{"id":662393,"date":"2026-10-31T04:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T04:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/662393\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T04:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T04:58:12","slug":"stargate-michael-shanks-surprised-by-amazons-schaeffer-series-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/662393\/","title":{"rendered":"Stargate: Michael Shanks “Surprised” by Amazon’s Schaeffer Series News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted in: Amazon Studios<\/a>, TV<\/a> | Tagged: stargate<\/a><\/p>\n

A Full Circle hosts Michael Shanks and David Read discussed Martin Gero’s canceled Stargate reboot, the news about Jac Schaeffer, and more.<\/p>\n

Published Fri, 30 Oct 2026 17:37:08 -0500 by Tom Chang<\/a><\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

Article Summary
\nMichael Shanks says Amazon\u2019s quick Stargate move with Jac Schaeffer was surprising amid silence after Martin Gero\u2019s exit.
\nShanks and David Read discuss how Stargate fans are pushing Amazon MGM to hear backlash and stay accountable.
\nShanks says budget was never cited in the canceled Stargate reboot, though money and risk always shape studio calls.
\nThe Stargate future remains unclear, with Shanks noting no official Amazon response and no guarantee the new series moves ahead. <\/p>\n

When Amazon MGM Studios canceled Martin Gero’s Stargate reboot, which would have continued the franchise, bringing a new cast while involving a few of the holdovers from past series, it drew the ire of the franchise community, including SG-1 star Michael Shanks, who felt motivated to start A Full Circle, a series rewatch podcast alongside Dial the Gate’sDavid Read to keep the fire and spirit for the loyal fanbase, in July. In part one of our interview, the two spoke to Bleeding Cool about why the podcast will use the voice of the Stargate community to hold Amazon MGM Studios accountable, whether budget might have played a factor in passing up the Gero reboot, which included other franchise creatives like SG-1 co-creator Brad Wright, and Shanks’s thoughts on Amazon bringing in Jac Schaeffer (WandaVision, Agatha All Along) to develop the new series on October 9th.<\/p>\n

\"Stargate<\/a>Michael Shanks in “Stargate SG-1” Image courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
\nStargate Star Michael Shanks and A Full Circle Co-Host David Read on Gero Cancellation Fallout, and Jac Schaeffer Announcement<\/p>\n

Bleeding Cool: With the fallout of Amazon’s cancellation of Martin Gero’s Stargate and the way that TV shows are done today, how do you feel that streaming has shaped studio culture?<\/p>\n

Shanks: Boy, um, I don’t know [Shanks and Reed laugh]. Has it? I honestly don’t know how to answer that question, because we don’t know with fan backlash and whatnot. We know that they’ve announced a new showrunner-writer, but we don’t know for sure 100 percent how they’re going to proceed, or whether what the fans want is going to be listened to or heard, because I don’t know if I’d call it even streaming.<\/p>\n

Fans want to keep IP owners accountable because they want their voices heard about what they like. I mean, hopefully, the dream is that they listen, but I think in a lot of cases, most recently, in the past, present, and otherwise, that’s not always been the case. I’m not entirely sure. I certainly know that it registers with the Internet the way it is now, and the way social media is now, that there’s a din that people have that is being heard that never was before, but I don’t know if it’s shaping anything quite yet. I think that’s TBD.<\/p>\n

Right. Now, I mean, I know in general that it just seems like success isn’t even considered enough as a metric as far as whether it’s considered successful, because you hear things like ‘Wonder Man’ or ‘Spider-Noir,’ two very popular shows, but they ended up getting canceled, because for whatever reason I’m thinking about, “Well, was the budget kind of too high?” There are some factors, and I’m also thinking about, like, what Nicholas Cage said after ‘Spider-Noir’ got canceled: that they wanted him to sign an AI waiver, which he refused to do, so he doesn’t see himself working with Amazon MGM again. I was just kind of wondering, do you feel that the budget aspect might have affected the decision to not go forward with Stargate?<\/p>\n

From what I understand on the inside, there was never any indication that budget was a factor in decision-making. That’s a third-person understanding of the situation: that budget was never mentioned, publicly, privately, or otherwise, but money is always a factor. I will say that. Their belief in whether they’re going to make money off of something, certainly if something is successful. No, it’s not necessarily a guarantee, especially in a streaming world where ad revenue isn’t the highest driving force anymore; ratings and whatnot are. It’s a bit of a black box for how financing is done through streaming services now.<\/p>\n

Budget is always better, and whether they’re going to make money is always a factor; these guys aren’t in business because they love art. These corporations are in this kind of business because they’re in it for the bucks. Their investors are in it for the bucks, and they’re for the bucks, so I certainly think that money always plays a role, but in this case, from what I understand, it was never mentioned. I’m sure it had something to do with their metrics of how they gauge whether they thought that the money that they were investing was going to come back to them was too big a risk for them to take, or artistically wasn’t what the new guy (Mike Hopkins) wanted to do. So, it’s hard to say.<\/p>\n

\"Stargate<\/a>Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping in Stargate SG-1. Image courtesy of MGM.<\/p>\n

Did you have any first impressions when Amazon announced that Jac Schaeffer was going to spearhead the next series?<\/p>\n

Shanks: My first impression was surprise, because from what I had heard as well, there was no sort of grand plan, at least initially after the cancellation of Martin’s show. There is no grand plan to pursue, in the short term, a new creative head, showrunner, whatnot. I was only surprised; I didn’t know Jac Schaeffer’s work. I haven’t seen any of those shows; I understand. Some of them are very good, but I don’t. My first impression was just surprise, like you guys are, so I was shocked that the fan backlash may have played a role. Again, they are so silent, they’re so tight-lipped that we are simply out here in the dark, hearing insider stories and whatnot, some of which are from credible insiders, but\u2026<\/p>\n

Read: There’s been no official response.<\/p>\n

Shanks: Yeah, there’s been nothing from them to indicate that they heard the fans or are listening or anything, and that this is even based on that because we don’t even know if Jac Schaeffer’s version is going to go. There’s been so many attempts at doing a Stargate reboot launch, whatever continuation over the last 15 years have been so many attempts. That we don’t even know if this one’s going to proceed, so I was surprised. My first reaction was just surprised that they were doing it so soon, that they announced and that they were willing to announce it so, so, so that was the only thing.<\/p>\n

\u25b6” style=”border: 0px;” allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; fullscreen;” loading=”lazy” src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EajDZMS5dQA?feature=oembed” title=”Youtube Video”><\/p>\n

For more, you can check out\u00a0A Full Circle Podcast\u00a0on\u00a0YouTube<\/a>\u00a0and new episodes\u00a0here<\/a>, including\u00a0Stargate SG-1 creator Jonathan Glassner,\u00a0with upcoming episodes for Wright,\u00a0Peter Williams\u00a0(Apophis), and\u00a0Teryl Rothery (Dr. Janet Fraiser).<\/p>\n

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