Editing Stargate SG-1 (section)

=== Sci Fi Channel and US syndication (2002–2007) ===
Since ''SG-1''{{'s}} ratings were good from a financial standpoint, the Sci Fi Channel picked up MGM's offer to continue the show into a sixth season, yet with a slightly reduced budget.<ref name=tvzones46_66>{{Cite journal |last=Eramo |first=Steven | title=Season Six Preview – Coming up, on SG-1... |journal=[[TV Zone]] |issue=Special 46 |pages=66–76 |date=July 2002}}</ref> Sci Fi aired new episodes of ''Stargate SG-1'' in the 9 p.m. Friday slot between ''[[The Dead Zone (TV series)|The Dead Zone]]'' and ''[[Farscape]]'', while it aired older ''SG-1'' episodes in a four-hour block every Monday at 7 p.m. Episodes were broadcast in US syndication six months after their premiere on Sci Fi.<ref name="v_levitates"/> The sixth season was supposed to be the show's last,<ref name=tvzones46_4/> but Sci Fi renewed ''SG-1'' at the last minute.<ref>Storm 2005, p. 64.</ref> The sixth and seventh seasons made ''Stargate SG-1'' Sci Fi's highest-rated original series with an average of 2 million viewers in over 1.3 million households,<ref name=scifi_pr03>{{cite web|url=http://www.scifi.com/stargate/press/press_02.html |title=Sci Fi Channel Renews Stargate SG-1 For Eighth Season |publisher=scifi.com |date=July 23, 2003 |access-date=March 24, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813043054/http://www.scifi.com/stargate/press/press_02.html |archive-date=August 13, 2007 }}</ref> elevating Sci Fi into the top 10 cable networks in the United States.<ref name=reelwest>{{cite web |url=http://www.reelwest.com/happening/wire/2006/april/stargate.htm |title=Canadian Produced TV Series "Stargate SG-1" Films Landmark 200th Original Episode |publisher=reelwest.com |date=April 2006 |access-date=March 25, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721190013/http://www.reelwest.com/happening/wire/2006/april/stargate.htm |archive-date=July 21, 2011 }}</ref> For the next few years, the producers believed each current season to be the show's last and repeatedly wrote big series finales,<ref name=spi_cruising>{{cite news |last=McFarland |first=Melanie |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/tv/267484_tv21.html |title=On TV: 'Stargate SG-1' keeps cruising, despite the light years |newspaper=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |date=April 21, 2006 |access-date=March 21, 2009}}</ref> but the success of ''Stargate SG-1'' put off their plans of ending the show to write a new ''Stargate'' feature film.<ref name=duoefficiency/> Sci Fi cut the length of an ''SG-1'' season from 22 to 20 episodes from Season 8 onwards.

Originally envisioned as a replacement for ''SG-1'', the [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] series ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' began airing in tandem with ''SG-1''{{'s}} eighth season in summer 2004, setting a series record of 3.2 million viewers for ''SG-1'' and a Sci Fi record as most-watched episode of a regular series ever (at the time) for ''Atlantis'' with 4.2 million viewers.<ref name=duoefficiency>{{cite web |last=Littleton |first=Cynthia |url=http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4735235-1.html |title=Duo found portal to sci-fi efficiency |publisher=Entertainment News Wire |date=August 9, 2004 |access-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref> ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' joined the two ''Stargate'' series in January 2005, making Sci Fi the leader among basic cablers on Friday nights over the summer of 2005.<ref name=v_pair/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2004/11/15/sci-fi-opens-the-gates-to-more-adventures/20041115scifi01/ |title=Sci Fi Opens The 'Gates' To More Adventures |website=The Futon Critic |date=November 15, 2004 |access-date=September 26, 2010}}</ref> The producers considered replacing ''Stargate SG-1'' with a new show named ''Stargate Command'' after ''SG-1''{{'}}s eighth season,<ref name=ac_901>{{cite video |people=[[Robert C. Cooper|Cooper, Robert C.]], [[Andy Mikita|Mikita, Andy]] |date=2006 |title=Audio Commentary for "[[Avalon (Stargate SG-1)|Avalon, Part 1]]" |medium= DVD |publisher=[[MGM Home Entertainment]]}}</ref> but the Sci Fi Channel decided to continue ''SG-1'' with a slightly changed cast for a ninth season instead. Season 9's average slipped from 2.4 million viewers in late 2005<ref name=v_pair>{{cite magazine |last=Martin |first=Denise |url=https://variety.com/2005/scene/markets-festivals/sci-fi-picks-up-stargate-pair-1117931513/ |title=Sci Fi picks up 'Stargate' pair |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=October 24, 2005 |access-date=March 26, 2009}}</ref> to 2.1 million viewers with 1.8 household rating during early 2006, which Sci Fi's Mark Stern attributed to the "tech-savvy, toy-loving, time-shifting audience" whose use of digital video recorders excluded them in ratings compilations.<ref name=mcn_200/> Meanwhile, the decline of ''SG-1''{{'s}} 2005–2006 syndication household ratings was consistent with the overall decline in syndicated sci-fi action hours.<ref name=v_swinging/> Sci Fi ordered a record-breaking tenth season of ''SG-1'' in 2005, but announced it would not renew the show for an eleventh season in summer 2006 ''(see [[#Cancellation and future|Cancellation and future]])''. The final ''SG-1'' episode, "[[Unending]]", premiered on [[Sky1]] in the UK on March 13, 2007, and attracted approximately 2.2 million viewers on the Sci Fi Channel on June 22, 2007.<ref name=triumphs>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20070626scifi01 |title=Stargate SG-1's series finale triumphs |website=The Futon Critic |date=June 26, 2007 |access-date=September 26, 2010 |archive-date=June 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612135131/http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20070626scifi01 |url-status=live }}</ref>