Sci-Fi TV Update: de Lancie To Guest On Torchwood: Miracle Day + Stargate TV/DVD Movies Shut Down

Star Trek: The Next Generation’s enigmatic Q John De Lancie is headed to another sci-fi series, this time the new season of Torchwood titled "Torchwood: Miracle Day". And in other sci-fi TV news, the Stargate franchise seems to have been completely put to an end (or at least hibernation) with the announcement that all Stargate DVD movie projects (including one with Voyager’s Bob Picardo) have been stopped.

 

John de Lancie to guest star on Torchwood: Miracle Day

Torchwood Miracle Day is the title for the fourth season of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood coming to the BBC in the UK and Starz in the US this summer. Last night writer Jane Espenson (formerly of Battlestar Galactica, Caprica and even an episode of Deep Space Nine) sent out a series of tweets announcing a special guest star for the show, first hinting "He’s de Licious. He’s de Lightful. He’s de Lovely…, then when a follower got the hint she revealed that John de Lancie will indeed be a guest star for Torchwood Miracle: Day.


de Lancie (left on "Breaking Bad" in 2009) to guest star on "Torchwood: Miracle Day" (first promo image right)

This season will shake up the whole show of Torchwood. According to executive producer Russell T. Davies) is "The premise is a miracle happens to the world. The old stay old and keep getting older. The dying keep dying, but no one quite dies. The possibility of death ceases to exist." As TNG’s Q, de Lancie is no stranger to miracles.

Torchwood Miracle Day premieres on Starz on July 8th. Here is a promo.

Stargate Movies Shut Down

Sci-Fi TV giveth and taketh away. We have previously reported that the Syfy series Stargate Universe has been cancelled and the second season (currently airing) will be the last. However, there was still hopes (and discussions) of a continuation of SGU in the form of TV/DVD movies. There have already been two Stargate DVD movies and there has been talk of another SG-1 film ("Stargate: Revolution") and a Stargate Atlantis film ("Stargate: Extinction"), which would have included Star Trek: Voyager’s Bob Picardo. But hope for all those films died this weekend at the official Stargate convention in Vancouver. Gateworld reports that Stargate executive producer Brad Wright told the crowd that MGM has "permanently shelved" all the Stargate projects.

So it appears for now that after 14 years on TV with three series, the Stargate franchise, has come to an end. Or at least an end for now, Wright offered fans this ray of hope “It’s a franchise.  Stargate is not over. Somebody smart from MGM is going to figure it out, and something will happen.” Seems like Stargate fans are now where Trek fans were in 2005 after Enterprise was cancelled and before the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie was announced in 2006.

There are just four more episodes of SGU to go. "Common Descent" airs tonight on Syfy. Here is a sneak peek.

Robert Picardo did get once last chance to reprise his role of Richard Woolsey on Stargate Universe. He appeared in the April 4th episode "Seizure", here is a clip.

 

 

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Stargate! NOOOOOOO!!!!

Syfy has a lot to answer for.

DeLancie is the MAN. He was phenomenal in Breaking Bad (I’m a massive fan of that show!)

Arg MGM. You guys are shooting sci-fi in the foot. The current season is amazingly good and Stargate has done a lot for our community.

Well us Star Trek Fan weren’t to happy with JJ Abrama’s saying we’re not making Star Trek for Star Trek fans we are making it for movie lovers and screw up Gene’s vision big time we need a return of voyager format Star Trek Series and the TNG films with better directing and more better written stories I want to see Star Trek Titan become are next Star Trek series !!! and Picard and his crew a couple more times

Too bad about Stargate, I was really hoping for an Atlantis movie & maybe one more SG1. SyFy as a channel has not impressed me lately as it is with their programming. Except for Eureka & Haven I don’t watch it much. I will watch Sanctuary when I need an Amanda Tapping fix.

So MGM and Syfy have buried their gates ans covered them with preverbal ratings cover stones. A dark day indeed! :-(

Yet another reason to hate SyFy.

But good to see a Trek reference turning up in the Whoniverse!

Upsets me that the powers that be in the stargate world pushed atlantis out to bring universe in…only for universe to suck and kill the entire franchise.

@3 What?

Most Trek fans I’m aware of enjoyed Abrams movie and really, a return to Voyager and the TNG-style films? It was the TNG-style films (the last couple) and Voyager/Enterprise that put the franchise in the very state that Stargate is in now! Lol.

looks like its time for jj to save stargate too lol

This isn’t good news. I was looking forward to both the movies. While SGU isn’t my fav series in the “SG Universe” it def has gotten better after with some age. Wish they had just given Atlantis another two seasons myself…

Maybe there’s hope BBC will pick up the franchise and do something with it

Well. As a Fan of Stargate from the very first Movie with Kurt Russel. I am sad. I love the star Gate series and I hope that MGMG will be smart and give Star Gate a green light for DVD Movies. Syfy. You are shooting your self in the foot and losing more and more fans.

As for Abrams taking a stab at it please not a Star Wars-esque ripoff of the gates

Stargate Universe screwed up when they dropped the humor and lighter feel that was part of the charm of SG-1 and Atlantis.

If it ain’t broke, don’t “fix” it.

True dat, 15. But as of late, SG:U had started to “resolve” all its issues, and was moving towards a lighter feel, and a sense of accomplishment among the denizens of Destiny. The two-parter that started tonight was amazingly good. Tough choices, and Morse Code. Of course Morse Code was also a highlight of Star Trek V, so….
.
@13: Kurt Russel? Hahah. No, that one has two L’s. ;)
.
@14: Star Trek has Iconian Gateways, and the best GATE of all: THE FRICKIN” GUARDIAN OF FOREVER! :) Of course, they dare not revisit that until Harlan has gone on to the Great Glass Hand in the Sky.

If Miracle Day is half as good as Children of Earth, it will be well worth the wait. Talk about a turd show polishing itself into gold!

Great, Stargate: Universe is gone. That means more cgi crap for C. Thomas Howell to react to, giant snakes, and of course oiled men in tights pummelling each other’s sweaty bodies.

SyFy, stalwart of fine programming….

Great, now all us SGU watchers will get a cliffhanger ending for season 2 that will never be resolved. SGU, meet Defying Gravity, your partner in crime.

#3: Your post needs more better grammar. ;)

SyFy: Not Just for SciFi Fans Anymore

Oh, wait, no, that’s not right; it’s…

SyFy: Not for SciFi Fans Anymore

As for Stargate, I like Sg-1 in small doses, SG-A in slightly larger doses, and SG-U by far the best. The comparison with the Star Trek franchise in 2005 may turn out to be quite apt, if some suits somewhere suddenly realize that the Stargate franchise is a gold mine. It’s the only even marginally successful show (from the most pessimistic point of view) that depicts technology from the here and now (albeit augmented with ancient/alien tech) in a SciFi context. Other SciFi is either purely futuristic (Star Trek), fantastic (Star Wars), or a twist on one of those two (BSG is a version of futuristic, even though, strictly speaking it’s set in *spoilers censored*). Farscape doesn’t count, because it’s (1) not a franchise, and (2) too cheesy for general consumption (sorry Farscape fans; I counted myself among you for a while, but the show has not stood the test of time for even just these last few years).

There goes my pitch that Star Trek Enterprise should get Direct-to-DVD movies then… Stargate no longer has that luxury either.

I’m not sure if its coincidental or not, but I stopped paying attention to both the channel and the website at around the same time as they became “syfy” There’s never anything on but mutated fish / dinosaur / birds and zombies. Just change the name to “horror” channel and get it over with.

Ya know….. Come to think of it….. there’s more “Sci-Fi” movie / TV / book. etc represented here on trekmovie.com than there is on the CHANNEL at “syfy” let alone the website. Sorta makes you wonder when trekmovie.com branches out and becomes a cable station that plays….. wait for it……. Sci-Fi!!! holy cow!!! imagine that!!! ;)

Yeah, once Stargate: Universe finishes it’s run on SyFy (on a cliffhanger no less… GGRRR!!!), pretty much won’t watch that channel anymore. No reason since I’m into the wrestling, or the “cheesy monster of the week” movie (ie, Transmorphers, Battle: LA, Mansquito, Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy, need I go on?) or Quantum Kitchen. *SIGHS*, Stargate, I shall miss you. You filled in the gap left by Star Trek once that franchise was cancelled back in 2005.

@10: LOL! That’d be awesome if JJ tackled Stargate after the Star Trek sequel!!!

@26 Yeah, I’ll never understand the SyFy channels’ logic. Their “made for TV movies” are awful and the Wrestling thing makes NO SENSE at all.

I remember when the channel first started back in 92. They used to show a lot of old canceled, obscure sci-fi shows from the 60’s to the present. That was actually kind of cool. Now it’s just like every other network: Lame TV movies and “WTF” programming.

Poor stargate, now another great show and franchise is gone from the Telly.
SGU started off badly, got worse and now is really very good. SG1 was still the best, and it really sucks that there wont even be the direct to DVD movies, but then again seeing as they were torrented more than they were purchased it makes financial sense to MGM I supose.

@3: Seriously a Titan based series, titan is mostly boring, why? Because of the incrediably boring Troi. Without her Riker is fine but with her he becomes a bore. If they ever did make a Titan series they would need to kill her off on the first episode to keep me watching it.

Now if they made Destiny into a series or series of movies or the Typhon Pact that would be good, we could follow a bunch of different ships and command styles, crews and stories per week that all end up fitting together for an overall story arc

Dang, moral of the story is if you like syfy, accept that you’re going to get poor entertainment. Not a single show on syfy network interests me and anytime a syfy show launches on another network it doesn’t bring in 15mil viewers so it gets deep sixed half way through. Apparently the masses think we have poor taste…. I know, someone produce Risa Shore! Then all us Scifi fans and the reality fans can get a long lol….

It’s “SyFy” that needs a reboot.
Start by firing everyone!

It’s the Stargate fans themselves who are responsible for all this. They whined and cried when SGU was “different” than its predecessors, and flocked away in droves. And yeah, season one was pretty bad. But now that in season 2, the show has turned into the best Stargate ever made, as well as one of the best SF series in years, it’s too late. They wouldn’t hang with it during the early struggles to find itself, so now it’s gone.

To me, it’s the biggest puzzle of all. Just why is it that sci-fi fans never want to give anything new a chance. It’s always “Just give us more of everything we’ve already seen!” Good example is all the ridiculous pining for the new Trek movies to do Khan all over again. Just what IS it with today’s sci-fi fans?

lol, I gotta agree with you steve, Season 2 has been outstanding!

When Syfy was still SciFi, they killed “Farscape”. That was enough of them for me.

SyFy has more Croc/Spider and Shark/Octopus movies to make. And a WWE Movie in the works….

SyFy needs to get real.

@ 3. Paul

You can’t be serious? Voyager and the later films suffocated the franchise. And Enterprise suffered for it. It got a 4th season, but it was too late. Anyway, it’s all opinion. I’m glad JJ came in and made the film ‘fun’. And damn right Star Trek shouldn’t be JUST for ST fans. It should be for everyone, which for the most part, ST-09 was. Shockingly, alot of ST fans didn’t like TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT and even TOS.

Anyway, gutted about Universe. The fact it was canceled before its time shows SyFy haven’t a CLUE about good programming. Thank god star trek will never be on that network. Come on MGM, GIVE it to another network. Universe deserves a good ending, not a tacked on one.

I’m sorry, but the bean counters at SyFy know as much about what is good science fiction as George Lucas does about comedy (i.e, “Howard the Duck”).

There are plenty of real writers out there with real science fiction,, but no, we get “Dino-Shark” and other insipid stuff like “Gigo-Alligator.”

C’mon, let’s hire some real sci-fiers!

If there was ever a science fiction property screaming to be turned into a TV science fiction series, it would be Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer’s “After Worlds Collide.”

BUT that cannot happen until Steven Spielberg gets it in gear and makes his proposed remake of the 1951 classic “When Worlds Collide.”

We’re waiting….. tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic

I’ll give them credit for trying, but I won’t miss stargate… any version.

Maybe the Sy Fy network needs a government bail-out.

#1 I think DeLancie will be back before the series ends. Walt will have to face the reality of letting Jane die. You have the bridge.

I dont even watch Syfy. Stargatte is gone and Im done.

RIP, Elisabeth Sladen.

#42- Yes- quite a shock. Very sad.

Big Big Monumental Mistake ending Stargate:Atlantis prematurely only to replace it with the dismal & boring Stargate:Universe! I honestly tried giving it a chance and have watched every single episode to date & will continue to see it through to its eventual end, but that doesn’t change the reality that the show really is slow, uneventful & downright boring most times! After 2 seasons of faithful watching… I can barely remember the Characters’ Names let alone the actors/actresses who play them which for me is unheard of, but is a testament to how uninteresting & unengaging the show really is… so I for one will not miss it! I preferred Caprica, and even that I will not miss! Most Sci-Fi on TV today is so boring I watch merely out of habit moreso than actual interest… a real shame! Bring back the days of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Farscape to the small screen. Looking forward to the return of Torchwood & Doctor Who this season & next, as well as Blood & Chrome (although I am doubtful it will be as good as Battlestar Galactica was!). We definitely need a new Trek series on TV to fill the Sci-Fi Void!!!!

They clearly need a time slot for another Ghost Hunters show.

I wish I knew who rated show on TV and who the channels actually listen to SGU is/was awesome and I am craving more just wish I had the power and the money lol