Challenge
Honour the legacy, keep it fun
When the executive producers called us about Stargate SG-1, the show had just completed its decade-long run, an impressive feat in science fiction television.
But instead of winding down, the fan base was only growing. Syndication, conventions, boxed sets, and behind-the-scenes lore were building momentum. The creative team wanted to mark the moment and spread the love. But how?
There was already merchandise. There were scripts, episode guides, DVDs, and deep lore threads online.
What they needed wasn’t data. It was memory. Something that captured the spirit of the set, the arc of the show, and the people who brought it to life.
A full oral history, told in their own voices with no pretense. Just good stories, smart insights, and the occasional wink at how wonderfully strange sci-fi TV could be.
Echo was brought in to make that happen. Not as outsiders, but as collaborators.
The show’s creators had a clear vision: no fluff, no retconning, no hard sell. They wanted a book for the cast, crew, and fans, the ones who’d stayed with the series since Abydos.
Solution
10 years told by the people who lived it
Echo worked closely with Stargate executive producers Brad Wright and Robert Cooper to shape a book that felt equal parts tribute, time capsule, and team album.
We interviewed two dozen cast and crew members and network executives. Everyone from showrunners to makeup artists to the president of MGM Television weighed in with stories about character arcs, late-night rewrites, missed marks, and on-set pranks that never made it to air.
The writing process was less about scripting and more about curating, building a narrative from inside jokes, big moments, and emotional payoffs.
We organized the book by theme and era, highlighting:
- Origin stories from the earliest seasons
- Key cast changes and their ripple effects
- Reflections on long arcs and myth-building
- Creative risks that paid off (and a few that didn’t)
- Fan feedback (we called it The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly)
- The cultural impact of a sci-fi series that refused to be boxed in
Visually, the book leaned hard into the Stargate aesthetic:
- Episode stills, costume designs, and set photos throughout
- Annotated timelines and cast pull quotes
- Design language drawn from the show’s own tech and visuals
The result felt less like a studio product and more like a group scrapbook … if that group included elite special ops and a few Asgard.
Result
A book worthy of the gate
Stargate SG-1: A Celebration of 10 Years became a fan favourite, no easy feat. And just as importantly, it proved something that mattered to everyone involved: Ten years isn’t too early to preserve a legacy, especially when the story’s still fresh in your bones.
The book helped Stargate alumni reconnect with the work. It helped new fans understand the show’s texture and tone. And it helped MGM see that story doesn’t stop when the credits roll.
A copy was given to every cast and crew member at the final wrap party, with a few pages blank at the back of each book for the group of long-time friends to sign and write notes to each other.
Those pages were so full you could hardly see any white space at all.
And as a nod to the show’s fervent fans, 100 signed limited-edition copies sold out at $500 each through MGM’s website.
One more cool thing...
A foreword only they could write
The book opens with a foreword from Brad Wright and Robert Cooper, Stargate’s co-creators and showrunners.
But it’s not a standard thank-you.
It’s a sly patchwork of episode titles, in-jokes, and callouts that only true fans would fully catch. A nod to the writing room. A gift to the readers who always saw the deeper layers.
It ends on a perfect note: “It’s good to be king.”
And for 10 seasons, they were.
What’s more … the book features some pretty impressive fan art, including a needlepoint representation of the show’s central cast by one exceptionally crafty Stargate aficionado.
Want to help your creative team capture their legacy?
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