I came to a new realization about the Stargate franchise this morning that I wanted to share, primarily after reading a new interview with Joe Flanigan (John Sheppard on Stargate Atlantis) on GateWorld. It seems so clear that I’m surprised I never fully connected the dots before now: the producers of the Stargate franchise have become spoiled and impulsive, and sooner or later it may be the death of the franchise.

I can imagine this all began with a sense of complacency at some point during the run of Stargate SG-1, which lasted an impressive ten years. It’s been a while since I’ve seen much of SG-1, but I think the complacency started to set in around season 8. Richard Dean Anderson took a back seat on the show and everything started to stagnate, sometimes feeling like the show was not really going anywhere and possibly overstaying its welcome.

This complacency really shows when they decided to overthrow the Goa’uld, the primary enemy of the series for eight years, and invent the Ori, an entirely new enemy never seen before, all the way in the show’s ninth year. In hindsight, this seems a little cocky of them considering they were moving on a year-to-year basis and didn’t have any assurances that they’d be coming back. In the two years that they did get with the Ori, things moved too slowly at first, were never ultimately very satisfying, and then were rushed to get the story to its conclusion.

Some of their impulsiveness shone through when Vala Mal Doran (Claudia Black) joined the cast of SG-1. Here was a character that was invented purely for the producers to have fun with. Her first episode, “Prometheus Unbound,” was so silly that it was almost slapstick comedy. But that’s okay—Stargate has its bouts of straight humor, many of which I genuinely enjoy, so I was willing to let that one pass.

But this was a case where the producers had a little too much fun writing for the character. Mix that with a positive experience working with the actor, and what do you get? Bringing the character back for an extended “arc” that just won’t end at the beginning of season 9, and adding her to the main cast lineup in season 10. In my opinion, this just shouldn’t have happened.

But the real, dangerous levels of impulsiveness show their face during the run of spinoff show Stargate Atlantis. Let’s be under no allusions here; I loved Stargate Atlantis. I thought it not only lived up to its parent series but in some ways surpassed it. But the producers were so flippant regarding the cast and ultimately the entire series that it died a premature death.

First, the producers got rid of Lieutenant Aiden Ford (Rainbow Sun Francks) because they supposedly didn’t know what to do with the character. In his place, they brought in an arguably even blander character, Ronon Dex (Jason Momoa). Ronon’s character eventually picked up, but it took a couple of years before he lived up to his real potential and really found his place (from both an acting and a writing standpoint).

Then, the real warning sign: the abrupt departure of Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson), leader of the Atlantis expedition. I don’t know the entire behind-the-scenes story here, but I do know that they decided to end Torri Higginson’s contract early for some reason and just kick her off the show. (I also know she seemed pretty bitter about it, and the impression I get is that she has every right to be. It’s like the producers saw a newer, shinier toy and just couldn’t drop Weir fast enough.) As with Ford, the door is initially left open for the character’s return, but it soon becomes clear that the producers have no intention of making anything of it and both characters are quickly killed off for good.

The producers then think “Hey, you know what might be fun? Let’s bring Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) back to be the new leader of the Atlantis expedition.” Sounds crazy, right? Well, somehow that’s exactly what happened. I love Amanda Tapping and her character, but she was completely the wrong fit for the show, and it took several episodes for it to not feel completely bizarre to have her on Atlantis at all. Even by the end when she’d fully settled in, it seemed like she was playing an entirely different Carter than the one we’d seen for years on SG-1.

Eventually Amanda Tapping decided to leave and pursue her own show (Sanctuary), which is fine and dandy, and I’m actually kind of grateful because I will always feel that she just wasn’t right for Atlantis (at least not in a leadership capacity). They then brought Robert Picardo in as Richard Woolsey, and I actually like Robert Picardo and have no objection to him being brought in as Carter’s replacement. I think he started pretty strong and left a positive mark on the show overall.

But this is where the happy part of the story ends. Proving the notion that an idea can be a very dangerous thing, the producers get it in their heads to make a new, darker, edgier Stargate series, more akin to Battlestar Galactica than the Stargates before it. And what happens when they start to run with this idea? They drop Atlantis like it’s hot. Seriously, it’s like they couldn’t get away from it fast enough once the prospect of having a shiny new toy to play with became real. I feel that Atlantis had years worth of life and character development left in it (much more so than Stargate SG-1 did when it ended).

Both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis have been promised a future in the form of direct-to-DVD movies. Stargate SG-1 is perfectly suited to its new periodic movie format, I feel, because there’s no room left for character development. Just give us a few new adventures and we’ll be happy. But Atlantis, on the other hand, sadly doesn’t feel ready to be made into a series of movies at this point, because movies don’t allow for the kind of character development and story arcs we would see in the series if it were still running—developments that are still fully ripe for exploration.

There was one quote in the Joe Flanigan interview that really told me all I needed to know about where the producers of Stargate currently stand:

I unfortunately have not talked to any of the producers and the writers at all. I don’t think they really made any attempt to reach any of us… [and] that’s a little weird. Because you’re like, “I’ve just spent five years with everyone.” And then suddenly you don’t hear from them at all. So it’s weird.

They got tired of you, Joe, and that’s the sad truth. You stopped holding their attention, and so they let go of you, and right now they’re just not in a hurry to look back.

Atlantis feels like it was killed off in its prime, when it had at least another year or two of life left in it (and quite possibly more). The producers just grew tired of it, because a shinier toy appeared on their horizon in the form of Stargate Universe. And while Stargate Universe has certainly started strong, I can’t help but feel just a little bit worried about the future of the Stargate franchise if the producers’ attention span is allowed to remain so short.