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Stargate SG-1
Episode: “200”
(Season 10, episode six)
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Premise: Okay, bear with us on this one; it’s complicated. For episode 100, SG-1 celebrated with the gloriously self-referential Wormhole Extreme! , an episode about a fictional TV show that bore a strange resemblance to Stargate SG-1 . It didn’t quite break the fourth wall, but certain gave it a few knocks. However, 100 episodes later, and Stargate was driving a wrecking ball through the fourth wall. We find out Wormhole X-Treme! ran for just three episodes prior to cancellation, but did so well on DVD that Lloyd is now writing a TV film.
“200” then becomes a feast of exquisite silliness, with hilarious homages to Team America: World Police , Farscape , Ewoks and The Wizard Of Oz , among others. But what concerns us here are the final four minutes: a series of interviews with “stars” of Wormhole Extreme! that descends into extreme sweariness.
Best in-joke: Basically, the whole sequence is one long in-joke, with TV SF in general and Stargate in particular as its target. The producer spouts all the usual clichés (“What I really think makes this show what it is, is the chemistry with the cast”) while his actors bitch about each other (“a lot of people said he phoned it in, that last season”); the lead actress complains how all the writers are men; and the action hero explains in-depth the painstaking process he went through to choose a catchphrase (“It’s what I do”).
Best line:
Raymond Gunne [the Michael Shanks-alike]: “It was acting… you know. Acting without people hurling papier mache boulders as you all f**king day.”
Verdict: It’s either a brilliant example of how the cast and crew of Stargate can laugh at themselves, or the most extreme example of “many a true word is said in jest”. Either way, it’s great fun, and then ends with a geek-life-affirming quote from Asimov about the value of science fiction. Nice touch.
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