New Iteration of Long-Running Sci-Fi Franchise Gets Axed at Amazon

All the way back in 1994, Rolland Emmerich and Dean Devlin wrote a little movie called Stargate. While it wouldn’t be as successful as their follow-up, some movie called Independence Day, it ended up having more legs than I think anyone would have expected at the time. The film had some big stars and was certainly successful, but its legacy would end up being far more extensive, as it would birth a franchise that would end up spanning decades.

Three years after Stargate hit theaters, Stargate SG-1 landed on Showtime, something I was floored to learn this morning. I knew that Stargate was a TV show long before I had heard of the movie, and it was, to me, a staple of the Sci-Fi channel. Learning that it began on Showtime honestly threw me for a loop this morning. I was also a bit shocked to learn that it only ran for ten years, because it felt like that show was on TV for way longer.

And it wasn’t only the one show, either. Stargate SG-1 ended up spawning two spinoff shows, two movies, a web series, and an animated show. That’s a lot of freaking Stargate! And these are shows with 20-episode seasons. There is enough lore out there that you could base a whole role-playing game on it, and I know that because someone did in 2003 (and that’s before Atlantis came into the picture).

These shows were all pretty successful, too, so what’s not surprising is that Amazon decided to order a new Stargate show late last year, giving it a series order. The new show was being spearheaded by Martin Gero, a television veteran who actually has extensive experience in the Stargate universe. Details on whether it would be a reboot, reimagining, or somewhere in between were under wraps, but now we may never know, as Amazon has decided not to move forward with the project.

Deadline is reporting that the show was cancelled despite being well into the creative process (including a 20-week writers’ room) because it no longer aligned with Amazon’s programming strategy, which sounds pretty silly. Amazon is filled with procedurals that could be described as “Dad TV.” A show about military folks using wormholes to traverse the galaxy sounds like it would fit right in.

I doubt this will be the end of Stargate. Someone else will see an IP that ran on television screens from the 90s into the 2010s and try to milk it for more. But it may take a bit. This was happening at Amazon because they purchased MGM, which owns Stargate. Hopefully, for the fans, they don’t just want to do a clean remake instead. Bringing in someone who worked on the original show to shepherd a new one would be enticing for any fanbase. So, if you know any Stargate fans, go easy on them today.