MGM and The Sci Fi Channel have now confirmed that Season 5 of Stargate: Atlantis will indeed be the show’s final season; once the current season ends, the show will move to a series of direct-to-DVD movies, similar to what happened with Stargate: SG1. There will be two Atlantis movies first, and depending on how they do, will probably result in more. But have no fear, Stargate fans. After Atlantis leaves the air, you won’t be denied your weekly dose of Stargate — The Sci Fi Channel has greenlit a new Stargate series. Yup, it’s Stargate: Universe, which we’ve heard of before.

Here’s a shocker: Jack O’Neill dies in the first few minutes of “Stargate: Continuum”. Now wait a minute, before you Stargate fans get all mad at me, let me say this: “Continuum” is a time travel story, so yes, Jack O’Neill dying, as well as Teal’C and Vala vanishing into thin air in a cloud of black smoke, is no cause for concern. If we’ve learned one thing about the Stargate universe, it’s that death is not absolute. Heck, it wasn’t absolute even when the episode of the week didn’t involve time travel, so why should it be even close when the entire episode hinges on the team time traveling back into the past to set things right? (And anyways, Jack shows back up as his bewildered, Homer-loving self at the 30-minute mark anyhow. Well, okay, maybe not quite his old self, but close enough.)

For those keeping track of the constantly rotating cast on the Sci Fi Channel’s Stargate: Atlantis show, these new batch of S:A Season 5 promos won’t come as too much of a surprise. The biggest SPOILER is that there is clearly one character missing from the cast promos, and if you’ve been following up on news in the Stargate Universe, you probably already have it figured out. But in case you haven’t yet, I won’t spoil it for you, and tell you not to click on to see the promos, because you will find out.

I had heard rumblings about a new Stargate TV series to replace the departed Stargate: SG1 and the aging Stargate: Atlantis, but that was a while ago. Now, Gateworld has new details about the upcoming series, to be called “Stargate: Universe”, and as the name may already hint at, the series will be set onboard a ship built by the Ancients. According to Stargate producer Brad Wright, who conceived of the third series with co-producer Robert C. Cooper, the ship was an experiment by the Ancients many years ago, but was abandoned after they ascended. Now it’s up to the Stargate team to finish the job.