"Stargate": Longest What?
Posted July 27th, 2006 by RD Heldenfels
When Sci Fi had a little celebration for "Stargate SG-1" during the TV critics' summer press tour, I heard the network make a claim that just didn't sound right. It's also in press materials for the show, and it goes like this: "With 200 episodes, the longest-running drama in cable history has also became the longest-running sci-fi series in television history."
To which I say: Doctor Who.
Forget the recent revival. The original version ran for 26 years. It had more than 700 episodes — 3 1/2 times what Stargate has done. (The 200th episode airs on Aug. 18.)
Methinks that Sci Fi overreached. Comments?
July 27th, 2006 at 10:39 am
Hmmm–perhaps the longest-running Sci-Fi television series in the United States? I'm not counting the various versions of Star Trek as one series, here. Then again, even Doctor Who could make the cut there since PBS stations have been airing it since the mid-1970s or so.
And funny you should mention Doctor Who–disc one of Genesis of the Daleks from 1975 arrived in my mail today via Netflix . . .
July 27th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
They probably mean longest running with original cast, or close to original. Doctor Who went through many doctor's and compainions while SG-1 has mostly stayed the same.
August 1st, 2006 at 9:48 am
I'm not sure Sci Fi even bothered to figure out how to slice this (and a query to a Sci Fi publicist has gone unanswered). I think they just liked the sound of the claim.
August 2nd, 2006 at 4:32 am
Scifi also called Stargate SG-1 their 'original' programming, which they got from Showtime. A lot of stuff they call original is bought. And can you explain what wrestling is doing on SciFi??
August 2nd, 2006 at 6:40 am
Dr Who was a UK produced series and DID NOT run here in the states nor on any cable channel. If the reporter took the time and did some research they would have found out that Dr Who might have ran 26 years but in those 26 years they only averaged (6) episodes per season and only had a GRAND TOTAL of 158 episodes in the 26 year run and so far in the current DR Who seasons it's only had 26 episode run.So to answer the reporters question Dr Who (both versions) ran a total of 184 episodes compared to over 200 episodes in 10 years for Stargate SG-1.
Ron
August 2nd, 2006 at 7:35 am
As I said in my e-mail to you, Ron, the show did air in the U.S., on public-TV stations, which is where I discovered it. (Gus's comment above notes that as well.) And you're not counting episodes, you're counting complete stories, which ran as multiple-episode arcs.
August 2nd, 2006 at 9:56 am
They've often said that Stargate SG-1 is the longest-running cable show in American television history. Some people ignore Dr. Who, but for the most part, they mean in America.
They're not overreaching at all in that respect.
And OF COURSE a show will survive for 26 seasons if the main actor for the exact same character will change every two seasons.
August 2nd, 2006 at 1:06 pm
"Law & Order," to cite one ongoing example, has made numerous cast changes, and we count it as the same show because the title remains the same. Daytime soaps not only go through cast changes but ones involving the same character, and we still date them based on the continuing title.
August 2nd, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Re your question, Elyse, I thought the same thing back in May when Sci Fi announced the deal. The hilarious, short explanation from the channel at the time was that it's "an alternative brand of wrestling suited to fit the SCI FI Channel's commitment to fuel the imagination."