The Stargate series is a fun, fairly family-friendly, excellently speculative run of sci-fi that hits the spot an almost all cylinders for many who appreciate high quality speculative fiction.
It’s a sci-fi series that uses ancient cultures and their languages/arts/quirks to color (with vivid hues!) off-world exploration through a space portal called a “stargate”. Watch the movie first, it is great…. and explains most of the set-up. Then they spun a TV show off of it, which was wonderful too, (changed a few key actors, but no characters; and though it’s a slight shift at first, the new people did a great job filling out the roles they inherited, and soon they became even more than the originals ever dreamed of!)
A few of the “story rules” were altered for the show, to make it more multi-possibility… but it’s really the best sci-fi show a language/history lover could ask for!
The series began with a 1994 movie which immediately gave my heart a warm, fuzzy glow by opening with credits over a scene of discovery in a 1940’s dig in Egypt. (It can only get better from there!! I LOVE 1940’s archaeology capers.)
Even though this soon leaped ahead several decades, the pace moved smoothly from quandary, to revelation, to far-reaching exploration with a delightfully tingling sense of danger at every turn.
Starring James Spader as a bespectacled young geeky-scientist (an archaeologist, no less) with some unique, (and scorned) theories about ancient civilization, particularly Egypt.
Opposite Spader’s rendition of non-linear-thinking brilliance, a staunch Kurt Russell portrays the grizzled, stickler commander/Colonel silently dealing with a recent personal tragedy. The character arcs on these two alone is movie-watchers gold (to me) but the relational growth and heart warming moments between initially opposing forces are what make this film really shine in my opinion.
With production values that never drop you out of the illusion, despite it’s early filming date, the Stargate movie is a personal favorite for great entertainment.
The TV show, Stargate SG1 (beginning 1997) picks up much where the movie ended, bringing the main cast of roles back together (re-casting Richard Dean Anderson increasing the Colonel’s sarcasm by a factor of ten, and launching Micheal Shanks to well-deserved fame as the archaeologist with a most tangled and compelling total character arc ever.)
…And introducing some very compelling new characters which we soon come to know and love. The show ran for 10 seasons, with a deliciously dense episode count in the twenties per season, so it adds up to a massive amount of hours to sink into the story world and have your heart wrenched, and your sides split, by the actions and (brilliant quips) season after season.
Season 1 is terrific; Season 2 lags a little bit but is definitely worth sitting through so you’ll be up to snuff on everything for Season 3. Season 4 is great, and from here on out it just gets more and more compelling; with twisting plot threads that come full circle again in a highly satisfying way.
The writers for this show did a wonderful job of writing non-episodic TV, while still maintaining very satisfying individual episodes nine times out of ten. Every once in a while they throw in a two- or three-parter, which will unequivocally have you on the edge of your seat… ( In fact, I’ve found the best way to watch this show with the family is in sections of three episodes at a time, at least. You just don’t want to quit! And a swath of the story-line is well worth investing in.)
SG1 is a great show, and I highly recommend it. It’s also good for family viewing, it’s very “above board” on those counts. (Into season 8 the writers got a bit salty with a few shows, but compared to much of today’s fare, it’s still very minimal.)
With the popularity of Stargate SG1, the producers spun off several other shows. Stargate Atlantis began in 2004, and Stargate Universe in 2009. (I haven’t seen any of SG Universe, and have some heard less than stellar things about it… so advance on your own intell on that one.) Along with the later dates, the ratings level seemed to raise a little as the years went by, so some viewer discretion might be advised with the more modern iterations.
So far we have enjoyed SG1 very much (now on season 10, and about to come to the sad end of that run) and also found Atlantis equipped with well written plots and lovable characters that play off each other very hilariously.
In all, the writing on this series (so far) is what makes it really shine; the characters are fresh and feel authentic, and one of my personal favorites about this series is it’s abundant use of real landscapes and sets in put into the great outdoors. Where new planets have grass and trees, and each new civilization is drawn from an ancient, historical culture here on earth, there’s a lot to love about this series from any history lover’s perspective. As a fan of languages and ancient history, I love that the writers took advantage of the rich potential and stuffed as much into the plot as possible!
They didn’t just stop at history though… they find a way to incorporate all the best-known and well loved sci-fi plot devices into the story world in a believable manner.
Time travel? Yep, worm-hole through a solar flare… Check.
Murder mystery? Check.
Luscious costumes, sets and beautiful advanced technology? In spades! (This had to have been the absolute fun-est props department to work in… those people were artists!)
Corporate espionage? Yep, check.
The past coming back to haunt you? Check.
Political intrigue? Yes.
Realistic alien life? Got it.
Comradely daring and no team member left behind? Oh, yes, you can bet on it!
Dying? Yep… several times.
Making absolutely hilarious quips about that? Got it.
Totally heart crushing sadness of loss? Yep. Definitely.
Coming back to life? Yep. Got that too.
This series is just so much fun, I wish it wouldn’t end!