Stargate Universe does good numbers, but not great
by
I can't speak for the money guys since I don't know what Stargate Universe costs to make, but I can't help but think that they must be somewhat disappointed with 2.35 million viewers on a 1.7 rating. The media blitz, the new style, it didn't add up to very much compared to previous Stargate shows.That's the bad news.
The good news may come over the next 3-5 episodes when we'll find out if this is a show that's going to grow, like Warehouse 13 did, or if it'll slowly sink, like **Stargate Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica did. Warehouse 13 started at 3.5 million and grew to 4.4 after just six episodes. But I think it's also important to remember that Warehouse 13 to SyFy is probably like Lost was to ABC.
Not many shows start off better than you expected and then grow, and Lost started falling in its second season and has been falling ever since, anyway. Those are generally considered the network tentpoles so it should go without saying that these shows tend to be rare.
Something that should worry fans, though, is that MGM -- owner and producer of the franchise -- is basically bankrupt in denial. They can't even pay the interest on their outstanding debt right now. Stargate is practically their only active television property these days, so they need the show to succeed more than anyone.
Supposedly you can get the first two parts of air for free on iTunes here for free. I've also embedded the combo Hulu below.
**Atlantis tended to start high at the beginning of a new season, and then fade for a while, and then that process would repeat each year. Except its final year, which I think held some of its best numbers for the entire series.
November 7, 2009 9:36 AM | Reply
The SG franchise has a huge following but I fear this show is doomed, it has none of the charm of SG-1 and SGA, they could kill off any of these characters and I wouldn’t even care. Anybody remember Star Trek Enterprise??? It killed the Star Trek Franchise just like this show will kill the SG franchise.
P.S. I actually liked Star Trek Enterprise which more than I can say for this show.