“Stargate”, as a franchise, is huge. I already mentioned that in my previous article where I mentioned that there are three movies, three live-action TV series and one animated series all set within the same universe. Gotta love it! Not even “Doctor Who” is that complicated! Sure, “Stargate” isn’t really as complex as, say, “Star Trek” (honestly, I still can’t make heads or tails of that franchise), but getting into it can be a bit daunting, to say the least. That’s why I decided to create a timeline for the series which can also act as a viewing order. Keep in mind that this isn’t going to be a timeline of events – if you want one you can check this out, but be ready to have your mind blown (and also spoiled pretty badly). Here I’m just going to outline the series and movies in chronological order while keeping it light on spoilers. Let’s get right to it!

1. The Stargate Movie (1994)

This is the beginning of the entire Stargate universe… Metaphorically speaking, of course. The movie is a fantastic place to start as not only is it the first “Stargate” thing to come out (and thus is a bit more of a self-contained story), but it also introduces many of the characters and concepts which will become key down the line. My advice to you wouldn’t be to view this as the start of a universe even if it is. Just sit down and enjoy it like a movie. If you liked it and would like to see more, keep on going. If not, then maybe you’re not going to enjoy “Stargate” as a whole.

2.Stargate SG-1 Seasons 1-7

If you’re still reading, I assume you liked the movie, which is great because there’s a whole lot more where that came from! Picking up right after the ending (more or less), the series “Stargate SG-1” is very similar in style and tone and features many familiar characters as in the movie. You can binge-watch the first seven seasons of it without any trouble whatsoever. Sure, 7 seasons may be a bit too much for today’s audiences (we’re used to having our series end at 4-5 seasons), but once you get into it the series actually flows pretty neatly.

3. Stargate SG-1 Seasons 8-10 & Stargate Atlantis Seasons 1-3

Ah, this is where it gets really complicated! For its final 3 years, SG-1 was paired up with another series, Stargate Atlantis. The two were aired back to back, and as such episodes keep referencing each other from time to time, with a healthy dose of crossovers. It’s a situation very much like the ones the shows “Arrow” and “Flash” have right now, with characters constantly popping from one into the other to the point where it might be difficult to tell who those people are if you’re only watching one show. The correct way to watch this is one episode of SG-1 followed by one episode of Atlantis, but you can be a bit more adventurous than that if you’d like.

4. Stargate: The Ark of Truth

I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that “Stargate: SG-1” has been officially canceled, but the good news is that the storyline wraps up with another movie! “The Ark of Truth” is pretty much a send-off to that era of the franchise, wrapping up the storyline and preparing for the future.

5. Stargate Atlantis Season 4 + The Season 5 Premiere

We’re about to get complicated again! Now that SG-1 is officially out of the way, it’s time to wrap up Atlantis! What you want to do is finish the entire 4th season AND watch the first episode of the 5th season, where some pretty major changes happen in preparation for…

6. Stargate: Continuum

“Continuum” is a pretty interesting movie not just when it comes to its plot, but also to its placement in the timeline. For the most part, it’s a standalone adventure, but it’s also got lots of connections to both “Atlantis” (obviously) and “SG-1”. It’s good stuff.

7. Stargate Atlantis Season 5

Now that we’ve got the last movie out of the way, it’s time to wrap up Atlantis!

Stargate: Universe

Honestly? My advice is to just skip this one, if you’re looking for any kind of meaningful resolution to the saga. The show was canceled after only 2 seasons, ending on a cliffhanger which is, in all likelihood, never going to be resolved, on the show or in a movie. Still, the series isn’t bad, so if you can overlook the lack of a proper ending you can go ahead and give it a shot. If you’ve made it that far, then you’re probably hungry for more “Stargate”, anyway!

If you’re even remotely interested in sci-fi, then there’s a few names you can’t seem to be able to escape from. “Doctor Who”, for example, seems to pop up pretty much everywhere, and so does “Star Trek”, and don’t even get me started on “Star Wars”! But there’s another name that seems to be floating about even though it hasn’t been at the public forefront for years. That name, of course, is “Stargate”, which, despite its status as pretty much the underdog of the sci-fi genre, has still remained just as popular today as it has always been, in no small part thanks to its dedicated fanbase. Hell, it’s so popular that a few years ago it managed to get a physical slot AND an online slot machine! Does “Doctor Who” have a slot? I don’t think so!

Just like most franchises that have been running for over 20 years now, “Stargate” can be pretty intimidating to get into, so allow me to explain the basics and give you a basic guide on how to join the world of the ‘Gaters! The legacy of “Stargate” began with a 1994 movie titled, what else, “Stargate”. Directed by the one and only Roland Emmerich (behind some of the most famous disaster movies such as “Independence Day”, “Godzilla”, “2012” and more), it stars none other than Snake Plissken himself, Kurt Russell, and a little, scrawny and nerdy guy named James Spader who never went to do anything with his career. What? What do you mean he played Ultron and Raymond Reddington? Those guys were cool, and Spader’s character, Daniel, is not. I mean, just look at him!

Anyway, the plot revolves around the discovery of a device known as a Stargate on Earth. There’s numerous Stargates across space which are connected to each other and allow for easy transportation between them. In the distant past, this has allowed aliens to come visit Earth (as a matter of fact, Egyptian mythology is largely based on an alien civilization), and now we’re allowed to visit them. As you might imagine, things don’t end up being all nice and rosy. Without spoiling too much, suffice to say that while the movie wraps up its own story quite nicely, there are a few open threads related to the larger universe. So as soon as you watch the movie you should transition over to “Stargate SG1”, a TV series which ran for 10 full seasons (which sounds ridiculous in today’s age when series get to 4-5 seasons at the very most). After that it becomes a bit of a mess, as subsequent iterations of the franchise tend to contradict it. At the end of the day, what you choose to go with is up to you. If you’re finished with SG1 and would like to keep your TV habit fed, there’s always “Stargate Atlantis”, which is a show set in the same universe, but following a different plotline. There’s also “Stargate Universe”, but I don’t really recommend that one. And if instead you’d like to transition to movies then there’s “Stargate: The Ark of Truth” and “Stargate: Continuum”, both released back to back in 2008, though keep in mind that neither is as good as the original film, so if you didn’t like that chances are you won’t like them either. I hope that was at least a little helpful! Happy watching!