Stargate Atlantis (often abbreviated as SGA) is an American-Canadian science fiction television program, part of the Stargate franchise owned by MGM. Developed by producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, it is a spin-off from the television series Stargate SG-1. It was filmed and produced in Canada.
Stargate Atlantis followed the adventures of a human expedition to the lost city of Atl
antis in the Pegasus Galaxy. The Stargate has brought humanity into contact with other cultures, including new and powerful enemies: the Wraith, the Genii, and later the Asurans and a lost tribe of Asgard, all while trying to uncover the secrets the Ancients left behind.
Stargate Atlantis premiered on the US Sci Fi Channel on July 16, 2004 with "Rising", a movie-style two-part episode, that guest starred Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks from Stargate SG-1. The series is broadcast in HD in selected countries including the US, which is shown sometimes on Universal HD and as of 2007 is now simulcast in HD on Sci Fi. It is broadcast in HD on The Movie Network in Canada. In the United Kingdom Stargate Atlantis is shown on Sky1 HD. In Latin America the Series was broadcast by the FOX Cable Network and since season 3 it has been broadcast by the FX Latin America channel, Season 5 will premiere in 2009.
Stargate Atlantis is set in the city of Atlantis, on a planet called "Lantea" in the Pegasus galaxy, built millions of years ago by one of the most advanced race of the Stargate universe: the Ancients. Five to ten million years ago, due to a plague in the Milky Way Galaxy, they were forced to flee to a planet in the Pegasus Galaxy and there they seeded life on hundreds of worlds as they had done in the Milky Way. After encountering a powerful enemy known as the Wraith and going to war with them for more than one hundred years, the Ancients ultimately lost and were forced to submerge their city beneath Lantea's ocean, which, in the Stargate universe, is the source of the Greek myth of the Lost City of Atlantis.
The city of Atlantis hosts much of the action in the series and is the source of much of the technology which the characters employ. While trying to uncover the secrets the city still holds from her new human inhabitants, the Atlantis expedition also use the Stargate to explore the Pegasus galaxy, looking for energy sources and other technology that the Ancients may have left behind and that may help them defeat the Wraith.
The events of Stargate Atlantis follow the cliffhanger Stargate SG-1 seventh season finale "Lost City", where SG-1 found an outpost made by the race known as the Ancients in Antarctica. After the events of Stargate SG-1 season eight premiere "New Order", the Stargate Command sends an international team to investigate the outpost. Soon, Dr. Jackson discovers the location of the greatest city created by the Ancients, Atlantis.
During Season 4, the expedition team moved the city of Atlantis to a new planet, designated M35-117, to avoid destruction at the hands of the Asurans. In the series finale, Atlantis is taken to Earth to defend it against a ZPM-powered Wraith hive ship. The city is damaged in the battle and lands in the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco.
