POLICE DEPT DASHCAM VIDEO of ECW WRESTLERS being found in POSSESSION of ILLEGAL DRUGS

WWE and NBC SciFi channel ECW Wrestlers

caught transporting by Police, 

with illegal Drugs


As Reported all over the news July of 06 9:49 PM CDT

Two wrestlers from ECW Extreme Championship Wrestling on GE General Electric Corporation NBC SCI FI Channel and WWE World Wrestling Entertainment were caught and arrested by police on drug possession charges after they were pulled over by the Ohio State Highway Patrol for speeding Sunday.

Terry Michael Brunk, aka Sabu, (fake name Sabu, real name Terry Michael Brunk - no wonder he uses a fake name?) also a former ECW wrestler and Robert Alex Szatowski, aka WWE ECW wrestler Rob Van Dam, (fake name Rob Van Dam, real name Robert Szatowski ) , were spotted by police on US Highway 52 near the city of Hanging Rock Sunday evening. Police pulled over the two perpetrators at around 10pm at night allegedly speeding down the highway in the vicinity of Patrick Street

The two SciFi Channel ECW and NBC WWE Wrestlers ostensibly were coming from their recent show at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena which had concluded earlier. The OHIO STATE HIGHWAY PATROL reports that the driver (Robert Alex Szatowski aka Rob Van Dam) was pulled over for exceeding the speed limit

POLICE detected the odor of drugs, when they sidled up to the vehicle, and this provided cause to conduct a search wherein Police Officers discovered the Sci-Fi channel wrestlers saddled with a number of pills and illegal banned substances. This included 18 grams of pot (marijuana) and 5 prescription medication pain pills often used for their influential effects, later determined to be Vicodin, and drug user periphernalia.

Police Troopers reported that ECW Wrestler Terry Brunk (clown name "SABU") was immediately charged with 3rd DEGREE Drug Possession, and also possession of drug paraphernalia. The heavyweight Sci-Fi channel ECW drug possessor in addition was found with 9 more drug doses which were known by the police to be controlled substances.

Both ECW wrestling perpetrators were charged, cited, and arrested for having drugs. At the scene oth immediately attempted to post a bond. The 3rd degree drug charged SciFi channel Wrestler Robert A. Szatowski (Clown name "Rob Van Dam") is slated to appear to perform his act Tuesday night for the WWE and SCI FI CHANNEL ECW fake wrestling "Titles" during the "Extreme Rules Match" which is associated with GE Corporation's NBC Universal, and contracted by Mark Stern to be affiliated with the Sci Fi channel. The heavyweight drug carrying wrestler is also slated to do his pretend wrestling act on WWE Raw fake wrestling tonight.



Michael Brunk ( whose clown name is Sabu ), who was also arrested in possession of illegal drugs is also affiliated with NBC Universal SciFi channel's ECW organization. It is unknown whether Rob Van Dam performs on tv under the influence of drugs. And unknown if Michael Brunk (his indian name?) was under the influence of controlled substances when he posted his hometown was Mumbai, India on the WWE Web site, when other sites report Terry Michael Brunk as being from DETROIT, in the "far off country" of Michigan.





Drug possessor and SciFi channel ECW Wrestler Rob Van Dam shown giving the high sign as he poses as an icon for some kids.


Apparently NBC Universal SciFi channel overlooks illegal drug possession charges as much as they overlook the fact that wrestling is not science fiction, or selling out in desperation to get ratings wins over honor because Mark Stern & Bonnie Hammer of Sci Fi channel despite public knowledge of the perpetrators being arrested in possession of drugs, have re-upped and continue to air the phony wrestling act on the channel meant for science fiction movies. But this news may provide a clue as to why wrestling has been put onto the SciFi channel if certain people involved in it are in possession of substances which meant to take them on little trips "out of this world". And it is highly unknown what the people who made decision to put the show onto the sci fi channel had affecting their thinking at the time that they thought, "hey, I know! Let's put wrestling onto the channel meant for science fiction!", but one thing is for sure, some thinking there was definitely spaced out.




Scifi Channel ECW Wrestlers (whose action figures are purchased by children) everywhere posed in a Mock ECW cover inside the magazine named "High Times" which is a magazine for people who enjoy reading material about drug use.

Both SciFi channel heavyweight drug possessors Sabu and Rob van Dam were required to appear at the Ironton Municipal Courthouse at 10 a.m. Thursday to face the illegal drug charges. 
 

###

FOR NEWS REPORTING, JOURNALISM, PARODY, CRITUQUE, FAIRUSE under Section 109 FL-102

NBC. maybe forsale soon??

NBC UNIVERSAL is the LOSER in the Nielsen Ratings again.

- Fox's American Idol again as usual.
- ABC's Lost beats struggling CSI: New York
- NBC UNIVERSAL is the lowest Nielsen ratings Loser.

FOX
#1 Fox finished in first place for the evening with a 15.4/24 household rating, 26.40 million total viewers and a 10.0/26 rating among adults 18-49.

Last Week:
Households - 11.3/18 rating [#1]
Viewers - 18.51 million [#1]
Adults 18-49 - 6.9/18 rating [#1]

Winning show: American Idol

CBS
#2 CBS followed in second place for the evening with a 6.4/10 household rating and 9.54 million viewers, but was third among adults 18-49 with a 2.6/7 rating.

Last Week:
Households - 6.4/10 rating [#2]
Viewers - 9.79 million [#2]
Adults 18-49 - 2.8/7 rating [#3]

Winning Shows: Jericho, Criminal Minds, CSI

ABC
#3. ABC finished in third place for the evening with a 4.4/7 household rating and 6.87 million viewers, but was able to manage a second place finish among adults 18-49 with a 2.7/7 rating in the key demo.

Last Week:
Households - 4.8/8 rating [#3]
Viewers - 7.41 million [#3]
A18-49 - 3.0/8 rating [#2]

Winning Shows: LOST, According to Jim, Notes from the Underbelly

NBC
4. NBC followed in fourth place out of 4 for the evening with a 4.0/6 household rating, 5.98 million viewers and a 1.9/5 rating among adults 18-49.

Last Week:
Households - 4.4/7 rating [#4]
Viewers - 6.63 million [#4]
A18-49 - 2.2/6 rating [#4]

Shows: ThankGod You're Here

At this critical renewal time was NBC's Law & Order got a disappointing 7.42 million viewers and a 1.8/ 5 among adults 18-49.

Despite being actually in last place NBC is still releasing press releases to their tv commercial advertisers and corporate media buyers on their nbcmv.com nbc media village website claiming that they are doing well.

NBC in last place out of all the major tv networks. 05 03 07

Advertisers that went for 3rd rate media buys on NBC are:
Burger King, Taco Bell, Vonage, Stride Gum, Planters Peanuts, Geico, Amex, Volvo cars, Sprint/Nextel, The Scooter Store, Dawn Dishwashing liquid, Netflix, Sonic, BestBuy, WWF fake wrestling.

Since these companies listed chose media buys on the losing network, one might surmise that these companies' products did not rate high enough to be on the top quality networks ABC, or CBS, but instead landed on the losing channel.

The  Pea Cock  is still the TV Nielsen ratings Loser.

Despite denials to the press that NBC was going to be put up for sale, ex NBC CEO Robert Wright revealed that indeed there were talks many times regarding proposals to just sell off the NBC network from GE.

General Electric Corporation owns NBC Universal. NBC owns the Sci fi channel and scifi.com

If NBC is sold off, Sci Fi channel & scifi.com will probably get Dumped from GE along with it.

NBCU, SciFi, Mark Stern fiasco kills BSG web episodes.

( BSG's Director vows not to make any more for NBCU Sci Fi channel )




( The next show you'll be seeing less of, due to NBC Sci Fi ? )


Think Battlestar Galactica is secure and sound from cancellation by Mark Stern & NBC Scifi Channel? BSG fans are beginning to unite with fans of STARGATE, in realizing that the Sci fi channel and Mark Stern are indeed raking everyone over the coals and action needs to be done about it before it's too late.

In fact, all the millions of fans of All the great science fiction shows, Farscape, Stargate, BSG, Star Trek Voyager, and even corporate business people, stockholders, advertisers, and media industry people are uniting together against Mark Stern and NBCU Sci Fi channel.

Actions by NBC Universal Sci Fi channel Mark Stern have now resulted in all Battlestar Galactica web episodes being seized. And BSG's director halting delivery of any more online episodes for fans.

"Ron Moore may not make any more Battlestar Galactica web episodes"

Posted Oct 18th 2006 7:05AM by Richard Keller
[Television, NBC Universal, Battlestar Galactica, Mark Stern, Sci Fi channel, Stargate SG-1]

Waiting for new Battlestar Galactica webisodes on SciFi.com?

Well, you may be waiting for a long time because executive producer Ron Moore said he won't be delivering any more of them, including the ten episodes that have already been completed.

Why?

Because SciFi's parent company, NBC Universal, is being a bit tight with the purse strings.

NBC Universal executives are witholding residuals and credit from the writers of the BSG webisodes, claiming that the three-minute episodes are 'promotional materials'.

When Moore heard this he halted delivery [of all Battlestar Galactica BSG webisodes].

In turn, NBC Universal seized the webisodes and filed charges of unfair labor practices with the Writers Guild of America. The WGA then went back to Moore and told him not to deliver any more Internet content until their was a residual deal. [for Moore, against NBC Universal]

Last month, nearly six million people streamed BSG episodes within two days of the premiere. Compare that to the 2.2 million people who watched the third-season premiere of the show. This goes to show that the Internet is beginning to draw more and more television viewers into its gaping maw, and that the industry is going to need to work together with the WGA to determine the best course of action.

NEWS SOURCE:
http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/10/18/ron-moore-may-not-make-any-more-battlestar-galactica-webisodes/
distributed under FairUse for purposes of NEWS JOURNALISM EDUCATION AND/OR CRITIQUE
USCO S109 FL-102

IMPORTANT NOTE:

All the while NBC is whining and complaining about paying for things, pretending to be a poor mouth, NBC Universal just paid over a HALF A BILLION DOLLARS to purchase 1 web site. It's Called i village. Which you may or may not have heard of. It is a womans issues website that posts things such as on how women are supposed to hold their boyfriend's _ while giving ora___. You get the idea. We kid you not, this is infact an actual topic that women are told by NBC's site that they are supposed to follow there. They spent 600 million dollars on a website. One that probably is worth only 6K. But that's where half a billion dollars went to, instead of your shows.

In the meantime, NBC snubs paying people for actual work that they did, and for shows (which they should pay for because NBC bilks a ton of advertising revenue off of all the shows you like (before cancelling them on you), and a whole team of people did the work for them.) Everyone in the industry, and also viewers are beginning to avoid Sci Fi channel, and anything to do with NBC Universal.

The network is in last place, their ratings are now struggling, and they are sinking all the good shows left & right with bad management decisions. Stockholders and wallstreet is taking notice and NBC has started to lose advertisers and profits and is now dragging down parent company GE corporation, which was otherwise profitable. The CEO of NBC was also recently fired in February of this year. Indicative of bad management at the top, but probably also all the way down and at all levels. People are taking notice and rising up to take action, faxing, writing and emailing the channels, the networks, and jeff.immelt@corporate.ge.com the CEO of GE, owner of all of it, and expressing their opinions on all of this.)

Details and more info on this are on www.THESUPERGATE.com
GO there to that website and see the behind-the-scenes information on Battlestar Galactica and Stargate SG-1.

STARGATE SG-1 takes 1st PLACE among Viewers in TV.COM SURVEY!

Stargate SG-1 beat several other amazingly popular shows in a recent TV.com poll regarding the return of which television show people most anticipated. Stargate SG-1 rated higher than The 4400, Stargate rated higher than KYLE XY, and Stargate beat out the sopranos and its sister show for the highest spot.

See more details and some new exciting behind-the-scenes news from the crew, at www.THESUPERGATE.com

Check this URL:

http://www.tv.com/index.php?type=29&action=vote&poll_id=58203&choice_id=5

VOTE:

QUESTION
"Which show's return are you most looking forward to?"

Winning Results! as of today:

Stargate SG-1............. 22%   1,605
The Sopranos..............20%   1,493
Entourage.....................18%   1,350
Kyle XY..........................16%   1,203
The 4400..................... 16%   1,193
Stargate Atlantis........... 7%......484

Total Votes: 7,328

IF YOU WANT TO VOTE, GO NOW!

Vote for SG-1 here:
http://www.tv.com/index.php?type=29&action=vote&poll_id=58203&choice_id=5

Sci Fi channel recently lost the chance to air Stargate SG-1 and now MGM has announced not just 2, but an ongoing series of STARGATE SG-1 MOVIES! Given that the sales of the DVD's for STARGATE are impressively strong. Another loss for Sci Fi channel, whose nielsen ratings have been poor for the channel since they have cancelled most of their major Flagship Shows and decided to air questionable shows like ECW fake wrestling. The separation of the higher quality STARGATE SG-1 away from cheesy NBC SciFi channel is WIN for MGM who is now championing the show, and a definite WIN for fans the world over.

NBC has been struggling in the nielesen ratings for several years and is in last place, 4th out of 4 out of the television networks. And they just laid off 700 people, and NBC was the network on which were said the recent racial comments in the IMUS controversy. NBC, which sci fi channel is also a part of, aired IMUS's show.

Meanwhile MGM has just given STARGATE an infusion of $7 million more dollars for production, and the crew is in the ARCTIC right now filming scenes for the 1st of the two new movies!

PHOTOS of the Crew are at THESUPERGATE!

###

STARGATE SG-1 #1 in Nielsen RATINGS, now in GUINESS BOOK of World Records for the LONGEST running Science Fiction Show in US History, Shown in over 120 COUNTRIES World Wide.

Stargate SG-1 is now being firmly backed by MGM, given a brand new $7 million dollar infusion of cash, will produce 2 new Stargate SG-1 movies, that have just begun filming at the North Pole at the US NAVY military base in the ARCTIC, and work has begun on a 3rd TV Series!

Stargate 200
Science-Fiction Series 'SG-1' Is Cable's First to Reach Historic Milestone
[Longest running Science Fiction show in US History!]

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6332083.html">http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6332083.html>http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6332083.html
By Mary McNamara
5/8/2006

In this story:

MILESTONE POINTS:
- STARGATE'S IN THE RECORD BOOKS!
- STARGATE SHOWN IN 120 COUNTRIES
- CAST & CREW IS LIKE A FAMILY
- STARGATE DRAWING 2.5M VIEWERS IN NIELSEN RATINGS
- NO TALK OF DEATH, NOT OF STARGATE ANYWAY, MAYBE DEATH of troubled SCI FI channel instead.
- MGM's BACKING STARGATE FULL FORCE. MOST IMPORTANT ASSET UP THERE with JAMES BOND.

Vancouver, B.C.- "I have to go blow up a planet!" declares Amanda Tapping with glee as she bursts from the door of Bridge Studios/Stage Six here, where Sci Fi Channel is shooting scenes for episode 200 of Stargate SG-1.

For 10 seasons, Tapping has inhabited the role of Samantha Carter, the Air Force colonel and physicist with girl-next-door charm who delivers bewildering strings of technobabble and carries a torch for her commanding officer. (In the fannish vernacular of the Internet it's called UST, or Unresolved Sexual Tension. Think Moonlighting, Frasier or The X-Files.)

It's starting to drizzle, so Tapping commandeers a golf cart and volunteers to chauffeur fellow cast member, newbie Claudia Black (of Sci Fi's former series Farscape), who hops in to ride shotgun. The contrast is striking - the long, dark-haired Black and the blonde, blue-eyed Tapping. Someone else offers to drive but Tapping shoos them away. "I know how to operate this thing," she says, then grins and races off.

Despite grey skies, the mood on set is understandably jubilant and relaxed.

IT'S IN THE BOOKS
Stargate SG-1 has entered the television record books. According to Los Angeles Museum of Television and Radio Library Supervisor Martin Gostanian, it is now the "longest-running, scripted, made-for-cable television series in U.S. broadcasting history."

Its formula for success, according to the producers, includes likeable actors. Executive producer Michael Greenburg, the former MacGyver show-runner, called the chemistry between the four original leads "as serendipitous as I've ever had in a casting involvement."

Other factors are: movie-like production values, long-term stability in the show's leadership, the stargate itself as an iconic prop and a mythologically rich premise that allows for varied storylines.

In the first quarter of 2006, the show averaged 3.3 million viewers per new original episode on Friday night. The producers say another 3 million viewers watch reruns in syndication on weekend afternoons.

Stargate SG-1 is Sci Fi Channel's workhorse. Airing at 8 p.m., the series leads off the network's key "Sci Fi Friday" primetime block of originals, reliably shuttling viewers to spin-off Stargate: Atlantis at 9 and onward to the channel's flagship, Battlestar Galactica, at 10.

The 200th, a collaborative effort penned by the team of all seven writers, is an homage to fans of every stripe. If they've ever wished upon a Stargate, it's likely covered in this script - a two-hanky ceremony brings Walter, the Gate Guy (the minor but beloved character who operates the stargate), to tears, and **** romances finally bloom.

The spontaneous antics are led by Stargate's venerable pied piper, star and former executive producer Richard Dean Anderson (Captain Jack O'Neill).

After a one-year hiatus, Anderson returns to the show for No. 200 and one additional guest appearance. (He's also slated to appear in an upcoming three-episode Atlantis arc.)

On another set, a scene is being shot on one of the 10 stages occupied by the series. While someone pats down Claudia Black's braids, Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson) and Ben Browder (Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell) stomp and dance a little hokey pokey to break the tedium.

It can only be safely reported (without repercussions from NBC Universal) that longtime cast member Chris Judge, a former All-America football player at the University of Oregon who plays the alien warrior Teal'c, is slathered head to toe in silver body paint. And little else.

It's Bravo Take Two, then Bravo Take Three. Between takes the crew can be heard over the ComTeks (wireless headsets that transmit stage dialog and crew instructions), muttering their own opinion of Judge's costume: "Now that's some codpiece."

During a lull, Frank Sinatra's "The Way You Look Tonight" streams over the headsets.

"Some day, when I'm awfully low,

When the world is cold,

I will feel a glow just thinking of you ...

And the way you look tonight."

Tapping laughs, "We're jumping sharks all over the place today."

She said she's enjoying season 10 immensely, after a numbing season nine - a year of returning to the set only weeks after giving birth to her daughter, feeding on demand, and oftentimes finding herself up at 4 a.m., memorizing her famously complex lines.

Tapping is savoring a spotlight that rarely shines on the long-running series. The relative obscurity seems a little unfair: Stargate SG-1 has sold more than 30 million individual DVDs units worldwide and is said by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. to be second in its stable only to the James Bond theatrical-film series. (MGM declines to disclose the Bond sales figures.)

IN 120 COUNTRIES
The show is syndicated to Fox's owned-and-operated television stations, airs in more than 120 countries and is dubbed or subtitled in multiple languages. The franchise has spawned comic books, novels, board games and other merchandise, and an online game is in production that will let multiple players travel through galaxies as stargate explorers. An episode-download deal, via Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes service, is currently being negotiated.

The producers credit Stargate SG-1 and sister series Stargate: Atlantis (heading into its third season) with generating more than $500 million U.S. for the British Columbia economy to date. MGM now spends $75 million per year to make both shows.

Only a handful of scripted series launched since 1990 - broadcast or cable - have toughed it out to 200 installments. Among them are Fox's animated workhorse The Simpsons (often quoted by SG-1 character Jack O'Neill) and X-Files (which SG-1 will surpass in longevity after episode 202), as well as NBC's ER. Gostanian pegs that number at fewer than 20.

Standing in front of the 21-foot-tall stargate prop on the set, immediately following a celebratory gathering and cake-cutting, is Sony Pictures Television executive vice president of programming Jeanie Bradley, a 30-year veteran who started out at Norman Lear's Tandem T.A.T. production company. (SPT oversees production.)

Stargate SG-1 came under her auspices after MGM was sold last year to a consortium led by Sony, Comcast Corp. and several private-equity firms. The largest single shareholder is Providence Equity Partners, which specializes in media and communications investments (including cable operator Bresnan Communications and the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network), followed by Texas Pacific Group, known for investments in such branded companies as Continental Airlines and J. Crew. Comcast and Sony are strategic shareholders in MGM, owning 20% each.

Bradley reflects on the difficulties these days of launching and sustaining a series. One of her shows was ABC's Emily's Reason's Why Not, arguably the most infamous broadcast-network example of a speed-of-light cancellation (ABC aired only one episode, in 2006).

"ABC spent $6 million on promotion," she lamented. "It's a shame. But competition is so great and there's such a need for the networks to go out of the gate big."

She didn't say so, but even basic-cable shows sometimes get pulled after only a few airings. Stargate SG-1's achievement in this environment "is stunning," she said.

Mark Stern, Sci Fi Channel's executive vice president of original programming, having flown up from Los Angeles for the ceremony, drags a folding chair over to a quiet corner and away from the crush of press orbiting SG-1's cast.

'IT'S A FAMILY
"I think what Stargate, and similar shows that last this long, [have] is a family that you want to see every week and invite into your living room," Stern said. "It sounds a little corny, but ultimately it really comes down to that. It's all about great storytelling with characters you love."

Thirty crew and cast members on hand for the pilot 10 years ago still work on the production. The original core cast - Amanda Tapping, Chris Judge, Michael Shanks and Richard Dean Anderson - remain on the show, though Shanks and Anderson both took a hiatus from their roles.

Stargate SG1 left Showtime, its original home, after five seasons and 110 episodes aired.

(In 2001, when the show was being phased out, then-Showtime programming chief Jerry Offsay told Multichannel News: "Although the audience is still there for it, it's not helping us draw new subscribers in the door when the show is available in syndication and [will be] on Sci Fi.")

Untroubled by premium-channel considerations, Sci Fi aired the show after acquiring it in 2002. It paired season-six episodes with existing space-adventure drama Farscape (later canceled) on Friday nights and kicked off a high-octane media campaign.

Sci Fi also aired previous seasons of SG-1 in a four-episode "stack" on Monday nights, introducing the primetime basic-cable audience to the show's mythology and characters and herding them to first-run originals on Fridays nights.

DRAWING 2.5M VIEWERS
By the start of season nine (in the third quarter of 2005), the show's following had grown to where it was averaging 2.5 million viewers per episode, a 2.1 household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research figures. It dipped about 14% in the ratings in the first quarter of 2006 versus first quarter 2005, primarily during the February 2006 sweeps period. (In winter 2006, the show averaged a 1.8 household rating and 2.1 million total viewers.)

But by the March finale toward the end of 2006's first quarter, ever-resilient SG1 had rebounded to its normal 2.0 rating level.

In any case, Sci Fi was the No. 1 cable network for the advertiser-desired 18-to-49 age group in SG1's timeslot, Fridays from 8 to 9 p.m., for the 10 weeks the program aired in the quarter.

Stern believes some of the show's tech-savvy, toy-loving, time-shifting audience gets missed in ratings compilations. "Part of it is the DVR," he explains, citing digital video recording devices. "Nielsen's sampling is not representative of the larger universe yet. They're sampling 3% and the larger [DVR] universe is something like 10 to 13%."

In February, Variety reported that the NBC broadcast network's ratings woes are filtering across to the NBC Universal-owned cable networks, and that such cable properties as USA Network, Bravo and Sci Fi are being pressured to favor NBC Universal Television Studios-produced content, thereby keeping revenue in-house. This new reality is said to be one factor among several working against the continued life of another underappreciated cable workhorse, The Dead Zone, a Lionsgate-produced show (in association with Paramount) on USA.

Stargate SG-1 is a mature series and production costs continue to mount: it's budgeted for at least $2 million U.S. per episode. Tax breaks remain in place, but the costs advantages of filming in Vancouver have evaporated due to unfavorable exchange rates.

Asked how these factors weigh on the future for Stargate SG-1 (owned and financed by MGM), Stern is emphatic. "There's absolutely zero, never, any pressure from anybody - and I'll tell you this straight - to make a decision on a show based on whether it's [an NBC Universal] project at all. Period. We and Bonnie Hammer have full latitude to do what she thinks she needs to do and what we think is best for our air."

"This show has always had budgetary challenges," he continues. "This show has always been trying to do and achieve so much more than it was budgeted to do. [Show runners Brad Wright and Rob Cooper] have shown themselves particularly adept at squeezing every dime out of that Canadian dollar."

Stern says MGM actually has budgeted more for the show (and, in so doing, increased the gap between the show's actual cost and the license fee Sci Fi pays, a deficit the studio figures to regain later from syndication airings, DVD sales and other sources). He also points out that the studio paid to bring in additional big-name cast members Black, Browder and Beau Bridges.

NO TALK OF DEATH
Chatter about striking the Stargate SG-1 sets any time soon has thankfully died down. Four years ago, Cooper wrote the last season-six episode as the series finale, certain the production was destined to wrap.

Instead, Sci Fi reupped, and ratings grew. Stargate SG-1 cannot continue indefinitely, in Cooper's view.

"The economics of producing a show make it impossible," he warns. "The simple fact is that salaries go up incrementally as seasons continue. At some point, it just reaches the place where there's no profit to be made."

But MGM has big plans. Executive vice president Charles Cohen (see related story) says MGM "intends" to develop a theatrical movie "derived from the series over the last 10 years" that would ideally "dovetail" into a third Stargate television show.

Theatricals would "not in any way impair" SG1's television run, he asserts. He believes it's possible for three Stargate series to air concurrently, not unlike the Law & Order franchise. "If you look at SG-1 - with bringing in Claudia [Black], Ben [Browder] and Beau [Bridges] - we've retooled the series with it still being SG-1. I'd like to see SG-1 go another 10 years. I love the show. I'd like to keep it on forever and keep adding to it."

"It's very ambitious," Cohen admits, then chuckles. "Brad and Rob will cringe."

MGM's a Big Fan, Too
Stargate SG-1 is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.'s new best friend, if you gauge it by the enthusiasm expressed by studio executive vice president Charles Cohen.

Since MGM's sale to an investment group last year, the sci-fi franchise has become "much more important to MGM than it had been viewed before the sale," according to Cohen, who said wasn't actively involved with the show until the studio's new ownership came in.

"Stargate on the television side represents the same type of dynamic franchise [as the James Bond movies] for us," Cohen says. "It's enormously important both in terms of what it contributes financially but also what it does for our image."

These days, MGM co-produces films with Sony, so it ends up owning only 50% (at most) of what's produced. "We really aren't making a whole lot of new product that we own and finance 100%," Cohen explains. "But Stargate we own and finance 100%, and we're very supportive of it. We're putting more money into the shows. It's very important to us that this series not only continue but maintain or exceed the quality of what came before. For instance, we're putting Richard Dean Anderson back in the show. We felt it was great for the fan base. That required some money that we hadn't budgeted, but we were very happy to spend."

Stargate SG-1 helps keep the MGM name "in front of millions," Cohen says. "And it helps drive other MGM products. It opens a lot of doors. People want to meet with you. It's a quality product they need to have."

-Mary McNamara 
Source: Multichannel News

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