When Blast interviewed Michael Shanks last month, we learned that the new, anticipated “Stargate SG-1″ straight-to-DVD movie does not exist yet. That is, it’s not under production as of now. MGM is out of money and for sale, and they own all the rights to Stargate.

Nonetheless, we believe the movie will get made eventually. Stargate remains a popular and potentially profitable franchise.

If a new SG-1 movie is to be, the producers and writers have a high bar set for them. It would likely be the last we ever see of SG-1, and with the uncertainties raised by “Stargate Universe,” and the cancellation of “Atlantis,” this untitled DVD movie might be the last gasp of Stargate as its original fans know it.

Here is what we think the producers should do to make it a success — and a proper sendoff.

1. Create a funeral ceremony for General Hammond. Actor Don S. Davis gave his last media interview to Blast in March 2008, a few months before his death. In the Stargate world, they named a new ship, under the command of Col. Carter, after their beloved General Hammond and acknowledged that he died of a heart attack in the first episode of “Universe.” But Stargate never did anything to remember or commemorate him and the amazing actor who played General George Hammond. The new movie should begin with or feature early on some sort of ceremony, and feature Bra’tac in some way.
2. No time travel or alternate universes. The “SG-1″ episode called “1969″ was the only good time travel story the franchise ever created. Don’t get us started on “Stargate: Continuum.” The new movie should stick to the troubles of modern Earth and the SGC.
3. No religious bad guys. There are ways we could go with a new movie that don’t involve more fake religions. The Lucian Alliance is obviously still a problem.
4. No replicators.
5. Fix the Asgard core. Obviously the Stargate world has only had the gifts of the Asgard for one episode and two movies, and they haven’t done much good with this power and knowledge yet.
6. It’s time to disclose. It’s time to tell everyone about the Stargate. This would be the perfect arc to develop a movie. The people of Earth have been blind to the true nature of the universe for too long, and it’s time to open their eyes. We’re anxious to see how this would play out.
7. Let there be a genuine human conflict. There are a lot of humans in the galaxy. Now that the Goa’uld are wiped out and the Ori are defeated, the humans of the galaxy are going to rebuild. Maybe some “United Nations” style coalition will develop among dozens or even hundreds of worlds. Stargate’s biggest strength was always in its ability to be a “human” drama.
8. Make the movie at least two hours. This 1:40 crap has to go. If you’re going to make a movie, make a feature-length movie. Stargate fans would watch a 2-hour or 2:30 film — and we would watch it over, and over, and over again.
9. Pax Tau’ri. The Tau’ri — Earth — has once again saved the galaxy. This should usher in a Golden Age of sorts. It’s even possible that the new movie could easily be set 10 years in the “future,” which isn’t too hard since SG-1 ended three years ago. Earth can change. We can open with some kind of montage with Hammond’s funeral, and a glance at the team’s victories over the years. Then the people of Earth are told about the Stargate. We spend a few minutes dwelling on that and setting the stage. There will be some panic. Some riots. Then people will calm down. (It’s kinda like when the Red Sox won the World Series in 04). Then we show “Pax Tau’ri,” the period of relative calm. Time goes by. Then we formally start the movie. Get it? It’s opening the door for a clean slate.

What do you think?

If you need more proof that the new “Stargate SG-1″ DVD is never going to get made, here it is: MGM Studios is seeking a buyer. The cash-strapped studio got permission from lenders to skip interest payments on loans through January as it seeks a merger or acquisition, possibly with Fox/News Corp., Time Warner, or Viacom. Rumors about a private equity fund also cropped up, but most reports have it that Lionsgate will come out ahead of a possibly bidding war. The New York Times values MGM at between $1.5 and $3 billion, down from the $5 billion that Comcast, Sony, and venture capitalists spent taking MGM private in 2004.

TBS’s new “The Very Funny Show” will debut November 19 at midnight, featuring stand-up comics talking about life on tour. The show will follow “Lopez Tonight.”

The CW is developing a medical school drama called “HMS.” Word is that Hayden Panettiere will executive produce it.

That’s it today. A worthless Browns/Ravens game is on “Monday Night Football” tonight. Enjoy.

Michael Shanks is an actor, and while it’s easy to get lost in the character he has played on, off and on again for a dozen years, there’s a lot under the surface.

Born in Vancouver and raised in small town British Columbia, Shanks began his acting career playing Charlie Brown in the fourth grade play. He witnessed his first television production in college while taking a beach break from trying out for a play. Ironically, it was “MacGyver” that Shanks saw being filmed, not knowing of course that he would one day star beside Richard Dean Anderson in “SG-1.”

He made his television debut in a 1993 episode of “The Commish,” a popular ABC crime drama. He landed a lot of minor roles before getting his big break on “Stargate SG-1″ in 1997, staring in 196 episodes in the series as an adventurous archeologist named Dr. Daniel Jackson. Since the end of “Stargate SG-1″ in 2007, Shanks, 38, has been trying to remake himself as an actor

“Well its a double-edged sword, I will say this,” Shanks said in his interview with Blast. “The things that come down the pipe, career-wise, that are offers to pay the bills are sort of sci-fi related projects.”

But, humbly, Shanks admits that all he can do is keep trying to land roles — hopefully roles that aren’t nerdy archeologists. “You just have to get back in a line as if you’re starting all over again,” he said.

We saw some of this. Shanks left “SG-1″ after season 5 and landed a few small roles, including two episodes of “Andromeda,” where he met his wife. It’s possible we may never have seen Daniel Jackson again if Shanks was offered another starring role (pure speculation). But Daniel’s was a popular role, and Shanks returned to “Stargate,” first as a guest, and then in his everyday role.

After “Stargate,” Shanks got to show some range by playing a pseudo-villain in the popular USA series “Burn Notice.” He played Victor, a rogue secret agent taking revenge on the shadowy intelligence agency that killed his family. He also recently landed a role that could bring him more into the mainstream by appearing in The CW’s “Smallville,” as comic book hero Hawkman. It’s still in the realm of sci-fi/fantasy, but the show has a wider following.

Still though, we can’t forget what Shanks and the “SG-1″ crew did in making the Sci-Fi/SyFy channel what it is today. A new Stargate show, “Stargate Universe” began this year, even as a rumored “SG-1″ straight-to-DVD movie is on the shelf.

“Stargate Universe” is a much younger, more melodramatic, almost juvenile take on the franchise, and fans are conflicted. Shanks is too, even though he’s slated to appear in at least four episodes this season.

“It is really slick and pretty,” Shanks said. “[But] from what I’ve seen I’m not on board. … I’m not hooked in.”

Shanks said the drama and conflict seems forced. “They’re creating tension, pathos and angst,” he said. “The conflict with the characters seems a bit forced.”

One thing I did not dig deeply into was Shanks’ relationship with Christopher Judge. At the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2008, Judge boasted that he and Shanks started their own production company. We later heard about a production about the archangel Michael. But Shanks said the production company was off. He didn’t discuss his relationship with Judge, and I didn’t press him any further on the matter.

BLAST: So you and Christopher Judge are best buds. You have a production company you’re putting together? What’s happening with you guys?

MICHAEL SHANKS: Yeah. Let’s just say the production company’s not happening anymore, and I’d rather not go down that road and talk about Christopher Judge at this particular junction.

Shanks lives in Vancouver with his wife, the beautiful British-Filipina-Canadian actress Lexa Doig (Jason X), whom he got to work with when she played a doctor in 11 episodes at the end of “SG-1′s” run. She is also known for her sci-fi/fantasy work. The couple has two children, and Shanks has an 11-year-old Daughter, Tatiana, born in 1998 to then girlfriend Vaitiare Bandera, who played Daniel Jackson’s wife, Sha’re on “SG-1.” Shanks also said he’s been known to enjoy a good game of Hockey — like any true Canadian.

Editor’s note: After readers called out Blast — and called us liars — for not including the audio of the Christopher Judge portion of the Michael Shanks interview, we are posting it in the interest in full disclosure. We wouldn’t lie about or improperly quote an actor who agreed to give an interview to Blast.

Wow … more sex drama. Ooo … Scott got caught with the senator’s daughter by his former lover. Why exactly did he stop banging the first girl anyway?

“General Hospital” is on Wednesdays at 3 p.m. on ABC, but that’s not what we’re talking about.

I’ve been holding back so far in my “Stargate Universe” episode reviews. I’m a fan. I keep hoping they’re going to bust out with “the big one,” and everyone is going to be happy.

We noticed later on in the “Stargate SG-1″ and “Atlantis” runnings that the powers that be would put together a fantastic opening plot, fraught with unimaginable danger and peril, only to hastily wrap it up when they ran out of time. We saw this when SG-1 “fought” Ares. How about “Red Alert?” That’s what’s happening so far in “Universe,” only it’s happening at the beginning of the series. And it’s happening on two fronts. The makers are building up this fantastical plot in every episode, complete with certain death. Only each episode spends 40 minutes building up a 5 minute plot. And each episode is building up to what we assume is going to be something, but we’re deeply into the season without any hint of the endgame.

In this episode, “Water,” Lt. Smith (Brian J. Young) nearly dies on an ice planet only to not die. This is maybe the third time this has happened to him.

Oh and an alien bug that may or may not be benevolent was flushed out of the ship via the Stargate. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of that.

And that’s it. That’s all that happened on this week’s episode of “Stargate Universe.” It was 43 minutes of “oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, what are we gonna do?” and no substance. We know little more about the characters, and, frankly, I am starting to care less and less about each one to the point where I’d like to see someone killed off just to make things interesting. Do the producers forget what happened when Daniel Jackson died/ascended to a higher plane of existence on “SG-1?” People went nuts. People created “Save Daniel” websites. People were truly in love with these characters. To a slightly smaller extent, the same applied to the now-abandoned characters on “Atlantis.”

“Universe?” No one gives a shit about these people. Even Ben Browder has a proper introduction to “SG-1″ that made us care about him. And he’s a better actor than anyone on this new show. Even Robert Carlyle is beginning to let down (though, to his credit, it’s mostly the writing that’s making him look bad).

The producers are acting like they have a three-season order in place already from SyFy. All seven episodes have been garbage so far. They have done nothing to build a community feeling for the viewers. In the past two shows — and on any good sci-fi show — the audience is naturally brought in somehow. They feel included. In “Universe” we feel like the outsiders. We’re the nerdy kids watching the high school football game. There are aspects of a good sci-fi series that make people go apeshit and dress up in full-on cosplay costumes — that they make themselves, spending sometimes thousands of dollars on — to attend conventions.

What you never saw, was someone dressing up as their favorite Gilmore Girl. It’s a different fanbase, people.

Sadly, “Universe” fails both as a sci-fi show and a teenage melodrama, because the elements that attract sci-fi fans religiously aren’t there and the writing just sucks.

So we’ll see what happens next week.

Blast will be running a feature-length podcast interview with Michael Shanks. Our readers will recognize Shanks as Daniel Jackson in all those years of “Stargate SG-1.” The interview will be up next week, but we wanted to confirm his appearance on The CW’s “Smallville.”

Shanks will play Hawkman in two episodes, “Society” and “Legends” which he told Blast are due to air in early 2010, possibly January.

The Canadian actor is working on a few other projects, but it wasn’t all good news. Shanks said that the next — and currently untitled — “Stargate SG-1″ movie is “not coming any time soon,” as the DVD market is down and financial issues aren’t making things easy for MGM to green light another Stargate film.

Make sure you read Blast in November. Did we mention we’re doing a Stargate-themed giveaway? Make sure you register an account to be eligible.

This isn’t your older brother’s Stargate.

And for people who have been loyal to Stargate and Sci-Fi Channel and now SyFy, this isn’t our Stargate either.

What’s left is for us to decide if that’s a bad thing or not.

Through the first four episodes? Yeah. It’s a bad thing.

Now we get to the fifth episode of the series. Once again, the crew is facing imminent demise.

Only 15 people will fit aboard a shuttle that can leave the “Destiny” for another planet. The melodrama unfolds but becomes difficult — actually impossible — to believe when half of the main cast of the show is not picked in a lottery to decide those 15 shuttle-mates.

Oh my god, MacGyver, how can you possibly get out of this one??

Of course, they do. Everyone lives to die another day.

The ship was on a collision course with a sun. What happens? Instead of crashing into the sun and dying, the ship’s tiny remaining shield power protects it while the ship flies directly into the sun, which recharges the ship’s power. All is well.

Yay.

This whole experience — after more than a month of episodes — unites this crew of misfits. Now they’re all friends. Or are they? Another cliff hanger at the end of Episode 5: “Light.”

This month has taught us definitively that “Stargate Universe” is absolutely not “Stargate SG-1.” In the second episode of SG-1, the crew was already out visiting new planets and encountering new civilizations. SG-1 and Atlantis were shows about societies and groups of people. Universe is a show about a few people. The main problem so far is that I don’t give a damn about these people. There’s no depth to them, except maybe Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) who is easy to single out as the bad guy or just a pure Machiavellian.

But there’s too much build up and anticipation and not enough performance. Every episode of “Stargate Universe” is prom night with chevrons.

Thinking outside the box here, maybe they should have brought back Ben Browder for this one? Or Joe Flanigan? There’s a lot of inexperience on this show. It’s already written like The CW’s version of Stargate

I’m not saying that we need a new episodic adventure every week. SGU is obviously tied into this main story for survival far from Earth. I get it. All I’m saying is we don’t need an hour to realize that the crew isn’t going to die for the fifth time. Let’s explore a bit. Let’s have some adventures.

The show has two elements that can be used to make a few interspersed episodic adventures work: When the ship stops in a solar system, there’s a ticking clock until it will jump back into “faster than light speed.” The crew can disembark on an adventure. You can leave the ticking clock at the bottom of the screen and let then get into all sorts of mischief, trying to make sure they can get back in time.

You also have a love triangle emerging with Chloe (Elyse Levesque) and the muscular hero Matthew Scott and the lovable nerdy genius Eli. The Stargate overlords skirted (totally ignored) the love triangle in “Stargate Atlantis,” but now you can use it. There are more ways to make drama than “death at every possible turn.”

The show is still getting better ratings than “Dollhouse” though.

Stargate. Check
Explosions. Check
Ori. Check
Ancients. Check
Replicators? Possibly…

The feature-length movie that all Stargate: SG-1 fans have been waiting for is here. After the grandiose ending that left the Asgard in the dust, the Ori possibly finished, and our heroes stepping through to the unknown, this chapter ties up the loose ends once-and-for-all — so don’t worry about any “To Be Continued” showing up.

The movie’s direct-to-DVD format has allowed producers Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright, the opportunity to finish of the Ori story arc mostly the way they intended to.

The DVD also comes stuffed with special features you’ll actually want to watch. There’s everything from a “making of” featurette, to a special Comic-Con Spolight. The cover-art, alone is worth getting it legally and not from P2P networks. Having the golden artwork in your physical DVD collection can really make it seem more like a trophy, than just another movie. Plus, it’s only around $20. Trust me, you’re getting your money’s worth, if not more.

The main film has a Prelude option, which serves as a “previously on…” segment, which is worth watching if you missed a couple of Season 10 episodes. Or, if you just haven’t been watching the Season 10 DVDs lately and you want a refresher course. It highlights where we left off from the TV series, from the time of Mitchell joining the SG:1 to Adria’s ascension, and finally the acquisition of the Asgard technology in the final episode.

I applaud the extended, full orchestra main theme. Jerry Goldsmith has outdone himself again.

SPOILER WARNING

In the opening scene, we get to see the Ancients, but old, benevolent race who built the Stargate system many years ago. Then the movie cuts to Daniel Jackson uncovering an artifact.

It all feels very much like a regular Stargate episode. This time around, theres no teaser. The action quickly vamps up. There are really no introductions per-se, so anyone coming in out of the blue will not know what the hell is going on.

Tomin, who we saw in seaons 9-10, makes his appearance early on, adding to the continuity of the story arc. As a small skirmish over the newly-discovered artifact quickly turns into a surrender, we find that our heroes have again something up their sleeve.

As Mitchell, Carter, Jackson and Teal’c begin their mission after receiving vital Intel, a new appointee from the IOA, James Merek, has his own agenda.

As the problems begin to mount for our team, new avenues of truth and solutions begin to unravel and appear. Sometimes in the form of Ancients, and other times it’s Mitchell’s run-and-gun approach. Carter’s ingenuity is always helpful, especially when seven Ori motherships are alerted the Odessey’s presence.

Teal’c's past makes a wonderful come back, in an emotionally driven dialog between him and Tomin — betraying your false gods. The stakes get even higher when a Prior arrives on Earth with an urgent message.

You will not be disappointed with the conclusion and the aftermath.

It’s too early to tell whether this will lead to more direct-to-DVD movies for SG-1 but one thing’s for sure: This movie makes true legends of the team of SG-1.

5 out of 5 stars

By the way: Due to a reporting error, we incorrectly reported that Jerry Goldsmith made the musicial score for “Stargate: The Ark of Truth,” when in fact it was Joel Goldsmith.

As a thriving, spoiled Generation Y member, spending a few days with my parents in Connecticut over the holidays meant leaving my Wii and my DVR behind in Boston. That left me one night to … gasp … watch live television.

Flipping through the channels, I came to the Sci-Fi Channel, which I respect as a geek but never get to squeeze in between Wii Sports and re-runs of “House.” They were running a “Stargate SG-1″ marathon.

My only previous knowledge of Stargate came from knowing that “Stargate: Atlantis” is on Fox around 3 a.m. Sunday mornings right after M*A*S*H, and I might catch it between Chinese takeout and passing out after a long night.

Well I watched Stargate, and one episode turned into seven, and soon enough it was 2 a.m . and I has just watched most of what I later learned was Season 9 of one of the most popular science fiction television shows ever. It’s based on a realistic fiction take on what they play off as the government-held secret of inter-planetary space travel.

Somehow I had missed this for the last decade or so.

What really took me for a ride was the fact that while the show was wrapped around such complex sci-fi topics as hyperspace and energy weapons, the show was very much about people. And it went into unbelievable character building detail, interpersonal conflict and topics like war, disease, and the misuse of technology.

A little Wikipedia research (which, of course, I verified from a reputable, journalisticly citeable source) revealed that SG-1 was on television for ten years before being sadly clipped, while its spinoff, Stargate Atlantis, was producing its own fifth season. This all came from a 1994 Roland Emmerich film starring Kurt Russell. (Now, two more direct-to-DVD movies are being released to tie up the SG-1 saga, which was canceled right in the middle of a major conflict with an evil alien religion.)

With one of my giftcards (Christmas has been boiled down to giftcards…) I set out to Best Buy to find this film. The “Ultimate Edition” extended cut with all the bells and whistles was a whopping $6.99.

If you want a little bit of history spinning, sci-fi and just damn good writing, check this out.