Join The Club
Another prominent actor has joined the ongoing effort to get the Stargate revival back on track with its original plan, which Amazon MGM passed on not long ago. As Michael Shanks and producers speak up in defense of Martin Gero's vision for the comeback, Robert Patrick has added his support and spoken to the "rare" gifts he's gotten from his experience.
While he may be known for his Terminator 2 fame or litany of other roles on shows like Tulsa King and Peacemaker, Patrick notably played Colonel Marshall Sumner in the two-part pilot of Stargate: Atlantis before he was killed off. Now, the genre icon is going to bat for the fan movement to persuade Amazon to return to Gero's idea, as fans rally behind the long-in-development project. He wrote a brief statement on X, but it's the word he used twice I'm focused on:
Hello Stargate universe! I truly enjoyed my time as part of the Stargate Atlantis family. 'Colonel Marshall Sumner'. Many of the cast are still in my life to this day. That’s rare. This community is rare. #SaveStargate LFG!!!!!
It's nice to see him talk about the "rare" element of Stargate, speaking both to the fandom and the cast. Once again, he was only in two episodes of the series, so it does seem wild that he's still in contact with some of the cast this very day.
I never would've imagined seeing Robert Patrick use the phrase "LFG" in a social media post, but I'm here for it. He's putting the message out to his 179k followers on X that he's behind the #SaveStargate campaign, and maybe that'll bring others to the cause in a truly "rare" way.
The fans have rallied behind this revival based on the insistence from the show's original producers, actors, and creatives that it catered to both dedicated fans and casual audiences. Amazon allegedly disagreed, as reports went out stating decision-makers felt the series would only appeal to the core of the Stargate fandom.
While I can't speak to the Stargate revival's quality or who it would appeal to, I can point to Martin Gero's past revivals. I thought he did a fantastic job with the Quantum Leap revival, but NBC decided to axe that series after just two seasons. I can't imagine the network show's factored into any decisions to pass on the Stargate series, especially given the sci-fi project has been in development for quite a while.
I also have to point out that while the #SaveStargate movement is growing and gaining support, the name is a bit of a misnomer. Amazon is reportedly still planning to bring Stargate back, but it's seeking out a new showrunner and an idea to make it happen. Presumably, the next idea would be more of a reboot of the franchise that provides an entry point for casuals less familiar with the show.
Stargate is facing the same issues that a lot of legacy sci-fi shows are seeing at the moment, as it seems the core fandom is not enough to support these franchises anymore. Either that, or the threshold for a successful series on streaming has risen; the answer isn't exactly clear. What is clear is that there's still an appetite for these shows, but it looks like we're going to need some fresh eyes to keep them going into the future.
We'll see how this fan effort plays out, and if any hearts and minds at Amazon are changed by it. I'm rooting for the Stargate fans, but I just hope that if they get their wish, they show up to watch the series when it premieres.
