Yeah, that’s one of two reasons that quite a few Stargate fans were pretty down on SGU from the beginning. The tone is just so different (though Eli does bring in some humor).
The other major reason is that SGU was announced within a week of them saying that Season 5 would be the end of Atlantis. You’d think their marketing people would have told them that was a bad idea, even if the perception that they were cancelling Atlantis to make room for SGU wasn’t true. And the fact that the Atlantis and SG-1 movies have been sitting on the shelf for so long hasn’t helped either, though we can’t really blame them for that.
Interesting, I’ve watched SG-U from the start without any real knowledge of SG-A (I watched the first 13 eps and gave up) and a passing knowledge of SG-1. I’ve found SG-U to be a unique experience, definitely separate from the standard SG universe (yes, I’m aware of the irony).
Ignoring the baggage provided by the previous series’, I found a show that was clever at times, but mostly overly aware of its status in geek culture. It seemed to be far too conscious of what it was doing to actually accomplish anything distinct. For example…
SPOILERS
the stranding of part of the main cast, only to have to re-united after a couple of episodes without any change in the status quo. Saying that, this may have all been washed away by the season finale.
Saying that, I’ve actually enjoyed this first season, and I wait to see what happens next - but more of the same won’t satisfy me - I need more interesting exploits, with more long-term consequences.
