172-469: The fourth season of Stargate SG-1 , an American-Canadian television series , began airing on June 30, 2000 on Showtime . The fourth season concluded after 22 episodes on February 14, 2001 on British Sky One , which overtook Showtime in mid-season. The series was developed by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner . Season four regular cast members include Richard Dean Anderson , Michael Shanks , Amanda Tapping , Christopher Judge , and Don S. Davis . In
344-508: A motion-control camera . Partly because Ra 's mask looked cross-eyed, Brad Wright approached the art department in the following years to produce a new opening title sequence; however, the sequence remained the same until the show's move to the Sci-Fi Channel. During the first five seasons when the show was syndicated, a separate introduction was used; this intro is still used by Sci-Fi for Seasons 1–5. This version uses action shots of
516-400: A "roller coaster ride". The character Major Charles Kawalsky describes Stargate travel as worse than "pulling out of a simulated bombing run in an F-16 at eight-plus g ", with Major Louis Ferretti adding that on the other side one is "frozen stiff like having just been through a blizzard naked". In later episodes the experience is no different from stepping through a door, explained as
688-472: A Sci Fi record as most-watched episode of a regular series ever (at the time) for Atlantis with 4.2 million viewers. Battlestar Galactica joined the two Stargate series in January 2005, making Sci Fi the leader among basic cablers on Friday nights over the summer of 2005. The producers considered replacing Stargate SG-1 with a new show named Stargate Command after SG-1 ' s eighth season, but
860-443: A Series" and a 2001 Gemini Award in the category "Best Visual Effects". "Tangent" was nominated for a Gemini Award in the category "Best Visual Effects". "The Curse" was nominated for a Leo Award in the category "Best Visual Effects of Dramatic Series" "The Light" won a Leo Award in the category "Best Production Design of Dramatic Series". "Exodus" was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for
1032-565: A Series". Episodes in bold are continuous episodes, where the story spans over 2 or more episodes. Stargate SG-1 Stargate SG-1 (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated SG-1 ) is a military science fiction adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 's Stargate franchise . The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner , is based on the 1994 science fiction film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich . The television series
1204-432: A body in a formal funeral service – the body was placed on a pyre in front of the gate, which was then activated. The actual portal of a Stargate appears inside the inner ring when an address is correctly dialed. This has the appearance of a vertical puddle of water, which represents the "event horizon" in the show. In non-fictional parlance, an event horizon is the perimeter around a black hole or wormhole beyond which
1376-433: A computer-generated Stargate was occasionally used in on-location shoots in later seasons. The SGC set had to be twice as high for shooting as the 22-foot-tall (6.7 m) Stargate prop, but one of Hudolin's original plans of a three-level set was rejected in favor of a two-level set. The gateroom was the biggest room on set and could be redesigned for other scenes. Two multi-purpose rooms were frequently redecorated into
1548-410: A destination, by assigning them to each of the chevrons in sequence. These "addresses" are selected by turning the ring until the next symbol in the address is correctly aligned, which associates it with the next chevron. The 8th chevron, if used, specifies a different galaxy; the first 6 chevrons identify points in space within that galaxy to triangulate a physical location; the 7th is a symbol unique to
1720-454: A doorway; momentum, for instance, is conserved at either end of the wormhole. Human travellers exit the stargate with a sense of the journey that has been traversed. This normally feels effortless, but if the stargate has been improperly operated or is not functioning correctly, can be an uncomfortable experience. Each location in the Stargate universe has its own unique "address", which
1892-584: A family show with adequate violence as opposed to random or gratuitous violence. Christopher Judge did not consider SG-1 as a "message show by any stretch of the imagination, but occasionally there are messages there". Aimed at a popular audience, Stargate SG-1 emphasized its present-day-Earth story frame by frequently referring to popular culture , like The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer had done before. Jonathan Glassner had written The Wizard of Oz references into his own scripts since
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#17327980472062064-715: A five-second clip instead of the full titles. Beginning with Season 10's " Company of Thieves ", the last clip of the opening credits shows Vala Mal Doran almost missing SG-1's trip through the Stargate. The U.S. Department of the Air Force , through the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, Entertainment Liaison in Los Angeles, co-operated closely with the Stargate SG-1 producers. Before the beginning of
2236-413: A handful of methods used in the shows to dial a Stargate, and the most common is with the use of a Dial-Home Device. Almost always referred to as the "DHD" for short, it is depicted as a pedestal-shaped device with a round inclined control panel on top, consisting of two concentric circles of "keys" and a translucent red (Milky Way) or blue (Pegasus) hemisphere in the center; the keys represent the symbols on
2408-405: A less regular basis. Lost Boys Studios provided visual effects for SG-1 from the very beginning of the series up to the end of Season 5, and Image Engine worked on the show from Season 2. Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis were responsible for an estimated 30% to 40% of the business of Atmosphere Visual Effects . James Tichenor considered the few episodes with big visual effects budgets
2580-399: A notable visual-effects studio. However, some effects, including the entire Ori battle sequence in the episode " Camelot ", were done "in-house". The unstable vortex effect, both in the film and the early seasons of the series, on account of being "difficult to achieve" was generated only once and recorded from various angles; this recording was the same used for all gate opening shots early in
2752-501: A real orchestra with a synthesizer palette of an eighty-piece symphony orchestra for budgetary reasons, although he occasionally used two or three musicians for added orchestral authenticity. Goldsmith's long-time assistant Neal Acree started composing additional music for Stargate SG-1 in Season 8. The amount of composed music varied between 12 and 33 minutes out of a 44-minute episode, with an average of around 22 to 26 minutes, making
2924-471: A recurring role. Don S. Davis left Stargate SG-1 after Season 7 for health reasons, but appeared in a recurring capacity until his death on June 29, 2008. Due to prior engagements, Claudia Black of Farscape fame could not accept the offers to guest-star on Stargate SG-1 until the Season 8 episode " Prometheus Unbound ". The producers liked the on-screen chemistry between Black's Vala Mal Doran and Shanks's Daniel so much that they re-introduced her in
3096-514: A religious relic, often as a source of long-forgotten fear and evil. Direct-to-video films Stargate: The Ark of Truth (2008) and Stargate: Continuum (also 2008) expand upon the Stargate lore. For most of the run of Stargate SG-1 , Earth was under constant threat from the Goa'uld, and is no match for their superior technology. In the face of this threat, the US Air Force established
3268-513: A repository of Ancient knowledge. In order to allow for dialing back to Earth from other locations (without altering the dialing system), it was later stated that the DHD ("Dial-Home Device") normally attached to each stargate automatically updates for stellar drift; Earth's stargate lacks its DHD, requiring other accommodation. The alien race encountered in the original movie is later developed in SG-1 as
3440-470: A result of refinements made to the dialing computer at the SGC . Under normal circumstances, a wormhole can only be maintained for slightly more than 38 minutes. Extending the wormhole duration beyond that requires tremendous amounts of power, such as that provided by a nearby black hole . While the "kawoosh" effect in the movie was created by filming the actual swirl of water in a glass tube, and looked like
3612-438: A screenplay to them about ten years before the movie was made. Zuhdi pursued legal action regarding this, and the case was eventually settled out of court. Much of the inspiration for the functioning of the device is drawn heavily from theoretical astrophysics , particularly that of black holes and wormholes , a staple of science fiction, often used to create "shortcuts" through space. Although these may exist in reality, it
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#17327980472063784-473: A sensor fed into a computer responsible for the gate's movement, which is consequently able to start and stop the rotation very quickly. This main prop is kept almost immovably at the permanent set of the SGC , at Bridge Studios, Vancouver . There are further Stargate props that are no more than two-dimensional or semi-three-dimensional (jar-lid shaped) Stargates, being more lightweight and easier to erect on location. These are always filmed front-on to preserve
3956-470: A sequel to the Season 1 episode " Tin Man ", where the robotic SG-1 team first appeared. The artificial Daniel Jackson wears a bandana covering his hair, as he was created when Daniel (and Shanks) had long hair. "Exodus" is the last season finale that ends on a cliffhanger until Season Nine's " Camelot ". "Small Victories" was nominated for a 2001 Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for
4128-450: A six-episode story Arc to cover for the maternity leave of Amanda Tapping at the beginning of Season 9. At the same time, Richard Dean Anderson left the show to spend more time with his daughter (his schedule had been reduced incrementally since Season 6). The role of the leading man was filled with Ben Browder (also of Farscape fame), who had met with the Stargate producers as soon as the introduction of new main characters for Season 9
4300-463: A straight line course to the destination. With the stargates of the Milky Way, with 38 address symbols and one point of origin, there are 1,987,690,320 possible six symbol co-ordinates (leading to 38!/(38-6)!/8/6=41,410,215 addresses as the six symbol addresses are composed of three tuples that can be permuted in 6 ways and the two symbols within each tuple are invariant for 8 more permutations.). With
4472-513: A television adaptation. The main titles of Stargate SG-1 were a medley of several themes from the feature film, although Goldsmith also wrote a unique end title for SG-1 to establish the show as its own entity. MGM eventually insisted on using Arnold's score in the pilot episode instead of Goldsmith's, but Brad Wright's 2009 direct-to-DVD recut of Children of the Gods uses Goldsmith's original score. For each episode's score, Goldsmith simulated
4644-440: A television spin-off series of the feature film Stargate , Wright and Glassner independently and unbeknownst to each other approached MGM and proposed their concept for the television series. MGM president John Symes greenlit the project on the condition that Wright and Glassner work together as executive producers of the new show. The show was named Stargate SG-1 after Wright flightily agreed to Symes's pitch question of whether
4816-425: A test run with the Season 3 finale, " Nemesis ", Stargate SG-1 switched to 35 mm film for all purposes at the beginning of Season 4. Digital HD cameras were used for filming beginning with Season 8. The art department generated all of the concepts and drawing for the prop department, the set decoration department, the construction department, the paint department and the model shop. They also collaborated with
4988-458: A top-secret base, the SGC (Stargate Command), as a frontline defence. Multiple teams are formed and sent on missions through the stargate, their primary objective being exploration, and through it the discovery of intelligence, technology and allies to help in the fight against the Goa'uld. The primary team is called SG-1 , and the series follows their adventures. For a long time, it was thought that
5160-404: A top-secret military base at Cheyenne Mountain , where he is instructed to decipher the unique Egyptian hieroglyphs present on a set of cover-stones. He realizes that the indecipherable glyphs are not actually words but images of constellations , such that by identifying 6 of them a position in space can be extrapolated. He is then shown the stargate itself, uses his new understanding to identify
5332-431: A traditional action-adventure score, "with a sci-fi, fantasy flair" that goes "from comedy to drama to wondrous to suspense to heavy action to ethereal". Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner had known Goldsmith since the second season of The Outer Limits before they approached him to work on the pilot episode of Stargate SG-1 . Goldsmith and David Arnold , the composer of the original feature film score, discussed themes for
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5504-406: A type of "area code". Such connections, in comparison to seven symbol codes, require substantially more energy to complete a functional wormhole – much more than any standard dialing method can provide. In the first instance, opening an intergalactic wormhole is shown to exceed the total power generation capacity of the SGC at the time. O'Neill fashioned an additional power source using spare parts and
5676-688: A vortex on the back of the Gate, on the TV series, this effect was completely created in CG by the Canadian visual effects company Rainmaker . At the beginning of Season 9, the original movie wormhole sequence was substituted by a new sequence similar to the one already used on Stargate Atlantis but tinted bright blue (whereas in Atlantis it is green). Stargate Universe uses a darker shade of blue. Throughout
5848-574: A year after the conclusion of the events recounted in the original feature film . It follows the adventures of SG-1, a military team from Earth. SG-1 and a dozen other SG teams venture to distant planets using an alien portal known as a Stargate , which in the series is housed in a top-secret United States Air Force military base known as Stargate Command (SGC) in the underground Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado Springs, Colorado . In
6020-488: Is a combination of six or more non-repeating symbols appearing on the dialing stargate. By "dialing" these symbols in the correct order, the traveler selects a three-dimensional destination. The symbols dialed are often referred to as "coordinates", and are written as an ordered string; for example, this is the address used in the show for the planet Abydos : [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] (corresponding to
6192-424: Is entirely computer-generated . However, if a shot only involves an open wormhole without anyone stepping through it, the crew may choose to use a "practical puddle," which is simply a backlit screen placed in the gate displaying a video of the wormhole effect. This only works, however, on a darker set, as otherwise the projection will get washed out. On occasion, the Stargate itself is also completely swapped out for
6364-474: Is going to figure it out and something will happen." Stargate SG-1 was first released on DVD in some European nations in volumes of typically four episodes each, beginning with "The Best of Season 1" as Volume 1 in the United Kingdom in 2000. Each following season was released as six individual volumes (except Season 10 with five volumes), beginning with the first four episodes of Season 2. In 2000,
6536-405: Is not widely held to be true that any such phenomenon could safely transport a human being, as such wormholes would most likely be created by excessive gravity (e.g., from a black hole), which would destroy any potential traveler. The Stargate film begins in 1928, when the alien device is first discovered and unearthed at Giza , with a young Catherine Langford watching as her father Paul,
6708-404: Is present. Rather, explorers from Destiny are required to bring an Ancient remote control that can command the gate to dial an address in addition to other functions, presenting them with a list of accessible Stargates. Within the Stargate fictional universe , stargates are hyper-advanced large rings that allow interplanetary and intergalactic travel. Objects can travel only from the origin to
6880-448: Is provided by the control panel, which contains a long-lasting power source. Objects in transit between gates are broken down into their individual elemental components, and then into energy as they pass through the event horizon, and then travel through a wormhole before being reconstructed on the other side. The journey takes a few seconds, even for the greatest distances. Objects passing between stargates behave as if they pass through
7052-575: Is the only DHD in the Pegasus Galaxy capable of dialing Earth. A similar DHD is also used on Puddle Jumpers, where the set of used glyphs corresponds to the galaxy of the Puddle Jumper. The Wraith also travel through Stargates in small spacecraft called darts and have some means of remote-dialing them in a manner similar to Ancient ships. The show makes it clear that every Stargate originally had its own DHD, located directly in front of
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7224-473: Is to confirm the presence of a DHD. In the absence of a DHD, a user must select the address by manually rotating the inner ring of the Stargate, and use an external power source, as the ring will not rotate unless it is energised. Pegasus Galaxy Stargates do not have a movable ring, so manually dialing these is impossible. Travelers can also emulate a DHD through a dialing computer as present at Stargate Command . Remote dialers have been used by several races like
7396-516: Is unknown if any other Stargates are reachable with a nine-symbol address, or if this is a feature unique to the Stargates on Destiny and Earth. Like eight-symbol addresses, the dialing of this address requires a significant amount of power, such that the scientists on Icarus Base had to tap into the planet's naqahdriah core. With the Stargates of the Milky Way, with 38 address symbols, there are 1,971,788,797,440 possible eight-symbol destinations. With
7568-417: Is used for exterior scenes; in the pilot it was used solely on the planet Chulak. The primary one is fully automated and capable of rotating and emitting light. This is achieved by the use of a specially designed 22-foot (6.7 m) circular gear , which turns the inner ring on a precise pinion drive wheel, using an eight horsepower electric motor. The top seven chevrons emit laser pulses that are read by
7740-521: The Ancients , had originally built the Stargate network millions of years earlier, before ascending to a higher plane of existence , after which they pledged not to interfere in the lives of other species. The pilot episode (" Children of the Gods "), set one year after the events of the original feature film, introduces the Goa'uld System Lord Apophis ( Peter Williams ) as the main antagonist when he attacks Earth's mothballed SGC military base through
7912-466: The Cosmic microwave background radiation . This "prototype", or "beta", generation of gates has a limited range; one storyline in the series saw an exploratory team being left behind when Destiny jumped into hyperspace without them, requiring them to plot the ship's course and travel to various other "beta" Stargates until they found one in range of Destiny . In addition, when a dialing sequence commences,
8084-617: The Goa'uld and Asgard in various episodes. As the Stargates in Stargate Universe are a different (less advanced model) the crew of the Destiny are forced to use such a device as no planet visited so far has any variation of DHD present. Once an address is dialed, the gate is said to have created a "stable wormhole " between itself and the gate dialed. The creation process is depicted with great consistency, and hence has become one of
8256-472: The Goa'uld , the dominant evil power in the Milky Way. The leaders of this race, the System Lords , pose as gods and use the stargates to transport slaves between worlds. This has resulted in a large number of planets throughout the galaxy supporting human life, often in civilizations more primitive than Earth. The majority of these civilizations, descended from former Goa'uld slaves, treat the Stargate as
8428-525: The Pegasus Galaxy . For the stargates of the Milky Way, with 38 address symbols and one point of origin, there are 63,606,090,240 possible seven symbol coordinates. The stargates of the Pegasus or Destiny, with 35 address symbols and one point of origin, provide only 33,891,580,800 possible seven symbol coordinates. Stargate Universe introduces the concept of a nine-symbol address, the purpose of
8600-408: The SG-1 film project was permanently shelved, along with plans for future Atlantis and Stargate Universe films and a cross-over film incorporating elements from all three series. By then, neither the Atlantis nor Universe television series were produced anymore. Still, Wright did not rule out future Stargate films, saying; "It's a franchise. Stargate is not over. Somebody smart from MGM
8772-452: The SG-1 movie this year [2009]". Nevertheless, production was put on hold. Wright explained that the late-2000s recession made DVD premieres less lucrative for MGM than in the years before, and he also pointed to the financial crisis of MGM as reason for the delay. Wright and Joe Mallozzi expressed optimism that production would eventually start, until Wright announced in April 2011 that
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#17327980472068944-407: The Stargate fictional universe that allows practical, rapid travel between two distant locations. The devices first appeared in the 1994 Roland Emmerich film Stargate , and thereafter in the television series Stargate SG-1 , Stargate Infinity , Stargate Atlantis , Stargate Universe , and Stargate Origins . In these productions, the Stargate functions as a plot device , allowing
9116-527: The Stargate can access a network of such devices on a multitude of planets and in space. SG-1 is an elite United States Air Force special operations team, one of about 20 teams from Earth who explore the galaxy and defend against alien threats such as the Goa'uld , the Replicators and the Ori . The series draws upon Egyptian , Greek and Norse mythology , as well as the legend of King Arthur . The series
9288-471: The pilot episode (Carter: "It took us fifteen years and three supercomputers to MacGyver a system for the gate on Earth") and in a Farscape vignette in the milestone episode " 200 ". The American subscription channel Showtime ordered the first two seasons of Stargate SG-1 with 44 episodes total in 1996. The two-hour pilot episode received Showtime's highest-ever ratings for a series premiere with an audience of approximately 1.5 million households in
9460-490: The show-within-a-show directors in the cameo-heavy milestone episodes " Wormhole X-Treme! " and " 200 ". Andy Mikita had been an assistant director since the pilot episode and directed 29 episodes from Season 3–10. SG-1 director of photography Peter Woeste and camera operator William Waring directed 13 episodes each. Most staff writers and staff directors held producer positions. Several cast members also contributed story ideas and directed SG-1 episodes. Stargate SG-1
9632-418: The spin-off series Stargate Atlantis . Cooper and Wright remained show-runners of their respective shows until the end of SG-1 . Also serving as executive and co-executive producers were Michael Greenburg and Richard Dean Anderson (Seasons 1–8), N. John Smith (Seasons 4–10) and the writer team Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie (Seasons 7–10). Although Stargate SG-1 employed freelance writers, most of
9804-610: The 2009 updated final cut with updated CGI and the full frontal nudity removed. As of July 2015 , Hoopla Digital , an online library media database, has all ten seasons of Stargate SG-1 available to watch free without commercials, for those who have cards with a participating library. The first two episodes are the edited versions, in which full frontal nudity has been removed. In September 2017, MGM launched its own online streaming service called Stargate Command, making available all episodes of Stargate SG-1 along with Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. The show returned to Netflix in
9976-600: The 214 Stargate SG-1 episodes were written by Brad Wright (Seasons 1–10), Jonathan Glassner (Seasons 1–3), Katharyn Powers (Seasons 1–6), Robert C. Cooper (Seasons 1–10), Peter DeLuise (Seasons 4–8), Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie (Seasons 4–10), Damian Kindler (Seasons 6–10) and Alan McCullough (Seasons 9–10). Martin Wood and Peter DeLuise directed the most episodes, with 46 episodes (Seasons 1–10) and 57 episodes (Seasons 2–10), respectively. Wood and DeLuise regularly made cameo appearances in their episodes and notably played
10148-499: The 7th symbol (the point of origin allowing a route to be extrapolated), and the gate is opened for the first time. Because thousands of combinations had been previously tried and had failed, it was believed at the time that only two stargates existed, connecting Earth and the planet Abydos , which was visited in the film and was at the time erroneously believed to be located in the Kaliam Galaxy, billions of light years away on
10320-498: The 8 p.m. Sunday slot of July 27, 1997. According to the SG-1 producers, a broadcast network would have cancelled SG-1 after a few episodes, but Showtime put no pressure on the show to "deliver the meteoric ratings the way network shows do". The show was consistently the channel's most-watched program (including theatrical movies), so Showtime ordered a third and fourth season of 22 episodes each in July 1998. Since Stargate SG-1
10492-567: The Ancients' belief in strict noninterference in the lower planes of existence, sapping the energy from untold billions of "lower beings" (non-ascended sentient beings) by means of their worship in a religion called Origin. While the Ori send enhanced human beings named Priors to the Milky Way to convert the galaxy to Origin, Ba'al and some minor Goa'uld infiltrate Earth through The Trust (a coalition of rogue NID operatives) to rebuild their power. At
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#173279804720610664-575: The Ancients, allowing them to travel to worlds unknown to the Goa'uld. In " Rising ", a list of Stargate addresses in the Pegasus galaxy is found in the Atlantis database. The SGC assigns designations to Stargate-accessible planets in the form P xx-xxx or M xx-xxx . Samantha Carter explains in " The Broca Divide " that the designation "is based on a binary code the computer uses for extrapolation". Eight-symbol addresses are introduced in " The Fifth Race ", opening up new plot lines by connecting Stargates to different galaxies. The additional symbol acts as
10836-412: The Gate at random is largely futile. In " Children of the Gods ", SG-1 discovers a room on Abydos with a list of valid Stargate addresses and (luckily) a map that allows the SGC to compensate for thousands of years of stellar drift . In the series, the fictional planet Abydos could be dialed because it is relatively close to Earth, although in the film, Abydos was located in the fictional Kaliam Galaxy. It
11008-484: The Goa'uld theme and introduced new characters and races. Goldsmith had a thematic approach to races and spaceships. For example, he wanted a mechanical, repetitive musical motif for the Replicators; Gothic, Gregorian and Christian themes were the inspiration for the Ori motif. The Ancient theme was deliberately carried over to Stargate Atlantis . The end of "Lost City" has a basic melody that would become part of
11180-560: The Goa'uld were the builders of the Stargate network, but it was later discovered that they had merely made use of the relics left behind by a different and extinct race, the Ancients. At the climax of SG-1 's 6th season, Daniel Jackson discovers that the Earth myth of Atlantis is in fact founded on the Lost City of the Ancients, and Season 7 is spent trying to locate it. At the beginning of the show Stargate Atlantis , which coincides with
11352-522: The Lambs . As Lecter does with Clarice in the movie, Harry Maybourne refers to quid pro quo , should O'Neill really want to get help from him. Another reference is the final telephonic conversation between O'Neill and Maybourne, the latter calling from an exotic place, just as Lecter called Clarice Starling at the end of The Silence of the Lambs . "Double Jeopardy" is the only Stargate SG-1 episode directed by actor Michael Shanks . This episode serves as
11524-460: The Ori storyline. The second film, Stargate: Continuum , is an alternate time-line time travel story and was released in July 2008. A special edition of the two-hour pilot episode " Children of the Gods " with re-edited scenes and a different score has also been produced. In April 2009, MGM confirmed a third new SG-1 film that Brad Wright had first announced in May 2008. Joseph Mallozzi revealed
11696-533: The Replicators and most System Lords have already been annihilated and the Jaffa win their freedom from Goa'uld rule. The original SG-1 team disbands after the events of Season 8, but slowly reunites under new team leader Lt Col. Cameron Mitchell after the SGC inadvertently draws the attention of the Ori to the existence of sentient life in the Milky Way; the Ori are revealed to be a faction of ascended Ancients residing in another galaxy that are diametrically opposed to
11868-559: The SG-1 team's other wounds look authentic. For the look of aliens, the make-up department collaborated with prosthetics companies from Vancouver and Los Angeles, including Steve Johnson 's XFX (first three seasons only) & Todd Masters. While the human origins of many alien races and human civilizations were left recognizable, the recurring characters who were members of the Unas race required elaborate prosthetics and make-up work. To convey
12040-533: The Sci Fi Channel confirmed that Stargate SG-1 was not being renewed for an 11th season. While news outlets cited declining ratings, expensive production and lack of promotion as possible reasons for the cancellation, the Sci Fi Channel's Mark Stern merely stated the decision was not ratings-based. Instead, he said the production staff was given enough time to tie up all the loose ends of the story and SG-1 cast members were planned to be incorporated into
12212-417: The Sci Fi Channel decided to continue SG-1 with a slightly changed cast for a ninth season instead. Season 9's average slipped from 2.4 million viewers in late 2005 to 2.1 million viewers with 1.8 household rating during early 2006, which Sci Fi's Mark Stern attributed to the "tech-savvy, toy-loving, time-shifting audience" whose use of digital video recorders excluded them in ratings compilations. Meanwhile,
12384-465: The Sci Fi Channel on June 22, 2007. According to Wright and Cooper, the worldwide popularity of science fiction was a factor in SG-1 's success and the good international reception helped keep the series on the air in the beginning. Several newspapers reported in 2005–2006 that Stargate SG-1 aired in over 100 countries with a weekly worldwide viewership of around 10 million, but The New York Times gave different numbers in 2004, saying that
12556-466: The Sci Fi Channel picked up MGM's offer to continue the show into a sixth season, yet with a slightly reduced budget. Sci Fi aired new episodes of Stargate SG-1 in the 9 p.m. Friday slot between The Dead Zone and Farscape , while it aired older SG-1 episodes in a four-hour block every Monday at 7 p.m. Episodes were broadcast in US syndication six months after their premiere on Sci Fi. The sixth season
12728-531: The Stargate and kidnaps an airman. The SGC is brought back into action when the Stargate is revealed to be part of an interplanetary network connecting countless planets. SG teams are created to help defend Earth against the Goa'uld, who have interstellar pyramid warships and vast armies of Jaffa (hereditary slaves and human incubators to the Goa'uld) at their disposal. Earth's flagship team SG-1, which includes Apophis's defected First Prime (lead Jaffa soldier) Teal'c , initiates several alliances with other cultures in
12900-551: The Stargate and other alien technology. Despite Apophis's death in the beginning of Season 5 , the Goa'uld Empire remains a major foe in Stargate SG-1 until the end of Season 8 . The only influential Goa'uld in the last two seasons of Stargate SG-1 is the System Lord Ba'al ( Cliff Simon ), who is defeated in the direct-to-DVD film Stargate: Continuum . After Apophis's defeat in the Season 5 premiere (" Enemies "),
13072-445: The Stargate's water-like event horizon in the beginning, but Rainmaker eventually became the only company to create those visual effects. Rainmaker's regular effects shots included the activation and use of the Stargate itself (with well over 300 event horizon shots in the first few years), the transport rings and the blast shots of the staff weapons and zat guns. They created the visual effects for Goa'uld cargo ships and death gliders on
13244-400: The Stargates of the Pegasus or Destiny, with 35 address symbols, there are only 948,964,262,400 possible eight symbol destinations. Provided the ninth symbol is your point of origin. If the ninth symbol can also be added to the destination, even 59,153,663,923,200 combinations with a Milky Way stargate or 25,622,035,084,800 combinations with a Pegasus or Destiny Stargate are possible. There are
13416-516: The System Lords, but SG-1 finds and adjusts an Ancient weapon to destroy all Replicators throughout the galaxy. Near the end of Season 8 (" Threads "), it is revealed that the benevolent Ascended being Oma Desala ( Mel Harris ) is responsible for Anubis's original ascension. When she engages Anubis in an eternal stalemated battle on the Ascended plane to prevent his acting on the mortal plane,
13588-510: The System Lords. In the Season 7 finale (" Lost City "), SG-1 discovers a powerful weapon in an Ancient outpost in Antarctica that annihilates Anubis's entire fleet and also sets the stage for the spin-off series Stargate Atlantis . Ba'al subsumes much of Anubis's power in Season 8 , while Anubis, who survived the destruction of his fleet in a disembodied form, quietly begins to re-assert his influence. Human-form Replicators begin to conquer
13760-621: The UK. Stargate SG-1 was also released in DVD season box sets in Australia. Most DVDs contain behind-the-scenes features, audio commentaries for nearly all episodes beginning with Season 4 and production galleries. The box sets of the first eight seasons were re-released with slim packaging in all regions, beginning in the United States in summer 2006. A complete series set was first released in
13932-455: The United States in October 2007, containing 50 discs from the ten seasons of Stargate SG-1 and four bonus discs with content not part of the original sets. More than 30 million copies of DVDs had been sold by 2006. On June 15, 2020, Visual Entertainment re-released the complete series, without the films, on DVD. On December 18, 2020, the company released the entire series, again without
14104-501: The United States on December 1, 2020, with a TV-MA rating because of the full frontal nudity in the first episode. The series currently airs on the Comet digital network. Stargate (device) Black holes in fiction • Portable hole • Teleportation in fiction • Wormholes in fiction • Stargate • Warp drive • Hyperspace • Time travel in fiction A Stargate is a fictional Einstein–Rosen bridge portal device within
14276-405: The air-jet pasted into the center of the opening stargate. This technique was only used for earlier episodes, and the effect was replicated digitally soon after to allow more flexibility in shots. To cut down on costs, the opening of a Stargate is often just implied rather than shown, by a costless sound-effect followed by distinct lighting effects characteristic of light shining through water (as
14448-515: The archaeologist who found it, directs its unearthing. Stargate SG-1 has since revealed more of the backstory of the Earth Stargate. The American ship Achilles brought the gate to America in 1939 to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Nazis . The United States Air Force then stored the device in various locations —including Washington, DC —before installing it at its location of
14620-454: The beginning of SG-1 's 8th season, the city is found in the Pegasus Galaxy, and 8 chevrons are dialed to send an expedition there on what could be a one-way trip. It is there that they discover a new network of stargates, and are plagued by the nemesis of the Ancients, the Wraith . During the events of The Ark of Truth , it is revealed that the pre-ascended Ancient known as Amelius originated
14792-450: The beginning of Season 9, thinking that Stargate SG-1 would be cancelled after each current year. By then, visitor questions and fan theories about the existence of a Stargate at the real Cheyenne Mountain complex had become so common that Cheyenne Mountain had installed a seemingly high-security door labeled "Stargate Command" for one of their storage rooms holding brooms and detergent. The first seven seasons had 22 episodes each, which
14964-564: The cast and producers to film aboard the nuclear submarine USS Alexandria (SSN-757) and at their Applied Physics Laboratory Ice Station in the Arctic for the direct-to-DVD sequel Stargate: Continuum . Stargate SG-1 takes place in a military science fiction environment and employs the common science fiction concepts of strongly differentiated characters fighting an unequivocally evil enemy (the Goa'uld ). However, it links alien races with well-known Earth mythologies, by use of
15136-599: The casting process before they knew that they would ultimately be cast. The producers found Judge the easiest to cast due to his muscular presence. Shanks was cast because he did "the perfect imitation of James Spader", according to Wright. The producers knew Don S. Davis from his work as a stand-in and stunt-double for Dana Elcar in MacGyver and approached him to read for the role of George Hammond. Showtime's announcement that it would not renew Stargate SG-1 after Season 5 coincided with Michael Shanks's decision to leave
15308-493: The central Stargate device. Near-instantaneous interplanetary travel allows quick narrative shifts between the politics on Earth and the realities of fighting an interstellar war. Stargate SG-1 gradually evolves the basic premise of the Stargate film into its own unique mythological superstructure, expanding upon Egyptian mythology (notably the gods Apep /Apophis and Anubis as Goa'uld villains), Norse mythology (notably
15480-457: The concept of the Stargate and wormhole travel. In the events of the third television series, Stargate Universe , a third generation of stargates is discovered, which allegedly predates the model originally discovered in the Milky Way galaxy. This model, discovered as a result of a three-month expedition to unlock the stargate's ninth and final chevron, was first encountered on board the ancient research vessel Destiny , which has been traversing
15652-438: The constellations of Taurus , Serpens Caput , Capricornus , Monoceros , Sagittarius and Orion ). As explained by Dr. Daniel Jackson in the movie, the Stargate requires seven correct symbols to connect to another Stargate. As shown in the picture opposite, the first six symbols act as coordinates, creating three intersecting lines, the destination. The Stargate uses the seventh symbol as the point of origin allowing one to plot
15824-504: The cost of the film and actor availability. The character of Vala Mal Doran would not appear in the film. Amanda Tapping confirmed her appearance in this SG-1 film and the first Atlantis movie in September 2008, and Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) confirmed his and Richard Dean Anderson's participation in January 2009. No contracts had been signed by April 2009, but Wright stated that he "can almost guarantee we are proceeding with
15996-420: The cultural origins of the various fictional human civilizations living on different planets after their displacement from Earth, the costume designers combined elements of their respective Earth cultures with modern fabrics, elaborate trims and chains to produce a historically rooted yet otherworldly appearance. The look of the Goa'uld such as Apophis was initially based on the look of Ra in the feature film. For
16168-465: The decline of SG-1 's 2005–2006 syndication household ratings was consistent with the overall decline in syndicated sci-fi action hours. Sci Fi ordered a record-breaking tenth season of SG-1 in 2005, but announced it would not renew the show for an eleventh season in summer 2006 (see Cancellation and future ) . The final SG-1 episode, " Unending ", premiered on Sky1 in the UK on March 13, 2007, and attracted approximately 2.2 million viewers on
16340-470: The defining motifs of Stargate , at times being central in both the SG-1 and Atlantis title sequences. It involves the generation of the "puddle of water" portal that lasts roughly two seconds, and is completed by the ejection of an unstable energy vortex resembling a surge of water or quicksilver . The vortex is portrayed as a symbol of the stargate's power, invariably causing characters to become affected by awe . Any matter that comes into contact with
16512-565: The design of the Ori and the Priors in Season 9, the art department looked at Japanese and samurai garments for costume design. Art director James Robbins found the face painting, scarification and burns of remote jungle tribes mystical and these served as inspiration for the face scarification of the Priors and the Doci. Early ideas to include finger extensions and scarification on these characters' hands were discarded as impracticable. Stargate SG-1
16684-508: The destination, while certain electromagnetic waves can travel either way (for instance, visible light does not pass through at all, but radio transmissions pass in both directions). A stargate's destination is not fixed; any stargate can connect to any other stargate in the network. Stargates have an inner ring akin to a rotary dial inscribed with a number of symbols, and nine prominent points ("chevrons") spaced equally around their circumference. Between 7 and 9 symbols are combined to identify
16856-474: The end of Season 9 ("Camelot (Part 1)"), the Ori begin an evangelistic crusade with their warships and effortlessly wipe out the combined fleet of Earth and its allies. The leader of the Ori, Adria ( Morena Baccarin ), is introduced in the premiere of Season 10 ("Flesh and Blood (Part 2)"). SG-1 searches for the Sangraal, an Ancient weapon that might defeat the Ori, while Ba'al and his clones attempt to find
17028-441: The entire Stargate franchise were available on Netflix 's subscription-based online video streaming service in the US. As of 15 August 2012 Netflix removed Stargate SG-1 from its online video streaming service. As of May 2013 , Amazon Video has Stargate SG-1 available for online streaming. As of August 2014 SG-1 is available on Netflix UK. The pilot episode "Children Of The Gods" though has been replaced with
17200-430: The entire ring (as opposed to an inner track, like Milky Way-era gates) rotates clockwise and counterclockwise in an alternating pattern until the final chevron is locked and a wormhole is established. Finally, the event horizon of the wormhole also appears a slightly more silver color than later generations. Possibly due to the nature of how these stargates were deposited on hundreds of thousands of planets, no planetary DHD
17372-467: The episodes, such as the campus of Simon Fraser University , which became the setting of the capital of the Tollan , an alien civilization. Production faced many weather problems because of the moderate oceanic climate of Vancouver , although rain could be eliminated from film. The Season 3 episode " Crystal Skull " was the first episode to be filmed on a virtual set. The main setting of Stargate SG-1 ,
17544-459: The event horizon before entering completely, as the Stargate would automatically reintegrate the traveler. Passage through a Stargate's wormhole is depicted as a visual effect of shooting through a tunnel in space. The average travel time between Stargates is 3.2 seconds. In the movie and early SG-1 episodes, travelers exit from the Stargate covered in frost and at high speed (often being knocked from their feet), feeling as though they have been on
17716-410: The event horizon is depicted). The DVD commentary for Stargate SG-1 explains that these effects are produced by reflecting light off large sheets of vibrating Mylar . The Stargate itself is nearly always filmed against a blue or green backdrop, not only making it easier to paste the vortex imagery onto the scene, but also facilitating the superimposition of the "event horizon ripple effect", which
17888-462: The exclusive basic cable rights to the MGM package Stargate SG-1 , The Outer Limits and Poltergeist: The Legacy . Showtime decided to end its association with Stargate SG-1 at the end of Season 5, saying that the show still had a sizeable viewership but could no longer draw new subscribers due to its availability in syndication. Since SG-1 's ratings were good from a financial standpoint,
18060-627: The extras portraying USAF personnel were real USAF staff. Two successive Chiefs of Staff of the Air Force , Generals Michael E. Ryan and John P. Jumper , appeared as themselves in Season 4's " Prodigy " and Season 7's " Lost City ", respectively. General Jumper's second scheduled appearance in Season 9's " The Fourth Horseman " was cancelled due to ongoing real-world conflicts in the Middle East . 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
18232-598: The feature film as reference and found the original Stargate prop stored outside in the Californian desert. Although the prop had severely deteriorated, he was able to take a detailed mold for Stargate SG-1 production to build its own prop. The new Stargate was engineered to turn, to lock the chevrons and to be computer-controlled to dial specific gate addresses. A portable Stargate prop was built for on-location shoots and required six workers and one full day to set up. Since visual effects are sometimes faster and cheaper,
18404-497: The fictional Stargate Command (SGC) at the (real) Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station near Colorado Springs, Colorado , was filmed at stage 5 of The Bridge Studios. Martin Wood filmed half a dozen stock shots of the real Cheyenne Mountain complex for use in the series approximately ten days before the premiere of the pilot episode. Although these shots wore out over the years, the producers did not film new shots until
18576-524: The film and series. The Stargate was studied in the 1940s as a potential weapon and was later mothballed. As the Stargate film quickly skips to the "present day" (1994), unsuccessful archaeologist Daniel Jackson is giving a lecture about his outlandish theories that the pharaoh Khufu did not build the Great Pyramid of Giza . After he is laughed away, an aged Catherine Langford meets with him and recruits his egyptological talent, taking him to
18748-612: The films, on Region A Blu-ray. New episodes of Stargate SG-1 were first released on iTunes in the US in August 2006, each time one day after their premiere on the Sci Fi Channel. The commercial-free episodes were priced $ 1.99 each, while a season pass with twenty episodes cost $ 37.99. A release on iTunes UK followed in October 2007. All ten seasons of SG-1 were available on iTunes and Amazon Unbox by January 2008. Stargate SG-1 made its debut on hulu.com in March 2009, starting with
18920-608: The first eight seasons, the mission of the SG teams is to explore the galaxy and search for alien technology and allies to defend Earth against the Goa'uld , a snake-like parasitic alien race from planet P3X-888 that takes humans as unwilling hosts. As explained in the series' backstory, the Goa'uld had transported human slaves from Earth to other habitable planets across the galaxy thousands of years ago and now pose as gods of old Earth mythologies, particularly Ancient Egypt . SG-1 eventually learns that highly evolved human-like beings, known as
19092-406: The first season, which the other writers imitated after Richard Dean Anderson began referring to the film on his own. O'Neill refers to Richard Dean Anderson's favorite television series, The Simpsons , throughout the show. SG-1 makes meta-textual references to the process of writing and filming a science fiction TV series in several episodes and alludes to the main actors' previous TV roles in
19264-418: The first season. At first, viewers in the United States could only watch episodes of the first seasons, but as of December 2009 all episodes of Seasons 1–10 were available free of charge with a small number of commercials on Hulu, through January 31, 2011. Free access to all SG-1 episodes continued until July 31, 2011, when the episodes were finally removed. As of 1 February 2011 , all episodes of
19436-421: The full symphonic score of SG-1 more time-consuming to create than for general TV shows. Since Goldsmith lived a thousand miles away from Vancouver, he and the producers discussed ideas over the phone and exchanged tapes via Federal Express for several years until the show switched to Internet file transfers. Goldsmith's reliance on Arnold's score decreased over the seasons when Stargate SG-1 departed from
19608-480: The galaxy, such as the Goa'uld-like but truly symbiotic Tok'ra , the advanced human Tollan , the pacifist Nox , the benevolent Roswell -alien Asgard and remnants of the powerful Ancients. Another alien threat arises in the Season 3 finale (" Nemesis ") in the form of sentient machines called Replicators . Meanwhile, rogue agents of a shadowy intelligence agency on Earth, the NID , repeatedly attempt to take control of
19780-542: The gate and facing it. Over time, however, some DHDs have been damaged or lost. This has been the source of plot difficulties for the protagonists on several occasions, as it is still possible to travel to a Stargate that lacks a DHD, meaning that dialing home again will be much more difficult, if not impossible. One of the primary functions of the Mobile Analytic Laboratory Probe (M.A.L.P.), an unmanned ground vehicle that precedes an SG team ,
19952-476: The gate can also be dialled by manually forcing the ring to move into each position. Once a valid address is dialed by the traveler, if a functioning counterpart device exists close enough to those coordinates, the stargate generates a stable wormhole between itself and its counterpart. The advanced technology of the stargate allows it to accept a wide range of power sources, which it can absorb by direct conduction if required. The power source in most situations
20124-399: The god Thor as an Asgard ally ) and Arthurian legend (notably Merlin as an Ancient ally against the god-like Ori ), among others. SG-1 introduces new alien races (as opposed to alien human civilizations) less often than other science fiction television series and integrates newly encountered races or visited planets in stand-alone episodes into its established mythology while leaving
20296-452: The gravitational pull of the singularity would be too strong to overcome. The wavering undulations characteristic of water are supposed to represent the "fluctuations in the event horizon". This puddle may then be entered (usually accompanied by a watery squishing sound), and the traveler will emerge from a similar pool at the destination Stargate. The show makes it clear that transit is strictly one-way; an attempt to travel "backwards" causes
20468-496: The half-Ascended Goa'uld System Lord Anubis ( David Palffy ) assumes the role of the primary antagonist of the show. This new villain possesses much of the knowledge of the Ancients and their technology. While Earth builds its first interstellar spaceship (the Prometheus ) in seasons Season 6 and Season 7 , Anubis creates an army of almost invincible Kull Warriors and wipes out or subordinates most of his adversaries amongst
20640-405: The illusion. If a shot involves the iris , this is added in post-production, as the mechanics of it opening and closing would be very difficult to build. However, when a Stargate is filmed with just a closed iris (i.e. without it moving), a tangible prop is inserted into place. The visual effects for Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis are predominantly produced by Rainmaker Digital Effects ,
20812-539: The infirmary, Daniel's lab, the cafeteria or the gym. The SGC set and all other sets from the pilot episode were constructed within six weeks in January and February 1997, incorporating some original set pieces from the feature film. The SGC set would be largely dismantled in late 2008 to make room for the Icarus Base set of Stargate Universe . Most of the main SG-1 characters are US airmen and wear authentic United States Air Force uniforms. During missions,
20984-513: The liquid naquadah power core of a staff weapon using the same enhanced knowledge that had allowed him to determine this address in the first place, but this new power source only functioned twice and required repair work to operate the second time. A fully charged Zero Point Module (ZPM) can provide enough power for regular travel between galaxies. The 8th chevron is a key element in the Stargate Atlantis series, allowing travel to
21156-505: The loss of Michael Shanks, we think that Corin Nemec will be a great new presence in the cast." Nemec's early appearances, beginning with the penultimate episode of Season 5 " Meridian ", failed to win over some of the show's fans. Nemec was willing to continue playing the character after Season 6 or in a feature film or a spin-off series. However, the producers reached an agreement with Shanks to return full-time in Season 7, leaving Nemec with
21328-439: The main characters to visit alien planets without the need for spaceships or any other type of technology. The device allows for near-instantaneous teleportation across both interstellar and extragalactic distances. Some early "portal" appearances in science fiction include A. E. van Vogt 's novella Secret Unattainable (July 1942, Astounding ), a radio episode of Space Patrol that aired October 25, 1952 (in which it
21500-527: The main title of Atlantis per a suggestion by Goldsmith's assistant. Non-original music was rarely used on SG-1 , although Goldsmith chose the aria " Vesti la giubba " from Leoncavallo 's Pagliacci for season 3's " Shades of Grey ". Additionally, Lily Frost 's song "Who am I" played in Season 7's " Fragile Balance " and CCR 's song " Have You Ever Seen the Rain? " played in the series finale " Unending ". A television soundtrack with Goldsmith's adapted score
21672-460: The members of the SG-1 team normally wear olive green Battle Dress Uniforms . Richard Dean Anderson and Don S. Davis received a regular military-style haircut on set. Amanda Tapping had her hair comparably short until the filming of the direct-to-DVD films. Playing a civilian, Michael Shanks adopted James Spader's hairstyle from the feature film but cut it short for the Season 2 finale and subsequent seasons. The Jaffa alien Teal'c (Christopher Judge)
21844-439: The most likely works to contain visual cues that would impress award judges. Stargate SG-1 helped win the local post production shops industry recognition, with Season 4's " Small Victories ", Season 5's " Revelations " and Season 7's " Lost City " receiving the most visual effects awards and nominations (see List of awards and nominations received by Stargate SG-1 ) . According to composer Joel Goldsmith , Stargate SG-1 had
22016-502: The ninth chevron never having been explored in the previous series. The nine-symbol addresses act as codes to dial specific Stargates, with the only two known nine-symbol addresses used to dial from the Milky Way galaxy to Destiny , a massive Ancient vessel that was part of a project to explore the universe, with the project being abandoned when they started researching into ascension among other things, and from Destiny to Earth . It
22188-423: The order in which the addresses were dialed, and no guarantee can be made as to the accuracy of the recovered addresses. The Atlantis DHD is more similar to the Earth's dialing computer than an actual DHD, and looks more like a set of crystal panels. It can block out certain gate addresses. The Atlantis DHD also has an extra control-crystal allowing the dialing of an eighth chevron during the dialing sequence and
22360-434: The original cast. The opening title sequence of the first two Season 6 episodes shows a turning Stargate, for which a Frazier lens was put as close as 1 ⁄ 8 inch (3.2 mm) to the Stargate prop. The opening credits of the following episodes intercut this material with live-action shots of the characters from previous seasons and ended with the SG-1 team stepping through the Stargate. The opening credits stayed
22532-532: The other side of the known universe. At the beginning of the Stargate SG-1 series, however, a large set of additional valid coordinates were discovered engraved in ruins on Abydos. Because of the stellar drift accumulated over millions of years, other addresses were impossible to dial until Samantha Carter reworked the dialing system on Earth to account for this movement. After this, a massive network of possible connections suddenly became available. Even more addresses were later uncovered by Colonel Jack O'Neill from
22704-611: The plot alone as he had on MacGyver . The American subscription channel Showtime made a two-season commitment for 44 episodes in 1996. Principal photography began in Vancouver in February 1997. After Anderson accepted the part, Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner reviewed several thousand taped auditions and invited approximately 25 promising actors to screen tests in Los Angeles. Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping and Christopher Judge are said to have gravitated towards each other during
22876-605: The plot) and she joined the cast full-time in Season 10. Most of the producers, crew members and guest actors involved in Stargate SG-1 were Canadian. Creators Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner were executive producers and show runners of Stargate SG-1 in the first three seasons, having the final say (besides MGM and the network) on stories, designs, effects, casting, editing and episode budgets. After Glassner's departure, Wright ran Stargate SG-1 alone for three seasons. Executive producer Robert C. Cooper took over as show-runner in Season 7 when Brad Wright took time off to develop
23048-408: The plotlines accessible for new audience members. Despite the show's extensive intergalactic mythology and science fiction elements, scholar M. Keith Booker considered SG-1 ultimately character-driven and heavily dependent on the camaraderie among the SG-1 members. The producers embraced humor and wanted SG-1 to be a fun show that did not take itself too seriously. Brad Wright regarded SG-1 as
23220-435: The renewed Stargate Atlantis . Meanwhile, the SG-1 producers and rights-holder MGM expressed a desire to continue SG-1 as a movie, mini-series, or an eleventh season on another network. Brad Wright confirmed the production of two direct-to-DVD films in October 2006, and Amanda Tapping joined the Atlantis cast for their fourth season. The first film, Stargate: The Ark of Truth , was released in March 2008 and wraps up
23392-457: The rim of the Stargate. By pressing these keys a traveler builds an address. The central hemisphere serves as an " Enter " key to activate the Stargate once a destination has been dialed. Each DHD only has 38 keys, 19 on each ring. According to Dr. Zelenka , dialing an address leaves a small imprint on the control crystals of the DHD, and about fifty addresses can be recovered from a DHD using the proper equipment. However, this gives no indication of
23564-435: The rings of each become similar to a physical, singular gateway or door-frame between the two locations. The concept was developed by the writers of the feature film Stargate , Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich . Similar devices had been seen in previous fiction, and there has been contention as to whether they plagiarized the idea from a previous script submission from a student of Egyptology named Omar Zuhdi, who submitted
23736-417: The run of the television franchise, it cost $ 5,000 to show a person stepping through the event horizon, using visual effects. Two full Stargate props were originally built for the SG-1 pilot " Children of the Gods ", the second of which was reconstructed from the prop used in the film . They are made of steel and fiberglass , and are 22 feet (6.7 m) in diameter. The second prop is less detailed, and
23908-446: The same during the run of Stargate SG-1 and its direct-to-DVD films. The first opening title sequence, used in the first five seasons, shows a slow-pan camera move over Ra 's mask. The Stargate SG-1 producers had run out of time before the premiere of Season 1 and simply re-used the accelerated opening title sequence of the feature film. Ra 's mask had been created in the feature film's model shop and had originally been filmed with
24080-561: The same in the next two seasons except for minor clip and cast changes. The opening credits of Season 9 intercut shots of the Stargate with action sequences similar to the previous opening credits, although the Stargate was visibly computer-generated. The Sci Fi Channel cut the opening credits from sixty to ten seconds in their original broadcast of the first half of Season 9, but reinstated the full opening credits after strongly negative fan reactions. The writers poked fun at this move in SG-1 ' s milestone episode " 200 " in Season 10, showing
24252-477: The scene in "Divide and Conquer" that flashes back to the events in Upgrades, where Carter and O'Neill are trapped on opposite sides of the forcefield, lines were written but the actors chose not to say them. In "Watergate", melted toxic wax was used to give Maybourne a frozen look. Tom McBeath couldn't breathe it in or would have risked his own health. The actual ending of the episode where O'Neill proposes that
24424-422: The series was first released in the United States on DVD with only three episodes. The following year, Seasons 1–8 were released in five-disc amaray box sets in the United States. MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) began releasing complete season box sets (including Season 1) alongside the individual volumes in 2002. The British season box sets were usually released half a year after a season's last volume release in
24596-548: The series, the Air Force granted production access to the Cheyenne Mountain complex to film stock shots. They also read every script for mistakes and provided help with plausible background stories for all characters, ribbons, uniform regulations, hair advice, plot lines and military relationships and decorum on an active military base. The USAF flew up several T-38 Talon , F-15 and F-16 fighter jets to Vancouver for various episodes and direct-to-DVD films. Many of
24768-410: The series. Rather than being a jet of water, it is actually the image of high-pressure air being blasted into a tank of water. The effect was achieved by mounting a jet airplane engine two feet above a water tank, and using its 180 mph (290 km/h) windstream to create the sufficient water displacement. In post production, the surrounding water was removed with computer editing, and the image of
24940-509: The show and for the show's positive depiction of the United States Air Force . General Jumper made Anderson an honorary brigadier general, matching his on-screen promotion to that rank. Several scenes of Season 4's " Small Victories " were filmed aboard and outside a decommissioned Russian Foxtrot -class submarine , which had been brought from Vladivostok to Vancouver by a private owner. The United States Navy invited
25112-471: The show over concerns of being underutilized. The Sci Fi Channel picked up the show and substituted a new character, played by Corin Nemec . Casting agents had met Nemec in the courtyard of MGM's Santa Monica offices by chance and had offered him the role of Jonas Quinn. Addressing rumors that it had forced Shanks's departure, Sci Fi said in February 2002 that the network had "absolutely never requested that any cast changes be made... and although we regret
25284-497: The show was broadcast in sixty-four countries with more than 17 million viewers a week. Stargate SG-1 had a particularly fervent response in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Australia. Stargate SG-1 aired in the United Kingdom on Sky One with repeats on Sky Two , Sky Mix , Sky Max , Sky Sci-Fi , and Channel 4 . Sky One broadcast new episodes of the second half of most seasons before their American premiere. Brad Wright found it "almost embarrassing" that Stargate SG-1
25456-433: The show's title. Michael Shanks' name was moved near the end of the opening credits with the appendage "as Daniel Jackson" after his return to the show in Season 7. Some DVD versions of early SG-1 seasons have different opening credits from the television versions, as do the direct-to-DVD films. Composer Joel Goldsmith adapted David Arnold 's Stargate feature film score for SG-1 ' s opening title theme, which remained
25628-426: The specific gate, which identifies it as the point of origin; and the 9th is reserved for special destinations. The gates were originally constructed with complementary control panels nearby, inscribed with the same symbols as can be found on the ring. Pressing these symbols would supply power to the gate and cause the inner ring to spin automatically until the selected symbol is aligned and the chevron engaged. However
25800-403: The stargates of the Pegasus or Destiny, with 35 address symbols and one point of origin, there are only 1,168,675,200 possible six symbol coordinates. By identifying six constellations in space, a single sextangulation point can be interpolated that corresponds to the destination desired. As only a small portion of the possible combinations of Stargate symbols represent valid addresses, dialing
25972-430: The success of Stargate SG-1 put off their plans of ending the show to write a new Stargate feature film. Sci Fi cut the length of an SG-1 season from 22 to 20 episodes from Season 8 onwards. Originally envisioned as a replacement for SG-1 , the spin-off series Stargate Atlantis began airing in tandem with SG-1 's eighth season in summer 2004, setting a series record of 3.2 million viewers for SG-1 and
26144-516: The team should be called "SG-1". MGM released posters titled Stargate SG-1 within the next week without the knowledge of Wright or Glassner. John Symes approached Michael Greenburg and Richard Dean Anderson , former star of the long-running MacGyver . Anderson agreed to become involved if his character Jack O'Neill were allowed more comedic leeway than Kurt Russell 's character in the feature film. He also requested that Stargate SG-1 be an ensemble show, so that he would not be carrying most of
26316-435: The traveler to be destroyed. Although in the first episode the Goa'uld who come through at the beginning appear to walk back through the event horizon after taking a hostage, in actuality they dialed out again using a hand-held device, as the whooshing sound is audible in the background. As matter is only transmitted through a Stargate once the whole object has passed the event horizon, a person or object could be retrieved from
26488-530: The two races had just exchanged hostages was not the intended ending, which is why the episode appears to end so abruptly. In "Beneath the Surface", Thera and Jonah were supposed to kiss to confirm that they were in a relationship, but this was dropped because O'Neill had already kissed Carter earlier in the season in " Window of Opportunity ". "Chain Reaction" made many references to the movie The Silence of
26660-483: The universe for several million years uncrewed, and is several billion light years away from Earth. It is discovered that the Ancients constructed the vessel to be launched after a number of stargate seed ships were dispersed in the universe in order to follow in their path and stop at each planet at which a stargate was deposited. Destiny would then extract any relevant data from the planetary stargate in order to further complete research into an apparent signal embedded in
26832-417: The visual effects department. Stargate SG-1 employed about 200 Canadian union workers, although that number could exceed 300 when new sets were built. Lead production designer Richard Hudolin joined the project in October 1996. Bridget McGuire, SG-1 ' s art director since the pilot episode, took over as lead production designer in Season 6. Hudolin flew to Los Angeles in 1996 to gather material from
27004-434: The vortex is annihilated on a molecular level, as is dramatically demonstrated by a pair of smoking shoes in the episode " Prisoners ". In season 9's " Crusade ", the unstable vortex was onomatopoeidiacally referred to by Col. Carter as the "Kawoosh", emulating the sound of the initial vortex. This aspect has been used in some cases to dispose of highly hazardous materials. The vortex is also used on one occasion to dispose of
27176-569: The weapon for their own purposes. With the help of the powerful Ancient Merlin ( Matthew Walker ), SG-1 finds the construction plans of the Sangraal and sends a working version to the Ori galaxy. Shortly thereafter, Adria ascends. The direct-to-DVD film Stargate: The Ark of Truth ends the Ori Arc. Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner had worked together on the MGM television series The Outer Limits since 1995. Upon hearing of MGM's plan to create
27348-486: The working title as Stargate: Revolution . The film was planned to be written by Wright and former Stargate Atlantis executive producer Carl Binder . Martin Wood would serve as director. The premise of the film would have been the "possibility of the Stargate program going public". According to Wright, the film would center on the Jack O'Neill character and would reunite as many of the SG-1 cast as possible, depending on
27520-644: Was a ratings success for its first-run broadcasters and in syndication and was particularly popular in Europe and Australia. Stargate SG-1' s awards include eight Emmy nominations. It also spawned the animated television series Stargate Infinity , the live-action spin-off TV series Stargate Atlantis , Stargate Universe , and Stargate Origins and the direct-to-DVD films Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum . Merchandise for Stargate SG-1 includes games and toys, print media and an original audio series. The plot of Stargate SG-1 picks up
27692-470: Was called a "cycloplex" or a "hole in space"), and Robert A. Heinlein 's Tunnel in the Sky (1955) and its " Ramsbotham jump ". In 2001: A Space Odyssey , Arthur C. Clarke uses the term "Star Gate" for the large monolith "sentinel" TMA-2, which is a classic stargate portal to another part of the universe. The basic stargate concept is that it has at least two devices in distant positions, and when active,
27864-424: Was discussed. The producers had met him during sci-fi conventions and had previously discussed casting him in other Stargate roles. The producers approached Emmy Award -winning actor Beau Bridges directly to play the role of Hank Landry. Claudia Black's guest appearances were so popular with the cast, crew and audience that the actress returned for the last two Season 9 episodes (with her pregnancy worked into
28036-482: Was expensive to produce, MGM arranged an agreement with Showtime that SG-1 could air in syndication six months after their premiere on Showtime. All 22 FOX owned-and-operated local stations aired the first seasons after their Showtime debut, providing a clearance of 41% of the United States. The show was also available on non-FOX affiliated stations in other markets. The Sci Fi Channel made its largest single programming acquisition of $ 150 million in 1998 by buying
28208-405: Was filmed in and around Vancouver , British Columbia , mainly at The Bridge Studios and NORCO Studios, which offered Stargate SG-1 tax breaks throughout its run. The cost of an SG-1 episode increased from US$ 1.3 million in the first seasons to an estimated US$ 2 million per episode in Season 10, partly due to unfavorable exchange rates. Many Vancouver area landmarks were incorporated into
28380-463: Was filmed in and around the city of Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada. The series premiered on Showtime on July 27, 1997, and moved to the Sci Fi Channel on June 7, 2002; the series finale aired on Sky1 on March 13, 2007. The story of Stargate SG-1 begins about a year after the events of the feature film when the United States government learns that an ancient alien device called
28552-461: Was initially believed that the Goa'uld created the Stargates, but this was proven false in "The Torment of Tantalus" when the SGC discovered that Earth had accidentally dialled an address in 1945 that was not on the Abydos cartouche. Following this revelation, a larger list of Stargate addresses is provided by Jack O'Neill in " The Fifth Race " from knowledge downloaded into his mind by a repository of
28724-586: Was much more popular in the United Kingdom than in Canada, where the show aired on Space , Citytv , A-Channel , Movie Central and French-language channels TQS and Ztélé . Stargate SG-1 aired in Australia on Sci Fi Australia and Channel Seven . It aired in India on STAR World India and in Israel on Channel 1 . On August 21, 2006, a few days after the premiere of SG-1 's milestone episode " 200 ",
28896-442: Was one of the biggest employers in the Vancouver visual effects market, spending $ 400,000 per episode. The largest role was played by Rainmaker Digital Effects , whose senior digital compositing artist, Bruce Woloshyn , worked approximately 10 months a year in close collaboration with SG-1 's visual effects supervisor/producer James Tichenor and visual effects supervisor Michelle Comens. Many companies were hired to create
29068-669: Was reduced to 20 episodes for the last three seasons. Episodes of the first seasons were filmed over a period of 7.5 working days, which decreased to a targeted average of six working days in the last seasons. All episodes were filmed in 16:9 wide-screen, although Stargate SG-1 was broadcast in 4:3 aspect ratio in its first years. The transition to the broadcast of episodes in the wider 16:9 ratio gave directors more freedom in frame composition. The first three seasons of Stargate SG-1 were filmed on 16 mm film , notwithstanding scenes involving visual effects that had always been shot on 35 mm film for various technical reasons. After
29240-425: Was released in 1997, followed by a best-of release in 2001. In Season 1 Episode 7, " The Nox ", the music that played when The Nox appeared was Spinning The Silk from the album Chrysalis by 2002. Stargate SG-1 has had several opening title sequences, which are generally preceded by a teaser act . The credits are normally sixty seconds long. Richard Dean Anderson was the only SG-1 actor whose name appeared before
29412-449: Was supposed to be the show's last, but Sci Fi renewed SG-1 at the last minute. The sixth and seventh seasons made Stargate SG-1 Sci Fi's highest-rated original series with an average of 2 million viewers in over 1.3 million households, elevating Sci Fi into the top 10 cable networks in the United States. For the next few years, the producers believed each current season to be the show's last and repeatedly wrote big series finales, but
29584-464: Was the only main character whose look required more than basic make-up. His Egyptian look was reflective of the Goa'uld Ra from the feature film and was complemented with a forehead symbol and a gold skin tone, although his make-up process was simplified over the years. Judge shaved his head at home each day until the producers allowed him to let his hair grow in Season 8. As a trained nurse, key make-up artist Jan Newman could make burns, cuts, bruises and
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