound" in Season 8. Prior to Season 9 he held this title with Amanda Tapping 's character, Samantha Carter , who was also only absent in "Prometheus Unbound" up until Amanda's maternity leave which left her absent for the first five episodes of Season 9.

  • There are only three episodes of the series in which ", " The First Commandment ", and " Forever In A Day ". All other instances he refers to Daniel Jackson by his full name or, occasionally, as "Dr. Jackson".

  • The USAF cooperates closely with the makers 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." {Link without Title}

  • The series often follows a direct formula in which major events, including the introduction of a villain, are the fault of human curiosity. Including:

  • --- After ignoring it for almost five thousand years, the Goa'uld come to realize that Earth is a threat to them after humanity activates the Stargate and defeats the System Lord , Ra .

  • --- The Replicators are a product of a humanoid Android who was created by a human scientist.

  • --- The Ori became aware of the Milky Way galaxy after Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran activate an Ancient communication device that sends their consciousnesses to the Ori galaxy.

  • --- See also '' Stargate Atlantis ''.

  • Throughout the show, there are many references to '' The Wizard Of Oz '', mainly stated by Col. O'Neill.

  • The scene where Daniel Jackson prevents a naquadria explosion with the use of his hands is possibly an allusion to an actual, similar accident involving Louis Slotin in the Manhattan Project .

  • Many of the extras portraying US Air Force personnel are in fact real US Air Force personnel. {Link without Title}

  • There are many references to The Simpsons as Jack O'Neill's favorite television series -- it is, in fact, Richard Dean Anderson's as well. In "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''.



DVD RELEASE DATES

See Also: Stargate SG-1 DVD




SEE ALSO

  • Babylon , season 9, episode 8, airdate 2005-09-09



EXTERNAL LINKS