The Stargatefandom is the community of fans of the military science fiction film Stargate and its spinoff television and web series including Stargate SG-1 (SG1), Stargate Infinity (SGI), Stargate Atlantis (SGA), and Stargate Universe (SGU).
The Stargatefandom is the community of fans of the military science fiction film Stargate and its spinoff television and web series including Stargate SG-1 (SG1), Stargate Infinity (SGI), Stargate Atlantis (SGA), and Stargate Universe (SGU).
While panned by critics, the 1994 film Stargate drew much attention, grossing close to 200 million USD. The film was praised for its special effects and eventually gathered its own cult following over the years. [1] The follow-up Stargate television franchise built a solid fanbase, which has been known for its loyal fans. Stargate SG-1 has established many of its own conventions, such as Wolfcon in Europe, Gatecon in Canada, among others. The franchise contains many unofficial conventions such as MediaWest Con and Vividcon established and run by fans of the franchise. Since its early years, Stargate has grown in popularity in Great Britain, France, and Germany among other European countries. The American-written book, Reading Stargate SG-1 noted that the franchise was strong with female fans because of its feminist approach to certain characters, most notably Samantha Carter (portrayed by Amanda Tapping). [2]
Brad Wright used the term "Gaters" to refer to fans of Stargate SG-1 in 2001, [3] but the term was never fully adopted. Some fans believe that there was a real Stargate device under Cheyenne Mountain that inspired writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie to come up with their own conspiracy story for season 4's "Point of No Return". [3] The fansite GateWorld became a major franchise news site with special arrangements with MGM; GateWorld's founder Darren Sumner was later hired to serve as a news editor for the official Stargate SG-1 magazine and to check Stargate comic books for continuity errors with the TV shows before publication. [4] Late Night with Conan O'Brien graphic designer Pierre Bernard gained notoriety among Stargate fans for devoting several of his "Recliner of Rage" Late Night segments to SG-1. The producers invited him to make cameo appearances in the episodes "Zero Hour" and "200". [5]
Gatecon is an annual fan convention which centers around the Stargate television franchise. Gatecon was conceived in 2000 to provide a place for fans of the show Stargate SG-1 to meet members of the cast and crew, and to get to know their fellow fans. The original organizers met due to an interactive Stargate-themed site run by Ryan Peters under Showtime's umbrella. Since its inception, Gatecon has raised money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation through a series of auction evenings. Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer (MGM) and Bridge Studios donated props and costumes. Because of the financial crisis, Gatecon decided to not hold any convention until 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Gatecon's founder Allan Gowen said, "With the current world economic status it is making it harder and harder for people to attend conventions," as the reason why there is not going to be any Gatecon in 2009. [6]
Until 2005, Gatecon was the main Stargate SG-1 fan convention. It was held in the Vancouver area, with more actor and crew member participation than other conventions. SG-1 conventions by Creation Entertainment were also marketed as "The Official Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis Tour", which mostly took place in the United States until Creation Entertainment acquired the license for Vancouver conventions in 2005. Wolf Events organized many SG-1 conventions in Europe, particularly in the UK and Germany. [7]
 | |
Type of site | Fan-news site |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Darren Sumner |
| URL | www |
| Launched | October 22, 1999 |
| Current status | Active |
Content license | Copyright |
GateWorld (also known as GateWorld.net and abbreviated to GW) is an English-language fan-news site-based webpage for British-Canadian American science fiction shows but lays most its weight on the Stargate franchise. It was started in 1999 by Stargate SG-1 fan Darren Sumner, to be an online community for fans of the show. Through its relationship with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), GateWorld occasionally offers exclusive news reports such as the recurring appearance of Claudia Black in season nine of Stargate SG-1 and the announcement of the third Stargate live-action television series being in development and the casting of Brian J. Smith in this new show.
GateWorld has an extensive show encyclopedia, cast interviews, an online store, forum, articles, reviews as well as a large episode guides, with transcripts and pictures. The site also features up-to-date news. The GateWorld forum has more than 44,000 members and 9,100,000 posts. The record number of users online at the same time was 2,770 as of 10 May 2011, the day after the last episode of Stargate Universe aired. [8]
GateWorld was inaugurated on October 22, 1999 as "Starguide," a fan site that has changed addresses and servers many times since then. The site was developed by Darren Sumner, an SG-1 fan, to be an online community for the show Stargate SG-1, similar to web sites for other science fiction shows. Though the site focused on Stargate, other parts of the site were devoted to other sci-fi series in the form of episode guides. It was during this time that Starguide was given the new name GateWorld. [9] [10] The main site was completely redesigned in 2006 to coincide with the broadcast of Stargate SG-1 's milestone 200th episode. [11] With the cancellation of Stargate SG-1, Gateworld announced its support for SaveStargateSG1, [12] a fan run campaign to get international networks and executives to show support for Stargate SG-1 and to help get it back on the air.
Although the webpage focus lay on news coverage and the episode guides, it also started to include a large encyclopedia, reviews and a store. Now, even the cast and producers of Stargate have contributed to the site with extensive multimedia interviews, blogs, spoilers, and live chats. The GateWorld Alpha Site is a site made by the creators of GateWorld. It was made in case of system problems with GateWorld that would stop fans from connecting to it. The site provides news on problems and updates on site maintenance.
In 2007, GateWorld launched its Creation Storefront merchandise section, which includes DVDs, Stargate glassware, apparel, jewelry, photographs, autographs, keychains, and calendars available for purchase.
On January 4, 2008, GateWorld launched a new service called GateWorld Play, a Stargate video service similar to YouTube. Plans were to update this new channel "seven days per week for the foreseeable future". [13] [14]
On June 9, 2006 Entertainment Weekly became the first major publication to recognize GateWorld. [15] The Province called GateWorld "amazingly detailed". [16] GateWorld was the winner of the 2007 SyFy Genre Awards for "Best Web Site". [17] It was also nominated in 2006. [18] The producers of the Stargate franchise are in good contact with GateWorld and have mentioned the website favorably in several audio commentaries. In 2004, Darren Sumner was invited to tour through the sets of Stargate Atlantis and to interview the members of the series' crew. Since then, he and partner David Read make an annual pilgrimage to Vancouver, where the franchise is filmed, to visit the studio and interview the casts and crews of both shows for publication on GateWorld. Producer Joseph Mallozzi stated in his blog:
"I have always been a supporter of GateWorld and consider it the premiere site for Stargate fans online. In fact, I was the one who suggested to MGM Marketing several years back, that they look toward establishing some sort of working relationship with Darren and GateWorld."
— Joseph Mallozzi's, weblog [19]
Looking back on producing SG-1' season 5, Joseph Mallozzi also stated in 2011:
"And, when we weren't writing or producing, we were checking out Gateworld which was fast becoming THE one stop shop for everything Stargate. In fact, Gateworld was so impressive in its scope and detail that we eventually abandoned updating the show's massive bible [...] in favor of directing prospective freelancers to the site. It blew all other Stargate-related sites, even the studio's which paled by comparison. Over the years, Gateworld evolved alongside the franchise, growing and improving. In later years, I would roll my eyes and fans on other forums would accuse Darren and David – "the Gateworld guys" as we called them – of simply being a PR arm of the franchise. The truth is, as incredible as they've been in the amount of support they’ve shown, there have also been incidences[ spelling? ] in which we've strongly disagreed with some of the decisions they've taken. Nothing that couldn't be talked through but, still, enough to remind everyone that Gateworld was and would remain a strong and independent online entity."
— Joseph Mallozzi's, weblog [20]
Stargate 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 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.
Stargate Atlantis is an adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself based on the feature film Stargate (1994). All five seasons of Stargate Atlantis were broadcast by the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States and The Movie Network in Canada. The show premiered on July 16, 2004; its final episode aired on January 9, 2009. The series was filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Prometheus or X-303 and later BC-303 is a fictional starship that appears in the military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. The ship was first introduced during the shows sixth season in the episode titled "Prometheus", and would go on to become a recurring setting over the remainder of the series as well as being depicted in various spin-off media.
Stargate is a military science fiction media franchise based on the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien wormhole device that enables nearly instantaneous travel across the cosmos. The franchise began with the film Stargate, released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, which grossed US$197 million worldwide. In 1997, Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner created a television series titled Stargate SG-1 as a sequel to the film. This show was joined by Stargate Atlantis in 2004, Stargate Universe in 2009, and a prequel web series, Stargate Origins, in 2018. Also consistent with the same story are a variety of books, video games and comic books, as well as the direct-to-DVD movies Stargate: Children of the Gods, Stargate: The Ark of Truth, and Stargate: Continuum, which concluded the first television show after 10 seasons.
"Wormhole X-Treme!" is the 100th episode of military science fiction adventure television show Stargate SG-1 and is the 12th episode of the fifth season. The episode was first broadcast September 8, 2001 on Showtime in the United States. It was written by series co-creator and executive producer Brad Wright along with supervising producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie and was directed by Peter DeLuise.
"Lost City" is the two-part finale to the seventh season of the science fiction television show Stargate SG-1. The episode was written by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, with Martin Wood directing. The first part originally premiered on March 2, 2004, with the second part showing a week later on March 9, 2004 on Sky One in the United Kingdom. SciFi Channel in the United States then aired part one on March 12, 2004 and part two on March 19, 2004.
Robert C. Cooper is a Canadian writer and producer best known for his work in the Stargate franchise. He was formerly an executive producer of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. He also co-created both Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe with Brad Wright. Cooper has written and produced many episodes of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe as well as directed a number of episodes.
"Heroes" are the seventeenth and eighteenth episodes from the seventh season of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. The episode was written by showrunner Robert C. Cooper and directed by frequent series director Andy Mikita. "Heroes" first aired on Sky One in the United Kingdom, with part 1 being shown on February 3, 2004, and part 2, being shown on February 10, 2004. In the United States, part 1 aired February 13 on and February 20 on Sci-fi Channel. Part 2 is the 150th episode of the show.
"Zero Hour" is the fourth episode from Season 8 of the military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. It was written by producer Robert C. Cooper and directed by Peter Woeste. Clips of the episode were shown on Late Night with Conan O'Brien before Season 8 began, with Late Night graphic designer Pierre Bernard making a cameo appearance in the episode. The first airing of "Zero Hour" on July 30, 2004 on the American Sci Fi Channel was viewed by 3 million people. The episode received mixed reviews.
"Revisions" is the 5th episode from the seventh season of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 and is the 137th episode overall. It was first broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel on July 11, 2003. The episode was written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie and was directed by Martin Wood.
"Homecoming" is the 2nd episode of the seventh season of adventure military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. The second part of a two-part episode, it was first broadcast on June 13, 2003, on the Sci-Fi Channel, directly after the part 1, "Fallen". Writing duo Paul Mullie and Joseph Mallozzi wrote the episode, with Martin Wood directing. The episode is the 134th overall.
"200" is the sixth episode of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1's tenth season, and the 200th episode of the series overall. Unlike the more serious nature of the season's story arc, "200" is a light-hearted parody of both Stargate SG-1 and other sci-fi shows, as well as popular culture like The Wizard of Oz.
Stargate Universe is a military science fiction drama television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny several billion light years distant from the Milky Way Galaxy. They are now trying to figure out a way to return to Earth, while simultaneously trying to explore and to survive in their unknown area of the universe. The series, created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, premiered in the United States on Syfy on October 2, 2009. The series featured an ensemble cast and was primarily filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A second season of 20 episodes was announced by Syfy in December 2009.
Gatecon is a fan convention centered on the Stargate television franchise. The first Gatecon was held in 2000 in Vancouver, Canada, with the convention being held annually until 2008. Since 2008 the event has been held sporadically. The event has included tours of the Stargate SG-1 (1997–2006), Stargate Atlantis (2004–2009) and Stargate Universe (2010–2011) sets at The Bridge Studios.
"Be All My Sins Remember'd" is the 71st episode of the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, and the eleventh episode of the series' fourth season. The episode was written by Atlantis co-executive producer, Martin Gero, his third script of the season, and directed by Andy Mikita. The episode originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States on January 4, 2008, and aired on Sky One in the United Kingdom on January 8. The episode's title is derived from the line, "The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons/ Be all my sins remember'd" from the "Get thee to a nunnery" scene in William Shakespeare's Hamlet.
The ninth season of Stargate SG-1, an American-Canadian television series, began airing on July 15, 2005, on SCI FI. The ninth season concluded on March 10, 2006, after 20 episodes on the same channel. The series was originally developed by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, and Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper, Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie served as executive producers. The season arc centers on the new threat of the Ori, a race who Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran unleash in an unknown galaxy, and who are threatening to prepare for a crusade into the Milky Way galaxy to convert the beings to their religion called Origin.
"The Daedalus Variations" is the 84th episode of the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, and is the fourth episode in the series' fifth season. The episode first aired on August 1, 2008 on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States, and subsequently aired on October 9 on Sky One in the United Kingdom. The episode was written by Alan McCullough, and directed by regular Stargate director, Andy Mikita. Richard Woolsey and Jennifer Keller do not appear in the episode, despite being credited during the opening title sequence. Talking to journalists, McCullough linked the story to that of the Flying Dutchman, a mythical ghost ship that drifts forever in the ocean with no chance of returning home. The episode received generally favourable reviews.
"The Shrine" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis. The episode is also the 300th produced episode in the overall Stargate franchise. The episode first aired on August 22, 2008 on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States, and subsequently aired on October 23 on Sky1 in the United Kingdom. The episode was nominated for a Nebula Award, and a further four Leo Awards.
