being a stargate fan can be frustrating and confusing mgm recently announced that they were
shutting down their official stargate website at stargate stargatecommand.co and instead focusing
online efforts on their youtube channel that's right you heard correctly mgm is scrapping the
subscription-based everything stargate website after only two years of activity in lieu of their
75 000 subscriber youtube channel and while that may sound exciting for fans who couldn't quite
talk themselves into the 20 annual subscription make sure you read the fine print before getting
too excited about their youtube channel while you will be able to watch old interviews with
the casts and crews on youtube you will not be watching the three films ten seasons of stargate
sg1 five seasons of stargate atlantis two seasons of stargate universe nor even stargate origins
which was the series used to coax fans into paying for their subscription service in the first place
we'll tell you where you can watch all your favorite stargate content in just a moment
but first let's take a look at what's really happening to the future of one
of your favorite science fiction franchises you've heard this story right a dog is in a car
going for a ride he's happy excited and curious as to where his master is taking him the man
in the front keeps smiling and looking back at the dog good fido you're a good boy yes you are
and the dog is hopeful that his loving master is taking him somewhere fun that they can be together
the dog is the definition of loyalty then after 10 years of riding in the damn car it comes to a stop
in the middle of nowhere the dog gets a nice pat on the head and then the man jumps in the car and
speeds off leaving it in the middle of nowhere and of course you realize now that the dog is all of
us stargate fans and the driver of the car is mgm and the dog is just now starting to realize it has
been abandoned by the way please do not leave your unwanted dog in the middle of nowhere take it to
a shelter which is really what we wish mgm would do dear mgm please sell stargate to a streaming
service willing to treat your property with the respect you can no longer give it but it truly
deserves with this new youtube announcement the message is clear mgm has no intentions of bringing
us new stargate adventures anytime in the near future and what we are about to show you is that
they likely never had any intention of bringing a quality new series to fans from the moment mgm
went into bankruptcy and shut the door on stargate universe new leadership would turn its back on
the long-time successful franchise after the end of stargate universe mgm has done their best to
deflect push down the road and placate fans who desperately want to continue the stargate story
and this starts all the way back with joe flanagan who played jon shepard on stargate
atlantis flanagan approached mgm when the embers of atlantis were still cooling and universe was
unceremoniously ended flanigan broached a deal to lease the stargate brand for 10 years to continue
making content and secured funding from investors to create a full 20-episode season six of atlantis
the plan had been fully fleshed out with mgm supporting the move and flanagan and his investors
moving forward to make it happen then mgm filed bankruptcy and spyglass entertainment executives
took charge of the spiraling company flanagan reached out to the new executives but they were
more interested in working with the original stargate writer and director roland emmerich to
create a new story outside of the tv show story lines position on the tv franchise at that time
was confirmed by elena huffman who played tamara johansen in stargate universe during an interview
with gateworld in 2011 she explained that brad wright creator and showrunner of stargate on tv
had tried very hard to put a movie together but spyglass was not interested in stargate and would
not fund a movie that continued the television series it feels like this mentality never changed
even though the stargate movie reboot imploded in november 2016 but before we take you from
the failed movies to where we are now let's have an honest moment in a variety interview in 2016
jonathan glickman president of mgm's motion picture group recalled that when he ascended
to his position in 2011 the stargate property had been dormant and for lack of a better term
had played itself out at that moment those were his exact words so it sounds like from 2011 when
glickman took over to at least 2016 when the movie reboot self-destructed stargate on tv was played
out what does played out mean webster defines it as being worn out or used up tired out or spent
that's funny because we don't remember stargate fans feeling that way at all no one wanted
atlantis to stop and while there was complaining about universe fans were coming around to it but
it never got a chance no the reality is that tv shows are a gamble and a show like stargate if
done correctly is expensive to make and there is no guarantee on a return on investment especially
when you are a company who doesn't own your own network unfortunately movies are a more cost
effective gamble and both spyglass and mgm have a lot of experience making films plus two hours of
shooting is a lot less expensive than 20 hours and it's easier for a studio to micromanage a movie
and keep it on budget which is a big reason why the reboot failed on the big screen so with the
movies leading to a dead end fans were starting to grumble once more about new stargate content with
mgm's post-bankruptcy philosophy of co-producing movies and tv shows to mitigate their risk of loss
there was no way they were going to take a chance on stargate without a reward with no risk
cbs was developing a new star trek series after a longer hiatus than stargate sci-fi was working
on a then unknown expanse tv show and fox's the orville was still an unknown quantity
but online streaming was getting hot netflix was doing well and hulu was starting to grow the
subscription model for content was proving to be a success and mgm was making money airing episodes
of all the tv shows on amazon prime and hulu but perhaps they could kill two birds with one stone
by creating a subscription service that fans would pay for with access to everything stargate so they
could make money and make the fans happy at the same time perhaps they could even do some original
content to get subscribers to flock in and mgm could make a profit off of stargate without really
doing much or spending much money this is what stargate is for mgm today smile for the fans tell
them something is coming but never have any real intention of delivering dean devlin co-creator of
the original 1994 movie with emmerich points to the studio's desire to save money versus create
something of quality as the main reason why the movies couldn't be made and that is where stargate
origins comes in the low budget stargate origins webisode series premiered with three episodes on
valentine's day in 2018 and a 104 minute feature cut titled stargate origins catherine was released
that june so you could watch the whole thing at once while critical reviews were not kind
to the performances and skeptics dismissed it as a ploy to drive subscriptions to mgm's new streaming
service fans who missed stargate stories treated it with kid gloves i mean did the gate look like
you could pick it up with one hand and carry it away yes were the special effects weak yes but it
was a stargate story and following origins there was a collective holding of everyone's breath
did origins do well enough for mgm to create new content on their new service crickets the lack of
response from mgm was loud and clear if they can't make a cheap series and have the fans flood in
they won't be making anything and when you think about it it makes so much sense
why would fans pay for a complicated streaming service like stargate command when they can watch
all of the old content they want on amazon prime or hulu subscriptions they're already paying for
there were a few neat extras but was it worth 20 a year and just as fans were getting the message
loud and clear that stargate origins was just another failed experiment brad wright does an
interview in january 2019 on nercs of the hub podcast he explains that he has been in contact
with mgm about the stargate brand the man who had fathered stargate in every iteration of the
tv show until the cancellation in 2011 was back in the picture it would seem right said that mgm
realizes stargate is a genuine franchise and they are taking it seriously he said fans shouldn't
expect a full-fledged new tv series anytime soon but mgm seemed open to conversations and
was receptive of his wish to honor the hundreds of hours of world building and television that
had already been created wright's message to fans was that while he doesn't expect a show to appear
around the corner stargate is an important part of the mgm library and they're working on it sounds
familiar right well earth to brad they are using you sir in an attempt to keep the villagers with
their torches and pitchforks away they sent you out to speak to the mob and provide insincere hope
that we all fell for and this isn't brad's fault he was duped just like the rest of us and we say
insincere because a month after brad told everyone to go home there's nothing to see here mgm
announced the launch of epics now a new streaming service that is a spin-off of the premium cable
channel epics that mgm went into debt for two years before at the cost of one billion dollars
yep you heard it one billion dollars now the service does have 15 million subscribers who pay
six dollars a month so mgm is going to need almost 12 years for epics to earn back what it cost
now let's just forget the fact that epics now is one of the last streaming services you will likely
consider paying for after netflix hulu amazon prime but then you have cbs all access and disney
plus apple tv warner media and nbc universal mgm doesn't have 12 years mgm is standing there
with epics now like mufasa holding simba over his head as the stampede of wildebeests bear down on
him too soon so if you're mgm and you're facing this wave of coming competition wouldn't you do
everything you could to get ready you'd start by putting your largest fandom intellectual property
on your streaming service right if you really cared about crushing it and leading the industry
that's what you do you'd pull everything back from other streaming services and make
it only available on yours we've seen 2 million view stargate videos on youtube the potential
stargate subscribers are there not to mention the hundreds of movies and tv shows in the mgm library
they could make a serious play so what gives it just doesn't make any sense only two months after
launching epics now mgm announced a projected 40 profit loss in 2019 because they are quote
investing in new content to grow the service unquote what is stargate so loathed by mgm
that they think people won't watch it and must go buy new content instead what does that say
for what mgm really thinks about stargate after all this does anyone really think mgm is leveling
with us or brad wright for that matter maybe mgm is just trucking along hoping someone will
buy them out or offer a merger that would be a gift for us stargate fans because the franchise
is going nowhere as it is and epics is going to fail epically also if you think mgm is cooking
at the box office think again they are currently earning two tenths of one percent of global movie
market shares since 2010 with creed 2 being the only movie to earn over 100 million dollars the
writing seems to be on the wall and now with this latest move to youtube yet another risk-free cash
grab it's not a surprise they cancelled stargate command it's the first thing that makes sense why
would you maintain two separate streaming services but to act as if you're leaving stargate command
for youtube as a strategic move to get in front of more potential fans is ludicrous it's just another
way to lead fans on and make some advertising revenue in the process why wouldn't you move
all original content to epics now which you have gambled your entire future into it's one of two
possible answers mgm is either so completely inept that a couple of youtube guys could run their
company better which is so ridiculous that can't possibly be the answer so it must mean they just
don't believe in the stargate property anymore mgm is a storied and historically significant movie
company but since 1995 only seven of their films have broke 100 million dollars at the box office
and four of those are james bond movies after a deep look into the mgm library other than james
bond stargate is the second most beloved universe they own why do they treat it like a red-headed
stepchild the reality is it all comes down to money and mgm wants to pay a little to get a lot
and unfortunately a stargate tv series will run on the expensive side as most science fiction
series do and because of that we don't believe mgm is going to finance a stargate project
anytime in the near future or sadly probably ever but there is hope with mgm poised to fail
there is the possibility that they will be forced to merge with a more powerful
streaming company like netflix who is going to be seriously hurting for content in the near future
netflix can also afford a big budget science fiction tv series and since they are the only
major streaming service without one with the expanse on amazon the oroville on hulu star
trek on cbs all access and star wars on disney now would be a great time for netflix to strike a deal
with mgm and create a new vision for the future of stargate it's frustrating that we are becoming the
forgotten fandom in a time of change when we have a multitude of streaming platforms and networks
that allow big-name directors like john favreau and martin scorsese to do passion projects that
would ordinarily never be green lit yet here we sit with a stargate universe yearning for more
exploration and discovery let us go mgm or do the right thing you can keep patting us on the
head and drop us off in the middle of nowhere but eventually we are going to find our way home and
us stargate fans we'll remember if you are a stargate fan looking for a place to get updates
on what's going on with our beloved franchise consider subscribing and hitting the bell for
notifications on our next video and of course if you feel let on and take it for granted by mgm
smash that like button and let's show the world that stargate will not be forgotten and please
share this video so we can make others aware of what's going on with mgm and stargate also
consider supporting our channel by purchasing this stargate inspired graphic tee using the
code the podcast for 20 off so we can continue making more videos like this one the link will
be in the description below and until next time let's hope sam fixes the dhd and dials us home
you