Disclaimer: The post is all my personal opinion, based on some facts
I'd like to add a few of my own thoughts here about why SGU was cancelled. It's all speculation and I've said it before.
Just before MGM entered a pre-packaged bankruptcy, SyFy was probably considering picking the show up for the third season, but after MGM entered bankruptcy proceedings and before it emerged from bankruptcy (a matter of just a few weeks or even less, I might add), SyFy decided not to pick up SGU for S3.
The reason, which is all speculation and inference – is based on the facts that before MGM entered bankruptcy, it was 20% owned by Comcast, which owns 51% of NBC Universal (the other 49% owned by General Electric), which owns SyFy; and 20% of MGM owned by Sony. Thus, with both Comcast/NBC Universal & Sony owning 40% of MGM, it was still (simultaneously) a competitor to them.
After MGM emerged from a pre-packaged bankruptcy, the former owners didn't own it anymore.
Right after it became clear that Comcast+GE/NBC Universal (owner of SyFy) wouldn't own 20% of MGM anymore, any incentive for Comcast's television property to cough up 50% production costs to produce more SGU evaporated. — To reiterate, just because SyFy's parent company/ies didn't own 20% of MGM anymore. (The production went roughly $2 mil. per episode, AFAIK, with 50% by MGM proper.)
And imagine how all the money really ran around. I would love for some regulator to look into this.
My opinion is that SyFy's move of SGU to a terrible timeslot was intentional and I assume, that more than anyone else were Comcast/NBC Universal/SyFy aware that MGM would eventually go into bankruptcy after which they wouldn't own it anymore. Letting SGU fail ratings-wise worked as a convenient excuse not to finance its production any further.
</end of speculation>
The only facts are who and how much anyone owned MGM and who then did not own MGM at which time and who did then and still owns SyFy/NBC. See MGM Holdings article at Wikipedia.
Everyone knew that MGM were haemorraging money like crazy and most potential buyers wanted as a condition of any sale of MGM for it to go through bankruptcy, so that MGM would not be under its former owners. Source here.
Where I think SyFy is culpable in letting SGU's ratings go is shuffling SGU's air times too much; Joseph Mallozzi directly (AFAIK) blames moving SGU to Tuesdays against "Dancing with the Stars" (and starlets) and NCIS (a police-procedural show), in a time of year that is not Summer; I also noticed indirect finger-pointing at what I understand to be rather creative accounting practices (search for Bailey writes in text) over at skiffy. Now it cancelled Eureka.
neljapäev, 1. september 2011
reede, 22. juuli 2011
"Super 8" movie review
Well, I hope this will be short enough
Warning: Here be spoilers
Ten, maybe fifteen years ago I would have liked this flick very much and just as much would have been very tempted to retell the story of the movie.
What a difference doubling my years of life then actually makes.
Over many years, I actually went to watch a movie in a movie theathre, over many years with a friend, and over many years with a friend whom I haven't been to pictures with since 2003.
Turned out that instead of a sci-fi action-drama which had kids in it, it was a kiddie-movie with sci-fi action and some drama, too. A very good kiddie-movie. If I were a kid, I am sure I would have really loved this film.
Cinematically, JJ Abrams has done very good work on "Super 8", echoing both of Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T." After all, Spielberg's name was plastered all over the posters of "Super 8". Michael Giacchino does well with the score and his musical style is recognisable (see "Star Trek" (2009)).
• SFX concepts of the alien ship are really out of this world. I mean, I've never had any idea a ship could be built like that.
• The late 1970's now refer to a time that eventually might be long forgotten well into our own future, but the film somehow manages to document a way of life and an America that back then was still a dreamable place to be in.
(One omission of the Summer 1979 events is the re-entry of Skylab, news of which was huge in America.)
• Special kudos to Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning.
• You won't notice David Gallagher from Seventh Heaven.
If you want to see what the times were back were then 30 years ago, or just reminisce of the times back then, then see all of this for yourself in the movie or from an optical disk once that comes out.
Yet, if a young mind might wish to ruminate over above topics in the bulleted list, I'd suggest watching a documentary or reading the Geneva conventions...
Warning: Here be spoilers
Ten, maybe fifteen years ago I would have liked this flick very much and just as much would have been very tempted to retell the story of the movie.
What a difference doubling my years of life then actually makes.
Over many years, I actually went to watch a movie in a movie theathre, over many years with a friend, and over many years with a friend whom I haven't been to pictures with since 2003.
Turned out that instead of a sci-fi action-drama which had kids in it, it was a kiddie-movie with sci-fi action and some drama, too. A very good kiddie-movie. If I were a kid, I am sure I would have really loved this film.
Cinematically, JJ Abrams has done very good work on "Super 8", echoing both of Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T." After all, Spielberg's name was plastered all over the posters of "Super 8". Michael Giacchino does well with the score and his musical style is recognisable (see "Star Trek" (2009)).
The great stuff
• The train crash is the best train crash I've ever seen.• SFX concepts of the alien ship are really out of this world. I mean, I've never had any idea a ship could be built like that.
• The late 1970's now refer to a time that eventually might be long forgotten well into our own future, but the film somehow manages to document a way of life and an America that back then was still a dreamable place to be in.
(One omission of the Summer 1979 events is the re-entry of Skylab, news of which was huge in America.)
The interesting and thought-provoking stuff
The most intriguing parts I found appeared to be the most insignificant ones.- The Three Mile Island nuclear accident lent me to belive that the young protagonist Joe's mother died in that accident, and not in the steel mill, and Joe's young lady-friend Alice's (Elle Fanning) father was the one who failed to attend the shift at the time, which proved fatal to Joe's mother.
The release of the movie in Summer of 2011 is somehow coincidental, after the Fukushima nuclear accidents in Japan, which began on March 11, 2011. Coincidentally, March 11 is a very loaded date for me since 2004 (the Madrid train bombings) and now even more since this year (2011). In 1979, the Chernobyl nuclear accident hadn't happened yet. - Of course, 1979 wasn't exactly a crisis year in terms of the economy, despite the 1979 oil crisis, for example. It's also before the Savings and Loan crisis of early 1980's really came to be about. Maybe when one progresses into adulthood and reaches news-reading age, then in some ways, crises are always there, around the world; some are closer to home, some are less. So 1979 had its crises, but they weren't of the scale of now.
In light of which is today (as of July 2011) regarded as the Great Recession, the film reminds well into its start for people to be compassionate, generous, and giving; sort of attempting to show that it's still a good thing™ to have these qualities, ways and means permitting. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" also touches up on the recession.
Breakdown (intentional or not) of the Nuclear Family and single parenting are referred to at least twice; My half-educated guess is that most actual series and films from around the era (1975-1985) wouldn't ever have any of that in the main cast line-up and storylines. - The movie is good in tackling other difficult subjects, like imprisonment, maltreatment and mistreatment of foreigners (the alien being a substitute for the purposes of storytelling) who are regarded as low-lives, despite their sentience or even intelligence. Think Guantánamo. How would someone have to cope with the after-effects of gross mistreatment upon eventual release, what is the subsequent reaction and what should it ideally be (? — in the mind of a moviemaker and viewers who mostly tend to agree), or what can be the motives for aggressive behaviour and how to reduce chances of vengeance or any reoccurrence of it?
This JJ Abrams film is the one where he very well manages in picture terms to explain all of the above to a young mind. Star Trek now seems like an 85% attempt at this, being a very engaging sci-fi action movie and all. - The solution presented is not forgiveness, but departure and detachment. Current policy in world politics seems to desire this to be preferred behaviour, given that sincere forgiveness cannot be easy in the first place. The film suggests that perhaps it's expressions of compassion and dignity in the act of release that might prevent vengeance, or reoccurrence of it. Who knows. Has it been tested and proven already?
Any political power wishes, and, in various degrees usually gets departure and separation of its prisoners from said power upon release, physically at least. Yet mental departure and detachment (letting go) is never easy. Most action flicks have not delved into this.
In a "fish out of sea" situation, departure and detachment might be the first reactions anyway, especially if survival is the primary consideration. Sometimes, compassion and dignity are the first and best steps into repairing very bad relations, methinks, or at least help in stopping violence. A cease-fire, then: "...But you can live!". Well, the movie gets that right.
Remembrance, on the other hand, is special:
Would it be too difficult to explain all of that to adolescents?
• Special kudos to Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning.
• You won't notice David Gallagher from Seventh Heaven.
If you want to see what the times were back were then 30 years ago, or just reminisce of the times back then, then see all of this for yourself in the movie or from an optical disk once that comes out.
Yet, if a young mind might wish to ruminate over above topics in the bulleted list, I'd suggest watching a documentary or reading the Geneva conventions...
teisipäev, 19. juuli 2011
GateWorld forums thread status icons
If you're wondering what do these red, blue and gray thread status chevrons and their variations at GateWorld forums mean, then here's your answer.
(I couldn't find the right answer at the GateWorld forum FAQ, so had to Google it.)
(I couldn't find the right answer at the GateWorld forum FAQ, so had to Google it.)
laupäev, 9. juuli 2011
The Fake Lottery Ticket Prank is Staged
If you've seen a video where a dude gets a lottery ticket and hollers around and calls his boss, tells him off and quits and then announces a divorce to his wife, whom he's been pinching when she's been sleeping, then tells his (best?) friend that he's been cheating on him with the best friend's wife... The sketch is so believable that it's really impossible to say at first sight whether it was real or not, so I decided to snoop around a bit.
Proof:
Original upload by user adamray24
At 0:05 seconds, the small tv set shows "Adam Ray TV", so you know.
Another original upload, this time at funnyordie.com — the site's logo can't be seen well on third-party YouTube uploads (because they are too low-res and information is not clear based on these):
"America's Funniest Home Video" (note the quotes, which mean to tell that it's really not America's Funniest Home Video tv show)
Furthermore, the uploader there is Adam Ray, too, and his avatar is that of the protagonist in the video.
Moreover, if you click on "Additional Credits" well below the video at funnyordie, the section will expand to show names of other actors from the video (who are good).
So you know.
This doesn't mean there aren't home video uploads around that show real people doing about the same stuff in real life, but the video at hand is even better than real :>
Proof:
Original upload by user adamray24
At 0:05 seconds, the small tv set shows "Adam Ray TV", so you know.
Another original upload, this time at funnyordie.com — the site's logo can't be seen well on third-party YouTube uploads (because they are too low-res and information is not clear based on these):
"America's Funniest Home Video" (note the quotes, which mean to tell that it's really not America's Funniest Home Video tv show)
Furthermore, the uploader there is Adam Ray, too, and his avatar is that of the protagonist in the video.
Moreover, if you click on "Additional Credits" well below the video at funnyordie, the section will expand to show names of other actors from the video (who are good).
So you know.
This doesn't mean there aren't home video uploads around that show real people doing about the same stuff in real life, but the video at hand is even better than real :>
kolmapäev, 22. juuni 2011
The fate of Phlox
Disclaimer: All characters and their names property of CBS Paramount, but here I'd like to offer what else I had in mind for Phlox, because someone objected to my ideas of having Phlox killed off. Everything is fictitious and non-canon.
This was in reply to this post in an IMDb thread.
Oh yes, Trip I would have kept for certain, and Mayweather and a couple for Maco-s, too :> — to at first exercise the art of neuropressue ^_^
And I know Archer didn't look all that bad either... compared to an average American his age.
Okay, then Phlox should have lost some of his syrupy positiveness, become gradually and irreparably crazy because of the Delphic Expanse (T'Pol was spared) and then placed in a psychiatric institution as a response...
In the absence of such an institution casually floating in space just in Enterprise's merry way, he'd despondently stay stuck in the brig, rarely smile, and crazy-tell interesting medical things in the fashion of Pythia (the Oracle of Delphi) for Silik to desipher (because Silik alone perhaps doesn't know everything about medicine, but has to improvise and maybe work together with T'Pol).
Silik's attempts in interpreting Phlox would at the beginning be like subtly goading Phlox into a worse state, perhaps until Silik realizes that this conduct of his really was not a good thing, but then it's far too late and the exchange would devolve into something resembling an Andorian inquisition (see Shran interrogating Soval). I am sure Silik would otherwise enjoy Phlox's condition, if not for the nasty exercise of trying to extract knowledge impossibly trapped somehere in Phox's degenerate brain. I wouldn't want in Archer's place to risk T'Pol doing a mind-meld.
The smiles of a Phlox like this would be reserved for something really devious in order to thwart Silik (despite his somehow good intentions towards Enterprise crew) and lead Silik astray, much to the chagrin of Silik and eventually the people at ENT, who would then be forced to make the 'hard' decision of completely ignoring Phlox and finally returning him to his three wives on Denobula to work something out of the impossible condition he has so inevitably succumbed to; Well, as much as each of them wives cares enough to please. — After all, each of Phlox's wives has up to three other husbands anyway, and each husband of those vies for their attention, too.
For Phlox to have endless terror instead of a terrible end is something I'd much enjoy watching. Of course, John Billingsley would have a field day with a scenario like that, but then there'd have to be equally great material for John Fleck, too.
This was in reply to this post in an IMDb thread.
Oh yes, Trip I would have kept for certain, and Mayweather and a couple for Maco-s, too :> — to at first exercise the art of neuropressue ^_^
And I know Archer didn't look all that bad either... compared to an average American his age.
Then an IMDb user's objection to my wishes about killing Phlox off...
Okay, then Phlox should have lost some of his syrupy positiveness, become gradually and irreparably crazy because of the Delphic Expanse (T'Pol was spared) and then placed in a psychiatric institution as a response...
In the absence of such an institution casually floating in space just in Enterprise's merry way, he'd despondently stay stuck in the brig, rarely smile, and crazy-tell interesting medical things in the fashion of Pythia (the Oracle of Delphi) for Silik to desipher (because Silik alone perhaps doesn't know everything about medicine, but has to improvise and maybe work together with T'Pol).
Silik's attempts in interpreting Phlox would at the beginning be like subtly goading Phlox into a worse state, perhaps until Silik realizes that this conduct of his really was not a good thing, but then it's far too late and the exchange would devolve into something resembling an Andorian inquisition (see Shran interrogating Soval). I am sure Silik would otherwise enjoy Phlox's condition, if not for the nasty exercise of trying to extract knowledge impossibly trapped somehere in Phox's degenerate brain. I wouldn't want in Archer's place to risk T'Pol doing a mind-meld.
The smiles of a Phlox like this would be reserved for something really devious in order to thwart Silik (despite his somehow good intentions towards Enterprise crew) and lead Silik astray, much to the chagrin of Silik and eventually the people at ENT, who would then be forced to make the 'hard' decision of completely ignoring Phlox and finally returning him to his three wives on Denobula to work something out of the impossible condition he has so inevitably succumbed to; Well, as much as each of them wives cares enough to please. — After all, each of Phlox's wives has up to three other husbands anyway, and each husband of those vies for their attention, too.
For Phlox to have endless terror instead of a terrible end is something I'd much enjoy watching. Of course, John Billingsley would have a field day with a scenario like that, but then there'd have to be equally great material for John Fleck, too.
reede, 17. juuni 2011
Sulnis Silik
This I replublished as a comment (which was intended as such) in a thread on IMDb
I'm going to add myself as a huge fan of Stargate Universe, too ^_^
Well now, in chronological order, the non-Star Trek series I've followed and which still remain my favourite (with marks):
* Earth 2 +++
* "Roswell" +++
* Farscape ++++
* "Battlestar Galactica" reimagined +++
* Stargate Universe ++++
TV show I'm willing to consider:
* "Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles" (I've seen a few episodes and the series had lots of potential, but it was axed)
TV series I liked back in the day:
* "Babylon 5"
* "Time Trax" and
* "TimeCop" (both shows very similar in concept) — don't ask me why, but there was a particular night about ten or even more years ago when a Nazi-themed episode of "TimeCop" aired on one channel and later that night another channel featured the "Philadelphia Experiment II" film (the plot of which is very, very reminiscent of ENT's "Storm Front," Parts I & II). I must have seen this one a decade or more ago on German TV.
wrt "Enterprise", I'm going to add that I've gone through a marathon of a number of episodes and now seem to have greater appreciation of it, despite the continuity flaws and all.
With the exception of Jolene Blalock, none of the primary characters are very astounding or particularly deep, so I'd add that the storylines, vfx and guest actors add the most spice, especially Jeffrey Combs as Shran and John Fleck, who most fabulously played Silik.
What I would have done to the cast: Phlox should have been killed off or reassigned to Cold Station 12 in Season 1/Season 2, somehow replaced by Silik to "play doctor". Silik could have been disowned by his very own Suliban Cabal, for example. Unfortunately, he was put to the very top of the Cabal food chain, so there wasn't anyone to replace him, but I'm sure Future Guy could have made necessary arrangements to the past to affect Silik's life in as punishment for some infraction...
So, in any absence of a good doctor in uncharted territories, the deliciously bad-@$$ Silik could have then slowly gained the Enterprise crew's trust, but still stay sneaky and cause surprises and trouble, yet remaining too essential for the crew to be replaceable by any Federation-approved doctor.
Silik's unfamiliarity with the Hippocratic Oath could have added another layer of drama; his expert knowledge in very many things Milky Way Galaxy could have given an addition to suspense and provided a different dimension of knowledge compared to T'Pol's Vulcan-sanitized view.
The only caveat that I see with Silik's appearance is whether there was such colour makeup paint at the time for Silik's apperance that wouldn't adversely affect an actor's internal organs the way it happened to Virginia Hey in Farscape.
I'm going to add myself as a huge fan of Stargate Universe, too ^_^
Well now, in chronological order, the non-Star Trek series I've followed and which still remain my favourite (with marks):
* Earth 2 +++
* "Roswell" +++
* Farscape ++++
* "Battlestar Galactica" reimagined +++
* Stargate Universe ++++
TV show I'm willing to consider:
* "Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles" (I've seen a few episodes and the series had lots of potential, but it was axed)
TV series I liked back in the day:
* "Babylon 5"
* "Time Trax" and
* "TimeCop" (both shows very similar in concept) — don't ask me why, but there was a particular night about ten or even more years ago when a Nazi-themed episode of "TimeCop" aired on one channel and later that night another channel featured the "Philadelphia Experiment II" film (the plot of which is very, very reminiscent of ENT's "Storm Front," Parts I & II). I must have seen this one a decade or more ago on German TV.
wrt "Enterprise", I'm going to add that I've gone through a marathon of a number of episodes and now seem to have greater appreciation of it, despite the continuity flaws and all.
With the exception of Jolene Blalock, none of the primary characters are very astounding or particularly deep, so I'd add that the storylines, vfx and guest actors add the most spice, especially Jeffrey Combs as Shran and John Fleck, who most fabulously played Silik.
What I would have done to the cast: Phlox should have been killed off or reassigned to Cold Station 12 in Season 1/Season 2, somehow replaced by Silik to "play doctor". Silik could have been disowned by his very own Suliban Cabal, for example. Unfortunately, he was put to the very top of the Cabal food chain, so there wasn't anyone to replace him, but I'm sure Future Guy could have made necessary arrangements to the past to affect Silik's life in as punishment for some infraction...
So, in any absence of a good doctor in uncharted territories, the deliciously bad-@$$ Silik could have then slowly gained the Enterprise crew's trust, but still stay sneaky and cause surprises and trouble, yet remaining too essential for the crew to be replaceable by any Federation-approved doctor.
Silik's unfamiliarity with the Hippocratic Oath could have added another layer of drama; his expert knowledge in very many things Milky Way Galaxy could have given an addition to suspense and provided a different dimension of knowledge compared to T'Pol's Vulcan-sanitized view.
The only caveat that I see with Silik's appearance is whether there was such colour makeup paint at the time for Silik's apperance that wouldn't adversely affect an actor's internal organs the way it happened to Virginia Hey in Farscape.
laupäev, 4. juuni 2011
Miks Stargate Universe tegemine tühistati
See kõik on kahtlused ja spekulatsioon, kuid faktilised andmed vähemalt annavad teatud pildi sellest, mis võis olla "Stargate Universe" tühistamise taga.
Ameerika telekanal SyFy otsustas SGU tegemist eelmise aasta lõpus mitte uuendada peale seda kui MGM läks planeeritud pankrotikaitsesse (Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection). SGU finantseerimine oli SyFy ja MGM vahel pooleks. SyFy on USA kaabelkanal, mis kuulub NBC Universal alla ja viimase omanikud on 51% Comcast, 49% General Electric. Enne MGM pankrotikaitsesse astumist oli Comcast 20% MGM omanik (teistest meediaettevõtetest oli ka Sony 20% omanik). Kui MGM pankrotikaitsest väljus, sai MGM endale täiesti uue omanikeringi.
Võib väita, et SGU oli rohkem korporatiivpoliitika kui reitingute ohver. Minu kahtluste järgi võis MGM-ist voolata selle omanike taskusse suurel hulgal raha, niigi nõrgenenud MGM oli lõpuks suurtes võlgades ja ei suutnud enam võlgu üleval pidada. MGM on peale selle veel konkurent NBC Universal (Comcast) ja Sony stuudiotele.
Minu väitel võib olla kaalu, kuna ammugi võlgades MGM potentsiaalsed ostjad ütlesid 2008. ja 2009. aastatel, et nad enne MGM-i endale ei osta kui viimane läheb pankrotikaitse protsessist läbi, misjärel endised omanikud ettevõtet rohkem enam ei oma. — Sest võimalikud ostjad ei teadnud mitte ainult, et MGM-i rahaseis on vilets, vaid ka seda, et sealt voolab raha välja. Seetõttu nad nõudsidki ostu peatingimusena MGM-ile pankrotikaitsest läbiminekut, et raha äravoolule lõpp teha.
SyFy tõenäoliselt omab veel SGU-le ekslusiivset lepingut SGU uute osade esimesteks näitamisteks ja ma arvan, et leping veel kehtib. SGU-d loodeti teha 5 hooaega ja võib oletada, et leping kehtib viis aastat. Isegi kui MGM tahaks sarja kogu Stargate frantsiisi omanikuna teistel kanalitel näidata, ei ole see eksklusiivlepingu pärast võimalik — oletatavasti ootab MGM-i rikkumise eest suur leppetrahv, kui MGM SGU-d enne teatud aega mujal näitab. Ning nii ootab MGM, kuni leping otsa lõpeb ja MGM-l on siis vabadus SGU-d teistele Ameerika kanalitele pakkuda.
SGU madalate reitingute üheks põhjuseks võis olla osade "Stargate SG-1" ja "Stargate Atlantis" fännide äärmiselt valulik reaktsioon SGU võetud uue ja realistlikuma kvaliteedi suhtes, mispeale hakkasid need fännid SGU sarja infantiilselt vihkama ja seda muidugi ka mitte vaatama.
* Teine põhjus on see, et USA-s valitsev Nielseni reitingusüsteem on oma aja ära elanud, sest paljud inimesed enam telekat ei vaata ja vaatavad telesaateid alternatiivsete allikate kaudu.
* Kolmas põhjus on see, et SyFy kandis SGU reedeõhtuselt ajalt teisipäevaõhtusele ajale ja SyFy (endise nimega SciFi) tõi samale ajale ameerika wrestlingu. Teisipäevasele õhtule ülekandmisega "uskus" SyFy, et siis on ehk paremad reitingud, aga viga tehti selles, et ei arvestatud suviste ja sügiseste hooaegade erinevustega, kus antud käik oleks suvise hooaja puhul töötanud, aga sügisel olid samal ajal suurteks konkurentideks "Navy NCIS" protseduurisari ja "Tantsud tähtedega" Ameerika variant.
* Väidetakse, et SyFy kandis SGU üle meelega halvale ajale, et reitingud viletsad oleksid ja et siis oleks võimalik kuulutada SGU näitamine kahjumlikuks ja saada mingi suurem maksusoodustus, millele üks SGU produtsente Joseph Mallozzi viitas, küll mitte otsesõnu.
Vot nii.
Ameerika telekanal SyFy otsustas SGU tegemist eelmise aasta lõpus mitte uuendada peale seda kui MGM läks planeeritud pankrotikaitsesse (Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection). SGU finantseerimine oli SyFy ja MGM vahel pooleks. SyFy on USA kaabelkanal, mis kuulub NBC Universal alla ja viimase omanikud on 51% Comcast, 49% General Electric. Enne MGM pankrotikaitsesse astumist oli Comcast 20% MGM omanik (teistest meediaettevõtetest oli ka Sony 20% omanik). Kui MGM pankrotikaitsest väljus, sai MGM endale täiesti uue omanikeringi.
Võib väita, et SGU oli rohkem korporatiivpoliitika kui reitingute ohver. Minu kahtluste järgi võis MGM-ist voolata selle omanike taskusse suurel hulgal raha, niigi nõrgenenud MGM oli lõpuks suurtes võlgades ja ei suutnud enam võlgu üleval pidada. MGM on peale selle veel konkurent NBC Universal (Comcast) ja Sony stuudiotele.
Minu väitel võib olla kaalu, kuna ammugi võlgades MGM potentsiaalsed ostjad ütlesid 2008. ja 2009. aastatel, et nad enne MGM-i endale ei osta kui viimane läheb pankrotikaitse protsessist läbi, misjärel endised omanikud ettevõtet rohkem enam ei oma. — Sest võimalikud ostjad ei teadnud mitte ainult, et MGM-i rahaseis on vilets, vaid ka seda, et sealt voolab raha välja. Seetõttu nad nõudsidki ostu peatingimusena MGM-ile pankrotikaitsest läbiminekut, et raha äravoolule lõpp teha.
SyFy tõenäoliselt omab veel SGU-le ekslusiivset lepingut SGU uute osade esimesteks näitamisteks ja ma arvan, et leping veel kehtib. SGU-d loodeti teha 5 hooaega ja võib oletada, et leping kehtib viis aastat. Isegi kui MGM tahaks sarja kogu Stargate frantsiisi omanikuna teistel kanalitel näidata, ei ole see eksklusiivlepingu pärast võimalik — oletatavasti ootab MGM-i rikkumise eest suur leppetrahv, kui MGM SGU-d enne teatud aega mujal näitab. Ning nii ootab MGM, kuni leping otsa lõpeb ja MGM-l on siis vabadus SGU-d teistele Ameerika kanalitele pakkuda.
SGU madalate reitingute üheks põhjuseks võis olla osade "Stargate SG-1" ja "Stargate Atlantis" fännide äärmiselt valulik reaktsioon SGU võetud uue ja realistlikuma kvaliteedi suhtes, mispeale hakkasid need fännid SGU sarja infantiilselt vihkama ja seda muidugi ka mitte vaatama.
* Teine põhjus on see, et USA-s valitsev Nielseni reitingusüsteem on oma aja ära elanud, sest paljud inimesed enam telekat ei vaata ja vaatavad telesaateid alternatiivsete allikate kaudu.
* Kolmas põhjus on see, et SyFy kandis SGU reedeõhtuselt ajalt teisipäevaõhtusele ajale ja SyFy (endise nimega SciFi) tõi samale ajale ameerika wrestlingu. Teisipäevasele õhtule ülekandmisega "uskus" SyFy, et siis on ehk paremad reitingud, aga viga tehti selles, et ei arvestatud suviste ja sügiseste hooaegade erinevustega, kus antud käik oleks suvise hooaja puhul töötanud, aga sügisel olid samal ajal suurteks konkurentideks "Navy NCIS" protseduurisari ja "Tantsud tähtedega" Ameerika variant.
* Väidetakse, et SyFy kandis SGU üle meelega halvale ajale, et reitingud viletsad oleksid ja et siis oleks võimalik kuulutada SGU näitamine kahjumlikuks ja saada mingi suurem maksusoodustus, millele üks SGU produtsente Joseph Mallozzi viitas, küll mitte otsesõnu.
Vot nii.
Kas päike võib tulevikus ikkagi pilve tagant paista?
Lootust muidugi veel on, sest produtsendid ja näitlejad on öelnud, et ettenähtavas tulevikus SGU-d ei tehta. Kolm aastat ootamist, nagu vähemalt SGU-st endas lõpuks teada saab, on nähtavasti varjatud vihje eksklusiivlepingule SyFy-ga ja et selle lõpp tuleb ära oodata. Samal ajal on MGM-il soojas uus Bondi-film ja kaks "Kääbiku"-filmi ning selle kolme aasta jooksul on MGM-il siis ka aega koguda raha päris oma asjade tegemiseks. MGM-i asju ajab praegu Spyglass Entertainment, kust tuleb $500 miljonit laenu või investeeringuid, millega teha praeguseid ja tuleviku-projekte, mille pealt oleks võimalik teenida ja saadud tulu investeerida näiteks SGU tegemisse. Et siis kolme aastaga on lootust saada ka piisavalt raha, et SGU-d edasi teha ja siis mitte tingimata SyFy-s näidata.
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