In the wee hours of the morning Wednesday night, the news hit GateWorld: Stargate Atlantis will end this season. The collective outcry of fans began to pour out all over the Internet. “Nooooooo! Not again!” Time and time again, it seems that the best shows on television are dying young and in their prime. Fans already have a love-hate relationship with Sci Fi Channel and its parent company NBC because non-sci-fi content such as wrestling and poorly made “creature features” keep filling up time slots once occupied by very high-quality, well-written and well-acted science fiction shows. Somewhere along the way, the network seems to have forgotten that their name is “Sci Fi”. Just tossing a scaly mutated creature into a cheesy low budget horror flick does not make a sci-fi show. Big special effects do not replace good writing and acting. So here the fans are, once again feeling betrayed and suspiciously eyeing every other show they tune in to, wondering how long before the axe falls for them as well.
Fortunately, Stargate has already proved its staying power with the fans. With the success of direct-to-DVD films Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, a Stargate Atlantis film has already been discussed and now green-lighted. Brad Wright and Joseph Mallozzi were quick to comfort the fans with statements, and more information just keeps coming. A third Stargate series has been in the works for a few years now and, by making the move from television to DVD, the departure of Atlantis clears the way for Stargate Universe to be made. By 2009, we should be seeing Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis films direct-to-DVD, the Stargate Worlds MMORPG online, and Stargate Universe in production for Sci Fi Channel.
There’s no question that people love Stargate and that the fans are fiercely loyal. The question is how many fans are going to watch Universe after having SG-1 and Atlantis taken away in moves that seemed to be about money, not fans or ratings? A quick look at fan comments shows a huge negative response, with many claiming to wash their hands of the “Franchise” altogether. For many fans, it’s hard to reconcile the mixed feelings of hope and betrayal. It’s surprising, though, how negative and vehement the responses have been so far, with very few “silver lining” comments.
While producers seem to be trying to mend fences between fans and network, the decision to change the format of Atlantis is being called “mutual”. If events play out the way they did when Stargate SG-1 was “not renewed”, then Sci Fi Channel can look to lose even more viewers as fans boycott the network altogether by downloading their favorite shows directly from iTunes or Amazon Unbox to financially support the shows, rather then tuning in to the network which takes a bigger cut of the profits. The last boycott saw a huge number of fans writing letters to Sci Fi Channel’s sponsors explaining that their product was also being boycotted because of their association with the network.
Once again, this just goes to show that the fans, especially science fiction fans, are ready for a new format, a new delivery system. When Sanctuary launched on the Internet last summer, it may not have gone the way the creators had hoped — there were too many bugs in the system at that point; even they acknowledge they were naive about what they planned to do and how they planned to do it — but they definitely had the right idea, and many kudos are deserved for their valiant efforts to achieve their goal: Deliver content directly to the customer.
Joss Whedon proved it can be done with the HUGE success of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog this summer. The viral success of shows like Felicia Day’s The Guild, Kim Evey’s Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show, and Sandeep Parikh’s The Legend of Neil just go to prove the point. These have all been fan-driven shows. There are no marketing campaigns, no big network or sponsor backing. They are promoted by positive word of mouth from the viewers. The creators care about what they are doing and the fans do, too, even financially supporting the production of The Guild. Felicia Day financed the first four episodes of The Guild herself, but soon after putting up a PayPal donation button on the website, she had the funding needed to finish season one. Now, the Season One DVD sales are helping to fund the upcoming second season.
Can Stargate Universe overcome the negative association with a network that constantly alienates its core audience? Is there a better way to deliver what they want to produce with minimal involvement and control from the likes of Sci Fi Channel? What can Stargate producers learn from Joss Whedon and Felicia Day that will help keep the fans happy and involved and Stargate alive? Maybe it’s not the perfect solution yet, as there aren’t any huge $4,000,000 special effects scenes in Dr. Horrible or The Guild, but the concept is still valid and will be a virtual gold mine for funds and fans once someone figures out how to use existing or newly emerging technology to produce a show that’s well-written, well-acted and well-delivered to the fans.