1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,035 (narrator) From the team behind the series The Outer Limits... 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:10,756 ..comes one of the most popular sci-fi series ever to hit television. 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:12,757 ..Stargate SG-1. 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:15,553 All right, listen up! We're pressed for time here,... 5 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,274 ..so this has to serve as your mission briefing. 6 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,436 This is search and rescue. 7 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,233 (narrator) lnspired by the blockbuster movie,... 8 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,557 ..executive producers Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner... 9 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:31,071 ..were determined to turn Stargate into a hit television show. 10 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,476 We both knew that MGM had Stargate in their library... 11 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,639 ..and neither of us talked to each other about this. 12 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,149 We each went to the president of MGM and said... 13 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,875 ..''You have this Stargate thing that would make a great TV series.'' 14 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,834 lt couldn't have worked out better. We wrote the two-hour together. 15 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,794 Neither of us usually write with a partner, but it worked out very well. 16 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,151 (narrator) Richard Dean Anderson signed on to play Jack O'Neill. 17 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,317 The producers needed to cast a strong ensemble of actors... 18 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,000 ..to ensure the series' success. 19 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:06,272 We narrowed it down from looking at probably, l don't know,... 20 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,436 ..a couple of thousand people on tape,... 21 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,757 ..down to probably 25 people,... 22 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,634 ..all of whom we flew to Los Angeles and did screen tests with... 23 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,230 ..and came up with what l think is a great cast. 24 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,875 - Glad you made it, SG-1. - Where's the fanfare, General? 25 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,037 - We did kind of save the planet, sir. - Again. 26 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,310 (narrator) To launch the series... 27 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,830 ..Brad and Jonathan co-wrote a spectacular two-hour episode... 28 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:35,155 ..that takes off where the film ended. 29 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,919 Daniel Jackson is alive and living with the people on Abydos. 30 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:39,917 You violated direct orders. Why? 31 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:42,873 The people are no threat. They should be left alone. 32 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:44,911 That's not up to you. 33 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,750 We go back to Abydos to find Daniel Jackson,... 34 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,270 ..because the gate on Earth has opened... 35 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:58,713 ..and has sparked a whole new desire to activate the programme. 36 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,116 Jack, l think that this is a map of a... 37 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,630 ..a vast network of Stargates, Stargates all over the galaxy. 38 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:10,356 We find out, in fact, that the gate goes many other places. 39 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:15,156 There's a cartouche on Abydos that explains this... 40 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:19,034 ..and suggests that the gate goes all over the galaxy. 41 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,038 And that's really the opportunity of the series. 42 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,118 We don't just go one place. We go all over the galaxy. 43 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,631 Go through the gate, dial a location and explore a whole new world. 44 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:34,276 (narrator) What makes Stargate SG-1 different to other sci-fi drama on TV? 45 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:36,152 Brad Wright offers his view. 46 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,990 The idea of going from world to world is a science fiction idea... 47 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,429 ..that goes back as long as science fiction. 48 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,030 We're not flying in futuristic rocket ships to get there. 49 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:52,712 So it's the human beings of our century that are taking these adventures... 50 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,513 ..and going to these worlds. lt changes everything. 51 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:57,915 (narrator) Like many great sci-fi dramas,... 52 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,998 ..there is a constant battle between good and evil. 53 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,999 But on Stargate there's one force that continues to be an imposing threat. 54 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:11,036 The biggest threat in our universe are the race that Ra was a member of. 55 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,276 They're called the Goa'ulds. 56 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:18,428 They have taken ancient Earth cultures and scattered them all across the galaxy. 57 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:20,232 You may be the one. 58 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,834 (Brad Wright) We came up with the idea of a Jaffa,... 59 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,713 ..which is a human who has been basically created... 60 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:40,076 ..in order to carry the larval form of the Goa'uld in their most vulnerable state. 61 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,715 l am a Jaffa, bred to serve that they may live. 62 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,273 - What the hell is that? - lt is an infant Goa'uld. 63 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,152 The larval form of the gods. 64 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,636 (narrator) Not content to produce a shoot-'em-up action series,... 65 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,639 ..the producers go to great lengths to write thought-provoking stories... 66 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,115 ..that comment on the human condition. 67 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,915 We're about to turn the tide of a world war that we know nothing about... 68 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,713 ..against an enemy that we know nothing about. 69 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,992 ls it the right way to get their technology? Yes. But is it the right thing to do? 70 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,113 lt's a way to study ourselves, to look at our society... 71 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:20,958 ..and some of the mistakes we make. 72 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:26,074 l will not recommend trade with a culture that enslaves its own people. 73 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,714 l don't care what kind of technology you have. 74 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:31,513 (narrator) How many worlds are waiting to be explored? 75 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,359 How many gates will the SG-1 team discover? 76 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:36,311 Only time will tell. 77 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,396 Probably millions. Who knows? 78 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,795 Certainly in the thousands. 79 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,552 At least ten seasons' worth.