Stargate Universe meets its "Destiny" tonight, after just two seasons and earlier than its makers hoped.
The imaginative, often absorbing space opera about a team of explorers stranded aboard a spaceship called Destiny finds the survivors in a blue mood as tonight's series finale opens. Even constantly scheming physicist Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) seems oddly subdued and out of ideas; his fellow shipmates, tired of his cold calculations and Machiavellian chess moves, have just about had it with him, anyway. Short of telling them, "Wake up and you'll learn it was all a bad dream," nothing he could say will satisfy them.
Which pretty much sums up the feeling of soon-to-be-starved Stargate fans. The demise of Stargate Universe ends one of the most remarkable runs in science-fiction TV. Aside from the ageless Doctor Who, no TV sci-fi serial has boldly gone where no one has gone before, over such a long period of time. The original Stargate SG-1 dawned in 1997. The most-watched shows on TV that year were Seinfeld, ER, Friends, Home Improvement and Touched by an Angel. In the end, Stargate SG-1 lasted 10 seasons and in 2004 spun off the companion series Stargate Atlantis, which lasted five years. (Space, 10 p.m.)
THREE TO SEE
- Things are getting good on The Good Wife. Tonight, Sarah Silverman guest stars as the owner of an adultery website accused of murder. Even better, Alicia (Julianna Margulies) finally confronts Kalinda (ArchiePanjabi) about her one-night stand with Peter (Alicia's husband, played by Chris Noth). (Global, CBS, 10 p.m.)
- A crisis looms over the high school senior prom on Glee tonight, and not just the noisy demonstrations outside. It seems the scheduled entertainment has pulled a last-minute no-show, so Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) asks the New Directions to fill in. That goes down with Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) about as well as a front-row invitation to Rent. (Global, Fox, 8 p.m.)
- Here's one Stupid Pet Trick you likely won't want to miss. Bear expert Chris Morgan, the star of PBS Nature's month-long series Bears of the Last Frontier, is David Letterman's scheduled guest tonight on Late Show.NCIS's Mark Harmon and musical guest Hugo are scheduled. (CBS, 11:35 p.m.)
The imaginative, often absorbing space opera about a team of explorers stranded aboard a spaceship called Destiny finds the survivors in a blue mood as tonight's series finale opens. Even constantly scheming physicist Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) seems oddly subdued and out of ideas; his fellow shipmates, tired of his cold calculations and Machiavellian chess moves, have just about had it with him, anyway. Short of telling them, "Wake up and you'll learn it was all a bad dream," nothing he could say will satisfy them.
Which pretty much sums up the feeling of soon-to-be-starved Stargate fans. The demise of Stargate Universe ends one of the most remarkable runs in science-fiction TV. Aside from the ageless Doctor Who, no TV sci-fi serial has boldly gone where no one has gone before, over such a long period of time. The original Stargate SG-1 dawned in 1997. The most-watched shows on TV that year were Seinfeld, ER, Friends, Home Improvement and Touched by an Angel. In the end, Stargate SG-1 lasted 10 seasons and in 2004 spun off the companion series Stargate Atlantis, which lasted five years. (Space, 10 p.m.)
THREE TO SEE
- Things are getting good on The Good Wife. Tonight, Sarah Silverman guest stars as the owner of an adultery website accused of murder. Even better, Alicia (Julianna Margulies) finally confronts Kalinda (ArchiePanjabi) about her one-night stand with Peter (Alicia's husband, played by Chris Noth). (Global, CBS, 10 p.m.)
- Here's one Stupid Pet Trick you likely won't want to miss. Bear expert Chris Morgan, the star of PBS Nature's month-long series Bears of the Last Frontier, is David Letterman's scheduled guest tonight on Late Show.NCIS's Mark Harmon and musical guest Hugo are scheduled. (CBS, 11:35 p.m.)
