Okay, when even I think someone needs to get a life...

That's a pretty bad sign. Sigh.

So, as I mentioned earlier this week, Sci-Fi/MGM has announced that the current season of Stargate Atlantis will be its final season. It will wrap up in January (just in time for the second half of the final season of BSG to air) and we've been promised a two hour television movie sometime later in 2009 to wrap up the cliff-hanger ending (I'm going with the majority of the reports on this one, though one interview I've read did hint that the telemovie won't really do much in the way of wrapping up story lines). There's also the chance that if the telemovie does well we'll get at least one, and maybe more, direct to DVD movies. In conjunction with/on the heels of this announcement, Sci-Fi/MGM has given the green light to the third Stargate television series, Stargate Universe, planned to premiere in 2009.

Yes, I wish that they would keep Atlantis going forever, it's my favorite show. I'm kind of bummed to think that I won't get to tune in every Friday to find out what McKay and Sheppard are getting up to anymore. Frankly, it sucks. But am I jumping on the bandwagon to join the "Save Our Show" campaign? Am I throwing a fit and stating that I am going to stop watching Sci-Fi once the series' run is completed? Will you hear me damning Stargate Universe before it even airs just because it's probable a big reason SGA wasn't renewed is to give this show a chance to air? Do I think that the heads of Sci-Fi/MGM are the most evil people in existence and in need of verbal castration on every message board I can find?

The answer, my friends, to all of the above questions, is a resounding NO. Geez. It. Is. Just. Television. And this is me saying that, for Pete's sake. Television shows end. And as much as I hate to see this particular one go, I would much rather see it do so while it is still popular enough that we have the chance for the telemovies and direct to DVD films. As long as the actors are still in, we've still got a shot at continuing the story. The show runners aren't going to go the Battlestar route and kill everyone on the way out, they're leaving the door open so we can always return to the story. Plus, we are getting a new chapter in the Stargate world, and though Universe's premise might mostly preclude this, we still have the possibility of finding out what our favorite characters are up to from time to time on the new show. Atlantis certainly didn't have a ban on mentioning SG-1 people and events.

It didn't even take me two days worth of emails before I had to unsubscribe from my Stargate email group. I figure with my feed subscriptions to SyFy Portal, I09, and Gateworld I can get all the news about Atlantis' remaining run and Universe's upcoming reign without the commentary. I just have to avoid the comments on the stories I read, which shouldn't be too hard. (Knock on wood.) I guess what it comes down to is that I am just so freaking disappointed by the vitriol I am seeing in the wake of this announcement. It's not just that people are upset, it's that they are throwing hissy fits, and inappropriate ones at that. Blame is being leveled at Sci-Fi channel, which is just a distributor, and has no control over whether or not MGM wants to continue making the show. Blame is being thrown on the new show, when I don't see how we can fault the show runners and MGM for a) wanting to keep the franchise "fresh," and b) keeping costs down and quality up by only producing one show at a time. And most of the things people are saying are just plain mean. It's not as if we're entitled to anything from these guys. We're kind of lucky that they are still willing to give us anything Stargate after 12 years of this stuff. Fans get so possessive of their shows, and it is rather scary, and again, for perspective on how bad it is out there, this is me being scared by the level of show obsession.

Even many of the people who are organizing efforts to "save" the show are in need of some serious anger management training. And they are darn militant about the whole thing. Clearly they've never heard about catching more flies with honey. Sigh, not that honey will do much good in this case. Yeah, the cancellation was a surprise to the fans, but apparently not to anyone else. The studio clearly has been thinking that this would likely be Atlantis' last season and that Universe would take the stage next year. That's the only explanation behind how organized and efficient the whole process has been. It's not like we haven't been hearing about Universe for a while, and it's also not like it hasn't been mentioned that it probably wouldn't start airing until Atlantis had finished its run. We probably should have seen this coming, honestly. I know I optimistically ignored those tidbits when I came across them.

Also, there's a huge bright side here that people seem to be missing. Knowing that the series isn't coming back gives us a chance at a much more satisfying ending. I know that the season finished filming before the announcement was made (though as I've indicated, I would guess most of the people producing/writing the show had an inkling the end was near), but they haven't started on the telemovie yet, so they are getting the chance to go out on their own terms. This isn't going to be another Smallville, folks, and that is a GOOD thing. Do we really want Atlantis to keep going until we can't stand it anymore? I sure don't. There are plenty of people out there who think SG-1 should have ended after season 8 (I'm not one of them, but I didn't start watching until season 9, so that shades my view a bit). I would much rather have a show end thinking it went out too early than that it went on too long, wouldn't you?

So yeah, I am going to miss Atlantis. A LOT. But I will have every season (and any of the following movies) on DVD to watch whenever I want. I also have no doubt that the good people over at Stargate Novels will keep writing Atlantis stories for at least a few years to come. I highly recommend their books. They've got a good crew of writers, and each novel is like a new episode that you've never seen before, with the ability to do a little bit more than the television show can because they don't have any pesky special effects budgets to worry about. Also, we're getting the game soon too. I know for a lot of people that doesn't mean anything, but for some of us, that will be a good way to stay in the 'gate, so to speak. I'm definitely going to give Stargate Universe a try. I think that TPTB behind SG-1 and Atlantis have more than earned my loyalty for at least that much effort.

And so ends the rant.

Have a good one folks,
C