Four Sci-Fi Shows (And One Film) That Stargate Universe Is Borrowing From

Obviously, SyFy's latest series Stargate:Universe owes its existence to a the success of the original Stargate film, a pair of TV spin-offs (SG-1 and Atlantis) and a couple of direct-to-DVD films (The Ark of Truth and Continuum). Maybe not so much the animated series (Stargate Infinity). But after watching the double-episode Universe pilot, it quickly became apparent that those weren't all the shows the creators were consciously or subconsciously riffing. Here's a quick rundown of some other obvious and not-so-obvious sci-fi touchstones found in the series premiere:

1. Star Trek Voyager
Let's get the most talked-about comparison out of the way first. Stargate isn't the first franchise to maroon a crew several galaxies from Earth. Star Trek's fourth TV incarnation revolved around Capt. Janeway's efforts to get home safe.



2. Battlestar Galactica
SG-1 and Atlantis thrived on camp. No matter how deep a mess the SG-1 team found itself in, you could always count on a witty quip from Jack O'Neill (Dean Anderson) to lighten the moment. Not so across the universe. There's a grittiness to the Destiny—a ship that's been traveling for billions of years—and to the flaring tempers from the mostly inexperienced crew that suddenly find themselves far from home. Universe takes its cues from Battlestar Galactica's ability to make desperate situations actually feel desperate and to bring intrigue by pitting individual humans against each other instead of just humanity against common enemies. And like Galactica's Gaius Baltar, the crew of the Destiny contains a brilliant scientist who's every action seems to stem from a hidden agenda.



3. Lost in Space
Dr. Rush might contain echoes of Gaius Baltar, but Lost in Space's Dr. Zachary Smith was the first evil genius whose sabotage stranded a spaceship far from Earth.



4. Lost
First, there's the catastrophic opening scene (not the first one of those we've seen on TV this month, by the way. Flash Forward and Trauma both started with a bang). And of course, there are the flashbacks and the group of castaways trying to get back home. There's also a cameo by SG-1's Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) on an series of instructional videos that would have made the Dharma Initiative proud.



5. The Last Starfighter
On Stargate Universe, it was Chloe Armstrong's (Elyse Levesque) idea to use a video game to identify a young genius who can succeed where the experts have failed. But Chloe might have been inspired by this 1984 sci-fi film. SyFy obviously wanted a younger, less-military cast this go-round, and this was a great way to put a 20-something slacker into the Stargate world. That's called knowing your audience.

Still, while the premiere of Universe might not have been the most original entry into the sci-fi canon, it's got me hooked. Creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper created something special with SG-1 and even the campier Atlantis was fun to watch. I can't imagine Universe reaching the heights of Battlestar Galactica, but any new series should be influenced by what Ronald D. Moore accomplished. For now, I'm along for the billions-of-light-years-long ride.

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