Stargate Atlantis (season 1)

infobox tvseason
season_name=Stargate Atlantis Season 1


caption=Region 1 DVD cover art
dvd_release_date=Region 1: November 15, 2005 Region 2: March 13, 2006 Region 4: November 16, 2005
country=USA, CAN
network=Sci Fi Channel
first_aired=July 16, 2004 (Sci Fi Channel)
last_aired=January 31, 2005 (The Movie Network)
num_episodes=20
next_season=Season 2|

Season one of "Stargate Atlantis", an American-Canadian television series, began airing on July 16, 2004 on the US-American Sci Fi Channel. The first season concluded after 20 episodes on January 31, 2005 on the Canadian The Movie Network. The series was developed by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, who also served as executive producers. Season one regular cast members include Joe Flanigan, Torri Higginson, Rainbow Sun Francks, Rachel Luttrell, and David Hewlett as Dr. Rodney McKay.

Main cast

* Joe Flanigan as Major John Sheppard
* Torri Higginson as Dr. Elizabeth Weir
* Rainbow Sun Francks as First Lieutenant Aiden Ford
* Rachel Luttrell as Teyla Emmaganand
* David Hewlett as Dr. Rodney McKay

Episodes

Production

* For "Rising", the Pemberton Glacier in British Columbia doubles for Antarctica during the opening flying sequence. [cite book | last = Gosling | first = Sharon | authorlink = Sharon Gosling | title = Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion Season 1 | origdate = | origyear = 2005 | origmonth = July | publisher = Titan Books | location = London | id = ISBN 1-84576-116-2 | pages = 26 | chapter = Rising (I)]
* Simon, Elizabeth's fiancé in "Rising" and "Home", was played by Garwin Sanford, who had previously played Narim on "Stargate SG-1".
* Mario Azzopardi makes his return to the Stargate franchise in "Thirty-Eight Minutes". He had the distinctive honor of directing the pilot episode of Stargate SG-1, Children of the Gods. This is his first time directing an episode of the franchise since the Season 1 Episode "Cor-Ai." Mario Azzopardi (as of December 2006) has only directed Season 1 Episodes of both SG-1 and Atlantis.
* "Thirty-Eight Minutes" is the only episode in both SG-1 and Atlantis to actually occur in real-time; between the opening of the Stargate and the resolution, 38 minutes of screentime do occur.
* Courtenay J. Stevens, who appears in "Childhood's End", originally played the role of Lieutenant Elliot in "Stargate SG-1", appearing in the Season 5 episodes Proving Ground, Summit and Last Stand.
* Writer Martin Gero compared Ares in "Childhood's End" to a villain in The Incredibles. In the scene of the final confrontation with Major Sheppard, he begins "monologuing," which is a key feature of villains in the film. [DVD commentary for "Childhood's End"]
* *The dog that appears in Dr. Weir's illusion in "Home" is actually owned by actress Torri Higginson who plays her. [cite news |title = SFX profile: Torri Higginson |work = SFX magazine # 128 |publisher = Future Publishing |pages = 36 |date = 2005-03-16]
* Michael Puttonen, who plays Smeadon in "The Storm", first appeared in the second season of Stargate SG-1 as Simian, the blind prisoner in the episode "Prisoners."
* "The Defiant One" was filmed at the Richmond sand dunes. [cite news |title = Stargate Atlantis: Season One, Part II |work = TV Zone Special #61 |publisher = Visual Imagination |pages = 83 |date = 2005]
* Richard Ian Cox, who appeared in "The Defiant One", previously appeared in the season 3 Stargate SG-1 episode New Ground as Nyan.
* "Letters from Pegasus" is is the first clip show episode of "Stargate Atlantis". The title of this episode was inspired by the 1987 PBS TV documentary "". [cite news |title = Stargate Atlantis: Season One, Part II |work = TV Zone Special #61 |publisher = Visual Imagination |pages = 86 |date = 2005] This is Samantha Carter's first appearance on "Stargate Atlantis". At the end of the episode, she and Sergeant Harriman are briefly shown at Stargate Command when they receive the data burst from Atlantis.
* A deleted scene from Part two of "The Siege" showed Sora being returned to the Genii as part of their deal for the nuclear weapons, but this was cut due to time constraints. Being cut, it is unclear if the event occurred or if Sora may still be being held.

Cultural references

* "The Defiant One" is the first time McKay refers to Sheppard as "Captain Kirk" which is a recurring joke in the series. It refers to Sheppard's protective nature to the puddle jumpers and his tendency to pick up on alien women.
* In the continuing list of references in Stargate to "The Wizard of Oz", McKay mentions in "Sanctuary" to "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain", a reference to the Emerald Wizard of the story. He also compares Sheppard's actions with Chaya to Captain Kirk, continuing the links between Stargate and Star Trek.

DVD releases

*Only the Region one DVD contains a commentary for "Thirty-Eight Minutes".

Reception

"Rising" is strongest episode to date gaining a 3.2 on the Nielson Ratings. Fact|date=September 2007 "The Brotherhood" received ratings of 2.3 when it initially aired on Sci Fi. [ [http://www.gateworld.net/atlantis/s1/ratings.shtml Atlantis Season 1 ratings] ]

Awards

* "Rising" was nominated for a Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Production Design". [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374455/awards "Stargate: Atlantis" (2004) - Awards ] ]
* "Childhood's End" was the only Stargate franchise episode directed by SciFi veteran David Winning. It won three international awards for directing; New York, Chicago and Houston.
* For "Poisoning The Well", Paul McGillion was nominated for a Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Supporting Performance by a Male", and Allison Hossack was nominated for a Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Supporting Performance by a Female".)
* "The Storm" was nominated for a Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Overall Sound". David Nykl (Zelenka) was nominated for a Leo in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Supporting Performance by a Male".
* "The Eye" was nominated for a Gemini Award in the category "Best Visual Effects", was nominated for a Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Picture Editing", and won a Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Visual Effects".
* For "The Defiant One", director Peter DeLuise was nominated for a Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Direction" and in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Screenwriting".
* "Before I Sleep" was nominated for a Gemini Award in the category "Best Achievement in Make-Up".
* For "The Brotherhood", writer Martin Gero was nominated in the category "Best Writing in a Dramatic Series".

References

External links

* [http://www.gateworld.net/atlantis/s1/index.shtml Season 1] on GateWorld
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374455/episodes#season-1 Season 1] on IMDb
* [http://www.tv.com/stargate-atlantis/show/11415/episode.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabssh&tag=tabs;episodes Season 1] on TV.com
* on Wikia