Amazon Prime Video, like every other one of the best streaming services out there that isn't called Apple TV, is playing catch-up when it comes to sci-fi. Apple has cornered this part of the market so superbly that it can feel like all the other streamers are just also-rans, making new announcements and projects basically necessities right now.
So, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that Prime Video has indeed made quite a large-scale announcement about its plans for sci-fi streaming TV, confirming the return of a truly beloved and long-running show of yore – Stargate.
The series, which in fact comprised a few different iterations (with the most well-known being Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis) imagines what might happen if humanity's entryway to the stars came in the form of seemingly ancient teleports that can transport them to far-flung worlds.
It was very much a direct competitor against the likes of Star Trek's various TV iterations, with The Next Generation often being concurrent with it. That show arguably won the war in terms of viewership, but Stargate still managed to attract a huge following, many of whom have likely been praying that it would return at some point.
Now those prayers are being answered, although from the sounds of it we still have quite a long time to wait before we're actually able to watch the new show. In a bit of a departure from the world of teasers and production stills, Amazon's announcement takes the form of a short panel discussion between some people who've run fan-sites for the show and the new showrunners.
They confirm that this isn't a reboot, so we can probably expect some story continuity rather than a totally fresh slate. That said, Prime Video will doubtless want to widen the audience to new viewers, so you can probably expect it to make sense if you've never seen an episode of the original.
There hasn't been any new Stargate on our screens since 2011, so this has been a long time coming, from one point of view. The other approach might make it look like streaming has run out of ideas a little, but that's probably a bit harsh. When we eventually get a trailer, we'll be able to know more about what Amazon's plans are for this major new sci-fi project.
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