title

One of the few shows I watch on TV anymore, Stargate SG-1 is counting down to it's final episode.

The show has changed a bit over the years, and I find the current crop of villains, the Ori to be less than fascinating, but the show is still consistently watchable, which is more than you can say about other long running shows. Characters have come and gone, some I miss (Jack O'Neill, General Hammond) and some new ones I am not so crazy about have been added. That is the nature of show business, I guess.

Stargate SG-1 follows and expands upon the Egyptian mythologies presented in [the film] Stargate. In the Stargate universe, humans were enslaved and transported to habitable planets by the Goa'uld such as Ra and Apophis. For millennia, the Goa'uld harvested humanity, heavily influencing and spreading human cultures. As a result, Earth cultures such as those of the Aztecs, Mayans, Britons, the Norse, Mongols, Greeks, and Romans are found throughout the known habitable planets of the galaxy. Many well-known mythical locations such as Avalon, Camelot, and Atlantis are found, or have at one time existed.

Presently, the Earth stargate (found at a dig site near Giza in 1928) is housed in a top-secret U.S. military base known as the SGC (Stargate Command) underneath Cheyenne Mountain. Col. Jack O'Neill (Anderson), Dr. Daniel Jackson (Shanks), Capt. Samantha Carter (Tapping) and Teal'c (Judge) compose the original SG-1 team (a few characters join and/or leave the team in later seasons). Along with 24 other SG teams, they venture to distant planets exploring the galaxy and searching for defenses from the Goa'uld, in the forms of technology and alliances with friendly advanced races.

The parasitic Goa'uld use advanced technology to cast themselves as Egyptian Gods and are bent on galactic conquest and eternal worship. Throughout the first eight seasons, the Goa'uld are the primary antagonists. They are a race of highly intelligent, ruthless snake-like alien parasites capable of invading and controlling the bodies of other species, including humans. The original arch-enemy from this race was the System Lord Apophis (Peter Williams). Other System Lords, such as Baal and Anubis, play pivotal roles in the later seasons. In the ninth season a new villain emerges, the Ori. The Ori are advanced beings with unfathomable technology from another galaxy, also bent on galactic conquest and eternal worship. The introduction of the Ori accompanies a departure from the primary focus on Egyptian mythology into an exploration of the Arthurian mythology surrounding the Ori, their followers, and their enemies — the Ancients.


Stargate SG-1 proved to be very popular. Each year from Seasons 5 to 8 the show was repeatedly expected to end, but ratings continued to be high, allowing the show to break records and enter its tenth and final season (surpassing The X-Files as the longest running United States science-fiction series).

Guinness World Records recognized Stargate SG-1 as the longest currently running consecutive sci-fi series in 2006. The show is second only to the Doctor Who series, which holds the title for longest running sci-fi show overall.

One of my favorite episodes is from season 3..."Urgo" which guest stars Dom DeLuise as a rather bizarre "person". Pretty funny.

Dom, a seasoned professional to the last, does a good job as Urgo.

Whenever he's on camera, his energy and playful wit keep the show moving, while son Peter DeLuise (best known to science fiction TV fans as an actor on the lamented Space: Above and Beyond) directs with a relaxed but enthusiastic touch.



Although "Urgo" featured a lot of plot development and a particularly convoluted storyline of its own, the episode still worked well as an isolated 45 minutes of science fiction entertainment.

Favorite Goa'uld has to be the suavely evil Ba'al.

Favorite character Daniel Jackson. Incredibly intelligent with a disarming smile.

Second favorite character Samantha Jackson. Equally brilliant and strong female character.