Biggest Spoiler Preview Ever (Stargate Atlantis)

Let me first say, before I get into it, that I never watch the "Next week on ______" previews of any show. I've seen networks like Fox and such do a damn good job of ruining the coming week's episode by showing some key plot point in the preview in the hopes of roping in viewers. So I just don't do it. I don't watch any of them. Ever. I have a TiVo and as such when the show I'm watching ends, I just hit STOP and never watch the previews. If I'm watching other shows on that same network that week, I'm alway fast-forwarding through commercials so I never see previews there either.

Well. This week that broke down a bit. I had some down time on Tuesday. I was upgrading my home PC and it was going to take a bit of time, so while I was doing it, I had something on the TV in the background. In this case, it turned out to be something on Sci-Fi Channel. I don't remember what it was, because I really wasn't WATCHING it. You know what thats like right? You are busy doing something, but sometimes its nice to have something on the TV in the background. It can't be something you really WANT to see, because otherwise you would stop what you are doing to watch it, so it has to be something you really don't care about. And thus was the case with whatever was on Sci-Fi channel at the time.

Anyway, so I was working on my PC upgrade with Sci-Fi channel in the background, and there it came. A preview trailer for the new exciting upcoming episode. Its not like I freaked out and went to hit mute. Usually they aren't that big a deal. I just kept on doing my thing. Well, apparently I should have freaked out. Because here is how it went down:

"THIS WEEK ON STARGATE ATLANTIS: Blah, blah, blah, some plot point, blah blah, and forces someone to blah blah. And you WONT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE LAST FIVE MINUTES"

And then....they show you. Well guess what mother fuckers. I believe what happens in the last five minutes. You just Goddamn showed it to me. So why do I need to watch the show? Hell. They didn't even show me the last 5 minutes. Turns out that episode is Part I of II. They showed that last cliffhanger clip that makes you really want to tune in and see what happens next week. Basically, some dude you thought died in Season 3 all of a sudden is found, and that is where the episode leaves off. So Sci-Fi channel took the entire shock or cool value out of the entire episode. I watched it on Friday. The episode itself was shit. Pointless. A big "who cares." The only thing that would have made it worthwhile was if they would have sprung that big surprise on me at the end (cause they made you think they were gonna find someone else). But no. Thanks to Sci-Fi Channel's brilliant marketing, the whole "YOU WONT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS" was spoiled right after they finished saying that sentence.

What the FUCK is up with that?

Seriously folks. Two signs Stargate Atlantis is circling the drain:

1) They start bringing in characters from the parent show Stargate SG1 to replace characters in Atlantis.

They brought in Samantha Carter to replace Dr Weir this season.
Teal'c has also made a guest appearance, as has the doctor from SG1 several times.
So they think Atlantis is floundering, so they bring in familiar faces to try to bring those fans in. Always a bad idea.

2) They realize that perhaps killing off a well liked character was a bad idea, so in a super neat plot twist they decide to bring him back, but instead of doing it as a surprise reveal in a two part episode which would awe fans, they figure that no one is watching their show anyway so no one will actually appreciate bringing him back in that way, so they just toss him in the preview so people HAVE to see that he is back and say "oh, cool, he is back, guess I'll watch again"

Dumb. Just...dumb. I've seen some good spoiler previews/trailers in my time, but this one was really the most blatant. Nothing like literally telling the fans that they won't believe the surprise ending...then spoiling that surprise 2 seconds later.

*shakes his head at Sci-Fi Channel*

So, is the spoiler that Carson is back? I don't really follow SGA, but I liked him and heard about his death.

"THIS WEEK ON STARGATE ATLANTIS: Blah, blah, blah, some plot point, blah blah, and forces someone to blah blah. And you WONT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE LAST FIVE MINUTES"

And then....they show you. Well guess what mother fuckers. I believe what happens in the last five minutes. You just Goddamn showed it to me. So why do I need to watch the show? Hell. They didn't even show me the last 5 minutes

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lmao.

That was sucky, but given all this shit that was stirred about this character leaving in the first place, then its hardly surprising they would want to shout about it. Unless this is not the mega popular doctor guys that was killed, and someone else instead.

I gave up on it a while ago. It looked like it could have spun off nicely with new characters and the wraith, and O'Brien from DS9 / TNG having his own facist planet and shit, but then they brought back the replicators, who just seemed crap in the first place.

I miss SG1 though, I never really followed it that much, but it always entertained when I watched it, especially when the Farscape cast took over.

Absolutely agree with you about the trailer. It was a very DUMB piece of marketing. However, I do still love SGA and thought the ep was a good start to the build-up to the finale, which they say will change everything.

They're apparently going to make some changes to the show. Sam will only be in a few eps next season (the reason they brought her on was not to simply bring on old SG1 characters but because they had another year on her contract mainly and they thought she'd make a nice interim replacement for Weir). Bringing on other SG1 characters has mainly been to appease the fans since SG1 is now gone...the fans still want to see their fav characters from time-to-time.

Starting at the end of this season, much will be changing...a new base commander (Tapping is going to be in the new series by the show's creators...some of you might have seen it or heard about it called Sanctuary which Sci-fi has now picked up for a short season). Other SG1 characters will also be making some guest appearances on SGA next season as well. I don't see this as a bad sign at all. They're working to keep the various portions of the SG universe alive. The first DVD film will be out soon which will end the Ori arc from SG1. I can't wait.

The SG universe is just simple fun and excitement. It's well done and while I agree that they shouldn't have done the Pegasus replicator story, I guess I can see where they were coming from on it (parallel development and so on). So far they've appeared to kill off the Pegasus replicators and I for one hope they stay gone. They've been working on rebuilding the Wraith and giving them more character (which was the problem with them in the first place). Now, apparently, there will be another new enemy. It's been suggested that this one is completely new and will be really badass.

I still have faith in the show runners and creators. The Ori arc on SG1 was fantastic! It dealt with current events and issues more than anything SG has ever done. Had Sci-fi not simply wanted out of SG1 due to the higher contract prices with the actors and had Sci-fi been accepting time-shifted ratings then, SG1 might still be on the air.

As for SGA circling the proverbial drain...it's not. It just won a viewer's choice award and its ratings have remained solid now (especially now that we have airdate plus one week for time-shifters in the ratings count, bringing it's ratings back in line with where it once was -- more and more people, especially those who watch science fiction, are time-shifting now).

This last ep was the first in the build-up to the finale as I said. I thought it was a good beginning. They've had some great eps this season as opposed to last season which wasn't as good overall. But, yes, you're dead right on the marketing...that was Sci-fi doing what it does best...being nothing short of f*$king stupid!

CE

Agreed on what Recoil said about the preview. I usually try to avoid the previews too, (I'm watching next week no matter what the preview was) and that one explains why. Even for SciFi that preview was bad.

My feeling on the show is that it is going downhill, but its not that bad yet. Hopefully next season will be better. I don't know if bringing in SG1 characters was a move to get fans back or not, but either way I think it was cool to see Tel'c again, even if that particular episode wasn't that interesting.

(the reason they brought her on was not to simply bring on old SG1 characters but because they had another year on her contract mainly and they thought she'd make a nice interim replacement for Weir).

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There was absolutely no indication that Sam would only be on the show for one year. She is leaving because her show Sanctuary got picked up, and she is acting and writing in it.

Good rant, Recoil!
Do you proof-read your posts? 'Cause I do a fair bit of ranting but I never proof-read, just hit "submit reply" and then if I read it a few days later I'm embarrassed. Yours is really coherent and spelled properly.

I don't follow this show but I've seen similar previews. I've noticed on occasion that what they show you is completely out of context, too, so it's possible that you weren't as "spoiled" as you think you were. I remember that being very common with 24.

Then again I've stopped caring about spoilers, honestly. I good story isn't ruined with them. I know I'm in a small minority with that one.

My recommendation for background TV programming: ESPN2. 9-ball, billiard trick shots, strong man competitions, x-games, old-school boxing. I'll sometimes have that stuff on mute while the stereo is on.

24's were definitely the worst. You instantly KNEW what was happening next week.

GKarsEye said:

Do you proof-read your posts? 'Cause I do a fair bit of ranting but I never proof-read, just hit "submit reply" and then if I read it a few days later I'm embarrassed. Yours is really coherent and spelled properly.

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You know, I rarely do. I think a proof-read really defeats the purpose of a good rant. To me a rant is trying to put down in a post a series of random thoughts or occurrences surrounding a certain topic. To go back and revisit those thoughts, even if to put them in more of a logical order, really ruins the point of a good rant. The reason spelling is usually correct is that I use Firefox as my web browser, and it has a built-in real-time spell check that checks your spelling as you type, instantly underlining any errors and if you right-click you get the corrected spelling, just like MS Word does. So its nice having that safety net built in, and thats the main reason for my posts having good spelling. Grammar is another story though.

That being said, there isn't much that saves me during a drunk rant. I really can't be held responsible, and I have re-read some drunk rants I've posted on this site over the years and wondered what the hell I was even thinking when I typed them. This one, however, was a sober rant, and came out fairly well.

You also have a good point about those spoiler previews. 24 many times used to show previews (back before I had a TiVo) that you THOUGHT were spoilers, but really weren't. They would do things like showing them out of context like you mentioned. They would also do tricks like show you a guy pointing a gun at a supporting character, then dub in a gunshot sound from elsewhere in the episode just as the preview cuts away to make you think they just offed a minor character, only to have you feel cheated when you watch and realize that gunshot you heard came from a random exchange of gunfire in the episode and that character you hated and wished was dead was really saved at the last second (sometimes by that same gunfire clip you heard).

This Atlantis one though was by far the most blatant I've seen, and really shows the level of desperation that the network must be at. Or just the general level of stupidity.

Mike G said:

Agreed on what Recoil said about the preview. I usually try to avoid the previews too, (I'm watching next week no matter what the preview was) and that one explains why. Even for SciFi that preview was bad.

My feeling on the show is that it is going downhill, but its not that bad yet. Hopefully next season will be better. I don't know if bringing in SG1 characters was a move to get fans back or not, but either way I think it was cool to see Tel'c again, even if that particular episode wasn't that interesting.


There was absolutely no indication that Sam would only be on the show for one year. She is leaving because her show Sanctuary got picked up, and she is acting and writing in it.

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We can agree to disagree that it's going downhill. They've had a lot of shake-ups, yes, but I think the show is beginning to feel more like its own thing rather than just the other Stargate show. Ironically, that applies even when they bring in SG-1 characters. The producers have stated they're trying to make it feel more connected and like a full universe (guess that's why the next series is tentatively titled Stargate: Universe). I liked the Teal'c ep and found it interesting to see Ronin and Teal'c together.

I did find the season finale a bit odd for a season finale, but a clear indicator as to where they're planning to go in S5. It will be interesting to see Bob Picardo take over the city as Woolsey. Picardo is a great actor and usually shows a lot of range when allowed to do so. I just hope they don't have him with his jacket zipped up like it was in the finale..that looked kinda dorky (maybe that's where they were going with it). How he becomes the head of the expedition will be interesting to see.

It was stated very early on that Tapping was moving to Atlantis, at least in the beginning, because she still had a year left on her contract. I don't think they were sure where they were going after that. Personally, I'm glad she's not going to be in charge any longer for many reasons. First, she didn't really fit the "head of an expedition" type for me. Carter is best as the scientist and kick ass female and should be out in the field. Second, she needs to be available for future SG-1 films (they've definitely talked about more after these first 2 -- Ark of Truth will be out this Tuesday!). I don't want to see the Worf syndrome; having to come up with yet another reason why Sam is there. It's best to leave her at Stargate Command or out with SG-1 in the ether.

She is also doing Sanctuary yes, and they had been hoping it would find permanance, either on the web or on a network. That said, they were hoping when she went to Atlantis that she would have Sanctuary to do soon, so I can say there is evidence that they knew she wasn't permanant. She's hardly been there and having her as commander hasn't been well established, which bodes well for not being permanant, but more of a fill-in post Weir until they knew with more certainty what was going to happen.

CE

Sorry for the late reply, but yeah, you might be right about the Carter thing. Whatever.
Maybe the show isn't going downhill so much as I am losing interest, for whatever reason. I thought the last two episodes (the episdoes since this thread started) were pretty good, so I will definitly be checking out next season.