200 (Stargate SG-1)

Infobox Television episode | Title = 200
Colour = SGColor
Series = Stargate SG-1
Season = 10
Episode = 6
Airdate = August 18, 2006
Production = 1006
Writer = Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper, Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, Carl Binder, Martin Gero, Alan McCullough
Director = Martin Wood
Guests = Richard Dean Anderson as Major General Jack O'Neill
Willie Garson as Martin Lloyd
Gary Jones as Chief Mst Sgt. Walter Harriman
Don S. Davis as General George Hammond (voice only)



Caption = The cast of "Stargate SG-1" spoofs "The Wizard of Oz"
Episode list = Episode chronology
Prev = Uninvited
Next = Counterstrike"200" is the sixth episode of the science fiction television series "Stargate SG-1"'s tenth season, and the two-hundredth episode of the series overall. It is the first time original SG-1 member Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) has been seen since the beginning of Season 9 in the episode sgcite|Origin. The episode won the 2007 Constellation Award for "Best Overall 2006 Science Fiction Film or Television Script",cite web|url=http://constellations.tcon.ca/w.shtml/#C8|title=Constellation Awards 2007 Winners|publisher=constellations.tcon.ca|accessdate=2007-12-20|archiveurl=http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:sZe_4skFABUJ:constellations.tcon.ca/+constellation+award+2007+200&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=safari |archivedate=2008-01-20 ] and was nominated for the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.cite web|url=http://www.nippon2007.us/hugo_nominees.php|title=Nippon 2007 Hugo Nominees|publisher=nippon2007.us|accessdate=2007-12-26]

Unlike the more serious nature of the season's story arc, "200" is a light-hearted parody of both "Stargate SG-1" and other sci-fi shows, as well as pop culture like "The Wizard of Oz". The episode received a 1.9 average household rating, one of the few episodes of the season which surpassed the average rating of "Stargate SG-1"'s previous season.cite web|author=Sumner, Darren|date=2006-08-21|url=http://www.gateworld.net/news/2006/08/200_ratings_give_istargatei_need.shtml|title='200' ratings give Stargate needed boost|publisher=GateWorld|accessdate=2007-12-23] "200" also received near-universal praise for its humor and writing. Despite the strong performance of the episode, the SCI FI Channel announced soon after the episode's airing it would not be renewing the series for another season.

Plot

Martin Lloyd (Willie Garson), an extraterrestrial turned writer, returns to Stargate Command looking for assistance from SG-1 with his script for the movie adaptation of the television show "Wormhole X-Treme",cite web|author=O'Hare, Kate|date=2006-08-17|url=http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-stargatesg1at200,0,2235149.story|title='Stargate SG-1' Gets Spacey at 200|publisher=Zap2It|accessdate=2007-12-26] mentioned earlier in the series during sgcite|Wormhole X-Treme!. The team is reluctant, especially Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell (Ben Browder), who is excited about his next off-world mission; the upcoming trip marks his 200th trip through the Stargate. However, when technical glitches prevent the team from setting off on their mission, they are stuck in the briefing room under the orders of General Landry (Beau Bridges), because the Pentagon believes a successful science fiction film about intergalactic wormhole travel will serve as a good cover story to keep the real Stargate program a secret.

The notes session, however, quickly devolves into the team members pitching their own versions of a successful sci-fi film, including: a zombie invasion (from Mitchell); a previously unseen mission where O'Neill became invisible (from Carter); "tributes" to "The Wizard of Oz" and "Farscape" (from Vala); and Teal'c as a private investigator (from Teal'c himself). Additionally featured are a vignette of the team's mental image of a "younger and edgier" SG-1 (sparked by the studio's suggestion to replace the original "Wormhole X-Treme" cast), a suggested scene by Martin that turns out to be both scientifically inaccurate and highly derivative of "Star Trek", a re-imagined version of the original movie where all the characters are marionettes, and an imagined wedding that features the return of General Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson). However, the planning session is all for naught, since the studio ultimately decides to cancel the movie in favor of renewing the series. At the end of the episode, the focus shifts ten years into the future, where the "Wormhole X-Treme" cast and crew are celebrating their 200th episode, as well as renewed plans for a movie.

Production

Executive producer Robert C. Cooper noted that despite the markedly different content of the episode, "200" took no longer to shoot – mainly because much of the filming took place on the briefing room set. On the other hand, the episode was much more expensive than a typical one, due to the unusual sequences. For example, the marionettes used in an elaborate spoof of the series were created by Chiodo Bros, who also made the puppets for '; each puppet cost about US$25,000, and the wires pulling each puppet had to be readded by CGI in post production as they didn't show up well enough. Several existing sets were used as stand-ins; for example, the bridge of the "Daedalus" was used for a ' spoof, while a set from the sister production "" was used as the chamber of the Wizard of Oz.

In an interview about the tenth season of "Stargate", Cooper and Brad Wright stated that there was a fine line between the humor of regular episodes turning into camp. While jokes for the joke's sake are usually limited in normal episodes, the line between humor and camp is deliberately crossed frequently in "200". The producers even talked about recreating a part of "Blazing Saddles" that breaks the fourth wall, but they could not afford the horses. [cite news|last=McNamara |first=Mary |date=2006-08-16|title=Commanders in Chief- Anatomy of a Hit: Stargate SG-1|work=The Hollywood Reporter|page=1 |url=http://www.multichannel.com/blog/1300000330/post/880011088.html]

The producers made sure that the episode was well-publicized, dropping hints that Richard Dean Anderson's character O'Neill would return for the episode. Joe Mallozzi, executive producer for the series, also hinted that series fans would finally meet the Furlings, an enigmatic race referenced in the second season episode sgcite|The Fifth Race but never seen.cite video |people=Wood, Martin |year2=2006 |title= Audio Commentary for "200"|url= |format= |medium= DVD|publisher= ] [cite web|author=Mallozzi, Joe |date=2005-12-22|url=http://forum.gateworld.net/showthread.php?p=4764548#post4764548|title=Ask Joe Mallozzi|publisher=GateWorld|accessdate=2007-12-22] Despite the outlandish scenes filmed for the episode, many of the writers' favorite moments did not make it to production due to time constraints; Cooper noted that a "Gilligan's Island" skit was cut from the script.

Cultural references

Most of the entire episode is devoted to references and allusions to other works, including the show itself. The title sequence is deliberately shorter than most other episodes, poking fun at shows like "Lost" as well as the SCI FI Channel itself,cite video |people=Cooper, Robert C., Wright, Brad |year2=2006 |title= Audio Commentary for "200"|url= |format= |medium= DVD|publisher= ] which had shortened SG-1's Season 9 opening but changed it back after fan response. [cite web |url=http://www.gateworld.net/news/2005/09/sci_fi_to_reinstate_full-length_.shtml |title=SCI FI to reinstate full-length openings |date=2005-09-01 |author=Sumner, Darren|publisher=GateWorld |accessdate=2007-07-11] When Lloyd learns that his main actor has backed out of the movie, the SG-1 team offers various suggestions about how to replace him or work around the lack of the actor, referencing Richard Dean Anderson's lack of appearances in the eighth season of "Stargate SG-1". Anderson himself also pokes fun at the ending of the eighth season's sgcite|Moebius, which was intended to be the series finale before the ninth season was announced. The final scene, which features interviews with the "Wormhole X-Treme" cast, was added as an afterthought, and contains comments of the real cast which were taken out of context as an inside joke.

The episode also riffs on other science fiction shows. Early in the episode, Dr. Jackson asks who would make a movie out of a series that only lasted three episodes, to which Teal'c replies that it had strong DVD sales. This is a reference to the series "Firefly", [cite web |url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/news/sfw_news_20060403.html |title=SG-1 Winks At Serenity |author=Szymanski, Mike|date=2006-04-03|publisher=SciFi Weekly |accessdate=2007-07-11] which was cancelled after airing only eleven episodes, but whose high DVD sales allowed the creation of the feature film "Serenity". One sequence is a parody of the original "Star Trek" series, with SG-1 standing in for the crew of the "Enterprise". Brad Wright, the co-creator of the series, fills in as the engineer Montgomery Scott. The episode also takes the series "Farscape" to task, including its habit of inventing swear words. Several other shows and movies are parodied, including telling the story of the "The Wizard of Oz" with the SG-1 team – the writers based the scene on a fan painting they had hanging in their office. Other elements make fun of "24s "ticking clock of jeopardy", and an entire sequence with all the characters played by marionettes, in the style of "Thunderbirds" and '.

Reception

The episode won the 2007 Constellation Award for "Best Overall 2006 Science Fiction Film or Television Script", and was nominated for the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. Richard Dean Anderson also won a SyFy Genre Award for his guest appearance in the episode.

The episode was generally well-received. IGN declared the episode "one of the smartest and funniest hours of television to grace the small screen yet this season."cite web|author=Van Horn, Jason|date=2006-08-16|url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/726/726165p1.html tv.ign.com|title=Stargate SG-1: "200" Advance Review|publisher=IGN|accessdate=2007-12-28] They went on to applaud the decision not only to parody other works but the show itself. Maureen Ryan of the "Chicago Tribune" agreed, but also noted that "you don’t need to be a longtime fan of the long-running program to enjoy its jibes at sci-fi clichés or expedient writing."cite web|author=Rayn, Maureen|date=2006-08-16|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/08/200_laughs_in_a.html|title=200 laughs in a memorable 'Stargate SG-1' episode|publisher=Chicago Tribune|accessdate=2007-12-20] "Eclipse Magazine" noted that although the episode was "not a work of comic genius", "200" was the best comedy episode of the series. [cite web |author=Wiebe, Sheldon|title=Stargate SG-1 Hits 200 With Riotous Romp! |publisher=Eclipse Magazine|date=2006-08-17 |url=http://eclipsemagazine.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1742 |accessdate=2007-12-06 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060821222616/http://eclipsemagazine.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1742 |archivedate=2006-08-20 ]

The highly publicized debut of the episode garnered a 1.9 average household rating, a 36% jump from the previous episode, and the first episode of the tenth season to reach or exceed the previous season's rating of 1.8; "Stargate SG-1" at that point was averaging about 3.3 million viewers per regular episode.cite web|author=McNamara, Mary|date=2006-05-08|url=http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6332083.html|title=Science-Fiction Series 'SG-1' Is Cable's First to Reach Historic Milestone|publisher=multichannel.com|accessdate=2007-12-29]

Cancellation

Shortly after this episode was aired, Gateworld announced the SCI FI Channel's decision to not renew their order of "Stargate SG-1" for the coming year. This was later confirmed by the Channel, along with an announcement that "Stargate Atlantis" had been picked up for another season. [cite web|url=http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=37607|title=SG-1 Ends Run; Atlantis Back|accessdate=2007-12-29|date=2006-08-01|publisher=SCI FI Channel] Many fans denounced the timing of the announcement, as it was apparently made while the cast and crew were celebrating the episode's airing.cite web|author=McNamara, Mary|date=2006-08-21|url=http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6364450.html?display=Breaking+News|title=Sci Fi’s Stargate SG-1 Said to Be Axed|publisher=multichannel.com|accessdate=2007-12-29]

References

External links

* Linked to from [http://stargate-sg1.com/SeasonTen Official Stargate SG-1 site] .
* [http://www.scifi.com/stargate/episodes/season10/1006/ Summary] from SciFi. Visited August 22, 2006.